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◎The Twenty-Eighth Day of the King of Scrolls◎
Life seemed to have calmed down.
Half a month later, Shen Xinglian came home from get off work looking furious.
Jiang Wanzhou was then dragged home by her.
You can't run away!
"Hurry up, if we're any later, we might even lose everything!" Shen Xinglian's voice trembled, and her hands, which were gripping her waist, turned white.
She went to the cellar to get potatoes and immediately noticed that the wooden lock on the cellar door had been pried open, and the ten pounds of corn and a basket of eggs stored inside were all gone.
That was the food they had saved up by scrimping and saving.
Jiang Wanzhou's anger flared up instantly, her teeth grinding together: "No doubt about it, it must have been Jiang's mother, Jiang Husheng, who did it! You walk slowly behind me, don't get emotional. I'm going back first."
Jiang Wanzhou rushed to the outside of the old Jiang family's courtyard and kicked open the half-closed wooden gate.
Jiang Husheng was squatting by the stove, holding a hard-boiled egg in his hand, with egg yolk still stuck to the corner of his mouth. The burlap sack next to him was their corn!
"Jiang Husheng! You shameless thief!" Jiang Wanzhou rushed over to snatch it, but was stopped by her mother.
Jiang Husheng was startled. He swallowed the last bite of egg, wiped his mouth, and then snapped, "What are you two little brats yelling about? Who saw me steal anything from your house? These eggs were laid by my own chickens!"
"Your chickens can lay so many eggs?" Jiang Wanzhou trembled with anger, pointing at the earthenware pot, "and there are patches I embroidered on the corn sacks."
Jiang Husheng's eyes flickered, and he stubbornly said, "There are plenty of people who can embroider..."
"Nobody knows how to do this kind of embroidery!" Jiang Wanzhou's anger finally broke. "You pried open the cellar lock, and the stuff is right here with you. You still dare to deny it? This isn't over yet. We're going to the brigade leader and secretary right now to settle this!"
She pretended to pull Jiang Husheng.
Jiang Husheng said, "I'm not going. Uncle will definitely favor you. If a brigade leader can't distinguish between public and private matters, he'll be reported sooner or later."
These words made Jiang Wanzhou's face turn pale. She was so angry that she trembled all over and grabbed the firewood on the stove, ready to throw it at him.
"stop!"
A cold, clear voice suddenly rang out.
The two turned around and saw Zhou Qingyu standing at the gate of the courtyard.
His gaze swept over the mess on the ground, finally landing on Jiang Husheng, his eyes as cold as ice: "The brigade leader just said that the team lost two bags of corn and is looking for them everywhere."
Jiang Husheng's face turned deathly pale: "It wasn't me! I only have one bag here!"
"Oh?" Zhou Qingyu raised an eyebrow. "Then where did all this corn on the ground come from?"
He took two steps forward, bent down and stroked the burlap sack. "I've seen the stitching on these patches before. They were embroidered by Comrade Jiang."
Jiang Wanzhou was taken aback—the last time she sewed cloth covers for the pigsty, Zhou Qingyu happened to pass by and did take a second look.
Jiang Husheng was speechless, his eyes darting around: "What's wrong with me eating my own food?"
"From their own land? When did the Jiang family ever receive any corn, or even grow any corn?"
Jiang Husheng changed his tune: "I borrowed it from my sister."
Zhou Qingyu's voice grew even colder, "Do you need to pick locks to borrow things? Do you need to hide in the kitchen and eat secretly?" He turned to Jiang Wanzhou, "Go and call the captain over."
Upon hearing that he was to be called the team leader, Jiang Husheng's legs went weak with fear, and he knelt down with a thud: "Don't call me team leader! I'll pay! I'll pay right away!"
Jiang's mother is already looking for potential partners for him; his reputation can't be ruined!
He scrambled into the inner room, and after a while, he came out with a cloth bag containing only six eggs. "That's...that's all I had left. I couldn't resist..."
Zhou Qingyu looked at the cabinet.
Jiang Husheng reluctantly opened the package and took out ten eggs.
