Chapter 40

When they were eating hotpot mutton at the state-owned restaurant, Wang Shuisheng tactfully brought up the idea of taking things a step further, getting engaged and so on.
Bai Xinmei, who had been eating happily, suddenly froze. Engagement? Wasn’t that a bit too hasty?
In truth, what she felt toward Wang Shuisheng was mostly gratitude. That day at the private plot, if not for him, her little life probably would’ve ended there.
When he saw her lower her head and fall silent, Wang Shuisheng knew he’d brought it up too soon.
For the rest of the meal, Bai Xinmei was obviously off in a daze. Shuisheng’s conditions were indeed excellent, but when she looked at him, she felt nothing at all. In fact, he didn’t even stir her as much as her husband who’d been dead for several years.
Was it because she and Qin Yuanzheng had consummated the marriage?
By the time Bai Xinmei realized what she was thinking, her cheeks were burning. She really was… lonely, huh.
That night, holding Niuniu in her arms on the kang, she asked softly, “Niuniu, do you like Uncle Wang? Would it be good if Uncle Wang became your dad?”
Niuniu, who had already been nodding off, perked up the moment she heard the word dad. She screwed up her little face in serious thought. “No good. Hotpot mutton is tasty.”
Niuniu didn’t like Wang Shuisheng. That made things a bit tricky.
So Xinmei tried again. “Then do you miss having a dad?”
“Miss… Song Uncle. Ma, isn’t Song Uncle really my dad?”
Niuniu’s little head was full of confusion. She felt that Song Uncle looked just as good as she and Ma did; the three of them looked like a real family.
Bai Xinmei tapped her daughter’s nose. This little girl really could scheme, she wanted Song Jinping to be her dad. “You little thing, did you take a fancy to the candy in Song Uncle’s pockets?”
At the mention of candy, Niuniu’s eyes, which resembled Qin Yuanzheng’s in a few ways, lit right up. She immediately started clamoring for sweets.
Xinmei pressed a hand to her forehead. Why had she brought up candy for no reason? She hadn’t forgotten her ridiculous “mission.” The problem was she couldn’t break character, and she also had to make Song Jinping fall for her. That was simply too hard.
She’d tried expressing some ambiguous interest toward him before; either the system judged she’d broken character, or his favorability suddenly dropped. So she’d only been able to retreat to advance.
Luckily, thanks to earlier effort, she had racked up some goodwill. After she started going on dates, the system even prompted her that Song Jinping’s favorability had shot up a visible notch.
Bai Xinmei patted Niuniu’s back, coaxing her to sleep.
Ever since running into Song Jinping at the post office, Wang Lanhua had been popping over to Lotus Village every so often. At first, Wang Shuisheng thought she was coming to sabotage things.
Later he realized that, more likely, Lanhua had taken a shine to that educated youth named Song Jinping, and finally relaxed a little.
After all, he didn’t want to be pulled back and forth between his little sister and his future wife.
And besides, although Comrade Song barely counted as his love rival, even he had to admit that Song was leagues more reliable than that city-born playboy, Hao Jianguo.
So in truth, Shuisheng was quite happy to see it happen. One, it might solve a “problem” for him; two, it would give his sister a solid future.
Everyone at the educated youth spot knew by now that a girl from a neighboring village had been coming by frequently to find Song Jinping, often bringing wild game with her.
They all teased him about it. Song had always been one of the hottest names at the educated youth spot, very popular with the girls.
He himself wasn’t all that enthusiastic, though.
Ever since he’d publicly ripped off Ming Xiaoxiao’s mask of greed and vanity, he’d pretty much cut off any contact with her.
This time everyone’s curiosity had a special focus, because this girl called Wang Lanhua was pretty and delicate, gentle and considerate, simple and hardworking.
And she bravely showed her affection. What a special, adorable girl.
If Bai Xinmei could’ve heard all this inner commentary, she’d definitely complain: Isn’t this just the female lead halo? You’ve barely even met her and you already “know” all that.
