Chapter 29: Punishment, Jealousy

Zhu Liyan, who had just taken a mouthful of dumpling soup, sprayed it out as soon as he heard Fang Mingyi’s words.

“If you don’t want to eat, then don’t. Don’t waste it,” Fang Mingyi said, wrinkling his brow in disgust at Zhu Liyan’s pitiful reaction.

Zhu Liyan quickly set down his bowl, stepped forward, and touched Fang Mingyi’s forehead, checking if he had a fever. When he found nothing unusual, he sighed in relief.

“What are you doing?” Fang Mingyi was stunned by Zhu Liyan’s actions, raising his brow in confusion.

Zhu Liyan muttered under his breath, “No fever… What are you talking nonsense about so early in the morning?”

“I’m not talking nonsense! I have a girlfriend now. We made it official last night,” Fang Mingyi replied, sitting down on the nearby bench, clearly frustrated that Zhu Liyan didn’t believe him.

“Ah? Really? Who is it? How come I never noticed?” Zhu Liyan was still in shock, staring at Fang Mingyi, who was clearly serious.

Fang Mingyi shrugged and smiled, “I was pretty obvious. If you didn’t notice, then that just means you’re a bit slow.”

Zhu Liyan wasn’t happy with that response. He stopped eating and sat down to think, pondering who the girl could be.

Li Lin and Chen Dong arrived to eat, and when they saw Zhu Liyan squatting there, they looked at Fang Mingyi, puzzled.

“What’s he doing? Why is Zhu Zhiqing squatting here?” Li Lin asked.

“He…” Fang Mingyi began to explain but was interrupted.

Zhu Liyan, noticing Li Lin, his eyes lit up. Before Fang Mingyi could say anything, he rushed up to her, full of hope, and asked, “Li Zhiqing, Fang Mingyi said he’s in a relationship now. Do you know who it is?”

“Uh…”

Li Lin was caught off guard by the question. Looking at Fang Mingyi, who had a smile on his face, she nodded and replied, “Yes, I know.”

“Ah? You know too? Then I’m the only one left in the dark. Ugh!” Zhu Liyan, realizing Li Lin also knew who Fang Mingyi’s girlfriend was, dropped his shoulders and squatted back down, looking dejected.

Fang Mingyi couldn’t help but burst into laughter at this point, walking over to Li Lin and proudly introducing her, “Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Let me introduce her: This is my girlfriend, Li Lin.”

“You guys… you guys are teaming up to bully me!” Zhu Liyan, seeing this, finally understood and dramatically accused them both, his face full of mock indignation.

“No, no, I didn’t bully you,” Li Lin said, waving her hands defensively, trying to ease the situation.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just a character. Let’s eat,” Fang Mingyi said, gesturing for Chen Dong, who had been awkwardly sitting, to sit down with them.

Chen Dong sat down hesitantly, feeling uneasy. He couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen once he returned to Kyoto. Would Dong Hai beat him to a pulp when he found out?

He sighed. Why did he have to meddle in this? What a headache.

“Uncle Chen, hurry up and eat. Didn’t you say you’re going to the commune after this?” Li Lin urged him, trying to get him to stop daydreaming.

“Oh, right, I’ll go after I eat,” Chen Dong replied, finally snapping out of his thoughts. He moved to the nearby bench, sat down, and began eating in silence.

After breakfast, Chen Dong drove off to the commune. 

Meanwhile, Fang Mingyi, Li Lin, Hu Yingying, and Zhu Liyan went to the warehouse to pick up farm tools.

That day, it was clear to everyone, especially Fang Mingyi and Li Lin, that something was off.

Hu Yingying tugged on Li Lin’s sleeve, whispering, “Lin Lin, what’s going on between you and Fang Zhiqing?”

“We made our relationship official yesterday,” Li Lin replied with a bright smile.

“Ah? You and Fang Zhiqing are together now?” Hu Yingying couldn’t help but raise her voice in surprise.

