Chapter 11

Ye Qingshui put on a clean white mask and also tied up her long bangs, revealing her full forehead—fresh and neat.

The work during the day wasn’t too heavy. After earning her share of labor points, she quickly returned home to begin studying.

Xie Tingyu also got off work early. After taking a bath and changing into a clean shirt, he came over to check on Ye Qingshui’s homework.

Seeing the white shirt he was wearing—washed so carefully—Ye Qingshui was reminded of painful memories. In her past life, Xie Tingyu often made her iron his clothes. Of course, there were no irons in households at that time. She used a hot water-filled enamel kettle, pressing and smoothing little by little.

Shirts that crisp and neat were not worn out in public casually. After all, it wasn’t yet a time of abundance—many in the countryside didn’t even have clothes to wear. On any given street, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone with fewer than three patches on their garments. The fact that Xie Tingyu could maintain such appearance was already the height of dignity.

Who would’ve thought—he was actually kind of vain in private. But in this life, he could forget about ever making her work for him again.

Xie Tingyu noticed the change in Ye Qingshui and asked, “Why are you wearing a mask?”

Ye Qingshui touched her face and coughed deliberately. Embarrassed, she said, “Broke out with a lot of pimples—can’t expose it to wind or sunlight. Don’t want to scare anyone.”

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Dkl Mkdtuw alynble swv, vaukdt vs alxshl bla xypj, yde Zl Ckdtpbwk oyp pvwddle cu bso nypwyzzu qyxkzkya bl oyp ynvkdt.

“M-Mswnbkdt xl zkjl vbyv kpd’v yrrasrakyvl…” pbl pyke aktbvlswpzu. “R’x y tasod tkaz dso. Zsw nyd’v fwpv vswnb xl zkjl vbyv.”

Zl Ckdtpbwk pzktbvzu aykple bla czynj-bykale blye. Tla ryzx-pkgle qynl sdzu alhlyzle y rskdvle nbkd yde y ryka sq ellr czynj lulp. Mbl caktbvdlpp ayekyvkdt qasx vblx nyaakle y ekpvkdnv, eyggzkdt prkakv. Xq bla obszl yrrlyaydnl, sdzu vbspl lulp olal vawzu clywvkqwz.

Dkl Mkdtuw dlyazu nbsjle sd bla osaep.

Tl zssjle yv bla kd nsdqwpksd. Fbl tzyale cynj elqkydvzu. Mbl ellr, kdvldpl yqqlnvksd vbyv wple vs eolzz kd bla lulp oyp dso tsdl—hydkpble, yp kq kv bye nsszle yzsdt okvb vbyv sdl dktbv’p blyavcalyj.

Uswze psxlsdl’p qllzkdtp nbydtl vbyv iwknjzu?

Dkl Mkdtuw’p lulp dyaasole kdvs pzkvp, bkp lmralppksd zspkdt psxl sq kvp wpwyz oyaxvb.

Zl Ckdtpbwk, obs jdlo bkx olzz, nswze vlzz bl oyp rascyczu ekprzlyple. Gzvbswtb bl valyvle rlsrzl elnldvzu, bl pvkzz bye iwkvl y vlxrla. Fbl iwknjzu pdyrrle kdvs qsnwp yde lyadlpvzu alpwxle bla pvweklp. Gqvla yzz, kq pbl pnyale vbkp vlynbla yoyu, oblal oswze pbl qkde ydsvbla sdl obs eked’v nbyatl xsdlu?

She read slowly and carefully. Even when she stumbled over the pronunciation, she would pause and correct herself.

Xie Tingyu casually flipped to a classical Chinese text—one that was difficult and obscure. “Read this,” he said.

Ye Qingshui quietly responded with an “Oh.” She glanced at the passage he pointed to—something she had memorized in her past life. Reading it this time posed no problem at all.

Not long after, Shen Weimin also came to the Ye house after finishing his own work. He was looking for Xie Tingyu. He barged into Xie Tingyu’s room casually and saw him sitting at the table in a relaxed posture, gazing toward the corner of the room—where Ye Qingshui was reciting from a book.

He sneered, “Yo, Brother Yu—your little wife’s starting to make progress, huh?”

No sooner had he said it than he was met with a cold glare from Xie Tingyu.

“Stop shouting nonsense. Wait outside,” Xie Tingyu said, driving him out.

The loud commotion didn’t affect Ye Qingshui at all. Though she had her eyes on the book, she was in fact reciting:
“An old Southern Pavilion… The room was only ten feet square, barely enough for one person to live in…”

Shen Weimin leaned shamelessly against the doorway, pulling a corn cob from his pocket and peeling it to eat. He had picked it during work—it was sweet raw corn, crisp and juicy when bitten.

He muttered lazily, “Can’t believe she’s actually reading… I’m shocked.”

