“Some people really have no shame! Cooking so much food every single day, do you know how much firewood that wastes? Don’t they know that firewood belongs to everyone?!”
The pointed and sarcastic remarks from Liao Hongmei were obviously directed at Song Ziyao.
Ever since Song Ziyao had openly expressed her dislike for her last time, the two of them had completely fallen out.
Whenever Liao Hongmei got the chance, she would throw a few barbs at her.
However, this caused no harm to Song Ziyao.
She generally treated the other woman as though she did not exist.
Instead, it was the others who could not stand Liao Hongmei constantly targeting Song Ziyao and would speak up for her.
For example, right now, Shi Lei curled his lip and said: “Liao Hongmei, you just said the firewood belongs to everyone. Since everyone else isn’t saying anything, why are you the only one yapping nonstop?”
Shi Changjiang followed up: “You’re just jealous of Song Ziyao, always looking for trouble when you’ve got nothing better to do.”
“Jealous of her??” Liao Hongmei was so angry that her voice changed pitch. “What’s so great about her? What right do you have to say I’m jealous of her?!”
Shi Lei snorted with laughter. “Isn’t that reaction proof that you’re jealous?”
Shi Changjiang said: “It’s written all over your face. Do other people even need to point it out?”
Wang Yiguang quietly reprimanded the two of them. “You two should say less. You’re actually arguing with a female comrade.”
The two of them curled their lips and let out a dismissive sound, saying nothing more.
However, Meng Jing took over the attack.
“You’re like a horse that doesn’t know its own face is long. In the entire Educated Youth Residence Compound, you’re the most annoying person, yet every day you jump around trying to attract attention. Can’t you settle down a bit? Is quietly living your own life really going to suffocate you?”
Meng Jing’s words were far more damaging than theirs. Coupled with her icy expression, Liao Hongmei immediately burst into tears.
“Song Ziyao only gave you people a little food, and you’ve all been bought off. Now you’re all excluding me and bullying me! I… I don’t want to live anymore…”
Liao Hongmei ran out crying.
She had originally wanted to run farther away and make everyone worry about her, but when she saw that it was already getting dark, her feet simply refused to move any farther.
Left with no choice, she returned to the room and slammed the door shut with a thunderous bang.
Not long afterward, there was a knock on the door.
Liao Hongmei snapped irritably: “Who is it?!”
“It’s me, Hongmei.” Liu Qingping’s voice sounded from outside.
Hmph! So she knew enough to come and check on her now?!
“Come in!”
Liu Qingping had indeed come to comfort Liao Hongmei. She was even holding a corn bun in her hand.
“Are you feeling better? Stop crying and eat something first. People are made of iron, and food is steel. No matter what happens, you still need to eat. Why punish your own body?”
After a full day of labor, Liao Hongmei had long been hungry. She grabbed the corn bun and started eating immediately.
Liu Qingping smiled as she watched her eat and even poured her a cup of water.
After finally swallowing the dry bun that had nearly choked her, Liao Hongmei sniffed and said: “Sister Ping, you’re the best person in the whole Educated Youth Residence Compound. The most annoying ones are Song Ziyao and that Meng Jing. Then there’s Wen Xue, then Shi Lei… Anyway, everyone except you is a bad person!”
Liu Qingping smiled and said: “Everyone is actually quite nice. It’s just that they may lack communication and interaction. They don’t understand you, so naturally they’ve developed misunderstandings about you.”
Liao Hongmei said resentfully: “It’s all Song Ziyao’s fault! Everything was perfectly fine before. She’s the one who used those little favors to get everyone to target me!”
Liu Qingping’s eyes flickered slightly before she asked: “By the way, you and Ziyao were clearly classmates. Why is your relationship…”
Liao Hongmei’s expression shifted evasively. Only after a moment did she stammer: “Wasn’t it because she had no shame and kept clinging to my brother… When the two of them didn’t work out, she just took it out on me…”
The story obviously contained some embellishment, but Liu Qingping did not expose her. Instead, she persuaded her: “What’s in the past should stay in the past. We’re all so far from home now. We should be looking after one another.”
Liao Hongmei let out a sigh of relief and did not dare say anything more. She merely forced a perfunctory smile.
