CHAPTER 112: CHAPTER 112 DON’T LOOK FOR TROUBLE WITHOUT REASON

Deng Xiaojie, feeling irritable, found fault with everything. "What time is it already? Why haven’t we turned off the lights to sleep?"

Cui Aiju rolled her eyes at her. "Didn’t you see that Qiao Zhiqing hasn’t come back yet? You’re really selfish."

Deng Xiaojie, already fuming with nowhere to vent her anger, retorted, "What do you mean? How am I being selfish? Does this kerosene not cost money? Are we just supposed to wait for her alone?"

Cui Aiju hadn’t expected Deng Xiaojie to snap back at her. "Deng Xiaojie, don’t go looking for trouble. I’m not a pushover you can bully whenever you like."

Just then, Li Rongjuan stepped in to mediate. "Alright now, you’ve all been working all day. Aren’t you tired?"

The room quieted down. Bai Suli turned over in her bed. "Did Qiao Zhiqing fall into the latrine or something? Why has she been gone for so long?"

At that moment, Deng Xiaojie was preoccupied with her own thoughts and didn’t quite catch what Bai Suli said. Chuyunyi had made her lose face in front of the Branch Secretary and the young intellectuals. Now, all she could think about was how to deal with Chuyunyi and make her lose face in front of the entire village.

In the darkness of the night, a figure slipped into the Zhiqing Point and then entered the young women’s room.

Ignoring Deng Xiaojie’s grumbling, the figure directly blew out the kerosene lamp and climbed onto her bunk.

「 」

When Yunyi went to work the next day, she saw the young man who had tried to strike up a conversation with her in the field standing in front of the village health clinic. "Are you here to see a doctor or to get medicine?"

Qiu Baolin didn’t reply but kept eyeing Yunyi up and down. "Chu Zhiqing, you are really beautiful."

He deliberately lowered his voice as he said this.

Yunyi had no interest in this type of person. "Are you going to move aside yourself, or shall I make you?"

Qiu Baolin smirked. "Chu Zhiqing, my name is Qiu Baolin."

Yunyi had initially planned to settle it with a single kick, but just then she saw the Branch Secretary approaching. "Branch Secretary, someone is causing trouble here."

Qiu Baolin hadn’t expected Yunyi to react this way. Hearing her words, he hurried to explain, "Chu Zhiqing, please don’t misunderstand. I just came to get some medicine. I was only joking with you just now."

In front of the Branch Secretary, Qiu Baolin naturally didn’t dare to cause any more trouble. "I’ll get ten cents’ worth of Analgin."

Yunyi walked past him, opened the clinic door, and swiftly counted out ten cents’ worth of Analgin, packaging it neatly.

Then she made the entry in the ledger. "That will be ten cents."

Qiu Baolin hadn’t actually come to buy medicine, so he obviously didn’t have any money on him. "Put it on my tab."

After Yunyi recorded it, she pushed the ledger towards Qiu Baolin. "Sign here."

Seeing that the Branch Secretary was still standing outside the door, Qiu Baolin had no choice but to sign his name, take the medicine, and leave.

However, as he left, he shot Yunyi a look pregnant with meaning.

Yunyi coldly watched his retreating figure. Use whatever tricks you have, she thought. I’ll make sure you regret ever starting.

As her martial arts skills improved, her senses became increasingly sharp. She naturally heard all the idle chatter around the village.

So that was it, she mused. They saw her decent conditions, the future support from the Gong clan, and her job at the village delivery room that earned ten work points a day. That’s why she’d become such a hot commodity.

Other young intellectuals might be intimidated by this, but who was she to be scared? Literature, martial arts, schemes—she was ready for whatever they threw at her.

「 」

「At a house within the commune,」

A few people were looking at a topographic map on the table. "This valley... I’ve already searched it twice and found no trace at all."

"But according to the information we got from those people, it should be in this area."

"There’s one more thing. I’ve discovered there might be another group also searching for this location. As for them, I haven’t encountered them face to face yet."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I think the other group has more than one person, and it’s very likely they are members from the nearby production brigades."

"I will report this to the higher-ups. You all should also keep an eye on the people in your respective brigades—not just the villagers, but also the educated youth from outside."