Chapter 18: Chapter 18

郑重 (Zheng Zhong) thought something might have happened and, not even caring about his current situation, he jogged over toward Shen Qiao.

His voice, unusually urgent, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Qiao trembled, saying, “It seems like… A rat.”

These things, during the three years of famine, were considered food.

Zheng Zhong's face remained unchanged, but he could tell that Shen Qiao was even more pale now. He replied, “It ran away.”

Of course, it had run far off. Otherwise, Shen Qiao felt like she might faint from the shock. She kept shaking her legs, as if she couldn't rid herself of that feeling.

Goosebumps were rising on her skin, like bamboo shoots sprouting after the rain.

Looking at the situation, it seemed a bit of an overreaction. She had been talked about by the others in the team, since anything could pop up while working in the field.

Shen Qiao wanted to overcome it, but that kind of physical fear couldn’t be hidden. She pulled herself together and said, “Yes, yes, it ran away.”

Even so, she seemed a bit absent-minded. Zheng Zhong couldn’t understand her. The closest woman to him was probably his second sister, 郑月香 (Zheng Yuexiang), but even she could swing a rat’s tail around as if it were nothing.

So he simply said, “You go ahead.”

Of course, Shen Qiao was eager to leave. She quickly took a few steps, but then saw a dark shadow dart past and abruptly stopped.

She instinctively cast a pleading look back at Zheng Zhong, thinking it would be best to have someone accompany her for a few steps.

Zheng Zhong understood, but right now, he didn’t want to offer any help. He pretended not to notice.

His mind drifted to the little dog he once kept, which only lacked a tail dragging on the ground.

He wanted to explain himself, but couldn’t find the words. His usual silence had made him used to not having much to say, and now, trying to speak, he lost any coherent thoughts.

The chilly wind blew, and he felt a sudden sense of coolness on his backside, thinking it was best to head back quickly.

Only when Shen Qiao disappeared from view did he hurriedly make his way home.

He lived in a three-room mud-brick house, which he had moved into after leaving his family home. The village had given him an empty house.

It was quite spacious, but it was falling apart. It had only been made habitable after years of effort. Zheng Zhong didn’t mind, though. To him, as long as there were walls and a roof to shelter from the wind and rain, it was good enough. He never really cared for any more than that.

Once inside, he changed his pants, fed the animals, and then entered the kitchen.

The kitchen had everything needed—firewood, rice, oil, and salt. He started steaming rice, then washed some vegetables to stir-fry. While gathering his ingredients, he spotted the small basket of eggs and hesitated for a moment.

He usually saved the eggs to take to the supply store. Someone would come to pick them up periodically, and each egg could fetch five cents.

He wasn’t interested in eating them himself; he was always hard on himself.

But thinking about Shen Qiao’s figure from earlier, for some reason, he grabbed two eggs.

He remembered hearing that Shen Qiao ate ten or so eggs a month.

It wasn’t a lot, but eggs were like currency among the team members. Even the most spoiled children in the village could only hope to eat one a month.

Ten eggs—a quantity people could barely even imagine—and naturally, this sparked discussions.

He grabbed the eggs but put them back down, thinking that the thought was strange. Why would he even consider giving them to Shen Qiao?

He shook his head and tossed the vegetables into the heated pan to stir-fry, adding salt before serving.

He always cooked one dish per meal. For someone doing heavy labor like him, it was only right to have large portions—he could easily use a basin instead of a plate.

He ate heartily, without even lighting a candle, surviving on the faint moonlight.

For him, it wasn’t about saving money; he just didn’t like too much light sometimes. Anyway, since he was alone, there was no need for it.

Everything in his place was arranged so familiar to him that even in the dark, he could navigate it easily. After washing the dishes, bathing, and cleaning his clothes, he climbed into bed.

He usually fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Rarely did he dream, but tonight, for some reason, he dreamed of Shen Qiao.

Her eyes, so full of expression, seemed to be magnified, as if they were accusing him.

Although Shen Qiao hadn’t actually thought of him like that, when she returned to the Youth Corps station, everyone had already finished dinner.

张翠婷 (Zhang Cuiting) noticed how late Shen Qiao was and worried, saying, “If you can’t finish, I can help tomorrow.”

She saw her face looked a bit off, probably from overwork.

Shen Qiao was startled but quickly regained her composure, saying, “It’s done, and I also helped you water the land.”

She rarely owed anyone a favor. In the past, she repaid people with food and drink, but now she returned the favor with equivalent labor.

Zhang Cuiting was a strong worker. While she didn’t think it was a big deal to lend a hand, she still felt satisfied in her heart. After all, no one liked to always work for free.

The good relationships within the Youth Corps were based on this.

The two of them chatted while Shen Qiao ate her dinner. After cleaning up the table, she took a bath and went to bed.

There was no entertainment in the village, and everyone started working early in the morning. She snuggled under the covers, blinked twice, and suddenly felt a drowsy wave wash over her. She sat up quickly and looked under the bed.

The “bed” was just a wooden board, propped up by four wooden posts with space underneath for storage.

She had stuffed two wooden boxes under there, one containing winter quilts and the other clothes. No matter how much she loved cleanliness, there were always cockroaches and other insects crawling around.

The weather in this place was damp, especially since it was nearing the plum rain season.

Several times, she had woken up in the middle of the night, feeling something crawl on her arm. It terrified her, and she didn’t know what to do except cover herself with the quilt.

Thinking of this, she felt a bit useless. Despite having been here for so long, she still couldn’t adjust.

She couldn’t help but feel that the past few years had been wasted, so she encouraged herself to do better from now on.

But how to improve was a big question. She unconsciously pinched her chin, lost in thought.

Then, she heard a rustling noise, and instinctively, her eyes darted around.