With a "whoosh," the blanket slipped down, and Rong Zhaonan was met with a blinding expanse of white in front of him.
The two of them froze at the same time.
He immediately let go, turned his back, and his ears turned slightly red: "I... didn't mean to."
Ning Yuan blushed, hurriedly pulled the blanket back, and said through gritted teeth in a low voice, "Fine... consider it something I owe you!"
Yes, she owes him!
He went all out to help Rong Zhaonan, partly because he felt guilty for owing him an eye from his previous life.
Also, because she was reborn, she knew his special identity and that he would have extraordinary opportunities in the future, and was a very powerful person.
She changed her initial decision to run away and abandon him, and instead helped him.
So that in the future, he can lend a helping hand to her when she needs it most.
Even if she told the truth, this big shot would probably still think she was spouting nonsense and superstition, trying to fool him!
Ning Yuan could only mutter, "Even if I escape their trap this time, there will be a next time. I might as well let them think they've succeeded."
She paused, then added, "I'll find a way to go back to the city after they've all returned, so they can't cause you any trouble."
Rong Zhaonan knew that the number of places for educated youth to return to the city was limited, and their household registration was forced to remain in the countryside.
The educated youth were all afraid that they would never be able to go back and would have to stay in the village for the rest of their lives, suffering hardship and toil.
So all sorts of ridiculous things happen in the struggle to grab a spot to return to the city.
But the girl in front of me...
Given his background in interrogation and investigation, he knew she hadn't told the whole truth.
He looked at Ning Yuan and said coldly and calmly, "It's good that you've figured it out."
She was deliberately getting close to him, probably because of his connections in Beijing.
No rush. If she was sent by those people to harm him, or if she has some ulterior motive, she will eventually reveal her true colors.
Ning Yuan glanced at Rong Zhaonan, feeling somewhat uneasy.
Rong Zhaonan was sent to this place and suffered a lot of persecution, so he doesn't trust people easily.
Her reason might not be enough to put him at ease.
Never mind, she never intended to harm him; he'll find out eventually.
“I need a pair of pants.” Ning Yuan coughed lightly.
Rong Zhaonan recalled the expanse of white he had seen earlier, lowered his eyes, and turned to rummage through his tattered five-drawer chest for a while.
He pulled out a pair of faded military trousers and handed them to Ning Yuan along with a hemp rope, then turned his back and stood by the window.
Ning Yuan got up and hurriedly put on the pants.
She tied her trousers with a hemp rope, struggled for a while, and rolled up the trouser legs several times before she could barely get off the ground.
I couldn't help but click my tongue in amazement. This man's legs are really long!
She glanced at Rong Zhaonan's back, which was as tall and slender as a poplar tree or a green mountain, and also carried a cold indifference that kept strangers away.
Even the torment of being dismissed from his post and sent to a cowshed could not break his spirit.
Ning Yuan hesitated for a moment: "I'll go back first. Tomorrow, we need to go to the brigade to get a letter of introduction before we can go to the county marriage office to get our marriage certificate..."
Rong Zhaonan turned to look at her and said calmly, "You should know that I can't leave the village casually."
Ning Yuan then remembered that he had been sent here for reform through labor.
Besides sweeping the cowshed and working in the fields, he also attended village study sessions and wrote reflections on his experiences in reform.
He also has to be checked frequently by the team's red armband members and cannot leave the village.
Ning Yuan then realized that she had been thinking too simply.
She rubbed her temples, only to feel a renewed pain in the back of her head: "I... I'll think of a solution tomorrow."
Fortunately, although people have started taking wedding photos in this era, they still don't need to have their photos on their marriage certificate.
Watching Ning Yuan leave in a hurry, Rong Zhaonan took off his big black-rimmed glasses.
The man's clear, cold phoenix eyes stared at her back, unfathomable.
...
When Ning Yuan returned to the educated youth settlement, Tang Zhenzhen and two other female educated youths were talking. As soon as Ning Yuan entered, they all fell silent.
The relationship between the educated youth used to be quite good. After all, they were young people who left their hometowns together to work in unfamiliar rural areas.
But ever since the quota for educated youth to return to the city was introduced, batches of people who came with them have returned to the city.