“Hey—Brother Yu, what are you—”

Smack! Shen Weimin got hit by Xie Tingyu.

Unhappy, he complained, “You’re this protective of her now? Can’t even say a word?”

Then, in a gossiping tone, he relayed something he’d heard during the day.

“I just found out today—this little girl knows how to swim. Really well, too. Holding her breath underwater for two minutes is nothing… Word’s spread all over the educated youth camp. They think you’re too easy to fool—that just jumping into a river is enough to land a husband. Damn, I nearly exploded when I heard it.”

Inside the room, Ye Qingshui frowned slightly.

She called out crisply, “You’re being too loud. I can hear everything.”

Shen Weimin widened his eyes from afar. The two men turned their heads at the same time to look at the girl by the wall reciting her book.

Xie Tingyu turned his head and cleared his throat lightly:
“Rumors are not to be believed. You’re a man, what good does it do you to hang around a bunch of women all day?”

Shen Weimin glanced at Ye Qingshui through the window and whispered to Xie Tingyu:
“That girl used to be so shy. What’s with the attitude lately? Don’t tell me she thinks that just because she married you, she’s got a solid backing now? Don’t get mad at me yet, Tingyu. What’s with you anyway? Teaching her to read and write? Aren’t you afraid she’ll latch onto you for life? Did you two register your marriage yet? If you did, you better hurry and get a divorce. That girl’s got deep schemes…”

“Put those thoughts away,” Xie Tingyu said.

She had indeed changed a lot. She used to be meek and easily bullied, as quiet as a rabbit, blushing at the slightest thing. Now… she had gotten bolder. Sometimes it was even a little amusing. But in Xie Tingyu’s eyes, it was no different than coming across a curious flower or a good book—it wasn’t anything remarkable.

Shen Weimin got a solid smack on the palm from Xie Tingyu’s bamboo ruler.

He pulled his hand back, his expression showing the grievance of a full-grown man.

Looking at Xie Tingyu, he lowered his voice and growled:
“You help her put that Sun Lingyu girl in her place, then you feel bad for her being uneducated and try to help her learn, and now you’re treating me like this because of her…”

“Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for the village girl!”

Xie Tingyu glanced at Ye Qingshui inside the room, sitting straight as a beam with her spine erect. The way she read with lowered eyes and composed demeanor made her look exactly like a childish little girl. Though she used to be annoying, after they had clarified things between them, she had never again said anything about wanting to cling to him. As for what she truly thought of this mess of a marriage, Xie Tingyu had no idea.

But one thing he knew very well—

He wasn’t angry about being misunderstood by his friend. He simply said calmly:
“I’ll only say this once. That’s not going to happen.”

Seeing Shen Weimin’s pitiful look, Xie Tingyu softened his tone, speaking lazily:
“She’s just a little girl who hasn’t even grown all her feathers yet. Why are you so bothered by her? Come on, let’s eat.”

“I see her as a younger sister. From now on, don’t talk like that again.”

Shen Weimin couldn’t help giving him a thumbs-up.
“Alright, alright. Hearing that, I’m relieved.”

Ye Qingshui had sharp ears. Even though they deliberately kept their voices low, she still heard them. She stopped reciting, fingers clutching the worn textbook, a breath stuck in her chest.

“Hasn’t even grown all her feathers yet? He’s the one who hasn’t grown all his feathers! He probably never seen long legs or big boobs, huh?!”

She took a deep breath and resumed reciting:
“There’s a loquat tree in the courtyard. My wife planted it the year she passed away. Now it stands tall and lush, like a canopy.”
…

To save time for studying, Ye Qingshui stuffed a few quick bites of food after cooking, just enough to fill her stomach, and rushed back to her room to continue memorizing. But once Shen Weimin came, she sighed and took her book out to the hillside behind the house, reciting aloud to the fields and wild hills.

She tried to recall the sense of her past life and reviewed everything from start to finish. By nightfall, she could already stumble through three essays from memory.

In her previous life, young Ye Qingshui had no idea what a “smart person” looked like. Like most ignorant and backward villagers, she thought intelligence equated to education. And Xie Tingyu, with his degrees, was the symbol of the highest education level.

She remembered vividly how he had disliked her for being too dumb to even memorize a simple text. Deep down, she’d always thought she was stupid, and whenever she struggled with something, all she knew was to grit her teeth and try harder. At least if she worked hard, others might praise her for being diligent.

Later, the master she apprenticed with was a very sincere person. Maybe seeing how self-conscious Ye Qingshui was, the master constantly praised her:
“You’re really smart! I’ve never had such a talented student! Having a successor like you, I could die happy!”

Over time, Ye Qingshui actually believed it. She got brainwashed into thinking—”Yeah, I really am amazing.

