Now she couldn't care less about taking advantage of the situation. She tiptoed behind from a distance, looking no different from a thief.

Xiao Yuheng knew, of course, that someone was following him. After discovering that it was the guard's mother, the villagers began to suspect something. They didn't alert her or drive her away; they just let her see as much as she wanted.

Seeing that Xiao Yuheng was going further and further astray, and that if he continued down that path he would only end up with the few people from the educated youth compound, the guard's mother's eyes lit up even more.

"Hmph, Da Yan's mother still wants to marry her daughter off to the Xiao family to become an official's wife. This is like a toad trying to eat swan meat. I'll make sure she gets a good humiliation tomorrow."

After muttering to herself, the guard's mother looked around and then changed direction, climbing up a high slope where she could see the situation at the educated youth compound clearly.

Huh? Why did he stop at the gate of Gu Zhiqing's courtyard?

Before she could even begin to imagine it, Gu An'an's figure had already appeared at the door.

"Why are you here again?"

Gu An'an had just finished showering, her hair was still a little wet, and her face was flushed with a rosy blush, which made her eyes look even darker and brighter.

At that moment, Xiao Yuheng felt his heart begin to beat faster in his chest cavity.

"My aunt asked me to bring you some dumplings. It's so late, you can cook some dumplings and eat them, then you won't have to cook anything else."

Without giving Gu An'an a chance to refuse, Xiao Yuheng stuffed a steamer of dumplings into Gu An'an's hands, "I'm going back to eat too. I'll come back to pick up the steamer tomorrow morning."

As soon as he finished speaking, he had already walked several meters away, as if he had delivered not dumplings, but a bomb that could be detonated at any moment.

"Pfft~"

When Zhou Yue came out, she saw this scene and couldn't help but laugh out loud. "An'an, to be honest, this Deputy Regiment Commander Xiao is really quite cute."

Cute? Xiao Yuheng? He was probably only considered cute when he was a little baby.

Suddenly, a chibi version of Xiao Yuheng with two pigtails sticking straight up appeared in her mind, startling her so much that she immediately shook her head to shake that unrealistic image out of her mind.

She's really crazy.

"Alright, hurry back and eat dumplings. Aren't you hungry after talking for so long?"

Zhou Yue didn't say anything more; she couldn't afford to offend her powerful backer because of a man.

The dandelion and pork dumplings, although not much meat was used, were considered quite generous for this time of year, and the two enjoyed a delicious dinner.

That night, Gu An'an had a dream in which Xiao Yuheng stared at her with affectionate eyes, making her hair stand on end. She woke up in the middle of the night in fright.

Xiao Yuheng: ...Isn't he worth it?

Unlike the cheerful atmosphere in the village, the village chief was almost furious when he saw Qin Xue and Xie Yuan.

I told you long ago not to go into the deep mountains easily, not to go into the deep mountains, but these two fools thought they had unparalleled martial arts skills and went straight into the deep mountains.

Let them cause trouble! As long as they have the ability to clean up their own mess, the village chief won't say anything.

But now... the village chief just wants to curse.

"Dashan, Chen Zhiqing, get these two onto the tractor. We need to get them to the hospital right away."

The two were very obedient, and they got to work as soon as the village chief gave the order.

"We'll help Xie Zhiqing over there. We'll leave Qin Zhiqing to you."

Zhang Zhaodi didn't really want to serve Qin Xue's princess syndrome, but Lin Qingqing and Li Yumei weren't around, so she had to do it herself.

"good."

As soon as Zhang Zhaodi entered the room, she said to Qin Xue, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), "The village chief is going to take you to the commune hospital to see about your injuries, and he asked me to help you."

Qin Xue was happy that the village chief was willing to take care of it; her leg was in excruciating pain, and if it wasn't treated, who knew what might happen in the future? But then she thought of another problem and asked, "Did the village chief say who would pay for it?"

Zhang Zhaodi was taken aback by her question for a moment, "They didn't say, you should have paid for it yourselves."

It wasn't an injury sustained while working, so it's unlikely that the village committee would pay for medical treatment. Even if the village chief agreed, the villagers wouldn't.

"Pay for it yourself?"

Thinking of her measly 80 cents, Qin Xue objected, "Then go tell the village chief I'm not watching anymore."

Zhang Zhaodi knew what she meant by those words; she just wanted to force the village to give her money. She curled her lip in disdain as she lowered her head, but her words remained as weak and kind as ever.

"Qin Xue, don't act rashly. If you don't treat this leg, you'll be the one who suffers in the future."

Qin Xue knew this principle, of course, but she had no money. If she went to the commune hospital like this, they might not even treat her. It was better to settle things now so that she wouldn't lose face in front of the commune.

"I don't care, just tell the village chief I have no money and won't go."

Zhang Zhaodi offered a few words of advice, then went outside to find Chen Jianguo.

"Brother Chen, Qin, the educated youth, said she's not going to get her legs checked anymore."

Chen Jianguo frowned, wondering what trouble Qin Xue was up to this time. "Not going to look? Is she sure?"

Zhang Zhaodi nodded, "She said she has no money and can't watch it, unless..."

"Unless what?"

Wang Dashan heard this as he helped Xie Yuan out of the house.

"Unless the village pays for her to see a doctor."

Wang Dashan laughed in exasperation, "The village is paying for her treatment? She wants to borrow money from the village?"

Honestly, Qin Xue is neither good at work nor good at being a person. The village really doesn't want to lend her money. Lending a small amount is fine, but they'll deduct work points at the end of the year. Lending a large amount is like throwing good money after bad.

If his father agrees to lend the money and then can't pay it back, the villagers will complain about the person who made the decision, which would be really troublesome.

Zhang Zhaodi wanted to shake her head, but Qin Xue, who had been watching the commotion outside, called out, "No money."

She had to pay back the money she borrowed, but where would she get the money to pay it back?

Refuse to lend it? Does she expect the village to treat her leg for free? Why should she?

At this moment, Wang Dashan's expression was beyond just looking ugly.

Sure enough, not every educated youth was as worry-free as Gu.

"Are you sure you don't want to watch? If you decide not to watch, we're leaving."

Xie Yuan, supported by Wang Dashan, remained silent throughout. He had only pushed Qin Xue out to save his own life, but if Qin Xue were to discover his presence now, trouble would surely come knocking.

Qin Xue was surprised that Wang Dashan was so stubborn and became anxious.

“I was a sent-down youth, and now that something has happened, the village chief can’t escape responsibility either. You can’t just ignore me.”

He was constantly threatening her, and Wang Dashan's face was so dark it could drip water. He stood at the door looking at Qin Xue lying on the bed.

"You said you wouldn't take me to see a doctor, it's not that we didn't want to. As for asking the village to pay for your leg treatment, that's impossible. My dad told you on your first day that the deep mountains are dangerous and you shouldn't go. You insisted on going anyway. Since it was a stupid thing you did, you should take responsibility for it. There's no reason to drag the whole village down with you."

"If you really want to go to the educated youth office to complain, then go ahead. I'll admit defeat if I try to stop you."

If he were truly intimidated by someone like Qin Xue, his father wouldn't need to be the village chief.

"you……"

Wang Dashan didn't care whether Qin Xue was happy or not, "I'll give you five seconds to think about it, five, four, three..."