Yang Tao patted the dust off herself and stood up.
Seeing the unpleasant look on Yang Tao’s face, Zhou Yan tried to appear tough despite her unease.
“Y-you shameless woman! If you know what’s good for you, break off your engagement with Brother Yichen immediately. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise what? Are you planning to hit me?” Yang Tao interrupted as she steadily advanced toward her.
Whether Zhou Yan was intimidated by Yang Tao’s imposing manner or feeling guilty about having pushed her earlier, she unconsciously retreated step by step.
Her attention remained fixed entirely on Yang Tao, causing her to ignore the ground beneath her feet.
Splash!
With a loud sound, Zhou Yan slipped and landed squarely in a muddy puddle.
Her hands slammed into the wet ground on either side of her, leaving her in a thoroughly miserable state.
Dirty water splashed everywhere, soaking large patches of her clothes.
The commotion immediately caught Aunt Hu’s and Third Grandma’s attention.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Zhou Yan shouted angrily.
“Tao Ya, what happened? Why did Educated Youth Zhou fall?” Third Grandma called out loudly.
Hearing the team leader’s wife speak, Zhou Yan struggled to her feet.
The back of her pants was completely drenched.
With malicious intent, she shook the muddy water from her hands and, using a slightly aggrieved tone, quickly spoke first.
“Yang Tao pushed me!”
“I was minding my own business cutting grass, and I only mentioned Brother Yichen.”
“Then she pushed me into the puddle.”
“Grandma Liu, Aunt Hu, you have to testify for me!”
Yang Tao stepped back to avoid the muddy droplets Zhou Yan deliberately flicked toward her and raised an eyebrow.
It seemed this girl wasn’t quite as foolish as she appeared.
She even knew how to frame someone.
As the team leader’s wife, Third Grandma couldn’t simply ignore the matter.
She put down her sickle and walked over.
Aunt Hu followed close behind, eager to watch the drama unfold.
“Oh dear, Educated Youth Zhou, your pants are soaked.”
“You’ll easily catch a cold in this weather.”
“You should hurry back and change first.”
“We can discuss everything else afterward.”
Third Grandma attempted to smooth things over.
Clearly dissatisfied, Zhou Yan protested.
“Grandma Liu, Yang Tao pushed me for no reason.”
“I may not be injured, but my clothes are filthy.”
“She must apologize and wash my clothes for me—”
“You fell by yourself.”
“I didn’t push you.”
“Don’t pin that on me.”
“I won’t apologize for something I didn’t do,” Yang Tao cut in before Zhou Yan could continue.
Although there had been a bit of calculation on her part, she genuinely hadn’t touched Zhou Yan.
The girl had fallen because she was flustered and failed to watch where she was going.
“There were only the two of us here.”
“If you didn’t push me, are you saying I deliberately threw myself into the puddle?”
“And Grandma Liu and Aunt Hu both saw it.”
After speaking, Zhou Yan deliberately glanced at the two older women.
Third Grandma immediately waved her hands.
“We didn’t see anything.”
“We were too far away.”
“We only looked over after you were already sitting in the puddle.”
Aunt Hu nodded in agreement.
“I know,” Zhou Yan said bitterly.
“I’m just a city educated youth, while Yang Tao is a local villager, so of course—”
“Grandma Liu, why are you all gathered together? Did something happen?”
A clear and pleasant male voice interrupted Zhou Yan’s endless complaints.
The newcomer was none other than Educated Youth Chen—Yang Tao’s fiancé.
He had just returned from outside on his bicycle.
Spotting Yang Tao among the group, he worried something might have happened to her and came over to ask.
“Oh, Educated Youth Chen.”
“You’ve just returned?”
“Nothing serious happened.”
“Educated Youth Zhou accidentally fell and got her pants wet.”
“I was just telling her to go back and change clothes first.”
Third Grandma answered.
“Brother Yichen, you have to help me!”
“Yang Tao pushed me into the puddle!”
“My clothes are soaked, and nobody will stand up for me!”
As she spoke, Zhou Yan even began crying.
It looked remarkably convincing.
Chen Yichen frowned.
Unable to hold back, he said,
“Comrade Zhou, we’re not that close.”
“Please call me Comrade Chen or use my name.”
“Brother Yichen!”
“We both came from Beijing.”
“When we were sent down to the countryside, my parents specifically asked you to look after me.”
“How can you…”
She looked at him as though she had suffered a tremendous injustice.
Oh?
Now this was getting interesting.
“That was only your parents’ request.”
“I never agreed to it.”
“And if I remember correctly, the first time we met was on the train coming to the countryside.”
“Before that, neither you nor your parents had ever met me.”
After saying that, he stopped looking at her altogether.
Perhaps because Yang Tao’s expression of eager spectatorship was too obvious, Chen Yichen turned toward her instead.
“Are you alright?”
“Why are you already out working?”
“Has your head injury recovered?”
Hearing his concern made Yang Tao feel much better.
The amused expression on her face disappeared.
Instead of answering immediately, she looked at him seriously.
“I didn’t push her.”
“She fell by herself and is blaming me.”
“Do you believe me?”
“I do.”
Chen Yichen wasn’t stupid.
He knew Zhou Yan’s personality reasonably well from living at the same educated youth residence.
If Yang Tao had truly pushed her, Zhou Yan would never have been content with merely accusing her verbally.
She would already have retaliated somehow.
The moment those words left his mouth, Yang Tao felt as if a flower had blossomed inside her heart—
A flower filled with pink bubbles.
Seeing that nobody supported her and that Chen Yichen’s attitude had hurt her deeply, Zhou Yan finally became so angry that she ran off.
She didn’t even take her grass-cutting tools with her.
Nor did she return for the rest of the workday.