Finally, Jiang Husheng grabbed a hen, and only then did Jiang Wanzhou begin to speak.
That's enough.
Jiang Wanzhou took the cloth bag.
"Get lost." Zhou Qingyu coldly uttered a single word.
Jiang Husheng felt as if he had been granted a pardon and ran away as fast as he could.
After running out, he scratched the back of his head: "Why would I roll around in my own house?"
Shen Xinglian walked in at this moment.
The three of them were left alone in the courtyard, and the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.
Jiang Wanzhou handed the cloth bag to Shen Xinglian, and said to Zhou Qingyu with red eyes, "Thanks."
"It was nothing." Zhou Qingyu's gaze fell on her reddened eyes, and his Adam's apple bobbed. "Put your things away properly from now on."
"Hmm." Jiang Wanzhou lowered her head, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
She had always thought Zhou Qingyu was hard to get close to, but she never expected her to help them at a time like this.
The three walked back, and as soon as they reached the village, they saw Song Zheng standing under the old locust tree, holding a book in his hand, as if he was waiting for someone.
When he saw Jiang Wanzhou, his eyes lit up: "Comrade Jiang, it just so happens that I was looking for you."
“Song Zhiqing?” Jiang Wanzhou stopped in her tracks.
"I'd like to ask where the farm tool shed is; I forgot to return the sickle from yesterday."
Before Song Zheng could finish speaking, he noticed the cloth bag in Shen Xinglian's hand and Jiang Wanzhou's red eyes. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"It's nothing." Jiang Wanzhou shook her head, not wanting to say more.
Song Zheng frowned immediately: "Do you need my help?"
“No need, it’s already been resolved.” Zhou Qingyu suddenly spoke, her tone carrying a barely perceptible distance. “It’s their family matter.”
Song Zheng paused for a moment, looked at Zhou Qingyu, then at Jiang Wanzhou, and said nothing more. He simply told Jiang Wanzhou, "If you need any help, feel free to contact me anytime."
He handed me the book, saying, "This is 'Fundamentals of Animal Husbandry.' If you want to read it, take it."
Just as Jiang Wanzhou was about to answer, Zhou Qingyu suddenly said, "She doesn't have time."
He took a small notebook out of his canvas bag. "Jiang Weiguo asked her to compile the records of the pigsty, and it has to be handed in this afternoon."
Jiang Wanzhou was stunned; she hadn't heard of this.
Song Zheng glanced at Zhou Qingyu, then at Jiang Wanzhou, and smiled knowingly: "Then I'll head back first. Leave the book here; you can read it when you have time."
He placed the book on the stone beside him, turned and left.
Watching Song Zheng's figure disappear, Jiang Wanzhou turned to Zhou Qingyu and said, "The captain didn't say anything about keeping records."
"I'll tell you now." Zhou Qingyu's expression was very serious.
He handed her the notebook, saying, "It's not difficult. Just write down the disinfection time and the pigs' condition every day."
Jiang Wanzhou took the notebook, feeling a little awkward, but couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.
Shen Xinglian nudged her arm and whispered, "I'll go home and put my things away first."
"I'm going back too."
Shen Xinglian nudged her: "Remember to pick up Dabao from Aunt Li's."
Jiang Wanzhou nodded and followed Zhou Qingyu toward the team headquarters.
"Thank you for what you did earlier," Jiang Wanzhou couldn't help but say, her voice a little soft.
“I told you, it was no trouble at all.” Zhou Qingyu slowed her pace a little. “In the future, if you encounter something like this, don’t try to handle it yourself. Go find the captain or me.”
Jiang Wanzhou paused for a moment, then looked up at him.
Sunlight fell on his face, casting a faint shadow on his eyelashes, and his eyes seemed less cold.
She suddenly remembered the tea eggs she had brought in case she got hungry in the afternoon.
Jiang Wanzhou took one out of her pocket and stuffed it into his hand: "Here you go, a thank-you gift."
Zhou Qingyu's hand froze.
