Good Person Card

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

Episode 23: Good Person Card.

Lin Yuzhu looked speechlessly at Wang Xiaomei. So after all her daily scheming and calculating, she had gotten nowhere. No wonder Wang Xiaomei had lost her temper so badly today.

From Wang Xiaomei's perspective, Zhang Yanqiu was being utterly ungrateful. She was someone who counted every last penny, and it was already impressive that she had endured until now. Fine, Zhang Yanqiu did not want to send it away—but then she even criticized her cooking. She had not added chili because of Zhang Yanqiu's wife—no, because she had been sick. She had only put in a little chili after seeing that she had recovered, yet Zhang Yanqiu was still finding fault with everything. As if Wang Xiaomei owed her something.

How was she supposed to put up with that?

What use was it for her to tell Zhao Xianglan about the grain? She was using my grain! Shouldn't she have told me? Now look what happened—I've been made to look bad for no reason.

At that, Wang Xiaomei burst into tears, her tears streaming down her face.

Lin Yuzhu rested her chin on her hand and leaned against the table. She had come to understand Wang Xiaomei a little better. Wang Xiaomei looked fierce and hot-tempered, but her heart was not particularly hard. If she had a little calculation in her, it was merely shrewdness. She liked taking small advantages when it came to her own food and clothing, but it was not a serious flaw.

When they had been building the house, Wang Xiaomei had made a few sour remarks, but she had worked hard whenever help was needed and had not harbored any crooked thoughts. Unlike Zhang Yanqiu, who had approached her and hinted repeatedly that she wanted to move in with them. Yet when asked to contribute money toward the house, she immediately cried poverty.

It was really too disgraceful.

All things considered, Wang Xiaomei was not such a terrible person.

When we came over that day, I heard from the commune that another batch of Educated Youth would be arriving before the autumn harvest.

Lin Yuzhu spoke slowly.

Wang Xiaomei was so startled that she forgot to cry. She demanded indignantly, "Another batch? One is already enough trouble—now more are coming? Are they trying to kill us?"

The autumn harvest is already so late. Even if we work through it, we can't earn enough work points for a year's worth of grain. The villagers may be able to settle accounts with Liu Hu, but we Educated Youth need money to settle ours. If a few more penniless people come, won't us old-timers have to support them?

Lin Yuzhu shrugged. If the commune wanted to send Educated Youth over, even the village chief could do nothing about it.

When people ate from the same pot, they could not just watch others starve.

This era advocated unity, friendship, mutual help, and a spirit of sacrifice.

If the new Educated Youth truly had neither money nor grain, the older Educated Youth sharing the same pot would have to help them out somehow. If someone really starved to death, everyone eating from that pot would definitely be held responsible.

Wang Xiaomei looked utterly despairing. Not everyone who borrowed would repay. She knew that principle all too well. "You like spicy food, and you can't get along with them anyway. Why not take this chance to eat separately?"

Lin Yuzhu thought it would be best for Wang Xiaomei to separate from the group. That way, she might even salvage some of her reputation in the village. Otherwise, there would only be more trouble ahead.

If you don't eat from the same pot, you won't have to worry about whether other people have enough grain. Keep your own grain safe. As long as you don't go soft-hearted, you can pretend not to notice and get by.

Wang Xiaomei hesitated. "But if I move out, won't it look like I have bad relationships and got pushed out? How embarrassing."

"You seem to be unclear about something. Your relationships are bad. The whole village knows it."

Lin Yuzhu felt this girl needed to face reality.

Wang Xiaomei was speechless.

Lin Yuzhu smiled gently at her. "I'm only talking to you because I'm afraid you'll get upset and copy someone else by jumping into the river. Otherwise, why would I leave chicken soup untouched to discuss life with you? Is the chicken soup not tempting enough?"

It really was possible. From what Lin Yuzhu knew of Wang Xiaomei, this girl had a reckless streak. She might actually jump into the river, thinking that would make everyone even.

Wang Xiaomei had no response. "Besides, aren't you always unenthusiastic about cooking because you want to slack off?"

Then it would be even better to eat separately. You would only need to cook for yourself, saving effort and avoiding criticism. What a bargain. Sure, lining up would waste a little time, but at least you'd be free.

The key was that she could ask Zhao Xianglan for help.

Lin Yuzhu felt that with a new batch of Educated Youth arriving, the future looked worrying.

Given Wang Xiaomei's intelligence, Lin Yuzhu would not expose Zhao Xianglan's true nature in front of her.

Everyone had to walk their own path. Only after being hurt by misjudging someone would they understand. Others could neither teach nor force that lesson.

Besides, they were not close enough for that. There was no need to create extra trouble for herself. Wang Xiaomei might not even trust her.

If it ended with her being branded a petty person who sowed discord, it would infuriate her to death.

Wang Xiaomei's eyes darted around as she stood and headed outside.

"Mm, I need to think about it."

Lin Yuzhu got up as well. She wanted to close the door and drink her chicken soup.

"Um, thank you. I knew you were a good person." So she had just been given a good person card?

The rich, delicious chicken soup nearly made Lin Yuzhu swallow her tongue. She had not expected chicken soup with nothing added to taste so good. It thoroughly satisfied her appetite.

After comfortably finishing dinner, Lin Yuzhu lay down under the quilt and sighed. She could now be considered someone with the freedom to eat chicken.

Ever since arriving in the seventies, Lin Yuzhu had not slept in even once. Coming to the countryside had made it even worse. It felt like she had barely slept before she had to get up and go to work.

