People who eat melon are in 70 - Chapter 41

Su Zhengtang stayed in the house for a while, listening carefully to the sounds from next door. As soon as he heard Zhao Yonglan’s voice, he immediately got up and walked outside.

Zhao Yonglan had come out to fetch firewood. Just as she picked up the firewood, Su Zhengtang called out to her, “Comrade Zhao Yonglan.”

“What’s the matter?” Zhao Yonglan stood up.

With a hint of nervousness, Su Zhengtang looked at Zhao Yonglan and said, “It’s nothing major. I just wanted to apologize for what my mother did to you in the past.”

“Oh,” Zhao Yonglan responded casually, “Alright, then. If that’s all, I’ll head back now.”

She carried the firewood and walked away.

When she disappeared into her house, Su Zhengtang still hadn’t recovered from the interaction. Zhao Yonglan’s reaction was quite different from the person in his dreams.

He had started having these dreams ten days ago.

At first, he thought the dreams were absurd, but as they continued, an indescribable feeling began to take root in Su Zhengtang’s heart.

When he first met Zhao Yonglan, Su Zhengtang had been captivated by her. He had always favored girls who were naive and sheltered, like Xia Heyu in the past. Zhao Yonglan, whom he had seen that day, seemed the same.

However, compared to Xia Heyu, Zhao Yonglan carried an air of dignity. She wore a brand-new coarse cloth outfit and sat on an old chair in his home, one that had been used for years and was stained with a black patina. She stood out, completely at odds with her surroundings.

Su Zhengtang knew his mother’s temperament better than anyone. He was well aware that Zhao Yonglan wouldn’t have had much to eat while staying at his house. So, one day, he insisted on cooking and secretly buried an egg at the bottom of Zhao Yonglan’s bowl. That day, he was rewarded by seeing a grateful look in Zhao Yonglan’s eyes.

From then on, whenever he came home, he could feel Zhao Yonglan’s subtle, lingering glances at him.

Su Zhengtang was filled with self-satisfaction. He knew that girls who were spoiled by their families were the easiest to win over. All it took was treating them slightly differently from others, and they would be like innocent fawns, unknowingly stepping into the traps laid by the hunter.

That’s how Xia Heyu had fallen for him back then. All these girls wanted was special treatment, something to set them apart from others.

And that, Su Zhengtang could easily provide.

He thought that after apologizing to Zhao Yonglan, she wouldn’t necessarily be deeply moved, but at the very least, she would see him as a responsible and reliable man. After all, wasn’t it his sense of responsibility and reliability that won Zhao Yonglan’s heart in his dreams?

So why was she so cold and indifferent now?

Su Zhengtang was utterly baffled.

Just then, Xia Heyu arrived, carrying a bag of food. “Zhengtang,” she said, “my family made some steamed white bread. I remember it used to be your favorite, so I brought some over for you.”

When Xia Heyu and Su Zhengtang were dating, she often brought him food.

But now, Su Zhengtang felt even more impatient. In his dream, after Xia Heyu married Su Yang, her life wasn’t great. Su Yang was unfaithful and rarely came home. Xia Heyu also clashed with her sister-in-law, Sun Xiaojuan, and the two frequently argued.

Sometimes, when Su Zhengtang saw what was happening, his softer side would prompt him to offer a few words of advice.

Gradually, Xia Heyu began to see him as her savior. Occasionally, she would knock on his door in the middle of the night, asking him to come out and talk.

Su Zhengtang always upheld proper boundaries and never did anything inappropriate with Xia Heyu.

Even now, Su Zhengtang had no intention of doing anything with Xia Heyu. However, her repeated efforts to seek him out fed his ego immensely.

After all, he thought, what man doesn’t enjoy the feeling of being pursued by a woman?

However satisfying it felt internally, Su Zhengtang couldn’t openly accept it, especially since he had yet to win Zhao Yonglan’s favor.

“I don’t need it. Take it back,” Su Zhengtang said, not sparing Xia Heyu a glance before turning and walking away.

Hearing Xia Heyu’s voice, Zhu Yuemei came out from the east room. When she saw the bag in Xia Heyu’s hands, a smile appeared on her face.

