“Mm, you’re pretty sensible. You can sleep in that spot.”
Dong Xia shot Li Wenjing a smug look, then proudly carried her things over to the place Wang Fen had pointed out.
The spot wasn’t bad. It was neither by the window nor next to the door.
Wang Fen bypassed Yao Lili and Yuan Pandi altogether and went straight to Li Wenjing.
She stared at Li Wenjing without blinking. Li Wenjing was simply too beautiful, and the cotton-padded jacket she wore was brand-new—one of the especially thick kind, stuffed with plenty of cotton. Wang Fen was intensely jealous.
Li Wenjing stood there without moving or resisting, and Wang Fen grew even more brazen.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Gone mute? Oh, don’t tell me you don’t have any money. You’re dressed so well, you don’t look broke. Unless…”
“Ah! Ah! Ah!”
Before she could finish, Wang Fen felt her scalp tighten as someone grabbed her hair and dragged her toward the door.
It hurt. It really hurt. It fucking hurt!
“Li Wenjing, you bitch! Let go of me!”
Nobody had time to react before Li Wenjing had already dragged Wang Fen outside by the hair.
Wang Fen’s face twisted with pain. She sprang up, trying to claw at Li Wenjing’s face.
“Li Wenjing, you bitch! You dress so well, but you don’t have a penny on you. You must’ve earned everything you’re wearing by sleeping around! Pah! Letting you stay here is going to dirty the ground of our Educated Youth Compound!”
Li Wenjing kicked Wang Fen in the stomach.
She put real force into it. Wang Fen doubled over, clutching her belly.
It hurt like hell. The pain felt as if it were boring right through her.
Before Wang Fen could even react, Li Wenjing seized her by the hair again and kept dragging her along.
“Have you been eating shit? You spew filth every time you open your mouth, and your head’s full of disgusting thoughts. Today, I’ll be charitable and give you a good cleaning. No need to thank me too much—just call me a living Lei Feng from now on!”
“Li Wenjing, you’re a slut who’s been ridden by a thousand men and slept with ten thousand! Let go of me! Ah! Ah!”
Li Wenjing had lived through two lifetimes herself, and during her missions she had visited plenty of historical settings. She knew all the more how important a woman’s reputation was at a time like this.
What Wang Fen had just said was practically driving her to her death.
She was already prettier than most people. If she were attacked with rumors like these, she’d have no way to get by in this village.
That damned woman dared to say such things. Today, Li Wenjing would teach her how to speak and how to behave.
She’d spent one whole life being a doormat. Now that she’d finally been reborn, she was going to live however made her happy.
If anyone dared to cause trouble for her, she’d make sure they learned not to mess with her.
By beating Wang Fen today, she also meant to make an example of her and let everyone else know she wasn’t someone they could push around.
As Li Wenjing yanked Wang Fen by the hair, she used her other hand to tear at that foul mouth of hers.
“Aren’t you such a big talker? Go on, say something now! I’ll rip that filthy mouth of yours apart today and stop you from spewing nonsense and shit!”
Wang Fen could barely feel her own mouth anymore. Her jaw felt as if it had come out of joint. It hurt so much—really, so much—and she couldn’t stop herself from drooling.
The commotion was so loud that the male educated youths, who had gone inside, came back out. None of them knew what had happened. All they saw was Li Wenjing holding Wang Fen’s entire head down in the snow.
“Have you cleaned all the shit out of your head? Learned how to talk yet?”
Everyone was still stunned. In the end, Liu Dong was the first to react, hurrying forward.
“Educated Youth Li, what happened? Let’s talk this out. There’s no need to get physical!”
Li Wenjing smiled at Liu Dong. She looked as beautiful as ever, but her hands never stopped moving.
Liu Dong couldn’t worry about propriety between men and women just then, so he reached out to pull Li Wenjing away.
Liu Dong…
This was bizarre. How could a grown man like him be unable to pull away one delicate young woman?
Maybe he hadn’t pulled hard enough because he was trying to be gentle?
Liu Dong refused to believe it and tugged at Li Wenjing again, this time with all his strength.
He was sure of it now: he’d used force, and a lot of it.
Yet Li Wenjing still didn’t budge.
What the hell? It was like seeing a ghost.
There was no way the problem was that delicate, soft-spoken young woman, Li Wenjing. He must not have eaten enough. Yes, that had to be it!
Li Wenjing figured that was enough and finally let go of Wang Fen.
The snow had left Wang Fen’s entire face numb with cold.
She was trembling all over. On closer inspection, there were wet stains on her black trousers. It was obvious she’d wet herself.
Li Wenjing shot her a disdainful glance and thought, What a coward. She wet herself just from that? Disgusting.
Wang Fen hadn’t even realized she’d wet her pants. She glared fiercely at Li Wenjing and stammered, trembling:
“This Educated Youth Compound can’t hold both you and me!”
Li Wenjing looked at Wang Fen, whose mind was full of nothing but lust and depravity. Even now, she still had the nerve to keep yapping at her.
Li Wenjing raised her precious foot once more and kicked Wang Fen flying.
In an instant, Wang Fen’s sobs and screams filled the entire Educated Youth Compound.
Liu Dong felt as though his head were about to split in two. He’d been sent down to the countryside for over three years, and this was the first time he’d ever encountered a troublemaker like Li Wenjing.
He turned to Wang Fen, who was sprawled in the snow, and said, “Educated Youth Wang, this compound doesn’t belong to you alone. You’re an educated youth sent down to the countryside, and so is Educated Youth Li. You have no right to stop her from living here!”
“Liu Dong, don’t pretend to be a good person! I’m telling you, if you let this bitch stay in the compound today, I’ll make sure you can’t stay here either!”
Liu Dong glared at Wang Fen, his eyes hard, but soon looked away.
Wang Fen finally managed to get to her feet, clutching her aching stomach.
“Isn’t there another educated youth compound on the west side of the village? Educated youths live there too. Let her stay there!”
From the way they were acting, Li Wenjing knew they had no good intentions.
Still, she hadn’t planned to stay here long in the first place. She’d intended to leave her luggage at the Educated Youth Compound and then go see how things were with her biological parents.
It looked like she wouldn’t be able to stay at this compound, so she could only go see how things were with her biological parents first.
As for the compound on the west side of the village they’d mentioned, she’d decide whether to go there after she came back from her biological parents’ place.
She said nothing. Instead, she turned and went back inside to get her luggage.
“Captain Liu, it looks like this compound doesn’t welcome me either. I’ll find somewhere else to stay.”
“Educated Youth Li!”