RIRW – Chapter 60

Some Chapters are password protected, please use - rirw2025c to unlock these chapters. This is to top theft of translations.

Captain Zuo Shuisheng was so frustrated with the educated youths’ dramatic reactions that he didn’t even want to deal with them anymore. He sent his wife to check on them at their quarters, and she reported back that they were just feeling dejected but otherwise fine—they were already able to return to work. The other educated youths weren’t as extreme as that one, but they were all in low spirits.

After all, they had put in so much effort, and now that this opportunity was gone, who knew when they would be able to return to the city?

Zuo Shuisheng, however, had little patience for their attitude. He felt these young people couldn’t handle hardship. How long had they even been in the countryside? Some educated youths had been living in rural areas for nearly a decade. That one who just returned to the city was from the very first batch of volunteers—he had willingly come to the countryside back in the 1960s, traveling all the way from Beijing. If he could endure all these years, why couldn’t they?

Among them, Shen Yiming was the most unbothered by the situation. He showed no signs of distress, always cheerful, and even made frequent visits to the Zuo family home to help out.

After turning over the soil in their small courtyard plot, he started chopping firewood. Every day after lunch, he would run over to do chores before heading to work with Zuo Dan. This completely won over Zuo Dacheng and Li Hui—they were beyond pleased, already considering him as a future son-in-law.

The local custom did encourage young men to frequently help out at their future in-laws’ homes as a way of showing their presence, but most young men didn’t actually follow through with it. In the countryside, every family needed its own labor force, and with most families having multiple siblings, there was rarely a need to borrow extra help. Shen Yiming’s diligent efforts made him stand out significantly.

After a while, people started noticing—Shen Yiming and Dandan were clearly in a relationship!

Some even went out of their way to ask Zuo Dacheng and Li Hui directly. The couple never openly announced it, but they also never denied it. After all, their daughter dating someone was an open and honorable thing—why wouldn’t they acknowledge it? Soon, news of Zuo Dan and Shen Yiming’s relationship spread all over Zuojia Village.

“What? Comrade Yiming is in a relationship? With Dacheng’s daughter, Dandan?”

As soon as the commotion over the educated youths returning to the city settled down, the topic of Shen Yiming and Zuo Dan became the new hot gossip.

And no wonder—Shen Yiming was outstanding. He may not have any family background here, but the boy had skills. What skills, you ask? Could you get the commune’s tractor to come here? Could you negotiate for more grain from the commune? Even Captain Zuo Shuisheng couldn’t pull that off, but Shen Yiming did!

A young man like that—if he didn’t return to the city, he was bound to become an official in the future.

And an official wouldn’t be farming—he’d earn a salary and be supported by the state.

On top of that, since Shen Yiming had no family here, wouldn’t he naturally take care of his in-laws in the future?

Many people whispered that Zuo Dacheng and Li Hui were smart—they had made their move early. Others had hesitated, and by the time they decided to act, Shen Yiming had already been taken home by Zuo Dan.

Zuo Dan soon realized that whenever she walked down the road, she would run into young women or housewives who always seemed eager to chat with her.

They’d ask things like:

“Hey, how did you and Shen Yiming get together?”

“How did you manage to chase him?”

“What did you do to make him like you?”

“What do you two do when you’re together?”

Annoyed, Zuo Dan finally turned to Shen Yiming and grumbled, “Shen Yiming, you troublemaker! Could you stop attracting so much attention and making my life difficult?”

After finishing work in the afternoon, Zuo Dan seized the opportunity to express her dissatisfaction with Shen Yiming. Why was it that other people’s relationships weren’t as troublesome as hers? She felt like she was becoming the number one enemy of all the women in Zuojia Village. Even the old ladies would pull her aside to sing Shen Yiming’s praises, constantly reminding her how lucky she was to have landed such a great catch.

Shen Yiming, wearing a straw hat and carrying their tools, walked alongside her on the way home, puzzled. “I spend all my time with you. When did I ever cause trouble?”

Zuo Dan shot him a sideways glance, her lips pouting high in the air.

He was a walking disaster. Just look at Li Hongbing—she now stared at her like she was her mortal enemy. And Su Xue, who used to pretend not to know her, couldn’t even keep up the act anymore. The way she glared at Zuo Dan now felt like she was throwing invisible daggers at her.

She stayed silent the whole way back, walking ahead with her hands behind her back, while Shen Yiming trailed behind.

Before they even reached the village, they spotted Li Chenliang standing in the middle of the road, his head tilted back, staring at the sky as if he were upset with the world.

Shen Yiming chuckled and nudged Zuo Dan. “Look, here comes the trouble you caused.”

“What trouble did I cause?” Zuo Dan glared at him.

