Chapter 14 – Chatterbox Sheng Yanchuan

Nan Qiao had naturally noticed Sheng Yanchuan on the other side. Not only was his tall figure hard to miss, but also—there was something in his eyes that she couldn’t quite read.

For some reason, she felt like Sheng Yanchuan had been looking at her with a trace of displeasure lately, as if she had somehow offended him. There was anger in his gaze… and even a hint of grievance?

No way… What would he be aggrieved about? Nan Qiao began doubting her own interpretation of his expression.

But when she saw him glance at Li Zhuoran, who was standing next to her, his gaze darkened even further, which only made things more puzzling.

Nan Qiao wondered if she had misread everything. Wanting to confirm her instincts, she glanced back at Sheng Yanchuan while learning to sow seeds with Peach Blossom, when no one was looking.

This time, Sheng Yanchuan didn’t have time to avert his gaze—they locked eyes with each other directly. Caught in the act, he awkwardly looked away.

His gaze became evasive, and he gave a soft cough before burying himself back into his work. But the shallow trench he was supposed to be digging had now become a deep pit…

Nan Qiao stared at his strange behavior, completely confused.

From Nan Qiao’s point of view, she and Li Zhuoran were simply talking about sowing methods—it was a friendly exchange. She wasn’t narcissistic enough to think Sheng Yanchuan would be jealous over that. Sure, she knew she was pretty, but not to the point of assuming everyone would fall for her.

So she had no idea what was up with him. She only looked away with a slight frown and continued digging in front of her.

But while Nan Qiao thought nothing of it, what Sheng Yanchuan saw between her and Li Zhuoran was laughter, casual conversation, and a warm, close interaction.

A subtle jealousy welled up in his heart. But realizing where he stood—his own position and limitations—he felt a wave of helplessness crash down on him.

She was such a good person. It was only natural that someone would like her, pursue her… But still, it hurt.

Trying to shake it off, Sheng Yanchuan focused back on his work, though his eyes kept involuntarily drifting toward Nan Qiao.

Whether anyone else had picked up on his feelings was unclear, but Li Zhuoran—who was standing right next to Nan Qiao and always paying attention—definitely noticed.

He was a man too. He instantly understood Sheng Yanchuan’s thoughts, which was why he’d deliberately tried to make Nan Qiao laugh earlier when he saw Sheng Yanchuan looking over.

When he noticed Sheng Yanchuan’s gaze grow even darker, it only confirmed his suspicion: Sheng Yanchuan had feelings for Nan Qiao. But instead of feeling threatened, Li Zhuoran just looked down on him.

Just a rough country bumpkin, he thought disdainfully. Sure, he’s tall, but he’ll never be able to climb into real society. And he actually dares to dream about someone like Nan Qiao? Truly overreaching.

With that in mind, Li Zhuoran even shot a provocative glance at Sheng Yanchuan, as if to flaunt his closeness with Nan Qiao.

Sheng Yanchuan, who had been diligently working, saw this and was instantly engulfed in rage. His movements grew heavier and rougher with each swing of his tool.

Aunt Xiumei, who had been the village women’s director for years and was a seasoned expert in conflict resolution, noticed the subtle tension between her son and the two zhiqing right away.

In that instant, she suddenly understood why her younger son had been acting a little off lately.

But looking at Nan Qiao, she seemed a bit… clueless. Her son was probably in for some heartbreak, Aunt Xiumei thought with a sigh.

Still, as his mother, she couldn’t just watch him suffer. She spoke up to help him out, “Chuanzi, I don’t think Comrade Li knows how to do this very well. Why don’t you go over and teach him?”

“No need, Auntie. I’m learning together with Peach Blossom and Nan Qiao—it’s fine,” Li Zhuoran declined instinctively.

“Oh, come now,” Aunt Xiumei said disapprovingly. “They’re both girls. It’s not convenient for them to always be right next to you. My son can teach you—it won’t spark any gossip either.”

When Aunt Xiumei first suggested it, Sheng Yanchuan had instinctively wanted to refuse too. He wanted nothing more than to bash Li Zhuoran’s head into the dirt, and now he was expected to teach him? Dream on!

But just as he was about to reject the idea, something occurred to him—and he suddenly changed his tune.

“Alright, I’ll teach you, Comrade Li. You’re a grown man—you shouldn’t be hanging around with three young ladies all the time. There’s so much work to do, and you need to pull your weight. Don’t make the girls work harder while you just mess around,” Sheng Yanchuan fired off, nonstop.

