Chapter 13
13.
Cheng Lingjun came to pick up Li Guang to go home. On the way, he passed by the rice paddies of Village Chief Rui's house and saw someone still working hard.
Well, it wasn't entirely by chance. Of course, it's not impossible to take this route to Liu Niangzi's house; it's just a slight detour, so it's still fair to say it was on the way.
He simply noticed someone working in the field and happened to see that person was his neighbor across the street, Guan Yue.
Guan Yue looked like she had been working for a long time; her clothes were soaked with sweat, and a few beads of sweat hung down her temples, but she didn't even notice them and didn't have time to wipe them away.
Cheng Lingjun could see her, but she couldn't see him.
Cheng Lingjun stayed out of Guan Yue's sight; he didn't want to disturb her.
He hadn't seen Guan Yue much these past few days and didn't know how she cooked while she had amnesia, but she didn't seem to want to contact him again, so she must have found a way to solve the problem of food.
However, Cheng Lingjun saw two buckets of water in front of his house again a couple of days ago. This was not the first time he had seen these two buckets of water. They would appear in front of his house every two or three days, and just as he was about to go out to pick up Li Guang, the other party seemed to know his whereabouts very well.
Cheng Lingjun silently poured the water into his own water tank and put the empty bucket back in its original place. When he picked up Li Guang, the bucket was gone. It seemed that the owner of the bucket was secretly watching the water's movements.
Without much hesitation, Cheng Lingjun was certain that the water belonged to Guan Yue.
He considered asking Guan Yue, but hesitated. Since Guan Yue left the water at his door without showing herself, it meant she didn't want to see him. But why?
He had some guesses in his heart, but he couldn't verify them. He also couldn't tell Li Guang, who didn't even know about these things. Guan Yue delivered the water in a very clever way, completely avoiding Li Guang, as if she was afraid that even a child would overthink it.
Even Cheng Lingjun couldn't understand Guan Yue's meticulous approach. It wasn't just a change of personality; it was as if she had become a completely different person.
He watched from outside the rice paddy for a long time and saw that Guan Yue's movements were really clumsy, not nearly as agile and quick as Village Chief Rui's, but she didn't stop and worked just as she said, not afraid of hardship or fatigue.
Rui Xi turned around and happened to see him—Cheng Lingjun was avoiding Guan Yue's gaze, but he couldn't avoid Village Chief Rui's. She saw him right away. Just as she was about to speak, Cheng Lingjun quickly shook his head, indicating that he was just passing by. After shaking his head, he turned and walked away.
He naturally headed towards Lady Liu's house. Rui Xi watched his retreating figure, then turned to look at Guan Yue. Guan Yue looked up, wiped the sweat from her face, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Rui Xi looked at her strangely, and Guan Yue, not understanding, called out again, "Village Chief?"
"It's nothing," Rui Xi lowered her head and chopped two rice stalks, then looked at Guan Yue and said, "Are you... very familiar with Xiao Cheng?"
"Hmm?" Guan Yue raised an eyebrow. "It's... just average, what's wrong?"
“Then he…” Rui Xi wanted to ask him why he secretly came to see you, but she swallowed her words and only said, “I saw that he spoke up for you earlier, so I thought you two had a good relationship.”
"Ahem," Guan Yue's eyes darted around, "No, he's a good person, anyone would help him, right?"
Rui Xi could tell that she was unwilling to talk about Cheng Lingjun, and guessed that something else must have happened between them, but she just didn't want to talk about it. As the village chief, Rui Xi had seen all kinds of people. She only needed to look at a person to make a general judgment. This Guan Yue was completely different from her previous appearance.
The Guan Yue of today is completely different from the sleazy, roguish person she used to be. She looks calm, quiet, and even diligent and resilient. These seemingly unrelated qualities have somehow become part of her.
After seeing Guan Yue that day, Rui Xi thought it was her imagination. But seeing her again today, she had to admit it wasn't. Yet, Rui Xi still couldn't believe it—could this person really be Guan Yue?
Therefore, when she saw Guan Yue's clumsy movements in harvesting rice, she did not remind her. She deliberately wanted Guan Yue to give up, but Guan Yue did not complain at all. She even knew to observe her movements. This child's nature was so calm. And now she had been working for almost two hours, and she had not heard Guan Yue say that she wanted to rest.
She didn't want to rest, but Rui Xi did. After all, she was getting old and had to accept that she was getting on in years.
Just as Rui Xi was about to speak, she heard a rumbling sound from her stomach.
"Gurgle."
The voice was so close that Rui Xi couldn't ignore it. She turned her head and saw that Guan Yue had already lowered her head.
"Are you hungry?" Rui Xi asked.
“Uh…uh uh,” Guan Yue tilted her head back and imitated a goose’s call, “It is a little bit.”
After she finished speaking, her stomach started growling loudly again.
Guan Yue clutched her stomach. Actually, she had been hungry for a long time, but she didn't dare to say so. The village chief hadn't let her rest or eat, so she didn't dare to mention it. Now, even though she didn't say anything, her stomach spoke for her.