At that moment, Li Chenliang lost his patience. He had been trying to keep his composure to show his displeasure, but when he caught a glimpse of the two whispering together, his frustration boiled over. He shouted at Zuo Dan, “Zuo Dan! You’re really dating this guy? How could you be so stupid and let him trick you?”

That hit Zuo Dan right in the gut. She had only ever made one foolish decision in her life—and it had cost her everything.

Irritated, she snapped back, “How is dating stupid? Yes, I’m with him, and I think it’s great!” She then patted Shen Yiming’s arm. “He’s strong and hardworking.” Next, she pointed to his lips. “Thin lips—good talker, and he doesn’t eat much.” Finally, she gestured toward his head. “Educated—capable of big things.”

She almost pointed at his chest too—to call him heartless.

Li Chenliang felt like she was blatantly lying to herself. Shen Yiming wasn’t all that, yet she made him sound like some kind of treasure.

“You’re an idiot!” Li Chenliang fumed. He wasn’t even sure why he was so angry. Maybe it was the feeling of betrayal—someone he had considered part of his side had now joined Shen Yiming’s. From now on, she would stand with him instead.

Shen Yiming grinned. “How could our Dandan be an idiot? She’s the smartest. Great judgment!”

Li Chenliang shot him a disdainful look before turning back to Zuo Dan. “Zuo Dan, are you seriously not considering breaking up? If you break up with him, I’ll support you!”

Shen Yiming smirked. “You think she’ll break up just because you said so? Where’s her dignity then?”

Zuo Dan had to admit, Shen Yiming knew her well. Even if she ever wanted to break up with him, it would be her decision—she wouldn’t let an outsider tell her what to do. So, she shook her head. “We just got together. Why would we break up? Li Chenliang, you’re really something. Meeting up just to tell people to break up? That’s pretty low.”

“You’re driving me crazy!” Li Chenliang, seeing how stubborn she was, stomped off. If he stayed any longer, he might start cursing out loud. How had she and Shen Yiming gotten together so quickly? There hadn’t even been any signs! Wasn’t Shen Yiming just focused on going back to the city before?

Shen Yiming turned to Zuo Dan with a serious face. “Look, you just made me another enemy. And I never blamed you when it was the other way around.”

Zuo Dan shot him another glance. “You and him weren’t even friends before we started dating. Besides, if you want to break up, I wouldn’t mind at all.”

“Do I look like the kind of guy who gives up? The more they want us to split, the more I won’t!” Shen Yiming declared confidently.

Shen Yiming patted Zuo Dan on the back of her head and said, “Zuo Dan, I just realized how highly you think of me. I’m in a great mood. Let’s go to the county town tomorrow for a trip.”

“Who has time to go out and play with you?” Zuo Dan snorted, clasped her hands behind her back, and strode forward.

A date? Keep dreaming!

Meanwhile, Xu Fengxia stepped out of Granny Qi’s house and saw Zuo Dan and Shen Yiming walking into the village together. She pursed her lips and spat on the ground. When she got home, she could still hear her daughter, Zuo Huan, crying. Annoyed, she shouted, “What’s so great about it? He’s just an Educated youth—what are you crying for? If you like one so much, go find one yourself! I’m done with you!”

Xu Fengxia was feeling frustrated. She had racked her brain trying to find a marriage match for Zuo Huan, but to no avail. The trouble started with a report incident—something that had been Zuo Chunhong’s fault, but Xu Fengxia got implicated instead. Now, Zuo Chunhong held a grudge against her, and she was completely shut out from the Hu family’s affairs. If she couldn’t even step into their home, there was no way she could rely on Zuo Chunhong to arrange a marriage for her daughter.

Since she couldn’t find a good family for Zuo Huan, and now even the second family’s Dandan had managed to snag an Educated youth, Xu Fengxia started considering the idea of finding an Educated youth for her daughter too. Was it really that special? The whole village seemed jealous over it. If Dandan could do it, so could she.

She had heard that even though Educated youth couldn’t return to the city, their families could send supplies from there. Even just a little leftover from a city household was still more than what they had in the countryside. Zuo Huan wasn’t bad-looking—surely she could find someone even better than Shen Yiming.

After lunch, Xu Fengxia sent her eldest daughter, Zuo Qing, to wash the dishes, then pulled her husband into the room to discuss their daughters’ marriages.

Zuo Qing’s situation was tricky. She wasn’t good-looking, and her personality was dull, so even Granny Qi struggled to find her a match. There were a few older, lazy men interested, but Xu Fengxia wasn’t having any of that. She didn’t mind if a son-in-law was older, but laziness was unacceptable—she wanted someone who could take care of her, not another burden.

So, she decided to marry off Zuo Qing quickly to get rid of the burden and have Zuo Huan stay at home and take in a son-in-law. Since Zuo Huan wanted an Educated youth, that was perfect—Educated youth had no homes of their own in the village, so once married, he’d have to live with them.

