country bumpkin

In the afternoon, Tian Yanyan had dinner at Su Ze's house and then chatted with him to keep him company. She didn't return to the clothing factory dormitory until evening.

Su Ze was worried about leaving a girl like Tian Yanyan to go home alone, so he walked her back home.

Walking down the street, there were hardly any people to be seen. Large trees lined both sides of the road. A gentle breeze blew, and a leaf fell from the sky, landing right on Tian Yanyan's head.

With a "thud," it hit Tian Yanyan on the head.

She instinctively cried out, "Ouch!" Su Ze quickly checked her head; thankfully, she wasn't injured.

But he held the leaf in his hand and didn't let go.

Tian Yanyan reached out and took the leaf, looked at it under the streetlight, and smiled, "This leaf seems to have come specifically to find me."

Su Ze smiled, his eyes full of tenderness: "This Ye Zi has good taste, she chose you, such a beautiful girl."

Tian Yanyan felt a little excited; this was the first time Su Ze had spoken to her so gently.

The two continued walking. Street vendors were packing up their stalls. One vendor selling candied hawthorns had only one skewer left. Seeing them, he called out, "Young man, buy your girlfriend a skewer of candied hawthorns, the last bit of sweetness."

Su Ze blushed slightly and looked at Tian Yanyan. Tian Yanyan was also a little shy, but her eyes were fixed on the candied hawthorn.

Su Ze immediately took out his money to buy it and handed it to Tian Yanyan.

Tian Yanyan took a bite of a hawthorn, and the sweet and sour taste spread in her mouth: "It's so delicious, I feel like my day is complete."

Looking at her satisfied expression, Su Ze felt a sweet warmth in his heart for some reason.

Soon they arrived at the gate of the clothing factory dormitory. Tian Yanyan waved goodbye to Su Ze and ran into the dormitory.

Su Ze stood there until the light in her room came on before turning to leave, while Tian Yanyan leaned against the window watching Su Ze's departing figure with a faint smile on her lips.

It seemed Su Ze had fallen for her. She hummed a little tune happily, "Sweet, sweet, your smile is so sweet. Like flowers blooming in the spring breeze..."

Kong Xiufang returned with several roommates. Hearing Tian Yanyan humming a song, their gossipy little eyes all turned to look at her.

"Oh my, Yan Yan has some good news!" her roommate Bai Linlin exclaimed.

Everyone started making a ruckus and shouting.

Kong Xiufang became worried, fearing that Tian Yanyan would be fooled by her own romantic fantasies.

After everyone had washed up and were getting ready for bed, Kong Xiufang pulled Tian Yanyan outside the door and asked her about her situation.

Tian Yanyan said she knows what she wants and she will work hard to achieve the happiness she desires, so Kong Xiufang shouldn't worry about her.

Seeing that she couldn't get any information out of her, Kong Xiufang had no choice but to go back to her room to sleep.

Tian Yanyan lay in bed unable to sleep, her mind filled with all sorts of speculations. She was thinking about how to get along with Su Ze next.

How can I get Su Ze to fall into the vortex of my love as soon as possible? I must hold onto him tightly.

She didn't care what others thought, nor did she care that Su Ze had liked other people in the past.

She knew that she had to fight for her own happiness and couldn't just sit idly by and wait for things to take their course.

Those are the only options we can use when all else fails.

Su Ze, being very clever, ran back home, tidied himself up, and lay down on the bed to rest.

I fell asleep after lying down for a while.

He dreamt of his wedding, and when the veil was lifted and he saw the bride's face, he was startled and woke up with a start.

He regained consciousness for a while before sitting up against the wall. He was puzzled; didn't he like Kong Xiufang? Why was Tian Yanyan the bride in his dream?

He thought that perhaps it was just his imagination because he had been seeing Tian Yanyan too frequently lately.

Tian Yanyan was his pawn; he used her to learn about Kong Xiufang's activities.

He glanced at the sky; it was still dark. He lay down and went back to sleep for a while.

I fell asleep again shortly after lying down. This time I had another dream. In the dream, he was kissing Tian Yanyan…

When I woke up the next morning, I found that I had had a wet dream, and I was too embarrassed to face anyone.

