Chapter 29: Labor of the Educated Youth

“The couple next door really have a great relationship.”

It was just before dawn, barely half past five.

Mu Wanwan and Fang Yinnian woke up, and the couple next door—Yang Jianmu and Zhao Yanqiu—were up as well.

As Zhao Yanqiu opened the window to bring in the clothes she had washed the night before, she suddenly heard cheerful shouts from next door.

This time, however, Yang Jianmu didn’t dare respond.

The day before, after he had answered his wife’s questions, he ended up eating in the canteen all day.

Not that the canteen food was bad—it was quite good—but eating there meant he couldn’t be with his wife and child, which was quite dull.

Yang Jianmu remained silent, which displeased Zhao Yanqiu.

She slammed the window shut with a loud bang. Their daughter, who was sleeping in the small living room, was startled and let out a soft sound before turning over.

“Do you have something against me?”

Yang Jianmu was speechless.

He felt it was actually his wife who was upset with him.

“Dear, recently I haven’t been drinking or smoking…”

“Drinking or smoking? Your mother said your sister-in-law just gave birth to a boy and told you to send your whole month’s salary back home.”

Ah, now he understood where the problem lay.

Yang Jianmu immediately admitted his mistake. “Besides the five yuan pension contribution every month, I won’t send any other money back. If she pushes you, tell her to come to me.”

“What will you do if she comes?” Zhao Yanqiu asked curiously.

“I’ll just say I spent it on drinking and smoking, or lent it out. Right now, the money for meals every day is from your salary.”

At last, a smile appeared on Zhao Yanqiu’s face. She snorted, “Good, you’re sensible.”

Next door—

“Fang Yinnian, what are you doing?” Mu Wanwan came out after washing up to find Fang Yinnian sitting stiffly on the bed, staring blankly ahead.

His eyes were vacant and hollow, like a puppet whose soul had left its body.

Something was definitely wrong.

Mu Wanwan’s playful nature stirred, and she tiptoed like a cat, sneaking over to the head of the bed.

Just as she reached out to poke him on the forehead, her hand was suddenly grabbed.

His hand was burning hot—this was even stranger.

“Are you running a fever?” Mu Wanwan lifted her left hand and pressed it to Fang Yinnian’s forehead. “You’re really burning up. Do you want to see… a doctor?”

“Maybe I’ll go with you to see the doctor.” Her eyes lit up with curiosity at the thought.

Mu Wanwan suddenly remembered that in this time and place, aside from a few Western medicines, most cures were based on traditional Chinese herbal remedies.

And herbs are plants.

Back in the stars, Mu Wanwan had never seen illness treated with plants.

Sure enough, ancient Earth was a treasure trove.

Perhaps once her powers returned, her abilities could evolve toward healing. After all, her previous healing only worked on the spiritual level and had never touched biological life.

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became.

In her excitement, she leaned toward Fang Yinnian—“Let’s—”

“I’m fine!” Fang Yinnian felt his breathing become scorching hot. Holding his breath, he placed both hands on Mu Wanwan’s shoulders and gently pushed her away bit by bit.

Mu Wanwan blinked in confusion. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of injections?”

A mental image flashed before her: in this era, treatments involved shots.

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Fang Yinnian snapped.

“I’m not!” Mu Wanwan pouted, glaring at him.

By chance, her gaze landed on the red tear mole beneath his right eye.

She hadn’t paid attention to it for some time, as she’d been busy running around.

Now, annoyed and seeing the mole she disliked, she grew even angrier.

Hands on her hips and finger pointed at the red mole, Mu Wanwan declared, “I hate you.”

Fang Yinnian was speechless.

“Ungrateful child,” he thought, “What is she fussing about now?”

Headache.

The troublesome “ungrateful child” ignored him all the way until it was time to go to work.

Fang Yinnian placed her snacks and biscuits into the small basket they hadn’t used yesterday, but she paid him no mind.

He was both amused and annoyed. Before leaving, he handed her the military thermos filled with hot water.

“Don’t get too impulsive on your first day, okay?” he reminded her.

Mu Wanwan turned her head and snorted.

As she snorted, a stray tuft of hair on her head bounced coquettishly.

Fang Yinnian’s fingers twitched. Seizing the moment when she wasn’t paying attention, he lightly flicked her with his index finger.

When she looked over, he quickly withdrew his hand and continued his reminders: “Do what the team leader tells you. If you get tired, take a rest.”

“In the basket, I packed some White Rabbit candies and a few cream cookies. Eat them if you get hungry.”

Mentioning food, no matter how mad Mu Wanwan was, she couldn’t help swallowing hard.

She thought no one had noticed her little reactions, but Fang Yinnian had seen everything.

His brow twitched slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips before he delivered his trump card: “If you behave, I’ll cook something delicious for you when you come back tonight.”

“You can cook something delicious?!” Mu Wanwan finally looked at him, eyes wide with surprise and disbelief.

Fang Yinnian couldn’t stand her distrust. He tapped her nose with a finger.

“You’ll see when you get back tonight.”

“And at noon, I’ll wait for you in the canteen.”

“We’ll eat there for lunch and come home to cook dinner.”

Originally, under the rural resettlement plan, Fang Yinnian hadn’t intended to cook himself.

He knew how to cook; he had lived with his grandparents, and when they weren’t around, he took care of his own meals.

His intelligence spanned many areas—if he knew the recipe, the dishes wouldn’t turn out badly.

But good or not, he didn’t want to waste time on food and drink.

He had no particular demands about eating, as long as it filled him up.

But now, with Mu Wanwan around, who loved food, he had to indulge her.

He hoped to use delicious food to win her over, so she’d stay by his side forever.

A gleam flashed in Fang Yinnian’s eyes. At that moment, he shed his usual calm, refined gentlemanly demeanor.

He was like a wolf lying in wait, ready to claim his treasured prey.

“You’re acting strange,” Mu Wanwan said sharply, sensing something was off as she stared at him.

Fang Yinnian laughed warmly, “Where am I strange?”

“All right.” Fang Yinnian took Mu Wanwan’s hand and opened the door without letting go.

“Let’s go.”

And so, Fang Yinnian pulled the puzzled Mu Wanwan along to the meeting point.

Mu Wanwan was a newly arrived educated youth. The night before, the youth office had informed her to join the third production team for labor today.

Every day, the youth laborers gathered at the farm entrance before following the team to their designated worksite.

Because Mu Wanwan had requested it, and Director Yang Jinghua now held Fang Yinnian in high regard, Mu Wanwan was assigned to weed the wheat on her first day of labor.