The sky was filled with the glow of the sunset. Villagers sat at their doors enjoying the cool breeze and watching the drama unfold. The big yellow dog, usually the loudest barker, now slinked into the house with its tail tucked between its legs. The man standing at the door had an ugly expression on his face, while the intermittent cries of a child came from inside.
"Not learning any good at such a young age, only doing crooked things!" Ji Zhuxin stood with her hands on her hips, shouting curses at the door.
The water on the man's head wasn't even wiped dry yet. Being stared at like this, his face darkened: "Sister, the kid was just playing around. Your younger sister doesn't know any better, are you going to throw a tantrum with her?!"
The man was a full zodiac cycle older than Ji Zhuxin, and he couldn't help but put on the airs of an elder.
Unexpectedly, Ji Zhuxin scolded even more fiercely: "You're no good thing either! If the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will go slant. Then I'll go 'play around' with Li Ergou too. I'm taking him to find Qin Du right now!"
How long had it been since Chen Yiping's incident? What if Qin Du went crazy again? The next target would be Ji Zhaoxi.
Hearing Ji Zhuxin's words, Li Ergou, who was hiding in the house, cried even louder.
At the time, he was just a little curious, wondering if Qin Du would hit Ji Zhaoxi.
He didn't expect that not only was Ji Zhaoxi not hit, but she also brought her older sister to scold him.
Not far away, a few people also walked out of the educated youths' courtyard.
"Old Xie, isn't that your wife's older sister?"
"They all say rural people are unreasonable and overbearing. It really is true."
"Old Xie, your wife is there too, hurry up and go."
A few educated youths shoved Educated Youth Xie. Educated Youth Xie's face flushed red; he clenched his fists tightly, pursed his lips, and said nothing.
Seeing him like this, the others found it boring and stopped teasing him.
Later, this incident ended with Li Ergou's mother dragging Li Ergou out to apologize.
Xinniu Village was only so big, and the matter quickly caused a huge uproar.
Qin Du threw firewood into the stove, preparing to cook.
A faint call suddenly came from inside the house. Qin Du wiped the ash off his hands and walked over.
"Son, is there still a rabbit left at home?"
Mother Qin coughed, propping herself up to sit.
Qin Du nodded silently.
Mother Qin said softly, "Send some to the sisters next door. I heard their Zhaoxi crying out that she wanted to eat meat this morning."
Qin Du stood silently in place, his eyes fixed on the blackened corner of the wall.
Mother Qin sighed and gently patted his arm. "Son, just send it over. After all, my life was saved by her younger sister."
It was probably several years ago when Qin Du was taken away by people from the neighboring village and didn't return home for three days and three nights. Mother Qin lived in fear at home every day. Unable to bear it any longer, she gritted her teeth, leaned against the wall, and went out to look for Qin Du.
Her health was already poor, and she panted after just a few steps. She had barely gritted her teeth to climb halfway up the mountain when her back and knees began to ache. At first, it was an itch like ants crawling, but later she couldn't even move and could only lie on the ground.
Having not found her son and facing such a desolate death on the mountain, she watched the bugs starting to crawl on her, and tears suddenly fell.
Ji Zhaoxi appeared right at this moment. Startled by the sight of Mother Qin, she didn't ask anything and quickly crouched down to brush the bugs off her.
She was very young then and didn't have much strength, but realizing that this person might die in front of her, she gritted her teeth and carried Mother Qin on her back.
Sweating profusely from exhaustion, she shed tears as she carried Mother Qin because she was simply too tired.
Ji Zhaoxi had to stop and rest every little while. She recognized Mother Qin and knew she had a bad class background, so she didn't speak to her. As for Mother Qin, she didn't even have the strength to open her mouth.
By the end, the sky had completely darkened, and most of the village had fallen asleep, before Ji Zhaoxi finally carried Mother Qin back to her home.
