Chapter 7

In truth, Zhou Fanjun could have stopped his fangirls with a word, but he merely stood aside and watched the show.

He was waiting for me to ask him for help.

The people eager to see me humiliated celebrated in the comments.

[Nothing is more satisfying than watching the supporting girl suffer. Serves her right for stealing the spotlight.]

[LMAO. Wasn’t she supposed to be so capable?]

[She doesn’t honestly think she can marry into a wealthy family, does she? Dream on.]

Reading the comments, I rubbed my hands together, rose, and walked over to Zhou Fanjun. “The holiday starts in a couple of days.”

Zhou Fanjun took his legs off the desk and nodded. “Yes. Are you going to say you’re thrilled you won’t have to see me during the holiday? Don’t you know that kind of stubborn denial sounds like flirting?”

I shook my head.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to go somewhere with me.”

Zhou Fanjun froze. The corner of his mouth lifted, and he said with a smile, “Sure. Since you’re taking the initiative…”

That was how he ended up on a tractor bound for Yushu Village.

His coat, worth 34,500 yuan, was splattered with mud. His entire body shook with the tractor’s rhythm, and a stream of uh-uh-uh-uh noises came from his mouth.

“Yu Taozi, you—uh-uh-uh—where have you—uh-uh-uh—brought me?”

I pulled my outdoor jacket tighter and kept my mouth shut.

Heh. Whoever opened their mouth ate dust. Only an idiot would speak.

When the tractor reached the village, I jumped down with style, then casually dragged the weakened Zhou Fanjun after me.

His legs were soft, and he sagged against me. The moment his feet touched the ground, he gave a tiny whimper.

“Gran! I brought a classmate home!” I roared, dragging him toward the house like a sack of grain.

Gran hurried out on trembling legs, beaming. “You’re back? Come inside, quick.”

The little farmhouse courtyard had been swept spotless, and the rooms were neat and tidy. Sunlight streamed in, illuminating the big, plump steamed buns on the table, a steaming pot of stew, and a plate of brightly colored cold vegetables.

The smell was heavenly.

I dropped Zhou Fanjun onto a stool, took off my jacket, and started eating.

Zhou Fanjun seemed to have shut down. He sat crookedly on his stool without saying a word.

Meanwhile, the comments came back to life.

[Oh my God. Is the supporting girl trying to win the male lead over with the warmth of family? So corny.]

[She doesn’t honestly think a few steamed buns will move him, does she? His parents are only too busy with work to spend time with him. They give him the moon if he asks for it, never mind the stars. Why would he care about a few buns?]

Zhou Fanjun lifted his eyelids, glanced at the food, and whined, “I don’t eat fast carbs.”

“Fast carbs, slow carbs—I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about. Eat or don’t. Starve if you want.” I kept my head down and continued eating.

Gran was hard of hearing and had not caught what he said. Seeing him refuse the food, she asked me, “Why isn’t this child eating?”

I shouted, “He ate on the way! Don’t worry about him!”

Dust counted as food, didn’t it? Heh.

Once I had eaten my fill, I hauled Zhou Fanjun straight to our field, tossed him a hoe, and said, “Time to work.”

Zhou Fanjun had finally recovered. He stared at me in disbelief. “Work? You invited me here to work?”

Yes, I had indeed brought him to work. My family no longer needed the money, but Gran was a farmer. Her bond with the land was something she could never let go. In the city, she was always fretting about this little patch of earth.

My parents did not understand, but I understood a little. Everyone had something in their heart they could not put down.

What I could not put down was Gran’s faith in me. That was why, when the comments first called me a vicious supporting girl, I had paid them no mind at all.

Deep in my heart, I believed that I, Yu Taozi, was Gran’s precious darling. She said I was kindhearted, clever, and sensible. Therefore, I was kindhearted, clever, and sensible. How could I possibly be a vicious supporting girl?

At worst, I was illiterate.

Before the holiday, I had asked my parents not to take the whole family on a trip. They could travel with my little sister. I wanted to spend the break in the village with Gran.

But Gran was old. Tidying the house and cooking already tested her strength. Asking her to work the fields would amount to elder abuse.

I could do it, but I did not want to do it alone.

And since an idiot like Zhou Fanjun was available, it would be a waste not to exploit him.

He stood at the edge of the field with the hoe on his shoulder for a full ten seconds before understanding. Then he threw it down and huffed, “I’m not doing it.”

I scoffed and said carelessly, “Fine. Leave, then.”

The moment he realized I would not stop him, he perked up. “How do I leave?”

I thought for a moment. “You won’t get another tractor ride. The driver only took you because he was doing me a favor. You can hail a donkey cart. Be careful not to whine and annoy the donkey, or it’ll kick you straight off.”

Zhou Fanjun: “…”

Several times, he opened his mouth and stopped. He picked up the hoe and put it down, then put it down and picked it up, as if he had no idea what to do.

