“Thank you, Comrade Zhou.”
Cheng Baokuan had long heard of Zhou Yinghuai’s renowned name. Despite his young age, he had already become a leading figure among technicians. His professional abilities were, naturally, beyond question. Having him personally explain things to Cheng Fangqiu was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for her to broaden her knowledge.
Just as he was about to say something, someone called his name from afar. Cheng Baokuan turned around and saw that it was a fellow worker. He then turned back and briefly instructed Cheng Fangqiu.
“I’m going to work now. Be careful on your way home.”
“Okay.”
Once Zhao Zhigao got onto the excavator, only the two of them remained. In an instant, an eerie silence fell between them, as neither spoke.
Cheng Fangqiu blinked her eyelashes, lifted her chin slightly, and revealed a delicate and charming face. A faint tug at the corner of her lips made her appear as exquisitely alluring as a painting. She was the first to break the silence, calling his name, “Brother Huai.”
The two light words landed beside his ear, making it impossible for Zhou Yinghuai to remain calm. He stood up, lightly cleared his throat, and finally asked, “What do you want to know?”
The tall figure standing before her instantly made her appear even more petite.
Cheng Fangqiu placed her hands behind her back, her slender fingers twisting together as if she were extremely nervous and restrained. She hesitated for a long time before slowly saying, “I don’t really understand much, so you can just tell me anything. I want to hear everything.”
After she finished speaking, she paused for two seconds, staring into his eyes before adding, “The more, the better.”
Her small gestures were entirely caught by Zhou Yinghuai. He rubbed his fingertips together twice, and the words she had just said echoed repeatedly in his mind, giving him an inexplicable sense of ambiguity.
It felt as if she was emphasizing this just so she could spend more time with him.
As soon as the thought surfaced, Zhou Yinghuai harshly scolded himself for it. Since when had he become so frivolous and self-absorbed? To be frank, the two of them had met no more than three times in total. He was hardly some deity descending from the heavens—what right did he have to think that she would hold him in such high regard?
Gazing at her clear and captivating peach-blossom eyes, Zhou Yinghuai quietly averted his gaze. His earlobes, tinged with a faint blush from guilt, betrayed his emotions. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he finally pointed to the massive machine at work and began his explanation.
His Mandarin was precise, his voice rich with a magnetic warmth. The noise from the excavator was too loud, forcing him to raise his voice slightly. His tone naturally carried a lingering softness, making it intoxicatingly pleasant to the ear.
Whenever he spoke in technical terms, Zhou Yinghuai’s expression became especially serious. From Cheng Fangqiu’s angle, she could see his sharp and well-defined side profile. He was entirely focused, as if conducting a meeting with subordinates—meticulous, without the slightest hint of slackness or levity.
This was his profession, his passion.
By contrast, Cheng Fangqiu appeared somewhat absentminded. She absorbed only half of what he was saying. Initially, she had planned to listen attentively, hoping that it would help them find more common topics to talk about in the future. But she simply couldn’t resist—the combination of his face and voice was far too alluring!
No matter how much she tried to concentrate, she couldn’t stop her attention from drifting away.
Her distraction was too obvious. Zhou Yinghuai cut his words short and turned to look at her. She instinctively shrank her neck, her large, beautiful eyes fluttering. Under his gaze, a trace of embarrassment gradually surfaced on her face.
She was the one who had claimed to be interested in excavators. And yet, she was also the one who wasn’t paying attention. But somehow, he just couldn’t bring himself to be upset with her.
With a slight headache, Zhou Yinghuai pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s all.”
The underlying message: You can leave now.
However, Cheng Fangqiu did not move. She pursed her lips, hesitation flashing across her face. Then, as if making up her mind, she took a deep breath and said, “I’ve been wanting to thank you in person for what happened last time.”
“No nee—” Before Zhou Yinghuai could finish, she interrupted him with a firm voice, “I really want to thank you.”
Her words landed with a resolute finality, clearly conveying her sincerity. Seeing how earnestly grateful she was, Zhou Yinghuai could only nod in acknowledgment. As an afterthought, he added a reminder, “Be careful next time by the river. Especially after it rains—the soil gets loose and can easily collapse.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed the girl’s eyes suddenly brighten. A moment later, he heard her mutter under her breath, “Brother Huai is concerned about me?”
The remark was too ambiguous.
Zhou Yinghuai, unsure of how to respond, rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, ultimately deciding to pretend he hadn’t heard.
“You saved me, and even though no one else knows about it, I remember it very clearly.” Her tone grew softer. “I know Brother Huai is a kind and righteous person, but right now, I have nothing—there’s nothing I can give you to properly express my gratitude.”
Hearing this, Cheng Fangqiu lowered her head, looking a little forlorn. Her peach-blossom eyes were misty, making it impossible not to sink into them with a single glance. Zhou Yinghuai dared not look too long and had to lower his own head as well.
“Don’t say that. I didn’t save you for any reason.”
When they met again, both tacitly treated it as though they had never seen each other before. After all, being rescued from drowning was hardly considered a “beautiful tale” in this era. In fact, if the incident were brought into the open, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe it as an unnecessary disaster.
Since it involved both of their reputations, it was better to pretend it had never happened.
Hearing his words, Cheng Fangqiu didn’t press the matter further. Instead, she smiled and changed the topic. “By the way, my name is Cheng Fangqiu, and I live on the west side of the village. If you ever need help with anything in the village, you can come find me.”
