You Can't Go On Like This

This program was produced by Tomato Listening. Episode 14: You Can't Go On Like This. Aunt Li's youngest son was assigned to the same group as her, and he had complained plenty about her tattling. Because of this mess, no one could slack off while working anymore.

Aunt Li had grievances she couldn't voice. Not only had the afternoon's work exhausted her, but seeing her youngest son bent over working without a moment's rest made her heart ache. She knew this new Educated Youth was no pushover. She had thought Lin Yuzhu looked young and tender, never expecting her to be so ruthless. Though furious inside, Aunt Li spoke gently. "Girl Lin, stop playing dumb. You've put this auntie through enough today. My back can barely straighten up."

Lin Yuzhu smiled and replied softly, "Auntie, I don't really understand what you mean. How exactly have I put you through so much?"

Aunt Li was rendered speechless. Seeing the girl pretending not to understand when she clearly did made her furious, but she couldn't openly say that she wanted to slack off at work, so she could only swallow her anger.

Aunt Wang had a straightforward temper and fewer calculations in her heart. She pushed Aunt Li aside and said directly to Lin Yuzhu, "Listen, Lin Zhiqing. We won't go behind your back and report you tomorrow, so don't make things difficult for us either. Let's both give a little, all right?"

In truth, Lin Yuzhu had gotten the better end of things today. She hadn't done much work and had mostly been busy watching people. Knowing when to stop, she smiled and nodded. "We're all honest people. I believe that from now on, we can unite as one, devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the construction of our motherland, and become hardworking members of the laboring people."

Aunt Wang only blinked blankly, seemingly not understanding what Lin Yuzhu meant. Finding it dull, Lin Yuzhu smiled faintly. "I suppose we had some misunderstandings about each other before today. But now that we've cleared things up, it's enough that everyone understands what's being said. There's no need to spell everything out."

Aunt Li and Aunt Wang both let out a breath of relief before finally letting Lin Yuzhu leave.

After Lin Yuzhu walked off with a cheerful smile, the two women felt uncomfortable again.

Aunt Li sighed. "Look at that little girl. With that tiny frame, how much work could she possibly do in a day?"

Aunt Wang curled her lip and whispered, "Enough. Stop fixating on some little brat. Aren't you tired after a whole day of work?"

Though she said that, she still felt upset inside.

That little girl had loafed around in the sun all morning, yet her work points ended up the same as theirs.

Lin Yuzhu shook her head as she walked, feeling rather helpless.

There was no way she was going to honestly settle down and farm. Not even if she were beaten to death.

Could she say that her dream after transmigrating was to be a salted fish?

But taking advantage of others for nothing wasn't what she wanted either, so naturally she wouldn't casually do such immoral things again.

For the second time, walking down the country road beneath the lingering glow of the setting sun, Lin Yuzhu felt nothing but tired.

No matter how beautiful the sunset was or how charming the country path might be, she couldn't summon even a trace of poetic sentiment. All she felt was exhaustion in body and mind.

She needed to upgrade the system quickly. She wanted rice, steamed white-flour buns, braised pork, chicken soup, and chicken stewed with mushrooms. Thinking of those things gave her the motivation to keep going.

Sure enough, food could make people happy. Even just thinking about it made her excited beyond measure.

Wang Xiaomei, who was walking ahead, turned around and saw Lin Yuzhu. She stopped to wait for her, then asked when Lin Yuzhu approached, "Did you pick up money or something?"

"Why are you so happy?"

Looking at Wang Xiaomei, Lin Yuzhu didn't know how to describe her. At noon, when they headed out to work, Wang Xiaomei had looked as though Lin Yuzhu owed her money. Now she was chatting with her as if nothing had happened. She really knew how to bend and stretch.

"You're cooking today, yet you're still strolling along so slowly. Are you counting on Zhao Xianglan to do all the work for you?"

Wang Xiaomei blinked and refused to admit it.

"How could that be? I haven't delayed at all. I headed straight back as soon as work ended."

Lin Yuzhu shrugged. Did she take everyone for fools?

The two returned to the Educated Youth Dormitory together. Along the way, they chatted idly, and Wang Xiaomei advised Lin Yuzhu not to clash with the villagers, saying it wouldn't do a young girl like her any good.

Lin Yuzhu nodded perfunctorily. She appreciated the good intentions, but she had her own plans.

It wasn't narcissism. With her current appearance, she stood out quite a bit. If the female lead weren't drawing attention ahead of her, she would probably be the most eye-catching among the female Educated Youth.

But given the current situation, being too beautiful wasn't necessarily a good thing. Female Educated Youth sent to the countryside were already easy targets for bullying, and adding beauty into the mix only made matters worse. Lin Yuzhu wasn't afraid of being called shrewish. On the contrary, she hoped people would think she was fierce and ruthless.

That was also a way to protect herself. As long as people felt she wasn't easy to push around, that was enough.

At the very least, before anyone got ideas about her, they would have to consider whether she would obediently let herself be slaughtered.

Besides, in this era, it wasn't a good thing for Educated Youth sent to the countryside to gain a reputation for not actively cooperating with farm work. It would be unfavorable during the review process after the National College Entrance Examination, so it was better to take precautions early.

She would never regret what she had done today.

Wang Xiaomei walked leisurely and comfortably the entire way. Watching coldly, Lin Yuzhu thought that Wang Xiaomei even had to play tricks over cooking. It was easy to imagine how chaotic their days ahead would be.

Lin Yuzhu kept shaking her head inwardly.

Wang Xiaomei had planned things well enough, but when she and Lin Yuzhu entered the yard, she saw Zhao Xianglan sitting there chatting happily with the other Educated Youth. Her face stiffened, and displeasure filled her eyes.

