Chapter 71: Identity Revealed

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Identity Revealed

Seeing Deng Yuyuan approach, Tuantuan skipped back to her mother’s side and held her pinky finger. Gou Ya followed behind her. The two children’s faces were covered in beads of sweat as they reluctantly waved goodbye to the great-uncle and his wife, still wishing to play more.

"Come play again tomorrow, and make sure Tuantuan remembers to come too," the great-uncle and his wife said, waving at the two girls with beaming smiles.

"Okay!" Tuantuan replied loudly. "Gou Ya and I will both come!"

Tuantuan mumbled excitedly, sharing her day’s activities with Deng Yuyuan. Hearing this, Deng Yuyuan was a bit surprised. These two little ones had actually played solidly for the entire day, and Gou Ya hadn’t done much work at all.

"Gou Ya, take your little sister back first. I’m going to chat with Great-uncle for a bit," Deng Yuyuan instructed. "Tuantuan, stick close to your sister. Don’t run off."

She stayed behind because she wanted to know how the great-uncle and his wife had managed it.

Hearing this question, the great-uncle couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

The elderly needed less sleep and went to bed early. They often slept at five or six in the afternoon and woke up at three or four in the morning. Once awake, they would boil porridge—enough for three meals—and serve it with some pickled vegetables. Naturally, there were no chores left for Gou Ya. As for the other chores, they had already been finished the day before! After all, the old couple had food delivered by their sons, so they didn’t have to go work in the fields.

However, they had other troubles, such as choosing a new name for Gou Ya.

"Is Mingzhu or Zhenzhu better?" the great-uncle asked Deng Yuyuan. "Gou Ya can’t decide either. Other names are good and have their own meanings, but none compare to these two. As soon as you hear them, you know she’s the treasure of the Zhang family."

Deng Yuyuan thought it over and settled on Mingzhu. Compared to Zhenzhu, Mingzhu was a bit less cliché. When asked about its origin, it also carried the idiom of being "the beloved pearl in one’s palm." Moreover, in Mandarin, Zhang Mingzhu sounded better and was less of a tongue-twister than Zhang Zhenzhu.

The old couple didn’t know what Mandarin was, but seeing Deng Yuyuan speak with such sound logic, they thanked her repeatedly. They planned to go to the village chief the next day to register Gou Ya’s new name.

The next day, Deng Yuyuan woke up bright and early. After doing warm-up exercises with Tuantuan and Gou Ya, she dropped them off at the great-uncle’s house. Then, she disguised herself and headed to town to collect her imminent five thousand yuan.

The broker was very punctual. The five thousand yuan was placed in a basket, wrapped in cloth, and covered with a layer of pigweed.

Deng Yuyuan counted the banknotes right in front of him. After confirming the amount was correct, she handed over the seven notebooks.

[They are all genuine notes.]

After getting the money, Deng Yuyuan hopped a wall and swapped the cash into a different container, taking a detour to throw the original basket into a dump before heading back to Dazhang Village.

Constantly reviewing keeps knowledge fresh, and she urgently needed to absorb new information. Once she got into college, she would be buried in research all day and wouldn’t have time to read books every day.

She studied until the sun was about to set, then got up to pick up the children. The sun wasn’t too harsh at this hour, and the youths at the Knowledge Youth Institute hadn’t finished work yet. By the time she brought the kids back, it would be the end of the workday, saving her from hearing idle gossip along the way.

Thanks to her relationship with the village chief, even though Deng Yuyuan’s romantic affairs were heavily criticized by the villagers, they rarely spoke about it explicitly. Still, a few sarcastic remarks were unavoidable.

Granny Zhang had originally wanted to muddy the waters as well, but the villagers naturally wouldn’t let the Zhang family off the hook, privately mocking Zhang Jiahua for being a cuckold. As a result, before Granny Zhang could even stir up trouble for Deng Yuyuan, she ended up in a screaming match in the streets with the villagers.

