Chapter 30: The Villagers’ Visit

Ye Fan left the shop with a box of antique items and climbed into Chen Shuting’s car, driving away.

Meanwhile, in Li Yaoyao’s room, it was as bustling as a festive holiday. The villagers had arrived so suddenly that Li Yaoyao, still weak from a fever, hadn't had a chance to put away the wooden box. Bags of rice and flour were scattered across the floor, and even those pigeons were still lying there in the open.

Yang Haiyan entered first, followed by Village Chief Yang and the others. Upon spotting the rice and flour, she asked in surprise, "Educated Youth Li, what are you doing? These supplies weren't here when I left just now!"

Li Yaoyao lay on her bed, her face flushing, unsure how to explain. Fortunately, Village Chief Yang stepped in. "This must be the food sent by that friend of Yaoyao’s! My goodness, there are even pigeons!"

The village chief diligently began picking up bags of rice one by one, stacking them in the corner. The other villagers, seeing this, rushed forward to help Li Yaoyao clean up, not caring in the least how the food had magically appeared.

Only young Officer Chen, who was trailing behind, walked up to Li Yaoyao with a reddened face and asked with concern, "Educated Youth Li, how is your illness?"

"Officer Chen..." Seeing him reminded Li Yaoyao of the scene where everyone had teased them the other night, and she couldn't help but blush. "I'm doing better, I just took some medicine!"

"As long as you've taken your medicine, that's good!" Officer Chen bashfully scratched the back of his head and took out a small paper packet. "This is medicine issued by our station. We all carry it for emergencies when we're on duty, so there isn't much..." As he spoke, he opened the packet to explain, "This yellow pill is for colds, and this white one is for fever..."

"Oh, look at you all, only caring about the food! It’s still our Officer Chen who truly cares for Educated Youth Li!" Yang Haiyan’s voice cut through his explanation. She had just stepped out to ask Daya who had delivered the food. With such a large quantity of supplies, there had to have been a vehicle, yet there hadn't been a sound in the village. She had thought that whoever delivered the goods must have worked hard and should have at least been invited for a meal or a drink of water. But Daya claimed she had been in the courtyard washing clothes the entire time and hadn't seen anyone!

"That girl—I told her to look after you, but she just focused on her laundry and didn't even notice someone dropping off supplies!" Yang Haiyan felt a bit embarrassed. She carefully helped Li Yaoyao sit up and tucked a quilt behind her back to prop her up. "Don't mind it, Educated Youth Li; Daya can be a bit ditzy at times. But there was no food in here when I first arrived, and now there is. The friend who brought it probably hasn't gone far. You really should have asked them to stay for a meal!"

Village Chief Yang, having finished stacking the grain, added with a genial smile, "Apologies, Educated Youth Li. We didn't mean to ignore you; it's just that this food came at such a critical time! Oh, and Haiyan is right—you really should have called your friend back to eat in the village, otherwise, they might think our Yang Village lacks manners."

He turned to call for someone to go search outside the village. Seeing the village chief actually organizing a search party, Li Yaoyao quickly waved her hands. "My friend had an urgent matter at home and had to leave. Don't worry, I certainly won't treat them poorly!"

Li Yaoyao felt like crying. She could only blame her own carelessness; if only she had waited until nightfall when no one was around to have Ye Fan teleport the items! She could at least gloss over the food, but the pigeons...

The three birds were lying right at everyone’s feet: one looked normal, one was half-dead and wedged in a cage, and the third was a bloody mess. In the eyes of the villagers, it all looked rather ominous.

"These pigeons... they're for sending messages to my friend!" Li Yaoyao forced a smile, her mind racing to invent an excuse. "They were already in the room. I was so nervous last night that I stepped on one, and this one was... electrocuted..."

As she struggled to explain, Auntie Liu suddenly laughed out loud. "I told you all our Little Li wasn't simple! She can set up formations and electrocute thugs; these pigeons must be under some kind of spell too! Otherwise... look at this one, I noticed it the moment I walked in. The iron cage has grown into its flesh, and it’s still alive!"