"You... you are not allowed to tell anyone about this," Ji Zhaoxi said hesitantly, looking at her from a slight distance. "Your family's background is bad. If others find out, they will definitely scold me."
Mother Qin nodded weakly.
Seeing her like this, Ji Zhaoxi poured her a cup of water and placed it in front of her.
After pouring it, she hurried away, terrified of being seen by others.
Mother Qin had told Qin Du about this incident countless times.
Every time she mentioned it, she would shed tears.
Left with no choice by his mother's tears, Qin Du had to go and deliver it.
By evening, a voice of pleasant surprise came from next door.
"Sister, the big dog brought back a rabbit! I want to eat rabbit!"
"Silly girl, keep your voice down!"
Early the next morning, Qin Du went to return the book.
But he didn't expect that all the educated youths would be gathered at the door today.
As soon as Qin Du appeared in their line of sight, all their gazes gathered on him, assessing him blatantly.
Lin Yitang, who was reading a book, suddenly looked awful, feeling panicked inside.
A neighboring villager was sitting at the door feeding a child. He couldn't help but mock, "Even the whelp of the Five Black Categories wants to read books. Could it be some reactionary book he's reading?"
Qin Du's expression didn't change, but Lin Yitang's heart immediately skipped a beat.
Qin Du paused in his steps. He didn't walk any further forward, but simply placed the book gently on the stone bench nearby.
Lin Yitang breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. She was really afraid Qin Du would come over and talk to her.
An educated youth who knew the situation comforted her in a low voice, "It's fine, no one knows."
Lin Yitang nodded stiffly.
When Qin Du went back to get his hoe, Ji Zhaoxi was playing with the big dog at the door. As soon as she saw him, she snorted at him and immediately ran into the house, the big dog following her inside.
However, the matter of Qin Du borrowing a book from Lin Yitang still spread.
Most voices said Qin Du was a toad lusting after swan meat. Because the main character was Qin Du, the rumor spread increasingly fiercely. Some people would mock him as soon as they saw him.
Ji Zhuxin also learned about this early on. Carrying a basket home, she glanced at Qin Du outside: "Some people just always covet things that don't belong to them."
"Do you really think these educated youths from the city are easy to fool? They've read so many books and have smart brains. This isn't how you cling to dragons and phoenixes."
Ji Zhaoxi echoed loudly, "Exactly, exactly."
Qin Du glanced at Ji Zhaoxi. There was a basin in front of her, and she was washing her face with some unknown substance. As she washed, she began splashing water onto the big dog, which whimpered and dodged everywhere.
The paste on her face was washed off, revealing a fair and clean face. Ji Zhaoxi's eyes curved as she mocked him, "Educated youths are meant to marry educated youths."
Meeting Qin Du's eyes, Ji Zhaoxi cleared her throat awkwardly, quickly dumped the water, and went inside.
Ji Zhuxin glanced at her and scolded in frustration over her failure to meet expectations, "Coward!"
This matter even reached Mother Qin's ears.
One night, Mother Qin suddenly asked him if he liked Educated Youth Lin from the village.
"Son, if you really like her, you have to work much harder."
Qin Du calmly added firewood to the stove. "No, I just borrowed a book."
"Then what kind of girl do you like?"
Qin Du frowned, and a figure suddenly appeared in his mind.
He lowered his eyes. "I don't know."
Mother Qin sighed and stopped talking.
The fire in the stove kept burning, the firelight hitting his face, illuminating it with a red glow.
It had been a long time since they last ate meat, and Ji Zhaoxi was craving it again.
Ji Zhuxin had a job in the county town, commuting back and forth from the village every day. She was also on good terms with the village chief's wife, so their monthly meat supply was already enough for the two of them.
"Sis, where is our meat?"
"Oh, I sent it over to Educated Youth Xie."
Ji Zhaoxi was left speechless for a moment before she muttered a quiet complaint, "Why would you give it to him? He has plenty of meat of his own."
