Chapter 38

Jiang Nian’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and her lips tightened as she turned to look at Lu Yu. Suddenly, she met his deep, mist-like black eyes, sharp as if they could see through her soul.

Subconsciously, Jiang Nian looked away and nodded softly, “Okay.”

Lu Yu’s gaze lingered on Jiang Nian’s lowered eyes and eyebrows for a few seconds before he withdrew his gaze. He added some dry firewood to the stove, and when he lowered his head, there was a hint of understanding in his eyes.

By the time the pastries were steamed and ready, it was already late. Jiang Nian arranged the pastries neatly to cool down, while Lu Yu stood up to wash and chop vegetables. He said, “It’s too late today. We’ll deliver them tomorrow.”

Jiang Nian nodded quickly, “Yes.”

It suited her plans perfectly.

The next morning, she would wake up early to pack the pastries for delivery. Once she finished delivering them, she would return and inform Lu Yu. If Lu Yu accompanied her to meet the professor in the cowshed, wouldn’t that be revealing their intentions?

Lu Yu noticed the lightness in Jiang Nian’s expression. He carried a bucket out to fetch water, and when he turned back, there was a smile playing at the corner of his lips. He filled the bucket with water and brought it back to the kitchen. Jiang Nian was heating oil in the pot to stir-fry vegetables. After cooking the meal, the two of them ate in the kitchen.

Due to her bad sleeping habit the previous night, Jiang Nian lay on the bed at night, tightly pressed against the wall, with the blanket tucked tightly around her, almost wrapping herself up like a mummy. She stared blankly at the beams above.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lu Yu come up. Jiang Nian turned her head to look at the newspaper on the wall, pursed her lips, and tried to ignore the movement beside her.

When the kerosene lamp went out, the room instantly plunged into darkness.

It wasn’t until her eyes adjusted to the darkness that Jiang Nian could see the outline of the window. Afraid of repeating the same mistake from last night, she hesitated for a moment and whispered softly, “If I roll over to your side tonight, please wake me up.”

Lu Yu’s voice sounded deeper and richer in the darkness of the night: “Alright.”

Jiang Nian had just closed her eyes when she heard Lu Yu ask her, “Why did sister-in-law suddenly decide to go back home and settle old debts?”

He was referring to Jiang’s family.

Jiang Nian had prepared her words early in the morning. She opened her eyes and looked at the moon outside the window, saying, “Over the past half year, I’ve come to understand a lot of things. I was too naive before, too concerned about family ties, which allowed my mother and brother to become increasingly unreasonable. I’ve had a close call twice now, and I’ve learned to see things clearly. Some people aren’t worth defending, and they don’t deserve my care.”

She paused briefly and turned to look at Lu Yu. The man was gazing at the ceiling, and she could only see his profile: sharp facial contours, a high nose bridge, slanting eyebrows, slightly pursed lips. As if sensing her gaze, he turned to look at her.

Their eyes unexpectedly met in the darkness.

Jiang Nian blinked and looked at the handsome man in the dark, feeling a sudden flutter in her heart. She pursed her lips and noticed her own breath seemed to be erratic.

In the quiet night, Jiang Nian could even hear her own accelerated heartbeat.

The man who had been lying on the bed suddenly sat up and approached her. Jiang Nian widened her eyes in surprise. The tip of his nose carried a strong masculine scent. Lu Yu reached out, adjusting her blanket. His backhand brushed against Jiang Nian’s flushed cheek, and he pulled the corner of her blanket.

“Don’t pull it too tight. Your arms and legs might get numb.”

As his arm reached across Jiang Nian against the wall, their proximity allowed them to smell each other’s breath.

Lu Yu’s gaze fell on Jiang Nian’s bright brows and eyes, then lowered to her lightly pursed lips, tinged with a faint crimson. His Adam’s apple bobbed a few times. Gripping the corner of the blanket, his fingers suddenly tightened, and he unexpectedly entertained some audacious thoughts.

He wanted to get closer…

“I’m not pulling anymore.”

Jiang Nian gently shifted her body, freeing the blanket from under her shoulder.

Her voice brought Lu Yu back from the dangerous thoughts lingering on the edge. He released the blanket, lay back on the bed, closed his eyes, and controlled his disturbed breathing.

Jiang Nian loosened the other side of the blanket and said, looking at the ceiling, “My mother and brother took away all your money and what Dad saved over the years. That money shouldn’t be taken by them.”

