Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 23 Borrowing Books Again
Know thyself, ever-victorious.

Shen Wei wasn't completely stupid. Although he had his own ideas, he wouldn't blindly follow them. Instead, he started observing Wang Chengpeng.

Once he discovers Wang Chengpeng's weakness, he will pounce on him like the fiercest dog and tear him to pieces.

Watching Wang Chengpeng and Xia Mingyue walking one after the other on the path, Shen Wei's anger intensified.

The educated youth in the village were highly sought after. After all, they were all city dwellers. Although they had been sent down to the countryside, some things could not be changed. Shen Wei had even been eyeing the female educated youth in the village for a long time.

Unfortunately, neither Xia Mingyue nor An Qiuyun are fools, so how could they possibly be interested in someone like Shen Wei, who is all show and no substance?

After being reported by the two women several times, Shen Wei finally had to give up his improper thoughts and focus all his attention on Liu Yanran.

The thought that Wang Chengpeng was not only engaged to Liu Yanran, but also chatting and laughing with Xia Mingyue made Shen Wei insanely jealous, and he wished he could rush up and punch Wang Chengpeng.

Now that it was broad daylight, Shen Wei didn't have the guts to say anything, and could only grit his teeth and say:
"Borrowing books? I think you two are using borrowing books as a pretext for a secret rendezvous."

"But this is for the best. Once I expose the ugly truths of the two of you, Yanran should know who is better and agree to our marriage."

Thinking this way, Shen became even more diligent in his pursuit.

……

Wang Chengpeng was just an ordinary person, not some legendary martial arts master. With Shen Wei's deliberate concealment, he couldn't detect anything amiss.

However, he was upright and honest, so he wasn't afraid of Shen Wei's spying.

After taking the book from Wang Chengpeng, Xia Mingyue soon came out with another physics book.

Unlike the previous book, this physics book looks much older, with many signs of being flipped through.

Although the marks were obvious, the book was very well preserved, and it was covered with notes, clearly showing that its owner cherished it very much.

Seeing this, Wang Chengpeng patted his chest and assured her, "Xia Zhiqing, don't worry, I will definitely return this book to you intact."

Faced with Wang Chengpeng's solemn assurance, An Qiuyun burst out laughing and said:
"You're quite an interesting person. You speak like a pedantic scholar from legends."

"Alright, alright, you should go now."

"You wouldn't be thinking of shamelessly staying here to mooch off the meager food supplies at our educated youth settlement, would you?"

Why didn't I notice how lively An Qiuyun was in my past life?

Although somewhat surprised, Wang Chengpeng did not linger there any longer.

After all, if he were to be branded as a shameless freeloader, he would be too embarrassed to ask Xia Mingyue for books again next time.

Seeing that Wang Chengpeng had left, Xia Mingyue returned to her room and picked up the book she had lent to Wang Chengpeng earlier to examine it.

As expected, yet unexpectedly, the two-cent banknote tucked inside the book had vanished without a trace.

This was originally Xia Mingyue's money for Wang Chengpeng to buy groceries, and she didn't mind that Wang Chengpeng had taken it.

While flipping through the book, she seemed to discover some strange marks on it.

Xia Mingyue knew almost everything about every book she owned, and immediately began to examine them with a frown.

However, it was discovered that these marks were likely traces of pencils being erased.

It's just that the pencils of that era weren't powerful enough, and the person writing with extra force left noticeable marks on it.

With her delicate brows furrowed slightly, Xia Mingyue disliked people like Wang Chengpeng who would scribble on her books.

She made up her mind that she would never lend books to Wang Chengpeng again, because she didn't want the books she lent out to be covered in ridiculous scribbles by him.

However, just as Xia Mingyue was about to close the book, she discovered that the marks on the book did not seem to be meaningless doodles.

Thinking of this, she subconsciously flipped to one of the pages and looked at it, only to find that the marks on it were not meaningless doodles at all, but rather carefully written notes. Guided by the notes, the reader could more quickly understand the content of this page.

This discovery immediately piqued Xia Mingyue's curiosity. Didn't Wang Chengpeng say that he hadn't even understood the book? Why would he leave so many notes in it?

Moreover, the notes cover a wide range of topics, from the first few pages to the last few pages.

Wang Chengpeng actually finished reading the entire book in one night?
Moreover, according to the notes, he even thoroughly understood all of their contents.

Could such a great deity be hidden in such a remote mountain village?
Just as Xia Mingyue was filled with doubt and surprise, she heard An Qiuyun's quirky voice in her ear:

"You wouldn't happen to have taken a fancy to Comrade Wang, would you? You've been staring at the returned book nonstop."

"Tsk tsk tsk, it's a pity you've already missed your chance."

"It is said that Comrade Wang proposed to the Liu family this morning, and they will get married in April."

Cooking at the educated youth settlement was done in shifts, and today it just so happened that An Qiuyun was in charge.

However, she never expected that when she finished cooking and was about to call Xia Mingyue to eat, she would see such a strange scene.

Xia Mingyue, being a virgin, blushed instantly after being teased by An Qiuyun, and said coquettishly:
"Don't talk nonsense about having taken a liking to Comrade Wang. It's not good for either me or Comrade Wang."

"I'll naturally check the returned books carefully, otherwise what if they get damaged?"

"As you know, books are hard to come by; each one is priceless."

When Xia Mingyue said that she was going to meet him, An Qiuyun scoffed, "Only you would treat a book like a treasure every day."

"I asked my family to send things over, but they didn't want money or food. They just wanted books, which I don't quite understand."

"Look, Comrade Wang just glanced at it casually and then came back. How could he possibly figure something out in just one night?"

"Alright, alright, stop talking and let's eat."

"You're finishing work early today, so if you eat breakfast early, you'll have time to read."

"To be honest, we were able to finish the work so quickly today thanks to Comrade Wang's efforts. He has been very considerate of us since we started working here."

"If there's an opportunity in the future, we should still help Comrade Wang out as much as we can."

Xia Mingyue rolled her eyes at An Qiuyun, annoyed, and said:
"Since you feel you've mistreated Comrade Wang, then don't talk about the future, just invite him to dinner."

"Alright, I'm going to eat first. I don't have that much time to chat with you."

Faced with Xia Mingyue's complaints, An Qiuyun waved her hand and said:

"Inviting Comrade Wang to dinner? That's not gratitude, it's revenge."

"We don't even enjoy the profits ourselves, so how can we force Comrade Wang to suffer?"

"If we have the chance to go to town together, we can have a good meal at the state-run restaurant, especially the braised pork. I haven't had it in a long time and I really miss it."

After saying that, An Qiuyun didn't even have time to drool and quickly caught up with Xia Mingyue.

If you do n’t eat positively, you have problems with your thinking!
……

Wang Chengpeng's home.

After another day of hard work, the courtyard has become more and more exquisite and feels more like home.

However, just as Wang Chengpeng finished dinner and was preparing to finish repairing the radio, there were several urgent knocks on the door.

(End of this chapter)