"Don't say anything, I'll take it to Chen Zhiqing for you!"
Zheng Qiuwen interrupted Song Jiaojiao to continue. Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Song Jiaojiao was secretly pleased. She said, "Then you should give it to Chen Dongze in a bit. Don't forget!"
Seeing Zheng Qiuwen sit up, Song Jiaojiao clutched her stomach, pretending to be in great pain, and started walking towards the dormitory door, saying as she went:
"If you're going to help someone, you'd better watch Chen Dongze finish his meal. Otherwise, as soon as you leave, he definitely won't even touch his chopsticks."
Chen Dongze has been ill lately and has had a poor appetite, often refusing to eat. This is common knowledge in the educated youth compound.
Therefore, Zheng Qiuwen did not object to what Song Jiaojiao said. She simply hummed in agreement and indicated that she would do as Song Jiaojiao said.
After leaving the dormitory, Song Jiaojiao took a few steps, glanced back at the half-closed dormitory door, and looked towards the boys' dormitory. She tried her best to suppress the turbulent emotions in her heart, and soon arrived at the gate of the educated youth compound.
"Jiaojiao, why didn't you go to work this afternoon?"
Two women were chatting by the dirt road not far from the gate of the educated youth compound. One of them noticed Song Jiaojiao coming out of the compound, her eyes darted around, and she asked a question.
"I had a stomachache, so I asked the captain for half a day off."
Song Jiaojiao stepped closer to the two women, feigning weakness, and said, "Why do you two ladies have time to stand here?"
"Look at what you're saying! Your Aunt Guihua and Aunt Qiuxiang have plenty of able-bodied men in our families. Whether we go to work or not isn't a big deal."
Besides, we didn't work much before you went to the city to meet your parents, didn't you know that?"
One of the two women was Zhu Guihua, and the other was named Wang Qiuxiang. Wang Guihua was usually quite close to Zhu Guihua.
Just as Zhu Guihua said, whether it was her own family or Wang Qiuxiang's family, there were indeed many able-bodied men. These two only needed to take care of the housework on weekdays.
For physically demanding tasks like earning work points, the two of them basically didn't have to lift a finger.
"I...I forgot, please forgive me, aunties."
Song Jiaojiao forced an awkward smile.
"Jiaojiao, now that you've acknowledged your biological parents, how come you can't even speak properly? Listen to this, you're all so literary. What am I supposed to say to your aunt? Please forgive me, Jiaojiao, you're being way too distant!"
Zhu Guihua pursed her lips, her words dripping with sarcasm. Song Jiaojiao easily caught the sarcasm; her good mood vanished as if a bucket of cold water had been suddenly poured over her. She thought to herself, if only…
She immediately slapped Zhu Guihua twice, but reality told her she couldn't do that. She could only hold her breath, force a smile, and say, "It was my fault. I should have chatted with you in our local dialect."
Before coming into this world, she was a native of Beijing and spoke fluent Mandarin from a young age. Asking her to speak a local dialect with a rural accent is definitely not asking her a question.
Furthermore, although she is now a sent-down youth, she is still a city dweller from Beijing. Why should she speak a local dialect and lower her own standards?
"Since your stomach is upset, why don't you rest at the educated youth compound?"
Wang Qiuxiang asked Song Jiaojiao.
"I……"
Before Song Jiaojiao could finish speaking, Wang Qiuxiang interrupted her: "You're not faking illness, are you? Jiaojiao, if that's the case, then you're in the wrong. What is the purpose of the country sending you city kids to the countryside?"
You should know better than me, a country bumpkin. But you, feigning illness and shirking your duties, seem to have some kind of mental problem.
Song Jiaojiao didn't want to be labeled without her consent, so she hurriedly explained, "No, I didn't slack off. Aunt Qiuxiang, don't talk nonsense. I really have a stomachache and asked the brigade leader for half a day off to rest!"
At the same time, inside the educated youth compound, Zheng Qiuwen, carrying a bowl of stew, knocked on the door of the male educated youth's dormitory.
A moment later, the dormitory door creaked open from the inside.
"you……"
Chen Dongze saw Zheng Qiuwen standing outside the door and looked puzzled.
"This is your lunch. I brought it over for you."
As Zheng Qiuwen began to speak, Chen Dongze glanced down at the stew she was holding and then said, "I'm not hungry, you can take it away."
“You’ve been sick for seven or eight days. You can’t not eat properly. Let me bring it in for you.”
Zheng Qiuwen, carrying a bowl, walked around Chen Dongze into the male educated youth dormitory, calling out to him, "Educated youth Chen, hurry up and follow me, this stew will get cold and won't taste as good as when it's hot."
She carried a bowl of stew in one hand and two steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat, water, and flour in the other.
"The steamed buns are still warm."
Zheng Qiuwen stuffed the steamed bun into Chen Dongze's hand, then put the stew on the table and said, "I'll wait here until you finish eating so I can take the dishes to the kitchen to wash them."
"I can do it myself."
Chen Dongze's gaze lingered on Zheng Qiuwen with a slightly complicated expression. He didn't want to pay attention to her, yet he couldn't help but look at her features.
What he said was nothing more than telling Zheng Qiuwen to go out now, so that people wouldn't see them together and spread bad rumors.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Qiuwen was rather stubborn; once she made up her mind, it was hard to change it. She said, "If you want me to leave, finish your meal quickly, otherwise, I'm not going anywhere!"
Chen Dongze had no choice. He glanced at the steamed bun in his hand, then at the stew on the table, and finally had to pick up his chopsticks, take a bite of the steamed bun, and eat a bite of the stew.
To be honest, he had no appetite because his cold hadn't gotten better, but Zheng Qiuwen made it clear that she would watch him finish his meal before leaving the male educated youth dormitory. With no other choice, Chen Dongze insisted on finishing a steamed bun and leaving half a bowl of stew.
"Are you full already?"
Zheng Qiuwen frowned.
"Um."
Chen Dongze nodded.
"Eat some more."
Zheng Qiuwen offered advice.
Chen Dongze shook his head. He felt hot all over and unconsciously unbuttoned his shirt collar, but he still felt extremely hot...
"What’s wrong with you?"
Noticing that something was wrong with Chen Dongze, Zheng Qiuwen hurriedly stepped forward to ask him what was wrong. Unexpectedly, she was immediately embraced by him and kissed.
"Hmm~"
Zheng Qiuwen wanted to make a sound, but her mouth was gagged, so she couldn't.
She raised her hand to slap Chen Dongze, hoping he would let her go, but it had no effect.
Unable to break free, Zheng Qiuwen saw that Chen Dongze seemed to have lost his mind, only caring about tearing at her clothes, which frightened her so much that tears kept welling up in her eyes.
...
Outside the gate of the educated youth compound, Song Jiaojiao, estimating that it was about time, suddenly pressed her stomach and said to Zhu Guihua and Wang Qiuxiang:
"Aunt Guihua, Aunt Qiuxiang, my stomach hurts so much. You two chat, I'm going back to the educated youth compound to lie down for a while."
As soon as she finished speaking, without waiting for Zhu Guihua and the other person to respond, she started walking towards the educated youth compound.
"That girl Jiaojiao is really no match for Song Lan from Accountant Song's family."
Watching Song Jiaojiao's retreating figure, Wang Qiuxiang lowered her voice and said to Zhu Guihua:
"Not only is she cunning, but she's also heartless. Accountant Song and Da Meizi have wasted so many years raising her."
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