Lu Yu kept his eyes closed. “No one will take it away, I will get it back.”

In the darkness, his voice sounded particularly hoarse.

Jiang Nian thought he might have caught a cold. “Are you catching a cold?”

“A little.”

“Then buy some cold medicine when we go back, so it doesn’t get worse.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Nian thought for a while by herself and gradually fell asleep.

Hearing the steady breathing beside her, Lu Yu slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at Jiang Nian sleeping peacefully.

He stared for a long time until Jiang Nian suddenly rolled over towards him. Lu Yu shamefully extended his arm and let Jiang Nian rest her head on it. Feeling the weight on his arm, Lu Yu turned over, using the moonlight shining in to look at Jiang Nian’s curled eyelashes.

His hand, which had rested on the blanket, curled up and eventually couldn’t restrain itself. He lifted his hand and touched Jiang Nian’s cheek, lightly brushing her curled eyelashes with his fingertips. The sleeping figure stirred uncomfortably, turned over, and faced the wall, leaving him with the back of her head.

Lu Yu suddenly realized what he had just done, and his ears turned red. He withdrew his hand, turned over, and lay down.

Early the next morning, when Jiang Nian woke up, Lu Yu had already prepared breakfast. She sat up, put on her cotton coat, and saw herself lying against the wall, the blanket still pressed under her body. She couldn’t help smiling happily.

It seemed she had behaved well in her sleep.

Didn’t embarrass herself.

Jiang Nian got off the bed, put on her cloth shoes, washed up with hot water, and had breakfast with Lu Yu. After breakfast, she put the pastries she made last night into a small basket and covered them with a cloth. “I’m going to give pastries to Aunt Zhao and the others, and also to the brigade leader.”

Lu Yu said, “I’ll go with you.”

Jiang Nian hesitated…

She held the basket tightly, wanting to say no, but she couldn’t find a suitable excuse. She walked out of the house, worried that Lu Yu would go to the cowshed with her and meet the professor, and her lies would be exposed. With this worry in her heart, she delivered cakes to Aunt Zhao, Aunt Li, and Aunt Wang, and then to the brigade leader’s house. The brigade leader had just finished his meal, and when he saw Lu Yu and Jiang Nian coming, he stood up and let them in.

Jiang Nian put down the pastries, and the brigade leader looked in surprise at the white and red pastries in the bowl, soft and fluffy, something he had never seen before.

The brigade leader looked at Jiang Nian. “Did you make these, Xu’s daughter-in-law?”

Jiang Nian nodded. “Yes, and I want to thank the leader for helping yesterday.”

The brigade leader waved his hand and smiled. “No need to thank me. I’ll accept these treats, though. I’ve never had anything like them. Let my grandsons taste them too.”

They sat at the brigade leader’s house for a while. When Jiang Nian was ready to leave, she looked at Lu Yu.

Lu Yu said, “Sister-in-law, you go ahead. I’ll talk to the brigade leader.”

Seeing him say this, Jiang Nian’s heart, which had been hanging all morning, finally settled down. She stood up, bid farewell to the brigade leader, and then carried the basket to the old professor living in the cowshed. Now that it was cold, especially in the morning, there weren’t many people on the road.

Jiang Nian passed by the educated youth point. There was no wall around the yard, but a fence made of sticks outside. There were more than a dozen chickens and ducks raised inside. Two female educated youth went into the kitchen built in a thatched shed to cook breakfast, while two male educated youth carried buckets to the well to fetch water.

When Jiang Nian passed by, the people at the educated youth point also looked at her.

After Jiang Nian left, the young people at the knowledge point were discussing who she was. They had been living here for two years and were familiar with everyone in the team, but they had never seen this woman before. Though she wore rural clothes, they were clean without patches, and she was fair and beautiful, not at all like someone from around here.

The cowshed and the educated youth point were a mile apart.

Jiang Nian rubbed her almost frozen cheeks from the cold and looked at the cowshed. It was a place to live, but it was very simple. When she reached the outside of the cowshed, she saw the old professor cooking over a fire. He wore a patched cotton jacket, but it was still thin and didn’t look very warm. The old man sat by the stove, although poorly dressed, his clothes were washed clean.

Moreover, one could tell from the old man’s demeanor that he was noticeably different from the elderly in the countryside.

“Uncle.”

