People who eat melon are in 70 - Chapter 16

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei exchanged a glance and quickly walked inside. Zhao Yonglan was standing in the kitchen, holding her lunchbox and chopsticks.

Aside from Zhao Rongguang, who had gone out again, everyone from the youth station had gathered here.

Li Yunying and Wang Shanxi, who were in charge of the male and female youths, frowned simultaneously.

They were among the first batch of educated youth in Liushu Valley. When they went to the countryside, the youth station hadn’t been built yet, so the team leader sent them to live temporarily with local families. This temporary arrangement lasted only a month.

However, that one month left an unforgettable impression on them for the rest of their lives.

The locals weren’t necessarily bad, but for someone young and without any connections coming here, there was always a sense of disdain, especially considering that they could receive their food rations before the autumn harvest. This always made some people uncomfortable.

As a result, being bullied, isolated, and mocked became their norm.

Li Yunying and the family she was paired with have not spoken to each other since, while Wang Shanxi’s relationship was somewhat better, but only to the extent of greeting each other when they met.

Wang Shanxi said, “You need to think this through. Once you’re allocated elsewhere, you can’t come back.”

The youth station wasn’t a charity. It wasn’t as simple as pairing up and then splitting up whenever you wanted. Wang Shanxi had a somewhat accommodating nature, but he also had principles.

He wouldn’t accept those who voluntarily abandoned their group back again. They could guess why Zhao Yonglan wanted to pair up with the locals—wasn’t it because she was unhappy with picking up firewood?

But she didn’t know how to cook and was unwilling to learn. She also didn’t want to help with the home vegetable plot after work. Did she expect to be fed without picking up firewood? They weren’t her parents; why should they indulge her?

Zhou Zhenfeng stood in the crowd, looking at Zhao Yonglan with an expression of undisguised hostility.

Zhou Zhenfeng wasn’t young anymore. Watching his peers around him settle down and get married, and with his younger brother getting married last month, Zhou Zhenfeng felt he needed to get married too, especially since returning to the city seemed hopeless.

He had good relationships with several female educated youths, and there were also young village girls who admired him. However, he had high standards and wanted to find a girl from a good family with good looks.

When Jiang Yutao and the others arrived, Zhou Zhenfeng was immediately attracted to Jiang Yutao, whose looks were second only to Gu Nianwei’s, and who was younger and looked pitiful, which made her seem easy to bully. However, just as he was starting to test his chances, Jiang Yutao rejected him outright.

Before he could regroup, he learned about Zhao Yonglan’s family background and immediately shifted his focus. Although Zhao Yonglan was a bit dull and not as good-looking as Jiang Yutao, her family background made up for everything.

Recalling how he had persuaded Zhao Yonglan at noon, saying sweet things and how she had thanked him, Zhou Zhenfeng clenched his fists.

Women’s words are deceitful. Zhao Yonglan hadn’t mentioned wanting to team up with others!

Zhao Yonglan didn’t take Wang Shanxi’s words to heart: “Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t come back to eat with you again.”

Zhao Yonglan wasn’t foolish. The family she teamed up with was the village secretary’s household, one of the richest in Liushu Valley. Their son and grandson were high school students in the county, and the eldest grandson even had a job in the county.

She wasn’t counting on their food supplies.

Teaming up with the Su family only required a small amount of money for vegetables, firewood, and water each month; she brought her own food supplies. As for other things, she would eat whatever the village secretary’s family ate.

Zhao Yonglan figured that no matter how well-off the village secretary’s family was, their food wouldn’t be worse than what the educated youth had.

After Zhao Yonglan finished speaking, she left with her lunchbox, walking with her back straight. Even though she was going to the village secretary’s house, she marched out with an imposing air.

The kitchen fell silent for a while.

Finally, Jiang Yutao said, “It’s my turn to cook, everyone must be hungry, right?”

“I’ll help you,” Gu Nianwei said, rolling up her sleeves, and Li Yunying added, “I’ll go pick some vegetables.”

With the three of them working together, the meal was prepared quickly and well. With one person missing, there was more space at the table, and no one felt uncomfortable.

Zhang Huihui and Liu Yingjun even had slight smiles on their faces.

Zhao Yonglan always took slightly less food, and if she couldn’t fill up, she’d ask them for more. If they didn’t give it to her one or two times, it was fine, but if they never gave it, she would definitely write a letter to complain.

Now that Zhao Yonglan had gone to team up with the villagers, their food supply could be secured. Who wouldn’t be pleased with that?

After finishing the meal and lying down in the dormitory, Zhao Yonglan came in not long after. She had a faint smile on her face, clearly satisfied with the noon meal.

She looked at everyone lying on the Kang and casually mentioned the menu for lunch at the Su family’s house.

