Who's Trying to Scam Whom?

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

Episode 28: Who's Trying to Scam Whom?

Having failed to get her way, Auntie Li Si was hardly about to let him go so easily. She turned to follow, quickly grabbing Wang Xiaomei's cloth bag and refusing to let go.

In her agitation, she happened to bump into Lin Yuzhu.

The jar had been heavy to begin with, and after carrying it all the way here, Lin Yuzhu's hands shook. She failed to steady it, and the jar in her hands smashed down onto Auntie Li Si's foot.

With a howl, Auntie Li Si clutched her foot. Furious, she shoved Lin Yuzhu, then hopped on one leg, baring her teeth in pain.

It all happened so fast. Seeing that Auntie Li Si was no good person and afraid of being scammed, Lin Yuzhu's eyes darted around. She quickly sat down on the ground, pretended she could not get up, and began crying out in pain.

Everything had happened too quickly. To outsiders, it looked like Auntie Li Si had shoved Lin Yuzhu to the ground.

The two of them cried out more miserably than the other.

Seeing Lin Yuzhu sitting on the ground without getting up, Auntie Li Si became angry. She had only given her a light shove—how could that possibly hurt anyone? Unable to swallow her anger, she cursed, "Quit putting on an act and get up! You must've broken my toe when you dropped that on it. Hurry up and pay me!"

"You have to pay me at least fifty yuan."

"Heh!"

Lin Yuzhu's eyes filled with mockery. "You might not even earn fifty yuan in a whole year, yet you've got the nerve to ask for that much!"

"Wang Xiaomei, hurry and get the village chief! My tailbone must be cracked! Ow, it hurts so bad! Tell the village chief—tell the village chief to get me an Ox Cart! I need to go to the hospital!"

"Ah, I can't move! Help!"

"You're bullying me!"

"Hmph, am I not the one suffering here?"

Lin Yuzhu's act was so convincing that even the aunties gathering around felt pain on her behalf. A blow to the tailbone was no laughing matter.

Aunt Wang, who often argued with Lin Yuzhu, was the first to speak. "She didn't really hurt herself, did she? If it's really cracked, she won't be crippled, will she?"

"Li Si's daughter-in-law, you've really gotten yourselves into trouble now."

"If Educated Youth Lin really ends up crippled, won't your family have to support her for the rest of her life?"

Everything had happened too fast. When Wang Xiaomei turned around, Lin Yuzhu was already lying on the ground. Seeing her covered in sweat and apparently in unbearable pain, Wang Xiaomei thought something had really happened. Panicking, she said, "I'll go get the village chief! She's putting on an act!"

Auntie Li Si was so furious she nearly flipped over. Seeing Wang Xiaomei heading for the village chief, she tried to stop her but was too late. Meanwhile, Lin Yuzhu wailed, "Ow, ow! Aunt Wang, help me grab her! Ow, it hurts so much!"

"Grab her! Ow, ow!"

A kind-hearted auntie suddenly stepped forward and upheld justice. "Educated Youth Lin, don't worry. We all saw it. She won't get away."

Auntie Li Si stomped her feet in anger, no longer caring about the pain. She cursed furiously, "You little bitch, I'll make you pay for crashing into me!"

As she spoke, she raised her foot to kick her.

Lin Yuzhu cried out loudly, pointing at her. Looking terrified that she would be kicked, she endured the pain and scooted backward, grimacing as she cursed Zhang Fei.

The other aunties could not stand it anymore. If word got out that their village had joined forces to bully an Educated Youth, they would probably lose their title as an advanced production brigade again this year.

These Educated Youth had been assigned here by the leadership. Even if they were unwelcome, it could only be shown in private. How could they bully them so openly in broad daylight?

A group of people held Auntie Li Si back and kept her from kicking Lin Yuzhu. Then they all began berating her. "Isn't your foot just fine?"

One auntie could not stand it. "You were still demanding compensation from her, and you wanted fifty yuan! Why weren't you thinking about fifty yuan when you were lifting your foot to kick someone?"

Lin Yuzhu nodded along. "Exactly, exactly. Aren't your legs and feet pretty nimble? Ow, wow, you're really bullying people! You're evil to the skies! Ow, ow, it hurts so much! And you still want fifty yuan!"

"Are you bandits?"

"I'm going to the commune leaders to seek justice!"

The village chief, who had just arrived, heard that last sentence. His expression changed, and he immediately scolded Auntie Li Si. "You old woman, do you have no shame at all?"

"Picking on a young girl? Go call your Li Laosi over here. I want to ask him when your family plans to repay the work points you've owed the brigade for the past two years!"

"You loaf around all day instead of working, stirring up trouble here. Are you planning to keep owing work points forever?"

"Go get the accountant to calculate how many work points your family has earned this year!"

"If you haven't earned enough work points, your whole family can get out! Stop being a pest to this production brigade!"

When Auntie Li Si heard that, her face went pale with fright. If the village chief embarrassed Li Laosi like this, then when she got home, he would definitely beat her and take his anger out on her. And if they were really driven from the village, she would have no way to survive.

"Village chief, I only bumped her lightly! She's putting on an act! I'm the one who's definitely crippled!"

Lin Yuzhu immediately wailed.

The village chief's face turned livid, and veins bulged on his forehead.

"Village chief, this little girl is trying to scam people! Ow, and she wants me to pay fifty yuan! Is she trying to take my life?"

"Oh, give it a rest. So many people saw it—you were the one who shoved her down!"

Amid the noisy crowd, one voice stood out. "Exactly! Exactly!"

The scene became lively again.

