Chapter 35: Compensation

“Even matchmakers don’t work this fast, do they?”

The educated youths: “…”

Zhao Zirui saw that the situation had more or less settled.

He cleared his throat twice. “Comrade Song’s words are true. Lin He, I, and Xinyue all boarded the train together. We had been together the whole time before this.”

“We only stepped out of the cabinet for a bit, and besides, I don’t think Lin He would be interested in dating Comrade Song.”

“Lin He and I, along with Xinyue, are from the capital, while Comrade Song is from Rong City.”

Seeing Zhao Zirui speak up, Li Xinyue also chimed in.

“Exactly! Lin He has high standards. Back in Beijing, plenty of girls wanted to date him, but he didn’t agree to any of them. Why would he suddenly take an interest in Comrade Song?”

Lin He: “…”

He glanced at Li Xinyue and Zhao Zirui, snorted coldly, and said,

“If you two had spoken up earlier, things wouldn’t have blown up like this.”

Zhao Zirui was momentarily embarrassed.

Li Xinyue pursed her lips. She had never liked Song Yue much anyway.

To put it bluntly, she already considered it kind enough that she hadn’t spoken up for Liu Wei.

The only reason she was even talking now was for Zirui’s sake.

…

Once Zhao Zirui and Li Xinyue spoke, everything became clear.

The older educated youths, upon learning that the three of them were from Beijing, immediately assumed they were wealthy.

As for Rong City?

Ha.

Liu Wei stood in the corner, her hands clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.

At this moment, she absolutely despised Li Xinyue and Zhao Zirui.

Especially Li Xinyue!

She had even lent her own quilt to her, and not only did she refuse to speak up on her behalf, but she even went ahead and defended Lin He!

That wretched little snake!

Chen Xue turned to Liu Wei. “Comrade Liu Wei, the situation is very clear now.”

“Do you want to apologize and compensate now, or should I go call the team leader over?”

The crowd’s eyes immediately focused on Liu Wei in the corner.

Liu Wei braced herself and spoke. “I’ll apologize and compensate.”

Chen Xue had originally thought quite well of Liu Wei.

But after this incident, she had completely shot herself in the foot.

She was clearly not very bright.

This was just the beginning—who knew how much longer they’d have to stay here? And now she had already caused such a scene while still living under the same roof as them. How was she supposed to get along with them in the future?

Chen Xue coughed a few times. “Since you’re apologizing and compensating, step forward, Comrade Liu.”

Liu Wei hesitated, glancing nervously at Song Yue. “Comrade Chen, I’m afraid if I go over there, Comrade Song will hit me.”

“Come over. I won’t hit you,” Song Yue said coolly. “I don’t want to dirty my hands.”

Liu Wei had no choice but to step forward.

Chen Xue urged her, “Apologize now.”

“Let’s get this over with so we can eat,” one of the educated youths grumbled impatiently. “You newcomers get a day off to settle in, but we still have to work tomorrow.”

Liu Wei lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Song Yue.”

Lin He spoke up. “Me too.”

“I’m sorry, Comrade Lin.”

Song Yue looked at Liu Wei. “This is the first time. I won’t ask for much in compensation—five yuan.”

“I want to see it by tomorrow morning.”

Lin He immediately followed up. “Mine too.”

That was ten yuan gone in an instant.

Liu Wei felt like her heart was bleeding. She hated herself for acting so recklessly earlier…

But hatred and regret wouldn’t change anything.

She still had to pay up.

While Liu Wei went to fetch the money,

The two chubby educated youths from earlier also apologized to Song Yue and Lin He.

Through this, Song Yue and Lin He learned their names.

The man was Liu Aiguo, and the woman was Wu Yun.

Liu Wei returned and handed over the compensation money to Song Yue and Lin He.

Lin He took the money with an unhappy expression, but deep down, he was ecstatic.

The cabinet he had bought had cost ten yuan, and now he had gotten five yuan back!

That little doctor Song was impressive indeed!

Song Yue put the money in her pocket, then turned to the older educated youths with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry for delaying dinner, everyone. To make up for it, I’ll bring out some mixed rice meat sauce my godmother made as a treat.”

With that, she turned and left to get the sauce.

“Since Comrade Song is offering a dish, I can’t fall behind,” Lin He said with a smile. “I don’t have meat sauce, but I have biscuits. I’ll bring some out for everyone to try.”

Li Xinyue shot up instantly. “I have beef jerky! I’ll go get it!”

The older educated youths: “!!!”

Beef jerky!

Truly, these Beijing kids were something else!

Zhao Zirui watched the older educated youths’ reactions, and a trace of mockery flashed in his eyes.

He then called out to Lin He’s back, “Lin He, grab the canned meat from my bag while you’re at it!”

The older educated youths: “!!!!”

Canned meat!

It had been so long since they’d had meat…

Lin He didn’t even turn around. “Get it yourself.”

Zhao Zirui sighed and got up to fetch it himself.

Seeing the others bringing out their goods, Liu Wei couldn’t just sit there empty-handed.

But she had nothing good to offer…

Her parents, who favored boys over girls, had never given her anything decent.

The best thing she had were five boiled eggs—long gone.

She had nothing left…

All because of that shameless Song Yue drawing attention to herself!

The older educated youths withdrew their gazes as the new arrivals headed inside, exchanging meaningful looks.

One of the male educated youths turned to Chen Xue. “Chen Xue, these new folks sure are something, huh? Hehehe…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

Chen Xue sighed and shook his head. “None of them are easy to deal with.”

That was for sure.

They had just arrived and already caused such a stir. If he hadn’t witnessed the whole thing himself, he would’ve thought the newcomers had planned it deliberately.

Song Yue came out with the meat sauce.

Just as she stepped outside, she crossed paths with Liu Wei, who was heading back in.

Liu Wei recoiled in fear the moment she saw her.

But Song Yue didn’t even spare her a glance and walked right past.

Only after Song Yue left did Liu Wei enter the room.

She saw Li Xinyue rummaging through her suitcase for the beef jerky.

Inside, there were many other good things—many that Liu Wei had never even seen before.

Jealousy consumed her.

“Xinyue…” Liu Wei quickly hid her emotions and approached Li Xinyue, her voice laced with grievance. “I treated you so well… Why didn’t you help me earlier?”

Li Xinyue turned to look at her, unable to answer. “I…”

Liu Wei met her gaze, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes, falling in streams.

Li Xinyue was at a loss. “Don’t cry, don’t cry. I was just afraid of Song Yue, I…”

“I know you were scared, but…” Liu Wei choked up. “Forget it.”

She waved her hand and sat down on the kang bed. “Just go.”

Li Xinyue felt uneasy. “Aren’t you coming?”

Liu Wei lowered her head. “You all have meat and such. I only have dried radish. What can I even bring out?”

“Mm…” Li Xinyue hesitated, remembering that she was borrowing Liu Wei’s bedding.

Even though she had paid to borrow it, Liu Wei had still lent it to her.

“I’ll bring something out for you,” Li Xinyue said. “Consider it my way of making it up to you.”