"have no idea!"
Li Nannan rolled her eyes and retorted angrily.
Her mother had already made her bed and blankets and was about to leave. Li Nannan's father still cared for his daughter to some extent; since he couldn't win against her, he could only try to get along amicably. So he took the initiative and said...
“I didn’t notice before, let’s go out now.”
"Guanhua! What are you standing there for! Come out!"
Li's father dragged his son away, cursing and swearing. "Who dares to stare at me? Is this brat out of his mind? Be careful, Xu Zijiang will beat him up again!"
"A pervert!"
Yu Jiu hates these disgusting men who practically stare at a pretty girl; they're nauseating!
"you!"
"Nan Nan, goodbye."
Unable to bear the insults, Li Nannan threw down the clothes in her hand and was about to confront Yu Jiu again when her mother quickly pressed her hand down to stop her.
"Have you forgotten what your dad said? Nan Nan, stop messing around and stop provoking her. When you're transferred back to the city, you'll need Xu Zijiang's help. If you still want to go back, just behave yourself here. If you don't want to go back, then Mom has nothing more to say. Anyway, Mom is going back with your dad and your brother today."
"You'll have to figure out what to do from now on."
Li Nannan's mother gave her a long and earnest lecture.
They are adults, and they are used to changing their tune with the wind. Now that the situation is against them, they should admit defeat when necessary. Only fools would insist on fighting back.
But Li Nannan didn't understand this principle. She only knew that her parents didn't care about her anymore, so they told her to be patient! She put on a long face and started to throw a tantrum again, refusing to say a word until her parents left.
"Nan Nan, sigh, Mom is leaving. Take good care of yourself. If you need anything, just write to Mom."
Li Nannan's mother shook her head and left reluctantly. She really had no way to deal with her stubborn daughter!
"Waaaaah."
After her family left, Li Nannan started crying, sitting on her bed and wailing miserably. It was quite pitiful to hear. Yu Jiu, the only other person alive in the dormitory, didn't sympathize with her. It was all her own fault; who else could she blame?
She went out to find raw materials, which would be a good opportunity to replenish her little broken bowl and see if she could exchange it for something better.
"Come and scoop up some soil belonging to the Beitang Brigade, a bunch of wildflowers, and a large leaf..."
Using leftover wine as an example, they threw many natural byproducts into a small, broken bowl. Finally, the bowl gurgled and spit out a red brick. Not bad, if they spat out a few more, they could build a house.
She thought to herself with a smile, then put the red bricks away and went to look for other things. She picked a little bit of everything she saw, including cacti and unidentified small fruits. In the end, she actually managed to get two pounds of red grapes, which were big and sweet. She liked them very much!
She left some for Xu Zijiang, and washed the rest and ate it herself. When Yu Caihong came back, she saw her leisurely swinging her little feet while eating, while Li Nannan in the next bed was crying with her knees tucked in. The contrast was truly tragic.
"Grapes? Where did you get these? Give me one. What did you do to her again? Wasn't she supposed to go back to her family? Why is she still here?"
Yu Caihong casually took a grape and popped it into her mouth, then winked and asked about Li Nannan's situation.
"It's none of my business. I didn't bully her. Her parents went back home, and I don't know if they were upset or what. She wanted to go back, but she can't."
Yu Jiu gave her the rest of the food and then explained the new regulations for educated youth returning to the city.
"That's really... terrible."
Yu Caihong felt a little sorry for Li Nannan, but she didn't dare to go up and comfort her. This girl's thought process was different from ordinary people, and Yu Caihong was afraid of her. She didn't dare to advise her.
"I'm leaving."
Yu Jiu shrugged, indifferent.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Let's go to the captain's house for dinner."
Yu Jiu waved her hand defiantly and left. Anyway, even if she didn't go looking for Xu Zijiang, he would come looking for her. It was all the same. There were so many people at the educated youth settlement; his presence would only give everyone else something to watch.
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Yu Caihong clicked her tongue and shook her head, speechless.
On the other side, Xu Zijiang had already prepared the meal and was hesitating whether to call the people over to eat or take the meal to the young educated youth. In his heart, he naturally wanted the former, but he didn't want to put too much strain on the sick Yu Jiu.
Just then, Yu Jiu came over, taking small, quick steps, and asked slowly.
Would you like some grapes?
She lifted the small basket high so he could see the big, juicy, deep purple grapes inside. They looked so sweet.
Where did you get those grapes?
Xu Zijiang found it strange that someone who was sick still had the energy to run around outside.
"you guess?"
Yu Jiu raised an eyebrow, almost making a face at him, but she wouldn't tell him where it came from.
"If you don't want to tell me, just say so. Why make me guess? Eat! You're still sick and running around!"
Xu Zi pinched Yu Jiu's soft little face in an annoyed tone and pushed her to sit down and eat.
"Who said I'm not better? I'm all better now! Can't you see I'm jumping around like a madman? I can go back to work tomorrow."
Yu Jiu touched her reddened cheek and mumbled a rebuttal.
Xu Zijiang looked up at the sky. It was getting dark earlier than usual, and the hot air felt damp. He shook his head.
"It's estimated to rain tomorrow, so I might not have to go to work. Remember to bring the laundry inside tonight."
"Rain? How did you tell?"
Yu Jiu bit her lower lip in confusion, looked up a few times, and didn't feel any difference from usual.
"Intuition, experience."
Xu Zijiang spoke succinctly, placing a piece of food on Yu Jiu's plate before slowly asking a question in return.
"Do you think I'm like you? Can you even tell the difference between rice seedlings and weeds?"
Yu Jiu tilted her head, stepping on Xu Zijiang's foot while smiling sweetly and asking.
"Can you tell the difference between a slap and a fan?"
"Hmm? Is there a difference?"
Xu Zi indulged her in stepping on him, and asked a question in cooperation, though he didn't understand the meaning of that sentence.
"Oh, no difference, they'll both slap you in the face."
Yu Jiu gave a polite smile, but his voice turned cold.
Xu Zi couldn't help but chuckle and curled his lips. This young educated youth was quite good at telling corny jokes.
"Okay, okay, I was wrong. I shouldn't have teased you. Hurry up and eat, it's really going to rain later."
He had barely finished speaking when a deafening clap of thunder and flashes of lightning illuminated the entire distant mountain, startling Yu Jiu so much that his heart nearly jumped out of his chest.
"I···"
She clutched her chest, sobbing. The thunder had come so suddenly!
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, pat your head, don't be afraid."
Xu Zijiang quickly went over and hugged her to comfort her, patting her back and stroking her hair, using all the tricks adults use to coax children.
Before Yu Jiu could even calm down, there was another loud bang, followed by even bigger flashes of lightning, and then the rain started pouring down—not a drizzle, but a torrential downpour, soaking the two people who were eating in the courtyard.
"Oh no, this weather is probably more than just rain. I'll take you back to the educated youth settlement first, and I need to go check out the back mountain."
"I don't know if it's a flash flood or a landslide," Xu Zijiang suddenly thought. Little did he know, he had actually guessed right!
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