How Wang Xiaomei Was Once Mistreated

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

Episode 39: How Was Wang Xiaomei Once Tormented?

When there was nothing to do, it was better to tell everyone about it and give them a laugh.

Wang Xiaomei curled her lips. No matter how she looked at Lin Yuzhu, Lin Yuzhu did not seem to need comforting, and Wang Xiaomei began to doubt what Lin Yuzhu had said earlier.

Feifei had said she was going to pick up wheat, but zya had already run off. What was the point of going back now?

It would be easier to pick up wheat once it got dark.

Lin Yuzhu shrugged. "Mm, hard to say."

Wang Xiaomei felt that Lin Yuzhu was too proud to admit that she had been bullied.

Lin Yuzhu was still very curious about how Wang Xiaomei had been bullied back then, but no matter how she asked, Wang Xiaomei would not say. What a pity. Such juicy gossip, yet she could not hear it. It was agony!

If she were not hungry, Lin Yuzhu really would have taken a nap. She was simply exhausted.

She bought a bag of soybean paste from the System Store, then picked two eggplants from the vegetable garden. Now that her relationship with Wang Xiaomei had improved, she felt more at ease picking vegetables from the garden. It was not taking advantage; she would settle the bill at the end of the month, just a few cents.

She had been tired from work these past two days and needed some grease in her diet, so Lin Yuzhu planned to make braised eggplant in soy sauce. She washed the eggplants and cut them up, poured plenty of oil into the pot, and pan-fried the pieces. Before long, the fragrance drifted out.

Once they were nearly done frying, she poured in the prepared sauce, covered the pot, and let them simmer. The rich aroma of the sauce filled the entire room. If she could add some minced pork, the dish would taste even better.

Speaking of pork, the pigs in her space were growing splendidly. Lin Yuzhu planned to slaughter one and eat meat once this busy spell was over. She had already mapped out quite a few dishes in her head, and the more she thought about it, the hungrier she became.

Ever since she got the thatched cottage, Lin Yuzhu had basically prepared all her staple foods in her space. She had specifically bought a rice cooker to cook rice, because she had discovered that the smell of cooked rice was quite fragrant too. The moment she cooked rice here, the people next door would come sniffing around like bloodhounds.

Thinking that steaming rice in a clay pot was inconvenient, she simply bought a rice cooker. From then on, all her rice steaming would be done in her space.

After experiencing the convenience and speed, Lin Yuzhu could not stop herself. She bought quite a few small appliances, including a steamer. From then on, she would make steamed buns, corn buns, stuffed buns, and the like in her space too.

She refused to believe that anyone would deliberately keep watch on her cooking.

Once the braised eggplant in soy sauce was done, the rice in her space was ready as well. She had Small Robot serve the rice and place it on the counter, so she could simply take it out of her space.

Other than the lack of meat, it was a thoroughly satisfying meal.

After a full day of labor, everything tasted delicious.

After she finished eating and washed the pots, bowls, and utensils, Huang Xiaomei came over right on cue again. Lin Yuzhu truly admired Wang Xiaomei for that. Every time, Wang Xiaomei arrived at exactly the right moment.

"What did you make tonight?"

"I could smell shrimp from my room. You used quite a bit of oil, didn't you?"

Lin Yuzhu wanted to applaud her.

"Nothing much. Just two eggplants braised in soy sauce."

"That's such a waste of oil!"

Wang Xiaomei spoke with a look of disgust.

"The eggplants in your vegetable garden are about to get old. Once the autumn harvest is over and the eggplants are pulled out, you'll have to count on them for food."

"Hey, no, I didn't come here to talk about eggplants. Should we go take a look in the fields? If Lin Yuzhu still hasn't gone, I've already thought it through. We'll go block her at her house and make her finish the work no matter what."

Lin Yuzhu had just eaten her fill and did not want to move. "How bored are you? You want to watch her finish her work just for two work points? Not to mention what people might say about the two of us, the wind blows all night. Can a person take that?"

"Do you have money to buy cold medicine?"

Wang Xiaomei immediately wilted. Two work points were money too, but getting sick over them really was not worth it.

Lin Yuzhu patted her. "I didn't expect you to be so warmhearted."

Wang Xiaomei felt a little guilty. Her eyes darted about as she asked quietly.

"Again and again, I just feel like something isn't right. Tell me about it."

"Then tell me—how were you bullied by the villagers back then?"

Wang Xiaomei curled her lips and fell silent. The atmosphere turned a little awkward.

After a while, Wang Xiaomei said faintly, "The vegetables in my garden and private plot..."

Lin Yuzhu narrowed her eyes. No wonder Wang Xiaomei cared so much about her affairs. No chance.

Wang Xiaomei was speechless. She had not even said anything yet. How could she possibly search everything alone when the time came?

"Help me search, and I'll share the vegetables with you."

Wang Xiaomei looked ingratiating. She thought that separating from the older Educated Youth had its drawbacks too—there would be no one to help harvest the vegetables in the fields. Lin Yuzhu played dumb. Forget trying to get labor out of her with so few vegetables.

While they were chatting merrily, over in the fields, Aunt Li was shivering in the autumn wind as she moved wheat. After filling one cart, she still had to push it to the threshing ground and spread it out to dry. The people responsible for pushing carts and hauling wheat had gone home long ago. Who would come keep her company at this hour?