Deng Yuyuan had only taken a few steps when she saw Zhang Ci Hao walking toward her, holding a child in each hand.

Seeing Deng Yuyuan, Zhang Ci Hao broke into a gentle, overjoyed smile. "Mr. Deng, I have something good to show you."

He first sent the children indoors before saying sheepishly to Deng Yuyuan, "We have to find a hidden place for the two of us to look at this."

Deng Yuyuan shuddered instantly, her whole body tensing up. Her fingers subconsciously gripped the hem of her clothes as countless dangerous thoughts flashed through her mind. But as her gaze swept over his sincere and incredibly handsome face, trust overpowered her suspicion.

Taking a deep breath, Deng Yuyuan forcefully suppressed her wildly beating heart. She stepped sideways to lead him into the Shi Tou house next to the Knowledge Youth Institute. Poking her head out, she looked around vigilantly. Once she confirmed no one was paying attention, she quickly turned back and slid the latch shut with a sharp CLACK.

"...What is it?" she asked in a low voice.

Under the dim light, Zhang Ci Hao took off his bamboo basket, pulled out a stack of items, and placed them into Deng Yuyuan’s hands.

Seeing the familiar seven notebooks, Deng Yuyuan’s brain short-circuited. She slowly stared at Zhang Ci Hao’s figure, then looked down at the heavy weight in her hands in sheer disbelief, before raising her head to look at his face hidden in the shadows.

[OGA. CLICK CLACK.]

"This is..." her voice was a bit hoarse.

Zhang Ci Hao rubbed his head and explained, "These are review materials my friend got. They are definitely useful. If you don’t believe me, flip through a few pages and see."

The man’s eager and sincere gaze almost stung her.

Deng Yuyuan steadied her mind. "You should know that after I take the college entrance exam, I won’t be coming back to Dazhang Village, right?"

Zhang Ci Hao spoke nonchalantly, "It doesn’t matter. I’ll go find you. Wherever you go, I’ll go. Is that okay?"

The end of his sentence trailed off softly; he was testing her attitude.

Deng Yuyuan took another deep breath to soothe her emotions. "Thank you for your kindness, but..."

Speaking slowly, Deng Yuyuan listed the exact times, locations, and the price of the seven notebooks from their transactions over the past two years.

Zhang Ci Hao froze. Or rather, his entire body locked into a petrified state, completely lost to the world.

[Player, he looks like he’s about to crack.]

"You... No, wasn’t that an old woman?" Zhang Ci Hao’s eyes widened, trying to carefully make out Deng Yuyuan’s features again inside the dim Shi Tou house.

"Yes, I was disguised," Deng Yuyuan said, her voice calm and composed, though she was trying hard to suppress her amusement.

That was close. She had almost been the one left dumbfounded.

After pondering for a moment, she said, "However, since it’s you... wait here for a second."

Deng Yuyuan left the Shi Tou house, fetched the basket containing the five thousand yuan from her room, and handed it back to Zhang Ci Hao. "Returning these to their rightful owner. I don’t need these seven notebooks, so you can go sell them."

"I, I..." Taking advantage of the dark lighting, Zhang Ci Hao, a grown man, secretly teared up.

Deng Yuyuan was actually this good to him; he absolutely would not let her down!

Afraid that Deng Yuyuan might see his moment of weakness, Zhang Ci Hao chatted with her for a few more sentences in the Shi Tou house before hurriedly saying goodbye.

He secured the money-filled basket inside his own and practically jogged all the way back home.

"What’s the rush? You’re a grown adult, yet you’re acting as reckless as a child," the village chief’s wife trailed behind, scolding him with a laugh.

"Hurry and close the door, quick," Zhang Ci Hao beckoned for her to come inside.

"Tell me, what kind of treasure did you dig up from town this time?" the village chief’s wife asked as she walked in slowly, peering into the bamboo basket at Zhang Ci Hao’s gesture.