Lin Meng was not one to give up easily; she still wanted to say more, but the Lin family had all left, leaving only Lin Ran behind to clear the dishes.
She gritted her teeth and looked at Lin Ran with a pleading expression.
“Ranran, you also know what kind of life I lead at home. Now that there’s finally an opportunity to make my life a bit easier, could you please let me have it?”
Lin Ran finished gathering the bowls and chopsticks and wiped her hands dry with a handkerchief before turning to look at Lin Meng.
“Cousin, it’s no longer a question of whether I’ll step aside. Once the news spreads, there will surely be many people in the brigade who come running. Even if I don’t go, are you certain you can beat the others?”
Lin Meng immediately replied.
“If Eldest Uncle helps, it certainly won’t be a problem!”
To be honest, Lin Ran wasn’t dead set on seizing the position of scorekeeper. Had it been before, she might have let it go, but now it wasn’t just about stepping aside.
“I can choose not to compete with you, but I don’t know how the brigade will arrange things when the time comes.”
“You also know that even though my father is the brigade leader, the brigade is not his ‘one-man show.’ With the sent-down youths joining in, it becomes even more complicated.”
“So I won’t let my father get involved. You can fight for it based on your own abilities. I might also participate depending on the situation.”
Although Lin Ran agreed to step back, she wasn’t stupid. If Lin Meng’s chances weren’t great, she could still continue to strive for it herself. She couldn’t very well let a “duck already at her lips” fly away, could she? Moreover, she didn’t want Wang Zhaodi to keep nagging her about this every day; it was truly annoying.
However, she knew very well in her heart that without her father’s help, Lin Meng would definitely not be able to snatch the scorekeeper position.
Clearly, Lin Meng knew this as well. Seeing Lin Ran so unyielding, she also became annoyed. Originally, she had felt a bit embarrassed about wanting to steal Lin Ran’s treasure and opportunities, and had thought about finding a chance to compensate Lin Ran later. But now it seemed completely unnecessary; the girl was as stubborn as a mule!
If she won’t help, then forget it!
Once she found the treasure, it wouldn’t matter whether she had that scorekeeper job or not!
With this thought, Lin Meng couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. She turned around and left without even saying goodbye.
Lin Ran shook her head while holding her handkerchief. That mindset of hers just wouldn’t do!
Seeing her walk away, Lin Ran was just about to go inside to read when, to her surprise, Lin Meng actually returned.
While Lin Ran was still wondering why, she saw Zheng Sanya following behind Lin Meng with a basket.
Zheng Sanya gave Lin Ran a bashful smile.
“Sister Ranran, do you want to go pick mushrooms with me today?”
Before Lin Ran could answer, Lin Meng cut her off.
“Does your Sister Ranran look like the type of person who goes picking mushrooms? She still needs to read her books; let’s not disturb her. Come on, I’ll go with you.”
Hearing this, a look of disappointment appeared on Zheng Sanya’s face, but she still nodded obediently.
“Sister Ranran, then go read your books. I won’t disturb you.”
Seeing her like this, Lin Ran’s hand tightened around her handkerchief.
In truth, she didn’t particularly want to go picking mushrooms; doing it once was enough to satisfy the novelty. But hearing Lin Meng’s words—she wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination—she felt as though Lin Meng really didn’t want her to go with Sanya.
Because she wanted to see exactly what Lin Meng was up to, the more Lin Meng didn’t want her to go, the more she felt she had to go. Plus, Sanya looked quite pitiful after being rejected like that, so Lin Ran nodded in agreement.
Upon hearing that Lin Ran was coming, Zheng Sanya’s face immediately brightened, her dark, round eyes full of joy.
But Lin Meng was different; her lips were pressed tightly together, and her expression darkened.
Lin Ran saw this and became even more certain of her previous suspicion. However, she didn’t understand why Lin Meng was so against her being with Sanya. Was she afraid Lin Ran would steal her mushrooms?
With this suspicion, the three of them went to the back of the mountain.
Lin Ran was afraid that Sanya would be foolish enough to tell Lin Meng about her secret base, so she shot her a look.