Aunt Li went back and forth until she was drenched in sweat. When the evening wind blew over her, she shuddered all over and could not help sneezing. She kept cursing Lin Yuzhu, saying that the girl was truly heartless, leaving the wheat in the fields without fear that it would spoil after being left overnight. When that happened, it would not just be a matter of one or two work points.

She cursed nonstop, but her hands did not dare stop for even a moment. If she did not hurry, she would barely get any sleep after returning home before having to get up for work again.

Lisa regretted it a little now. If she had known the girl would not fall for it, she would not have done this.

The next day, when Lin Yuzhu arrived in the fields for work and saw that they were spotless except for the wheat stubble, she knew Aunt Li had come the night before and finished the work. So she went to the Small Team Leader to have the work points recalculated.

"Everything's done now, so you can't deduct my points." After verifying the situation, the Small Team Leader did not make things difficult for her and said he had recorded it. Only then did Lin Yuzhu relax.

Today, it was her turn to tie up wheat. She had thought Aunt Li would still be paired with her, but unexpectedly, the Production Team Leader assigned Song Zhigao to her. Xiao Song was no longer such a rookie, so Lin Yuzhu did not kick the ball back this time.

Then Lin Yuzhu searched the entire worksite and could not find Aunt Li. Curious, she asked Aunt Wang, "Aunt Wang, where's Aunt Li?"

"Why haven't I seen her?"

Aunt Wang looked at Lin Yuzhu for a long while. Seeing that Lin Yuzhu truly did not know, she said irritably, "She caught a chill while working last night and couldn't get up this morning. Her man is over there asking the Production Team Leader for leave."

Lin Yuzhu looked in that direction and indeed saw an old man standing beside the Production Team Leader. She rubbed her nose. This really was not her fault.

Aunt Wang sighed and whispered in Lin Yuzhu's ear, "You're something else, girl. You left so much work for her alone. Weren't you deliberately trying to exhaust her into illness?"

Lin Yuzhu was displeased. With a stern face, she said, "Aunt Wang, I don't know what Aunt Li told you, but I worked properly yesterday. When I left, the Small Team Leader checked it too. I cut all the wheat in that section by myself, and I also carried away half the field's wheat by myself. I didn't take advantage of her in the slightest."

Aunt Wang's expression stiffened. She and Aunt Li were neighbors, and that morning she had specifically gone to ask Aunt Li to work together. Aunt Li was too sick to get up, and taking leave meant losing work points. In one day, she would lose more than ten work points one way or another. She hated Lin Yuzhu to the core. When Aunt Wang came over, Aunt Li had grabbed her and told her at length that Lin Yuzhu had dumped all the work on her alone.

She was terribly aggrieved.

"You little girl really are something. I only said a few words, and you rattled off a whole string. I won't say any more. We need to get to work." Aunt Wang left without another word.

Lin Yuzhu was glad she had specifically gone to find the Small Team Leader before leaving yesterday. Otherwise, there would have been an argument over who had done more and who had done less.

Her mouth had practically been blessed.

No sooner had Lin Yuzhu said that than the Production Team Leader came over with Aunt Li's old man.

Standing before Lin Yuzhu, the Production Team Leader wore such a grave expression that it was as if someone had died. "Lin Zhiqing, Li Daxiang's family says Aunt Li helped you do more than half your work yesterday and did not finish until midnight. Then the wind blew on her last night, and now she's sick and can't get up. How do you think this should be settled?"

At first, Lin Yuzhu was confused by "Li Daxiang's family," but then she realized he meant Aunt Li.

What did Aunt Li getting sick have to do with her?

"I don't know where that claim came from. I completed all my tasks by myself yesterday. I didn't rely on anyone's help."

The Production Team Leader frowned deeply. Aunt Li would not lie about something like this, would she? For a moment, he disliked Lin Yuzhu. She had left all the work to someone else and gone home to eat and drink well herself. That was too heartless.

The Production Team Leader felt Aunt Li could not possibly lie, but Aunt Li really dared to lie.

She had thought it through quite well. Everyone was busy now—who could keep watching someone else's field all the time?

The scorekeeper had recorded so many people's work attendance. How could he possibly remember every detail of the fields last night?

As long as she said the wheat in the field had been cut by her too, people would believe it. Besides, the scorekeeper was from their own village. Even if he discovered something, he certainly would not expose her in front of an outsider. Aunt Li was confident about that.

"What proof do you have that all this wheat was cut by you?"

Lin Yuzhu smiled and mocked Aunt Li's old man.

"Tell me, technically, you're elders, so I shouldn't speak too harshly. But do you really have the nerve to say such brainless nonsense to fool people?"

"Li Shui didn't work properly yesterday. He stood beside me talking all day, and his voice nearly carried across the entire wheat field. Pull over anyone at random and they'll know he didn't work properly. And he helped me? Keep dreaming!"

The Production Team Leader, who had believed those brainless words, did not know what to say.

After speaking, Lin Yuzhu said to the Production Team Leader, "Actually, when I left yesterday, I specifically went to find our Small Team Leader. Aunt Li had gone home early, and I didn't know what to do about her remaining work. Because of that, the Small Team Leader even deducted four work points from her. The scorekeeper should have proof too. Just compare who had more work points deducted, and you'll know what happened."

After saying that, Lin Yuzhu wondered whether Aunt Li was stupid. The Production Team Leader's face turned green when he heard it. His dignity had been ground into the dirt today. Furious and ashamed, he glared at Li Daxiang and shouted for the Small Team Leader to come over.