I clapped him hard on the shoulder and coaxed him perfunctorily. “Don’t you fancy me? I fancy you too. Come work, sweetheart.”

Zhou Fanjun: “…”

“I’ve successfully caught your attention, yet you won’t turn soil for love? Hmm? Come on, sweetheart. There’s so much work. Put off today until tomorrow and tomorrow until the day after—do you ever want to get back to school?”

Zhou Fanjun instantly grew wary and stepped back. “What do you mean? You won’t let me go back to school? I’ll call my father right now and have him rescue me by helicopter.”

“Sure, sure. Make the call. Fly home. Then, when school starts, everybody will hear how a pig rammed you and you sat bawling at the village entrance.”

Zhou Fanjun roared, “When did a pig ram me?”

“Heh. I caught your attention, remember? Of course people will believe anything I say. Keep whining, and I’ll tell them a donkey kicked you too.”

“You!” He pointed at me, his long fingers trembling. “You!”

After saying you for ages, he accepted reality, shouldered the hoe, and began digging.

He grunted with every stroke.

I had to admit, a novel’s male lead had excellent stamina. He was like a nuclear-powered donkey. Before long, he had finished an entire plot.

When he was done, he probably felt his earlier behavior had been embarrassing. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, raised his head with studied ease, and arched a brow at me.

“Yu Taozi, after all the trouble you took to trick me here, I thought you had some grand scheme. Is that all? Now that I’m finished, you’ll agree to be with me, right? With me around, no one at school will dare bully you again.”

I stretched and loosened my tired limbs. “You’ve dug one quarter of the field.”

Zhou Fanjun’s face stiffened. Forcing himself to remain composed, he said, “Oh. Three more plots? That’s nothing.”

“After that, I’ll take you to clean the pigsty. You have no idea. Our pigsty is very, very big.”

Zhou Fanjun said nothing more. Face livid, he grunted his way through the rest of the field, then followed me weakly to the pigsty.

He sighed in relief when he saw no pigs inside. An instant later, a pig that came from nowhere launched him through the air.

It was a magnificent sight.

“Sweetheart!” I ran over and helped him up. “Are you all right? Oh, that’s my neighbor’s pig. It wanders around all the time. I’ll give it a talking-to later.”

Zhou Fanjun had been frightened senseless. Pointing at the pig nearby, he shouted, “Pig!”

Anyone who has been rammed by one knows that real pigs are not cute at all. Up close, they are rather terrifying.

So I completely understood why Zhou Fanjun could not stop trembling.

Afraid he would anger it, I hurriedly advised, “Don’t move.”

Zhou Fanjun paid no attention. He pushed me aside and strode toward the exit.

The pig rammed him again, and he fell flat on his face.

I had no choice but to chase the pig away and help him up again. “Sweet—”

“Shut up!” He shoved me away. Tears glimmered in his eyes. “You’re evil! You’re not human! I was wrong about you. I want to go home!”

The field was done anyway, so I did not care whether he left. I nodded. “Sure, sure. Go home.”

He pulled out his phone to call his family, only to discover there was no signal in the pigsty.

In despair, he threw down his phone and limped away. He stormed all the way to the well at the village entrance, where tears began to patter down his face.

The comments appeared before my eyes again.

[I hereby declare that Yu Taozi is not a freakish, vicious supporting girl who competes with other women. She just destroys everyone with perfect equality.]

[Yu Taozi lightly disciplined the entire cast. She’s miles better than Yao Yao. She even disciplined Yao Yao herself. What are the heroine’s fans still screaming about?]

[Winning over the future CEO with family warmth? You all thought too much. She only wanted to use the future CEO as a donkey.]

[Yu Taozi has fired the first shot in the war against capitalism.]

[I have strange tastes. I like Yu Taozi.]

[Lock it on the country channel!]

…

Zhou Fanjun had not been crying for long when Gran arrived.

Her legs were weak. She tottered toward us and nearly fell.

“Why’s this child crying?” she asked me.

I shouted, “It’s nothing!”

Whether she heard me or not, I could not tell. She walked up to Zhou Fanjun and firmly wiped the tears from his face.

The gesture looked so familiar. When I was very small, she used to wipe my tears the same way.

I had cried often as a child, but I could no longer quite remember why.

Gran’s hands were rough and deeply lined. One hand could hold a great many tears, so with a few strokes, she wiped the pathetic streaks from Zhou Fanjun’s face. “Didn’t Taozi take you out to have fun this afternoon? Don’t you like the village? Are you homesick? Don’t cry now. Taozi will take you home tomorrow. Don’t cry.”

Then she helped Zhou Fanjun to his feet and guided him home on trembling legs.

I watched him warily. According to the comments, this jerk Zhou Fanjun was like every male lead in a romance novel: loaded with problems. He was a clean freak, afraid of the dark, a picky eater, and particularly hated physical contact.

If he dared show disgust toward Gran, I would throw him into the pigsty and let the pig ram him to death.

