He took off his shirt in front of Yu Jiu, revealing his toned arms and firm abs. He had a wide shoulder and narrow waist, forming an inverted triangle shape. He had abs and V-lines, and his physique was so masculine that it made anyone's eyes burn.
His aura seemed to grow even hotter. Yu Jiu wasn't far away, and she felt enveloped by his aura. Yu Jiu blushed silently and turned her head away, determined to be a proper girl.
Xu Zijiang! You think I didn't see the towel hanging right next to you?! Why are you wiping your face with your clothes?! Why are you suddenly taking off your clothes?!
Yu Jiu saw through his little trick in a second, but she silently bit her red lips and didn't say a word.
Xu Zijiang didn't dare to reveal too much. He had barely taken off his clothes for two seconds when he picked up the clothes hanging on the clothesline in the yard and put them on. The whole process took no more than five seconds, a very normal and somewhat fast dressing speed. However, his arm muscles were taut as he dressed, making him look even better.
Yu Jiu, without anyone noticing, shifted her gaze back to him, looking at him with a half-smile.
"What's wrong? Aren't you going to eat? I've changed."
Xu Zi asked casually.
"It's nothing, let's eat."
Yu Jiu spread her small hands, hopped to the dining table with a smile, her beautiful eyebrows slightly raised, she licked her lips, feeling mischievous. She wanted to see what else Xu Zijiang could do, and wondered where he had learned all this nonsense.
If it were any other girl, she would have thought he was a hooligan!
However, the people here are indeed different from those in her hometown. She and Xu Zijiang eat alone together, and no one says anything when they return to the educated youth settlement after dark. It is precisely because the atmosphere and speech here, or rather in this team, are more relaxed that Yu Jiu has become increasingly bold; no one likes to be restrained.
So she can confidently be herself.
At the dinner table, Xu Zijiang was still not done. He hadn't put his clothes on properly; the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and several buttons on his chest were undone, revealing not only his collarbone but also a large expanse of his tanned chest when he bent over—truly a feast for the eyes.
Today, he and Yu Jiu were not sitting face to face, but side to side. Xu Zijiang sat to Yu Jiu's right. When picking up food, he naturally leaned forward, revealing his extremely alluring figure, while pretending to casually touch Yu Jiu's right hand with his left elbow.
Their skin touched for a second, then he reservedly moved away, turning his head to give Yu Jiu a handsome, curt smile. His rough, handsome face was full of apology, as if to say, "Oh, sorry I bumped into you. I'll be more careful next time." And then he would do it again next time.
Xu Zijiang had mastered the art of feigning indifference to lure the enemy into a trap!
Yu Jiu pretended not to know anything. She ate her food obediently, keeping her eyes straight ahead. No matter how much Xu Zijiang bent over, she pretended not to see or know anything. Occasionally, she would even praise the dish as being well-made.
After several rounds of trying, he still hadn't received a single glance from Yu Jiu. Xu Zijiang deflated, obediently eating his meal and buttoning his shirt up to its usual height. He thought he must be wrong; the young educated youth didn't like his physique. His attempt to take shortcuts using his looks was utterly shameless! The young educated youth wasn't that kind of person!
Yu Jiu glanced furtively at his sullen expression, a slight smile playing on her lips. She picked up her bowl, took a sip of soup, and hid her smirking mouth, like a little fox who had successfully pulled off a prank.
It seems that Comrade Xu Zijiang is no match for the young educated youth Yu Jiu.
"The weather has been bad these past few days, it's hot and humid, and the rainy season is almost here. In a few days, there might be heavy rain and a typhoon, and it could rain for many days in a row. The dirt roads are slippery when it rains, so be careful when you walk and don't fall."
Xu Zijiang stopped trying to seduce Yu Jiu, so he had something to say. He went on and on, giving her a lot of advice.
"Okay, sure."
Yu Jiu didn't deliberately contradict him, and nodded seriously. Then she asked about doing business on the black market.
What do you plan to sell next?
It's impossible to go to the black market to sell things every day. It affects my sleep too much and is bad for my health. A few days ago, I was rushing to sell mugwort to take advantage of the Dragon Boat Festival discounts. After that, Yu Jiu thought that going twice a week would be enough. One time would be on a day off, and the other time would be on a Wednesday, so that I would have time to rest.
"Let's sell the lotus leaf tea you mentioned. There's a fork in the road on the way to the commune. If you walk for about ten minutes, there's a lake there. Every year, a lot of lotus leaves grow there, so you can go there and pick them. Besides, when it gets hot, there will definitely be other people selling things like mung bean soup to cool you down, but no one will sell lotus leaf tea."
"If you hadn't told me this recipe, I wouldn't have known that lotus leaves could be used to make tea."
When it comes to doing business, this is Xu Zijiang's forte, he said without hesitation.
"Okay, I'll write down the recipe for you later. This lotus leaf tea isn't difficult to brew. The main thing is that the recipe is a bit special, and you can add a lot of things to make it into osmanthus-scented lotus leaf tea, hawthorn lotus leaf tea, barley lotus leaf tea, and so on."
She got this recipe from a broken bowl she had thrown in. She had thrown Yu Zhen's books in there, and this recipe came out. She found it very useful and kept it. This lotus leaf tea can clear the mind and reduce internal heat, and it's especially good to drink in the summer.
"Um."
Xu Zijiang originally wanted to tell her not to take the recipe and let her keep it, since the recipe was quite valuable. However, to prepare the ingredients, he needed to know the contents of the recipe; otherwise, the young educated youth would have to do all the work herself.
He couldn't bear to part with it. He thought, since he wouldn't embezzle it anyway, it wouldn't matter if he kept it.
The two of them finalized the matter. In the next two days, Xu Zi will prepare the materials first, then brew the tea and sell it. He also needs to prepare two large wooden buckets for holding the tea.
"By the way, should we buy a bicycle first? It would be much more convenient. Otherwise, it's so tiring to carry two full tea barrels. With a bicycle, it will be much easier to go to the commune in the future."
Yu Jiu tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suggested that the money they had earned in the past few days was not enough to buy a new bicycle, but it would be enough to buy a used one, and they wouldn't need a ticket. She just didn't know if used bicycles were easy to buy here.
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