This was the first time Zou Jing had ever felt so awkward and out of place in front of a girl.
Back in the capital, countless girls chased after him, and he was used to their shy and coy manner when they spoke to him. But this girl in front of him was not only not shy, but also had a silly look on her face. She didn't care about his appearance at all, and he felt that Su Yu couldn't even tell that he looked any different from other men.
Zou Jing had never met someone so pure-hearted as to be almost foolish.
For the past six months, he had kept to himself and tried to avoid contact with the people in the educated youth compound, especially the women. He kept as far away from them as possible. Apart from Qin Xiaoxiao, who caught his eye, no one else had caught his attention. Therefore, he had not had much contact with Su Yu. In general, this was the first time the two of them had spoken in private. No, it was the first time they had spoken in the past six months.
Zou Jing gave a wry smile. Compared to Su Yu's purity, he seemed to be covered in mud, so dirty that it was unbearable to look at.
"I'm so envious!"
"Huh? What did you say? Speak louder, I didn't hear you clearly."
Su Yu blinked her adorable big eyes, bent down slightly, and leaned closer to Zou Jing to look at his downcast face.
Zou Jing was startled by Su Yu's actions. He took a step back, moved away from Su Yu, straightened up, and smiled gently, "It's nothing. It's too late. They've probably gone far by now. Don't chase after them. Go back to sleep."
Su Yu looked up at the sky and nodded. "It's dark now, so I won't go. My sister said not to go out after dark, it's easy to get into trouble. I'll go back inside and wait for my sister."
After saying that, before Zou Jing could react, Su Yu skipped back to the backyard.
Zou Jing was dumbfounded as the woman turned and left without saying goodbye.
They're leaving just like that? Without even a word?
Most people would say a few polite words before leaving, but she just walked away without a sound, as if he weren't even there.
Zou Jing shook his head and chuckled, then carried a bunch of things back to his room.
After waiting inside for a while, Zou Jing heard some noise in the yard. He opened the door and looked through the crack. He saw Qin Ye gently tidying Su Yun's hair, carefully instructing her to close the doors and windows, and finally reluctantly letting her leave.
After Su Yun returned to her room, Qin Ye's cold eyes turned to Zou Jing's room.
Zou Jing knew that Qin Ye had discovered him. He chuckled, opened the door and walked out confidently. As he passed Qin Ye, he didn't stop and gave him a wink.
Qin Ye lowered his brows and spoke softly.
"What is it?"
"Go outside and talk."
Qin Ye followed without thinking. After the two left, the door to another room opened, and Huang Yuan stood at the door looking at the closed door.
Zou Jing didn't go far, standing on the path leading from the educated youth compound to the village, waiting for Qin Ye.
"I heard something today: Huang Yuan and Zhou Ying are plotting against Qin Xiaoxiao. Be careful."
Qin Ye frowned. "What did they say?"
Zou Jing shook his head. "They didn't go into details, but I heard that Zhou Ying was in charge of the whole thing, with Huang Yuan assisting."
Qin Ye nodded. "I understand. Just one more question: why did you have to say it? You were also an educated youth. You could have chosen to keep quiet. Saying it won't do you any good."
Zou Jing smiled gently, "It's neither good nor bad. Besides, I can't stand backstabbing people. Although Qin Zhiqing is a bit spoiled, she's not a bad person. If something happens to her, I'll feel uneasy."
Qin Ye gave Zou Jing a deep look, nodded, and said, "Okay, I understand. Thank you for your help. I'll head back now."
Qin Ye didn't say anything more and turned to leave.
Zou Jing watched Qin Ye's departing figure, smiled, and returned to the educated youth compound.
After Zou Jing closed his door, Huang Yuan opened it again, peeked into Zou Jing's room through the crack, then closed the door tightly and extinguished the oil lamp.
The next morning, Qin Xiaoxiao returned to the Qin family home for breakfast as usual. After finishing her meal, she took the opportunity of washing the dishes to add two drops of spiritual spring water to the water tank. After she finished cleaning up, Qin Ye pulled her aside.
"Brother, is something wrong?"
Qin Ye looked around, then pulled Qin Xiaoxiao out of the house. "Grandma, my sister and I are going out for a walk to digest our food. We'll be back in a bit."
Grandma Qin hurriedly called out from inside the house, "Don't go far, Su Lu will be coming over in a little while."
"knew."
After saying that, Qin Ye quickly pulled Qin Xiaoxiao out of the house.
Once they reached a secluded spot, Qin Ye released Qin Xiaoxiao's wrist and said in a deep voice, "Did you know that Zhou Ying and Huang Yuan were plotting against you?"
Qin Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up. "How did you know? Did you hear them talking?"
Qin Ye shook his head. "It was Zou Zhidao who told me this last night."
Qin Xiaoxiao looked at Qin Ye with a puzzled expression, "Zou Zhiqing? You mean that guy who's a little less handsome than Su Lu?"
Qin Ye was speechless. "You all came in the same batch, and after more than half a year you still haven't figured out who's who?"
Qin Xiaoxiao shook her head, "No, I don't know who's who, I'm just confirming."
There's no need to confirm by looking at someone's face!
Now Qin Ye was certain that his sister was indeed someone who judged people by their looks.
Qin Ye rubbed his aching temples. "Alright, it's good that you know who it is. Let's continue. How do you plan to resolve the matter between Zhou Ying and Huang Yuan?"
Qin Xiaoxiao laughed upon hearing this, "What can we do? We'll deal with whatever comes our way. I'd like to see what kind of trouble they can cause."
Qin Ye said worriedly, "Don't be careless. Zhou Ying was able to pretend to have amnesia and get close to you while suppressing her hatred. This shows that she is determined and patient. If things go wrong, you might suffer a great loss."
Qin Xiaoxiao nodded, "Don't worry, I understand. I'll keep an eye on her when I get back."
Qin Ye thought for a moment, "You don't necessarily have to keep an eye on her yourself. I'll find someone to help keep an eye on her. Just be prepared at any time and don't fall for her tricks."
Qin Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes, pondered for a moment, and then nodded, saying, "That works too."
Seeing that Qin Xiaoxiao had agreed, Qin Ye quickly went to the village to find someone to help keep an eye on Zhou Ying, while Qin Xiaoxiao returned to the educated youth compound. Upon learning that Zhou Ying had gone out and was not in the compound, Qin Xiaoxiao turned around and left the educated youth compound.
After asking a few older women, Qin Xiaoxiao learned that Zhou Ying had gone to the county town early that morning, and she had a bad feeling.
Could she have gone to the county town to get drugs like Miao Feifei?
Do we really have to resort to this method? Can't we try something different?
Qin Xiaoxiao thought about it and felt that Zhou Ying was likely to make a move on the eve of the engagement. The most likely scenario was that she would lure her out, have Huang Yuan ambush her, find a place to feed her medicine, and then have someone catch them cheating.
Of course, this was only directed at her. In her opinion, she probably wanted to include Qin Ye in the scheme as well, so that the engagement banquet wouldn't have to be canceled and they could just change the groom.
It's a pity that she didn't prepare an engagement banquet for Zhou Ying at all; she'll probably be disappointed.
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