Chapter 70: Unable to Keep Up With the Speed of His Gift-Giving

“Ahhh, my spiritual spring! Get your pig snout away from it!” Lin Jingyue saw a pig approaching her spring, her eyes bulged, and in a flash she seemed to have wind and fire wheels on her feet. At the last second, she dashed over and punched the Second Senior Brother right on the head.

Bang!

The three-hundred-pound Second Senior Brother flew backward, crashing to the ground and passing out cold.

Lin Jingyue…

Chicken, duck, sheep, fish, and pig: “…”

The space fell utterly silent. All the animals that had just been flapping and running around shrank their necks at once.

Lin Jingyue’s gaze flickered as she slowly came back to herself. She withdrew her right hand and placed it behind her back, standing tall, adopting the posture of a martial arts master—impeccable.

With a cacophony of noise, the herd of pigs hurried back into the pen on their own.

Lin Jingyue breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the unconscious pig, she began to sharpen her knife, suddenly realizing the knack of slaughtering pigs: knock them out first, then do the deed—no problem at all.

Because time in this space passed at twice the speed of the outside world, three hours spent slaughtering pigs here was only an hour and a half outside.

When she finished cleaning up and emerged, the timing was just right.

Tian Yang came over with several others.

They all caught a faint whiff of blood, but since Lin Jingyue said nothing, they wisely refrained from asking. Their hearts leapt with joy at the sight of all the goods laid out before them.

Soon, everything was weighed and paid for. Lin Jingyue, holding a cloth bag full of cash, vanished from their sight.

After walking some distance and making sure no one was around, she ducked into the grass, slipped into her space to change clothes, took out her bicycle, and pedaled so fast sparks nearly flew from her feet.

She didn’t take out the pork from the space this time—there was still some wild boar left from last time. Waste not, want not.

As she neared the entrance of Green Mountain Brigade, she found herself stumbling into the middle of a spectacle. Pushing her bike, her face lit with gossip, she strolled over.

“Auntie Pang, what’s going on?” Lin Jingyue sidled up to a slightly plump auntie.

“…Comrade Lin?” Auntie Wu, about to start scolding, turned and saw Lin Jingyue, swallowing her words at once.

Who are you calling Auntie Pang? Your whole family is Auntie Pang.

“Auntie Pang?” Lin Jingyue craned her neck for a better look. Not getting an answer, she called out again.

Auntie Pang secretly rolled her eyes, but remembering how Lin Jingyue had slapped Lin Xinrou before, she kept her curses to herself.

“The Party Secretary’s daughter is seeing someone.”

“Huh? What’s so strange about that?” Sun Lanlan was eighteen or nineteen; dating and marriage were normal at her age.

Auntie Pang smiled slyly. “Because she’s seeing someone you know.”

“Oh? Someone I know?”

“That’s right, the same one the brigade leader’s daughter had her eye on,” Auntie Pang lowered her voice.

…Cai Jinzhou?!

Lin Jingyue’s mind shouted an expletive. What kind of move was this from Sun Lanlan? This really was a juicy piece of gossip.

The brigade leader and the party secretary never got along all that well—how would they manage now?

Sun Lanlan and Cai Jinzhou stood together, smiling at everyone. “In a little while, my fiancé and I will be getting married. You must all come celebrate with us!”

“Of course, of course.”

“We wouldn’t miss it—it’s not every day we get to attend a city banquet.”

“Lanlan found a wonderful family. She’s the first from our brigade to marry into the city—so accomplished.”

Listening to the crowd’s rapid-fire chatter, Lin Jingyue’s lips twitched. Not keen to mingle any longer, she pushed her bicycle away, only to nearly collide with someone around the corner.

It was Li Cuihua, her face dark as thunder.

“Regret it now, don’t you? Cai Jinzhou liked you first,” Li Cuihua glared at Lin Jingyue.

That face—so thoroughly unlikeable!

“You should be saying that to yourself,” Lin Jingyue rolled her eyes. “Why would I regret anything?”