The egg, still warm from its cloth wrapping, was small and round, lying in his palm, so hot it made his heart tremble.
"Take it." Jiang Wanzhou felt a little awkward. "Otherwise, I'll always feel like I owe you a favor."
He slowly clenched his fist and softly murmured "Mmm".
The two walked to the team headquarters.
Zhou Qingyu helped her find a pen and ink, and then moved a stool to the window: "It's bright here."
Jiang Wanzhou sat down to take notes, and he stood beside her without saying a word, but he didn't leave either.
Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on the paper and his white shirt, casting a soft glow.
Jiang Wanzhou glanced at him secretly and found that he was looking at the pen in his hand with a focused gaze.
Her heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason, so she quickly lowered her head and pretended to write seriously.
Actually, she didn't see that Zhou Qingyu's gaze wasn't on the pen at all.
He was looking at her profile, at the way she frowned in thought, and at the occasional little gesture of her biting her lip.
Jiang Wanzhou finally finished compiling the records, but when she looked up, she met Zhou Qingyu's gaze.
"I...I have to go now." She grabbed her notebook and stood up in a fluster.
"Jiang Wanzhou," Zhou Qingyu called out to her.
She stopped and looked back at him.
He was still clutching the egg in his hand, his fingertips gently stroking the shell: "Get some rest."
Jiang Wanzhou was stunned; her pounding heart instantly calmed down.
She gave a wry smile, turned around and ran away.
Zhou Qingyu watched her retreating figure, then opened his hand, looked at the egg in his palm, and smiled softly.
—
Before the morning mist had even dissipated, the first wisp of smoke rose from the chimney of the educated youth settlement.
Zhou Qingyu sat on the threshold, holding a piece of cornbread in her hand, but had little appetite.
My gaze passed over the courtyard wall and landed on the path leading to the west of the village.
Everyone in the village washes their clothes there, including Jiang Wanzhou.
"Good morning, Brother Zhou." Song Zheng came out of the house carrying an enamel mug. His white shirt was still neatly ironed, except for some soot on the cuffs. "Who are you looking at?"
Zhou Qingyu withdrew her gaze and simply said "daydreaming" as a response.
Song Zheng didn't mind his coldness. He walked over and sat down next to him, taking a sip of the flour paste from the jar.
“Thanks to Jiang Wanzhou yesterday, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have finished my work by nightfall.” He took out a neatly folded handkerchief, the very one Jiang Wanzhou had returned yesterday. “She even gave me a handkerchief.”
Zhou Qingyu's gaze fell on the handkerchief.
He gripped the cornbread in his hand tightly, his fingertips turning white: "What do you mean, Song Zheng?"
“She’s an interesting girl.” Song Zheng smiled. “No wonder my brother treats her better than the Shen family girl.”
Zhou Qingyu did not respond.
"Hey, wait a minute." Song Zheng called out to him, "Are you going to town? Bring me back some snacks to go with my meal. The supply and marketing cooperative should sell them."
Zhou Qingyu paused for a moment, but didn't turn around: "I understand."
As soon as he stepped out of the educated youth settlement, he saw Jiang Wanzhou carrying a wooden basin and walking towards the river.
Shen Xinglian followed beside her, the two whispering something, their laughter ringing out.
Zhou Qingyu instinctively hid behind a tree.
"...Song Zhiqing seemed difficult to get along with, but I didn't expect her to be so polite." Shen Xinglian's voice drifted over.
"That's because you didn't see how clumsy he was these past few days weeding," Jiang Wanzhou said with a mischievous laugh.
Shen Xinglian chuckled softly: "How does it compare to Zhou Zhiqing?"
“They’re all educated youth sent to the countryside; we can’t possibly be on their level,” Jiang Wanzhou snorted. “They’re only being polite to us on the surface, but who knows how much they despise us behind our backs.”
Zhou Qingyu leaned against the tree trunk, listening to their conversation, feeling both bitter and tender inside.
[Author's Note]
Shen Xinglian: The catfish has entered the arena, and the actors are in place.
Jiang Wanzhou (patting her back): You've worked so hard!
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