Chapter 87

“What do you mean? Of course, it’s for the two yuan rent that Feng Shishi is paying for the room. Think about it, Feng Shishi is from the same place as He Ting and Zhou Yanfeng, she’s from the capital, how wealthy could she be?”

“Two yuan rent a month, that’s enough to buy several pounds of meat.”

“True!”

Lu Jiaojiao was still unconvinced: “But there’s no need to give her meat, meat is expensive.”

“Can’t catch the wolf without letting go of the child. You don’t know how many people are fighting to let Feng Shishi rent their house. I cooked meat for her, and now look, she’s willing to rent from me, isn’t she?”

“You think I care about those two yuan? I’m doing it for you, lazy girl. You’ve been lying in the commune hospital for over ten days, doing nothing when you get home, just complaining about headaches.”

“Don’t you think treating your head injury costs money?”

It was time to let the people in the brigade know that it wasn’t her son Yin Zhihe who couldn’t do anything, it was Lu Jiaojiao.

Shen Guixiang had made up her mind and decided to treat Lu Jiaojiao with unusual kindness: “Jiaojiao, you’ve hurt your head, you can’t do anything. Should the whole family just wait to starve?”

“How about this, tomorrow I’ll take you to the health station to have your head looked at and see what’s really going on?”

Lu Jiaojiao was actually fine and had no problems.

But she had to pretend!

Otherwise, Shen Guixiang would push her around, and worse, she’d blame the troubles with Lu Jianguo and Liu Chunhua on her.

She hated Lu Jianguo and Liu Chunhua now.

They only cared about Lu Wenhua.

If they had a bit of love for her, they wouldn’t be secretly coming to the Yin family to look for money. They clearly hadn’t considered her future.

“Mom, why spend the money? My head will heal over time.”

“Enough, enough, if you’re sick, you need to treat it.”

Shen Guixiang decided: “It’s settled, when Feng Shishi moves in tomorrow, I’ll take you to the health station to see your sister.”

When Shen Guixiang wanted to please someone, she knew how to do it.

Seeing how well Lu Baiwei’s life was after marrying He Ting, Shen Guixiang used all her skills to win over Feng Shishi.

Knowing that Feng Shishi came to Xiangyang Brigade for He Ting, Shen Guixiang had just helped Feng Shishi move in from the youth point. With a smiling face, she spoke to Feng Shishi.

“Shishi, I’m taking my daughter-in-law to the brigade health station to see a doctor. You stay at home for a while, okay? Aunt will come back later and cook for you.”

The reason Feng Shishi came to Xiangyang Brigade and blocked He Ting at the health station was to make things difficult for Lu Baiwei.

With her past connections with He Ting in the capital, she was confident that He Ting wouldn’t refuse her request to rent a room.

Based on her past relationship with He Ting in the capital, Feng Shishi was confident that He Ting wouldn’t refuse her request to rent a room and live together.

What woman would tolerate another delicate, unmarried girl in her home?

Lu Baiwei would definitely not agree.

This way, Feng Shishi could successfully cause trouble for Lu Baiwei in front of He Ting, making it appear that Lu Baiwei was narrow-minded.

So what if He Ting was married? With her beauty and the fact that she came from the same place as He Ting, Feng Shishi was sure she could stir things up and get He Ting to divorce Lu Baiwei.

Breaking up a marriage that had been arranged by their grandparents—was there any difficulty in that?

But in the end, she was the one who got a taste of her own medicine. He Ting didn’t take the bait and kept defending that woman, which made Feng Shishi furious.

She didn’t even get a chance to confront Lu Baiwei, because He Ting’s protection made her lose the fight. This was something that had never happened before in the capital—her looks had always allowed her to control situations.

When she heard that Shen Guixiang was going to take Lu Jiaojiao to the health station, Feng Shishi got excited.

Now, she wanted to see what kind of woman He Ting had married, since he was so protective of her.

A village girl—how could she be worthy of He Ting?

