The backyard had been planted with vegetables by the older educated youths. Li Qingge picked some vegetables with a basket and made cold cucumber salad, eggplant stewed with green beans, and a cold wild vegetable dish.
She also made a pan of golden corn cakes. Before the meal was even served, the aroma alone had the educated youths drooling.
Li Qingge’s cooking skills were at the level of a master chef in her previous life—even simple ingredients could be turned into incredibly delicious dishes.
Wen Shaoqing kept swallowing his saliva. If not for his remaining rationality, he would have rushed over to snatch the food.
“Time to eat.”
With Li Qingge’s command, it was as if some switch had been flipped.
These people went crazy, grabbing their chopsticks and digging in. The moment the food touched their mouths, they felt as if they had achieved enlightenment.
Then, like starving wolves, they devoured the dishes on the table without even lifting their heads. It was simply too delicious.
Within a few minutes, the entire table of food, including the plate of corn cakes, was cleaned out completely.
Everyone stared reluctantly at the corn cake in Gongsun Shinian’s hand. He had been quick with his eyes and hands, snatching the last one for himself.
Wen Shaoqing licked his lips, looking as if he hadn’t had enough.
“Comrade Li, your cooking is amazing. We’re in for a real treat over the next few days.”
He had grown up in the capital and had eaten everything imaginable. But Li Qingge’s cooking had completely conquered his stomach—and he was thoroughly convinced.
At that moment, Wen Shaoqing made a decision: if he could eat Comrade Li’s cooking regularly, he’d be willing to be her grandson.
So he absolutely had to maintain a good relationship with Comrade Li.
Dang Aiguo stared at Li Qingge with shining eyes. This woman was not only beautiful, but her cooking was unexpectedly delicious too. If he could marry her, it would be an incredible bargain.
Only Wang Lan was full of discontent. She had been watching Gongsun Shinian the entire time, but the man wouldn’t give her even a single glance—yet he had looked at Li Qingge several times.
This made her see everything about Li Qingge as irritating, and she wanted to make things difficult for her.
Li Qingge didn’t pay Wang Lan any mind at all, because she was busy enjoying some juicy gossip.
[Shocking my whole family—what a huge piece of gossip!]
Hearing Li Qingge’s voice suddenly, Gongsun Shinian and Wen Shaoqing immediately perked up their ears.
Wen Shaoqing was an impatient person. After waiting for a long time with no follow-up, he was dying of curiosity inside, wishing he could rush over and ask directly.
[He Qiuju really is bold. Right in front of everyone, she reached her hand toward Dang Aiguo’s pants to tease him.]
Gongsun Shinian and Wen Shaoqing froze for a moment upon hearing this, then cast dark, complicated glances under the table.
Wen Shaoqing thought to himself that He Qiuju was truly audacious beyond belief—doing something so shameless in front of everyone. She must have been putting on an act all along, right?
This piece of gossip was hard to swallow and left him choking on it.
By this time, Dang Aiguo’s face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot. What exactly was this shameless woman trying to do?
Whatever scheme she was plotting, he planned to break up with her as soon as possible.
“Slap.”
Dang Aiguo smacked He Qiuju’s hand. The crisp sound made several pairs of eyes curiously turn in their direction.
Dang Aiguo gave an awkward smile: “I was swatting a bug. There was a bug that crawled onto my leg just now.”
Seeing that everyone seemed to believe him, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Covering her red, swollen hand, He Qiuju’s face turned ashen. What did this man mean by this? She had been so forward, yet he remained unmoved.
A terrible thought surfaced in her mind—could Dang Aiguo be trying to cut ties with her? Hmph, impossible. If he played with her, he would have to pay the price.
He Qiuju’s teeth ground together with a creaking sound.
“Wang Lan, you go wash the dishes.”
Li Qingge’s voice broke through the stifling atmosphere.
