I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Night Talk

Lin Zhiyin, who had just been about to get up and leave, froze. She suddenly wanted to see if Zhao Wendong would actually come in.

”I’m looking for Lin Zhiyin, don’t you get it? If I come in, won’t that stop us from talking privately? Are you stupid?”

Zhao Wendong’s resolute reply came from outside the door.

”Pfft!”

Lin Zhiyin couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. She quickly covered her mouth, only to meet Li Juan’s furious, embarrassed gaze. Lin Zhiyin got up, opened the door, and slipped out.

Zhao Wendong saw Lin Zhiyin come out and was about to speak to her when the door was thrown open with a BANG from the inside.

Li Juan rushed out, her face flushed red. She was only wearing a cotton-padded jacket, not even her outer coat. She ran up to Zhao Wendong and tilted her face up, showing off the delicate features of a city girl, her full chest heaving violently.

”Zhao Wendong, I think you’re a capable man!”

Zhao Wendong immediately nodded.

”Yeah, I think so too.”

At that moment, a voice in Li Juan’s heart told her that if she wanted happiness, she had to pursue it bravely. So, she closed her eyes and shouted loudly.

”Zhao Wendong, I like you! Let’s be a couple!”

The atmosphere turned silent; it was as if the very air had frozen. A few strange noises came from the doorway of the men’s quarters next door, sounding like people falling over.

Li Juan waited a moment, but when she didn’t get a response from Zhao Wendong, she couldn’t help but open her eyes. What she saw nearly made her die of anger. Zhao Wendong was pulling Lin Zhiyin away, turning his body to the side as if avoiding the plague. Tears of rage instantly welled up in Li Juan’s eyes.

She wasn’t ready to give up and roared, ”Zhao Wendong, how am I any worse than Lin Zhiyin!”

Zhao Wendong glanced at Lin Zhiyin, who had her head down, lost in thought, then waved back at Li Juan.

”You can’t compare to her in any way. You’re not as clean, not as pretty... Hmm... I guess your chest is a little bigger!”

Li Juan felt a wave of dizziness and nearly fainted from rage. ’Lin Zhiyin was as filthy as a beggar every day. And he says I’m not as clean or pretty as her?’

”You’ll regret this! Zhao Wendong! WAAAH!”

Li Juan ran back into the room, sobbing.

Once he saw Li Juan run off, Zhao Wendong finally stopped walking and opened the burlap sack in his hands for Lin Zhiyin to see.

”There are brand-new cotton clothes, a cotton quilt, cotton shoes, socks, a towel, soap, and vanishing cream in here. They’re all for you. Just use them. Stop being so hard on yourself!”

Lin Zhiyin looked at the sack, filled to the brim with goods, then looked seriously at Zhao Wendong. For the first time, her heart was in a flurry of panic and confusion.

After her parents had their ”accident,” she had managed to calm down immediately. She proactively requested to be sent down to the countryside, to a farm in the same county as her parents, just to be closer to them. Otherwise, if she had stayed in Beijing alone, she feared she would have been completely taken advantage of and bullied to death.

Unfortunately, soon after arriving, she was assigned to be stationed here in Dragon King Pond, and her plan to find a chance to see her parents fell through. More than a year had passed. Aside from writing two letters, she hadn’t seen them once and had no idea how they were doing.

No matter how smart and decisive she was, in the end, she was still just a nineteen-year-old girl. Faced with the malice of the other educated youths around her and the fact that her parents’ labor farm was over two hundred li away, she couldn’t see any hope of escaping her predicament. Just as she was sinking deeper into despair, Zhao Wendong appeared.

’This rascal, with his pretend domineering ways, kept forcing himself into her life. But why does he want to be my boyfriend? Did he get a high fever and fry his brain? Did he eat a poisonous mushroom? Why is he so fixated on me? I thought my disguise was flawless!’

’Now Zhao Wendong has brought me so many valuable things at once. These things would let me have new clothes, new socks, new shoes, a new quilt. They would let me say goodbye to my ragged state and live a high-quality life. But should I really accept them? Could I really accept them? This guy wants to be my boyfriend, after all.’

But when she wanted to open her mouth to refuse, she looked up at Zhao Wendong’s eyes, sparkling in the darkness, and found she couldn’t bear to do it. Deep down, how could she not be moved by the care he had shown her these past days?

Because of Zhao Wendong, the chapped cracks on her skin no longer ached and itched. Because of Zhao Wendong, she could eat fresh nuts, canned goods, and sweet bean buns. Because of Zhao Wendong, she had a brand-new little mirror, and every time she took it out, she could see the envious and jealous looks from the other girls. And what’s more, because of Zhao Wendong, no one had bullied her for a long time. She even rarely woke up startled in her sleep anymore!

Lin Zhiyin was silent for a long time. Then, for the first time, she took the initiative to speak to Zhao Wendong. It was a normal conversation, without her usual pretense of being clumsy and timid, though her tone was rather flustered and exasperated.

”Zhao Wendong, are you blind? What is it you even like about me? I’ll change it, how about that!”

Zhao Wendong was overjoyed. ’She’s talking to me normally!’ Every cell in his body seemed to leap with joy. He knew he had finally broken through a crack in Lin Zhiyin’s defenses.

”Heh heh, I like that your chest is small. Go ahead and change that!”

”You... you dirty rascal!”

Lin Zhiyin was so angry she ground her teeth. After cursing at him, she saw his cheeky grin and her hand twitched, wanting to hit him. But she immediately realized such an action would be too intimate and forced herself to hold back.

”Zhao Wendong, be serious! I’m trying to have a very serious conversation with you!”

”I’m grateful for your help, and I’m very moved by your kindness to me. But I really can’t accept any more. We... we’re impossible.”

Lin Zhiyin didn’t know why, but after saying that last sentence, she felt a sour pang in her heart, a feeling she had never experienced before.

Zhao Wendong’s cheeky grin vanished, and his expression turned serious. He looked at Lin Zhiyin and said, enunciating every word.

”Lin Zhiyin, you are destined to marry me in this lifetime. You can’t escape!”

”Unless I’m dead, you will definitely be my wife!”

Lin Zhiyin was momentarily speechless. Her heart began to race, and she felt an inexplicable mix of joy, nervousness, and sorrow swirling within her. A hundred different feelings intertwined in her heart, and she couldn’t stop her eyes from stinging and turning red.

Another long silence fell. Lin Zhiyin spoke again, her voice much lower this time.

”Your family are poor peasants with a good political standing. My family are capitalists. You’d be at a great disadvantage if we were together. Right now, there’s Li Juan, your brigade leader’s daughter, and plenty of other educated youths and girls who like you. I’m really not a good choice for you.”

Zhao Wendong looked at her with a resolute expression and slowly shook his head.

”No. You are!”

Lin Zhiyin stomped her foot in frustration. ’Why can’t I get through to this person!’ She decided to just be blunt.

”My parents are in a labor farm. I’m very worried about them. Until they’re released, I definitely won’t consider my own personal relationships. Unless...”

Zhao Wendong smiled, a knowing and profound smile.

”Unless they’re rescued, right? Don’t worry, I’ll help you! I’ll help you see your parents, I’ll help get them released as soon as possible, and I’ll help reunite your family of three. Just don’t forget to marry me when the time comes!”

”What did you say?!”

”Really?”

Lin Zhiyin stared at Zhao Wendong, stunned and uncertain, her eyes filled with disbelief. ’Does he even know what he’s saying? The issue of class background is the biggest problem right now. Where does a common farmer like him get such confidence?’

”Trust me. Just you wait and be my wife!”