After gathering the eggs, Su Rui was about to head back inside when two coughs sounded from outside the yard.

“Aunt Sun,” Su Rui walked over and asked, “Why are you up so early?”

Aunt Sun was a widow in her fifties and had never remarried. She was in poor health but was known in the village for her reputation.

For no particular reason, she liked to take small advantages from others—borrowing soy sauce from one household, salt from another, firewood from a younger family, always without returning it.

The villagers weren’t particularly fond of her, but Su Rui, with her fiery temper, somehow had more patience with her. Even though Aunt Sun took advantage of their family, Su Rui didn’t complain, which was quite strange.

Aunt Sun came over early in the morning, and Su Rui knew that she must have come to borrow something again.

As expected, Aunt Sun squinted her murky eyes and awkwardly chuckled. “Good girl, our family ran out of salt. Could you lend us a couple of small spoons of salt? The bean porridge in the pot is still hot, just waiting for a bit of salt to go with it.”

Su Rui didn’t say much. She turned around, poured half a jar of salt from the stove, wrapped it in some paper, and handed it to her. “You don’t need to return it. Just hurry and go back.”

Aunt Sun knew Su Rui would say that. She thanked her repeatedly and left with the salt, which was hardly worth two cents.

Su Hongpei stood by the door, watching. She sighed and said, “Why are you being so nice to her? You’re just encouraging her to take advantage of you.”

Su Rui smiled and replied, “Sister, I know her well. It’s just a little bit of salt. I’ll make sure to replace it for the family later.”

Su Hongpei said, “It’s not just about the salt. I’m afraid she’ll take advantage of you. Now that you’re a village official, it’s even harder for you to ask her to return anything.”

“If she doesn’t return it, then forget it,” Su Rui said, shaking some eggs in her hand. “How about some egg drop soup for breakfast?”

Su Hongpei replied,  “You go inside and rest. I’ll do it. If Mom sees me cracking the eggs, she won’t say anything to me.”

“Alright, I’ll take a nap.” Su Rui handed the eggs to Su Hongpei and went straight inside.

It was embarrassing to say that she slept well last night in the cabin knowing that Fang Chiye was watching over her. When she got back to her small bed, she tossed and turned, , and by the time breakfast was ready, she was still dreaming.

In the dream, Fang Chiye appeared, his vest clinging to his body, showing off his abs. As the thunderstorm raged, he drew closer and closer, until he was right in front of her, her burning hand lifting the empty hem of his clothes…

Su Rui’s heart raced, and she gasped in shock, suddenly sitting up in bed and slapping herself!

How could she be so ridiculous, dreaming like that after he had been so kind to her?

Su Hongpei was standing at the door with a bowl of rice. Seeing Su Rui’s messy hair and flushed face, she quickly put down the bowl and rushed over to touch her forehead.

Seeing her in such a state, Su Hongpei thought it was because of what happened earlier and hurriedly said, “It’s just a bit of salt. If you want to give it, then give it. I’m not upset. Why hurt yourself over such a small thing?”

Su Rui covered her face, wishing she could crawl into a hole.

The sensation of Fang Chiye’s abs from the dream still lingered in her palm, making her feel hot all over.

That morning, Su Rui arrived at the women’s committee with a swollen face for the usual village meeting.

“It’s nothing, nothing at all. I just fell while patrolling the mountains last night,” Su Rui explained to the concerned colleagues and leaders.

“This is the newspaper the reporter sent us last time,” Sister Zhao said after the meeting. She called Su Rui over and pointed at the tiny photo at the bottom of the page. “Quick, Xiao Su, you’re in the newspaper!”

Su Rui was surprised to see herself there. She picked up the paper, her eyes almost pressing against it, and finally found herself—half-closing her eyes, with a smile that was almost a smile… her whole face looked a little distorted.

Sister Zhao sighed, “They mainly took pictures of the militia members in the background. Your photo is a bit blurry. If it were clearer, it would have been better.”

Su Rui said, “This is fine.” If you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t recognize her. Her face was contorted, and her smile was strange. Fortunately, she wasn’t the main subject of the photo.

But wait—if the photo wasn’t taken specifically of her, why did they highlight her? Were they intentionally showing her distorted expression?

Su Rui thought for a moment. It couldn’t have been intentional. The photographers were professionals; maybe they were just capturing real, unpolished expressions?

Sister Zhao gave her the newspaper as a keepsake. Su Rui tucked it into her pocket, half happy and half worried, and went straight to the mountains to continue road repairs.

Meanwhile, Fang Chiye was flipping through a newspaper when he came across a familiar face. He stared at the photo for a moment and, sure enough, it was Su Rui.

Though she was half-smiling, he could still feel a hint of the girl’s joy through the paper. He couldn’t help but smile too.

“Hey, hey, hot, hot,” Qin Shan came in holding several large meat buns, shifting them around. “Hurry, put something down so I don’t burn my hands,” he said, about to place the buns on the newspaper.

Fang Chiye quickly pulled a page from the paper and folded it, placing it in a locked drawer.

Qin Shan leaned over and asked, “Is this showing important thoughts?”

Fang Chiye replied, “No.”

Qin Shan set down the buns and curiously flipped through the newspaper, wondering, “Then why are you hiding it?”

Fang Chiye didn’t even know why he did it. He casually replied, “No reason.”

Qin Shan finally got his hands on a fresh meat bun and took a bite. When Fang Chiye left, he tugged at the drawer, which wouldn’t open.

This guy had added a lock to his drawer ever since the reporter came, and he had severely reprimanded the officials who talked about his personal matters to the reporter.

