Fighting, She Had Never Lost!

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

In battle, he had never lost!

The veteran Educated Youth naturally had time to grind corn kernels into cornmeal.

After working all day, porridge alone would never fill them up, so they also had to make cornbread.

Lin Yuzhu and the others still had some dry provisions. They only needed to cook some porridge and have something hot, so they did not ask to borrow cornmeal. Each of them took out their own portion and put it in the pot to cook.

The village was not strictly managed. Every household had a vegetable patch, which did not count as private plots, and no one would report them for it. Who did not eat vegetables?

These vegetables did not count toward production quotas. People wearing red armbands could come down and interfere, but few dared to.

A few years ago, a group from town had come to the village and demanded that the villagers' yard vegetables be removed. They had aroused public anger and been driven out by the villagers. After that, no one dared stir up that trouble again.

The villagers' united strength was quite frightening. The commune leaders turned a blind eye. In the village, greens were the cheapest thing around. The Educated Youth also had a vegetable patch behind their house, so eating vegetables in summer was fairly convenient.

They stir-fried a plate of chives and celery, smashed a cucumber, and made nothing else.

At the dinner table, Wang Xiaomei said directly, "We grew all these vegetables. You newcomers will be responsible for tending the vegetable patch from now on. You can't just take what's already here for free, can you?"

It was not an unreasonable thing to say. Aside from Wang Xiaomei's harsh tone, Lin Yuzhu and the others had no objections.

Wang Xiaomei's expression, as though they were idiots, was rather irritating.

Lin Yuzhu barely touched his chopsticks. He bit into the dry, hard flatbread and drank porridge with it. He was hungry and exhausted, and all he wanted was to finish eating and get onto the kang to rest. Yet for some reason, He Yuanfang suddenly picked up a chopstickful of chives and put them into his porridge.

What the hell!

Lin Yuzhu felt as if thunder had rolled through his head. He nearly cursed out loud and even forgot to chew the bread in his mouth. What was going on?

Hadn't they said people in this era were all very reserved?

Hadn't they said boys in this era did not even dare speak more than a couple of sentences to female comrades?

It was not that Lin Yuzhu was vain. His appearance was quite good. To use the descriptions of this era, he was fair and clean-looking, with large watery eyes, an oval face, and cherry lips. No matter how one looked at him, he was a pretty young woman. He just looked a little frail, young-faced, and easy to bully.

Lin Mother only disliked the original owner's temperament. She had never withheld food from this daughter, and had raised her into a delicate, charming girl.

Lin Yuzhu had not expected to stir up someone's lust the moment he arrived. His expression gradually darkened with anger.

In an era like this, with no familial connection between them, what right did he have to put food into his bowl?

Lin Yuzhu raised his head and looked at him with eyes as sharp as knives.

He Yuanfang was the sort who had intentions but lacked courage. The moment he met Lin Yuzhu's gaze, his eyes clearly grew flustered.

With his honest, simple-looking face, he stammered out an explanation. "Uh, uh, I-I saw you weren't eating much, uh, so I thought I'd add some vegetables for you."

Anyone would have thought he meant well.

Meanwhile, Li Xiangwan and Zhang Yanqiu became inexplicably tense.

They had only just arrived in the countryside and had already encountered someone so unreasonable. Naturally, they began to wonder.

Li Xiangbei merely frowned at He Yuanfang and did not intend to step forward.

Wang Xiaomei, on the other hand, laughed. "Hehe, oh my, He Yuanfang, is your heart stirring with spring?"

Lin Yuzhu could not take it anymore. He slammed his chopsticks onto the table with a crack, startling everyone at the table.

Wang Xiaomei and He Yuanfang both looked noticeably guiltier.

"I have hands! Who the fuck asked you to put food in my bowl?"

He Yuanfang's face turned red. He did not dare say another word, and his eyes began darting away.

"Wang Xiaomei, you know about Hooliganism, right?"

"Let me advise you: it is not only actions that can be judged as Hooliganism. Flippant remarks can be as well. You'd better think before you speak. Spreading baseless rumors like this is also hooligan behavior."

"I don't want anyone outside this room to hear about what happened today. Otherwise, watch out. I'll report you to the commune for spreading rumors, having improper words and conduct, and harboring an extremely filthy mind. People like you should be sent to a farm for labor reeducation."

Wang Xiaomei's face instantly turned pale as she stared at Lin Yuzhu in shock.

Having lived in the countryside for so long, she had gradually forgotten.

Now Wang Xiaomei felt a lingering fear. She had completely forgotten.

"Trouble comes from the mouth. I didn't even say anything..." She no longer had the smug superiority from before.

Before Wang Xiaomei could explain herself further, Lin Yuzhu got up and returned to the room.

This was not the Lin Family. Why should he indulge anyone else?

Without that old tiger from the Lin family keeping him down, could he still keep pretending to be a sickly cat? Impossible.

He had never lost in a fight. As for what He Yuanfang was thinking, he could not be bothered to analyze it. He had never intended to find a partner during his time in the countryside anyway.

The day he could return to the city was still far off, but it was not as if he had lost all motivation. There was no need to put himself into an uncertain relationship, especially with someone of such poor character.

As for Wang Xiaomei, he could more or less see through her. She wanted to get the new Educated Youth under her thumb and become their leader.

How could Lin Yuzhu possibly act weak and easy to bully now? Otherwise, would Wang Xiaomei not keep bullying him in the future?

Leaving aside anything else, if she casually ordered him around to do work all the time, would he not become her little lackey after a while?

