I Don't Plan to Share Meals

This program was produced by Tomato Listening. Episode 15: I Don't Plan to Share Meals. Even after thinking it over, she couldn't come up with any excuse.

Zhao Xianglan shot Wang Xiaomei a vicious glare before turning and heading into the kitchen to light the fire and cook.

For now, the farce had come to an end.

After snorting coldly, Wang Xiaomei went to the backyard to pick vegetables.

When she finished picking the vegetables and came back inside, everyone deliberately stayed in the yard, listening intently for any commotion, afraid the two women might start fighting again in the house.

It would have been one thing if they fought, but they couldn't let dinner be ruined. After working all afternoon, no one had the leisure to break up a fight. Besides, they were all hungry.

After listening for quite a while and hearing nothing, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, figuring there probably wouldn't be any more trouble.

Seeing that everything was fine, Lin Yuzhu went back to her room to change clothes and wash the set she had been wearing. She might not have time to do laundry tomorrow.

She had just changed when a sharp, choking smell of chili peppers came rushing into the room. It stung her eyes until she could barely keep them open, and she couldn't stop coughing.

Lin Yuzhu cursed inwardly. How many damn chili peppers did she put in there? There was no need to guess—it had to be Wang Xiaomei. That girl really deserved a beating!

Zhao Xianglan's unbearable shout had already sounded from the kitchen. "Wang Xiaomei!" By the time Lin Yuzhu came out carrying her clothes, the chili smell had already spread into the yard.

Zhao Xianglan had been choked out of the kitchen as well, her eyes red as she roared furiously, "I'd just put the vegetables in the pot. I only turned around for a second, and before I noticed, she'd dumped in a whole small basin of chili peppers!"

Li Xiangwan, Li Xiangbei, and Zhang Yanqiu all immediately looked awful. They already couldn't eat spicy food, so how were they supposed to eat this?

Lin Yuzhu's expression wasn't much better either. Just because she liked spicy food didn't mean she could handle it, especially not with this body. A few chili peppers at lunch had already been too much, let alone an entire basin. She was thoroughly speechless at Wang Xiaomei, while thinking that Li Xiangwan truly was the female lead—there was no end to the bizarre incidents surrounding her.

Although Lin Yuzhu had encountered all sorts of people in her previous life's workplace, she had never met anyone like this.

Lin Yuzhu figured this was probably a side effect of the female lead's halo.

None of the Educated Youths present were particularly hardworking. The vegetables planted in the yard this year were barely enough to get by, unlike other households, which planted as much as they possibly could.

A few more Educated Youths had arrived this year. It was obvious the vegetables might not last, and things were bound to be tight, so they had only made one stew for dinner.

When the pot of stew was brought to the table, everyone couldn't help but get a headache at the sight of all the chili peppers inside.

Wang Yang took the first bite. "Mm—" He bared his teeth and grimaced. Even someone used to spicy food couldn't take it, let alone those who weren't. Lin Yuzhu and the others had already lost all desire to pick up their chopsticks. There wasn't even a barefoot doctor in the village; if they upset their stomachs, they could only go into town for treatment.

Never mind the money it would cost—walking for an hour or two while sick was miserable enough.

Li Xiangwan's body wasn't very healthy. In fact, before she arrived, it couldn't even be called healthy.

Before Li Xiangwan transmigrated into it, the original owner, that poor little thing, had barely ever eaten a full meal. All the chores for the entire family had been piled onto her alone, and her body had long since been worn hollow. Otherwise, there might not have been this chance for Li Xiangwan to transmigrate into her.

Although she had carefully recuperated for a while, her foundation was still there. If she ate this meal, her stomach probably wouldn't be able to bear it.

So after the food was served, Li Xiangwan kept dry-chewing her corn bun, her brows tightly furrowed as though she were considering something.

The sight made Li Xiangbei's heart ache, and he became deeply displeased with Wang Xiaomei.

Lin Yuzhu looked wordlessly at the food, then at everyone else silently eating without anyone stepping forward. So she asked, "Comrade Wang, may I ask whether you have to put chili peppers in every dish from now on?"

"And this many, too?"

Wang Xiaomei met Lin Yuzhu's dark eyes and felt a little guilty, but then she thought, She's just a little girl. What am I afraid of? Is she going to dare hit me?

"What do you mean, I put chili peppers in the food? You have to put them in when you cook too. I'm not used to eating food without them."

"Let me tell you, the vegetables in the backyard were all planted by me. Wang Yang and the others hardly ever took care of them. Even Zhao Xianglan didn't do as much as I did."

"To put it bluntly, I should have the final say over what vegetables the Educated Youth Dormitory cooks."

She finished with a smug look on her face.

After thinking about it, Wang Xiaomei added, "Besides, the cooking pot was bought with money from several of us old Educated Youths. The pots, bowls, and utensils have nothing to do with you. You didn't plant the vegetables either, so what right do you have to tell me how to cook?"

The more she spoke, the more pleased she became with herself for finding such a good reason so quickly.

What she said wasn't unreasonable. On the contrary, it was extremely hard to refute.

Lin Yuzhu looked at the older Educated Youths. Every one of them remained silent, and she guessed Wang Xiaomei's words were mostly true. She clicked her tongue inwardly. It was no wonder Wang Xiaomei bullied them—they were lazy and timid. Lin Yuzhu had also noticed that Wang Xiaomei was perfectly clear when it came to her own interests. Whenever she slacked off, it was at someone else's expense.

She had worked a full day and earned ten work points, which showed she wasn't lazy. When it came to her own food ration, she was always diligent and clear-headed. For all Lin Yuzhu knew, these southern Educated Youths might not even earn as many work points as her in an entire year.