Seeing her reaction, Lin Yuzhu quickly moved two steps away from her. She didn't want anyone thinking she was in league with this person.

Honestly, she had always felt Wang Xiaomei wasn't very bright. Better to stay farther away from her now.

Originally, Zhao Xianglan and Wang Xiaomei had been the only two female Educated Youth at the Educated Youth Dormitory. No matter how much they disliked one another, they still had to keep each other company.

Wang Xiaomei had a bad temper, so Zhao Xianglan had no choice but to give way to her more often. But things were different now. Naturally, Zhao Xianglan would no longer indulge Wang Xiaomei, though she didn't want to completely fall out with her either. Pretending not to notice the displeasure in Wang Xiaomei's eyes, she smiled and said, "You're back?"

"Should we cook now, or do you want to rest a little before we start?"

Lin Yuzhu laughed inwardly. Zhao Xianglan was clearly afraid Wang Xiaomei would use resting as an excuse to avoid working, so she had cut off her retreat.

It seemed Zhao Xianglan had made up her mind to wait for Wang Xiaomei before cooking.

The other Educated Youth could see what was going on as well. They probably all knew what kind of person Wang Xiaomei was, so naturally they wouldn't drag Zhao Xianglan down. They sat around chatting among themselves, pretending not to notice the silent battle between the two women.

Seeing Zhao Xianglan's fake smile, Wang Xiaomei gritted her teeth in anger and said sarcastically, "You have such a good life, and you still need to rest? Why should everyone go hungry while you loaf around? How can you have the nerve?"

Lin Yuzhu almost wanted to applaud Wang Xiaomei. She had really broadened her horizons today. So this was what it meant for Zhu Bajie to accuse someone else first.

Zhao Xianglan's face turned livid with anger, and veins bulged on her forehead. "You still know everyone is hungry?"

"We all got off work together, so why did you come back so late?"

"Do you think no one knows what you're up to? Before, I was too embarrassed to call you out and left you some dignity. Did you really think I was afraid of you?"

"Who should really be embarrassed here?"

Normally, no one would tear things apart over something like this. After all, anyone with a guilty conscience knew it themselves, and not exposing it to their face was already leaving them some dignity.

Who knew Wang Xiaomei wouldn't play by the usual rules? Everyone else in the yard was speechless. Since they had already started arguing, they could no longer remain background figures, and they all looked at Wang Xiaomei with some displeasure.

Did she really think everyone else was stupid?

At first, what Wang Xiaomei said made it sound like she was thinking of everyone in the yard, and she had even implied that Zhao Xianglan was making everyone go hungry rather than cook because she was busy chatting. But they were all adults. Putting themselves in the other person's shoes, they understood what was really happening.

No wonder Zhao Xianglan couldn't give in today. If she did, this would probably become the established arrangement from now on.

After a whole day of work, who wasn't tired? Who didn't want to do a little less? Yet Wang Xiaomei was the only one playing tricks to avoid work. Why should she get to?

When Wang Xiaomei saw everyone looking at her as if she were an idiot, she decided Zhao Xianglan must have twisted things with her sharp tongue and led them astray.

In any case, she didn't believe they could see through her little schemes.

"I wasn't the last one back. I came back with Lin Yuzhu. She saw it herself. I didn't slack off. I headed straight back after work ended."

Seeing how righteous Wang Xiaomei looked, Zhao Xianglan was so angry she couldn't speak.

Strictly speaking, Wang Xiaomei had only returned a little later. But if she was allowed to be late by this little bit tonight, tomorrow she could be late by an hour. By the end of it, Zhao Xianglan didn't even need to think about it—Wang Xiaomei would probably wait until the food was ready before coming back.

Clearly, Wang Xiaomei was the one playing tricks, yet she had made it sound as though Zhao Xianglan had returned late to rest and made everyone go hungry.

Zhao Xianglan's chest rose and fell violently with anger.

Zhao Xianglan could see the problem, but the other Educated Youth might not. Besides, when everyone got off work and recorded their work points, there could indeed be some difference in timing.

They thought Wang Xiaomei and Lin Yuzhu had returned together, which meant Wang Xiaomei couldn't have been late by much. Fighting over such a small amount of time made Zhao Xianglan seem a little unreasonable. In the end, it was all because neither of them wanted to do more work. The way they looked at Zhao Xianglan became somewhat subtle. Li Xiangbei frowned. So many things had happened on only their second day here, and he couldn't help worrying about their future lives.

"Don't drag me into this. I really was held up by someone in the middle of the way. Otherwise, I would have been back long ago."

Lin Yuzhu never expected Wang Xiaomei to drag her into this as a shield. Well, Wang Xiaomei was dreaming if she thought that would work.

Wang Xiaomei hadn't expected Lin Yuzhu to deny her so bluntly. She turned and glared angrily at her. Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes. She hadn't grown up being scared. As if she was afraid of Wang Xiaomei!

Seeing Zhao Xianglan about to say something else, Wang Yang quickly cut in. "It's not a big deal. Let's all get along peacefully and not give people something to laugh at. Nobody was that late anyway. What's a little more or less time? It's not like we'll starve to death. But if you keep arguing, that might really become a problem."

By then, Auntie Chen next door had already gone in and out of her doorway several times. She was probably trying to watch the commotion.

When they looked over, they immediately caught her peeking around. The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

Wang Yang's words were somewhat conciliatory, but to Zhao Xianglan, they sounded as though she were being unreasonable. Angry, she began to resent Wang Yang as well, thinking that whoever married him would be terribly unlucky. With someone so incapable of distinguishing right from wrong, what kind of good life could she possibly have? She had even thought more highly of him before.