As they descended the mountain, light snow began to fall again, so Chen Shuning did not follow the others to the village clinic to check on Yang Wanqiu's injuries, but instead went straight back to the educated youth compound.
Although she likes to eat melons, she is even more afraid of the cold. On such a cold day, wouldn't it be nice to go home, sit on the kang (heated brick bed), drink hot milk tea, and roast sweet potatoes?
The firewood in the kitchen was almost burned out, so Chen Shuning didn't bother to open the woodshed door. Instead, he simply took the small bundle of firewood he had collected earlier into the kitchen.
I glanced at the coal I'd added to the stove before leaving; it was burning quite well, so I didn't bother with the fire.
She changed out of the dirty clothes she wore on the way up the mountain and threw them aside. It was cold now, and the clothes didn't dry easily even after washing. Although she had a washing machine and dryer in her space, it wasn't good to always wear clean clothes and not have anything to dry.
Therefore, Chen Shuning usually only washes the clothes she wears inside every day, while her outer clothes are washed only once every few days, just like everyone else's.
After changing into her loungewear and throwing all the clothes she was wearing underneath into the washing machine in the space, Chen Shuning began preparing dinner.
For a long time starting today, she will be eating alone, and Chen Shuning is really not used to this sudden change.
I wandered around the kitchen but still couldn't decide what to eat for dinner, so I took out the charcoal brazier, put on some charcoal, and was really planning to roast a winter melon or something to tide me over.
Just as Chen Shuning finished lighting the charcoal, she heard someone knocking on the door. At this hour, only a few people would knock on her door, so Chen Shuning didn't even look up and casually replied, "Come in, the door isn't locked."
Gu Xinyi went hunting in the mountains with Gao Hongyuan and Wang Zhi today, so she didn't go to the forest where everyone usually gathers firewood.
When I came down the mountain, I heard the villagers talking about how a female educated youth had been caught having an affair on the mountain and had even bumped into a tree.
After returning to the educated youth settlement, I found that most of the things were not there, so after returning the things, I came to Chen Shuning's place to find out the gossip on the mountain today.
As soon as Gu Xinyi entered the door, she asked anxiously, "Shuning, did you go into the mountains today? Have you heard that some female educated youth was caught having an affair?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Shuning laughed, thinking to herself, "You've really come to the right person. I've not just heard about it; I've seen the whole thing."
However, she was secretly watching from her spatial dimension, so she couldn't go into too much detail. Instead, she vaguely said, "I did go into the mountains today and saw Yang Wanqiu hit a tree and be carried down the mountain by Accountant Wang."
However, I arrived late, and I only heard about what happened beforehand; I don't know if it's true or not.
When Gu Xinyi heard that it was about Yang Wanqiu, she was delighted, as she already had a grudge against Yang Wanqiu. Moreover, the incident involving hitting a tree and Accountant Wang immediately piqued her interest.
He hurriedly moved a small stool and sat down next to Chen Shuning, who was fiddling with the charcoal brazier, and said with a grin, "Okay, never mind whether it's true or not, just tell me what happened."
Chen Shuning himself was a loyal gossipmonger, so he understood Gu Xinyi's feelings, especially when it came to gossip about his enemy.
So he stopped keeping her in suspense and told Gu Xinyi the version he had heard from the village aunt. However, Chen Shuning omitted the aunt's analysis, since these were personal opinions and could easily lead to rumors.
Even these gossips, which Chen Shuning edited and edited, made Gu Xinyi's eyes sparkle.
Then, with a gloating expression, she said, "She even twisted her ankle and helped her up. She's just fooling people. According to you, no one goes to that grove."
Let alone someone like her who rarely goes up the mountain, even the villagers who often go up the mountain don't go that way, right? Besides, what a coincidence that she went to the most difficult forest because she wasn't familiar with the mountain roads.
How come Accountant Wang, who is familiar with the mountain roads, also went to that area? I think if she hadn't made the difficult decision to crash into the tree, it would be strange if anyone would believe her story.
But what was Yang Wanqiu thinking? How did she end up with Accountant Wang again? He's more than ten years older than her.
Chen Shuning could probably guess some of Yang Wanqiu's thoughts; given her circumstances, her relationship with Accountant Wang was nothing more than money and profit.
If Yang Wanqiu really was reborn, then she should know that in recent years, the brigade has started to offer places to recommend workers, peasants and soldiers for university.
Keep in mind that there are still eight or nine years until the resumption of the college entrance examination, so it is clear that getting a recommendation for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University would be a shortcut for these educated youth who have been sent to the countryside.
However, Chen Shuning knew that the spots for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University were highly sought after in every brigade, so the vast majority were reserved for residents of the brigade itself.
After all, no village cadre would risk offending the villagers of their own brigade to take care of educated youth from outside, and most cadres in this era were quite upright.
Even if this quota occasionally falls to an educated youth, it's because they've already married into the village. Some of them even had their quotas withheld while they were still in town, never even reaching the brigade level.
This is why, although Chen Shuning wanted to go to university, he never considered applying for a spot at the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University.
Therefore, Chen Shuning simply regarded Yang Wanqiu's scheming and even physical attempts to please Accountant Wang as nothing more than a spectacle.
She knew the reason herself, but couldn't say it. However, she could say the reason about money. So, when faced with Gu Xinyi's question, Chen Shuning could only vaguely say, "I don't know. Maybe I've spent almost all the money I have."
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