Chapter 27

On the other side, at the educated youth compound—

After Zhou Tingting returned, she carefully unfolded and read Ye Qingshui’s manuscript. The more she read, the more absorbed she became.

Even when someone called her, she didn’t respond. Others noticed how engrossed she was and curiously came over to take a look. After reading it, one of them went to whisper to Sun Lingyu:

“I saw Zhou Tingting reading something from Ye Qingshui. Apparently, Ye Qingshui is trying to make a water-finding device. Who would’ve thought she’d come up with such an idea?”

“It actually looks pretty convincing. Are you sure the spots you surveyed are really accurate?”

Sun Lingyu wasn’t the least bit interested in checking it out. She replied, “Of course they’re accurate. What’s not to trust? And Ye Qingshui wants to make a water-finding device? Is she crazy? She dares to dream about anything.”

She dabbed Snowflake Cream onto her face with her thumb and joked with He Fang, “I’m not looking down on her, but if Ye Qingshui really had that kind of ambition, pigs could climb trees.”

He Fang sighed regretfully, “What a pity about Educated Youth Xie.”

Zhou Tingting could no longer stand it. She said, “No matter how good Teacher Xie is, he’s already someone else’s husband. Why do you keep bringing him up every few days?”

“No matter what you say about Ye Qingshui, I still think she’s better than all of you. Always judging people through a crack in the door—just you wait, you’re going to embarrass yourselves.”

…

The Next Day

Ye Qingshui got up early to make nuomi ji (glutinous rice chicken). The lotus leaves she used to wrap them had been picked in advance, soaked, and blanched to remove bitterness. The glutinous rice was freshly sun-dried in the summer. Wrapped in the lotus leaves and steamed, it turned out soft, sticky, and fragrant. The surface of the rice gleamed with oil, looking delicious. A single bite was sticky, tender, and fragrant with the aroma of lotus.

She made a total of 40 nuomi ji . Each one sold for 10 cents. After subtracting the cost of ingredients and labor, she could still earn more than two yuan.

She would’ve made more, but if she picked too many lotus leaves, it would’ve been too obvious and someone might notice.

When she handed the nuomi ji to Qian Xiangdong, she couldn’t help but ask, “I haven’t been to town these past few days. How’s Zhou Ke doing?”

Qian Xiangdong didn’t quite understand why she suddenly asked about Zhou Ke. He scratched his head and said, “He’s fine, same as always. He said he missed you a lot since he hasn’t seen you in a while and thought you’d quit.”

Ye Qingshui said, “Tomorrow I’ll go to town to buy some things and visit Zhou Ke while I’m at it.”

She had spent the whole night mulling over the design of the water-finding device, stuck on one part she just couldn’t figure out. At dawn, she suddenly remembered: wasn’t Zhou Ke’s grandfather the perfect person to help?

Qian Xiangdong said, “Then it’s bound to succeed.”

After breakfast, Ye Qingshui stretched and went back to her room for a short nap.

When morning came, Shen Weimin arrived on time at the Ye household to assist with Xie Tingyu’s daily toileting needs. He tiptoed into the room, only to find that the couple had already washed up and finished breakfast.

Xie Tingyu saw him but didn’t even lift an eyelid.

On the way to the outhouse, Shen Weimin started to feel uneasy. He asked Xie Tingyu, “How did Shuiya act yesterday? She didn’t… react badly, did she?”

Xie Tingyu didn’t answer and just told him to handle it as he saw fit.

After carrying his brother back to the room, Shen Weimin hesitated for a long time before walking up to Ye Qingshui.

She was currently working on the design for her water-finding device in her notebook.

Seeing Shen Weimin looking hesitant and unsure, Ye Qingshui didn’t even pause before saying:

“I know what you’re going to say. If it’s an apology, forget it. I know what you think of me. You look down on country girls like me. But don’t worry—your concern is unnecessary. I never intended to be a burden to Yu-ge for life. We already agreed to divorce a long time ago.”

That one statement completely blocked everything Shen Weimin had prepared to say.

Xie Tingyu had never mentioned the divorce agreement with Ye Qingshui to Shen Weimin—after all, it wasn’t something worth broadcasting.

But Shen Weimin didn’t know that.

He had originally come to apologize, but now he froze in place. He looked at Ye Qingshui in disbelief, studying her expression carefully.

Her face was covered by a mask, and the part of her eyes and brows that were visible looked calm and composed. Her head was lowered as she continued to write and draw in her notebook.

Because he couldn’t see her expression clearly, Shen Weimin imagined the face of a woman deeply hurt by his words.

In fact, Ye Qingshui had been frowning, frustrated and puzzled over the technical challenge she was facing—which only reinforced Shen Weimin’s mistaken assumption.

He had always been reckless and used to women who buzzed around Xie Tingyu like bees to flowers. This was the first time he had been so easily and repeatedly forgiven by someone like Ye Qingshui.

He had thought she would at least get angry and curse him, maybe even whisper complaints into Xie Tingyu’s ear to make the two of them fall out.

But Ye Qingshui didn’t do anything. Even when she spoke, her tone was light and breezy, without a trace of blame. This instead made Shen Weimin, for the first time, feel a complicated and subtle emotion.

He said, “I’m sorry. Please don’t be sad… I didn’t mean it. Don’t cry, please don’t cry. I was wrong.”

Shen Weimin still wanted to say more, but when he saw Ye Qingshui rubbing her eyes, thinking she was about to cry, he got flustered and hurriedly left the Ye household.

Ye Qingshui rubbed her sore and swollen eyes, then lifted her head to watch Shen Weimin fleeing in panic. She couldn’t help but think, What on earth just happened?

Xie Tingyu had overheard the entire conversation between the two of them.