“Well, if it isn’t Heyu! Come on in and have a seat. Come in quickly—such a windy day! Aren’t you cold?”

The Su family’s division of property had been an ugly affair. Su Zhengping and Sun Xiaojuan, wanting to claim the majority of the inheritance, had shifted all the blame onto Zhu Yuemei.

Zhu Yuemei resented the two of them deeply. As for Xia Heyu, who was a bit simple-minded and didn’t stand by her own husband but instead sided with her as her elder-in-law, Zhu Yuemei had little respect for her either.

Still, Xia Heyu’s family doted on her. Every time she visited them, she brought back something rare and valuable.

Take the white steamed buns, for example—something most people couldn’t even dream of eating during the New Year. Yet Xia Heyu’s family could enjoy them on occasion. And these goodies from her family? She always brought some to Zhu Yuemei. A fool like this, coming to offer things unprompted—it would almost feel wrong not to take advantage of her.

“Not yet, Auntie. Have you eaten?” Xia Heyu asked, addressing Zhu Yuemei as “Auntie,” a habit she’d formed when she was in middle school and often came to visit with Su Zhengtang and Su Yang.

In her previous life, after marrying Su Yang, she had changed to calling Zhu Yuemei “Grandma.” But in this life, she had no intention of continuing with Su Yang. Though they had been married for a month, they still hadn’t consummated the marriage.

Su Yang, of course, wanted to, but Xia Heyu felt nauseated just looking at him. How could she possibly share a bed with him?

Zhu Yuemei’s eyes flashed. “I haven’t eaten yet. Went out this morning to pull some corn stalks, and now my whole body aches. Have you eaten?”

Xia Heyu had gone back to her parents’ house that morning. Although her parents had been upset for a few days over her insistence on marrying Su Yang, they had eventually forgiven her after a few bouts of crying. Whenever she visited, her parents would cook her favorite dishes. Today’s white steamed buns had been specially prepared by her mother. She ate two but couldn’t bear to finish them all.

Thinking of Su Zhengtang, Xia Heyu bit her lip and said, “Auntie, if you’re not feeling well, you should rest. I’ll make some food for you.”

Zhu Yuemei was delighted that her goal had been achieved, though she pretended to refuse. “Oh, that’s too much trouble. If your mother-in-law finds out, she’ll be furious!”

The mention of Sun Xiaojuan irritated Xia Heyu. “Let her say whatever she wants. I’ll just ignore her. Auntie, you sit and wait—I’ll cook something for you right away.”

Xia Heyu rolled up her sleeves and headed to the kitchen. Zhu Yuemei reclined on the kang, watching Xia Heyu’s retreating figure with disdain.

The whole village had heard about the situation between Xia Heyu and her son, Su Zhengtang. Zhu Yuemei was no exception. She deeply despised Xia Heyu, who had broken up with her son, married Su Yang, and then regretted it after marriage, wanting to come back to her son.

A fickle woman, no better than Zhao Chunhua. Still, no matter how much she disliked Xia Heyu, it didn’t stop her from taking advantage of her.

Xia Heyu was quick with her hands. Before long, the meal was ready. Su Zhengtang was called in to eat. When he saw the white steamed buns—clearly something their family couldn’t afford—he said nothing and simply sat down on the kang. Xia Heyu, like a devoted wife, served him attentively.

And he accepted it.

If someone who didn’t know better saw this scene, they might think they were one family.

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei had noodles for lunch. The noodles, made from a mix of cornmeal and white flour, were perfectly chewy. The sauce was made by soaking and finely chopping dried eggplants, then stir-frying them in lard. Gu Nianwei claimed the soy sauce came from the county’s state-run store, but in reality, it was light soy sauce from the modern era, mixed with fermented soybean paste bartered from Xu Dazui’s family. A handful of finely chopped green onions was added for extra flavor, making it absolutely delicious.

The soup, prepared by Jiang Yutao, was a shredded potato soup, which helped cut through the richness of the meal.

This meal left both Gu Nianwei and Jiang Yutao stuffed once again.

The two were very content with their current life.

