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◎The King of Scrolls, Day Thirty-Two◎
The news of the engagement spread like wildfire throughout the Red Star Brigade in half a day.
As soon as Jiang Wanzhou walked to the threshing ground, Aunt Li grabbed her arm.
"Wanzhou, are you really getting engaged to Zhou, the educated youth?" Aunt Li smiled, her eyes crinkling with wrinkles. "This is wonderful news! That young man seems so mature and reliable!"
"I still have to wait for my brother to come back."
Jiang Wanzhou nodded with a blush. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the sound of a bench being overturned coming from the direction of the educated youth settlement, mixed with Song Zheng's loud voice.
"Zhou Qingyu, have you lost your mind? Marry Jiang Wanzhou? Have you forgotten what Mom said before she passed away? She told you to stay in the countryside and she'd find a way to bring you back later. And you, you're going to tie yourself to a country girl for life?"
Zhou Qingyu's voice followed closely, as cold as ice: "My marriage is none of your business."
"We're pointing fingers?" Song Zheng retorted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Don't forget we're family on the household registration! You married someone with no background in this backwater town. If word gets back to Beijing, where will you put your face?"
A family? They're actually stepbrothers?
Her mind went blank.
No wonder Song Zheng always had an inexplicable rivalry with Zhou Qingyu.
No wonder Zhou Qingyu always seemed distant when she mentioned her home in Beijing.
There are so many twists and turns hidden here.
"My life is more important than my father's reputation." Zhou Qingyu's voice was filled with suppressed anger. "Get out of my way!"
Song Zheng's voice became even shriller, "Zhou Qingyu, stop pretending to be a good person! You just can't stand my mother coming into the family, so you're deliberately looking for an opportunity to cause trouble! Going to the countryside was all on your own!"
The noise inside was still going on, but Jiang Wanzhou couldn't stand it anymore.
She turned and ran, her mind a jumbled mess.
Zhou Qingyu might go back before the college entrance examination?
Jiang Wanzhou had just crossed the stone bridge at the village entrance when she bumped into a figure wearing a military green jacket, with the words "Serve the People" printed on his canvas bag.
"Brother?" Jiang Wanzhou took a half step back in surprise. "Why are you back?"
Jiang Renzhou frowned, his dark face full of anxiety and anger: "If I don't come back, are you going to pack yourself up and send yourself to the educated youth?"
"Brother, who told you that?"
“Everyone in the village is talking about it, why should I listen to anyone?” Jiang Renzhou’s strength was astonishing, squeezing her wrist until it ached. “Have you lost your mind? What kind of people are these educated youth? They’ll be going back to the city sooner or later! You get engaged to him, and then he just leaves, leaving you with a bad reputation and living like a widow?”
“Zhou Zhiqing isn’t that kind of person!” Jiang Wanzhou shook off his hand, her eyes reddening.
"You believe everything he says?" Jiang Renzhou sneered, pulling a red booklet from his canvas bag and waving it around. "See? I've earned merit in the army and I'm about to be promoted! I'll find you a job at the supply and marketing cooperative in the county town. Isn't that better than messing around with some educated youth?"
"Brother!" Jiang Wanzhou was both angry and anxious, tears welling up in her eyes.
Jiang Renzhou stepped forward and pointed in the direction of the educated youth settlement: "He's a pampered young lady from Beijing, do you think he'd be sincere with you? I think he's just bored here and using you to relieve his boredom!"
The argument between the two attracted onlookers from the commune. Aunt Zhang squeezed in to smooth things over, saying, "Dazhou, talk it out. Wanzhou knows what she's doing..."
"Does she know what's going on?" Jiang Renzhou shook off Aunt Zhang's hand. "If she knew what's going on, she wouldn't let the whole village gossip about her! This marriage must fall through today! Otherwise, I won't acknowledge her as my sister!"
"What right do you have to tell me what to do!" Jiang Wanzhou finally couldn't hold back her tears and cried out, "I won't!"
"You've gone too far!" Jiang Renzhou raised his hand to strike.
"Comrade Jiang, don't be silly." Song Zheng added fuel to the fire from the side. "He's just arguing with his family. Once he calms down, he'll go back to the city and be a young master again. If you follow him, you'll only end up with nothing."
"Song Zheng, shut up!" Zhou Qingyu turned around and glared at him. "My business with Wanzhou is none of your concern!"
"I'm not going to interrupt?" Song Zheng glared back. "You secretly switched the ginseng Mom gave you with Comrade Shen's tonic, and now you want to marry her. You're deliberately going against me and Mom!"
"I'm the one who swapped the ginseng!" Zhou Qingyu's voice rose. "It has nothing to do with your mother."
The two were about to start arguing again when Jiang Wanzhou suddenly shouted, "Stop talking!"
She wiped away her tears and looked at Zhou Qingyu: "Zhou Qingyu, what I need is someone who can dig the ground with me and accumulate work points together, not someone who will eventually go back to the city."
"I won't leave!" Zhou Qingyu said anxiously, sweat beading on her forehead.
"That's enough." Jiang Wanzhou interrupted him, then turned to Jiang Renzhou and said, "Brother, come home with me first."
She didn't look at Zhou Qingyu again, nor did she pay attention to Song Zheng's smug gaze, and walked home with her head down.
Zhou Qingyu's voice came from behind: "Wanzhou! Believe me! I'm sincere!"
Jiang Wanzhou paused for a moment, but ultimately did not turn around.
In the courtyard, Shen Xinglian was comforting Mingyuan, who was crying from the noise outside. When she saw Jiang Wanzhou come in with red eyes, she quickly handed the child to Jiang Renzhou next to her and pulled her into the kitchen.
"What happened?"