Stir-fried shredded potatoes, stewed cabbage, and tomato egg soup—plentiful, filling, and delicious. Most importantly, she didn’t have to pick up firewood.
That boastful tone was quite annoying.

Li Yunying said, “It’s your first day there, so of course, the Su family will prepare some special dishes. If after a few more days, the meals are still the same, then come back and tell us. Now, it’s getting late, and we still have to work this afternoon. Go to sleep quickly.”

Even butchers know they need to fatten up the pigs before slaughtering them; how are Zhao Yonglan and the others any different in the eyes of that family?

Besides, what’s so impressive about stir-fried shredded potatoes, stewed cabbage, and tomato egg soup? What kind of fine dishes are these? Apart from the absence of egg soup, aren’t these the same things they eat at the educated youth station every day?

What’s there to boast about?

Zhao Yonglan didn’t get the reaction she wanted and was a bit unhappy, but she still kept quiet because countless previous experiences had shown her that throwing a tantrum didn’t help. She wasn’t going to waste her energy on that.

The dormitory fell silent, and Jiang Yutao finally took the time to check the system.

She first looked at her backpack—fruit, candy, meat buns, and sunflower seeds were all neatly packed inside. Then she opened the mall to check the balance; the “1” in the top right corner was particularly pleasing to the eye.

The unnamed anxiety Jiang Yutao had been feeling over time had unwittingly dissipated a bit.

With 1 melon coin, how far could 10 melon coins be?

Jiang Yutao closed the system mall and opened the bookshelf. On the shelf, the book belonging to Gu Nianwei had a new white frame around it, with a progress bar that was barely visible to the naked eye.

Jiang Yutao called the system, and the Melon-eating System immediately came online.

It hadn’t been blocked since this morning, which was very unusual for the Melon-eating System. It was not used to this and was always on edge, constantly waiting for its host’s summons.

Jiang Yutao didn’t think much of it, as the system had always responded promptly before.

Jiang Yutao asked the Melon-eating System: [What does “awakening progress” mean?]

The Melon-eating System responded with a jolt: [The system performs calculations whenever it detects the collapse of various small worlds. In this world belonging to Gu Nianwei, the system has calculated countless times. No matter how Gu Nianwei is with Lin Jianzhong, the result is always the same. After research and discussion, it was decided to solve the problem from the root, ensuring that Gu Nianwei and Lin Jianzhong become a CP.]

Jiang Yutao thought the Melon-eating System was quite trendy, knowing even about CPs.

The Melon-eating System continued: [The will of a small world has a certain degree of control over the main characters, which the system cannot interfere with.]

Jiang Yutao understood the Melon-eating System’s explanation, which aligned with her own thoughts: [So, after Gu Nianwei’s awakening, will it cause any harm to her?]

The Melon-eating System replied: [No. Once the small world merges with this world, its consciousness cannot override the consciousness of this world.]

Jiang Yutao understood. It was like a strong dragon not being able to overpower a local snake; even a branch manager must respect the head office’s leadership. As long as Gu Nianwei’s awakening didn’t harm her body, Jiang Yutao was satisfied: [Alright, I understand. You may rest.]

Melon-eating System: ….. [Understood.]

Jiang Yutao chuckled, suddenly finding the Melon-eating System quite endearing.

In the afternoon, discussions among the workers increased. The villagers were all talking about the Lin family.

After discussing the Lin family, Xu Dazui and Aunt Zhang Er, as well as fourth Aunt Jiang, turned their attention to Jiang Yutao and Zhao Yonglan teaming up with the village secretary.

Fourth Aunt Jiang’s family was a neighbor of the village secretary’s family. She said to Jiang Yutao: “That Zhao educated youth is quite bold, actually daring to team up with the village secretary’s family. Zhu Yuemei is not a good person. If she teams up with them, she might be completely taken advantage of.”

The village secretary’s family was indeed one of the wealthier families in the village, but their situation was complicated.

The village secretary’s wife, Zhu Yuemei, did not get along with her eldest daughter-in-law, Sun Xiaoyuan. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were constantly clashing at home, yet they were united on matters beneficial to the family. Moreover, Zhu Yuemei was very fond of taking small advantages, and the villagers would rather avoid her family.

Yet Zhao Yonglan had walked right into it.

“That’s right, this Zhao educated youth is quite naive. The village secretary’s family has two eligible young men. Isn’t she afraid of getting into trouble?”

Jiang Yutao interjected at the right moment: “But wasn’t one of them about to get married?”

Xu Dazui and the others were used to Jiang Yutao joining in during gossip sessions. Aunt Zhang Er laughed at Jiang Yutao’s naivety: “You don’t understand how the world works. Marriage doesn’t matter. If a man wants to take advantage of a woman, marriage doesn’t make any difference. Just look at Widow Liu at the edge of our village—how many married men pass by her house every day!”

