Chapter 58: Winter is Here

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Winter is Here

The next day, the doorway to Deng Yuyuan’s room was piled high with gifts. There were more outside the Knowledge Youth Institute, too, all brought over by neighbors who had belatedly found out about her birthday.

Because of the short notice, there hadn’t been much time to pick out anything extravagant, but every item was carefully wrapped and adorned with freshly picked morning flowers. Gathering the gifts into her arms, Deng Yuyuan thanked everyone one by one, in exceptionally high spirits. Her sweet disposition charmed the neighbors into stuffing her with even more New Year goods.

No one could possibly dislike a pristine, beautiful little white cat like her.

Seeing Deng Yuyuan buried in presents and flashing such an incredibly radiant, open smile for the first time, the gruff but tender-hearted neighbors—many of whom were over fifty—finally admitted a truth to themselves: even if Deng Yuyuan hadn’t shared so many things with them, they still would have adored and taken good care of this mother and daughter.

In this small village where happiness was traditionally forged through bitter hardship and relentless toil, Deng Yuyuan showed the older women another beautiful possibility. A woman didn’t have to suffer and run herself ragged to make her life flourish. It was a future they couldn’t achieve for themselves, but seeing Deng Yuyuan live it was more than enough. It was strange how one person could perfectly blend such lazy elegance with such vibrant vitality.

In the afternoon, the village chief’s wife and Zhang Ci Hao also came by.

The morning’s commotion over the gifts had been too loud to ignore. Anyone paying attention now knew that Deng Yuyuan had celebrated her birthday the day before and had treated everyone to a delicious, novel treat called "cake" that was so good it could make you swallow your own tongue.

The village chief’s wife brought a thick, handmade cotton-padded jacket, while Zhang Ci Hao presented a long red coat of excellent quality and craftsmanship. Deng Yuyuan knew that the fabric of the coat was superb. With it on, one only needed a base layer underneath to ward off the cold. What’s more, it would beautifully complement her complexion while perfectly tracing the line of her waist and her long, slender legs.

How did Deng Yuyuan know all this so clearly? Because she had already bought one. It was the newest arrival at the supply and marketing cooperative—the most expensive, prized item in the store.

Zhang Ci Hao was still busy explaining it to her. He said he had initially hesitated about buying it, only to be beaten to the punch by someone else. So, the moment the salesclerk restocked a new piece, he had seized the opportunity to snatch it up.

"The clerk said she only stocked one originally, and some sucker bought it on the very first day," Zhang Ci Hao said. "So she brought in two more, but they ended up sitting at the bottom of the inventory. I haggled fifteen yuan off the price to get this."

The "sucker" in question offered a faint smile. She hadn’t even known it was possible to haggle at the cooperative.

"If I remember correctly, I was the one who bought that first coat."

The village chief’s wife slapped the back of her youngest son’s head and quickly changed the subject. "Let Little Hao find a tailor to alter it before giving it to you. It doesn’t matter if you already have one; the material is so nice, changing the style will do just fine."

"It’s alright. Thank you for going to such expense for me."

"Hey, hey, none of those polite words! Just take it since we’re giving it to you. Wear it for the New Year. Ha, what a stunning girl you’ll be."

Thanks to the buzz around Deng Yuyuan’s birthday, it was a few days before the educated youths brought up the topic of parting ways. Half the people at the Knowledge Youth Institute were able to return home to visit their relatives. There were three quotas: Tian Tian got one, and two male youths were also returning. As for the young man with glasses, his family had pulled some strings; he was going back for good this time, so he didn’t take up one of the regular visitation quotas.

Deng Yuyuan and Zhao Erdong weren’t returning. Both came from families with many children where they were largely ignored. Going back would only make them uncomfortable.

Everyone felt a bit down upon hearing the news that the bespectacled youth was leaving. In an era where communication was poorly developed, a single move could easily result in losing touch for a lifetime.

