Chapter 76: When There’s Trouble, He Wants Zhong Wuyan; When There’s None, He Wants Xia Yingchun
Ning Xiyue crouched in her little kitchen, timing how long it would take Chen Yechu to finish cooking. She estimated that the rice should be done soon, then casually took Little Grey and strolled out, even deliberately looping around the area near the toilet before heading out.
When she passed by, Chen Yechu was still stir-frying dishes.
Ning Xiyue sat in the courtyard chatting with Liu Yao.
“Huh? I haven’t seen Wang Mengmeng today.”
“Sigh, Wang Mengmeng said she doesn’t feel like eating today, said she lost her appetite. Honestly, if I weren’t starving, I wouldn’t want to eat either.”
Liu Yao leaned closer and lowered her voice, her face twisted in disgust — though not at Ning Xiyue, but at Xia Zhipeng.
“It’s just… I really can’t eat after seeing Xia Zhipeng. Every time I look at him, I remember him today, with pig poop all over his mouth and body. Sitting next to him at the table feels like I’m eating with a pile of manure. Even the food looks like it’s covered in crap — I feel sick just thinking about it.”
“Pfft — don’t describe it so vividly! Now I’m remembering how he looked by the manure pit,” Ning Xiyue said, covering her face and laughing. It was torture. If she had to eat while facing Xia Zhipeng, she’d definitely throw up — probably right in his face.
From now on, she might not even be able to look at Xia Zhipeng properly. Just one glance and she’d see a human-shaped poop stick in front of her eyes. How many eye drops and beautiful sights would it take to wash away that filthy image?
If ordinary people felt this way, then someone with mild mysophobia like Wang Mengmeng must have had it even worse. She was probably cured of her so-called love for Xia Zhipeng.
Ning Xiyue shook her head — what a shame. If only Wu Xiuli had been here today, she would’ve loved to see her reaction. Would she still like Li Jiandang after this?
Suddenly, Ning Xiyue got a new little trick for curing “love-brain.”
All you had to do was imagine the person you liked as a walking, poop-covered stir-stick — and poof, your infatuation might just vanish.
Liu Yao continued whispering into Ning Xiyue’s ear: “I could tell Wang Mengmeng was turning pale. She didn’t even want to talk to Xia Zhipeng, but he still kept asking what was wrong. He’s so clueless.”
Ning Xiyue gave her a thumbs-up. “Ha! You’re improving.”
Liu Yao looked a little proud. “I’ve been trying to learn how to read people’s expressions. My mom always says I’m dumb and too easy to bully. I’m trying to observe more carefully and learn from you. When I go home for New Year, I want my mom to see I’ve changed.”
Ning Xiyue supported her. What her mother said wasn’t wrong — Liu Yao was a bit too naive and easily taken advantage of.
“Keep learning. The more you observe, the better you’ll get. Nobody’s born knowing how to read people. Watch how others react. With time, you’ll understand.”
One should learn to understand the ways of the world without becoming worldly themselves — staying true to their original self.
“Mm, I’ll study hard,” Liu Yao said seriously. She knew all too well that Wang Mengmeng called her a “silly girl” behind her back.
Hmph, she wasn’t stupid.
Liu Yao turned and saw Xia Zhipeng coming out of the shower with a towel around his neck. She quickly averted her gaze and rubbed her eyes. “He’s marinated through and through. No matter how many times he washes, it’s useless. I’ve decided — I’m eating in the courtyard tonight.”
“Haha, you’re not wrong. I swear I still smell pig poop on him. I don’t know if it’s just in my head.”
Ning Xiyue thought Xia Zhipeng desperately needed a bar of soap — and a bottle of perfume — or else everyone’s psychological “poop-scent illusion” would never go away.
Yu Zhiyu poked his head out of the kitchen. “Yaoyao, food’s ready!”
“Coming!” Liu Yao responded, standing up. “Xiyue, I’m going to eat. Talk later.”
“Alright, our food’s ready too. I’m going to eat.” She saw Chen Yechu taking the food off the stove.
When Ning Xiyue brought her bowl to the courtyard, she noticed people scattered all around — everyone was standing in their own corner eating, bowls in hand. No one, except Xia Zhipeng, was sitting at the long dining table.
It seemed everyone was disgusted with him.
The sight made Ning Xiyue want to laugh. Everyone was too refined to say anything, but they were all afraid they’d lose their appetite if they ate next to him.
Xia Zhipeng’s face was dark with anger, but there was nothing he could do. Nobody said anything openly — they just silently took their food elsewhere. And this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, so there was nothing he could say.
All he could do was sit alone, angrily poking at the food in his bowl.
At that moment, Xia Zhipeng found himself thinking fondly of Wang Mengmeng — how she used to call out “Brother Zhipeng” and ask him to sit next to her. If Mengmeng were here, this wouldn’t be happening.
After this humiliation, Xia Zhipeng started to pay more attention to Wang Mengmeng. Deep down, he even felt a bit resentful toward Chen Yechu — if not for her, he wouldn’t have been isolated and despised by everyone in the compound.
Ning Xiyue noticed him glancing outside every so often, standing by the door and peeking toward the room where Wang Mengmeng and Liu Yao lived. Clearly, Xia Zhipeng was thinking about her.
Sure enough, scumbags always want Zhong Wuyan when there’s trouble, and Xia Yingchun when there’s none.
—
After the whole “two grown men falling into the manure pit” incident, you could hear the older women gossiping about it everywhere — all laughing at the two of them.
When they saw Xia Zhipeng, they teased him mercilessly:
“Oh, Comrade Xia, how was the pig poop? How much did you swallow that day?”
“Even if you didn’t eat it, you must’ve drunk some pig urine. Fall into water, you drink some water. Look at him — he definitely swallowed some, hahaha!”
Xia Zhipeng’s face turned iron-blue as he lowered his head and hurried past.
They teased Li Jiandang too.
“Jiandang, you’re the first person in our team to voluntarily eat poop and drink urine. How’s the taste? Tell us!”
Another woman chimed in, “What about the involuntary part? Tell us that too.”
“Didn’t my granny say that someone back in her hometown once got poisoned from eating too many mayberries, and they cured him by making him drink sow manure? Jiandang, you’re basically medicine now — totally worth it, hahaha!”
Listening from the sidelines, Ning Xiyue thought, Well, sow manure is indeed a detox remedy… but Auntie, if you didn’t laugh so loudly, he might almost believe it was worth it, hahaha.
Ning Xiyue laughed along with them.
Every time the two men stepped outside, people pointed and joked, so they stopped going out altogether. As soon as work ended, they’d retreat straight to their rooms.
But the manure pit incident was soon overshadowed by another piece of news — rumors of a Worker-Peasant-Soldier University quota spreading through the team.
The moment Ning Xiyue heard about it, she knew Xia Zhipeng was the one who spread the news — obviously trying to divert attention away from himself.
She didn’t expect him to be that ruthless, spreading such an uncertain rumor and stirring everyone up.
The moment the news broke, the entire team was roiling with undercurrents.
Early the next morning, Ning Xiyue sensed something was off in the compound. Everyone looked deep in thought, their eyes clouded with strange emotions. The atmosphere was unusually quiet and heavy — almost suffocating.
