RIRW – Chapter 48

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Shen Yiming’s timing was quite accurate. At this moment, the county high school had just finished classes, and Zuo Cong heard that Zuo Dan had arrived. He excitedly ran out of the school, but when he reached the gate, he froze.

Zuo Dan was standing at the gate, but there were two strangers standing beside her. It seemed that they had come with Zuo Dan.

Since the start of the school year, Zuo Cong had only returned to the village once, during the Mid-Autumn Festival. He hadn’t seen Shen Yiming or Li Chenliang before.

“This must be Xiao Cong, I’ve heard Uncle Dacheng mention you often,” Shen Yiming said as he walked over and gently patted his shoulder.

Zuo Cong looked at him for a moment, then immediately became happy and said, “You must be Brother Yiming, I’ve heard my dad talk about you. He said Brother Yiming has done a lot of good things for the village and wants me to learn from you.”

Shen Yiming smiled, “That’s just what I should do,” then pointed to Li Chenliang, “You can call him Brother Li. He came to the county with me and your sister.”

To Zuo Cong, this made Li Chenliang sound like an insignificant person, someone who just came to the county with Brother Yiming and his sister. Which meant his sister had a good relationship with Brother Yiming.

“Hello, Brother Li,” Zuo Cong was polite, immediately greeting him.

Li Chenliang felt a bit sour, thinking that there was such a big difference between being called “Brother Yiming” and “Brother Li.”

But Li Chenliang didn’t have any other thoughts. He just wanted Shen Yiming to know that he and Zuo Dan were close. As long as Zuo Dan was with him, it didn’t matter who Zuo Cong was close to.

When Zuo Dan saw Zuo Cong, her mood improved. It was much better than seeing Shen Yiming and Li Chenliang performing for show earlier. “Let’s go to the restaurant for a meal.” If she had come alone, she could have gone to the canteen, but now with two extra people, it was inconvenient.

Shen Yiming suggested he treat them to dumplings. But as soon as Li Chenliang heard this, he disagreed. “Who needs you to treat us? I’m not poor. Today, I’ll treat.”

Shen Yiming replied, “Alright then, let’s go eat corn buns. They don’t cost many food coupons, and we’ll be full. It’s a difficult time, and we shouldn’t be wasteful.” Since he wasn’t treating, he thought it was fine to propose this. Saving money for others was a good thing.

Zuo Dan and Zuo Cong, the siblings, didn’t mind.

But Li Chenliang was not happy again, thinking that Shen Yiming was deliberately trying to make him lose face in front of Zuo Dan, making her and her brother think he was a stingy person. They were being invited to a restaurant, but only corn buns were on the menu. At the very least, they should have dumplings.

So the four of them went to a county restaurant. At this time, the restaurant was state-owned, and there was only one in the entire county. As one could imagine, the resources inside were extremely scarce. Generally speaking, if you didn’t have connections, even if you had food coupons to eat well, you still couldn’t buy much. As for better dishes like braised pork, even if many people could afford it, they wouldn’t buy it every day. It consumed too many coupons, and it was better to buy some meat and cook it at home, which could last for several days.

Fortunately, Li Chenliang was wealthy. When he heard that there were no pork dumplings, he simply ordered large white buns, a bowl of braised pork, and a bowl of boiled meat.

Zuo Cong swallowed and thought that Brother Li really knew how to spend money. This meal alone was worth how many days’ worth of his meals. Feeling the gap between them, Zuo Cong didn’t dare to talk to him. He thought that Brother Li’s personality was somewhat similar to Xu Liang’s—both were wealthy, rural rich men. They were different from people like him who came from poor peasant families.

Although Zuo Dan intended to encourage him to be more open-minded and not to care about family background, the deeply ingrained thoughts of many years still had a significant influence on him. When it came to such people, he felt less inclined to make friends, thinking that their families were not a good match, and they couldn’t have much in common.

So, while eating the meat, Zuo Cong didn’t dare to eat much. He ate the buns in small bites, finishing one bun before eating a piece of meat. Zuo Dan helped him a few times by adding more meat to his bowl, but seeing him like this, she was at a loss for what to do.