The remaining people's mentality changed; they became anxious, resentful, and fearful of being stuck in the countryside forever, unable to return to their parents in the city.
Ning Yuan had been just as attached to the job quota in her previous life, so she was afraid of ruining her reputation and affecting her return to the city.
But now that she's been reborn, she knows the mass return of educated youth to the cities has begun, so she's not in a hurry.
Ning Yuan ignored them, took the kettle, filled it with water, and prepared to go back to her room to wash herself.
Tang Zhenzhen narrowed her eyes, stood up to block her way, and looked heartbroken.
"Ning Yuan, are you crazy? How will you face people in the village after this? What if Brother Li Yan finds out you slept with a bad element who was sent down to the countryside?"
Upon hearing Li Yan's name, Ning Yuan suddenly turned to stare at Tang Zhenzhen: "Tang Zhenzhen, do you think that if you ruin me, Li Yan will take a liking to you?"
How dare this woman put on airs in front of me?
If she hadn't tricked him into going out, Wang Jianhua wouldn't have had the chance to knock her unconscious and send her to the cowshed.
Rong Zhaonan has a strong will. If they throw her to some old bachelor or rogue, her innocence will be ruined.
Tang Zhenzhen's face flushed instantly, a cold glint flashing in her eyes: "What, you're so shameless that you have to slander the revolutionary feelings of the rest of us?!"
Li Yan was the youngest brigade secretary under the commune. He was a handsome young man in his early twenties, educated, promising, and wielding considerable power.
Many female educated youths had a good impression of him.
However, he seemed to only treat Ning Yuan differently, which made Tang Zhenzhen and the others very jealous.
Huang Xuehong, with his dark, chubby face and fiery temper, jumped off the bed and spat at Ning Yuan.
"Pah! It's clearly you who's morally corrupt, sleeping with bad elements! Get out of here and don't defile our educated youth settlement!"
Ning Yuan's cold gaze swept over Tang Zhenzhen, Huang Xuehong, and another female educated youth, Qin Xiaoxia, who remained silent but whose eyes held disdain.
She said, "I suggest you don't cause me any trouble. Anyway, I can't go back to the city, and I don't mind dragging others down with me."
How incredibly foolish she must have been to consider the three of them as best friends in her past life.
When her family sent her some good food, she would even go without eating it herself just to please them.
As a result, one of them wanted to harm her, while the other two didn't even bother to ask her what had happened.
After saying that, she tossed her braid, picked up the washbasin, and went into the storage room.
The group of people looked at each other in disbelief, stunned by Ning Yuan's sudden transformation from her usual gentle, shy, and easily fooled nature.
Ning Yuan returned to her room, put down the washbasin, immediately opened her small box, and took out a small brocade bag from the deepest part of the box.
Inside was a delicate jade chili pepper, about the size of a little finger, strung on a faded red string—
This is a piece made from one of the broken pieces of a jade bracelet that was broken into three sections.
Ning Yuan sat down by the window with the jade chili pepper in her hand and breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, she retained her memories of her past life and returned to the point in time before she gave away the jade chili pepper.
She would never again give Tang Zhenzhen the only keepsake left to her by her biological parents, just like she did in her previous life.
She used this thing and ruined her life.
Ning Yuan stroked the jade chili pepper. At this time in her previous life, she didn't know that her current parents were not her biological parents.
There are four children in the family. Although the eldest brother was adopted, her parents have always treated her colder than the eldest brother.
After she was sent to the countryside, other educated youth's parents tried to help their children find a quota to return to the city, but her family ignored her completely.
In her past life, even if she hadn't been successfully framed by Tang Zhenzhen and Wang Jianhua, she would have remained alone in the village until the very end.
He became the last person in the educated youth team to return to the city.
Ning Yuan felt a mix of emotions, but suddenly she felt something coldly watching her from outside the window.
She suddenly looked up and gazed out the window—
But outside the window, there was nothing but the courtyard bathed in moonlight.
Ning Yuan frowned, thinking it was just her imagination, and carefully put the jade chili pepper away again.
She began to take off her clothes, preparing to wash her body with hot water.
Hidden on a rooftop not far from the window, a thoughtful glint flashed in Rong Zhaonan's cool eyes.
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