One Round of Persuasion After Another

When the village chief and Dong Aiguo arrived, both of them looked rather unhappy.

One was unhappy because someone had been injured; the other because a veteran educated youth had caused him trouble.

Dong Aiguo in particular might have been gnashing his teeth if the village chief hadn't been there.

After all, no matter how you looked at it, this was trouble caused by the educated youths. As the person in charge of their residence, he bore a great deal of responsibility for it.

He even felt displeased with Bai Yao and Kong Wu as well.

They should have settled matters within the educated youth residence themselves.

If Sun Chunmei wouldn't handle it, couldn't he?

Now the matter had reached the village chief's ears, and he couldn't even play it down.

Bai Yao and Kong Wu didn't know what Dong Aiguo was thinking, or they would have made him regret it.

Did he really take them for roly-poly toys that would swallow their anger and let anyone push them around?

After arriving, Bai Yao watched Dongfang Dazhuang bustling about Hu Yang's room, pouring water with practiced ease.

But he was distracted for only a moment before turning his attention back to the village chief.

As soon as the two men arrived, Hu Yang began, Dongfang Dazhuang filled in the details, and Bai Yao wrapped up, telling them the whole story in detail.

They didn't embellish anything; they simply told it as it was.

Zhao Jianguo had been quite unhappy at first, but as he listened to the three of them give a factual account, his displeasure faded.

After all, Hu Yang was the innocent victim, and he couldn't be blamed for what had happened.

Zhao Jianguo reached into his pocket for something but stopped in the end. Seeing this, Bai Yao guessed that the village chief wanted a smoke.

So he pretended to take a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket, opened it, and offered him one. "Uncle Village Chief, have a smoke."

Dongfang Dazhuang tactfully brought over some matches and lit it for him.

With the cigarette lit, Zhao Jianguo couldn't refuse it even if he wanted to. After all, he was the only smoker there.

If he didn't take it, the good cigarette would go to waste.

He took it and had a puff. "Bai Yao, your way of handling this was pretty good. Let's do it your way. Educated Youth Dong, tell Educated Youth Tang about it later."

"All right, Village Chief." Dong Aiguo breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as he wasn't implicated, Tang Yuanyuan had no one but herself to blame for being docked work points.

She had seen Educated Youth Hu cutting pig fodder alone and insisted on shamelessly going over and forcing her friendship on him. She had even insisted on working right next to him to help, making him dodge her again and again until he finally got hurt.

Heh, he really hadn't realized Tang Yuanyuan had such ideas.

Apparently, not one of the male comrades at the educated youth residence had caught her fancy.

But since she was so eager to find a man, he would help her out.

After all, he was an outstanding person in charge who loved helping his fellow educated youths more than anything.

Once the matter was settled, Dong Aiguo left. Zhao Jianguo excused Hu Yang from work for a few days, then got up to leave as well.

But as he was leaving, Bai Yao offered him the opened pack of cigarettes.

This time, Zhao Jianguo didn't dare accept it. He hadn't even finished the pack he'd received two visits ago, so he couldn't possibly take another.

But since Bai Yao meant to give it to him, he was determined to see it through. After some persuasion, Zhao Jianguo accepted it.

"All right, I'll take the cigarettes. I'll have your auntie bring you some vegetables later. Don't stand on ceremony. You've only just arrived, and the vegetables you've planted haven't come up yet. A few vegetables are nothing."

With that, Zhao Jianguo quickened his pace and left.

Bai Yao didn't refuse either.

But as soon as he was gone, Kong Wu leaned close and whispered in Bai Yao's ear, "Didn't we just buy vegetables at noon?"

Bai Yao rolled his eyes. "We used all the eggplants, chives, and green beans, and the cucumbers have been pickled. There are only a few tomatoes left. If you ate them as fruit, they'd be gone in one sitting."

Kong Wu said, "Bai Yao, you're so good to me. You used all those vegetables to make me tasty food."

Bai Yao couldn't help shuddering at that.

It was just too corny.

"Good that you know. You'd better help me with more work in the fields from now on," Bai Yao replied.

Corny as it was, he wasn't about to deny what he'd done.

"All right, I'll take good care of you from now on," Kong Wu said, his tone strangely resolute.

He looked as though he were about to join the Party.

Bai Yao's heart suddenly trembled. Why did he feel like a wolf had its eyes on him?

Not wanting to say more on the subject, Bai Yao quickly changed it.

And what subject was there to talk about here? Hu Yang, naturally.