Back in the room, Jiang Yutao first read the letter sent by Fu Shaohua. The letter was written by Ying Chaorong, saying they had already received the package she had sent. He mentioned that the wheelchair wheels had been installed for Ying Dexing, and they worked very well. Now, Ying Dexing loved going outside to chat with others whenever he had free time.

The letter also expressed gratitude for her generosity. Hao Juxiang, worried that she might run out of money, had included a few yuan for her to buy whatever she wanted. Instead of wiring the money separately, it had been placed directly in the envelope—a crisp, brand-new bill, clearly exchanged specifically for this purpose.

Jiang Yutao set the money aside and began writing a reply. After finishing the letter, she remembered the milk tea from the system reward and quickly got up to make a cup. The rich and sweet milk tea filled her mouth, and Jiang Yutao closed her eyes in enjoyment.

Paired with spicy beef jerky, the taste was absolutely divine.

As she ate, Jiang Yutao sighed. In her previous life, she had avoided milk tea altogether, afraid of gaining weight. She only drank fruit teas and refused to touch instant milk teas like ‘YouXimei’. Who would have thought that after transmigrating, all the things she once dismissed had now become coveted luxuries?

Truly, it was as if her past life’s “sins” had led to her current transmigration.

Yet no matter how much Jiang Yutao racked her brain, she couldn’t figure out what exactly those “sins” were.

Bored, Jiang Yutao sipped her milk tea while opening the system panel. The moment it loaded, the pending task appeared prominently in the center of the screen.

Jiang Yutao felt utterly exasperated. [System, this task is impossible to complete! We’re so far away from Xia Heyu. How are we supposed to know when she’s scheming against Zhao Yonglan? This task has been sitting there for ages with zero progress!]

Every time she entered the system and saw the enlarged, brightly highlighted pending task box, Jiang Yutao grew more frustrated.

The gossip system ignored her. If it responded, who knew what new demands she’d make?

Unbothered by the system’s silence, Jiang Yutao went through her usual routine of clicking on every accessible feature. That’s when she noticed the ‘Power Pill’ she had purchased but never eaten.

She searched the system shop again and saw that the ‘Power Pill’ had returned to its original price. Satisfied, she moved on.

With practiced ease, she located the “Report” button. Holding the pill in one hand, she moved it toward her mouth, while her other hand hovered over the report key. Jiang Yutao had already planned it out—if there were any issues after taking the pill, she would immediately press the report button. If she suffered, the gossip system’s AI wouldn’t escape unscathed either.

The melon-eating system: “Why is life so hard for me?”

The pill melted in Jiang Yutao’s mouth, leaving a faint peach fragrance. However, the warm energy flowing through her body as described in cultivation novels? Nowhere to be felt. That painful process of expelling impurities and releasing black sludge? Completely absent.

Jiang Yutao found this suspicious. Thinking about the pill’s absurdly low price, she asked, “System, is this a counterfeit product?”

The melon-eating system: …[No.]

“Then why don’t I feel anything?”

The melon-eating system: [Please try lifting the chest on your kang.]

Following its instructions, Jiang Yutao went to lift the chest. The moment she got close, she noticed it shifted position with ease. Her eyes immediately lit up.

Excited, she got off the kang and went to move the writing desk by the window. With just a light lift of both hands, she picked up the entire desk.

Jiang Yutao was overjoyed.

With this newfound super strength, her safety in this era was finally guaranteed. That bottle of homemade chili water? She could now use it to flavor pancakes at night without any worries.

After a midday nap, the group gathered in the afternoon to pull corn stalks at the team headquarters. Around this time, Xia Heyu left Su Zhengtang’s house, her face full of smiles. She gave Zhao Yonglan, who was walking among the crowd, a provocative smirk.

Zhao Yonglan was utterly speechless.

After Xia Heyu walked away, whispers broke out among the group. “Did you see that? He firmly rejected her at noon, but by the afternoon, she’s already stepping into his house like she owns it.”

Li Yunying and Zhang Huihui, who didn’t know what had happened at noon, quickly asked for details. Once they learned the full story, Li Yunying remarked, “Men, huh. Tsk.”

The men in the group—Wang Shanxi, Liu Yingjun, Zhao Rongguang, and others—felt the sting of her words but dared not speak up.