After the four of them left, the Knowledge Youth Institute felt much more desolate. To make up for it, the neighborhood women started knocking on the door every day to chat. Deng Yuyuan would put a handful of peanuts and sunflower seeds on the stone table in the courtyard. The neighbors would arrive with their own sunflower seeds, polish off the peanuts on the table, chat until it was time to cook, and then head home.

Deng Yuyuan, who had become increasingly picky about her food as her standard of living improved, helplessly smiled as she swept the peanut shells into the dirt and looked at the barely touched pile of sunflower seeds. Everyone knew that Deng Yuyuan didn’t like peanuts, but she was absolutely addicted to cracking sunflower seeds.

"CLICK CLACK. Player, can you go check on Fubao tomorrow?"

Fubao lived on the east side of the village while the Knowledge Youth Institute was on the west, so Deng Yuyuan rarely had a chance to bump into her. The AI customer service system was asking because the wife of Fubao’s neighbor had been caught having an affair.

The wife was known for being hardworking, warm-hearted, and sturdily attractive. After the affair was exposed, the two men involved ended up brawling. One husband insisted on forgiving his wife and refused to divorce, while the other man goaded him, saying any man with a spine would go through with the divorce.

They were still making a huge scene over it. After the neighbors finished sharing the gossip today, they asked Deng Yuyuan if she wanted to go watch the drama unfold with them tomorrow.

Deng Yuyuan wasn’t interested in that kind of spectacle. She had recently been reading books on microchips and computers. Because she had to study in secret, her energy levels were running low when she was around others, leaving her constantly yawning and feeling drowsy.

It frightened Zhao Erdong enough to call the barefoot doctor over to examine her. In the end, it was determined that she simply hadn’t slept enough.

"Some people are just naturally heavy sleepers. They need to sleep longer than normal people to properly recover," the barefoot doctor said.

Zhao Erdong was confused. "But she wasn’t like this before."

"Well, winter is here," the barefoot doctor noted. He prescribed a few tonic patches, picked up his medicine kit, and left.

Taking advantage of the New Year, Granny Zhang spent a hefty sum hiring a matchmaker to arrange a marriage for Zhang Jiahua. As a result, quite a few young girls dropped by the Knowledge Youth Institute to get a look at Deng Yuyuan, the ex-wife. They would invariably leave with flushed little faces, each holding a piece of pumpkin pancake.

Deng Yuyuan hollowed out the leftover pumpkin shells to make jack-o’-lanterns and placed one over Tuantuan’s head. Tuantuan loved it so much that she stopped wearing her tiger-skin hat, choosing to burrow into the pumpkin every single day instead.

Gou Ya also received a small, delicate jack-o’-lantern. Fearing that her little sister Tuantuan might try to use it as a headgear too, she took the initiative to pull the candle out of it.

The reason Gou Ya didn’t wear hers as a helmet was because she was a mature, steady, and thoughtful little girl. Ever since her first attempt—when her head got stuck inside and couldn’t come out, forcing Deng Yuyuan to make a whole new one—she adamantly refused to wear a pumpkin on her head ever again.

On New Year’s Eve, uninvited guests paid a visit to the Knowledge Youth Institute. It was Gou Ya’s uncle and aunt, coming to take the girl back.

The couple offered Deng Yuyuan a fawning smile, thanking her for taking care of Gou Ya all this time. Then, almost forcefully, they barged into the house and grabbed the girl.

Zhao Erdong tried to stop them, but the aunt planted her hands on her hips. "It’s only right and proper that we take our own child back. Don’t go thinking that just because you picked her up and fed her for a while, she belongs to you. My heart just breaks for our Gou Ya, acting as free labor at your Knowledge Youth Institute every day. Don’t be afraid, Gou Ya. Your aunt is here to take you home."

With that, the aunt reached out to pat Gou Ya’s head, only for Gou Ya to immediately sink her teeth into the webbing of the woman’s hand.

The aunt let out a shrill scream and raised her hand to slap Gou Ya, but Deng Yuyuan blocked her.

A flash of malice darted through the aunt’s eyes. However, upon seeing how fiercely Deng Yuyuan and Zhao Erdong were defending Gou Ya, the couple happily exchanged a knowing look.