The young people who had just arrived in the brigade were given two days off, and Feng Shishi immediately followed behind Shen Guixiang and Lu Jiaojiao.

“I’ll go with you to the brigade health station. I need to buy some anti-mosquito and anti-itch ointment.”

In Feng Shishi’s mind, rural women were dark and strong, so she thought Lu Baiwei, whom He Ting married, must be like that as well.

Unexpectedly, although Lu Baiwei was a country girl, her skin was just as fair as hers. After marrying He Ting, her nutrition improved, she had enough to eat and wear, and her complexion looked great. Lu Baiwei had delicate features, and though she wasn’t as striking as Feng Shishi, she was still pleasant to look at, more and more so as one continued to look.

“You’re Sister Weiwei, right? He Ting and I grew up in the same courtyard in the capital. He used to take me around when we were kids.”

Feng Shishi smiled gently, as if mentioning it casually: “We were in the same big compound, and everyone used to joke that He Ting and I would end up sharing a bed one day, that we’d be family eventually.”

“He Ting didn’t even write to tell me that he got married in the countryside.”

“I was worried about him, you know, because life in the countryside can be tough. So I came here to check on him.”

It seemed like she wasn’t saying much, but every sentence subtly linked He Ting to her.

Zhou Yueying frowned on behalf of Lu Baiwei, feeling that Feng Shishi was not to be underestimated.

She was worried that Lu Baiwei might take it seriously, fall for this girl’s manipulation, but Lu Baiwei remained calm.

After finishing examining Lu Jiaojiao’s wound and applying the medicine, Lu Baiwei spoke with a composed expression: “Do you think He Ting and I are living a hard life?”

They were living in a three-story brick house now, and there were two rooms at the health station. With He Ting, Lu Baiwei, and their two children, they were just a family of four.

They were living in a three-story red brick house, and there were two rooms available at the health station. He Ting, Lu Baiwei, and their two children made up a family of four.

He Ting was living comfortably; it was she, Feng Shishi, who had experienced tough times in the countryside.

“It’s not that hard!”

Feng Shishi dryly added, “But it’s nothing like when we lived in the big compound. Sister Weiwei, you don’t know, before He Ting’s grandfather went to the northwest to plant trees, he was a senior official. We lived in a private house with its own yard in our compound.”

“My family lived in an apartment too. The conditions in the countryside can’t compare to the capital.”

Zhou Yueying almost wanted to be angry on Lu Baiwei’s behalf.

Lu Baiwei smiled calmly and asked, “So why did you come to the countryside?”

“I… I just couldn’t stop worrying about He Ting!”

How was this woman not taking the bait?

Only if she was mistreated at the brigade health station would she have the opportunity to stir up trouble with He Ting.

Feng Shishi realized she needed to take a harder approach.

She suddenly seemed to realize she had spoken too much and apologetically said, “Sorry, Sister Weiwei. I got a bit too excited seeing you. Did I say too much?”

“If I said something wrong, don’t take it to heart. There’s nothing between me and He Ting. We have a pure, sibling-like relationship.”

If it were any other time, Shen Guixiang would have been pleased to see Lu Baiwei getting embarrassed.

But this time, she had other matters on her mind.

This Feng Shishi had been talking non-stop, but she hadn’t managed to suppress Lu Baiwei. Instead, she was just making a fuss, and it made Shen Guixiang feel annoyed.

“Feng Zhishao, you can talk to Dr. Lu later. First, let her give my daughter-in-law a thorough examination.”

Shen Guixiang suddenly switched to being concerned about Lu Jiaojiao, and she broke from her usual behavior to talk to Lu Baiwei about Jiaojiao’s condition.

“Dr. Lu, Jiaojiao has been complaining of headaches and stomach pains.”

“I’m worried she hit her head and injured her organs. It hasn’t gotten better, and it’s been worrying me.”

Shen Guixiang took the initiative and suggested, “Why don’t you take her inside and check her stomach?”