Jiang Yutao knew Widow Liu. She had seen her from a distance several times. Widow Liu became a widow without having any children, and over the years, neither her in-laws nor her family allowed her to remarry. After some time, she gave up on the idea of remarrying. Ten years ago, she caused a commotion, moved out of her in-laws’ home, and built a two-room house at the edge of the village. She had never lacked male company since then.

Her mother-in-law had tried to interfere, but it was futile; Widow Liu continued to live her life as she pleased.

People loved discussing such colorful matters. Xu Dazui whispered: “Last night, when I got up, I saw someone coming out of Liu Widow’s house. From the figure, it looked like Lin Laozhuang.”

This revelation stirred up quite a reaction; Fourth Aunt Jiang and Aunt Zhang Er were shocked.

Jiang Yutao moved closer to Xu Dazui, brushing the dirt off her hands and taking out some melon seeds from her pocket to share with Fourth Aunt Jiang and Aunt Zhang Er.

Fourth Aunt Jiang gave Jiang Yutao an appreciative look and started munching on the melon seeds.

Aunt Zhang Er spat out the melon seed shells, a bit incredulous: “No way, Lin Laozhuangis such an honest person. Zhao Chunhua keeps such a tight rein on him. Does he really have these kinds of intentions?”

Many men from the village had visited Widow Liu. Aunt Zhang Er’s husband had also gone a few times. After Aunt Zhang Er found out, she gave him a good beating, and he hasn’t dared to engage in such behavior since.

Fourth Aunt Jiang’s husband was still a regular at Widow Liu’s house. However, her heart had long been broken by her husband. After they had a daughter, they lived separately. Her husband could find other women as he pleased, and Fourth Aunt Jiang didn’t care. She had also had a lover in the past, but after getting older, she ended that relationship.

Xu Dazui had a good relationship with her husband, and they had never had a serious argument.

Fourth Aunt Jiang said: “You don’t understand. The stricter a man is controlled, the more he wants to break free. Zhao Chunhua keeps Lin Laozhuang under such tight control; anyone would feel frustrated for him. It’s quite normal for him to seek companionship outside!”

“ Widow Liu, despite everything, is truly gentle.” After not caring about men anymore, Fourth Aunt Jiang felt she had elevated herself and could remain calm about Widow Liu, who had been involved with her husband.

Aunt Zhang Er had not reached Fourth Aunt Jiang’s level of acceptance and disliked Widow Liu intensely: “She’s not afraid of getting sick.”

Xu Dazui quoted a line from a play: “Dying under the peony flower, even as a ghost, remains a romantic.”

The three of them exchanged glances and laughed lewdly.

Jiang Yutao looked down, pretending to be busy, with her smile almost reaching her ears.

Spending time with Xu Dazui and the others made Jiang Yutao feel that time was no longer boring.

Aunt Xu, having finished gossiping, felt something was missing. She nudged Jiang Yutao’s arm: “Yutao, come on, tell us some fresh news from the city.”

Since they had heard the revised version of “The Temptation of Going Home” last time, they had been very curious about city news. However, Jiang Yutao, sticking to a strategy of keeping them hungry for more, hadn’t shared much. She, being a young woman, felt it wasn’t appropriate to talk about these personal matters all the time, thus raising their curiosity.

In a good mood today, Jiang Yutao thought for a moment and decided to share a story about a single father who helped his neighbor raise three children.

The three of them were stunned.

Aunt Xu even said, “Yutao, tell me more about that man’s address. Our Little Fourth is quite clever and promising. I’d like to find a way to send him over…”

“Pah, shameless! Your Little Fourth looks like his mother—just a face like a shoehorn. He’s not as good-looking as my Little Stone. He takes after me; everyone praises how handsome he is!” Fourth Aunt Jiang was displeased by Aunt Xu’s comment and took the opportunity to criticize Aunt Xu’s grandson while recommending her own.

Aunt Zhang Er wasn’t to be outdone: “Looks aren’t everything. He’s already seven and should be able to remember things. It’s too late to change. Our Xingzi is better—she’s as delicate and lovely as a city girl.”

The three, who usually got along like one person, suddenly became embroiled in a heated argument. Jiang Yutao watched in stunned silence.

Eventually, the three, united in their disagreement, turned their attention to Jiang Yutao: “Yutao, you tell us. Among our three children, who would be the most suitable to send?”

Jiang Yutao was terrified and didn’t dare to speak.

She had made up this story based on a TV drama from her previous life; how could she possibly find someone like that for them?

Who would come to her rescue?!

Jiang Yutao was in tears. If she could time travel again, she wished she could go back ten minutes and slap the version of herself that had spouted off nonsense.

The Melon-eating System had never seen Jiang Yutao in such a predicament; the data was so scrambled it was practically gibberish…