Jiang Nian walked over and placed the basket on the stove: “Uncle, do you still recognize me?”

Previously, the original owner had sent corn pancakes to the old professor, but hadn’t visited much afterward. She couldn’t guarantee if the old professor still remembered her.

Upon hearing her voice, the old professor looked up at Jiang Nian, who had walked to the stove. She squatted down, her eyes level with his, and helped him gather the dry firewood by his feet.

Though it was just a fleeting glance, the old professor recognized her.

He had always been good at recognizing faces, and a kind smile appeared on his face. “Ah, it’s you. You’re Jiang Nian, right?”

Jiang Nian was somewhat surprised. She hadn’t expected that after a year, the old professor still remembered her.

She smiled and said, “Yes, I’m Jiang Nian.”

Jiang Nian uncovered the cloth on the basket. “Uncle, these are pastries I made. Please try them.”

The old professor was a bit surprised. He looked at Jiang Nian a bit more. “You’ve changed. You smile more now.”

Jiang Nian chuckled, “People change.”

The old professor thought about the man who had come last night. He didn’t know who he was, but they had sat by the stove and talked for a long time. In their conversation, Jiang Nian’s name came up. He had always remembered this girl who, at his hardest times, secretly brought him corn pancakes.

People here all wished to keep their distance from him.

Only this girl would sneak out in the middle of the night to bring him something to eat. She was the only ray of light in this bleak land for him.

After a brief conversation with the old professor, Jiang Nian returned home. Instead of going to the brigade leader’s house to find Lu Yu, she went straight home, dug out some of Xu Cheng’s old clothes, and planned to take them to the old professor.

She had just glanced at where the old professor lived. There was only a bed sheet. Because it had frozen during the winter and hadn’t been replaced, Jiang Nian finished altering the clothes just as Lu Yu returned.

She said to Lu Yu, “I’ve altered your older brother’s clothes. I’m thinking of taking another bed sheet to the old professor. What do you think?”

She was seeking his approval since Lu Yu was also part of this household. Though she had this intention, she needed to discuss it with Lu Yu.

Lu Yu nodded and returned to the house to fetch a bed sheet. “I’ll help you take it over.”

“No…” Jiang Nian hadn’t finished her sentence before Lu Yu had already left.

Jiang Nian: …

She quickly grabbed the two altered coats and followed Lu Yu to the cowshed. After the old professor finished his meal, he sat by the stove weaving baskets. This was work assigned by the commune to earn extra work points for more rations.

When the old professor saw the two approaching, his gaze swept over Lu Yu and Jiang Nian’s faces for a few seconds. He didn’t say much else and finally fixed his eyes on the blanket Lu Yu was carrying, then glanced at the cotton clothes in Jiang Nian’s arms, his eyes suddenly turning red and hot.

Lu Yu carried the blanket into the cowshed, and Jiang Nian followed, setting down the cotton jacket and trousers. Turning to the old professor, she said, “These two pieces of clothing were worn by my departed man. I resized them. If Uncle doesn’t mind, please wear them to fend off the cold.”

The old professor’s eyes showed warmth. “Why would I mind? I should thank you both.”

Worried that Lu Yu might bring up what she had said earlier, Jiang Nian chattered incessantly like a magpie, fearing Lu Yu would interrupt. Lu Yu was somewhat surprised by Jiang Nian’s eloquence and couldn’t help but look at her more.

Jiang Nian introduced Lu Yu to the old professor. “This is my husband’s comrade, Lu Yu.”

Lu Yu nodded and exchanged a few words with the old professor. They seemed to be meeting for the first time, but they understood each other’s thoughts.

After leaving the cowshed, Jiang Nian breathed a sigh of relief.

As soon as they returned home, the brigade leader came looking for them, saying that the police had just been to the Jiang family in Tianxi Village. Aunt Zhao and Aunt Li, along with Aunt Wang, had breakfast earlier and were chatting outside when they heard the village leader’s words. They all went to the neighboring Tianxi Village with Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian entered the Jiang family’s house and saw three boxes outside the courtyard. The boxes were made of old-fashioned wood and had a historical feel to them. Cao Lan insisted that the keys were lost, but in the end, Du Ping broke the lock with a sledgehammer.

Jiang Guo and Lian Qin felt their world go dark.

Cao Lan also sat on the ground, feeling this was the end.