Jiang Wanzhou squatted in front of the stove, burying her face in her knees, her shoulders trembling: "My brother doesn't agree with me being with Zhou Qingyu. Song Zheng also said that they are stepbrothers, and Zhou Qingyu will be returning to the city soon."
Shen Xinglian was also surprised, "Then why would he propose marriage?"
Jiang Wanzhou's voice was muffled, "Xingxing, do you think he's playing me? Isn't he going back to the city sooner or later?"
Shen Xinglian sighed, squatted down and patted her back: "Wanzhou, you have to think about this yourself. You've seen how Zhou Qingyu has treated you over the past six months. He shielded you from Liu Cuihua's accusations, acted as your scapegoat, and even argued with Song Zheng for you. These things can't be faked."
At this moment, Jiang Renzhou walked in, holding an enamel mug: "Have some water. I shouldn't have acted just now."
Jiang Wanzhou didn't answer or look up.
“But you have to listen to me.” Jiang Renzhou put the jar on the stove. “I asked my comrades, and it’s only a matter of time before the educated youth return to the city, especially someone like him with connections. You can’t afford to waste time with him.”
"Let me think about it some more." Jiang Wanzhou finally raised her head, her eyes red and swollen like walnuts. "Brother, let me think about it myself."
The dim, flickering kerosene lamp in the kitchen illuminated Jiang Renzhou's serious face.
He was distributing steamed buns to Shen Xinglian and Jiang Wanzhou.
"Sister-in-law, you're pregnant, eat more." Jiang Renzhou stuffed the largest white steamed bun into Shen Xinglian's hand, then turned to Jiang Wanzhou, "You're growing too, this is for you."
Jiang Wanzhou held the warm steamed bun, but had little appetite. Her mind had been a jumbled mess since yesterday.
"How long will you stay this time?" Shen Xinglian took a bite of her steamed bun and broke the silence first.
"At most half a month." Jiang Renzhou took a sip of corn porridge. "The army is pressing us hard. I came back this time firstly to see you all, and secondly to discuss something important with you."
Jiang Wanzhou's heart skipped a beat; she had a bad feeling.
“I’ve been promoted to officer in the army, so my family can come with me.” Jiang Renzhou put down his bowl and looked at Shen Xinglian. “Take Mingyuan with me. I can take care of you there, and Mingyuan can go to school for military dependents.”
Shen Xinglian was stunned, almost dropping the steamed bun in her hand: "Accompanying the army? This is too sudden."
“It’s not sudden, I’ve thought it through for a while.” Jiang Renzhou said firmly, “There’s a family compound at the base, and I’ve already asked around. It’s more spacious than here.”
Shen Xinglian looked at Jiang Wanzhou, her eyes full of hesitation: "What about my little sister?"
“She’s coming with me too.” Jiang Renzhou looked at Jiang Wanzhou. “She’s only eighteen, the age when she should be studying. She can go to night school to catch up on her studies and maybe take the civil service exam in the future. It’s better than toiling in the fields here in this village.”
The steamed bun in Jiang Wanzhou's hand had gone completely cold.
Joining the army? Leaving the Red Star Brigade?
She had never thought about this question.
This is the land she knows well, the family business she has painstakingly built up, and Zhou Qingyu.
"I'm not leaving." She raised her head, her tone soft but firm, "Brother, my roots are here, I can't leave."
"Your roots?" Jiang Renzhou frowned. "Your roots are being talked about behind your back, wasting your time with an educated youth whose future is uncertain? Little sister, wake up!"
“I’m not out of my mind.” Jiang Wanzhou’s voice rose slightly. “This is my pigsty, my half-finished new house, and…”
She didn't say anything more, but everyone knew what she wanted to say.
"Can those be eaten?" Jiang Renzhou's temper flared up again. "I can ask Uncle to find someone else to take over the pigsty, and I can sell the new house to the team. I'll save the money for you."
"As for Zhou Qingyu, just give up on that idea."
“I have already spoken to him, and he himself has admitted that he will return to the city sooner or later.”
Jiang Wanzhou suddenly looked up: "You talked to him? What did he say?"
"What else could he say?" Jiang Renzhou sneered. "He said he'd persuade his father to let you go back to Beijing with him. Do you believe that? His father would even look at a country girl like you? Don't dream about it!"
Jiang Wanzhou felt as if she had been pricked by needles, a sharp, throbbing pain in her heart.
Jiang Renzhou wanted to say something, but Shen Xinglian gave him a look, so he had no choice but to give up: "Okay, you can think about it. But the engagement banquet must be postponed. I need to talk to that guy surnamed Zhou in person."
In the evening, Jiang Wanzhou went to the river to wash clothes and saw Zhou Qingyu sitting under the old peach tree in the distance.
The setting sun cast a long, lonely shadow on him.
Clutching her clothes, she hesitated for a long time before finally turning around and going home. Some things really do require careful consideration.
At night, Jiang Wanzhou lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and rummaged through drawers and cabinets to take out the jade pendant.
It was a betrothal gift from Zhou Qingyu to her.
Moonlight streamed through the window paper, casting a soft halo on the jade pendant, like his earnest eyes as he looked at himself.
"Have I really found a scammer?"
"Zhou Qingyu, Zhou Qingyu, should I believe in myself?"
Should I believe you or not?
She murmured to herself as she looked at the jade pendant, and tears welled up in her eyes again.
Outside the window, Zhou Qingyu lay in the educated youth settlement, not asleep.
He believed he had the ability to take Jiang Wanzhou to Beijing.
But he also knew that some of the things he kept hidden would ultimately become the knife that hurt her.
Song Zheng's cough could be heard in the distance; he was clearly not asleep either.
This turmoil is only just beginning.
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