People who eat melon are in 70 - Chapter 24

After finishing work, Gu Nianwei first went to find Li Yunying. Li Yunying knew that if Gu Nianwei went to the Lin family, it would only increase their worries: “Right now, rumors are everywhere. If you go to Lin Weihong’s home, it would only confirm those rumors.”

Gu Nianwei was aware of this but still decided to go: “There is always a day for thieves, but never a day for guarding against them. This time, rumors are harming and pressuring me. If I don’t clarify this time, what if their tactics escalate in the future? I have to go see for myself. Don’t worry, they can’t do anything to me.”

Gu Nianwei was confident in her skills, but what really gave her confidence was the firearms in her space. After the space was unlocked, she specifically went abroad and acquired quite a few firearms through illegal means.

To be honest, if she wanted, she could easily take out any troublemakers within ten minutes.

Li Yunying was still uneasy: “No, you can’t go alone. I’ll go with you.”

Three years ago, about ten kilometers away from the Liushu Gou Brigade, in a place called Linjia Zhuang Brigade, a household targeted a female educated youth who was sent to the countryside. They deceived her trust and abused her, and she ultimately had no choice but to marry that person.

Li Yunying feared that Gu Nianwei might be in a similar situation, considering Lin Weihong’s history of scam activities.

Seeing the concern on Li Yunying’s face, Gu Nianwei found herself unable to say the words of refusal that were on the tip of her tongue.

She felt a warm sensation in her heart.

She had been sent to the countryside for nearly a year, and her relationship with Li Yunying could only be described as ordinary. Neither of them had shown any interest in becoming close friends. Yet, whenever she needed help, Li Yunying would go all out to assist.

Li Yunying helped everyone at the educated youth spot, including Zhao Yonglan’s reasonable requests.

Gu Nianwei thought that maybe Li Yunying had once wanted to befriend her, but she had kept people at a distance.

“Alright,” Gu Nianwei said, “Thank you.”

Li Yunying smiled: “No need to thank me. We are all educated youths; it’s only right to support each other.”

The two went together to find Jiang Youtao.

Jiang Youtao’s reaction was the same as Li Yunying’s: “Lin Jianzhong is back. If she invites you to dinner at this time, it must mean the banquet won’t be a good one. Are you really okay with this?”

Gu Nianwei understood what Jiang Yutao meant and replied, “Do you remember what I told you that day? Just follow that plan.”

Gu Nianwei meant that if she behaved unusually or lost control, Jiang Yutao could use any means necessary to stop her from doing anything.

The two exchanged glances for a while, then Jiang Yutao nodded, opened the system mall, and spent 1 melon coin to buy a vial of anesthetic.

The description of this anesthetic on the system was quite impressive; a single drop could render an elephant immobile. She had been eyeing this vial for a long time.

She finally decided to make the purchase.

The melon system was almost moved to tears; it had been quite a challenge. After binding with the host for a month, it had finally seen the host willing to spend money in the mall.

The melon system finally made a commission! It finally saw some revenue!

As Jiang Yutao nodded, the melon system’s new task appeared.

[Please go to Lin Weihong’s house to observe the romantic scene between the male and female leads, and prevent this matchmaking. Task rewards: 5 kg of rice, 500 g of lard, 2 kg of green tea-flavored melon seeds.]

“Let’s go.” For Jiang Yutao now, even without the rewards from the melon system, she couldn’t remain uninvolved in Gu Nianwei’s situation.

The three of them returned to the educated youth spot together, cooked a meal, and after eating, they headed to Lin Weihong’s house.

Before leaving, Li Yunying opened her box, took out a very small curved blade, and held it in her hand. The sharpness of the blade was so intimidating that it made Jiang Yutao shiver.

Li Yunying hid the curved blade and told the stunned Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei, “I haven’t told you before, but my second grand-uncle was from the Shaolin Temple. Later, during the national crisis, he left the monastery and became a revolutionary. After the war ended, he retired and went back. We children grew up around him. Though we didn’t learn much else, we definitely mastered his martial skills.”

When Li Yunying was young, she had considered joining the military, but unfortunately, there were limited spots, and she couldn’t get a place.

Jiang Yutao’s mouth opened and closed in surprise: “Oh, I didn’t realize we had a martial arts expert among us!”

Li Yunying laughed: “Don’t make fun of me. Let’s go.”

Gu Nianwei said, “Since you’ve all revealed your secrets to me, I won’t keep mine hidden either.”

