I think the Emperor seems to respect the Empress.""The Emperor is indeed very kind to the Empress. This is known throughout the entire Dongli Country," Baijing nodded.But it seems like that didn't sto...Ning Yuan heard this and her small face stiffened a little: "Doctor Rong, you're joking, right Me and Mr. Li are just ordinary colleagues, it wouldn't be worth troubling him like that. You've overthought things."

Rong Zhaonan looked at Ning Yuan and said faintly, "Is that so"

The little agent definitely has secrets and wasn't telling the truth.

Ning Yuan doesn't want to be entangled by past emotions anymore.

She wiped the sweat from her face haphazardly: “Let’s not dwell on that. Dr. Rong, the village head agreed to get us some old furniture. We have to go to the storage room in the old classroom at the village primary school.”

Rong Zhaonan looked at the cart she had pulled over, raising an eyebrow: "Alright, let's go."

He wants to see how long this little spy can keep it up.

There, Rong Zhaonan dragged the cart and Ning Yuan together to the old classroom of the village school.

With a head full of questions, Tang Zhenzhen returned to the知青 point.

Before she even reached the courtyard, she saw two male youths carrying someone on a stretcher. The person had a bruised face, a bloody bandage around their head, and was walking back.

"Oh dear, Jianhua, you need to be more careful next time! Don't fall off the embankment again!"

"That's right, your head is broken and your ribs are fractured. You need to recuperate and can't earn work points!"

Two male educated youths chattered and complained incessantly.

Tang Zizhen stared in disbelief and anger at the stretcher. It wasn't Wang Jianhua lying there, who was it

She told him this morning that Ning Yuan had left the educated youth point and was going to live in the cow shed.

After bringing the cows down from the grazing fields that morning, no one passed by the barn anymore. As long as he went there to ambush Ning Yuan, he could turn that bitch into a real slut.

Is Wang Jianhua such a failure Even Ning Yuan, who is so short, can beat him up like this

Wang Jianhua also saw Tang Zhenzhen, Huang Xuehong, and Qin Xiaoxia.

He glared at Tang Zhenzhen, awkwardly turned his head, but he still tugged at the wound on his head.

He gritted his teeth in pain: "Ouch, you two, be gentle when you lift me!"

Two male educated youths quickly eased their movements and carried Wang Jianhua to the male educated youth's house.

Huang Xuehong, seeing this, muttered, counting on her fingers: "Wang Jianhua is injured and on sick leave. He only gets 3 work points per day. We have to work harder to make up for him, otherwise, at the end of the year when we get paid based on work points, if his are short, we'll all be dragged down..."

At the end of the year, the collective grain allocation for the 知青 (youth sent to the countryside) team was calculated together.

Tang Zhenzhen rolled her eyes inwardly, but a helpless smile appeared on her face: "Alright, let's go. We'll have to get some food for him later. After all, he's our own kind."

She needs to ask Wang Jianhua that idiot what the heck happened.

Huang Xuěhóng shook her head and sighed, "Zhēnzhēn, you are truly a kind person."

Three female educated youth entered the room one after another.

As soon as Tang Zhenzhen entered the room, she commanded Qin Xiaoxia: "Xiaoxia, don't you still have some tea oil sent from home Get some tea oil, and let's go see Wang Jianhua together."

Qin Xiaoxia's face turned bad.

She was from Guibe, sent down here. The fried tea her family had sent her, she wouldn't even touch herself.

Huang Xuedong's eyes lit up: "Right, Qin Xiaoxia, take some out. You're all kindred spirits, don't be like those capitalists being stingy. We'll give you scallions, ginger, and garlic!"

Qin Xiaoxia took something out, and they could also share a little.

Qin Xiaoxia was being watched by them, so she had no choice but to reluctantly take an old cookie tin from her box.

Carefully, I took out a bit of fried rice flowers and earth tea from inside.

She reluctantly said, “I don’t have any meat bone soup. This beaten tea isn't as good without meat bone soup.”

Tang Zizhen smiled generously and said, "I have brown sugar in my box. I'll take some brown sugar to make oil tea and stir-fried rice."

Huang Xuehong immediately went on all fours to help Tang Zhenzhen pull out the suitcase: "Tang Zhenzhen is still so generous."

Ketan had a feeling something was wrong the moment she opened the box.

Her cookie jar has been emptied.

She opened it and saw that besides the five dollars, which were untouched, the whole bag of cookies and candy was gone!

"My white rabbit toffee and evergreen cookies!!" Tang Zhenzhen's eyes went black.

Both the evergreen cream scallion cookies and the big white rabbit milk candies are high-end and scarce commodities in Shanghai. People need tickets to buy them in provincial cities, and those in rural areas can't get them even with money and tickets.

"It must have been Ning Yuan who stole my things!" Tang Zhenzhen's face was twisted with anger.

She was so reluctant to eat the cookies that she only ate one a week after getting them.