That day, humming a little tune, Lanhua came looking for Song Jinping with some venison her father had hunted.
She was in an exceptionally good mood, because she’d seen the day’s paper in town, Hao Jianguo’s parents had both been suspended. His good days were clearly over.
Just recently he’d been trying to sponge food off her family, because his two corrupt parents had stopped sending him money and ration tickets.
And this is only the beginning, she thought, feeling jubilant at the plans she had in motion.
These past days, Song Jinping had grown more and more baffled by Lanhua’s constant visits. At first he suspected she’d been sent by those people, that she was some sort of enemy agent.
She seemed to know him very well. She knew what he liked to eat, what books he read, even who among the Six Gentlemen of the Wuxu Reform he admired most…
It was as if the two of them had lived together for many years, as if she knew him like the back of her hand.
“Like the back of her hand”… That phrase alone made Song’s skin crawl.
He’d tested her several times. Whether she was prepared in advance or just very good at playing dumb, she never slipped up. Over this, he’d even contacted his Fifth Uncle and asked him to help investigate the girl.
The reply had come a few days ago: nothing suspicious. Just an ordinary village girl.
Yet every time she looked at him, there was that earnest, hopeful gaze, not the calculating kind Ming Xiaoxiao had, but one with a strange note of… salvation.
Song really couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
But he truly couldn’t take that starry-eyed way she looked at him anymore.
“You’re Wang Lanhua, right?”
“Mhm! Comrade Song, did you need something?”
Lanhua gazed at him with stars in her eyes. She really did like her second husband from her last life. He had pulled her from the fire pit and taught her that women could also support their own skies and live brilliantly.
Song Jinping: …
“Weren’t you the one who came to find me?”
“Ah, right… Comrade Song, this is for you.”
Song Jinping let out a sigh, head aching. This was Wang Shuisheng’s sister. Had Shuisheng sent his sister to throw herself at him so he could court Comrade Bai with an easy mind?
“There’s no need, Comrade… Lanhhua. We’re really not that close. You’re being far too eager. It’s not just troublesome anymore, it’s honestly starting to scare me.”
He truly couldn’t stand her endless starry-eyed gaze. So he simply laid things out plainly.
He no longer thought she was some kind of secret agent; most likely she was just an infatuated girl.
Lanhua looked like she’d been dealt a heavy blow. The basket in her hand clattered to the ground. She clutched her head and bolted out of the courtyard, almost crazed. A bunch of onlookers were startled.
She’s not going to do something stupid, is she?
Right then, Bai Xinmei also happened to be in the crowd watching the fun. Song Jinping’s brutally straightforward rejection left her dumbstruck. These were the male and female leads, was their relationship going to BE before she’d even had the chance to stir the pot?
From the corner of his eye, Song Jinping caught sight of her in the crowd and panicked. When had she gotten there? How much had she seen? Would she misunderstand and think he had something with this obsessive girl?
Their eyes met.
Bai Xinmei curved her red lips in a small smile and blinked at him, a little flirtatious, like she understood.
Song Jinping wanted to explain, but there were too many people around.
After this incident, Song Jinping’s “popularity ranking” among the village matchmakers dropped significantly.
Sure, he was handsome, and his family conditions were great, but he was too cold. Clearly he wasn’t planning on marrying anyone from the village. The last remaining hopes of the girls in the area quietly fizzled out.
It was time again for the educated youths to pick up the packages their families sent.
Typically, as long as an educated youth’s family had the means and cared about their child, they’d send all sorts of good things so they wouldn’t suffer too much in the countryside.
When Ming Xiaoxiao had first been sent down, her parents still mailed her a pitiful handful of meat and grain coupons.
Later, she didn’t even need to go for packages anymore, because she knew nothing would be there.
Her parents had essentially written her off as dead.
Rumor had already started to spread that a new policy was coming: the college entrance exams would resume, and people could return to the city.