Nan Qiao looked at him, a bit stunned. Wait, isn’t Sheng Yanchuan supposed to be the quiet type? This chatterbox behavior doesn’t suit him at all…

Unlike Nan Qiao’s surprise, Li Zhuoran was clearly unhappy. Sheng Yanchuan’s words were full of barbs, practically calling him a freeloader who only knew how to cozy up to women.

“Fine then, Comrade Sheng, you better teach me properly. Don’t hold anything back,” Li Zhuoran snapped.

“Of course,” Sheng Yanchuan replied coldly. “We’re all honest country folks. We don’t mess with shady tricks. If I say I’ll teach you, I’ll teach you thoroughly. Whether you can learn it or not… well, that depends on your talent.”

As he spoke, he picked up a tool and began walking over toward Li Zhuoran.

Nan Qiao didn’t want to get caught up in their bickering and said, “You two can start from this side. We’ll start on the other.”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned to Peach Blossom and Shen Nian and said, “Peach Blossom, Nian Nian, let’s go to the other side and leave this part to them.”

“Okay!” Shen Nian responded.

Peach Blossom nodded and picked up her small spade, following Nan Qiao to the other side of the field.

But just before she left, she shot her brother a sympathetic look…

Don’t think she was too young to understand. Ever since they came back from town, her brother had been finding every excuse to ask her about Nan Qiao.

At first, she thought he was just worried she might’ve caused trouble for the two older girls and wanted to check up on her.

But the more he asked, the more Peach Blossom realized something was off.

Whenever she talked about herself, her brother barely listened. But the moment she mentioned what Nan Qiao had done…

His eyes practically lit up like stars.

It was so obvious! And yet Nan Qiao hadn’t noticed at all—probably because she hadn’t even considered that possibility.

Still, Peach Blossom had also realized that her brother acted completely different in front of them compared to when he was around Nan Qiao.

Look at him now, putting on this serious face… No wonder he’s still single.

Rolling her eyes at her brother, she even stuck her tongue out at him before skipping quickly after Nan Qiao.

Sheng Yanchuan, who had been randomly glared at for no apparent reason, scratched his head in confusion and then turned to Li Zhuoran.

“I’ll do it once. Watch carefully,” he said coldly.

At this time, there weren’t any suitable plowing machines available. Even if there were, the village likely couldn’t afford one. So for now, the work had to be done manually.

After clearing the straw from the farmland, the soil was furrowed into long trenches. Corn seeds were scattered in and then covered with soil.

It seemed like simple work, but there were many intricacies. The seeds couldn’t be too spread out or too clustered, and the soil covering them couldn’t be too loose either.

For someone like Li Zhuoran, a complete novice, getting the right balance was really difficult.

Sure enough… he got another sarcastic comment from Sheng Yanchuan.

“Comrade Li, what’s with your dainty touch? Afraid you’ll scare the corn seeds?”

Li Zhuoran: …He really wanted to punch this guy. If you don’t want to teach, then don’t—why the sarcasm? Talk about finding the right balance. What was the right balance supposed to be anyway? If he was too gentle, he was told he’d scare the seeds. If he applied too much force, he was told he’d kill them…

Whatever he did, it was wrong in this guy’s eyes…

Still, grumbling internally was one thing—he had no choice but to keep working and learning. After all, whether he did this job well or not directly affected whether he’d have enough to eat in the future.

Even though his family sent him money and coupons every month, he was an adult now—he couldn’t rely on them forever.

He had his pride too, okay?

So under Sheng Yanchuan’s increasingly sarcastic “encouragement,” Li Zhuoran worked even harder.

Watching Li Zhuoran putting effort into learning without talking back, Sheng Yanchuan was a little surprised.

Seems like this guy does have a few redeeming qualities, he thought begrudgingly. But the moment he saw Li Zhuoran getting close to Nan Qiao again, he ground his teeth in frustration.

Once he saw that Li Zhuoran had gotten the hang of the work and was no longer chatting with Nan Qiao, Sheng Yanchuan said coolly, “Comrade Li, you keep at it. Try to do more and help out the two lady comrades.”

Then he turned and walked away toward his own patch of land to get back to work.

Standing there and watching Sheng Yanchuan’s retreating figure, Li Zhuoran—for the first time—felt a wave of powerlessness. All he did was tease him a little… did he really have to go that far?

