Fang Xinyao pushed hard with her hand, and Lu Zhangran fell to the ground, his wrist hitting the Shitou and immediately scraping open a cut, with blood seeping out at once.
Although the wound was not large, it still hurt quite a bit.
Fang Xinyao, meanwhile, swaggered back to the Educated Youth Residence and returned to her own room.
The room was dimly lit because electricity had not yet been connected here, and there was only a sesame-oil lamp burning.
There was no bed in the room. There was only a mud kang built against the wall, stretching from one end to the other. It was quite spacious, and normally, the six female educated youth slept together there without making it feel crowded.
Against another wall were several wooden boxes, shelves, washbasins, and other things.
The Educated Youth Residence was not large. It had only one courtyard and three rooms.
One room belonged to the male educated youth, one room belonged to the female educated youth, and the other room was the kitchen, where firewood, miscellaneous items, and other things were also piled.
When they saw Fang Xinyao enter the room, the four female educated youth who had been lying on the bed chatting immediately fell silent, each of them openly sizing up Fang Xinyao.
“Hey, Educated Youth Fang, I heard that you and Gu Chuan are in a relationship? Is it true or not?”
A round-faced female educated youth asked. She did not look very old, appearing to be around twenty years old.
The other three female educated youth nodded in agreement.
“That’s right, that’s right. How did you suddenly end up in a relationship with Gu Chuan? Didn’t you always like Educated Youth Lu?”
Clearly, they had been discussing Fang Xinyao just moments ago.
Fang Xinyao raised her head and looked at them expressionlessly. “My grandmother is eighty years old this year, and she is still healthy. Do you know why?”
The four of them were stunned and shook their heads in unison.
What did Educated Youth Fang’s eighty-year-old grandmother have to do with whether she was in a relationship with Gu Chuan?
Fang Xinyao spread her hands, looking innocent and composed as she said: “Because that old lady has never meddled in other people’s business.”
The four of them: “…”
Ignoring the four people’s frustrated expressions, Fang Xinyao walked to the corner, picked up a bucket, and went into the courtyard to draw water.
Her body felt sticky, and she needed to take a proper bath.
There was a well in the courtyard. They usually drew water from here for cooking, boiling water, or washing clothes.
When Fang Xinyao walked over, someone happened to be drawing water there. It was Lin Zhengguo, the Educated Youth Leader of the Educated Youth Residence.
“Educated Youth Fang, let me help you.” After Lin Zhengguo finished drawing his own water, he saw the slender figure of Fang Xinyao approaching and took the initiative to offer.
Drawing water was physically demanding work.
“Thank you.” Fang Xinyao thanked him and handed the bucket forward.
As Lin Zhengguo drew water, he asked: “Educated Youth Fang, are you really in a relationship with Gu Chuan?”
Everyone in the entire Educated Youth Residence had heard about what happened tonight.
Fang Xinyao: “…”
Fang Xinyao simply did not hide it. Sooner or later, everyone in the entire brigade would find out about this anyway, so she openly admitted it. “Mm. Gu Chuan and I are in a relationship.”
She even deliberately spoke a little louder.
The houses were not soundproof, so both the male educated youth and female educated youth on their respective sides heard it.
That would also save her the trouble of having people gossip behind her back later.
Lin Zhengguo said: “Although Gu Chuan’s leg is lame, he seems like a decent person. At least he’s more reliable than Educated Youth Lu.”
Lin Zhengguo deliberately lowered his voice when he said the last sentence.
Fang Xinyao nodded in considerable agreement.
Gu Chuan was indeed a good person, and he was indeed more reliable than Lu Zhangran. She really did not know what the Original Owner had ever seen in Lu Zhangran.
Lu Zhangran merely looked fair-skinned and carried an air of scholarly refinement, but two years of life in the countryside had already tanned Lu Zhangran’s skin dark, and his hair had also become coarse.
In Fang Xinyao’s eyes, Lu Zhangran was neither as tall and sturdy as Gu Chuan nor as strong as Gu Chuan. He looked like a weakling, unable to shoulder anything or carry anything. What use was a man like that?
Most importantly, he had also manipulated the Original Owner, eating the Original Owner’s food and spending the Original Owner’s money while flirting with another woman at the same time.
She really did not know where he had gotten the nerve!
Yet the Original Owner had been deeply trapped in it and unable to extricate herself.
After drawing the water, Fang Xinyao returned to the room.
Fang Xinyao took out a large red basin and placed it in the corner, then poured the water she had drawn into the basin.
An old bedsheet hung above the corner and served as a curtain. When it was time to bathe, she only needed to lower the curtain.
Normally, this was where the female educated youth bathed.
Conditions in the countryside were simply like this. There was no choice.
Fang Xinyao walked over to where the hot-water flasks were kept, picked up a hot-water flask, and left.
“Yaoyao, that’s my hot-water flask!”
Zhao Yumei happened to enter the room and saw it, so she hurriedly called out.
Fang Xinyao pretended not to hear her and directly poured all the hot water from the flask into the bathing basin.
Zhao Yumei immediately shouted in displeasure: “Yaoyao, I already called out to you just now. How could you use my hot water without my permission!”
She deliberately used the word “steal.” and she emphasized the pronunciation particularly heavily.
Fang Xinyao was not angry either. She turned around and gave Zhao Yumei a half-smiling, half-mocking look. “Why didn’t you say anything about stealing one of my eggs this morning? One egg is worth much more than your bottle of hot water, isn’t it?”
Zhao Yumei’s face reddened, and she immediately defended herself. “I didn’t. I only ate it after you agreed.”
Fang Xinyao snorted coldly. “I did not agree.”
Zhao Yumei immediately became anxious and said: “When I called you this morning, you were brushing your teeth in the courtyard. I clearly heard you answer me with an ‘Mm.’ Didn’t that mean you agreed?”
Fang Xinyao sneered. “If I remember correctly, what you asked at the time was, ‘Yaoyao, you boiled eggs again?’ You never said that you wanted to eat one.”
“You used to boil eggs every morning and give me one. I thought this time would be the same…” Zhao Yumei’s eyes welled with tears as she spoke pitifully.
Fang Xinyao crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her with contempt. “Giving them to you was kindness, not an obligation. Don’t take my kindness for granted. You eat my food, wear my clothes, and spend my money, yet you still frame me. You really have no shame!”
Zhao Yumei’s eyes were rimmed red, and she looked like a little white rabbit that had been bullied. “I didn’t. I already said it was a misunderstanding…”
The other Educated Youths wore expressions of people watching a show.
Hadn’t Educated Youth Fang and Educated Youth Zhao been good sisters before? The two of them had eaten and lived together and had practically been inseparable.
How had the two of them suddenly started tearing into each other now?
The round-faced female educated youth teased: “Educated Youth Fang, you used to be so generous toward Educated Youth Zhao. When did you become so petty?”
“That’s right. Isn’t it just one egg she ate? Why are you getting so angry?” Another female educated youth was also enjoying the spectacle and did not mind making matters worse.
“If you’re so generous, then give her your own things to eat.” Fang Xinyao tossed out the sentence casually, immediately shutting them up.
In these times, they could barely feed themselves, so who had the time to concern themselves with other people’s mouths?
One after another, they sullenly fell silent.
Fang Xinyao looked at Zhao Yumei and said: “Consider this morning’s egg exchanged for one bottle of hot water. Everything you have eaten of mine, worn of mine, and spent of mine before, give it all back to me.”
What?
Zhao Yumei’s eyes widened in disbelief when she heard this.