But perhaps the afternoon’s hard labor, followed by the pig attacks, had exhausted every drop of his strength. Like a little chick, Zhou Fanjun offered no resistance. Supported by Gran, he walked beside her with his back slightly bent.

How the mighty male lead had fallen.

I snorted and hurried to Gran’s right side, pressing close as we walked.

At the village shop, Gran stopped and asked the owner for two bags of shrimp crackers, two packs of crispy noodles, two packs of jelly, two packs of wafer cookies, two packs of spicy gluten strips, two cups of hot-and-spicy instant noodles, and two sausages.

Then she pulled an old plastic bag from her pocket. It had once held monosodium glutamate, and she had used it as a wallet for years. She took out the coins and small bills inside, counted several carefully, and handed them to the shopkeeper.

“Gran made dinner. Go back and see if you like it. If you don’t, we have all these treats. Don’t cry now.” She turned to Zhou Fanjun as she spoke.

Before my parents grew rich, Gran and I had lived frugally. To other people, spicy gluten strips and instant noodles were junk food. To me, they were a state banquet. Whenever I cried, Gran bought them to cheer me up.

She probably thought every child in the world treasured them as much as I did.

Zhou Fanjun stared at the old seasoning bag she used for money. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end, only gave a muffled, “Mm.”

The three of us went home. Dinner sat steaming on the table: fragrant stew, steamed buns, and rice porridge again.

Zhou Fanjun hesitantly picked up a bun and examined it, then looked at me.

My chopsticks were already flying. I spared him a glance between bites. “Why are you looking at me? Don’t eat fast carbs anymore? Then boil water and make your own noodles.”

Zhou Fanjun snorted. “Low-quality carbohydrates are worse than fast carbs…”

Then he took a huge bite of the bun and set his chopsticks flying, shoveling down the food.

Gran was delighted to see him eat so heartily. She went back to the kitchen and fried us a plate of potato slices gleaming with oil.

Zhou Fanjun craned his neck toward them and muttered, “I’m supposed to be cutting fat lately…”

Then he devoured nearly half the plate in one go.

By the end, we were sprawled crookedly in our seats. Zhou Fanjun was so stuffed his eyes were rolling back, yet he still forced the last bite of bun into his mouth.

Gran asked with a smile, “Tastes good?”

Zhou Fanjun answered loudly, “Delicious! I want steamed buns again tomorrow!”

Gran asked, “Aren’t you going home tomorrow?”

Embarrassed, Zhou Fanjun began clearing the table, trying to turn everyone’s attention elsewhere.

When we had nearly finished tidying the room, I nudged his calf with my foot. “Sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me that!” Zhou Fanjun leaped up and pointed at me. “I’m telling you, I don’t feel that way about you anymore. I could never be with such a blackhearted woman.”

“Then why’d you eat so many of my family’s buns? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Zhou Fanjun roared, “I got rammed by a pig! What’s wrong with eating a couple of buns?”

I could not hold back and burst out laughing.

The corner of his mouth twitched for a moment before he laughed too.

We sat on the doorstep eating spicy gluten strips, smearing grease all over our hands and mouths.

“I only want to study hard and get into a good university. Tell your pack of fans to stop bothering me, or I’ll throw you in the well and drown you.”

“Hiss—” Overcome by the heat of the snack, Zhou Fanjun said dazedly, “Sure.”

Panting from the spice, I asked, “Do you know you’re really annoying?”

Also panting, Zhou Fanjun said, “I know.”

“Hiss—then why are you still so annoying?”

“Hiss—I want people to notice me.”

“What?”

Zhou Fanjun unwrapped a sausage, took a bite, and chewed and chewed and chewed.

“My parents treat me well. They give me anything I want. But they’re always too busy to spend time with me. Only when I’m sick or cause trouble do they make time to care. Maybe I’m starved for affection. I’m always trying to get people’s attention.”

“You really are sick,” I concluded.

Without changing expression, Zhou Fanjun said, “I’m tall, handsome, and my family is rich. Everyone says I’m like the male lead in a novel. Isn’t it normal for a novel’s male lead to be a little sick in the head?”

I thought, You have no idea how right you are.

He continued, “But suddenly, I think being normal might be happier. Today I worked, ate dinner, and even had spicy snacks. Nothing special happened, but I feel happy. Grounded. Do we still have to clean the pigsty tomorrow?”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow… Stop stealing my snacks! How did you not burst from eating so much?”

“I got rammed by a pig. What’s wrong with eating a few spicy strips?”

A tiny insect flew past. I lifted a hand and shooed it away, but I could not shoo away the comments that suddenly appeared.

[Whimper.]

[Whimper.]

[I don’t know what the people above are whimpering about, but I want to whimper too.]

[You two may be enjoying this peaceful moment, but Yin Hengyu is still losing sleep because he can’t learn to bark.]

[Yao Yao is still online encouraging everyone to fight school bullying.]

[They can cheer themselves on. Whimper.]

[Whimper.]