Fang Mingyi, who was walking behind, heard the exclamation and couldn’t help but announce loudly, “Yes, Hu Zhiqing! Yesterday, Li Zhiqing and I made it official. We’re a couple now!”

“Wow…”

This one sentence from Fang Mingyi made everyone around him become serious.

You have to know, Fang Zhiqing was the type of young girl in the brigade that all the other girls wanted to marry. Now, it turns out that a new youth has cut in on her territory.

This made the surrounding girls’ eyes turn red with jealousy.

Lin Meina was even worse, her face twisted with jealousy.

She had just decided yesterday to win over Fang Mingyi, but today he already had someone.

Heavens, how could this be so unfair to her?

But the brigade leader didn’t let her think too much. He called everyone to go to the wheat field for a meeting.

Because Liu Lan had returned this morning, the brigade leader wanted to discuss how to handle her.

“Brigade leader, I think we should transfer her to another brigade. Otherwise, if she stays in our brigade, she’ll be a disaster.”

An older woman angrily looked at Liu Lan and shouted.

“Yes, send her away. Our brigade doesn’t need this disaster.”

Once this was said, everyone below chimed in with agreement.

“No, the commune has clearly stated that Liu Lan has to stay in our brigade.”

Zhang Jun also wanted to send her away, but it was obvious that the committee members held a grudge against their brigade. No matter what they said, they wouldn’t let Liu Lan leave, so he had no choice but to ask for suggestions on how to punish Liu Lan.

“Brigade leader, how about letting her do the dirtiest and hardest work in the brigade? That’ll teach her a lesson and make her stop doing things without thinking.”

Fang Mingyi spoke up as he saw Liu Lan glaring at his girlfriend.

Zhang Jun listened to the suggestion and thought it was good, so he made a decision: “Alright, it’s settled then. Liu Lan will clean the cow sheds and pigsties in the future. After cleaning, she must work for six work points every day. If she doesn’t finish, she can’t leave work.”

Liu Lan almost fainted when she heard this decision.

But someone nearby noticed and quickly jabbed her, causing her to snap back to reality.

But that wasn’t the end. After the brigade leader called for the meeting to disperse, a group of rural women surrounded Liu Lan and gave her a good beating.

“Alright, stop before you hurt her. If she can’t work, that’ll just make it easier for her.”

Once this was said, the crowd dispersed. Only the youths who were involved in the matter stood around, watching coldly as Liu Lan’s face became bruised and swollen.

“Spit! Li Lin, don’t get too smug. This time I didn’t take you down, but there’s always next time. Sooner or later, I’ll step on you and make you beg for mercy.” Liu Lan noticed Li Lin, thought she was mocking her, and spat, saying viciously.

Fang Mingyi saw Liu Lan’s behavior and immediately shielded Li Lin behind him, narrowing his eyes as he said, “Liu Zhiqing, you’re thinking too highly of yourself. From now on, no one can bully Linlin because I’m here to protect her.”

Liu Lan saw that Fang Mingyi was protecting Li Lin, and in an instant, she thought of something. She shouted in disbelief, “Fang Zhiqing, Li Lin is lazy and good-for-nothing. You can’t like her.”

“I’m sorry, but Li Lin is my girlfriend now, and I really like her. I won’t allow anyone to harm her.” As Fang Mingyi said this, he glanced at the people around him.

The meaning was clear: Li Lin was under his protection. Anyone who tried to harm her would have to answer to him.

Lin Meina saw how protective Fang Mingyi was of Li Lin, and in a low voice, said, “Fang Zhiqing, I don’t think Li Zhiqing is some delicate flower. She probably doesn’t like you protecting her like this.”

“Lin Zhiqing, you’re mistaken. What girl doesn’t like her partner’s protection?”

When Li Lin heard this, her face turned red with shyness, and she sweetly said, “Actually, I’m a delicate flower in full bloom, and it’s exactly the time when I need someone to take care of me.”