If there had not been a chimney, Lin Yuzhu truly would not have wanted to light a fire and cook. It would have been so nice to use the fuel in her space directly.

But details determined success or failure. This was not a corner she could cut.

She was not fond of boiled eggs, so after getting up, she decided to make egg drop soup. She stole two small scallions from Wang Xiaomei's vegetable garden, chopped them up and sprinkled them in, then warmed a steamed bun. A simple breakfast was ready.

That breakfast looked pretty good. She wondered how Wang Xiaomei and Zhang Yanqiu were doing now.

A tiny spark of curiosity rose in Lin Yuzhu's heart.

Although Zhang Yanqiu had been rescued, she had caught a chill. Her newly recovered body could not take it, and she fell sick again. She developed a fever in the latter half of the night. If not for the two fever-reducing tablets left over from her last illness, she might have been burned stupid by now.

Wang Xiaomei felt a little guilty. She took out some of her millet and cooked Zhang Yanqiu a bowl of porridge, feeling that she had done her duty. At the Educated Youth Dormitory, the atmosphere was extremely strange.

Usually, everyone would either be arguing noisily or laughing and fooling around at this hour. Today, they were unusually quiet. No one said a word. After breakfast, they each went off to work.

As soon as Lin Yuzhu arrived in the fields, Aunt Wang sidled up to her with bright, eager eyes and asked curiously, "Lin Zhiqing, what happened at your place yesterday? Tell me."

Lin Yuzhu saw Aunt Li behind her, listening intently as well, and could not help smiling. "I don't know. I'm not sure."

"But you live in the same courtyard. How could you not know?"

Aunt Wang looked as though Lin Yuzhu's answer had deceived her.

Watching her, Lin Yuzhu raised her hoe and began loosening the soil.

"Aunt Wang, did you forget? We don't live in the same room. How would I know about things between them?"

Aunt Wang nearly got hit by the raised hoe and hurriedly stepped back two paces. Seeing that Lin Yuzhu was unwilling to say more, she pursed her lips and stopped pestering her. She went back to chatting with Aunt Li.

As the two talked, the conversation turned back to Lin Yuzhu. Aunt Wang raised her voice and said, "If you ask me, Lin Zhiqing is really lucky. She built herself such a big house to live in—how grand! Which girl in our courtyard has it as good as you? People really are different."

Lin Yuzhu smiled sweetly. Like Aunt Wang, she stood in the field without working and said,

"Aunt Qiao said that if mine counts as a big house, then wouldn't yours be a mansion?"

"What's this? Wang Huahua is still sharing a room with her brothers? That won't do. She'll be fourteen after the New Year, won't she? She's already a grown girl. Aunt Wang, you should pay more attention. You can't neglect her just because she's a girl. No matter what, you should clear out a room for your daughter."

Aunt Wang's father-in-law was named Wang Erzhu, though everyone in the village called him Wang Lao'er. He was still alive, so the Wang Family could not divide the household. Wang Lao'er had three sons, and only Aunt Wang had given birth to a daughter, Wang Huahua. The rest were all boys. She was the only flower in such a large family—how could they not spoil her?

After Wang Huahua turned ten, they had already partitioned off a small room for her.

Fearing that her daughter's reputation would be harmed, Aunt Wang hurriedly explained, "Our Huahua has slept in her own room for ages."

Only after speaking did she realize what Lin Yuzhu meant.

"Oh, hey! You little girl are really petty."

Lin Yuzhu smiled with narrowed eyes, looking soft and harmless.

"Same to you."

Aunt Wang was speechless. She had to admit that this was what she admired about young girls. They would smile while insulting you. If you tried to fight with them, it would seem excessive when they still wore that smiling face. If you kept pressing the matter, it would look like you were bullying them.

Aunt Li rolled her eyes. Knowing that Aunt Wang had not won the argument, she tugged her old friend and whispered, "Hurry up and work. We're not like those city folk who have money to buy grain."

Wang Xiaomei, on the other hand, was not having such an easy time. Since everyone could not find Zhang Yanqiu, they could only come bother her.

That entire morning, Wang Xiaomei endured plenty of ridicule.

"What?"

"How did you bully Zhang Zhiqing into jumping into the river?"

"What?"

"How did Zhang Zhiqing offend you?"

"What?"

"Was Zhao Xianglan bullied by you like this before too?"

"I heard you and Zhang Zhiqing liked the same male Educated Youth. Who was it?"

Some even directly asked whether Lin Zhiqing and Li Zhiqing had also been bullied out by her.

Wang Xiaomei was so furious that her lungs nearly exploded. In this village, she was practically about to become a vicious tyrant.

After work, Wang Xiaomei practically ran back to the Educated Youth Dormitory. Lin Yuzhu had only just entered her room when Wang Xiaomei followed in behind her.

Lin Yuzhu looked at her in confusion.

"What are you doing here at noon?"

"How much did it cost you to build this room?"

Wang Xiaomei got straight to the point.

Lin Yuzhu froze. Did that mean Wang Xiaomei wanted to build one too?

She could not help feeling surprised. There was still an empty patch beside her house. Another room could be built there.

She had always thought Li Xiangbei would take that spot, because in the original plot, he moved out later too. Less than fifty yuan was not a small sum, and money was truly valuable right now. Lin Yuzhu had thought Wang Xiaomei might be reluctant to spend it, so the house might not get built after all.

Yet unexpectedly, Wang Xiaomei was a decisive person. She had left Lin Yuzhu's place at noon still wavering, but that afternoon, she resolutely went to find the village chief.