Jumping into the River to Commit Suicide

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

Episode 22: Jumping into the River to Commit Suicide. Wasn't a supporting female character's vitality supposed to be as tough and unbreakable as weeds?

Looking at Zhang Yanqiu's face, pale as paper, she had never expected things to end like this.

There was still a faint rise and fall in her chest. She should have been saved and was no longer in any danger.

This was another event that had never happened in the original novel.

Lin Yuzhu turned it over in her mind again and again, wondering whether her arrival had triggered some chain reaction, but she truly could not figure out the connection.

As far as she was concerned, she had not disrupted any major plot points. She was merely on passable terms with the male and female leads, with no real affection between them.

She had even less of a relationship with the other Educated Youths. At the Educated Youth Dormitory, she had practically become invisible.

What she did not know was that without her, when the female lead built her house, everyone would have gotten along extremely well with Zhao Xianglan. Later, they would naturally have begun eating together. But because Lin Yuzhu was here this time, the female lead no longer needed Zhao Xianglan's company. At this point, the two were merely casual acquaintances.

Without the female lead's support, Zhao Xianglan was still sharing meals with Wang Xiaomei. Wang Xiaomei alone was already enough to irritate her, and now there was also the somewhat clueless Zhang Yanqiu. Zhao Xianglan was even more speechless. Even when washing dishes, Zhang Yanqiu wore an expression as though she had suffered some grave injustice, as if someone were bullying her.

After maintaining her good image for so long, how could Zhao Xianglan let anyone ruin it? She immediately came up with an idea. Whenever she had the chance, she would stir up Wang Xiaomei with a few casual words. Ideally, Wang Xiaomei would be the one to let everyone know what kind of person Zhang Yanqiu was. That way, Zhao Xianglan would not appear petty, while everyone else would see Zhang Yanqiu's true colors.

The premise was that Wang Xiaomei had to be useful. Naturally, Zhao Xianglan's guidance was indispensable, which was why today's grand drama had taken place.

Zhang Yanqiu felt that she had suffered the greatest humiliation of her life. With He Yuanfang's blunt remarks beside her, she was both furious and afraid.

She decided to seek justice from the village leaders. On the way, she happened to run into the Production Team Leader. She grabbed him and explained at length, only to see him frown with his old face and say rather impolitely, "Why are you coming to me with this? What can I do?"

"I have production work to handle. Go find the village chief and see if he can stand up for you."

After saying that, the Production Team Leader left, muttering curses under his breath.

"How pretentious. They can even fight over such a trivial matter."

Zhang Yanqiu heard every word clearly. Her face instantly flushed red with shame. She also hated the Production Team Leader for refusing to act. She stamped her foot and headed for the village chief's house.

After hearing the whole story, the village chief and his wife both looked impatient. They thought that these Educated Youths spent all day dealing with such petty nonsense, too much for anyone to manage. As a woman who dealt with these trivial household matters every day, the village chief's wife knew well enough that which village wife did not have her own schemes?

She bluntly said, "Educated Youth Zhang, what I say may sound unpleasant, but don't take it to heart. I'm saying this for your own good. We don't have the fate of young ladies, so we should accept our lot."

"Does a little scraped skin mean you can't wash dishes anymore?"

"Look at the women in the village. Even if they cut their hands with sickles, don't they still wash clothes and cook? Who stops doing housework over such a little pain and lets the whole family go hungry?"

Afterward, the village chief's wife saw Zhang Yanqiu's pale face and the defiance in her eyes that she did not dare show. She sneered inwardly, knowing she had wasted her breath. Zhang Yanqiu had not listened at all. Her tone became even more mocking. "I think you should go back and apologize properly. What can my old man possibly say for you?"

"Ask the girls at the Educated Youth Dormitory to serve you? And feed you, too? How much face do you think you have?"

The village chief's wife's sarcastic expression deeply stung Zhang Yanqiu.

Zhang Yanqiu did not even want to speak. Her mind was filled with unbearable humiliation. Without another word, she ran out of the courtyard.

As she walked down the country path, she kept wondering when she would ever be able to return to the city. The older batch of Educated Youths had already been here for six or seven years. Could it be that she would have to stay here for the rest of her life?

Doing the hardest work and still being bullied?

The more she thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed. After being bullied by all sorts of people, she stared at the river for a long while before finally making up her mind. Closing her eyes, she jumped in.

Luckily, several children saw her. They shouted through the village for adults to come save her, and that was how she was rescued.

When the village chief learned that Zhang Yanqiu had jumped into the river, his expression was extraordinarily vivid. He turned and scolded his wife before hurrying to the riverbank. Zhang Yanqiu had been saved and sent back to the Educated Youth Dormitory. This time, the village chief had no choice but to stand up for her. Someone had nearly died. He could not simply ignore it.

When Wang Xiaomei saw Zhang Yanqiu being carried back, fear gripped her heart, and her hands would not stop trembling.

"What is wrong with you girls?"

"Huh? Can't you talk things out properly? What can't be resolved? Did you have to make such a fuss that someone nearly died before you'd settle down?"

The village chief rebuked them sternly.

Zhao Xianglan looked aggrieved. "Village Chief, this has nothing to do with me. I kept trying to calm them both down. I never expected them both to have such terrible tempers."

Wang Xiaomei was still standing there blankly, unable to react.

Seeing her like that, the village chief did not say much more. It was enough that she knew fear now.

"Hey, hurry and carry her inside. You female Educated Youths, help her change out of those clothes. Take better care of her these next few days, especially you, Xiaomei. Don't bully newly arrived Educated Youths. She's a young girl who's only just arrived and hasn't adapted yet. Give way a little more. You can't be so selfish."

