This Won't Do

This program was produced by Tomato Listening. Episode 14: This Won't Do. Aunt Li's youngest son had been assigned to the same group as her, and he had complained more than once about her tattling. Because of this mess, no one could slack off while working anymore.

Aunt Li was suffering in silence. Not only had she been exhausted all afternoon, but seeing her youngest son bent over at work without a moment's rest made her heart ache. She knew this newly arrived educated youth was a formidable one. She had looked so young and tender, yet her heart was black as coal. Aunt Li was furious, but she kept a gentle expression as she said, "Girl Lin, don't play dumb. You've put this auntie through quite a lot today. My back can barely straighten now."

Lin Yuzhu smiled and said softly, "Auntie, I don't quite understand what you mean. How have I tormented you?"

Aunt Li was left speechless. Seeing the girl pretend not to understand when she clearly did made her furious, but she could not openly admit that they wanted to slack off at work, so she could only swallow her anger.

Aunt Wang had a straightforward temper and did not have so many schemes in her heart. She pushed Aunt Li aside and said directly to Lin Yuzhu, "Listen, Lin Zhiqing. We won't report you behind your back tomorrow, so don't make trouble for us either. Let's give each other some room, all right?"

Actually, Lin Yuzhu had gotten the better end of things today. She had not done much work and had mostly been busy watching people. One should quit while ahead, so she smiled and nodded. "We're all honest people. I believe that from now on, we can unite as one, devote ourselves to building the motherland, and become diligent, hardworking laborers."

Seeing Aunt Wang only blink blankly, apparently failing to understand what she meant, Lin Yuzhu found it boring. With a curve to her lips, she thought, It seems we had some misunderstandings before today. Now that we've cleared things up, it's enough for everyone to understand what's in their hearts. There's no need to spell everything out; understanding the implication is enough.

Aunt Li and Aunt Wang both sighed in relief and finally let Lin Yuzhu leave.

After she walked away with a cheerful smile, the two women began to feel uncomfortable again.

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

Aunt Wang curled her lip and said quietly, "Enough. Stop fixating on some little girl. Aren't you tired after a whole day?"

That was what she said, but she still felt uncomfortable inside.

That little girl had spent the whole morning basking in the sun, yet her work points were the same as theirs.

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

There was no way she was going to settle down and farm honestly. Not even if it killed her.

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

Taking advantage of others for nothing was not what she wanted either, so she naturally would not casually do such immoral things again.

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

No matter how beautiful the sunset was or how charming the country road might be, she could not summon even a trace of poetic feeling. All she felt was exhaustion in both body and mind.

She needed to upgrade the system as soon as possible. She wanted rice, steamed buns made from white flour, braised pork, chicken soup, and chicken stewed with mushrooms. Thinking about it gave her the motivation to keep going.

Sure enough, good food could make people happy. Even merely thinking about it made her excited.

Wang Xiaomei, who was walking ahead, turned around and spotted Lin Yuzhu. She stopped and waited for her. When Lin Yuzhu came closer, she asked, "Did you pick up money or something?"

"Why are you so happy?"

Looking at Wang Xiaomei, Lin Yuzhu did not 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 strolling along so leisurely. Are you expecting Zhao Xianglan to do all the work for you?"

Wang Xiaomei blinked and denied it. "How could that be? I haven't delayed at all. I headed straight back after work."

Lin Yuzhu shrugged. Did she take everyone for fools?

The two returned to the Educated Youth Dormitory together. They chatted idly along the way, and Wang Xiaomei advised Lin Yuzhu not to clash with the villagers. It would not benefit a young girl like her.

Lin Yuzhu nodded perfunctorily. She accepted the goodwill, but she had her own calculations.

It was not narcissism. With her current looks, she was quite striking too. If the female lead had not been ahead of her, she would probably have been the most eye-catching among the female educated youths.

But given the current situation, being too beautiful was not necessarily a good thing. Female educated youths sent to the countryside were already easily bullied, and beauty only added to the danger. Lin Yuzhu was not afraid of being called fierce; on the contrary, she hoped others would think she was tough and ruthless.

This was also a way of protecting herself. As long as people thought she was not easy to manipulate, 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, having it spread that an educated youth sent to the countryside was not actively cooperating with farm work was not a good thing either. It would be unfavorable during the review process after the National College Entrance Examination in the future. It was better to take precautions early.

She would never regret what she had done today.

Wang Xiaomei walked leisurely and comfortably the whole way. Lin Yuzhu watched coldly. Even when it came to cooking, she had to play tricks. One could imagine how chaotic the days ahead would be.

Lin Yuzhu shook her head inwardly.