“Heh,” Rui Xi patted the dirt off her clothes, walked to the edge of the field, and said, “Go back and eat if you’re hungry.”
“Okay,” Guan Yue said, “I’ll come back and continue working after I finish eating.”
"Hmm," Rui Xi turned around and saw that Guan Yue had already placed the sickle beside her. Her open palm was covered with red marks, and she was afraid she would get blisters tomorrow.
Rui Xi remained calm and said, "I'll lend you the knife first, no rush to return it."
Guan Yue was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Okay, thank you, village chief."
Guan Yue watched the village chief slowly walk away, then looked back at their spoils for the day. On the left was a pile of the village chief's stuff, and on the right was hers. Clearly, she had completely defeated the village chief. Although the village chief was older than her, he was quite strong and could keep up with a young person like her for as long as he did, and even outperformed her. Guan Yue had to admire him.
Guan Yue wasn't particularly frustrated. She knew her own abilities were limited, and she knew she couldn't do very well. She just hadn't expected Village Chief Rui to be so capable and vigorous despite his age.
Guan Yue patted the dirt off her body, but her feet were covered in mud. She didn't bother to scrape it off, so she just sat down casually by the edge of the field, took off her shoes, and patted them for a while. When she saw that the soles weren't so dirty anymore, she slowly got up.
It was exhausting. Guan Yue leaned against the sickle, the wind blowing through her thin, old trousers. She felt covered in dust and dirt, just like a typical farmer.
She walked slowly, having exhausted herself and her mind was blank. She was simply enjoying the pleasure of relaxation. Many people were heading back at this time, and the villagers looked at her as if they had seen a ghost.
Guan Yue didn't care what they thought or said. She felt that she was now living an upright life and didn't need to be afraid of anyone's gaze. Before, she had felt lost and confused when she first came to this world, but now she had adapted a lot. Anyway, she was a loner and didn't need to force herself to integrate into the crowd.
Compared to dealing with people she barely knows, Guan Yue is relatively calm with both strangers and acquaintances.
The villagers here are all strangers to her, and Guan Yue basically doesn't interact with them, so her social anxiety hasn't manifested yet.
Guan Yue returned to her home, threw the sickle beside the stove, and bent down to pick up firewood.
hiss……
As the rough firewood touched her palm, Guan Yue secretly gasped. She had never thought of her body as delicate, but now she realized that her body hadn't done much farm work, especially not for so long. Even though she was mentally prepared, she still couldn't withstand the wear and tear from this high-intensity physical labor.
Guan Yue didn't care about the soreness in her body. She knew the capabilities of her body. As long as she rested well, she wouldn't have much discomfort tomorrow. But the injury to her palm was hard to say.
Guan Yue frowned as she looked at her hands. She went back and got a tattered piece of clothing that she could no longer wear. She tore the clothing into strips and wrapped them around her hands so that it wouldn't hurt so much when she picked things up.
She gathered the firewood, and there were still some sawdust left over from yesterday in the stove. She used a flint to start a fire and carefully put the firewood in.
She has learned how to start a fire in the past few days; it's not a difficult task—after she found two flint and steel.
The two flints were covered by the ashes in the stove. It's possible that the original owner rarely cooked, so he just threw them away carelessly. Guan Yue originally only wanted to clean up the accumulated ashes, but unexpectedly, he found two strange stones.
She tried for a long time before she succeeded. She used the sparks from the flint to ignite the sawdust and hay, then added firewood, and the fire was lit.
With fire, Guan Yue breathed a sigh of relief. Her biggest headache was solved without her having to ask anyone else. She could use the fire to boil water, and most importantly, she could cook.
Guan Yue has been searching for something to eat these past few days. After all, she can't always eat wild fruits and mushrooms that may or may not be poisonous. Ever since she stumbled upon the rabbit, Guan Yue hasn't eaten any meat. With no rice and no meat to eat, her stomach is really suffering.
But when people are in the most difficult times, they always find a way. Guan Yue thought of hunting birds and fishing. She used the slingshot and net she found at home to go hunting. She was not used to using the slingshot, and the birds were so high and fast that she could not touch a single bird feather. She could only settle for touching bird eggs. The success rate was not high either, but after falling many times, she still managed to touch a few eggs.
Fishing is easier, though. Guan Yue is tall and can go deeper into the river. She can lower the net, wait for the right moment, and scoop up the fish. But it's not easy either, because the fish are agile and slippery, and they'll run away at the slightest noise. Fortunately, she has plenty of time and patience. She can spend a whole morning like this and always catch one.
Now that we have the meat, how to cook it is a new problem.
Guan Yue only knew how to put them in a pot and boil them all together. There was no oil in her room, so she could only boil them in water. After searching for a long time, she finally found a little salt. After cooking them, she put them in her mouth and almost burst into tears.
She misses all kinds of modern condiments, she misses cilantro, she misses the all-powerful Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, and what she misses most is having a phone that can order takeout.
Looking at the fish lying dead in the pot, Guan Yue lamented that the fish had met with bad luck. She thought that if she had known, she should have given it to Cheng Lingjun, who knows, he might have shared half with her after cooking it.
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