“Eat, eat more,” Li Chenliang said generously. He took a bite of meat, feeling quite pleased. It had been a long time since he had eaten meat, and it was really well cooked. Although it was somewhat unpleasant to be out here with Shen Yiming, eating this meal of meat almost made it worth it.

Shen Yiming chewed slowly, occasionally nodding to show that the food was good and that he was very satisfied. He thanked Li Chenliang for his generous hospitality.

Li Chenliang’s movements of eating meat slowed down a bit. It felt like the meat in his mouth didn’t taste as good anymore.

Zuo Dan didn’t hesitate. When they went out, Li Chenliang had already said that he would cover the meal and transportation costs. Since he was treating, there was no need to be polite. As a result, Zuo Dan and Shen Yiming ate most of the braised pork, with Li Chenliang and Zuo Cong barely having any.

After finishing the meal, Shen Yiming commented, “It’s fatty but not greasy, it melts in your mouth, and it has a fragrant salty taste. Very good.” Then he smiled and looked at Li Chenliang, “Comrade Li Chenliang, thank you very much for this meal. Next time, I’ll treat.”

Li Chenliang: “…” Why had he treated Shen Yiming to such a great meal… He regretted it now. He should have let Shen Yiming treat next time.

Zuo Cong tugged at Zuo Dan’s sleeve. “Sis, is the meat really that good? I didn’t taste much difference, just that it was fragrant. I didn’t feel anything else.”

Zuo Dan glanced at the two of them and whispered, “When you’re in a good mood, everything tastes good.”

After the meal, Zuo Cong had to return to school. His teacher was moving today, and he was asked to help.

Hearing about helping his teacher move, Zuo Dan thought of the teacher who had given Zuo Cong the jujube cake and helped him wash his clothes before. “Is it the teacher who gave you the jujube cake?”

“Yeah, Teacher Bai usually takes good care of me. She asked me to help, so I definitely have to help. Don’t worry, it won’t affect my studies,” Zuo Cong said with a smile.

Although Zuo Dan felt that it wasn’t a big deal, the thought of a female teacher helping Zuo Cong wash his clothes still made her uncomfortable. She reminded him, “You shouldn’t get too close to your teachers. You’re already a grown young man, and she’s a female teacher. Don’t cause any gossip about your teachers.”

“Sis, what are you talking about? I know how to keep my boundaries,” Zuo Cong said, his face turning red. “I usually just study in the dorm.”

“That’s good. Focus on your studies. When you have time, come home more. The environment at home is better now, so we’re not short of the transportation money.”

Shen Yiming glanced at Zuo Dan, seemingly thinking about something, and then said to Zuo Cong, “Why don’t you find another classmate to go with you later? It’ll be good to have some company, and you can finish the task faster. Your classmate probably also wants to get along better with the teacher, so you can give them an opportunity.”

Li Chenliang sneered inwardly, thinking that Shen Yiming was starting to teach people how to win others over, flattering and currying favor. He warned himself to be careful, as he didn’t want Shen Yiming to spoil Zuo Dan’s younger brother with such advice.

Zuo Cong, however, thought that Shen Yiming’s suggestion was quite good. No wonder people in the dorm often asked if he and the teacher were relatives; they probably thought he was close to the teacher and wanted to make some connections as well.

After Zuo Cong left for school, Zuo Dan thought she should take the opportunity to visit the school and thank the teacher if the teacher was truly good to her brother. If it was something else… Zuo Dan was slightly worried that her thoughts might be drifting in the wrong direction.

Once Zuo Cong left, Zuo Dan asked Li Chenliang where he planned to go. After all, she had come with him, and she didn’t want him to feel like he was always losing out. He had gone from being the main character to just a companion. If she didn’t do something about it, her money would feel like it was burning a hole in her pocket. Even though it was Li Chenliang’s big mouth that had attracted trouble, she couldn’t just ignore it.

Li Chenliang, hearing Zuo Dan ask for his opinion first, felt a little pleased with himself and glanced at Shen Yiming with a smug look. “Let’s go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy something,” he said. There wasn’t much to do in this rundown county.