In her current situation, it was easy for her to recall the struggles and misunderstandings she’d faced as a young girl. A surge of resentment for her past self rose within her. Fueled by that emotion, she memorized another essay.

After finishing her studies, she recalled a skincare recipe from memory, gathered several common herbs from the hills—honeysuckle, gardenia, angelica dahurica, dandelion, arrowhead, etc.—and brought them home to brew into a medicinal paste to apply to her face.

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Meanwhile…

Since Shen Weimin came to visit Xie Tingyu, he was invited to stay for dinner. Xie Tingyu set out the bowls and chopsticks, calling Mother Ye and Grandma Ye to eat together. Sometimes Mother Ye made dinner, and they rarely used much rice. That night, it was sweet potato porridge.

When Xie Tingyu lifted the hot clay pot, he only opened a crack because it was too hot. Realizing it wasn’t sweet potato porridge, he let out a breath of relief.

That meant Ye Qingshui must have cooked that night.

Shen Weimin peeked inside and saw only clear water. He snorted with laughter:
“Tingyu, we’re not just drinking plain water tonight, are we?”

Xie Tingyu fully uncovered the pot—and inside sat a porcelain-white little bowl, resting in the water. Lifting the lid revealed a pale yellow, silky-smooth egg custard topped with a bright red piece of crab. The aroma was mouthwatering.

It was a small bowl—just a few spoonfuls per person, and it was gone. But even such a small amount stirred everyone’s appetite. Shen Weimin, coming from inland, wasn’t familiar with crab. He didn’t recognize what it was. But Xie Tingyu did.

In the pot was also stir-fried chives with egg. Mother Ye and Grandma Ye weren’t very interested in the custard; they believed good food should be reserved for guests.

Xie Tingyu used a spoon to divide it evenly. What Ye Qingshui had made was actually Crab Meat Steamed Silken Egg. She had carefully chopped the crabs, extracted the crab claws with the meat still in the shells, picked out the crab meat from the belly, cleaned the shells, reassembled the crab’s shape, then poured beaten egg mixture over it. The crab roe and meat had melted into the custard. After steaming, she sprinkled it with finely shredded green onion.

The dish was exquisite in both appearance and flavor.

Xie Tingyu took a small spoonful. The silky egg melted on the tongue, the crab meat burst with sweetness, and the crab roe was rich and fragrant—some steamed into luscious oil, some turned to golden roe.

After two spoonfuls, his eyes narrowed into a satisfied arc.

Shen Weimin slurped his portion down in two bites. He hadn’t expected to find such delicious food in the countryside. Last night, he had seen the little girl pull some lively, hard-shelled creatures out of a pond—it hadn’t looked like fish, and since she hadn’t stolen from the commune, he hadn’t paid much attention.

Turns out it was this kind of delicacy!

He clicked his tongue and began to say: “Wild—”

But under Xie Tingyu’s cool gaze, he changed it to a compliment:
“That Ye girl’s cooking—seriously impressive.”

Then sighed, still unsatisfied:
“It’s good, really good. Just… not enough of it.”

To completely change his opinion of Ye Qingshui would take more than one or two meals, but Shen Weimin secretly thought: If Tingyu eats this kind of food three or four times, he’s bound to soften. That’s not good! The Ye girl’s not simple!

Xie Tingyu also felt a faint twinge of regret.

What he didn’t know was that this tiny bowl of custard had taken a lot of effort from Ye Qingshui. Picking the crab meat had left her cross-eyed. It took three big, strong crabs to make just that little bit. Older crabs weren’t even suitable for the dish.

After Shen Weimin spoke, Mother Ye pushed her own portion toward him:
“Eat up, child. Eat to your heart’s content. Auntie has more here.”

“Just countryside food, not worth anything. These wild crabs—we usually feed them to the chickens and ducks.”

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Author’s Note:

Mother Ye: Has this city kid never had decent food before? So hungry.

Eat, eat! Don’t be polite.

These are the kinds of things we feed chickens with in the countryside, worthless stuff!

Shen Weimin: speechless

Tingyu: Don’t ask me such questions.
How could I ever fall for a dumb village girl?
She’s so unbelievably foolish.

…Proceeds to quiz the “foolish girl” on her studies…

A physics and chemistry test full of answers—perfect score, all correct.

Tingyu: You wrote all of this?

“Foolish girl”: Yeah, I spent all afternoon on it. Not bad, right?

Tingyu, poker-faced, after a long pause:
She’s definitely dumb…
But I have to admit—she’s diligently dumb.

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Sansukini: I swear, when we eat at a Chinese resto, I often try to see if the food from novels are available there. Unfortunately, most of them are not. Most Chinese restaurants here are Cantonese cuisine. I ate mapo tofu at North Park and Mann Hann, they both tasted delicious, but my Chinese friend said both dishes were not authentic.

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