But when Bai Yao turned around, he saw Hu Yang sharing the remaining chive-and-egg buns with Dongfang Dazhuang.

For a moment, he felt that he and Kong Wu were somewhat superfluous here.

So...

"Hu Yang, Dazhuang is here to take care of you, so Kong Wu and I won't crowd you. We'll head back now."

With that, Bai Yao made to leave.

Kong Wu took another look at the bun before hurrying after him.

Seeing this, Hu Yang answered, "All right. Thank you for today, Bai Yao. Once my ankle gets better, I'll treat you to some meat."

"All right, I'll hold you to that."

With that, Bai Yao closed the door and left with Kong Wu.

Neither of them spoke as they walked.

It wasn't until they reached the courtyard gate that Kong Wu suddenly said, "I haven't had a green bean and pork rib bun yet."

Bai Yao: ???

"Then go eat one. I steamed plenty."

"I wasn't the first to have one." Kong Wu's face was as expressionless as ever, but Bai Yao could tell he was angry.

Yes, the way a child got angry.

"I'm sorry. I was wrong," Bai Yao said, though he didn't sound sincere at all. He was simply going through the motions.

Naturally, Kong Wu could tell, but he didn't mind. He happily accepted the apology and went to eat a bun.

Just after Kong Wu finished a green bean and pork rib bun, someone knocked on the courtyard gate.

Bai Yao habitually used his Mental Power to look and hurried over when he discovered it was Aunt Cuihua.

When he opened the gate, he found a young man with Aunt Cuihua, his hands full of vegetables.

"Educated Youth Bai, my husband said to bring you some vegetables. I forgot all about it. I should have given them to you yesterday, but my daughter-in-law wasn't feeling well. She couldn't keep anything down, and whatever she ate, she threw up. She didn't have any milk to feed the baby, either. With all that going on, it completely slipped my mind," Li Cuihua said.

She really wasn't lying, and Bai Yao could tell. Both of them looked deeply troubled, so presumably the matter still hadn't been resolved.

Of course, the strongest evidence was that this was part of the plot in the book with Gu Yang as its protagonist. Gu Yang had produced milk powder and helped the village chief's family out of a tight spot, also laying the groundwork for him to look after his family more easily later on.

Thinking of this, Bai Yao didn't mind doing them a favor.

"Auntie, the baby can't go without milk. I heard that Educated Youth Gu, who came here with me, has some milk powder. You could ask him to trade you some. Educated Youth Gu has never cooked at home, and I hear he's looking for someone to help him cook and teach him how," Bai Yao said in a low voice.

Li Cuihua and her son were tempted when they heard this.

Bai Yao continued, "Auntie, come inside and wait for me a moment."

With that, Bai Yao jogged into the house, leaving Li Cuihua and her son puzzled.

But Bai Yao didn't keep them waiting long. He came out a moment later, holding the basket he'd carried when he went to see Hu Yang.

"Auntie, take these back for my sister-in-law to try. The lunchbox has some pickles I made; they're good for the appetite. And don't refuse the buns. They're just wild vegetable buns. Take them home and have a taste of my cooking," Bai Yao said.

The wild vegetable buns weren't leftovers. He had ordered them from the system to match the ones from yesterday.

As for why he didn't give her chive-and-egg or green bean and pork rib buns, that was naturally to avoid embarrassment.

They had brought him vegetables, and he had already found someone to trade vegetables with. How awkward would that be?

How could Li Cuihua accept them? The pickles were one thing, but even if the buns were filled with wild vegetables, their dough was made of pure white flour.

But Bai Yao had managed to persuade the village chief, Zhao Jianguo, let alone his wife, Li Cuihua.

After some persuasion, Bai Yao saw them off.

With good interpersonal relationships, their days ahead would be easier.

"Bai Yao, how come I didn't know there were wild vegetable buns?" Kong Wu was unhappy again. He hadn't been the first to eat them.

Bai Yao rolled his eyes. "I used too much flour and ended up with a few extra bun wrappers. I didn't want to waste them, so I dug up some wild vegetables outside and used them as filling. I couldn't bear to use seasoning in them, so they taste pretty ordinary. That's why I didn't think to give you any. I'm doing this for your own good."

Kong Wu: I know he's pulling the wool over my eyes, but it still makes me happy to hear it.

"Bai Yao, you're so good to me." Kong Wu was so excited that he pulled him into a hug.

Bai Yao: !!!

Such... such... such massive pecs!!! Bai Yao screamed inwardly.

He loved those muscles!