Jiang Ruyu couldn't resist serving herself a bowl of fish ball soup. The tender white fish balls were so delicious and chewy that she loved them. She finished the whole bowl of fish ball soup, meat and broth.
"Is it delicious? It's not hard to make, just time-consuming. I'll teach you tomorrow."
At noon, the three of them sat at the table eating a meal prepared by Jiang Hui. The fish ball soup, needless to say, had already won over Jiang Ruyu.
Jiang Hui also stir-fried sandworms, boiled mantis shrimp, and stir-fried duck eggs with chili peppers. They all looked pretty good, except the sandworms looked a bit like earthworms.
"Can this thing be eaten?" Jiang Ruyu asked doubtfully. Eating insects was a first for her.
Jiang Hui gave his sister a demonstration first: "Eat it, it's delicious, crispy, and has a great texture."
Jiang Ruyu picked up a piece, closed her eyes, and put it in her mouth. Once she started chewing, she no longer felt any discomfort. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and said, "Not bad. It tastes like eating pig intestines. It's quite delicious."
Zheng Yang didn't find it unacceptable at all; he was already enjoying his meal with rice.
After lunch, Jiang Hui quickly tidied up: "You guys rest for a bit to digest your food, then go to sleep. I have two classes this afternoon, so I'll give them the day off tomorrow. I'll show you around the island then."
"Okay, you can arrange it."
Jiang Hui chatted with them for a while before going to class. Jiang Ruyu and Jiang Ruyu were indeed quite tired. Jiang Ruyu lay down on Jiang Hui's bed and dozed off for a while. There was a single bamboo bed in the living room that was used as a sofa chair. Zheng Yang spread a quilt on it and made do with it for a bit.
They slept for more than two hours before waking up. It was already a bit hot on Jiming Island in May, but the sea breeze was very refreshing.
Jiang Ruyu stood up and went out. Zheng Yang had already gotten up and made the bed.
"Want to go out and take a look?" Zheng Yang walked over and hugged Ru Yu from behind. After this trip, the feelings between the two had become even stronger.
Jiang Ruyu liked it when Zheng Yang held her like this. In Yanjing, they lived under the watchful eyes of everyone. Although they were engaged, they couldn't cross many boundaries in their behavior, or they would be pointed at and gossiped about.
This trip was supposedly to visit her two younger brothers, but it was also an opportunity for the two of them to travel, relax, and connect with each other, thus strengthening their relationship.
"Hmm, let's go out and take a look."
The two left Jiang Hui's house and headed west. They hadn't gone far when they were met by two women who, judging from their clothes, were probably also educated youth.
Just as they were about to pass each other, one of the women spoke up familiarly: "Hello, I heard that Jiang Hui's family members have come to visit the island. You must be the ones. I am Fang Pingping, also from Yanjing. I came to Jiming Island a year earlier than Comrade Jiang Hui."
Jiang Ruyu and Zheng Yang exchanged a glance. She glanced at Fang Pingping without saying a word and said, "Hello, I'm Jiang Hui's sister. You're also from Yanjing? We're from Yangliu Hutong. Where are you from? What a coincidence."
Fang Pingping stammered somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm not from the alley, my home is in Wuli Alley."
Jiang Ruyu's eyes flashed with understanding. Five miles away, that meant she was from out of town. Judging from her appearance, her family probably wasn't well-off.
"Oh, you've come back from work? Is the person next to you also a former educated youth?" Jiang Ruyu had no interest in exposing others' shortcomings and smoothly changed the subject.
Han Ling, standing next to her, gave a polite smile: "Hello, I am Han Ling, from Chaozhou."
Seeing that they didn't seem inclined to say much, Jiang Ruyu smiled and said, "Then you all go ahead with your work, we'll just wander around."
Fang Pingping glanced warily at Han Ling, then smiled and said to Jiang Ruyu, "I don't have anything to do right now, how about I lead the way? I'm familiar with this place."
Jiang Ruyu lowered her eyes and then smiled as she declined, "No need, thank you for your kindness, we'll just take a stroll. Jiang Hui will be here soon, you guys are busy, we'll be going now."
Jiang Ruyu and Zheng Yang turned and left without waiting for Fang Pingping to say anything more. Han Ling glanced at them and then at Fang Pingping, whose face looked unpleasant, and left without saying anything.
Fang Pingping bit her lip, looking at Jiang Ruyu and the others with resentment, and then caught up with Han Ling: "I heard that Jiang Zhiqing's sister brought a lot of things. Jiang Hui has been here for almost a year, and he receives a big package every month. His family must be well-off. Don't you have any thoughts?"
Fang Pingping tentatively mentioned Jiang Hui's family background to Han Ling. In fact, she regarded Han Ling as a rival in love, simply because Han Ling was the most beautiful among the educated youth on Jiming Island. She had an extraordinary way of speaking and a good temperament. Although her family had a bad class background, her parents were both university teachers, and her father had been sent down to the countryside, she still felt inferior and jealous in front of Han Ling.
Fang Pingping's family came to Yanjing City as refugees from other places. There was only one formal worker in her family. She had five or six siblings who were crammed into a small 30-square-meter room. Her family had neither money nor connections. When they reached the age to go to the countryside, they all went.
When Jiang Hui arrived, Fang Pingping didn't pay much attention at first. She knew that he received a large package every month. In addition, Jiang Hui was tall and thin, and had a gentle temperament. In just a few months, he persuaded the village secretary and others to start a primary school and teach the children on the island to read and write.
Thanks to Jiang Hui's recommendation, Han Ling was able to become a teacher and no longer had to do farm work every day.
Han Ling listened to Fang Pingping's words without any expression: "No matter how much others have, it's still theirs. I don't care. I'll eat as much as I can earn. If you have any ideas, go tell them yourself."
Fang Pingping pursed her lips, "What are you pretending to be so high and mighty for? Heh, what could I possibly be thinking? Isn't it because Jiang Zhiqing treats you differently? You two are a perfect match, both talented and beautiful." Although these words made her uncomfortable, just looking at them, the two did indeed seem like a good match.
Han Ling stopped and said seriously to Fang Pingping, "You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Jiang Zhiqing treats everyone the same."
After saying that, she left, feeling extremely annoyed by Fang Pingping's persistent pestering her, but unable to confront her because they lived together.
Fang Pingping was thick-skinned enough that she didn't care and followed Han Ling again. Just as she was about to say something, she saw Jiang Hui walking over from the other side. Fang Pingping quickly walked past Han Ling and said with a smile, "Jiang Zhiqing, you're done with get out of class? When we came, we saw your sister and the others go to the beach, over there."
Jiang Hui smiled and nodded, "Really? Thank you, Fang Zhiqing." Then he said to Han Ling, who was looking down and not looking at him, "Han Zhiqing, you can teach the next class. I have something to do today, but I'll have to trouble you with the classes tomorrow. I'll tell the scorekeeper about the work points."
Fang Pingping's eyes were practically overflowing with jealousy.
Han Ling raised her head and said, "I understand, thank you, Jiang Zhiqing."
"You're welcome, I'll be going now."
Jiang Hui nodded and left. Fang Pingping felt a pang of sadness: "Look at him, he said it was all the same. If it's all the same, why won't he let me go to class, but let you go?"
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