It was no surprise she carefully tended the vegetable garden. If she relied on other people, she might not get any vegetables to eat at all.

The vegetables were hers, and the pot was hers too. What else could Lin Yuzhu say?

She looked up at the sky in speechless frustration, then thought it over. This was an opportunity. "Then how about this? I'll separate out and eat on my own. I won't get involved with you anymore. You can redistribute the cooking arrangements yourselves. I'll take out my own food ration separately."

If Lin Yuzhu remembered the original plot correctly, the male and female leads also separated out to eat later on.

She was a little puzzled. Why didn't the two of them seem inclined to step forward this time?

Since she was the one taking the lead, Lin Yuzhu couldn't be bothered to engage in scheming with Wang Xiaomei. If everyone could eat from the same pot, then they could eat together. If not, then they would split up. There was no need to stage The Legend of Zhen Huan over a meal. It was too exhausting.

In this life, she only wanted to live a simple, peaceful life.

"I'll separate out too."

Li Xiangwan seized the chance to say so, then lowered her head and continued eating her corn bun.

Li Xiangbei looked up at everyone and said quietly, "You don't need to cook my portion either."

The two of them didn't say much, but everyone more or less understood what they meant. Though they were separating out to eat, they had no intention of partnering up with anyone else.

When Wang Xiaomei saw that Lin Yuzhu and the other two were going to eat separately, she curled her lips, as though she had bullied them.

Since they were treating her like the villain, she couldn't let that reputation go to waste. "Then you can't eat the vegetables from this garden for free."

Wang Xiaomei laid it out plainly. The three of them wouldn't pretend not to understand, and they all readily accepted.

"This year is one thing, but the land at the Educated Youth Dormitory doesn't belong to you alone. If we want to plant vegetables next year, you'd better not pull any tricks."

Lin Yuzhu spoke with a serious expression.

Some things had to be made clear in advance. She truly didn't trust someone like Wang Xiaomei.

Wang Xiaomei curled her lips but didn't argue. She wasn't stupid; she wouldn't dare monopolize the yard.

As for vegetables, Lin Yuzhu wasn't worried. At this time, every household in the village planted a yard full of vegetables. For just a few cents, she could buy a whole basket.

Besides, she had the system. She could smuggle out a little from her space and buy some from the villagers. Holding out until next year wouldn't be a problem.

But now that the male and female leads had proposed eating separately, they couldn't possibly take turns cooking one by one, could they?

There was only one stove. Taking turns to cook was obviously impractical.

Summer would be fine—they could set up a simple earthen stove in the yard. But that definitely wouldn't work in winter.

Never mind whether the fire could even be started; in the icy snow, people would freeze into popsicles before they could sit down to eat. That was a problem.

Lin Yuzhu pondered it silently. There was only one pot. If they wanted to eat separately, they could only get another pot themselves.

Everyone understood that, but if they wanted to split off, what would they use to buy a pot?

Never mind whether they had industrial coupons—money alone was no small matter. A pot was considered a major household item for ordinary families, and Zhang Yanqiu didn't have much money on her to begin with.

Looking again at Lin Yuzhu and Li Xiangwan, neither seemed inclined to partner up with anyone. Zhang Yanqiu didn't dare casually suggest splitting off either.

If she couldn't partner with someone else, she had no ability to buy a pot for herself.

Wang Xiaomei looked at Zhang Yanqiu, who had shouted the loudest at noon that she couldn't eat spicy food, and asked in a mocking tone, "You're not splitting off to eat? If you eat with us, then don't even think about no chili peppers. I'm telling you in advance."

"Fine. Stop acting like you're serving me and then coming over here to gossip."

Zhang Yanqiu gritted her teeth, wishing she could swallow Wang Xiaomei whole.

Wang Xiaomei snorted coldly, completely unafraid of Zhang Yanqiu's murderous glare. She ate the food with relish, her face full of smug satisfaction.

Zhou Nan, on the other hand, showed no reaction while eating the dish. It seemed he could handle spicy food.

That was rather surprising. Zhang Yanqiu couldn't find an ally, so she kept glancing at Li Xiangwan. The two had been fairly close before, and she thought Li Xiangwan might help her. Yet all she saw from beginning to end was the top of Li Xiangwan's head. She couldn't help placing her hopes on Lin Yuzhu instead.

Her gaze at Lin Yuzhu was full of expectation.

Seeing that Zhang Yanqiu was about to speak, Lin Yuzhu grinned. "I don't plan to cook."

She had never been afraid of offending people.

Lin Yuzhu planned to make her own little stove. How could she eat meat if she partnered up with others?

If she took out Chicken and meat every few days, wouldn't that draw too much attention?

Besides, that meat couldn't be brought out openly. She had always planned to eat it quietly by herself.

After recalling the plot again, she had already formed a plan. At this point, she definitely couldn't partner with anyone else. She wanted to use this opportunity to completely separate herself.

Perhaps because the author favored the female lead, there was a plot point in the novel: when the village chief picked up the Educated Youths this time, the commune leaders had hinted to the heads of several villages that another group of Educated Youths would be sent to the countryside before the autumn harvest. No one knew exactly how many, but every village would have to take in one or two.

Shanshui Village had only this one Educated Youth Dormitory, and quite a few Educated Youths had arrived over the years. At first, there hadn't even been an Educated Youth Dormitory, so the Educated Youths had been arranged to live and share meals with villagers. All sorts of petty disputes had happened along the way.

As time passed, the villagers refused to take any more Educated Youths into their homes.