Upon hearing those words, Ruan Zhaodi’s face immediately filled with resentment. She shot a sharp glance toward Li Lezhi and curled her lips into a mocking smile.
“Some people really don’t bother considering whether they’re suited for it before signing up to become Sent-down Youth. Honestly, I can’t tell whether she’s here to experience rural life or to put on airs like some rich young lady.”
Li Lezhi felt a headache coming on. She muttered inwardly, The Female Lead only settled down for two days, and now someone’s stirring up trouble again. Could it be because my life has been a little too comfortable lately?
Left with no choice, she spoke up.
“Whether I’m some rich young lady or not isn’t for you to judge. Captain Xu is still here in the brigade. If I’ve truly done something inappropriate, you can report me to him tomorrow.”
Then she shifted her gaze directly to Shen Yueyue.
“And Shen Yueyue, stop beating around the bush. The amount of money you have on you may not be any less than mine. I heard from your sister that your family supposedly lost a thousand yuan. Could it be that the money is currently in your possession? Since you’re carrying such a large sum, why don’t you contribute it to help all of us Sent-down Youth improve our living conditions? Aren’t we all part of the same collective now?”
Panic flashed through Shen Yueyue’s heart.
She had no idea when her stepsister had become close enough to Li Lezhi to reveal details about the missing money. Rage surged within her, and she wished she could tear Li Lezhi apart.
As soon as everyone heard about the thousand yuan, their attention immediately shifted to Shen Yueyue.
Suppressing her panic, she forced herself to remain calm.
“I… My stepsister was just talking nonsense. Don’t listen to her rumors. Besides, even if my family really had that kind of money, it would never end up in my hands. You have no idea how much my family dotes on my younger brother.”
As she spoke, tears spilled from her eyes, making her appear heartbroken.
The others immediately believed her. Two of the male Sent-down Youth even looked at her with sympathy.
Li Lezhi let out a cold laugh.
“Whether it’s nonsense or not, you know the truth better than anyone. Cases of thieves crying ‘thief’ happen every day. If you can live at the Sent-down Youth point without buying a single thing, then I’ll believe you. And don’t tell me your family is sending you living expenses. Your stepmother made it very clear on the train that she wouldn’t give you a single cent of support. She probably wants to cut ties with you entirely by now.”
Li Lezhi knew that if she wanted the Female Lead to stay quiet for a few days, she had to strike where it hurt most.
At this point, peaceful coexistence with the Female Lead was clearly impossible. The only option was to leave Shen Yueyue without money to spend, making life difficult for her within the Sent-down Youth point.
Shen Yueyue clenched her teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
She silently swore that she would make Li Lezhi suffer a fate worse than death to repay today’s humiliation.
Seeing the atmosphere becoming increasingly tense, Zhao Guoqiang stepped in.
“Enough! Everyone goes to prepare dinner. Don’t tell me none of you want to earn work points tomorrow.”
Li Lezhi glanced at him and replied coolly,
“Comrade Zhao, we’re all members of the same collective and should be treated equally. Of course, if some people don’t want anything to do with me, I have no objections. In a few days I’ll be moving out anyway, so I won’t be bothering any of you.”
As she spoke, she stared directly at Zhao Guoqiang, as though saying, If you want to play peacemaker, you’ll have to see whether I agree first.
She had never wanted trouble, yet trouble always seemed to come looking for her.
Zhao Guoqiang looked apologetic.
“Fine. We’ll pay closer attention to managing things from now on. I’ve been negligent.”
Li Lezhi snorted lightly.
“Starting today, I’ll take care of my own meals. I won’t be contributing any more grain. My own supply isn’t exactly abundant, and I’d rather not have people constantly claiming that I’m taking advantage of others.”
Her gaze landed on Ruan Zhaodi once more.
“You… why are you staring at me like that?” Ruan Zhaodi demanded angrily.
“I never mentioned anyone by name. There’s no need for you to rush to identify yourself.”
With that, Li Lezhi turned and left, her figure radiating confidence.
Behind her, Ruan Zhaodi was still complaining.
“Captain, look at her…”
“That’s enough. Let’s all get dinner ready.”
Zhao Guoqiang cut her off.
After today’s warning, Shen Yueyue behaved much more cautiously and did not attempt any further schemes.
At that moment, however, she was racking her brain trying to think of a way to completely ruin Li Lezhi’s reputation.
The more she thought about how all of her recent frustrations at the Sent-down Youth point had been caused by Li Lezhi, the more desperate she became to make her suffer.
The next day passed peacefully.
After getting up and preparing herself in the morning, Li Lezhi saw Captain Xu arrive with several villagers carrying tools.
“Captain Xu, are you starting work already?” she asked politely.
“That’s right. It should be finished in about ten days. Once it’s done, you’ll be able to move in comfortably.”
“Then I’ll be troubling Captain Xu and everyone else for these next ten days. Once I move in, I’ll definitely treat everyone to a good meal.”
The surrounding villagers immediately revealed excited expressions.
These days, even a single meal is precious. None of them had expected Sent-down Youth Li to be so generous. They secretly resolved to work even harder.
Meanwhile, Shen Yueyue secretly gritted her teeth at the side.
Li Lezhi could not care less about what she thought and happily went off to work.
Along the way, she calculated that by the time the house was finished, her parents should be arriving as well.
She wondered whether they had suffered any hardships recently.
Lately, she hardly dared think about them. Although they had not lived together for long, and her parents had no idea that their real daughter was already gone, she still missed that brief period deeply.
Once they arrived, she would do everything possible to care for them and make up for what they had endured.
That entire day, she specifically sought out remote places in the mountains where nobody would disturb her.
Her harvest was plentiful.
She caught five pheasants and seven rabbits, processed them all, and stored them safely inside her spiritual spring space.
As she returned to the Sent-down Youth point, she heard Shen Ruoruo shouting before she even entered.
“Shen Yueyue, I don’t care. You have to take care of me tomorrow. Don’t think you can get away with pretending otherwise.”
Shen Ruoruo’s furious voice echoed throughout the compound.
“It’s not my fault you got injured. You’re the one who insisted on going into the mountains to catch pheasants. I… I won’t let you bully me like you used to at home anymore.”
The Female Lead’s voice carried both grievance and determination.
“That’s right, Yueyue. You need to stand up for yourself. She still thinks she’s some pampered young lady from the old society, expecting you to wait on her hand and foot. We’re women of the new era now. And she’s supposed to be educated too. She’s embarrassing all of us Sent-down Youth.”
Ruan Zhaodi immediately chimed in.
At this point, she followed Shen Yueyue’s lead in everything. The Female Lead had wrapped her completely around her finger with only a few words.
Li Lezhi had no intention of offering any helpful reminders.
After all, it had nothing to do with her.
“Oh, really? You shameless woman! You actually teamed up with others to bully me. Just wait until I recover. I’ll write to Father and Mother.”
Shen Ruoruo was so angry that her chest tightened.
This ungrateful woman actually dared to reject her.
“Go ahead and write. I won’t let you bully me anymore like you did at home. Ever since your mother married into our family, she’s abused me and constantly drove a wedge between me and my father. From the day the two of you entered our home, I’ve never had a single decent thing of my own.”
Shen Yueyue sounded utterly wronged.