Chapter 64
Over the past few years, Qiu Chi had become quite popular in the village.
Her popularity with the women was thanks to her knowing too much gossip. Although Qiu Chi rarely spoke of it, after the incident with Zhang Maizi, those who loved to gossip enjoyed asking Qiu Chi about things or sharing gossip with her.
Of course, the most important reason was actually that Qiu Chi was very strong and had dragged wild boars down from the mountain several times.
Because of the wild boar incidents, Qiu Chi was well-liked by the villagers. Except for those who held a grudge against her, everyone else treated Qiu Chi very well.
At first, Old Woman Zhou would go around badmouthing Qiu Chi. But ever since Qiu Chi dragged a wild boar down, Old Woman Zhou's slandering became useless. Not only was it useless, but if she tried to speak ill of Qiu Chi again, she would be rebuked.
This led to a situation where even though Qiu Chi couldn't be bothered with these educated youths now, they would still make excuses for her.
Qiu Chi returned to the Zhou house and ran right into Zhou Sanfu.
When Zhou Sanfu saw Qiu Chi, he was incredibly nervous. "Sister, I-I-I-I'm not skipping class, I came back to get my homework..."
As the precious darling of the Zhou family, even if he skipped school, the Zhou family would only scold him verbally and wouldn't lay a hand on him.
But if he provoked Qiu Chi, the beating he'd get would be very real. This caused Zhou Sanfu to cower whenever he saw Qiu Chi.
Qiu Chi glanced at him but didn't expose his excuse. Instead, she went along with it and asked, "Forgot your homework at home?"
Zhou Sanfu nodded hastily.
With nothing better to do, Qiu Chi said, "Let's go. I'll walk you to school."
Zhou Sanfu: "..." What did I do to deserve this?
With a mournful look on his face, Zhou Sanfu followed behind Qiu Chi, without a single thought of resistance.
On the way to school, Qiu Chi also saw the little friends Zhou Sanfu often played with.
When they saw Qiu Chi, they turned and ran, afraid of being caught by her. Zhou Sanfu watched their retreating figures with longing, extremely envious.
Qiu Chi paid them no mind and continued walking ahead, not forgetting to remind Zhou Sanfu, "Don't dawdle. Hurry up."
There was a school in the village, but not many children attended. The students from several surrounding villages combined only numbered a little over twenty.
When they arrived at the school, Qiu Chi watched as Zhou Sanfu reluctantly entered the classroom.
Then, she was pulled away by one of the school's only three teachers. "Erxi, I have something to take care of. Can you watch them for me? I'll be back soon."
Although Qiu Chi didn't attend classes, it didn't mean she was illiterate.
She could memorize a book after reading it just once, and besides, the material seemed far too simple to her, so Qiu Chi didn't continue her schooling.
Now, standing at the teacher's desk, the originally whispering classroom instantly fell silent.
These children were well aware of Qiu Chi's ferocious reputation.
When the teacher returned and saw the quiet classroom, he couldn't help but smile. "Ah, Erxi, you should be a teacher. Look how effective you are. If you were their teacher, they'd probably study more seriously."
Hearing the teacher's words, the students below couldn't help but tremble.
Qiu Chi said, "I have no such intention. I'll be leaving now."
Not long after leaving the school, Qiu Chi ran into the group of educated youths again. The one leading them was a veteran educated youth. Seeing Qiu Chi, she took the initiative to greet her, "Erxi, where are you headed?"
"To the mountain."
"Oh, okay. Be careful then."
Only after Qiu Chi had walked some distance away did Xu Jiangyang retract his gaze. He spoke up, "We saw her when we arrived, too. We thought she was also an educated youth."
As soon as Xu Jiangyang finished speaking, the female educated youth who had spoken earlier chimed in, her tone sour. "It seems her temper isn't great, but she's quite popular. And she looks like she has nothing to do. Isn't that a bit improper?"
The veteran educated youth first answered Xu Jiangyang with a smile, "Erxi is indeed good-looking. It's no wonder you mistook her."
Then she turned to the girl, her smile fading. "Comrade Wang, just mind your own business. Don't be nosy, and more importantly, don't provoke Erxi."
This was said quite bluntly. Educated Youth Wang's face instantly turned ugly. "What do you mean by that? I just asked a question and now I'm being nosy? We came to the countryside to build up the rural areas. Are we not even allowed to comment on lazy people like her?"
The veteran educated youth gave Educated Youth Wang a scornful look. "Save those words for after your first official day of work tomorrow. Whether Erxi works or not has nothing to do with you. She's not eating your family's food. It's fine if you say this to me, but don't say it in front of Erxi. I'm saying this out of kindness. If you don't take it seriously, there's nothing I can do."
Educated Youth Wang wanted to say more but was pulled back by another female educated youth beside her. She asked curiously, "Comrade Li, from the way you put it, it sounds like this Comrade Erxi is not to be trifled with?"
"That's not it. Erxi is quite easy to talk to, she just holds a grudge."
Xu Jiangyang spoke up again, "In that case, Comrade Li, could you tell us about Comrade Erxi, so we don't accidentally offend her?"
When Xu Jiangyang said this, the other educated youths couldn't help but look at him with some surprise.
Educated Youth Li also found it strange. "Uh, Comrade Xu, there's really no need. It's not like we're with Erxi every day..."
"That's right, Comrade Xu Jiangyang. Is that really necessary?"
Xu Jiangyang's smile didn't falter. "I'm just a little curious about Comrade Erxi. If it's inconvenient to talk about her, then let's just forget it."
"Actually, it's not inconvenient at all..."
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