It was unclear whether the villagers had simply been bullied too much by Auntie Li Si, but now nearly everyone was condemning her.

Auntie Li Si could not defend herself.

Wang Xiaomei ran to Lin Yuzhu's side. "Can you get up?"

"Why don't we try?"

"Pull me gently. Ahhh, gently, gently! Help me gently!"

Wang Xiaomei was speechless. She was already being as gentle as possible, okay?

Lin Yuzhu's basket, wooden bucket, and all sorts of other things were scattered across the ground. Her mouth kept crying out in pain, but her eyes remained alert, guarding against anyone trying to take advantage and steal something.

In the end, Li Laosi never showed up.

Arguments like this happened in the village about once every half month, and it was impossible to sort out who was right.

Seeing that Lin Yuzhu could stand, the village chief tried to smooth things over. If her bones were really cracked, how could she possibly stand?

The village chief still favored his own villagers. He gave Lin Yuzhu two days off and told Auntie Li Si to compensate her with two Chicken eggs to help her recover.

And that was the end of it. Auntie Li Si still wanted to complain about her foot, but the village chief glared her down.

Lin Yuzhu pouted at Wang Xiaomei. "Pick up my things!"

Only then did Wang Xiaomei react. She hurriedly gathered everything scattered across the ground, put Lin Yuzhu's cloth bag into the basket as well, and carried it all on her back.

Since they were on dirt, the pickle jar did not even have a single scratch. The quality really was excellent.

Even Wang Xiaomei felt pain for Auntie Li Si when she saw it, though she also thought Auntie Li Si deserved it. Hadn't she brought it on herself?

Wang Xiaomei helped Lin Yuzhu limp back to the Educated Youth Dormitory. They happened to run into Zhou Nan, who had just fetched water and was about to enter his room. He paused when he saw the two of them looking disheveled, nodded in greeting, then carried his bucket inside without saying another word.

Wang Xiaomei was speechless.

Lin Yuzhu watched Zhou Nan's retreating back and shook her head. This supporting male character really was cold. What a waste of such a nice voice—he could at least say a few words. He kept himself clean and aloof, but he was really so indifferent.

Wang Xiaomei muttered quietly, "We're both girls. How do you expect him to be enthusiastic?"

"That's true. But when we were working in the front yard before, did you ever see him talk much with anyone?"

"He's such a good-looking person. Why is he always so stiff and awkward?"

Lin Yuzhu thought about it. In the original novel, the supporting male character had indeed been cold-hearted. Aside from the female lead, he was merely acquaintances with everyone else and disliked meddling in others' affairs even more. Later, he even remained chaste for the female lead, never marrying for his entire life. That kind of determination was truly extraordinary.

She could not help sighing again. Why were there so many good men around the female lead?

"You've been paying so much attention to him. Do you like him?"

"Ah, what are you talking about?"

Wang Xiaomei spoke shyly and bashfully shoved Lin Yuzhu.

Lin Yuzhu was speechless. Fortunately, she was not really injured.

After bringing Lin Yuzhu to the door, Wang Xiaomei kindly asked, "Do you want me to walk you inside?"

Lin Yuzhu waved her hand. "Can you manage by yourself?"

Lin Yuzhu nodded and waved her off. "Ah, hurry and go. It hurts too much. I don't want to talk."

Hearing that, Wang Xiaomei did not linger. She helped Lin Yuzhu carry her things into the room, then left.

Lin Yuzhu let out a breath. Those village aunties were really something. If she had not reacted quickly, she might really have been scammed today.

If she was going to put on an act, she had to see it through. Lin Yuzhu planned to take advantage of this and rest for two days. As for Auntie Li Si's two eggs, she had not expected them to be delivered in the first place.

Would a deadbeat compensate anyone with anything?

For some reason, Wang Xiaomei seemed to have a screw loose. After making dinner, she actually brought it all to Lin Yuzhu. Without even knocking, she kicked the door open and walked right in.

Lin Yuzhu did not know who it was and was quite annoyed. Who kicked the door?

If she had not been exhausted and resting on the kang, she might have already finished cooking by now.

Seeing Wang Xiaomei set a plate of food on the table, with four corn buns on top, Lin Yuzhu was somewhat confused.

"What's this?"

Wang Xiaomei did not answer and simply said, "I also made porridge. I'll go get it in a moment."

The little bit of anger in Lin Yuzhu's heart disappeared. She simply watched Wang Xiaomei busily arrange the food, bowls, and chopsticks before Wang Xiaomei finally said, "Look at you, you can't cook like this. On days when you don't cook, I'll take your portion."

Lin Yuzhu suddenly felt a tiny bit moved.

Wang Xiaomei had not realized she was faking the injury, and Lin Yuzhu did not plan to tell her. In this era, even the smallest matter could be blown out of proportion. This time, even if her injury was fake, she had to act as though it were real. "Thanks."

Lin Yuzhu felt a little embarrassed instead. She could not exactly sit while eating, so she simply stood to eat.

Wang Xiaomei naturally took the only chair in the room.

When Wang Xiaomei heard Lin Yuzhu thank her, she was quite surprised. A little awkwardly, she said, "As for the vegetables, I won't bother about them. But you have to make up for the food you ate later. Go get it yourself."

After all the trouble she had gone through today, the corn buns actually tasted rather good now.

Looking at the bowl of stew, Lin Yuzhu nodded. There were not many chili peppers in it, which showed that Wang Xiaomei had put some thought into it. "Take some hard candy back with you later."

"Really? You can't regret it!"

Wang Xiaomei's eyes lit up.