"Are you still going to say you don't know magic?"

That seemed to be the only explanation left. Li Yaoyao helplessly covered her face. "Auntie, that’s not scientific!"

Officer Chen, hearing Auntie Liu spreading superstition, frowned and immediately corrected her. "We learned in school that there are many unsolved mysteries in the world, but that is simply because we haven't found the scientific explanation yet. We must never casually attribute things to magic!"

Sister Wang, standing nearby, suddenly chimed in, "Officer Chen is a university student, I’ll listen to him!" She was a long-time rival of Auntie Liu’s, and although she also found the pigeons spooky, she decided to betray her beliefs and embrace science just to spite her opponent!

To everyone's surprise, this only fueled Auntie Liu’s competitive spirit. She retorted, "How can you be so sure that magic isn't science? Magic is also an unsolved mystery—what if it can be explained by science too?"

"This..." Officer Chen was left speechless. Sister Wang opened her mouth but couldn't find the words, inwardly complaining that Officer Chen wasn't much of a fighter—he had been checkmated by Auntie Liu in a single sentence.

"Alright, alright! Enough arguing!" Village Chief Yang stepped in to break up the discussion. "Little Li still has a fever, let’s not disturb her rest!" He turned to Li Yaoyao. "Educated Youth Li, I wanted to ask, were these supplies exchanged for that batch of old items from the village?"

"Yes. Are you planning to distribute them to the villagers?"

"Exactly! I think there's no time like the present—let's distribute them today!" The village chief waved his hand decisively. "Haiyan!"

"Here!"

"Go gather the villagers. We'll distribute the food right here in Educated Youth Li's courtyard. It’ll be a good chance for everyone to check on her, too!"

"What?" Li Yaoyao was stunned. The villagers would come to collect food and then visit her? How was she supposed to rest like that? More importantly, as long as people were around, she couldn't contact Ye Fan!

She was about to refuse, but Village Chief Yang was already beaming, directing several villagers to move the grain out into the courtyard. Helpless, Li Yaoyao fell silent, watching as everyone left the room. Only Officer Chen remained, and her heart sank.

"Li... Educated Youth Li, I hadn't finished explaining about the medicine!" Officer Chen said, blushing, as he prepared to continue his explanation. Li Yaoyao cut him off. "Brother Chen, I appreciate your kindness, but I have medicine here, so you don't need to trouble yourself!"

"Besides, this medicine was issued to you for emergencies; how could I take it?"

Seeing her refusal, Officer Chen started to say something else, but Li Yaoyao pulled out a bag of medicine. "I actually have more medicine here than you do! You should take yours back!" This was the bag Ye Fan had bought; he hadn't known which was best, so he had simply bought a bit of everything. Watching the full bag of medicine in Li Yaoyao's hand, Officer Chen opened his mouth but ultimately decided not to press the issue.

He felt a pang of disappointment. He had wanted to show his care by offering the medicine, only to discover she lacked nothing.

The two of them sat in the room in awkward silence. Outside, people had already begun arriving to collect their grain, and the entire courtyard became lively.

"Well, we're heading back to the county town this afternoon," Officer Chen said, looking for something to say. "Is there anything you need brought back? I can carry it for you."

"Thank you, Brother Chen, but I don't need anything at the moment." Li Yaoyao replied politely. Her heart was already filled with Ye Fan, leaving no room for anyone else, so she remained formal and distant, hoping he would realize she had no intention of developing a relationship.

Unfortunately, Officer Chen didn't notice this. He stared at the pigeons for a while and suddenly said, "Educated Youth Li, back when I was doing training in school, I learned how to roast pigeons. How about I roast these for you to eat?"

He was simply trying to find a way to show his concern; since he couldn't gift the medicine, surely helping to prepare a meal wouldn't be a bad idea, right?