Qin Shan thought for a moment, still suspecting something was off with the newspaper. He went next door, grabbed a copy of the same paper, and flipped through it. He didn’t notice anything unusual until he reached a small, hard-to-spot corner of the page, where he saw Su Rui’s distorted smile.

He thought to himself, “Is he really keeping this?”

……It looks like Fang Chiye might be in trouble now.

***

The air in the mountains was fresh, and the rain didn’t bring much wind, leaving the surroundings slightly damp.

Su Rui’s sweat soaked her bangs, sticking to her forehead. She carried a cement bag out of the warehouse and tossed it onto the ground. “I need to drink some water,” she said to Aunt Song

Aunt Song walked up, seeing her dripping with sweat. She hastily wiped Su Rui’s face and pointed to her water jug. “There’s some mung bean soup inside. Drink a bit.”

In autumn, Su Rui stopped eating or drinking anything with cold properties to avoid harming her body.

Her father never showed any affection, and her older sister wasn’t very considerate. She had to take care of herself.

After drinking a few sips of plain water, Su Rui placed her hands on her hips and watched the workers who were toiling away on the construction site, wishing the day the road would be open would come soon.

The route to Yi Wang Village had already been planned. As the old lady from the village’s “Bound Feet Intelligence Squad” had said, twelve houses were demolished, and land was cleared to build a cement road.

Their new houses were being built at the northern end. She heard they were made of good quality stone, brick, and concrete. No matter whether the old homes were made of mud and straw or brick and tile, they would all be moved into better houses. Everyone was cooperating well.

Today, she also heard they might get electricity soon, which made Su Rui feel even more envious.

During a break, two carriers walked by, followed by Guo Jiarong.

The outward appearance of the Guo family and their son is commendable. Every now and then, they come by to bring food and drinks to the workers. Today, everyone gathered around as the delivery included fresh, plump cucumbers and roasted potatoes.

Su Rui wasn’t thirsty or hungry, so she sat aside to rest.

Not long after, the workers had all received their share. Guo Jiarong walked over, holding two cucumbers in his hands, and stood in front of Su Rui, offering them to her.

Su Rui declined with a wave of her hand.

Guo Jiarong, as if under some strange influence, suddenly said, “Do you look down on others because you have climbed up the ladder?”

Su Rui looked up in surprise, seeing that he looked unhappy and seemed to be suppressing some emotion: “What do you mean?”

Guo Jiarong answered, “If you want people to not know, you have to avoid doing things that will make it obvious.”

Su Rui stood up abruptly, “If you have something to say, just say it plainly. Stop acting like a jealous child.”

Guo Jiarong sneered, “I’m just looking out for your reputation. If you really want to know, I’ll shout it out loud.”

Su Rui retorted, “My reputation? What does my reputation have to do with you? Anyway, you have no reputation at all in my eyes.”

Guo Jiarong said, “What reputation does a man need? You women, sneaking around in the middle of the night with someone else until morning, and even making someone carry you down the mountain. A woman like that, back in the day, would have been drowned in a pig cage!”

“Guo Jiarong!” A sharp reprimand cut him off, causing him to immediately shut his mouth.

Chen Haiyan, who was on patrol, walked over upon hearing the commotion. After listening for a moment, he was infuriated. “Your father is the village head, how can you still speak such feudal nonsense?”

Guo Jiarong pointed at Su Rui with red eyes: “She is the one who is not faithful to her partner!”

Chen Haiyan angrily retorted, “Shut your mouth! How is it right for you to make baseless accusations against an innocent woman? What’s your standing, what’s your position to criticize her?”

Old Lady Ah Xi, who was nearby, pulled Su Rui aside and called out, “This Guo Jiarong keeps pestering Su Rui. She’s rejected him more than once, but he keeps coming after her. They have nothing to do with each other, and yet he slanders her. I think he’s just taking advantage of the fact that his father is the village head, deliberately harassing women.”

Chen Haiyan turned to look at the others, and everyone—Old Lady Dahua, Wanzi, and the rest—confirmed, “He’s been bothering her for at least two years.”

Su Rui nodded, “Yes, he keeps finding excuses to bother me. It’s not just when I’m working, he even barges into my home. I’ve told his father about it, but he never does anything.”

Chen Haiyan was furious. How could someone like this, bullying women, still be in a position of authority in a small village?

Guo Jiarong had been in a bad mood recently. His father seemed troubled for some reason, sighing constantly at home and neglecting his work, leaving most of the daily duties of the village to Guo Jiarong.

That morning, unable to sleep, Guo Jiarong went to look for Su Rui to talk, only to find her being carried by someone in military uniform under Peach Mountain.

He immediately assumed something inappropriate was happening.

Outraged, he used the excuse of delivering cucumbers to confront her, but before he could say much, he was interrupted by Chen Haiyan.

Chen Haiyan, being from Xiaoba Village, naturally sided with Su Rui.

Guo Jiarong, unable to take the criticism, glared at the people around Su Rui. Realizing he was outnumbered, he could only leave, swallowing his anger.

Su Rui watched as he stormed off, feeling uneasy. Dealing with such narrow-minded people, who knew what kind of trouble might come next?

She was in a bad mood, and the aunts and sisters came to comfort her.

Su Rui felt a little better and went back to mixing the cement.

Chen Haiyan, on patrol, passed the word along to his comrades during a shift change.

Soon enough, the news made its way to Fang Chiye.

As the man involved in that night’s incident, he had been cautious, hoping to avoid any misunderstandings, but it seemed he couldn’t escape being misinterpreted.

Upon hearing about Guo Jiarong’s harassment of Su Rui for so long, Fang Chiye tapped his desk in frustration, his expression darkening.