Chapter 21: Second Update

Lin Xuexia and Fu Wei arrived at the Medical College just before five o'clock. Lin Xuexia was incredibly frustrated; ever since she suspected she might be pregnant, Fu Wei had become so overly cautious that he refused to ride the motorcycle at anything faster than a snail’s pace.

The other men on bicycles along the road could barely hide their contempt, wondering why a man so tall and sturdy, riding such a cool motorcycle, would choose to crawl along so pathetically.

Upon reaching the college gate, Fu Wei parked the bike in the roadside shed, a paid facility mostly filled with black bicycles, many of which had labels like names or numbers stuck to the front. The arrival of Fu Wei’s motorcycle drew a fair amount of attention and envy.

Lin Xuexia gazed at the white school gate ahead. It was an old structure, now firmly locked, with only a small side entrance open, through which students were trickling in and out. Lin Xuexia knew this medical college intimately, as her younger sister would eventually be admitted here.

Of course, this time, she would not allow her sister to apply to this specific school. It wasn’t for any petty reason; it was simply that in her previous life, her sister’s scores were high enough to get into a much better, more prestigious university.

People always talked about the importance of getting into college, but for those in the countryside, few knew anything about higher education. Ordinary high school students simply filled out their applications blindly. As long as they could get into a university—any university—it was considered a great achievement. Consequently, most students were not picky; they were just grateful to be admitted.

Her younger sister hadn't known which school to pick back then. Fueled by a desire not to lose to the jerk who had bullied her sister, she had applied to the same college and gotten in. At the time, Lin Xuexia had been overjoyed for her, only realizing later that her sister had scored dozens of points higher than everyone else—she could have gone to a far better institution.

This time, she would make sure her sister went to a better school.

Though she thought this to herself, watching the men and women passing through the gate, a deep sense of envy still stirred within her. They were all university students, after all. She had loved to study as a child, but she wasn't very good at it and was always expected to help with chores. Plus, everyone in the village—including her aunt—would constantly say, "What’s the use of a girl studying? Just knowing how to read a few words and write your own name is enough. Be quick with your hands and feet so you can marry a good man later."

Back then, she was timid and accepted this reasoning. If they wouldn't let her study, she wouldn't. Her sister, however, was stubborn and strong-willed; she insisted on studying. Since Lin Xuexia was at home handling the chores, there wasn't much need for the younger sisters to work, so they were able to stay in school.

Because she lacked the academic aptitude herself, Lin Xuexia had always looked up to educated people with a sense of awe. However, as she looked at Fu Wei walking toward her, a faint smile touched her lips; she no longer harbored the obsession of needing to marry an "educated man."

"Hey! You're Zheng Yukang's cousin, right? Lin Xuexia!"

Lin Xuexia was a rare beauty. Even in her plain clothes, she could not hide her bright eyes and pearly teeth. Many at the medical college remembered her. The man speaking was Li Sun, a classmate of Zheng Yukang’s. He remembered her well from the several times she had come to visit Zheng, supposedly as his cousin from the countryside who had come south to work in a factory.

When she first arrived, she might have been a bit tanned, but her eyes were exceptionally large and clear. She had a full, beautiful forehead and a widow's peak. After her first visit, several male students had joked privately about wanting to become Zheng Yukang's cousin-in-law.

Some attention-seeking female students had sneered, calling them short-sighted for liking a "little country girl." They mocked her for being unsophisticated and having only an elementary school education, asking if they were going to speak a foreign language to her if they married her—claiming there would be no common ground. The boys had just laughed it off.

But Lin Xuexia was truly stunning. After not seeing her for a while, she had become fairer and even more beautiful. Li Sun had almost failed to recognize her at first. It was only upon closer inspection that he realized it was Zheng Yukang’s cousin. Her appearance was so striking that many passersby couldn't help but look at her.

*Good heavens, she’s only been in the city for a few months? How did she become this beautiful? Not a single girl in the school is as pretty as she is. She’s like a movie star.*

Not only was Zheng Yukang’s cousin beautiful, she was also incredibly virtuous. She was a marvelous cook who had brought meals to Zheng several times, and everyone who had tasted them praised them as exquisite.

"Who are you?" Lin Xuexia asked, looking at Li Sun.

Li Sun was a bespectacled, gentle-looking young man with a square face. He replied enthusiastically, "I'm Zheng Yukang's classmate, Li Sun."

"That’s perfect," Lin Xuexia said. "I’m looking for Zheng Yukang. Do you know where he is?"

"He should be with Zhang Huiping and the others. They don't always eat at the cafeteria in the evenings; they often pool their money to buy small stir-fried dishes together. Rumor has it they might be dating," Li Sun speculated.

"He's with Zhang Huiping, is he? That woman! I knew it!" Lin Xuexia raised her voice, causing several people at the school gate to turn and look.

Li Sun was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"He told you all that I'm his cousin from the countryside, but that’s not true. I am his fiancée. I came to find him before, and he actually claimed I was just his cousin while he went off dating someone else."

"This—" Li Sun’s mouth hung open. He was shocked. In truth, this suspicion had existed behind the scenes, but no one had dared to say it aloud.

"He's still inside the school, right? I'm going to find him."

