"You two are the only ones here. My aunt gave me a bag of baked flatbreads, and I brought some over for you. You like scallion, and Liping likes chives, so I saved some for you."
As she spoke, Cheng You glanced at Song Jingtang.
As expected of someone who had been in a few relationships, his expression was calm, and his heart didn't skip a beat. His face didn't even flush.
*Heh, he must have kissed a lot of girls.*
No matter how she looked at it, she felt Sun Xiaowan wasn't suitable for him.
Sun Xiaowan picked out a few baked flatbreads and put them in a container, taking some for Song Jingtang as well.
After delivering the flatbreads, Cheng You didn't leave.
Just as she was about to speak, she heard Cheng You say, "Come out with me."
Sun Xiaowan: "..."
No need to ask, Cheng You must have found out!
Cheng You eyed her, "Hurry up!"
Sun Xiaowan meekly shrunk her head and shot a glare at Song Jingtang.
Song Jingtang quickly understood. Thinking that Cheng You might have discovered them just now, he suddenly felt a bit awkward.
Sun Xiaowan followed Cheng You outside, her voice laced with guilt, "What's up?"
Cheng You squinted at her and deliberately said, "Do you not know what I want to say?"
Her calm tone made Sun Xiaowan even more uneasy.
"Oh, I'm dating Song Jingtang!"
"When did you start?"
Sun Xiaowan looked down at her hands and said, "Last month."
Cheng You's eyes widened, "Last month, and I'm only finding out now!"
"It's not that I didn't want to tell you; if I had told you, you definitely wouldn't have agreed."
Cheng You snorted, "Then do you know why I wouldn't agree?"
Sun Xiaowan mumbled, "I know."
"You know, and you still didn't tell me!" Cheng You said fiercely.
"Xiaowan, he's quite flirtatious, and I heard his family is well-off. Although his parents are urging him, they are not easy to deal with."
The kind who would likely try to break them up.
Perhaps ordinary people would think only mothers-in-law are difficult. In typical families, fathers-in-law maintain their dignity and wouldn't verbally or physically abuse their daughters-in-law, leaving the troublesome part to the mother-in-law.
But Song Jingtang's family was different. She heard that both his parents were difficult.
Sun Xiaowan said indifferently, "I know, so what? I'm dating him, not his parents. Anyway, I like him now, so I'm with him. If his family causes trouble later, I'll just break up with him. I'm not going to be unable to find another man."
Plus, Cheng You mentioned that the college entrance examination would resume next year, so she had to wait and not marry Song Jingtang for now.
Once she had the chance to get into university and break up with Song Jingtang would be even easier.
There would be no shortage of men at university.
Hearing her say this, Cheng You actually felt a bit relieved.
She was worried that Sun Xiaowan was completely infatuated and couldn't extricate herself.
"Then you be careful. Remember what I said about the college entrance examination resuming. Even if you guys do *that*, remember to use protection. You probably don't have any, come ask me later."
Sun Xiaowan's face turned bright red. She hadn't even considered that!
"What nonsense are you talking about? This is something you only do after getting married!"
Cheng You looked disbelieving.
From the way they looked just now, it was like dry tinder and a spark, ready to ignite at any moment.
"In any case, remember what I said. Don't get on the train before buying the ticket."
Sun Xiaowan's face was burning like it was about to bleed. She pushed Cheng You out and slammed the door shut.
Cheng You pouted, "I'm just being cautious."
She carried her things and went home, telling Qi Chengyan about Song Jingtang.
Qi Chengyan said with some helplessness, "Jingtang is flirtatious, but he's not vulgar."
Otherwise, they wouldn't have become friends.
Although Song Jingtang had been in a few relationships, the progress was limited to holding hands.
If he had ever crossed the line, those girls would have felt taken advantage of and demanded he take responsibility.
After understanding this, Cheng You's opinion of Song Jingtang improved slightly.
"However, Jingtang's parents are indeed difficult to deal with."
They were quite... snobbish.
In their eyes, background was paramount, and what could benefit the Song family was primary.
Nothing else mattered.
Thinking about Sun Xiaowan's attitude, Cheng You felt it was fine, as Sun Xiaowan herself was not the type to be bullied.
The next day, those people arrived for their reports on time.
Everyone then realized that Cheng You, unable to recruit people in Wujing Village, had actually gone to Qili Village.
Some people from Wujing Village started to feel uneasy.
They were the ones who didn't want to go to Cheng You's side, thinking it wasn't worth it.
Now that the spots were taken by people from Qili Village, they felt unbalanced.
Yang Tianle happened to be caught by Zhang Yunmei, who said, "Young man, you're tall and strong. What are you doing wasting your time with Cheng You?"
"Wasting my time?"
"Isn't it? Cheng You doesn't pay wages here. Have you thought it through?"
Yang Tianle smiled, "Auntie, there's no wage for the first half of the month. If you pass the assessment, you will get paid."
Zhang Yunmei pouted, "What if you don't pass?"
Yang Tianle hadn't considered that possibility. "Cheng You said that as long as you put in some effort, most people can pass."
Because what they were learning were basic skills, not requiring mastery of overly profound knowledge.
As long as they put in the effort, it was impossible not to learn.
Cheng You hadn't mentioned the pharmaceutical factory, but they had inquired about the people helping her at Zhen Shan Tang, and their salaries were no less than twenty yuan.
If they studied diligently for half a month, they could then earn twenty yuan a month. Why wouldn't they?
Zhang Yunmei watched them ignore her advice, thinking they had surely been deceived by Cheng You.
On the first day, they couldn't really help with anything.
Cheng You gave them medicinal herbs to identify, explained their properties and characteristics, and taught them how to process and grind them.
These were all manual tasks, without much technical skill involved.
As Yang Tianle said, as long as they put in effort, there was nothing they couldn't learn.
"This morning, you will just memorize these. I will test you in the afternoon. Those who don't pass the assessment cannot go home; you have to stay and learn until evening."
Like elementary school students staying for extra help.
She glanced at Jiang Wanrou, who was listening attentively except for her.
When everyone dispersed, Cheng You walked over and asked softly, "Cousin, is there anything you don't understand?"
Jiang Wanrou shook her head, "No."
She was just surprised by the gap between herself and Cheng You.
Cheng You seemed truly capable, no wonder her grandfather doted on her so much.
But that was also because she was lucky to have met a good teacher.
She felt that if she had a good teacher, she could also achieve such success.
Cheng You nodded and said gently, "Then study hard. Ask me anytime if you don't understand."
She stayed there for a while when Zhou Yunru came to find her.
Cheng You followed her out.
As soon as Cheng You left, Jiang Wanrou dropped the tedious and boring medicinal herbs in her hand and walked out immediately.
She glanced to the side and immediately spotted Song Jingtang at the educated youth point.
White shirt, black pants, very clean, very handsome.
Not like a country person at all.
She looked at the sign at the entrance, "Educated Youth Point," and her heart stirred. So he wasn't from the countryside after all.