She’d spoken no more than ten sentences to Cai Jinzhou in total.

Seeing Lin Jingyue’s utter indifference, Li Cuihua’s anger grew. “If it weren’t for Jiang Xun, you’d be just like Sun Lanlan—seducing other people’s men—smack!”

Lin Jingyue looked at Li Cuihua, whose face had been slapped to the side, utterly stunned. “Don’t think just because you’re the brigade leader’s daughter I won’t hit you, you fool.”

“When did Cai Jinzhou ever become your man? Seduce him? Sun Lanlan wouldn’t stoop so low, let alone me,” Lin Jingyue sneered.

Having left the others behind, Sun Lanlan walked up with Cai Jinzhou just in time to hear this.

What did that mean?

Seeing Cai Jinzhou, Li Cuihua’s face turned ghastly. Flushed with humiliation, she shot Lin Jingyue and Sun Lanlan a venomous look, covered her cheek, and ran off.

“Lin Jingyue, what did you mean by that?” Sun Lanlan glared at Lin Jingyue, not sure if she’d just been complimented or insulted.

“It was a compliment,” Lin Jingyue grinned at her, then glanced at Cai Jinzhou. “Congratulations! Hold on to your happiness. Goodbye.”

With that, she made her escape.

Sun Lanlan…

That Lin Jingyue—every time something happened, she ran faster than a rabbit.

Retracting her gaze, Sun Lanlan looked at Cai Jinzhou, noticing his complicated expression as he watched Lin Jingyue leave. She rolled her eyes. “Stop looking. She has Jiang Xun—she wouldn’t be interested in you.”

Cai Jinzhou: “…”

“You’re only a match for me. Like your mother said, the two of us are both a bit dense.”

Cai Jinzhou again: “…”

His mother really was the biggest pitfall in his life!

In fact, Sun Lanlan had been chosen by his mother herself. Last time at the state-run restaurant, the other girl was too shrewd, so she disapproved. Then one day, Sun Lanlan happened to be in the city, hands on her hips, arguing with a supply coop worker. That was when his mother set her sights on her.

She hesitated at first when she heard Sun Lanlan was the party secretary’s daughter from Green Mountain Brigade, but upon learning the girl had graduated junior high and wasn’t illiterate, she gritted her teeth and agreed. After all, her own son was not only a bit dull but also stubborn.

Sun Lanlan was a good fit.

…

At the educated youth’s quarters, when Lin Jingyue returned, Jiang Xun and the others had already come back from the fields.

“Where did you go? I made dinner—come eat.” Jiang Xun fetched her some water to wash her hands.

Lin Jingyue washed up and sat down. “I received another letter from An City. See if you can find anything out.”

An City?

Jiang Xun thought for a moment. His family didn’t have any connections there, but he could ask around.

Lin Jingyue saw right through his thoughts and chuckled, “No need for now. If I can’t handle it, I’ll let you know.”

But she needed to go up the mountain to gather herbs.

She hadn’t practiced medicine lately, but she certainly knew how. As her mentor’s prized student, she’d even received an invitation to intern at a hospital, which spoke volumes about her skills.

She already had a general sense of Guo Yutong’s condition from her time in An City.

She knew what she was doing.

Examination, observation, inquiry, and pulse-taking—the basics of traditional medicine—all started with observation.

Jiang Xun nodded. “If you need help, just ask.” He knew Lin Jingyue’s temperament well.

She rarely liked others meddling in her affairs.

“Alright, don’t worry,” Lin Jingyue replied, smiling with her eyes. “Oh, here, this is for you.”

She handed him a fountain pen.

She’d bought it at An City Department Store—brand new and not cheap, over twenty yuan. She’d never given Jiang Xun a gift before. Since he’d given her food and fabric, it was only right to return the favor.

“I have something for you, too,” Jiang Xun said, accepting the pen with a bright smile.

PS: Cai Jinzhou: Other people complain their fathers dig pits for them, but my mother is the one digging pits for her own son!