As Lu Yu expected, the police found money and tickets wrapped in gray cloth pieces from the largest box, all small denominations of money from this era, along with food coupons, meat coupons, cotton coupons, and several other types, all stacked thickly.

The villagers from Tianxi Village who were present gasped at the sight of the thick bundle of money and coupons, all realizing the Jiang family must be bandits. How else could they have so much money? They were lucky to have enough food to eat every year. Unless they were engaging in profiteering, this was a far more serious crime than robbing a daughter.

The Jiang family was not foolish; who dared say they made this money through profiteering?

Especially when the police displayed each ticket, each stamped with the military seal, providing solid evidence that dealt a resounding slap to the faces of the Jiang family. Cao Lan sat on the ground, feeling her world go dark, and hunched over, feeling as if she had given birth to a wolf that allied with outsiders to bully her family.

Regretting not drowning Jiang Nian in the manure pit when she was born.

With the facts in front of them, Jiang Guo and Lian Qin dared not say a word. Even if they were reluctant to part with the money and tickets, they couldn’t get them back now. Without this money, how would the Jiang family live in the future?

If they didn’t go to work in the fields to earn work points, the family wouldn’t have food to eat by the end of the year, and they would have to go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables to fill their stomachs.

For a while, people outside the Jiang family started gossiping, all saying that the Jiang family deserved it, had no shame, and were like parasites on Tianxi Village, sucking blood from their daughter. They said the Jiang family deserved such a day.

The police took the tickets and money back to the county, and asked Lu Yu, Jiang Nian, Cao Lan, and Jiang Guo to go to the station together to make statements. To downplay the matter, it was described as a family conflict, but if taken seriously, it could be seen as indirect involvement of the Jiang family leading to Jiang Nian’s near-death experience.

The Jiang family spent some of the money. In the end, they deducted from the dowry Xu Cheng’s father had given to Cao Lan to supplement Jiang Nian. The total was seven hundred, three hundred short. Some of the tickets were also used. The Jiang family agreed to reimburse Jiang Nian for these losses.

The police asked Jiang Nian whether she wanted to resolve the matter privately or continue pursuing it. Without hesitation, Jiang Nian chose to settle it privately. If the Jiang family failed to repay the remaining three hundred, they would continue pursuing it. In the end, the Jiang family gave Jiang Nian an IOU, signed by both parties and witnessed by the police.

On the way back, Cao Lan cursed Jiang Nian vehemently, and Jiang Guo even wanted to go up and hit Jiang Nian. However, seeing Lu Yu standing beside Jiang Nian, he was as motionless as a turtle.

His wrist, pinched by Lu Yu yesterday, was still bruised and painful whenever he moved it.

Jiang Nian looked at Cao Lan, whose eyes were filled with gloom, and said coldly, “It’s written on the IOU. The repayment deadline for three hundred yuan is five years. If you still haven’t paid back the three hundred in five years, I will continue pursuing it. Don’t think you can get away with it. This debt cannot be avoided.”

She knew that with the Jiang family’s ability, they couldn’t possibly come up with three hundred yuan in five years, let alone repay it. Jiang Guo was lazy, Lian Qin wasn’t much of a worker, and Jiang Hai was crippled. Cao Lan was the only one who did any real work in the household.

If they continued their stubborn ways, the whole family would end up starving.

For Jiang Nian, getting back seven hundred yuan and some tickets was already good enough. The worse off the Jiang family was, the more satisfied she felt. Over these years, she had repaid the bullying and insults the original owner suffered from the Jiang family.

Ultimately, she had to thank Lu Yu the most for all of this.

But among the victims of this incident was Lu Yu. After all, this money and these tickets belonged to him. On the way back, Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment before asking, “I didn’t pursue the Jiang family. Are you angry?”

Lu Yu glanced at her. “No.”

In fact, not pursuing it was a good thing. If Cao Lan had a criminal record, it would affect her sister-in-law’s future marriage and children’s prospects. After all, in legal terms, Cao Lan was Jiang Nian’s immediate family.

And similarly, Jiang Nian thought the same way. Hearing Lu Yu say he wasn’t angry, Jiang Nian smiled slightly, “Thank you for this time.”

Lu Yu’s brows furrowed slightly. He turned to look at Jiang Nian beside him, thinking about Jiang Nian’s future marriage and children, his brows furrowing even tighter.

“Sister-in-law.”

“Hmm?”

Jiang Nian looked up at Lu Yu. “What’s wrong?”