Gu Nianwei went to the bed and took out two sharp daggers. In the sunlight, they seemed to glint with a cold light.

Jiang Yutao looked at Li Yunying, then at Gu Nianwei, and felt she would be out of place if she didn’t bring something.

She took out some chili powder and a green spray bottle. She mixed the chili powder with water in the spray bottle and strapped it to herself.

“Don’t underestimate this chili powder mixture,” she said. “If it gets into someone’s eyes, it can be very harmful.” She felt a bit embarrassed mentioning that she had traded five milk candies and a small stone from Aunt Jiang’s family for the spray bottle.

After she got the spray bottle, Aunt Jiang even scolded the person who stole it from her house.

Gu Nianwei’s expression towards Jiang Yutao changed instantly, and Li Yunying looked at Jiang Yutao with admiration: “Tao Tao, you’re really smart. This stuff can definitely cause a lot of pain if it gets into someone’s eyes.”

Jiang Yutao knew that Gu Nianwei would definitely be suspicious of the chili powder mixed with water, but she wasn’t worried at all: “It’s all about experience.”

Jiang Yutao thought to herself: “The older stepbrother my stepmother brought was once a school red guard and a small soldier. Whenever he disliked me, he would find excuses to send me to the Revolutionary Committee for punishment.”

“Sometimes, I would see them interrogating people. Chili water was a common torture device because it was cheap and effective.” Jiang Yutao still felt a pang of sadness when she spoke about it, feeling sorry for the original owner and for the person who had been subjected to the chili water.

The person was a teacher at the original owner’s school, a thirty-year-old Chinese language teacher who was excellent at teaching and kind in nature, though he was somewhat strict with students. The only reason they interrogated him was that he had scolded them for not taking their studies seriously.

The original owner had seen the teacher twice after that. He had been partially blinded by the chili water, yet when he saw the original owner, he still smiled and spoke encouraging words to her.

The original owner cried for a long time. Afterward, her reluctance to resist the Jiang family may have had something to do with this experience.

Gu Nianwei and Li Yunying fell silent.

Gu Nianwei looked at Jiang Yutao with a pained expression. Jiang Yutao smiled gently and said, “It’s all in the past.”

Gu Nianwei said, “People like that don’t deserve anything but to go to hell.”

Red guards and small soldiers were feared in that era.

After Gu Nianwei spoke, there was silence in the room. After a while, Gu Nianwei said, “I’ll give you a dagger. You give me the chili water, and I’ll hold onto it for you.”

The spray bottle was relatively large, and Gu Nianwei was concerned that Jiang Yutao might not be able to hide it. Gu Nianwei, however, could store the bottle in her space and take it out when needed.

Jiang Youtao took the dagger from her, admired its sharp blade, and said, “It’s a great knife.”

Li Yunying also came over and said, “It really is a great knife. If my second grand-uncle saw it, he’d probably kneel and call you ‘Grandpa’.”

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei couldn’t help but laugh, and the atmosphere lightened a bit.

The three of them went out together, and Wang Shanxi already knew where they were headed.

He was waiting by the well in the yard. When he saw the three of them, he looked at Li Yunying for a long time before turning to the others: “You all go ahead. I’ll come to get you in half an hour.”

Wang Shanxi handed them a package. When they opened it, they found two small bags of cookies, the kind sold in bulk at the supply and marketing cooperative: “It’s not polite to go to someone’s home empty-handed, right?”

This was something Gu Nianwei and the others hadn’t thought of. They had only been focused on preparing for what they saw as a potentially dangerous visit, worrying about their meals and weapons.

Li Yunying didn’t stand on ceremony with Wang Shanxi: “Alright, I’ll take it. I’ll pay you back when we return.”

The three of them carried the items and headed out.

Jiang Yutao turned back and glanced at Wang Shanxi, then quietly said to Li Yunying, “Sister Yunying, do you think Wang Shanxi likes you?”

Li Yunying shook her head: “I don’t know. With the path ahead uncertain, I don’t want to think about personal matters right now.”

Li Yunying didn’t want to get married or be in a relationship. She had liked Wang Shanxi when she first went to the countryside. But after so many years, Wang Shanxi was just a fellow villager and a “comrade” to her.

Jiang Yutao didn’t say anything further, and Gu Nianwei remained silent as well.

The sun was shining today, and as it was just beginning to set, casting a golden glow, the three of them arrived at Lin Weihong’s home.

