Volume One, Chapter Five: Two Fainted, One Fell Ill

She was a small girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with round apricot-shaped eyes that were especially endearing. Probably because her eyes had been exposed to the river water, they were a bit red, making her look like a little rabbit. Quite adorable.

This was his first impression of Nian An.

Now, a lone man and woman had ended up together, both still dripping wet. If anyone saw them, even ten mouths wouldn’t be able to explain the situation clearly.

Having seen that no one was around, and realizing the seriousness if they were discovered, Nian An immediately turned and briskly walked away, not giving the person behind her a chance to speak.

Gu Shen collapsed weakly onto the ground, utterly drained.

After catching his breath, he forced himself up, found his coat by the riverbank, put it on, and followed in the same direction.

Back home, Nian An changed out of her half-damp clothes and fetched a basin from the kitchen.

Fortunately, the farm work lately hadn’t been too dirty, so a quick rinse and a few scrubs made the clothes clean again.

After hanging them to dry, Nian An sat on the doorstep, staring blankly at the two large water jars.

Because of the delay caused by the trip to Aunt Chun Xing’s house, she would have to wait until tomorrow’s free time to go again. This time, not only would she rearrange the kitchen layout, but she also needed to dig another well in the yard.

She wasn’t sure if the little savings she had would be enough.

By afternoon, when it was time to work in the fields, Nian An walked over and overheard a group of people chatting nearby.

Seeing that Aunt Chun Xing was part of the conversation, curiosity got the better of her and she joined in.

“Have you seen the new educated youth? Oh my, the looks, the figure—really handsome.”

“Right, but looks alone don’t fill your belly. They’ve got to be good at farming, strong!”

The Yu family’s production team was located in the northeast, where the local customs were relatively open-minded. In this chat, besides gossip about family matters, the rest of the discussion revolved around men, with no sense of taboo.

After listening to a few comments, Nian An found it boring and prepared to leave to do her work.

The weeding work from a few days ago was done; today she was assigned a new task: turning over the sweet potato slips, which she needed to get familiar with.

Unexpectedly, just as she turned to leave, Aunt Chun Xing caught sight of her.

Seeing her about to go, she followed and muttered beside her, “Girl, a few days ago I said you should look for those educated youths, but it seems this batch is all show and no substance. Maybe we should wait a bit longer?”

Nian An felt awkward; she hadn’t taken it seriously. Just as she was about to reassure her, Aunt Chun Xing continued talking about the youths.

“You don’t know, this morning when those educated youths arrived, two of them fainted right away, and another one looked really sickly. If you didn’t know better, you’d think a group of consumptives had come!”

As soon as she said this, Aunt Chun Xing immediately covered her mouth.

Nian An realized that with the ongoing campaign to break the old customs, superstitions were forbidden, and that word was especially taboo.

She glanced around; fortunately, no one had noticed their conversation.

Both relaxed.

Aunt Chun Xing laughed sheepishly, “Look at me, I just talked too much.”

They exchanged a knowing smile and then parted ways.

Turning over sweet potato slips was much easier than weeding. Nian An recalled what Aunt Chun Xing said: as the slips grew longer, each household could pinch off some budding leaves from their assigned plots to eat like vegetables.

Though not worth much, it added variety to their meals.

But thinking of the bare cupboards, she didn’t even have oil for cooking, let alone seasonings.

After gnawing on raw sweet potatoes for two days and her stomach protesting, she finally broke her mental barrier and started cooking in the kitchen.

Baked sweet potatoes and coarse rice porridge—so far tasteless and dull.

She didn’t know how long she would have to stay in this book’s world. This couldn’t go on. She’d have to find time to visit the county town and buy some supplies. Even if it meant living a step back, she couldn’t neglect herself.

Nearby, the women kept gossiping about the educated youths. This was the only fresh topic in the production team, and probably would be talked about for a while yet.

Nian An listened for a bit; with the added gossip, the work didn’t feel so dull.

After finishing work in the fields, Nian An headed home, kicking a smooth stone underfoot.

Suddenly, two people approached her, and one spoke, breaking her childish reverie.

“Comrade, hello, could you tell me how to get to the commune?”

Nian An stopped and looked over.

The man on the left looked familiar—it was the same man she had pulled out of the water at noon. Now his hair was dry, and he had changed into a white shirt, though his face was still pale, possessing a kind of fragile, sickly beauty. The man on the right was tall and slender, with curved eyebrows and a smile that shone brightly in the sunlight.

Their personalities were instantly clear—one lively, the other calm.

But these two were heading to the commune?

Nian An recalled Aunt Chun Xing’s remark this afternoon about one of them looking sickly—it must have been this man.

These two had to be the new batch of educated youths.

Smiling wryly, she withdrew her gaze and pointed in a direction. “Go straight down this road, then turn left at the fork. There’s a courtyard with a red flag flying—that’s the commune.”

The man smiled and nodded, thanking Nian An.

As they brushed past her, she heard a soft “Thank you.”

She suddenly turned, their eyes met briefly, then she quickly looked away.

Even after they had gone, the image of that man lingered in Nian An’s mind.

Such a handsome face—why hadn’t he appeared in the original story?

Something felt off.

Meanwhile, Gu Shen, who had already walked some distance away, suddenly stopped and grabbed the arm of his companion.

“Ye Xiao, you should go by yourself. If I come along, they might purposely make things difficult.”

Ye Xiao sneered but was angry. “We’re almost there; why are you backing out now? I promise no one will know who you are. Don’t live so cautiously, alright?”

Seeing Gu Shen opening his mouth to speak, Ye Xiao covered it with his hand.

“Stop. I still have to get Lin Zhi’s share. If you don’t help, I can’t carry it all by myself!”

Without waiting for his consent, he dragged Gu Shen forward.

The new educated youths were given a monthly ration of thirty jin of grain. They had been delayed this morning because Lin Zhi was unwell, so now they were heading to the commune to collect it.

Following Nian An’s directions, they turned left at the fork and saw the red flag fluttering high above.

As they reached the courtyard, an elderly man happened to come out. Seeing their unfamiliar faces, he cautiously asked, “Comrades, who are you looking for?”

Gu Shen stayed silent, but Ye Xiao stepped forward boldly. “Sir, we are new educated youths here to collect our grain ration.”