What puzzled him even more was that the person in his dream was Tian Yanyan again. He felt like his brain wasn't working properly; how could he be thinking about this woman?

It seems I need to stay away from her in the future, otherwise I'll lose sight of my goals.

Shake off all thoughts, get up, get dressed, eat, and go to work.

The factory held a morning meeting today and announced plans to expand the production line. This requires building an additional factory building next to the existing one.

After the meeting, all the leaders went to the land behind the factory to take measurements.

Just as everyone was busy taking measurements, Kong Xiufang and Tian Yanyan also arrived at the factory.

Kong Xiufang deliberately brought Tian Yanyan over; she wanted to see what Su Ze's attitude was now.

Su Ze looked up and saw the two of them; his eyes instantly became somewhat flustered.

Tian Yanyan greeted everyone generously, unaware that she had become someone Su Ze needed to stay away from.

Kong Xiufang secretly observed Su Ze's changing expressions.

At this point, Director Xu suggested that a few young people help record the data, and Su Ze, Kong Xiufang, and Tian Yanyan were all kept behind.

During the work process, Kong Xiufang intentionally or unintentionally moved closer to Su Ze, while Su Ze would always unconsciously look at Tian Yanyan.

Kong Xiufang witnessed all of this, and a question lingered in her mind. Could it be that they'd developed feelings for each other over time, spending so much time together?

Suddenly, Tian Yanyan tripped over a tool and fell. Su Ze instinctively reached out to support her.

Their eyes met, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward. Tian Yanyan was secretly delighted.

Kong Xiufang couldn't hold back any longer, thinking to herself that these two were really dragging their feet.

She deliberately snorted and turned to leave, leaving Su Ze and Tian Yanyan looking at each other in bewilderment.

Su Ze then realized that his actions might cause Kong Xiufang to misunderstand Tian Yanyan.

Although Kong Xiufang did not accept Su Ze's advances, in the eyes of outsiders, Su Ze continued to pursue her.

Tian Yanyan and Kong Xiufang are good friends, and I'm afraid that if any unpleasant rumors spread, it might affect their relationship.

Su Ze wondered if Kong Xiufang would be angry with Tian Yanyan for having an ambiguous relationship with her.

He felt that Kong Xiufang had neither accepted him nor rejected him.

Actually, he was overthinking it; Kong Xiufang was just testing him and wasn't interested in him at all.

Tian Yanyan, however, always pretended not to understand, even though she knew everything.

They were busy until lunchtime before they parted ways.

During lunch break, Kong Xiufang took Tian Yanyan to the factory's small garden.

She said, "Yanyan, are you and Su Ze really together? He seems very concerned about you."

Tian Yanyan asked incredulously, "Really? I didn't realize he cared about me."

Kong Xiufang nodded firmly, "Absolutely, definitely, for sure. I guarantee it's true, he likes you."

Tian Yanyan was overjoyed and jumped up to hug Kong Xiufang. "Really? Xiufang, you didn't see it wrong, did you!"

Kong Xiufang said, "No, it's just that good things for you two have been going through a lot of difficulties."

Tian Yanyan laughed and said, "Hehe, that's right. As long as I take charge, is there anything that can't be accomplished?"

Kong Xiufang realized that she had been worried that Tian Yanyan was being deceived; it turned out that Tian Yanyan was the hunter.

She said, "Congratulations on finally winning over the person you like." Tian Yanyan blushed and retorted, "No, he's the one who pursued me."

Kong Xiufang: "Okay! No matter who pursued whom, I hope you are happy."

The two looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

After a good meal, we just waited to go to work and prepare to welcome the construction workers. The factory's logistics department had already found someone for this task.

The workers we found arrived one after another in the afternoon. Several groups of burly men began to divide the work.

There were middle-aged men pushing bricks and pulling carts, and young, strong men measuring and laying foundations.

Kong Xiufang followed Director Xu over and looked at the division of labor details, and then she saw a familiar figure.

I went over to take a look, and upon closer inspection, it really was an old acquaintance!