Seeing this, Liu Qingping took her leave. Before departing, she offered a few more comforting words, moving Liao Hongmei to tears of gratitude.
Song Ziyao saw Liu Qingping coming out of Liao Hongmei’s room.
Liu Qingping smiled at her first and said: “Hongmei cried quite badly. I comforted her for a while, and she’s feeling much better now.”
Song Ziyao smiled and said nothing.
At first, Liu Qingping gave people a very good impression. She was warm, generous, and seemed like an elder sister who loved taking care of others. However, after spending enough time around her, Song Ziyao began to feel that something was a little strange.
There were eleven people in the Educated Youth Residence Compound. That was neither a particularly large nor particularly small number. Everyone had their own personality, and everyone had traits that others could criticize.
Even Wang Yiguang had been criticized by Shi Lei for being overly bureaucratic.
But Liu Qingping seemed different. There was not a single person who disliked her or had ever said a bad word about her.
Tan Jinhe had once said that people like that were precisely the ones who required the greatest caution.
However, Song Ziyao was not overly nervous about it. As long as there was no conflict of interest, interacting with someone so socially adept was still quite comfortable.
The firewood for the Educated Youth Residence Compound was the responsibility of the female educated youths. It had to be collected every day, with the schedule arranged by Liu Qingping.
Song Ziyao had already been assigned the task once before, but the previous time Liu Qingping had accompanied her. This time, she had to do it on her own.
Collecting firewood meant going to the back mountain.
Song Ziyao used the time after lunch to do it.
Work resumed at three in the afternoon, and before that, most people would take a midday rest.
The sun was at its most scorching during this period, but the mountain forest was pleasantly cool. When the mountain breeze blew through, she could even feel threads of cool air.
So-called firewood collection meant gathering dead branches that had fallen to the ground, tying them into bundles with hemp rope, and carrying them back.
If it were Liu Qingping, two trips would provide enough firewood for an entire day. But Song Ziyao was not very strong and needed three trips.
She gathered the wood leisurely, in no particular hurry.
After all, even if she was late for work in the afternoon, she would only lose a few work points.
She could even use it as an opportunity to slack off a little.
A heavy rainstorm had passed through that morning. Although the sky had cleared up in less than an hour, the soil in the forest remained moist.
Some mushrooms had even sprouted from the humus layer hidden beneath the fallen leaves.
However, Song Ziyao had no idea which mushrooms were poisonous and which were not, so she did not dare pick them recklessly.
Just as she was about to cover the mushrooms back up, her eyes suddenly widened, and she froze completely.
How could there be such a thick snake???
Slithering leisurely across the dead leaves was a huge snake as thick as an adult man’s arm. It flicked its tongue with hissing sounds, while a pair of green eyes moved with startling alertness.
…Help.
But there was not a single person nearby.
Who was supposed to save her?!
Song Ziyao bit her lower lip hard and tried to think optimistically.
The snake did not seem to have any intention of attacking her.
Perhaps she could leave?
Song Ziyao slowly shifted one foot.
Immediately, the dead leaves on the ground rustled softly.
It was as though a switch had been flipped. The snake instantly rushed toward her at high speed, raising the upper half of its body into an attacking posture.
It was over. It was over.
Terror filled Song Ziyao’s face, and she instinctively raised both arms in a defensive posture.
However, in the very next second, a curved blade appeared from the side. With ruthless precision, the back of the blade struck the snake squarely across its middle.
The snake’s spine was broken, robbing it of its ability to attack. Even so, it struggled even more violently on the ground.
Song Ziyao hurriedly retreated several steps and looked toward the man who had suddenly appeared.
“Tan Jinhe…”
Tan Jinhe’s expression was cold and severe. Without saying a word, he gripped the curved blade and continued striking the snake. As he moved, the solid muscles of his shoulders and back outlined themselves beautifully beneath his clothing.
Before long, the enormous snake had been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh.
Tan Jinhe stood there holding the blood-covered curved blade, the killing intent in his eyes not yet completely faded.
Blood had splattered onto the corner of his mouth. He spat onto the ground, expelling the blood-tainted saliva.
Only then did he look toward the still-shaken Song Ziyao.
“Are you alright?”
Song Ziyao blankly shook her head.