Shen Yiming nodded in agreement. “I’m done with my stuff, and there’s nothing else to do. But it’s already over two o’clock. We need to catch a ride at four, so we have to go early to get a seat. I suggest we don’t spend more than an hour at the supply and marketing cooperative.”

However, the closest supply and marketing cooperative was still a ten- to twenty-minute walk away. Zuo Dan didn’t want to go there; she could go by herself, but it would be inconvenient to go with the two of them. So she said, “Then let’s hurry up and go to the one on the east side of the city. They have more stuff there.” Without saying anything else, she led them straight to the east side cooperative.

Li Chenliang had originally planned to take his time and pick out some things, showing off his wealth, but because they were in a rush, the whole process of buying things was done in a hurry. After they bought their things, they rushed to the station, the whole process felt like rushing through a schedule.

When the three of them arrived at the station, the bus was already quite full. Fortunately, the ticket seller had saved them seats, the same ones as before. Shen Yiming and Zuo Dan sat together, while Li Chenliang was assigned to the front seats.

Li Chenliang was a little unhappy and glanced at Zuo Dan and Shen Yiming. Shen Yiming wouldn’t swap seats with him, and as for Zuo Dan… Zuo Dan was willing, but Li Chenliang felt like it would be too rude to take advantage of a lady.

The driver saw him sitting in that seat and smiled, “Comrade, you see this window is clean, right? I just wiped it a few times.” He loved the bus as if it were his wife and couldn’t stand anyone saying it was dirty.

On the way back to the village, Li Chenliang felt that something was off today. He had gone around the county, but he hadn’t achieved what he had set out to do. Feeling upset, he didn’t even feel like talking. He thought that his strategy had been wrong. He should have gone to the county with Zuo Dan first and then let others know about it after they returned.

Why didn’t he think of that? Li Chenliang sulked and slapped his own head.

Once they arrived back in the village, Li Chenliang gave Shen Yiming a heavy snort, then turned to Zuo Dan and said, “Zuo Dan, next time let’s go to the provincial capital to play. Just the two of us.” He said this proudly and walked away.

Shen Yiming, holding his things, acted as if he hadn’t heard anything and led Zuo Dan forward. The house he was staying in was the former office of the production team, and now that he was helping the team with work, they let him stay there. It was conveniently located not far from Zuo Dan’s house.

The two of them were walking together when Zuo Dan couldn’t help but remind, “Shen Yiming, can you stop overthinking so much? You’ll turn gray early.”

Shen Yiming replied, “This isn’t something I can control. It’s like eating when you’re hungry—when you encounter a problem, you think about it, it’s just instinct.”

He then added seriously, “But don’t worry. You know everything I’ve been doing, so you’ve got some leverage over me. I won’t speak about your matters, no matter what. After all, telling others won’t benefit me in any way, so I won’t do anything stupid.”

Zuo Dan thought to herself, I know the things you’ve done, but it wouldn’t matter if they were known. After all, what you’ve done has brought tangible benefits to people. She chuckled lightly and played dumb, saying, “What’s there that can’t be said? You’re thinking too much.”

“You and Li Chenliang… his cousin works at the provincial capital mall.” Shen Yiming made a vague remark.

Zuo Dan quickly laughed and said, “Look, you’re overthinking again. I’m not that familiar with Li Chenliang. He’s not familiar with the county, so he asked me to go with him.”

Shen Yiming nodded seriously, “You don’t want to talk about it, and I won’t ask. But it wasn’t because he’s unfamiliar with the county that he asked you. He saw us talking recently, so he’s just trying to make me jealous. This is something he would do. Whenever I get close to anyone, he tries to take over, like fighting for a toy.”

“…” You’re the toy, you’re the teddy bear! Zuo Dan didn’t like being compared to a toy, but deep down, she knew Shen Yiming might be right. After all, why else would everyone know about the county trip? This seemed like something meant to get Shen Yiming’s attention.

So childish. These people who haven’t experienced hardship are so immature.

But Zuo Dan didn’t care too much. She was a practical person, and in this matter, she hadn’t lost anything. Besides, she had made money from this. Of course, she wasn’t planning to give that money back to Li Chenliang. If he treated her like a toy, then he shouldn’t be surprised if she treated him like a big spender.