"You Educated Youths who came from all over the country should be even more united and friendly."

"If she gets hurt again because of you, I'll send you to the commune and have you repatriated. Our little village can't keep someone like you."

"That's all I have to say. You can handle yourselves from now on."

After saying that, the villagers carried the still-unconscious Zhang Yanqiu into the room.

Zhao Xianglan looked at Wang Xiaomei, who stood off to the side in a daze, badly frightened, and smiled inwardly. Then she turned to Lin Yuzhu and Li Xiangwan. "I'm afraid I can't change her clothes by myself. Let's do it together."

The two could not refuse, so they followed her inside to help.

Lin Yuzhu looked at Wang Xiaomei, who was still standing there stupidly, and sighed. "This girl is probably going to get a reputation for being overbearing and driving someone to death."

Looking past appearances to the essence of things, it was not hard to see that Wang Xiaomei had been used as someone else's weapon. After today, neither she nor Zhang Yanqiu would have a particularly good reputation among the villagers.

At the moment, most villagers sympathized with Zhang Yanqiu. But once the shock wore off, they would stay far away from her. She had tried to kill herself by jumping into the river over such a tiny matter. Who would dare get too close to her?

What if someone said one wrong thing?

What if she jumped into the river again?

It was best to stay far away from someone like that and avoid provoking her.

Zhang Yanqiu's actions had been like hurting the enemy for a thousand while injuring herself for eight hundred.

At the village chief's urging, the villagers gradually dispersed.

Faint sounds of discussion still drifted into the courtyard.

Only then did Wang Xiaomei snap out of it. With tears in her eyes, she looked aggrievedly outside, then toward the room, and shouted, "So just because you jumped into the river, you're in the right now?!"

The villagers who had not gone far looked at one another and clicked their tongues repeatedly. "Wang Xiaomei really is something else. The girl is already like that, and she's still bullying her?"

Once Zhang Yanqiu had been settled, Lin Yuzhu returned to her own room.

Everyone else had already finished dinner, but she had not eaten yet.

Thinking that the chicken soup should be nearly done, she quickened her pace. The moment she entered the room and was about to close the door for dinner, Wang Xiaomei followed her in.

Lin Yuzhu looked at her in confusion.

What is she trying to do?

Wang Xiaomei looked at Lin Yuzhu pitifully.

"I want to find someone to talk to."

Lin Yuzhu froze for two seconds, somewhat unable to understand how Wang Xiaomei viewed their relationship. They were not close enough to have a heart-to-heart talk.

Wang Xiaomei had long since lost her usual arrogant manner. She had probably been scared badly. Though she was only twenty, she did not possess the slightest hint of youthful innocence or liveliness. What remained was more of the sharpness and unruliness left after life had worn her down. She calculated every matter and fought over every inch.

But was that really wrong?

In the end, Lin Yuzhu softened her heart a little. Mainly, she was afraid Wang Xiaomei would suffer another blow and jump into the river too. She might not be rescued in time.

After saying that, she opened the door again, felt around for the matchbox, and lit a candle. Only then did the room gain a little light.

Wang Xiaomei followed behind Yuzhu step by step. Finally, she sat on the kang with a timid, hesitant air and spoke with tears in her eyes.

"I never thought she would take it so hard that she'd jump into the river and kill herself."

Lin Yuzhu nodded. "Who could have expected that?"

It seemed Wang Xiaomei truly only wanted someone to talk to.

Wang Xiaomei did not expect comforting words from Lin Yuzhu. It was enough as long as Lin Yuzhu did not mock her.

"You've been here for half a month now. Tell me, hasn't she either been crying or sitting there frowning and staring blankly? Has she done even a bit of work?"

"Who hasn't suffered this month? Who didn't endure it like this?"

"Wasn't I the same when I first arrived?"

"I ground my hands until they were covered in thick calluses. Even when my skin split, I still did whatever needed doing. How could I be the least bit pretentious?"

"In my first year here, I didn't know how to use a sickle and accidentally cut my leg. Didn't I still limp along and keep working?"

"Cooking at the Educated Youth Dormitory was even less something I dared delay. If you dared use an injury as an excuse not to work, they would dare throw your luggage out."

Lin Yuzhu stared at Wang Xiaomei in astonishment.

So the Educated Youth Dormitory used to be this harsh?

Seeing her expression, Wang Xiaomei said irritably, "I even let you eat vegetables from the garden. When we first arrived, we couldn't even touch a stalk of scallion. Later, when we didn't have enough grain to eat, they were afraid we'd borrow food. Every day, they made snide remarks, afraid that if they showed us even a little kindness, we'd latch onto them."

"If I hadn't been capable, who knows how badly they would have torn me apart with their words."

"Hmph. If it had been earlier, Yanqiu would have been begging and pleading."

Lin Yuzhu fell silent for a while before finally saying, "You don't let us touch the vegetable garden now, either."

Wang Xiaomei was speechless. "That's not the point, okay?"

"She changed."

"I didn't even say anything. Those days, I was the one who helped her with the vegetables. What did Zhao Xianglan do? She's just someone who knows how to talk. Hmph, and you all still think she's a good person."

Lin Yuzhu indicated that she did not. "Don't look at how Zhao Xianglan has been here for two or three years. She isn't much good at work either, only a little better than you. She earns seven or eight work points a day. These past few days, Zhang Yanqiu hasn't been well. The moment she sits down, she comes running over."

"I was crying poverty, seeing how pitiful she was, and saying I'd use my own grain to fill her stomach."