Lin Xuexia held a bottle of unopened milk in her hand. She glanced back at Fu Wei, signaling: *Protect my money and my milk.*

Fu Wei: "..."

She had already handed him the bag containing her loose change—a significant sum totaling three digits, a small fortune that couldn't be allowed to be snatched away. Having carried such a heavy bag all day, she was terrified of being robbed in the street. It was her hard-earned daily income.

Lin Xuexia marched into the school with a fierce air. As luck would have it, enemies often cross paths; Zheng Yukang was walking out with two women and a man. One of the women was Zhang Huiping, who was currently involved with Zheng, and the other was Ma Yuhong, a girl with pale skin, thin eyebrows, and a few freckles. While not unattractive, Ma Yuhong had a sharp, cutting air about her, and her mouth never seemed to stop moving.

It was Ma Yuhong who would always chirp and chatter whenever she saw Lin Xuexia, mocking her rustic style and deliberately correcting her pronunciation word by word whenever she spoke.

When Ma Yuhong saw Lin Xuexia now, she was startled. She, Zhang Huiping, and Zheng Yukang all froze in their tracks. Was this really the same Lin Xuexia? Even in the simple clothes she had arrived in, her aura had undergone a complete transformation. She had become fair-skinned and breathtakingly beautiful.

Ma Yuhong was consumed with jealousy. When Lin Xuexia had first come to their school, many male students had praised her beauty in private. Even a boy Ma Yuhong secretly liked had chimed in, calling her "gentle and moving." Others had teased Ma Yuhong in front of her, saying her tongue was too sharp and that she should learn from Zheng Yukang’s cousin: "You're both women, Ma Yuhong, look in the mirror. You have the nerve to call her rustic? Have some decency. Don't think just because you've read a few more books than her—with her looks, her skills, and her virtue, men would fight to marry her, not you."

Ma Yuhong had hated Lin Xuexia ever since.

With a woman's intuition, she had long guessed that Lin Xuexia was likely not a country cousin but Zheng’s betrothed. That was why she had intentionally mocked her in public, claiming she was uneducated, that there would be no common language between them, and that she wasn't worthy of a university student. It had embarrassed the male students and made Zheng Yukang even more ashamed to admit that Lin Xuexia was his fiancée from the countryside.

Zheng Yukang had developed an interest in Zhang Huiping, and Ma Yuhong had been the one to encourage them to get together.

Zheng Yukang had confided the truth to Zhang Huiping, saying the engagement was forced by his family. He claimed he was stuck with Lin Xuexia as a fiancée but had no intention of marrying her. *She’s an uneducated country woman working in an electronics factory. How could we possibly have anything in common?*

Now, Ma Yuhong suppressed her jealousy and looked at Lin Xuexia with the gaze of someone watching a show. *So what if she's pretty? She's still an uneducated factory girl. Zheng Yukang doesn't want her! A poor country girl—how many years can beauty last? After a few years of manual labor, she'll become old and coarse. What kind of good man could she ever marry? Thinking she can marry a university student is just a delusional fantasy.*

Zheng Yukang looked at Lin Xuexia, his eyes filled with awe. He had always known Lin Xuexia was pretty, which was why he had agreed to the engagement in the first place.

When he first started seeing Zhang Huiping, he had ulterior motives. He planned to date Zhang for a few years in school, then marry Lin Xuexia after graduation—Lin was beautiful, virtuous, and obedient, making her a perfect candidate for a wife.

But after getting closer to Zhang Huiping, he learned she had city residency, and her family had built a four-story house with storefronts on the ground floor.

Zheng Yukang’s heart began to waver. His own family wasn't well-off; they were barely scraping by to keep him in school, having married off his sister to use her dowry to fund his education. As for Lin Xuexia’s family, it went without saying.

After arriving in the city, his ambitions had grown. Originally, he had only intended to finish school and return home to work as a doctor, but now he wanted to stay in the city. Choosing to be with Zhang Huiping would undoubtedly make that much easier.

"Xuexia? Oh, you’re here?" Zhang Huiping, upon seeing Lin Xuexia, was surprised by the change in her, but she was the happiest of the three.

No matter how beautiful Lin Xuexia was, Zhang Huiping didn't think she could outshine her. What was Lin Xuexia’s background compared to hers? As long as Zheng Yukang was smart, he wouldn't choose Lin Xuexia. She was willing to play along with Zheng in humoring Lin Xuexia precisely because Lin was useful—the braised dishes and chili sauces she made were delicious, and they never struggled to sell them.

"The things you brought for Zheng Yukang last time were delicious. I was thick-skinned enough to ask him to beg you to teach me how to make them."

Zheng Yukang regained his composure and added, "That's right, Xuexia. Did you write down the recipe for the seasonings? Huiping wants to learn from you; why don't you teach her?"

"Teach her? Not a chance," Lin Xuexia scoffed. "I’m setting up a stall outside now, and I make dozens, sometimes a hundred, a day. If she wants to learn my methods, she’ll have to pay me hundreds of thousands to buy the recipe."

"What?!" Zheng Yukang and the others were stunned by her words. The other students nearby, including Li Sun, were equally shocked.

*Lin Xuexia relies on her own skills to earn dozens or a hundred a day? How much money does she make in a month?*