The college exams were one thing. She was stuck in the countryside, working in the fields by day with no proper environment, no materials, how was she supposed to revise?
Going back to the city was even harder. It required a recommendation from the village committee and signatures from the relevant departments. Every step needed connections and favors.
Her parents wouldn’t help. Or rather, they had no ability, and no desire, to help.
Meanwhile, the educated youths with strong backgrounds were already itching to plan their way back.
Those without backgrounds but with some access to materials had also started preparing for the exams.
Ming Xiaoxiao saw all this and burned with anxiety.
Until she noticed that Song Jinping would quietly go off every so often, ten li away, to a certain farm, apparently to visit someone.
She’d followed him several times. But every time they entered the farm, he would vanish from sight.
That farm housed political prisoners from the current movement.
Ming Xiaoxiao suddenly realized: this was her chance to return to the city.
If she directly tried to threaten him with this, demanding he take her back to the city, it wouldn’t work. They had no real relationship, and even if he wanted to help, he might not be able to.
And he wasn’t some gentle bookworm either. The man could be ruthless.
So she decided on a two-pronged approach. First, she went to the black market and bought some “medicine” that would make people lose control. She’d create a situation where they “accidentally” slept together, and then use that to force him to marry her.
Foolproof.
Just imagining it made Ming Xiaoxiao tremble with excitement. She was certain her good days were right around the corner.
When she actually got her hands on the drug, Ming Xiaoxiao specially put on a rather revealing gauze dress. She picked a moment when the kitchen was empty and slipped the medicine into Song Jinping’s food.
That evening the whole village was having a meeting up on the dam. Once the educated youths finished eating, they had to go. As long as she stopped him before he left, she could turn raw rice into cooked rice. Whether Song Jinping agreed or not, he’d have to agree, especially with the handle she had on him.
It was early summer. Near dusk, the paddies were a sea of tender green, the fields full of overlapping waves of croaking frogs and shrilling cicadas.
“Jinping, we’re heading out first. Remember to come over later, the Party secretary said there’s a big announcement.”
“Alright.”
Song Jinping ate as he walked through the news his Fifth Uncle had passed on: confirmation of the college entrance exams opening again, returning to the city… Compared to the village secretary’s speech about recommending worker-peasant-soldier students, that was enough to make a man’s blood sing.
Just as he was about to go out, he suddenly felt hot, his face burning, his breathing going heavy.
Ming Xiaoxiao suddenly came over, saying she wanted to apologize. Song Jinping really didn’t want any entanglement with her and ignored her.
Which only made the woman throw herself into his arms.
The moment she pressed against him, he felt a wave of nausea, he wanted to retch, but his body only grew hotter. Below the waist, he was reacting.
Alarm bells exploded in his head. This woman drugged him.
Those beautiful, sharp phoenix eyes darkened with shadow.
His lower body felt unbearably tight. Ming Xiaoxiao started rubbing against him, and even with all his self-control, Song Jinping couldn’t help swearing.
In the rough pushing and struggling, Ming Xiaoxiao smashed into a stone, splitting the skin of her forehead. Blood spilled.
He was getting hotter and hotter, and finally slid down to sit on the stone steps.
When Bai Xinmei walked in, this was what she saw: a refined, handsome young man collapsed on the bluestone steps, his face flushed a rosy red… enough to set anyone’s imagination wandering.
The village Party secretary had noticed that two educated youths were missing from the meeting and casually picked someone to go call them. By coincidence, that someone was her.
“Comrade Song, are you running a fever?”
She was a little worried, but it was dark and she couldn’t see clearly. Her foot hit something and she tripped, pitching forward onto Song Jinping’s thigh.
She didn’t think much of it, scrambled up and hurried to support him.
“Comrade Song, you’re sick, let me help you inside. Look at you, you can’t even stand. I’ll talk to the Party secretary later and ask for leave for you.”
The moment she touched him, Song Jinping, who felt like a desert of burning sand, met water. A low sound slipped from his throat, half relief, half pleasure.