This story began with what happened after the four of them were assigned to the educated youth point in Team Two.
That day, after the brigade leader assigned everyone to their respective group leaders, he left. The other teams remained peaceful and uneventful, but from that day on, Team Two never had a moment of calm.
Aside from Xu Guangyao, who seemed like a good-natured and refined young man, and Xie Qingyuan, who was quiet and reserved, the two female educated youths were anything but easy to deal with.
In particular, Zheng Peizhen, in Aunt Wang’s words, had been restless from the very first day she arrived at the educated youth point.
Although it was obvious from her clothing that Zheng Peizhen came from a well-off family, she had still come to the countryside, so she was expected to follow the rules like everyone else. That had always been the case.
Yet Zheng Peizhen was an exception. No matter what the brigade leader or the educated youth group leader said, she would agree to their faces and then continue doing whatever she pleased once they turned away.
On her very first day, she had already fallen out with Gao Lanying. Not only that, but she also failed to get along with the other educated youths at the station.
It all started with the sleeping arrangements. Zheng Peizhen disliked the shared dormitory beds, but when she was told she would have to sleep on the floor if she refused, she reluctantly gave in.
However, that was not the end of it. After the group leader, Sister Ma, arranged the beds for them, Zheng Peizhen became dissatisfied again. She complained that her spot was too close to the door, saying it would be cold in winter and uncomfortable to sleep there.
In the end, Sister Ma, in order to avoid conflict, voluntarily gave up her own bed to her.
To show fairness, she even adjusted everyone’s sleeping arrangements according to their habits and preferences.
But this only made Gao Lanying even more unhappy, since she ended up in the bed originally assigned to Zheng Peizhen. She disliked that spot as well, especially because it had once been refused by someone she already had conflicts with.
From then on, Zheng Peizhen simply ignored Gao Lanying, while Gao Lanying grew to dislike her even more.
In the following days, when it was their turn to cook, they nearly set the kitchen on fire. They also did not take their work seriously.
Because Zheng Peizhen worked so slowly and was so unmotivated, Sister Ma and the brigade leader reportedly gave her several ideological talks. Zheng Peizhen would appear cooperative in front of them, but once they left, she continued doing things her own way.
While others had already walked dozens of meters ahead in the fields, Zheng Peizhen was still slowly lingering in place.
Gao Lanying, on the other hand, was not much better. No one knew exactly how she managed it, but within just a few days of arriving in the village, two or three young men from the village were already competing to help her with her work.
It was said that some people had also tried to flatter Zheng Peizhen. After all, she was pretty, better looking than Gao Lanying, and clearly came from a good family.
But her temper was simply too difficult to deal with. Anyone with sense could tell that pleasing her would bring no benefits, so she was quickly left alone.
Gao Lanying, although not as beautiful as Zheng Peizhen, was still considered one of the prettier girls in the village. She also had a gentle and weak appearance, and compared to Zheng Peizhen, she seemed far more approachable. As a result, those who had originally tried to curry favor with Zheng Peizhen all turned toward Gao Lanying instead.
Although Zheng Peizhen looked down on these people, she was still so angry she almost fainted.
After that, however, she gradually began to restrain her temper. The older educated youths noticed that she started learning how to cook from others. Although her work speed was still slow, her attitude improved significantly.
Because of the earlier conflict between Zheng Peizhen and Gao Lanying, Sister Ma had been overwhelmed, and the other experienced educated youths had also kept their distance.
But after Zheng Peizhen began acting more modest and willing to learn, everyone slowly realized she was actually quite straightforward and generous. She was even willing to share the things she brought from home, except with Gao Lanying.
As time passed, her reputation in the educated youth point visibly improved.
Moreover, since she privately told Sister Ma that her family would provide financial support, and since Sister Ma knew she would not starve even if she earned fewer work points, she chose to turn a blind eye as long as her attitude remained acceptable.
What Sister Ma did not expect, however, was that although Zheng Peizhen appeared to have improved and was getting along well with everyone, she was secretly working with others to isolate Gao Lanying.
At first, Sister Ma did not notice. Gao Lanying also failed to realize it, partly because of the attention she was receiving from several young men in the village and partly because of her ongoing conflict with Zheng Peizhen.
But in the past two days, the changes in everyone’s attitudes had become obvious.
No one in the educated youth point was willing to team up with her for work anymore. Only then did Gao Lanying belatedly realize that even Xu Guangyao, who she thought had some favorable impression of her and used to help her with small tasks, had also become very cold toward her. At that point, she finally understood that Zheng Peizhen had been quietly organizing everyone to isolate her.