That shameless little slut not only flirts with people she has her eye on, but also steals from her!

Huang Xuehong also frowned, his face filled with righteous anger: "She truly became corrupted and degenerate as soon as she got close to that reformed criminal! Now she's become a thief!"

Qin Xiaoxia was just forced to take out some things, and now she muttered softly: "Those cookies and candies must have been sent by Ning Yuan's family, right"

But how could she possibly say it out loud

Huang Xuehong indignantly said, “Zhenzhen, let’s go to the village committee and report her! Thieves should be paraded through the streets with a sign!”

After the exercise was over, it was still customary in the countryside to publicly shame thieves by parading them through the streets. Furthermore, educated youths were required to keep a record of these incidents.

Tang Zhenzhen gritted her teeth and stood up: "I heard that Deputy Secretary Li Yan came, come on, let's find him to be the arbiter!"

She will definitely not let Ning Yuan off the hook. Today, she is going to force Li Yan to personally handle Ning Yuan.

......

Ning Yuan and Rong Zhaonan swapped things for an afternoon, finally dragging a car full of "junk" from the abandoned storage room at the village elementary school back to their small hut in the cow shed.

She clutched a stack of old newspapers, watching Rong Zhaonan effortlessly pull a rickety cart piled high with broken furniture—a cabinet, tables, and chairs—past her.

"Wow, he's so strong..." Ning Yuan muttered softly.

This person looks thin and tall, like a weak scholar who can't even eat enough. Yet, he has so much strength.

Róng Zhāonán put the cart in front of the house and pressed his black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Now we need to get things into the house, right"

Ning Yuan shook her head: "Let's cover the paper and fix the roof first. These pieces of furniture have to be taken apart, patched up, and then put back together. There isn't enough space in here to work."

Rong Zhaonan watched Ning Yuan carry the newspaper into the room, then came out and skillfully retrieved the repair tools borrowed from the village committee.

He narrowed his eyes: "Can you fix it"

Ning Yuan rolled up her sleeves and nodded: "A little bit, I'll practice it first and then say."

Ronghuangnan: "You're pretty daring..."

He was speaking when suddenly, he sharply lifted his eyes to look towards the path in front of the barn. A cold glint of alertness flashed in his eyes: "Someone's coming."

Ning Yuan just happened to see the cold, sharp aura emanating from him, and she subconsciously gasped.

But the next moment, Rong Zhaonan lowered his head and stood behind her, instantly becoming that taciturn, insignificant weak scholar again.

Ning Yuan almost suspected she was hallucinating. Before she could react, she heard footsteps.

She looked toward the end of the path.

Indeed, Tang Zhenzhen, Li Yan, Huang Xuerhong, Qin Xiaoxia, and even some of the red-armed workers I saw at noon, as well as some villagers who came to watch the commotion, followed suit.

Ning Yuan's beautiful brows furrowed: "They actually came together."

Li Yan actually mixed with Tang Zhenzhen and a bunch of people.

Huang Xuehong has always been Tang Zhenzhen's loyal follower. Seeing the furniture on the cart beside Ning Yuan from afar, he loudly exclaimed —

"See, I told you she was a thief! Not only did she steal our educated youth's belongings, but Ning Yuan also stole things from the team, like the desk and chair, didn't she"

Li Yan didn't speak, he just walked closer and looked at the cart full of things.

Although they are all bad, they are indeed office desk and chair items.

Seeing the red armband and whispering amongst themselves, the villagers began to murmur.

Tang Jienjen looked at all those things in the car, and sneered inwardly. What a thief!

She gave an exasperated expression: "Oh, Ning Yuan, how could you associate with bad people and start stealing public property belonging to the team You're going to be imprisoned."

Ning Yuan looked at them with utter bewilderment: "What are you talking about These things are all secondhand office furniture I borrowed from the team. Old Branch Secretary even has a written record of it, and I promised to repair and return them."

Some villagers who came to watch the commotion also spoke up: "We did indeed see Lai, the village accountant, going with Ning Yuan to the primary school warehouse this morning."

Li Yandong instantly felt relieved and looked at Tang Zhenzhen: “I told you, Ning Yuan is not like that.”

Tang Zhenzhen choked back, her face full of grievance: "I also heard Xuehong say that, I misunderstood."

Huang Xuehong met Li Yan's gaze, his round face flushed red. He instinctively shouted at Ning Yuan, "That...that wasn't because you stole Zhenzhen's money and things, we would have misunderstood you!"

Ning Yuan suddenly grabbed a large water scoop from the side. She scooped up some manure-tainted water and splashed it directly onto Huang Xuerhong's fat, black face.

That's Rong Zhaonan's leftover cow gallwater from this morning that he hasn't had time to clean up yet.that Ning Yuan had left the educated youth point and was going to live in the cow shed.After bringing the cows down from the grazing fields that morning, no one passed by the barn anymore. As long as...