Hearing Han Jinheâs words, Lin Muâai replied as she boiled a pot of water, "I just added one more portion when cooking and smoked the meat. Itâs not hard."
Inside the house, the two female educated youths stared at their backs with blatant jealousy before one of them said, "We should inform Sister Jiang about this."
Hearing this, the other one nodded and said, "Letâs go now."
While the two of them left in a hurry, Lin Muâai boiled the noodles and some vegetables. At the same time, she made a fried egg.
Once the noodles and vegetables were cooked, she scooped them into a bowl and poured in two ladles of bone soup before placing the fried egg on top.
She set the bowl of noodles on the small table in front of Han Jinhe and said, "Comrade Han, eat it while itâs hot."
Staring at the steaming bowl of noodles, Han Jinhe gulped and said, "Then I wonât be polite."
Lin Muâai smiled and prepared another bowl for herself. Unlike Han Jinheâs large portion, hers was only half the size.
The two of them sat around the small table and ate together. After breakfast, Han Jinhe helped her wash the dishes while Lin Muâai prepared lunch and dinner for him.
Not long after she finished packing the food into a container, they heard rapid footsteps coming from outside, followed by a harsh voice shouting, "Lin Muâai, I know you are in there! Come out!"
Hearing the shouting, the two of them exchanged confused glances before they went to the front yard. The moment the group of people saw them walking out together, they were surprised and whispered to each other.
Seeing this, Lin Muâai frowned and asked, "Comrade Jiang, why did you come to my house with so many people early in the morning?"
A woman in her twenties glared at her with jealousy and said, "Lin Muâai, you are a teacher but you lack virtue. In the broad daylight, you seduced Comrade Han!"
The moment she said this, Han Jinhe frowned and said sternly, "Comrade, you can eat carelessly, but you canât talk carelessly. Please watch your words!"
Being rebuked in public by the man she liked, Comrade Jiang was embarrassed and angered.
She looked at him aggrievedly and said, "Comrade Han, why did you protect this woman? She clearly knows that man and woman should keep their distance, but she still stays alone with you in the kitchen for so long. You shouldnât be tricked by her, ah!"
When they heard her words, the villagers and educated youths looked at Lin Muâai with meaningful gazes. Noticing this, Han Jinhe stepped forward and used his body to block their gazes.
He glanced at everyone for a moment before he said, "Comrade, do you have evidence? If you didnât have evidence, itâs slander."
When they heard his words, the female educated youths looked at each other but said nothing. They didnât have any evidence. After a moment, one of them said, "Even if we donât have evidence, we see both of you staying in the kitchen alone."
"We also saw you send Lin Muâai back and gave her lots of meat yesterday," another female educated youth added.
"Comrade, I indeed gave meat to Teacher Lin and sent her back yesterday. But that was because I asked her help to help me process the meat. I didnât know that asking a comrade to help you make smoked meat is a crime," Han Jinhe replied.
The villagers were often asking each other for help, so they didnât find anything wrong with his statement. As a man, itâs normal for him to not know how to cook, let alone process cured meat.
Noticing the gaze of everyone was pointed at them now, Comrade Jiang said, "No matter what, she should keep her distance from you."
"Why?" Han Jinhe asked.
"Because... Itâs because..." Comrade Jiang stammered as she racked her brain to find a reason.
She couldnât tell everyone that the reason she said those words was because she likes Han Jinhe and felt jealous of Lin Muâai.
When they saw that she couldnât even utter a complete sentence, one of the villagers said, "Comrade Jiang, even if we didnât have to work in the farmland during the winter, we still have work to do at home. You are calling us so early in the morning without even knowing what is going on, do you think we have nothing to do?"
After the villager said this, several villagers chimed in.
"What a waste of time! I shouldnât come over and finish preparing my meat jerky at home instead."
"Itâs very cold, letâs go back. Next time, I wonât trust her anymore."
"Me too."
Perhaps due to the cold weather and the busy period before the new year, everyone left not long after, leaving only the female educated youths, Lin Muâai, and Han Jinhe.
Seeing that her plan to catch Lin Muâai failed, Comrade Jiang clenched her fists tightly. She looked at Han Jinhe and asked, "Comrade Han, what is your relationship with Lin Muâai?"
Han Jinhe frowned at her question and said, "Comrade, we are not familiar with each other. You have no right to pry into my private matter."
Hearing this, Comrade Jiangâs eyes reddened as she asked again, "So, you and Lin Muâai are in a relationship? Do you like her?"
Taking a deep breath to control his annoyance, Han Jinhe said, "Comrade, no matter what my relationship is with Teacher Lin, it has nothing to do with you. You have no right to interfere with my matter."
As soon as he said this, Comrade Jiang shouted, "Han Jinhe, I have liked you for so many years. I donât want to see you get close to another woman! Why did you choose her over me?"
The moment she finished his words, the yard fell into a long silence. The female educated youths looked at her with shock, while Han Jinhe was taken aback.
As for Lin Muâai, she only looked at her calmly as if she were an outsider who had nothing to do with what happened right now.