“Zuo Dan, I don’t usually give advice, but we’re different. We’re like family,” Shen Yiming said, bending down with a smile, looking at Zuo Dan. “I really think of you as family.”

His handsome face suddenly got very close, and Zuo Dan stepped back. “If we’re family, then what’s the point of getting that close? Hurry up and go rest,” she said, not falling for his charms. She wasn’t someone who would lose her reasoning over a handsome face.

Shen Yiming smiled lightly, grabbed his things, and walked away. Seeing how light and carefree his steps were, Zuo Dan could tell he was in a good mood.

Good thing I’ve seen enough handsome men in modern times. My resistance is strong. Otherwise, I might have fallen for his little tricks and lost my ability to think.

When Zuo Dan got home, Li Hui and Zuo Dacheng were still busy weaving bamboo baskets. They hadn’t had time to weave during the day, so they had to do it in the afternoon, working until around 7 or 8 at night. In the countryside, people went to bed early, and if a family kept their lights on too late, it would easily draw attention. This time, there wasn’t a rush, so they didn’t have to stay up too late. When Zuo Dan returned, Li Hui was happy to ask how her trip to the county went. Although she and Zuo Dacheng both thought Shen Yiming was a good person, it was still important that their daughter liked him.

Zuo Dan said, “I didn’t do much, just went for a walk.”

“Did you go with Yiming? That child is far from home and unfamiliar with the place. We should help him out more. We can’t just have Yiming always helping our village while we don’t help him at all.”

Zuo Dan thought to herself, Shen Yiming is more familiar with it than I am. “Yes, we went together and came back together.”

Li Hui wanted to ask more probing questions, but after thinking for a moment, she decided against it. Some things shouldn’t be rushed and should be allowed to unfold naturally.

Back in her room, Zuo Dan’s expression grew serious as she thought about the future. Although Shen Yiming had said he wouldn’t talk about her matters, Zuo Dan wasn’t fully convinced.

From Shen Yiming, Zuo Dan realized many of her own shortcomings. At the beginning, she felt confident because she had traveled through time and knew many things about the future. She had been a bit too overconfident, thinking she could surpass many people. But Shen Yiming had given her a wake-up call.

So now, she needed to be more careful. For instance, her partnership with Li Chenliang—she thought that after this collaboration, it would be best to end it. Being too close to people around her would only lead to trouble.

Hmm, Shen Yiming had mentioned buying some defective products from workers in the county, which actually seemed to be a profitable venture. Although the profits were a bit lower, if done over the long term, it could work out. After all, her third uncle was a truck driver, and he went to far-off places. He could find towns along the way to sell the goods, which would be safer than doing business in big cities. At that point, she would invest the capital, have her third uncle collect the goods, and they would split the profits—no matter how much they made, it would be a gain. This seemed like a sustainable business.

In the end, Zuo Dan even wondered if Shen Yiming had intentionally told her these things to suggest an alternative way to make money, so she wouldn’t draw too much attention in the village.

But whether Shen Yiming did this on purpose or not, Zuo Dan was still very grateful to him for this. He had essentially pointed her in a clear direction.

The three of them going to the city didn’t stir up much gossip in the village. In fact, if Li Chenliang hadn’t deliberately spread the word, no one would have paid much attention to such an ordinary matter.

The villagers were more interested in discussing who’s daughter was getting married, who was getting a bride, and who had a son or daughter.

After the first snowfall, fieldwork came to a halt. People only needed to occasionally send someone to check on the crops in the fields to make sure nothing was wrong.

Some families secretly came to Zuo Dacheng to help make wooden cabinets, saying they were preparing to marry off a daughter or get a son-in-law. However, Zuo Dacheng, busy with his own big business at home, didn’t have time to take on this job. He used the excuse of being busy making wedding cabinets for Zuo Chengcai to turn down all the requests. As for when Zuo Chengcai would marry, that was a question he couldn’t answer. After all, he was already of age, and preparing for marriage was always a good idea.

Aside from the Zuo family, the rest of the village had slowed down, just waiting for the pig slaughtering and meat distribution before the new year.

With nothing else to occupy her time, Xu Fengxia began grumbling about family matters inside the house.