Heh. They were all Educated Youth sent to the countryside. Who was more noble than anyone else? Everyone lived by their own abilities. Wanting to be his boss was impossible.

Wang Xiaomei had been badly frightened and did not dare enter the room for a long while.

After Li Xiangwan and Zhang Yanqiu finished eating, they came in as well. Zhang Yanqiu said with a smile, "Wang Yang is a decent guy. He poured your leftover porridge into He Yuanfang's bowl and said He Yuanfang would return your grain tomorrow. Luckily, you finished your flatbread, or it would have been such a waste to leave it there. I washed your bowl for you."

Lin Yuzhu truly had no appetite when he looked at He Yuanfang's face. He had been thinking of waiting until they finished before going back out to eat.

After hearing Zhang Yanqiu, it saved him the trouble. He was nearly full from that flatbread anyway, so he smiled and thanked her.

She shook her head, very friendly.

Zhang Yanqiu had originally thought she and Li Xiangwan could become friends. Now that both women intentionally wanted to befriend Lin Yuzhu, he naturally acted much friendlier as well.

Li Xiangwan said leisurely, "From now on, when we go to the toilet at night, let's go together. You never know what someone is really like. We should be careful and not let ourselves suffer."

Lin Yuzhu and Zhang Yanqiu both nodded in agreement.

How annoying. Why did they have to run into someone like that?

Lin Yuzhu had not even gotten that upset, but Zhang Yanqiu was already irritated. Ever since boarding the train, nothing had gone smoothly for her, and she had begun to feel vaguely anxious about life in the countryside.

When Li Xiangwan had gathered supplies, fearing the end of the world, she had prepared quite a few watermelon-cutting machetes as well as pepper spray.

To put it bluntly, if something happened, she was not incapable of killing someone and hiding the body. But if she could avoid trouble, she naturally did not want to invite it. After being irritated for a while, she stopped dwelling on it.

Lin Yuzhu, meanwhile, considered getting a knife to keep in his space when he had time. If something really happened, injuring someone could be called self-defense. If he killed someone, then he could only destroy the evidence and dispose of the body. In any case, no one had better provoke him.

He knew that in this era, some men were vile. They thought that if they ruined a woman's chastity, she would obediently follow them afterward, allowing them to beat or scold her whenever they pleased.

Not only in this era—even decades later, there would still be backward-thinking women who held such beliefs. But Lin Yuzhu was absolutely not someone who would swallow humiliation and compromise. He would rather shatter like jade than live while wronging himself.

Meanwhile, He Yuanfang, who had already returned to his room, was covered in a cold sweat. He had never expected that the little girl who looked so small and easy to bully could be so formidable.

One of the fellow Educated Youth from his hometown had often shown concern for the village chief's daughter. He had won the girl's heart, married her, and even obtained a spot at Worker-Peasant-Soldier University.

That man had good luck. He had returned directly to the city to attend university, and naturally would not have to scratch out a living in the fields like them in the future. Even if he came back again, he would no longer have a rural household registration.

Seeing that returning to the city was still a distant dream, he no longer hoped for it. He only wanted to find someone to live with. He was not young anymore, and his parents only cared about his younger brothers. At his age, what good wife could he still marry if he returned to the city?

He did not really want to marry a village girl either, feeling they were not worthy of him.

The first time he saw Lin Yuzhu that day, his heart had begun to itch. He knew that in terms of looks, he could not compare to the other two male Educated Youth, and his family background was even less impressive than Wang Yang's. So he might as well strike first before the two of them did. If he cared for her attentively enough, then over time, she would naturally come to like him.

And if she did not like him, that was fine too. Once gossip surrounded her, she would have no choice but to marry him.

He had just never expected Lin Yuzhu to have such a fiery temper. Someone who looked so honest was not honest at all. His ideals were plump, but reality was skinny.

That day, the village chief gave the new Educated Youth a day off so they could rest. After riding the train for days and nights, they were naturally exhausted. Once they had eaten, all they wanted was to hurry back to their rooms and sleep.

By the time the three girls, Lin Yuzhu, Li Xiangwan, and Zhang Yanqiu, had each fetched a basin of water to wash up, Wang Xiaomei and Zhao Xianglan returned to the room.

When Wang Xiaomei came in and saw the three washing up, she muttered, "Tch, what a bunch of pretentious paupers!"

Zhang Yanqiu looked down on her somewhat, but since they had only just arrived, she held back and did not retort.

Lin Yuzhu could not be bothered with her. They had sat on the train for so long. How could they get onto the kang to sleep without washing first?

Li Xiangwan acted as though she had not heard and continued doing what she was doing.

They had only brought one basin each.

At this time, basins required industrial coupons. It was already good enough for a family to send one basin with them. How could they bring two?

Families that cared less about such things sometimes used a single basin for both washing faces and feet, and there were quite a few families like that.

The families of Lin Yuzhu and the other two were not poor enough to be in that situation. At home, the basins for washing faces and feet were kept separate. Yet each of them had only brought one basin, which made things somewhat awkward.

Zhao Xianglan seemed to see their embarrassment. Smiling, she pointed at the wooden bucket beneath the table by the door. "This is a wooden basin made by the villagers. We all use it to wash our feet."

The three of them thanked her one after another, leaving them with a very favorable impression of Zhao Xianglan.

Once he had laid out his bedding and truly lay down on the kang, Lin Yuzhu let out a long, comfortable breath. It felt as though he had finally come down to earth. He still felt a little swaying, but it was much better than when he had first gotten off the train.