Wang Lan turned her nose up, casting a haughty sidelong glance at her: “Why should I wash the dishes? Not going.”
Who knew that Li Qingge’s attitude would be even more arrogant than hers? Her eyes were full of contempt as she said firmly: “The three of us are in the same group. Gongsun Shinian and I cooked the meal together. What did you do? Sat there like some pampered young lady?”
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Don’t you have any self-awareness? Today, you’re washing those dishes whether you like it or not.”
Hearing his name called, Gongsun Shinian’s heart jolted. This was the first time Li Qingge had said his name.
Hearing his name come from her lips inexplicably brought him a hint of pleasure.
Wang Lan was determined to be shameless to the very end. She planted her hands on her hips and spewed vulgarities: “Damn it, you think you can boss me around? I’m not washing them, period. What are you gonna do, hit me?”
After saying this, she shot Li Qingge a look. The reason she dared to be so reckless was that Li Qingge’s appearance was so delicate and frail—it was utterly deceiving.
In plain terms, she was bullying someone she thought was easy to push around.
Liu Hongmei had a warm but fiery personality. Seeing Li Qingge being bullied, she couldn’t stand by and watch, so she spoke up to mediate: “Wang Lan, that’s enough. You haven’t done a thing from start to finish. Isn’t it only right that you wash the dishes?”
Because of her strong personality, Wang Lan was a bit intimidated by her. Normally she would have shut her mouth, but today she was blinded by anger and her brain had taken a vacation.
She sneered: “Oh my, Sister Hongmei, you can’t play favorites. I—”
Before she could finish speaking, two slaps landed on her face. Covering her cheek, she stared in disbelief at the woman who remained utterly composed.
Li Qingge spoke slowly, enunciating each word: “Everyone here must bear witness for me—just now, Wang Lan asked me to hit her. I was merely fulfilling her wish.”
With that, she rubbed her hand with a look of exasperation and complained, “Such thick skin. My hand hurts from hitting her.”
A snort escaped Gongsun Shinian, who couldn’t hold back his laughter. With him leading the way, one laugh after another rippled through the crowd.
Wang Lan’s face flushed a deep shade of liver purple.
“You… you shameless slut.”
The moment she finished cursing, two more slaps landed on her face, leaving it numb and stinging. She seethed with hatred for Li Qingge but dared not utter another word of abuse.
Li Qingge smiled. “Go on, curse me. Why did you stop?”
Wang Lan thought to herself: Damn you. If it weren’t for fear of being hit, she would have cursed from dusk till dawn.
Seeing how formidable Li Qingge was, Liu Hongmei felt reassured. The other female educated youths exchanged glances and concluded that this Li Qingge was not someone to be trifled with—best not to offend her.
Bai Wei kept her face expressionless while inwardly scoffing. That useless Wang Lan couldn’t even put up a fight—she was taken down by Li Qingge in a few moves. How disappointing.
After being taught a lesson by Li Qingge, Wang Lan obediently went off to wash the dishes. For the next few days, she kept her head down and did her chores without causing trouble—perhaps she had been scared straight.
…
One evening, just after finishing work, Dang Aiguo was called out by He Qiuju. The two made their way to a reed marsh by a small river—a remote and secluded spot where they were unlikely to be discovered.
“Dang Aiguo, what exactly are you thinking? You’ve been ignoring me. Have you taken a liking to someone else and want to dump me?”
He Qiuju’s barrage of accusations made Dang Aiguo’s face turn grim.
After a long silence, as if he had made up his mind, he spoke in a low, hoarse voice: “Qiuju, let’s break up. We’re not right for each other.”
“What? Break up? I don’t agree!”
He Qiuju was furious and couldn’t help raising her voice.
Dang Aiguo, startled, glanced around nervously: “He Qiuju, keep your voice down. If we’re discovered, it won’t do either of us any good. I know I’ve wronged you, but you can’t force something that isn’t meant to be. I’ll give you money as compensation.”