Feeling wronged, Gao Lanying went to Sister Ma to demand justice. Sister Ma had also sensed that something was off, but since Gao Lanying had no solid evidence, she could only feel increasingly displeased with her.
Sister Ma had also occasionally overheard people discussing how Gao Lanying seemed to be ordering village boys around to do her work.
However, since farm work was already exhausting and people needed some gossip in their spare time, she did not consider it appropriate to strictly forbid such talk.
At most, she vaguely reminded everyone not to spread baseless rumors, especially since Gao Lanying herself was not entirely innocent. In all her years at the educated youth point, she had never encountered someone as unclear-headed as her.
So Sister Ma told Gao Lanying that she could do nothing about it, and reminded her to pay more attention to her behavior before dismissing her.
This left Gao Lanying feeling utterly wronged. She believed the entire educated youth point was targeting her, and her resentment grew deeper.
She became even more convinced that Zheng Peizhen was the one secretly ruining her reputation.
From then on, the two of them became completely hostile toward each other, and their conflict only grew worse over time.
Lin Baiyu still remembered the background explained in the original novel.
At first, Gao Lanying noticed that Zheng Peizhen came from a good family and tried to build a relationship with her, hoping to gain some benefits. However, she did not expect Zheng Peizhen to have such a fiery personality. Not only did she ignore her, but she also directly exposed Gao Lanying’s intentions.
From then on, because of her family background, Gao Lanying learned from a young age to act wronged and weak. Although she was still treated worse than her brothers at home, she was treated better than her sisters.
This behavior also worked well with boys at school. Using these small tricks, she became one of the few girls in her family to make it to high school.
What she did not know was that her family valued her appearance and intelligence because they intended to use her marriage for a higher bride price to help her brother marry and support the family.
Because of this, her family often subtly instilled in her the idea that she should marry into a good family, and she never felt anything was wrong with her actions. She believed her family loved her and that she would eventually live in the city.
But things did not go as planned. After graduation, her brother got into trouble and was fired from his factory, and he took over her mother’s job early. The arranged marriage almost fell apart because the other side demanded a higher bride price.
Her brother, however, was stubborn and insisted on marrying that girl, while her younger brother had reached the age for work assignment. Since the family delayed registering him for going to the countryside, it was eventually discovered.
In the end, Gao Lanying was sent down to the countryside in place of her younger brother.
Her brothers took over their parents’ jobs, and her brother even spent a large sum on marriage, leaving no money for her before sending her away.
Because her registration was late and no arrangements had been made, she was assigned to a remote small city in G Province, Zhangcheng.
Zheng Peizhen, on the other hand, was the daughter of the deputy factory director of a state-owned enterprise in Haishi. Her mother’s family also had a revolutionary background. However, her father was implicated in certain issues, and fearing it would affect her, the family sent her to the countryside.
They originally hoped she could be sent far away, preferably near her maternal grandfather’s side, but due to interference from rivals, she ended up in this remote southern town instead.
Spoiled since childhood, Zheng Peizhen had never suffered such hardship. When she clashed with Gao Lanying, things escalated until their conflict became irreconcilable.
Based on Aunt Wang’s words and Lin Baiyu’s memory of the original novel, she pieced together the entire situation.
The conflict between Zheng Peizhen and Gao Lanying had clearly been building from the start.
As Aunt Wang continued exaggerating the story, Lin Baiyu understood that only the parties involved knew how much of it was true.
She also knew from reading the original novel that most of the rumors about Zheng and Gao had been spread by Aunt Wang, the notorious gossip.
Aunt Wang naturally did not know about Gao Lanying secretly undermining Zheng Peizhen. She simply disliked both of them.
In her eyes, Zheng Peizhen was arrogant, while Gao Lanying was petty and always acted wrong.
More importantly, her second son, Wang Baocai, had initially tried to please Zheng Peizhen and then switched to Gao Lanying, only to be rejected and strung along by both. This left Aunt Wang resentful.
Her second son had only completed junior high and was idle in the village, looked down upon by others, yet deeply favored by the family. They neglected their elder son Wang Baoshan while indulging the younger one.
So when the opportunity arose, Aunt Wang wanted to teach Zheng and Gao a lesson.
After transmitting the information to the system, Lin Baiyu asked, “Xiao Bai, is this considered completing the eating melons task?”
“Congratulations, Host. Task completed. System level is now one. Energy collection progress is 40%.”
Lin Baiyu sighed inwardly. As expected of a major supporting female character in the original novel, one round of gossip had contributed twenty percent of the energy progress.