Lin Weihong was looking around in the center of the yard, while her grandson and Lin Wenping’s brothers were playing and laughing in the yard.

When Lin Wen’an saw Gu Nianwei, his eyes lit up instantly. He rushed towards her like a little cannonball: “Sister Gu, Sister Gu, why are you only coming now? An’an has been waiting for you for a long time!”

Compared to Lin Wenping, Lin Wen’an seemed more lively. As one of the main characters in the book, Lin Wenping’s three brothers were all good-looking. Lin Wen’an, with his naive and energetic demeanor, was the kind of child that older people particularly liked.

He looked very healthy.

For a moment, Gu Nianwei wanted to pat Lin Wen’an on the head, but she resisted. She pulled her arm away from Lin Wen’an’s embrace: “I’ve been a bit busy and arrived late.”

When Lin Weihong saw Jiang Yutao and Li Yunying, her expression momentarily fell, but as soon as she saw Lin Wenrong running towards Gu Nianwei, her face lit up with a smile again: “Weiwei is here? Why so late? We’ve already prepared dinner and were just waiting for you.”

Lin Weihong came forward to greet them, and Li Yunying handed the bag she was carrying to her: “Aunt Weihong, why do you only seem to see Weiwei and not us? Please don’t be upset about our unannounced visit. I brought some cookies for your little grandson. I heard from Yunyan that he hasn’t been eating well lately. You might try soaking the cookies in water for him.”

Lin Weihong perfectly inherited her parents’ behavior. Although she was a victim of the patriarchal mindset in her youth, she became a staunch supporter of it as she grew older.

In her family, her daughter-in-law’s granddaughter was treated like weeds in a field, while her grandson was treated like a little emperor. Anything good from the Zhao family had to be prioritized for her grandson.

Recently, Lin Weihong had been worrying about her grandson’s poor appetite.

Seeing the cookies that Li Yunying handed over, Lin Weihong smiled: “You’re all Weiwei’s friends. You’ve come all this way and still brought gifts? Come on in.”

As she spoke, Lin Weihong took the bag from Li Yunying.

The group entered the east room of Lin Weihong’s house. Around the kang table, a group of people were seated, including Lin Jianzhong.

Upon hearing someone enter, Lin Jianzhong looked toward the door. When he saw Gu Nianwei, he feigned surprise, but then his expression softened, and he nodded at her.

Gu Nianwei, however, acted as if she didn’t see him, and took a seat by the edge of the kang. Lin Jianzhong’s face immediately darkened, and he tightened his grip on his chopsticks slightly.

Lin Weihong pretended not to notice the scene and enthusiastically instructed her daughter-in-law to bring out the dishes and set the table.

Since the invitation was a last-minute arrangement, Lin Weihong’s preparations were insufficient. The table mostly featured vegetarian dishes, with only a plate of scrambled eggs with chives and a plate of salted pork with cabbage as the meat dishes.

Lin Wenping and the other children were not seated at the adults’ table; Lin Weihong had set up a separate table for them on the floor, which had no meat dishes.

Lin Wenping remained silent upon seeing this. Lin Weihong’s granddaughter, Huaniu, was already used to not getting any of the good food, but Lin Wenrong pouted and looked particularly unhappy, frequently glancing at the table where the adults were eating.

Jiang Yutao and the others had already eaten, so they moved their chopsticks a couple of times and then stopped.

Lin Weihong continued to warmly offer them more food, while Zhao Manzhu remained silent, drinking his wine.

Lin Weihong noticed that Gu Nianwei and the others seemed less interested. She suppressed her displeasure and thought that these young intellectuals were too pretentious. Despite her good intentions in inviting them for a meal, they didn’t even seem willing to eat.

She put down her chopsticks and, with a beaming smile, said to Gu Nianwei: “Weiwei, this is my nephew, Lin Jianzhong. I’ve often mentioned him to you. Jianzhong, this is Gu Nianwei, the young intellectual I told you about.”

Lin Jianzhong nodded and said in a bland tone, “Nice to meet you.”

