Tong Jiaojiao felt increasingly aggrieved as she walked, and upon seeing the female educated youth in the house, she began to embellish her account of what she had seen in the fields.

"Hey, you guys think that Yi Zhiqing is only sixteen years old, and Lin Zhiqing started seducing her and even lured her to work in her own field. She'll use any means necessary to avoid labor."

The other educated youth were unaware of the specifics and didn't know much about Lin Qingyan. Plus, they were naturally gossipy, so they believed Tong Jiaojiao's words about 80% of the time.

Chen Lu was the most clear-headed. She knew Tong Jiaojiao's character and could also sense that Lin Qingyan was a very steady and cautious person who shouldn't be so frivolous.

She warned Tong Jiaojiao: "Tong Zhiqing, you should know how important a girl's reputation is. If you don't have evidence to prove that Lin Zhiqing deliberately seduced Yi Zhiqing, then please shut your mouth. It's not just girls' reputations that matter, but men's too. We are all educated youth sent to the countryside. Don't try to ruin other people's reputations or undermine the unity among educated youth."

Tong Jiaojiao already considered Chen Lu her mortal enemy, and now that Chen Lu was speaking up for Lin Qingyan, she disliked Chen Lu even more.

She raised her chin and said to Chen Lu, "You're taking her side because you're all the same kind of people."

"Tong Zhiqing, what kind of person am I? Please explain yourself clearly."

"You know what kind of person you are. Otherwise, give Wenbin back to me."

Chen Lu originally wanted to say that she and Chen Wenbin were no longer together, but seeing Tong Jiaojiao's face, she didn't say it. However, in order to avoid causing trouble at the educated youth settlement, she didn't deliberately provoke Tong Jiaojiao.

In the field

The squad leader returned to the cotton field where Lin Qingyan was working. Thanks to Yi Zhiheng's help, only a few tasks remained unfinished.

Seeing that he was about to meet with Lin Qingyan, Yi Zhiheng walked up to her in a few steps, handed her a small bag made of cotton leaves, and then turned and left.

Lin Qingyan saw a bunch of bollworms wrapped inside the cotton leaves, and she put all the worms into a bottle.

In the end, Lin Qingyan also failed to complete the task assigned by the squad leader today.

"Uncle, I'm so sorry, even with someone's help, I was still unable to complete the task you assigned me."

“It’s alright. I wasn’t planning on you finishing an entire acre anyway. Just take what you can. But with so few work points, can you even support yourself?” He suddenly remembered Yi Zhiheng: “Was that your brother or your boyfriend just now?”

“I have nothing to do with him. Although I earn few work points, I also eat little and can support myself.”

"That's true."

The squad leader recorded four work points for Lin Qingyan and then sent her back to the educated youth settlement.

As Lin Qingyan walked along the road, it was already getting dark. As she walked, she suddenly felt as if someone was following her.

She suddenly turned around and saw Yi Zhiheng again.

The other person had their head down, and due to the lighting, she couldn't see their expression clearly.

He stopped when she stopped.

"Yi Zhiqing, are you following me on purpose?" she asked.

Yi Zhiheng turned his head to the side, neither answering nor moving his feet.

She took a breath and decided that if he wouldn't tell her, she wouldn't ask.

He took another step and continued walking forward.

Yi Zhiheng also walked forward.

At this time, Wang Qiang and Shen Tengfei had just finished get off work. When Shen Tengfei saw Lin Qingyan and Yi Zhiheng one after the other, he said to Wang Qiang, "Him, them."

"I know what you want to say. You want to say that Yi Zhiqing is following Lin Qingyan and you're afraid he'll do something to Lin Zhiqing, right?"

"Yes, yes." Shen Tengfei nodded.

Wang Qiang said, "I think Yi Zhiqing is quite honest and doesn't seem like a bad person. There might be something else between them. Let's go quickly, I need to go back and relieve myself."

He pulled Shen Tengfei along and sped up, quickly catching up with Lin Qingyan. After exchanging greetings, they disappeared in a flash.

Little did she know, there was another pair of malicious eyes watching Lin Qingyan closely nearby.

The owner of these eyes is none other than the hooligan Erlaizi.

Erlaizi spent the whole day in the field thinking about Lin Qingyan. Taking advantage of his time off work, he wanted to see if Lin Qingyan really had a boyfriend to protect her.

But the result was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

Lin Qingyan was followed by a man, but he didn't seem to be her boyfriend.

In short, as long as Lin Qingyan has someone around, he can't just rush over. But when Lin Qingyan is all alone one day, he'll... hehe, bully this gentle and weak young educated youth.

Lin Qingyan and Yi Zhiheng maintained a distance of about twenty meters from each other as they returned to the educated youth settlement.

Just then, Tong Jiaojiao came out of the restroom and saw them returning one after the other.

"It's so dark already. The two of them came back around the same time. They must have been doing something shady in the fields," she muttered to herself.

Lin Qingyan also saw her, glanced at her, and went back to her dormitory. Seeing that Du Xiaoyue had not returned yet, she sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) to rest for a while.

When Yi Zhiheng returned to his dormitory, Shen Tengfei came over.

“Yi… Yi Zhiqing, you, you and that, that, Lin…”

Seeing that he had difficulty speaking, Wang Qiang spoke for him: "Yi Zhiqing, Shen Zhiqing saw you helping Lin Zhiqing in the fields today and wants to ask if you two are dating?" Then he added: "These are not my words, I am just translating for Shen Zhiqing."

Shen Tengfei nodded.

Yi Zhiheng said, "I did not date Lin Zhiqing, so don't talk nonsense."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!