Wang Xiaomei had planned things quite well, but when she and Lin Yuzhu entered the courtyard, they saw Zhao Xianglan sitting there and chatting happily with the other educated youths. Wang Xiaomei's face stiffened, and displeasure filled her eyes.

Seeing her reaction, Lin Yuzhu hurriedly moved two steps away from her. She did not want anyone thinking she was in the same camp as this person.

To be honest, she had always felt Wang Xiaomei was not very smart. It was better to keep some distance from her now.

Originally, Zhao Xianglan and Wang Xiaomei had been the only two female educated youths at the Educated Youth Dormitory. No matter how much they disliked each other, they still had to travel together.

Wang Xiaomei had a bad temperament, so Zhao Xianglan had inevitably yielded to her more often. But things were different now. Naturally, she would no longer indulge Wang Xiaomei, though she did not want to completely fall out with her either. Pretending not to see the displeasure in Wang Xiaomei's eyes, she smiled and asked, "You're back?"

"Should we start cooking now, or do you want to rest for a while first?"

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

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

The other educated youths had also picked up on the situation. They more or less knew what kind of person Wang Xiaomei was, so naturally they would not drag Zhao Xianglan down. They all sat there 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, "With such a lucky life, why would I need to rest? How could I let everyone go hungry just so you could sit around slacking off? Aren't you embarrassed?"

Lin Yuzhu almost wanted to applaud Wang Xiaomei. Today had truly opened her eyes. What was it called when Chicken turned around and accused someone else first?

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

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

"Do you really think no one knows what you're thinking? 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 be embarrassed here?"

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

Who would have thought Wang Xiaomei would not play by the usual rules? The others in the courtyard were all speechless. Since they had already started arguing, no one could keep playing the background anymore. They all looked at Wang Xiaomei with some displeasure.

Did she really think everyone was stupid?

At first glance, her words seemed to show concern for everyone in the courtyard. She had even implied that Zhao Xianglan was making everyone go hungry while she chatted instead of cooking. But they were all adults; putting themselves in the other person's shoes, they understood what was going on.

No wonder Zhao Xianglan could not give in today. If she did, it would likely become the established pattern from then on.

After a whole day of work, who was not tired? Who did not want to do less? Yet you were the only one playing tricks to avoid work. Why should you get away with it?

When Wang Xiaomei saw everyone looking at her as if she were a fool, she decided it must be because Zhao Xianglan was sharp-tongued and had led them astray with her words.

In any case, she did not believe everyone could see through her little scheme.

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

Seeing how self-righteous she looked, Zhao Xianglan was so angry she could not speak.

Strictly speaking, Wang Xiaomei had only returned a little late. But if she was allowed to be late by a little today, tomorrow she could be late by an hour. By the end, Zhao Xianglan could already imagine Wang Xiaomei returning only after she had finished cooking.

Clearly, it was Wang Xiaomei who had been playing tricks, yet now she had made it sound as though Zhao Xianglan was the one slacking off after returning and making everyone go hungry.

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

Zhao Xianglan could see the problem, but the other educated youths might not. Besides, people finished work and recorded work points at different times.

Thinking that Wang Xiaomei and Lin Yuzhu had returned together, they assumed Wang Xiaomei could not have been late by much. Fighting over such a short delay made Zhao Xianglan seem a little unforgiving. In the end, it was all about not wanting to do more work. Their looks toward Zhao Xianglan became somewhat subtle. Li Xiangbei frowned. So many things had already happened on their second day here; he could not help worrying about life in the future.

"Don't drag me into this. I really was held up by someone halfway through. Otherwise, I would've been back long ago."

Lin Yuzhu had never expected Wang Xiaomei to drag her into it as a cover. Well, sorry, but Wang Xiaomei was dreaming.

Wang Xiaomei had not expected Lin Yuzhu to embarrass her so openly. She turned and glared angrily at her. Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes. She had not been raised to be frightened by her. What was there to fear?

Seeing Zhao Xianglan about to say something else, Wang Yang hurriedly cut in. "It's not a big deal. Let's all get along peacefully. Don't give people something to laugh at. She wasn't that late anyway. Whether she came back a little earlier or a little later, we won't starve to death. But if you keep arguing, that might not be so certain."

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

Everyone looked over and immediately caught sight of her peeking around. For a moment, the atmosphere fell utterly silent.

Wang Yang's words were meant to smooth things over, but to Zhao Xianglan, they sounded as though she were the one making an unreasonable fuss. She was furious and began to resent Wang Yang too. Any woman who marries him will be terribly unlucky. With someone so unable to tell right from wrong, what good life could she possibly have?

She had even thought highly of him before.