Chapter 31: Arranging to Meet Wen Zhuqing

Wen Zhuqing had to admit, he had always underestimated Li Juan. He’d thought she was just an ordinary-looking, ordinary-in-every-way girl. He never expected she’d be hiding so much, or that she’d even seen through his true nature.

Li Juan didn’t seem to expect an immediate response from Wen Zhuqing.

After what sounded like a confession, she mustered her courage and reached out to touch Wen Zhuqing’s hand.

Seeing that Wen Zhuqing only pressed his lips together and didn’t pull away, her face lit up with joy.

The touch lasted only a moment before she turned and went back inside.

Wen Zhuqing watched her retreating figure, his gaze growing darker.

Back in his room, Wen Zhuqing picked up a towel and carefully wiped the spot Li Juan had touched, his eyes turning cold, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.

What, any random nobody thinks they’re the same as him? Ridiculous.

Whether Li Juan had noticed or not, whether she knew or not, Wen Zhuqing didn’t really care. She had no proof, and even if she tried to tell anyone, no one would believe her.

It was just a pity those pigs had actually been saved.

Wen Zhuqing truly hadn’t expected that Gu Jianing would actually know medicine, and that she’d really be able to diagnose the pigs’ problem.

It seemed he still didn’t know enough about Gu Jianing.

And with how cold and “distant” Gu Jianing had been toward him lately—originally, he’d only seen her as a stepping stone and was drawn to her beauty—but now, Wen Zhuqing found himself even more intrigued by her.

How could he let go of such an interesting woman?

That night, Gu Jianing had a nightmare. She dreamed she was being stalked by a venomous snake, its triangular eyes fixed on her, as if it wanted to devour her whole. Luckily, at the crucial moment, Sheng Zexi appeared, swung his axe, and chopped the snake into pieces.

At the end of the dream, Gu Jianing hugged Sheng Zexi, feeling safe and warm.

The next morning, Gu Jianing opened the system’s exchange shop. Last night, she’d already spent 100 points to exchange for a Super Body Scanner, and had scanned all her family members.

Her three older brothers were all in good health—sturdy and strong.

As for her sisters-in-law, her eldest brother’s wife, Yang Manman, was slowly recovering from her uterine cold.

Her second sister-in-law had just given birth and was still in confinement, so her body was weak, but she was gradually recovering. Her little nephew Zhuangzhuang was always healthy, and with the recent addition of formula milk, he’d put on more weight.

Her mother, Yao Chunhua, was also in good health. Only her father had some old injuries from overwork in his youth, but nothing serious—just needed to eat more nourishing food and recover slowly. She’d already mentioned this to her mother.

Now, Gu Jianing was in the system’s exchange shop to redeem something else.

After a while, her eyes lit up. “Found it.”

Seeing that it wasn’t expensive, Gu Jianing exchanged for it.

“Ningning, breakfast is ready!”

“Coming!”

She closed the system and went to eat breakfast. After she finished and was about to head out, she saw Bao Shanyan standing at the door.

There was no surprise in Gu Jianing’s eyes. She said, “Let’s find somewhere to talk.”

Bao Shanyan followed Gu Jianing to the back of the Gu family house...

Behind the house, Gu Jianing explained her plan to Bao Shanyan and handed her a packet of medicinal powder.

Bao Shanyan took the powder, not questioning the plan itself, but—

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll leave evidence or get seen, and Wen Zhuqing will turn the tables on you?” After all, Bao Shanyan could see that Wen Zhuqing was definitely not as kind and pure as he appeared.

That guy was cunning.

Normally, you’d want to stay far away from someone like that.

But Bao Shanyan wasn’t afraid. She figured that no matter what schemes he had, strength was everything—and she and her mother just happened to be stronger than most men.

Besides, she really did like Wen Zhuqing’s looks.

Maybe it was because she didn’t have them herself, so she wanted to find a good-looking man, hoping their child would inherit some of those looks.

“I have my own ways,” Gu Jianing replied.

As for what those were, there was no need to tell Bao Shanyan.

After all, their relationship was purely one of mutual benefit.

“Fine, as long as you’re confident. Otherwise, I wouldn’t help you.”

“Same here.”

After parting ways with Bao Shanyan and returning to her room, Gu Jianing opened the system’s exchange shop and bought a pen and a disposable paper mouse.

The pen cost 0.5 points, and the paper mouse cost another 0.5 points.

Gu Jianing wrote a sentence on a piece of paper with the pen, tore it off, folded it, and placed it in the paper mouse’s mouth. She then told it Wen Zhuqing’s bed location at the educated youth spot.

The moment she finished speaking, the gray paper mouse flashed with light and seemed to come alive.

From a distance, it looked just like a real, glossy mouse.

In the next second, it turned and ran off with the paper in its mouth, moving so fast it left only a blur.

The gray mouse ran straight to the educated youth dormitory.

At that time, no one was there—everyone was out working in the fields.

The gray mouse found Wen Zhuqing’s bed with uncanny accuracy and, with an impossible leap, jumped onto it.

It placed the folded paper under the pillow, most of it hidden, with just a small corner sticking out.

Then the gray mouse jumped down and went still. In the next instant, as if spontaneously combusting, it burst into flames.

The once-lively mouse turned back into a paper mouse, then into a pile of ash.

A breeze blew in, scattering the ashes.

No one witnessed any of this.

It wasn’t until noon, when the educated youths returned from work.

As soon as Wen Zhuqing entered, he glanced at his bed and immediately noticed the corner of paper sticking out from under his pillow.

His bed was always neatly made, and he was very familiar with his own things, so he instantly noticed something out of place.

He walked over and, making sure no one was watching, slipped the paper into his palm.

He waited until he was alone before unfolding it.

The handwriting was instantly recognizable.

Wen Zhuqing immediately knew it was Gu Jianing’s.

Previously, Gu Jianing had written him little poems in order to get close to him, asking him to critique them. Wen Zhuqing had a good memory.

So he recognized her handwriting at a glance, not to mention her name was signed at the bottom.

On the paper, Gu Jianing wrote that her meeting with that officer surnamed Sheng was forced, that the one she really liked was him. If Wen Zhuqing liked her too, he should go to the old spot north of the village tomorrow—she had something important to discuss with him.

The so-called “old spot north of the village” was a rundown old house that used to belong to a solitary old man. After he passed away, no one lived there because it was so dilapidated."