Before Gu Nianwei could respond, Lin Weihong continued, “Weiwei, I’m not bragging, but my nephew is really outstanding. At just thirty years old, he was already a battalion commander in the army, managing hundreds of people. If it weren’t for his parents’ lack of ambition, he would have been promoted online by now. But don’t worry, even though he’s retired now, he has a great job as the director of our commune’s supply and marketing cooperative…”

“Weiwei, Jianzhong treats his wife very well. If you really marry him, I guarantee you won’t have to do any work. You can just stay at home and enjoy a comfortable life. You won’t even need to take care of Wenping, Wen’an, and the other kids—just make sure they’re fed, warm, and not beaten or scolded. As for my sister-in-law, just pretend she doesn’t exist. Jianzhong said that once you’re married, he’ll immediately split the household. Then you’ll move to the commune, and well, you’ll be living like city folks.”

Lin Weihong clapped her hands at the end of her statement. Her daughter-in-law looked at Gu Nianwei with eyes full of envy at the mention of moving to the commune.

If a young girl who hadn’t seen much of the world heard Lin Weihong’s words, she would likely be very moved.

Gu Nianwei, however, came from the future and lived in a city renowned as one of the top-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Having grown up in the city, she found the rural commune of Zaoxiang to be completely unrelated to the urban environment she was familiar with.

Moving to the commune was supposed to be like moving to the city? It seemed like a big dream to her.

Jiang Yutao found the situation quite amusing, and even Li Yunying struggled to contain her laughter. Lin Weihong remained oblivious and continued to boast, extolling Lin Jianzhong as an extraordinary person who was unmatched on Earth. Despite her praise, Lin Jianzhong maintained a calm and composed demeanor.

When Lin Weihong praised certain aspects, Lin Jianzhong even unconsciously straightened his posture, clearly feeling that her compliments were well-deserved.

Gu Nianwei, who used to enjoy reading novels in her youth, had a period where she loved reading Qing Dynasty historical fiction, especially ones with stoic male protagonists. Even when she read other novels, she was particularly drawn to this type of male lead.

However, facing Lin Jianzhong now, she felt no emotional stirrings.

The feelings of reluctance and shyness she had experienced during their second meeting in the county seemed to have never existed.

Gu Nianwei placed her chopsticks across her bowl and said, “Aunt Weihong, I don’t know if your nephew is as outstanding as you say, and I don’t really care to know. I came here today because you mentioned that Uncle Manzhu wanted to thank me for the medicine I bought for him last time. I believe I deserve his thanks, so I came.”

Two months ago, Zhao Manzhu fell ill with a condition related to cardiovascular disease. The town health clinic had run out of medicine, and since Gu Nianwei was going to the town, Lin Weihong asked her to help buy the medicine. At that time, Gu Nianwei was grateful for Lin Weihong’s care and went through a lot of effort to find the medicine, even borrowing from several people and accruing some favors.

At that time, Lin Weihong had only thanked her a few times and even delayed paying for the medicine by a month.

Given this meal, Gu Nianwei felt that she deserved the invitation.

Lin Weihong’s smile froze on her face, Zhao Manzhu also looked at Gu Nianwei, and Lin Jianzhong frowned.

Gu Nianwei looked at Lin Weihong and said, “Aunt Weihong, since I came to the countryside, I’ve been working with you and you’ve taken good care of me in this regard. But I don’t think I’ve been lacking in my treatment of you; I’ve brought you plenty of food and supplies. You offered to introduce me to a partner, and when I felt it wasn’t suitable, I rejected it immediately. But it’s not right for you to spread gossip and slander me behind my back.”

Gu Nianwei knew Lin Weihong better than Lin Weihong thought she did. When those rumors reached her ears, she knew exactly who had spread them. Gu Nianwei had planned to confront Lin Weihong eventually, but now that Lin Jianzhong had returned, it seemed like a good time to address the issue directly.

Gu Nianwei stood up, with Jiang Yutao and Li Yunying following suit. With a frosty expression, she said, “Aunt Weihong, let me say this again: I have no interest in your nephew, and he isn’t as outstanding as you claim.”

“I’m not in a position where I need to become someone’s stepmother. I came to the countryside in response to the national call to develop rural areas, but if I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be starving. The commune may seem like a city to you, but it isn’t to me.”

“I’ve said all I need to say. If I hear any more negative rumors about me in the village, I’ll come directly to you, Aunt Weihong.”

Gu Nianwei and the others left, only to find that many onlookers had gathered around the yard outside Lin Weihong’s house.

When they saw Gu Nianwei and the others coming out, the onlookers were not embarrassed and greeted them quite naturally.

The three of them made their way through the crowd, and Wang Shanxi and the other male youths arrived as well.

“Comrade Gu Nianwei, can we have a private chat?”