He tried to comfort Ye Qingshui: “Don’t take what he said to heart. It’s not worth being upset over.”

Xie Tingyu was a little worried when he heard Shen Weimin say she was crying. But he could only sit on the bed, unable to move, unable to go to her side and see for himself.

Looking at Ye Qingshui’s back, his voice softened considerably, and in a comforting tone he said, “My family may have a lot of rules, but life is still lived for oneself, not for others. My family is actually very simple and ordinary, not much different from others.”

At this point, Xie Tingyu paused briefly. “To be honest, my parents divorced when I was four. Besides me, there’s a younger sister at home—she’s my stepmother’s daughter. My father is a soldier in Military Region B. He’s strict, talks little, and isn’t easy to get close to. Other than my parents, there are my grandparents, two aunts, and a younger uncle.”

After hearing this, Ye Qingshui couldn’t help but smile a little. This speech sounded just like someone giving a full family background during a matchmaking meeting in this era—clear and thorough. But she already knew all of this in her previous life; she didn’t need to hear it again.

Ye Qingshui lowered her head again and resumed sketching her water-finding device, frowning as she struggled to think. Meanwhile, the tip of her pen flowed smoothly, writing out one formula after another.

On the other side, Xie Tingyu saw Ye Qingshui lower her head again, looking either shy or as if she were avoiding him.

He took a deep breath, and his palms began to sweat a little. “I… I’ve never thought much about major life decisions, never considered romantic relationships. Getting married to you was something completely unexpected. But if—if…”

Xie Tingyu’s throat suddenly seemed to get stuck, and his face flushed red—bright red.

“If I could live and work hard together with Comrade Ye… I might be willing…”

Ye Qingshui noticed something off and pulled herself out of the sea of equations. She took off her mask and inhaled the fresh morning air deeply.

“What are you talking about? I’m not sad. Didn’t you say you only saw me as a younger sister?”

“What would I be sad about? Just now, I was thinking about some issues with the water-finding device. That’s why I didn’t respond.”

The word “willing,” which Xie Tingyu had been too shy to say earlier, was now completely stuck in his throat.

For a moment, surprise and confusion surged in his heart. He had expected Ye Qingshui to react somehow—but not like this. Now he was stunned and only managed to calm down after taking a deep breath.

His face went pale, then red, then dark again.

If it weren’t for his leg injury, and if he could see Ye Qingshui’s expression more clearly, he would’ve gotten up and gone to her directly to finish what he had to say.

No one knew what kind of emotional rollercoaster he had just gone through. Xie Tingyu’s mind replayed scenes of Ye Qingshui blushing as she came to the educated youth camp to find him, jumping into the river to chase after his harmonica, and playing “Butterfly Lovers” for him.

Finally, Xie Tingyu’s turbulent thoughts gradually settled.

A single burst of courage is strong the first time, weaker the second, and gone the third. After being interrupted by Ye Qingshui, Xie Tingyu no longer had the will to bring it up again.

His expression turned gloomy, and his voice was low: “Mm. As long as Shuiya isn’t sad, that’s good.”

Today, perhaps, was not the right day to say such things to a young girl. The mood was off, and she clearly wasn’t happy.

He knew that although she usually appeared soft and kind, in private, her temper wasn’t small at all.

Xie Tingyu said, “From today on, Shuiya, don’t bring him food anymore. Let him chew on his own dry buns.”

Ye Qingshui thought for a moment and agreed—she should return the money to Shen Weimin. She had a good temper, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have one at all. If he looked down on her so openly and covertly, how could he still stomach the food she made?

Xie Tingyu paused for a moment and added, “You don’t need to return the money either. Just keep it—he deserves it.”

Ye Qingshui replied, “That won’t do. Owing him money just makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Xie Tingyu curled his lips and said coldly, “You don’t need to worry about it. He deserves to suffer. That little money isn’t worth the grievances you’ve had to endure. One day I’ll make sure he properly apologizes to you.”

Xie Tingyu had a lot of pent-up frustration that he hadn’t been able to let out. If not for Shen Weimin, maybe today he wouldn’t have had to swallow his words.

Though Ye Qingshui had some doubts about what Xie Tingyu had said earlier, those doubts were quickly cast aside.

…

Ye Qingshui organized the problems she still couldn’t figure out, stuffed the notebook in her pocket, and rode her bicycle into the county town.

She first went to the department store and bought a can of malted milk powder. When she handed over the industrial coupon, she did it cheerfully and paid without hesitation—because the money and coupon were Xie Tingyu’s. She was just helping to pick it up for him along the way.

A can of malted milk powder cost five yuan. Although expensive, it was a large tin. Holding it, Ye Qingshui thought that once she saved enough coupons, she’d buy a can for her grandmother to try as well.

After buying the malted milk, she spent five cents on some fruit candy and headed straight to Zhou Ke’s house.

Zhou Ke was at home, struggling to wash out a nightsoil bucket. His thin little hands had turned red from scrubbing. The tap water was barely more than a trickle. Sweat was pouring from his head as he sighed to his grandfather, “If today the water’s cut off like yesterday, what are we going to do, Grandpa?”

Zhou Cunren grunted, “Wouldn’t that be perfect? No need to clean the public latrine.”

Zhou Ke frowned and said, troubled, “But if that happens, Grandpa, you won’t get paid or get your food rations.”

Zhou Cunren fell silent. He also thought that the city’s water outage was a real pain.

Ye Qingshui came in with a cheerful smile and handed over a packet of candy, calling out to Zhou Ke, “Ke’er, I bought some candy—come and have some!”

At the same time, she pulled out her little notebook full of question marks and carefully handed it to Zhou Cunren, asking respectfully, “Teacher Zhou, could you please give me some guidance?”

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