R70 Chapter 11

Please Save Jianhua!

Wu Yunzhu froze.

Yuan Ye had just said he had someone he liked?

She bit her lower lip, her fingers gently brushing over her wrist, where his warmth still seemed to linger.

Her heart beat uncontrollably, probing cautiously with a hint of hope.

“The person Team Leader Yuan likes must be very fortunate.”

But a trace of pain flashed through Yuan Ye’s eyes, and a bitter smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

“If only that were true, that would be wonderful…”

Before Wu Yunzhu could understand what he meant, Yuan Ye had already left.

He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would throw caution to the wind and embrace Wu Yunzhu, telling her what that scumbag Xie Yun had done to her in his previous life.

Even if Xie Yun were cut into a thousand pieces, it wouldn’t be enough to vent his anger!

Wu Yunzhu stood in the doorway, watching Yuan Ye’s tall figure gradually shrink and finally disappear, unable to come back to her senses for a long time.

“Stop looking, time to sleep!”

Sun Hongying, wearing an outer garment, stood in the bedroom doorway, watching her daughter trot back to her room, shaking her head helplessly.

Early the next morning, Wu Yunzhu woke up before dawn.

She climbed out of bed quietly, packing her things by the moonlight coming through the window.

Last night she had deliberately placed the scale weight and burlap sack by the headboard, so she could find them even in the dark.

“Creak—“

The old wooden door made a faint sound. Wu Yunzhu held her breath and looked back at her parents sleeping soundly on the bed.

Fortunately, they just rolled over and fell back asleep.

She tiptoed out the door and grabbed two cold steamed buns from the kitchen, stuffing them into her cloth bag.

The morning dew soaked her cloth shoes, and the chill crept up from the soles of her feet.

She tightened her coarse cloth jacket and hurried toward the second market.

When the sky showed a pale belly of white, Wu Yunzhu finally reached the market.

This place was much larger than yesterday’s market, with stalls packed one next to another, and quite a few people were already bustling about.

“Fresh potato seeds here—”

A shout caught Wu Yunzhu’s attention.

Following the sound, she saw a woman in her forties organizing her stall, with baskets in front of her piled full of potato seeds.

Wu Yunzhu walked over quickly and squatted down to examine them carefully.

These potato seeds were uniformly sized with plump eyes—even better than those at the other stalls she’d just looked at.

“Big sister, how much for these potato seeds?”

The woman looked up and sized her up. “Twenty cents per jin.”

“Too expensive.” Wu Yunzhu shook her head. “Yesterday at the market up ahead, I bought them for seventeen cents.”

“Then go buy them up ahead.” The woman was unconcerned. “My seeds are good quality—twenty cents isn’t expensive.”

Wu Yunzhu stood up. “Then I’ll look elsewhere.”

She made as if to leave, and sure enough, heard the woman call out behind her, “Hey, young lady, if you’re serious about buying, I’ll give them to you for nineteen cents.”

Wu Yunzhu stopped and turned around. “Eighteen cents, and I’ll take one hundred and fifty jin.”

The woman frowned. “You’re cutting the price too hard.”

“Big sister, I’m buying for the production brigade—it’s a large quantity.” Wu Yunzhu moved closer and lowered her voice. “If you think it’s suitable, I’ll come back to buy from you in the future.”

The woman hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded. “Alright, consider it making a friend.”

Wu Yunzhu’s heart leaped with joy, and she quickly pulled out the scale weight.

While weighing the seeds, she chatted with the woman, inquiring about the prices at other stalls.

By afternoon, Wu Yunzhu had changed her strategy.

She discovered that sweet potato seeds were more in demand, so she decided to focus on purchasing sweet potatoes.

Running back and forth between the two markets, she found two sellers.

The first was a hunchbacked old man asking sixteen cents.

Wu Yunzhu noticed his sweet potato seeds were somewhat wilted, so she said, “Uncle, these seeds have been sitting for a while, haven’t they? I’ll take them all for fifteen cents.”

The old man sighed. “Girl’s got sharp eyes. Alright, one hundred jin for you.”

The second was a shrewd middle-aged man who quoted seventeen cents.

Wu Yunzhu haggled with him for half an hour and finally bought two hundred jin at sixteen cents.

When the sun slanted westward, Wu Yunzhu had already collected three hundred jin of sweet potato seeds.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and, as usual, stored all the seeds in her space in a deserted alley.

Wu Yunzhu planned to collect the remaining seeds over the next three days, which would complete the task assigned by the system.

When Wu Yunzhu returned home, no one was there, but they had left food for her in the pot.

She reached in to check—still warm.

Wu Yunzhu immediately took it out and ate slowly.

“Yunzhu! Yunzhu!”

The courtyard gate was suddenly knocked with loud “bang bang bang” sounds, startling Wu Yunzhu.

Xie Yun stood outside Wu Yunzhu’s door holding the unconscious Jianhua. He frantically pounded on the door, his expression panicked.

“Yunzhu, open the door, please save Jianhua!”

Wu Yunzhu frowned and strode over to open the door.

She didn’t want to open it, but thinking that Xie Yun’s voice was so loud, he would surely attract all the nearby villagers.

If something really happened to his child, wouldn’t he blame it on her?

So Wu Yunzhu reluctantly held her breath and opened the door.

“What are you howling about in broad daylight?”

As soon as Wu Yunzhu opened the door, Xie Yun grabbed her wrist, his grip so strong it made her frown involuntarily.

His face was pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat. Little Jianhua in his arms had a flushed face, his eyes tightly closed, breathing rapidly—he looked seriously ill.

“Yunzhu, please save Jianhua! He was fine last night, but just now he stopped moving and his whole body is burning hot!”

Xie Yun’s voice carried a sob, his eyes full of panic and helplessness.

Wu Yunzhu glanced down at little Jianhua. Though she felt somewhat moved, she was more overwhelmed by helplessness and irritation.

She forcefully shook off Xie Yun’s hand and said coldly, “If he’s sick, take him to the hospital. I’m not a doctor, I can’t treat illness. Why are you looking for me?”

But Xie Yun acted as if he hadn’t heard her words and continued pleading, “Yunzhu, I know you’re upset, that you’ve been dwelling on the matter of adopting Jianhua. But now Jianhua’s life is at stake—can’t you stop holding a grudge about this? He’s innocent!”

Hearing these words, anger flared up in Wu Yunzhu’s heart.

She laughed coldly, her tone sharp. “Xie Yun, that’s really an interesting thing to say! What does Jianhua have to do with me? Why do you think I have any obligation to save him? Besides, staying at my parents’ home is my freedom—what business is it of yours?”

Xie Yun was momentarily at a loss for words, but he quickly recovered and said urgently, “Yunzhu, I know you’re angry, but Jianhua is just a child—he doesn’t understand anything! For the sake of our marriage, please help me!”

Watching Xie Yun’s anxious appearance, Wu Yunzhu turned to close the door.

Seeing this, Xie Yun quickly jammed his foot in the door, his voice carrying a sob: “Yunzhu, don’t do this! Jianhua really can’t hold on much longer, please help me! I’m begging you!”