On the other side, Nan Qiao had become much more proficient under Peach Blossom’s guidance. But even with gloves, after just this short while, her arms were sore and tired, and her hands burned from pain.

She straightened up and stretched her back, looked up at the blazing sun overhead, and couldn’t help but feel a bit disheartened. When will these days ever end?

Just as she straightened up, she saw Shen Nian on the other side standing with her hands on her hips and staring at the sky. The sight made Nan Qiao chuckle. The two of them exchanged a glance, smiled silently, then bent down to continue their work.

It wasn’t until the lunch bell rang that Nan Qiao braced her aching back and stood up from the dark, fertile soil.

Even after just one morning, the skin at the back of her neck—exposed to the sun—already felt like it was burning.

“Qiao Qiao, let’s go home. I’m exhausted—I just want to collapse into bed,” Shen Nian said as she trudged over, dragging her tired body.

“Nian Nian, can you check the back of my neck? I think I might have gotten sunburned,” Nan Qiao said, gently touching the nape of her neck. The friction from the collar made the pain even worse.

“Where? Does it hurt a lot?” Shen Nian asked while examining her.

Nan Qiao nodded. “Yeah, maybe I got too much sun.”

“Nian Nian, your neck’s a little red from the sun. When we get back, I’ll fetch some well water to cool it for you.”

“Alright, let’s head back then.” Nan Qiao adjusted her collar slightly, picked up her tools, and started walking home.

When we get back, I should check if there’s any aloe or cucumber left. I could use it for a compress.

And this was after she had already applied sunscreen before leaving in the morning. If she hadn’t, half a day of work like this would have left her skin completely blistered.

“Comrade Nan, why don’t you come eat at our house for lunch? You’ll get to eat earlier and rest a bit. If you go home and start cooking now, who knows how long that’ll take?” Aunt Xiumei offered.

“No need, Auntie Xiumei. We’ll just cook something simple at home. There’s still food left from yesterday—just need to heat it up,” Nan Qiao replied while heading out with Shen Nian.

After working under this hot sun all morning, they didn’t have much of an appetite. She was thinking of cooking some noodles and making a cold dish for lunch.

“Alright then, it’s up to you. If you need anything, just come find me,” Aunt Xiumei said as she left with Peach Blossom and Sheng Yanchuan.

After such a morning of work, even those used to farm labor were tired, let alone delicate city girls like Nan Qiao and the others.

If it weren’t for the fact that she still had a house full of people to feed, Aunt Xiumei wouldn’t have wanted to cook either.

As they exchanged a few final words and headed off, most of the villagers had already gone home. At noon, time was tight, and everyone was exhausted. Even the most gossipy aunties had no energy left to chitchat or watch for drama.

Besides, all the cooking had to be done by the women of the house. If they wasted time here and their husbands got home to no food, they’d be the ones scrambling.

So once the bell rang, everyone hurried home.

Meanwhile, Nan Qiao and Shen Nian walked home together, discussing what to eat for lunch.

“Qiao Qiao, we’re already this tired, and we still have to cook after every shift? Seriously?” Shen Nian grumbled, dragging her tools behind her, completely dejected.

“Let’s try cooking extra in the evening, then just reheat it the next day. Or we can make some steamed buns or mantou in advance,” Nan Qiao suggested. She was already thinking about making some preserved meat sauces or pickled vegetables that could last longer.

That way, they could just eat those with mantou or buns—it’d be simple and save time. Otherwise, cooking every single day after labor would be unbearable even for her.

She did have some ready-made food in her space, but she couldn’t just hide in her room eating by herself all the time. Shen Nian would definitely notice and freak out.

No normal girl could survive without eating, after all. So, cooking wasn’t something she could completely avoid.

“Then next time we get a break, let’s go to town and buy some meat and preserved meat seasonings. But what are we eating today?” Shen Nian asked with a sigh.

They were used to eating the meals their moms prepared back home. Now, being expected to cook for themselves was really disheartening.

“How about noodles with cold sauce? It’s refreshing in this weather,” Nan Qiao suggested.

“Yes! Great idea! I’ll start the little stove, and our small pot should be enough for both of us,” Shen Nian said excitedly. Hearing Nan Qiao take the lead lifted her mood instantly. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle the work—she just needed someone to take charge.

As long as someone made the plan, she was happy to follow. That suited her just fine.

Sure enough, just moments ago she had been dragging her feet, utterly drained. But now, as soon as they got home, Shen Nian dropped her things and happily skipped over to light the stove and gather firewood.