Ever since Zhou Zhenfeng skipped the trip to Zhangjia Village, people had stopped including him in group activities.

Now, Zhou Zhenfeng mostly kept to himself and had grown increasingly close to the village’s troublemakers.

When they arrived at the team headquarters, they saw Zhou Zhenfeng standing in the courtyard with a group of local delinquents. Among them was the son of Liu Erhua—the same woman who had fought with Jiang Yutao.

When the female educated youth walked by, the group stopped talking and silently watched Jiang Yutao and the others head toward the meeting room.

Once they were inside, Liu Erhua’s son, Sun Goudan, elbowed Zhou Zhenfeng playfully. “Hey, brother, you’re really living the life, huh? The female educated youth in our village are all stunners!”

Sun Goudan’s real name was Sun Erbao, but his nickname, “Goudan,” was given by Liu Erhua to make him easier to “raise,” following the old superstition.

He was less than 1.7 meters tall, scruffy, with a pockmarked face, and eyes so small they were nearly invisible.

Zhou Zhenfeng, having been ostracized at the educated youth station recently, merely grunted in response.

“Living the life, my ass,” he thought bitterly. “The girls at the educated youth station are all like tigresses. Not a single one of them has the gentleness or grace a woman should have.”

Sun Goudan gave Zhou Zhenfeng a once-over before speaking again. “Zhenfeng, why don’t you come over to my place tonight? I’ll introduce you to some brothers from the commune. One of them is the son of a commune leader—his surname’s Shen. You’ve heard of him, right? His father is a big shot around here, gets to call all the shots. If you can win him over, getting a job at the commune office would be as easy as a single word from him.”

The reason Zhou Zhenfeng had started hanging out with Sun Goudan in the first place was because, by chance, he had once seen Sun Goudan with the son of the commune director.

Zhou Zhenfeng had grown tired of the daily grind in the fields. He yearned for a job at the commune, even as a lowly temp—it was still better than wasting his life away in the village.

“I’ll definitely come tonight. Brother, if this works out, I’ll be sure to thank you properly,” Zhou Zhenfeng said to Sun Goudan with a grateful nod.

“No problem, no problem! But listen, Brother Zhou, that Shen guy doesn’t care about much—he just loves gambling. You’d better bring plenty of money if you want to make a good impression tonight!”

By “gambling,” Sun Goudan meant playing cards, and they played big—losing or winning two to three yuan in a single round was normal.

Zhou Zhenfeng had already heard all about it.

Though hesitant about the expense, he quickly consoled himself: “You have to give to gain. No risk, no reward.”

That night, Zhou Zhenfeng stayed out all night. When Jiang Youtao overheard the next day that he had been hanging out with Sun Goudan and the others, she immediately knew Zhou Zhenfeng’s storyline was starting to unfold.

The days passed uneventfully, but Zhou Zhenfeng’s behavior began to change. He had reached the point where he no longer even showed up at the educated youth station during the day.

He didn’t even seem interested in the much-anticipated Double Ninth Festival gathering at Wangjiatun Commune, which he had once been eager to attend.

The night before the festival, as they returned from the fields, Su Zhengtang stopped Zhao Yonglan and handed her a finely polished wooden hairpin.

“Comrade Zhao Yonglan, I want to apologize for what my mother did to you in the past. This is a token of my apology. I made it myself, and I insist that you accept it.”

Jiang Yutao narrowed her eyes, sensing that something was off.

In Zhao Yonglan’s previous life, Su Zhengtang had often given her handmade wooden crafts during festivals and holidays—but only after they had confirmed their relationship.

In the book, it’s even more obvious—Zhao Yonglan was kidnapped by the old rogue from Linjiadian before she even had a chance to establish a relationship with Su Zhengtang.

So now, why does Su Zhengtang seem so certain that Zhao Yonglan will accept the hairpin?

[System, did Su Zhengtang also reincarnate?]

The melon-eating system replied to Jiang Yutao after two minutes: [After testing, Su Zhengtang has not reincarnated. However, the small world’s consciousness awakened Su Zhengtang’s memories from his previous life to prevent another collapse.]

In other words, Su Zhengtang hasn’t reincarnated, but the effect is almost the same as if he had.