Zuo Hongjun, her husband, was frustrated with his own situation, unwilling to be outdone by his two brothers. After hearing his wife’s reasoning, he had no objections. If Dandan could land a city-born Educated youth, then his daughter could too.

He was simply fed up with seeing his younger brother always grinning happily.

Xu Fengxia wasted no time. As soon as she set her sights on an Educated youth for Zuo Huan, she picked one quickly. She looked down on most of the Educated youths in the village—they weren’t hardworking and constantly caused trouble. None of them seemed like husband material.

Zuo Huan had mentioned Li Chenliang, saying his family was full of cadres, but Xu Fengxia didn’t buy it. If his family really had connections, why wouldn’t they have found a way to keep him in the city? Why send him to the countryside?

No, if they were going to choose someone, it had to be an Educated youth who had stayed in the village for a long time and had a stable job. She had originally considered Xu Dapeng but dropped the idea when she heard he was close friends with Shen Yiming. Instead, she set her sights on Yang Wenxin, a teacher at the commune’s elementary school.

He was fair-skinned, well-educated, and wore glasses—he looked like a real intellectual. He always carried books with him, too. Compared to the match that Zuo Dacheng’s family had found, Yang Wenxin was far superior.

Everyone had praised Shen Yiming so much, but in the end, wasn’t he just farming in the village? Yang Wenxin was a teacher—a man of culture.

At first, Zuo Huan wasn’t happy about the idea, but after visiting the school with Xu Fengxia to see Yang Wenxin for herself, she had no objections. He might not be as handsome as Shen Yiming, but as a teacher, he carried himself differently from a farmworker.

Xu Fengxia immediately went to Granny Qi to help arrange the match.

On the same day that Zuo Dan and Shen Yiming went to the county town, Granny Qi happened to be heading to town to act as a matchmaker.

It wasn’t exactly a leisure trip. The day before, Shen Yiming had taken the chance to tell Li Hui and Zuo Dacheng about how his grandmother had been hoping for her only grandson to settle down. Now that he had finally found someone, he wanted to take Dandan to the county to get a photo taken and send it to his grandmother to make her happy.

Li Hui and Zuo Dacheng, being filial, immediately agreed. They knew how lonely the elderly could be, especially when they rarely got to see their grandchildren. If a photograph could bring comfort, it was worth doing.

And so, Zuo Dan set off on her “mission” with Shen Yiming.

As Shen Yiming drove the cart, Granny Qi and Zuo Dan chatted in the back. Looking at the handsome and well-mannered Shen Yiming, Granny Qi sighed emotionally, holding Zuo Dan’s hand. She praised Zuo Dan for being capable and solving her own problems without needing Granny Qi to worry. Meanwhile, she was running herself ragged trying to arrange marriages for Zuo Huan and Zuo Qing. First, it was Zuo Qing’s issue—originally, she wanted a live-in son-in-law, but now she had changed her mind and just wanted a suitable match. Then, she had to find an Educated youth for Zuo Huan, specifically that teacher at the town’s commune elementary school, Teacher Yang. With his qualifications, even if she talked until her mouth went dry, she wasn’t sure if she could make it happen.

Zuo Dan was getting dizzy from Granny Qi’s endless chatter. Hearing this last part, she nearly choked on her own saliva.

Shen Yiming glanced at her and casually handed over his water flask.

After taking a sip, Zuo Dan asked, “That teacher… Yang Wenxin?”

“That’s the one! Such a good catch,” Granny Qi sighed.

Zuo Dan thought to herself—his qualifications were indeed decent, but with that personality? If he got married, his wife shouldn’t expect much affection from him. She could still remember how Yang Wenxin had been fawning over several female Educated youth before.

After dropping Granny Qi off, Shen Yiming took Zuo Dan to the coal yard to find Xu Dapeng. He left the horse cart there, planning to pick it up later in the evening.

Xu Dapeng looked at the two of them with mixed feelings. He had a great impression of Zuo Dan and respected Shen Yiming as a loyal friend, but seeing them together… he just couldn’t bring himself to be happy.

After all, Shen Yiming wasn’t going to be able to return to the city.

“Yiming, no wonder you never cared much about going back before. You kept coming here every day for tea—turns out you really weren’t in a hurry. So you’ve decided not to return to the city, all for Comrade Zuo Dan?” Xu Dapeng asked with a tone of mock grievance.

“He wasn’t coming to the commune to try to return to the city? He was just here for tea?” Zuo Dan’s eyes widened. This guy—he had acted so anxious before, but it was all just for show?

Xu Dapeng lost interest in the topic and waved it off. “Forget it, forget it. You two enjoy yourselves. Dandan, treat Yiming well—he’s making a huge sacrifice for you.”

Zuo Dan nearly choked on her own breath.

As soon as they left the coal yard, she reached out and gave Shen Yiming’s arm a hard pinch.