“Sanya, shall we look for mushrooms around the foot of the mountain like we did yesterday?”
Fortunately, Zheng Sanya was not slow; she caught Lin Ran’s meaning instantly and followed up:
“I always look for them this way. It’s dangerous up the mountain; Sister Ranran, we must never go up there.”
Actually, Lin Ran didn’t know that even if she hadn’t reminded her, Zheng Sanya would not have taken Lin Meng to her secret base. To this day, she had only ever taken Lin Ran there. This was because she only felt kindness from Lin Ran. As for Lin Meng, she had even helped others bully her in the past; Sanya didn’t want to play with someone like that!
She didn’t know what was going on today. She had originally wanted to call Sister Ranran to go up the mountain to pick mushrooms together, but she ran into Lin Meng halfway, who insisted on joining her. In truth, she didn’t want to be with Lin Meng, but since Lin Meng was Sister Ranran’s cousin and she wanted to be with Sister Ranran, she didn’t want to make things difficult for her.
For the rest of the time, neither Lin Ran nor Sanya spoke much, focusing instead on digging for wild vegetables and looking for mushrooms.
But Lin Meng kept following Zheng Sanya, chatting with her incessantly and even putting the wild vegetables she dug into Sanya’s basket.
Zheng Sanya resisted in a small voice:
“Sister Lin Meng, keep those wild vegetables for yourself. There are plenty over there; I can dig them myself.”
She didn’t know why Lin Meng was suddenly being so nice to her, but she felt that the way Lin Meng looked at her was very strange—as if she were going to sell her off in the next second. She was a bit scared. This intuition made her even less willing to accept Lin Meng’s kindness!
Not only Zheng Sanya, but even Lin Ran—standing not far away—noticed it.
Lin Meng was being very strange!
But what could Zheng Sanya possibly have that was worth Lin Meng’s schemes?
The three of them finished digging for wild vegetables, each with their own thoughts. Finally, when it was time to head back, no matter how much Lin Meng insisted, Zheng Sanya refused to take the vegetables she offered.
This left Lin Meng feeling extremely deflated, as if nothing was going right for her today. The scorekeeper matter hadn’t been settled, and she hadn’t succeeded in winning over Zheng Sanya either.
Lin Meng sighed. For now, it seemed she could only pin all her hopes on the treasure. With that thought, she lost the heart to keep trying to get close to Zheng Sanya. She said her goodbyes and left first.
Once Lin Meng was far away, Lin Ran pulled Zheng Sanya toward their secret base. She had heard Sanya’s stomach growling just now; the girl surely hadn’t eaten breakfast, so she wanted to take her to eat something. There were still many mushrooms hidden there.
Originally, Zheng Sanya didn’t dare eat them, but she couldn’t withstand Lin Ran’s persuasion and finally accompanied her in roasting the mushrooms.
However, Lin Ran was completely incapable of roasting them herself, so she had to let Zheng Sanya do the work. She herself went to pick more mushrooms; after only one night, many fresh ones had popped up.
By the time she had finished picking enough, Zheng Sanya had finished roasting.
Lin Ran wasn’t actually hungry, but the roasted mushrooms smelled so fragrant that she couldn’t help wanting a taste.
And then, from the same spot and in the same direction, Lin Ran saw Lin Meng again.
It turned out that saying she had things to do and going home early was actually a ruse to go looking for the treasure again.
Lin Ran was a bit puzzled. Was Lin Meng so certain that there was treasure here? She was running here to look for it every single day.
Lin Ran sat on a rock, eating roasted mushrooms and watching the show, little knowing that Lin Meng down the mountain was about to go crazy with anxiety.
Lin Meng had once again turned the landlord’s courtyard inside out, but she still had nothing to show for it.
Could it be that there were no hidden mechanisms here? Was the treasure underground?
If so, wouldn’t she have to find a chance to dig up the entire place?
Changing her mind, Lin Meng felt that this was unlikely. If the treasure were buried that deep, how could the female lead in the novel have discovered it on her first visit?
But it wasn’t here, and it wasn’t there—where on earth was the treasure?
She blamed herself for not reading carefully at the time; she couldn’t remember how the book described the female lead discovering the treasure.