Male Lead's Canon Fodder Wife
Chapter 1548 - 1548: A Mere Stranger ( 2 )

Han Jinhe smiled when he heard Lin Mu'ai's question, and replied, "I saw how your eyes lit up whenever you saw him before. But just now, your eyes were calm when you glanced at him. It was as if he were a mere stranger."

Lin Mu'ai chuckled at his words and said, "Comrade Liu and I have no relationship beyond being a teacher and a student's parent. Without that layer of connection, he and I are complete strangers."

Han Jinhe looked at her and said nothing. She didn't refute the comment about liking Liu Pan. It seemed she did like him before.

Thinking about his own experiences, he let out a sigh and said, "Liking someone isn't wrong. But whether you end up together or not depends on fate. If it's meant to be, it will come to you. But if it's not, no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to have it."

Hearing his words, Lin Mu'ai was dazed for a while before she regained her senses. She nodded and replied softly, "You are right. It's useless to forcefully hold on to something that doesn't belong to you."

After the brief conversation, the two of them fell silent as they walked until they reached Lin Mu'ai's house.

Walking into the yard, Lin Mu'ai said, "Comrade Han, thank you for sending me home."

Han Jinhe placed the bucket of meat and bones near the yard and replied, "I'm the one asking a favor, so sending you home is the least I can do."

He looked up at the sky for a moment before saying, "It's getting late. I will take my leave now."

Lin Mu'ai nodded and said, "You can come get your meal tomorrow."

"Okay."

After he left, Lin Mu'ai carried the buckets to the backyard. Not long after, two female educated youths came to find her.

Seeing that she was busy cleaning the meat, one of them asked, "Mu'ai, I saw Comrade Han send you back, and he even gave you so much meat. What's your relationship with him?"

Hearing this, Lin Mu'ai knew what these two wanted to know. The three of them had lived in the same house for years, but she couldn't bring herself to get close to them. The reason was simple. They didn't share the same mindset.

Even though she wasn't close to them, she also didn't dislike them. She treated them the same way she treated the villagers, polite but distant.

So after a moment of silence, she replied, "We are just friends."

The two female educated youths exchanged glances and saw the disbelief in each other's eyes.

They had seen how intimate the two looked from the window. Although they couldn't hear their conversation, based on how Han Jinhe smiled at her, their relationship had to be more than friendship.

Certain of their conclusion, one of them said with a sneer, "Mu'ai, you must be joking. Would a friend give you that much meat?"

Noticing the veiled jealousy in her tone, Lin Mu'ai let out a sigh and replied, "I'm only helping Comrade Han process the meat because he doesn't know how."

When they heard this, the two female educated youths observed her for a moment before one of them said, "Mu'ai, you know Sister Jiang likes Comrade Han, right? As friends, it's not right for you to interfere in their relationship."

The moment she heard this, Lin Mu'ai chuckled and replied, "Comrade Jiang and Comrade Han have only shared some conversation before, how can they be in a relationship? Based on what logic are you saying that I'm interfering when there is no relationship to begin with between them?"

Before the two could reply, she added, "Besides, if Comrade Han and Comrade Jiang were in a relationship, why didn't he ask her for help instead of me?"

Taking a deep breath, she said with a smile, "Comrades, we are all educated youths. So it's better to think clearly and get the facts straight before you speak or slander others. It would be embarrassing to behave like uneducated people after reading so many books."

As soon as she finished, she turned around and continued cleaning the meat, ignoring them.

Being rebuked like this, the female educated youths were angry, but they couldn't find a word to refute her. In the end, they could only spit at her back and return to their room.

When she was finally alone, Lin Mu'ai raised her head to look at the sunset and let out a long sigh. It seemed it was time to move out of this place.

Early the next morning, every village under the Brigade's jurisdiction was filled with the scent of meat. Most villagers preserved their pork by turning it into smoked meat, salted meat, or jerky.

Since it was almost New Year, they saved part of the meat and stored it outside until it froze. This way, they would be able to eat fresh meat during the New Year's Eve dinner.

At this moment, Lin Mu'ai was busy smoking the cured meat. She had salted the meat for preservation before smoking it with maple firewood.

The scent of the maple wood added a rich flavor to the smoked meat. With the cold temperature, the smoked meat could last for several months.

While tending to the smoking meat, she also prepared meals for herself and Han Jinhe. When the sun rose over the eastern horizon, the bone soup she had been simmering since dawn was finally ready.

Just after she finished cutting her hand-pulled noodles, she heard Han Jinhe's voice from outside.

"Teacher Lin, are you at home?"

She quickly dusted the flour off her hands and went to the front yard. Seeing him approaching, she smiled and said, "Comrade Han, you are here. The meal is almost ready."

Hearing this, Han Jinhe followed her to the kitchen. When he saw the meat hanging on top of the firewood, he said, "Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Lin. You must have woken up early to prepare for all this."