“It’s getting late. I’ll be heading off first. See you next time.”
She waved at him, then greeted Zhao Zhigao, who was in the excavator, before jogging away.
“Fangqiu-meizi1Meizi (妹子) is an affectionate term for a younger girl or sister-like figure. left?”
“She went home? Is she coming back tonight?”
“She’s really popular.”
Zhao Zhigao’s sigh reached Zhou Yinghuai’s ears, prompting him to retract his gaze from her departing figure. Silently, he agreed in his heart.
She was indeed well-liked.
—
On her way home, carrying her lunchbox, Cheng Fangqiu was in high spirits. She had successfully interacted with Zhou Yinghuai, and even the scorching sun, which she usually found unbearable, didn’t seem as annoying.
But after this, several days passed without her finding a chance to talk to Zhou Yinghuai again. Her once enthusiastic passion was doused as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over her, leaving her chilled from head to toe.
Especially after spending days repeatedly cutting pigweed—she was on the verge of being driven insane. Exhausted from the heat, she had cried secretly under the covers multiple times at night, feeling that this monotonous, laborious life had no end in sight. She might as well just lie at home and rely on her family!
Yet, the thought of living off the Cheng family for free made her feel too embarrassed. Taking the “lie-flat” approach to mooching off her family would only be another form of mental torment. After much contemplation, she ultimately decided to keep working and instead focused on one thing—securing Zhou Yinghuai as soon as possible so she could move to the city and live a better life.
—
Time flew by, and soon, it was the weekend.
For once, she could sleep in. Cheng Fangqiu slept until noon before finally getting up. After freshening up, she went straight to lunch. Ding Ximei, feeling sorry that she had lost weight over the past few days, even cooked a poached egg for her.
The smooth, tender egg white soaked in broth melted in her mouth, so delicious that she nearly teared up.
She had never imagined that, after being so picky about five-star restaurants in her past life, there would come a day when a mere poached egg would bring her to the brink of tears. Life was truly unpredictable.
—
“This Comrade Zhou really is something. So many people struggled with that machine, but he just fiddled with it a little, and it was fixed. It’s like magic.”
Since it was a rest day, Cheng Baokuan was finally able to come home for a hot meal with the family. He spoke animatedly about his road construction work, keeping Ding Ximei and Cheng Xuejun engrossed in every detail.
Cheng Fangqiu wasn’t very interested, except when she heard news about Zhou Yinghuai—then, she would perk up and listen carefully.
Tsk, as expected of the bigshot from the book. No matter how difficult the problem, he handled it with ease.
With great ability came great responsibility. The road construction project had entered a critical phase, and other communes were also facing issues. Many people sought out Zhou Yinghuai for guidance, keeping him so busy that he barely had any free time.
But today was a rest day, meaning work had stopped. He could probably take a breather.
As this thought crossed her mind, Cheng Fangqiu’s eyes flickered with calculation. Just as she was wondering how she could find an excuse to “accidentally” run into Zhou Yinghuai, her attention was drawn to Cheng Xuejun. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, and during a moment when Cheng Baokuan and Ding Ximei were chatting, he quietly grabbed a basket and a sickle, sneaking toward the door.
His sneaky behavior was too obvious.
“What are you up to?” Ding Ximei was quicker to ask than Cheng Fangqiu.
Her words successfully froze Cheng Xuejun in his tracks. Realizing he had been caught, he turned back with an awkward grin. “I arranged to go up the mountain with some classmates to pick wild berries. Last time, my sister said they were really sweet, so I wanted to pick more.”
Hearing this, Cheng Fangqiu met his shifty gaze with a knowing smirk and deliberately threw a wrench in his plans. “They’re just okay. I don’t really feel like eating them these days.”
“Older sister!”
Panicked, Cheng Xuejun raised his voice, calling out to her. Cheng Fangqiu leisurely rubbed her ear. “I’m listening.”
After spending the past few days together, Cheng Fangqiu had grown quite fond of this mischievous younger brother. He had a good temperament and was a devoted sister’s boy—whatever his sister said was law. If she told him to go east, he would never go west; if she told him to sit, he would never stand.
The only exception was his love for running up the mountains and down to the rivers in his spare time.
But that wasn’t really a flaw. Life only lasted a few short decades—people should do whatever they wanted to and live freely and happily. Besides, even though he played around a lot, he never neglected what was important. When it was time to study, he studied; when it was time to have fun, he had fun. He knew how to allocate his time properly.
The problem was that Cheng Xuejun particularly liked venturing deep into the mountains. He was skilled too—he could always manage to bring back wild chickens or rabbits. But no matter how good he was, those were the deep mountains! The dangers lurking there were immeasurable. What if, instead of catching a small animal for a feast, he ran into wolves, tigers, or leopards?
Not to mention, summer brought an abundance of snakes, insects, rats, and ants. A single bite from one of those could be a real torment. That’s why the family usually kept a tight leash on Cheng Xuejun, forbidding him from running up the mountains or playing by the river. This was especially true after heavy rains, when they watched over him even more closely.
Thinking about it, aside from the time he went to pick wild berries on his way home from school, it had been quite a while since he had last gone up the mountain. Now that the rest day had arrived, his itch to go was unbearable—so unbearable that he had planned to sneak off.
Who would’ve thought he’d get caught red-handed? Now he was doomed.