Chapter 54 : Lu Fangfang’s Revenge

Lu Fangfang finished her breakfast and waited and waited, but Chen Shuhua never came to return the plate.  

Feeling a bit puzzled, she didn’t bother to wait any longer. It was just a plate, she wasn’t worried about losing it.  

Grabbing a shovel, she and Sister Shufen pushed a borrowed cart and headed to the regiment’s stables.  

The regiment housed thousands of warhorses, producing a large amount of horse manure daily.  

In this era, horse manure was a highly valuable resource.  

When Wang Shufen and Lu Fangfang explained their purpose, the tall soldier in charge of the stables asked, “Sister-in-law, do you want fresh horse manure or fermented manure?”  

“There’s fermented manure too?”  

Wang Shufen was thrilled and quickly replied, “Then I want the fermented kind.”  

Fermented horse manure could be used immediately, saving a lot of time.  

She pulled out the note issued by the Logistics Department and happily handed it to the soldier.  

“Two carts of horse manure? Alright, sister-in-law, come with me.”  

The soldier checked the note and led them to the regiment’s manure storage area.  

To protect the manure, the regiment had fenced off the area with wire and railings, proof of how precious horse manure was.  

Upon reaching the pile of fermented manure, the soldier said, “Sister-in-law, this is the pile. Wait here for a bit, I’ll get someone to load it for you.”  

“No need, no need, we can do it ourselves. You go ahead with your work.”  

Wang Shufen didn’t want to trouble others. She picked up a shovel and began loading the manure onto the cart.  

Beside her, Lu Fangfang also started shoveling.  

Fermented horse manure itself didn’t smell too bad. But some unfermented manure nearby gave off a strong odor.  

Wanting to finish quickly, neither of them spoke, focusing only on loading the manure onto the cart. They stopped only when the cart was packed full, leaving no more room.  

Wang Shufen looked at the towering pile of manure and smiled.  

“If someone else were doing this, they wouldn’t have been so dedicated.”  

“Girl, you pull the cart from the front, and I’ll push from behind.”  

One pulled while the other pushed, and soon, they reached the wasteland near the riverbank.  

This cartload of manure was dumped onto Wang Shufen’s field.  

They went back to the regiment for another load and dumped it onto Lu Fangfang’s field. Each of them ended up with one cartload of manure.  

After finishing the task, Lu Fangfang let out a sigh of relief. “Finally, it’s done.”  

She wasn’t exaggerating, the smell from the manure pile was truly overwhelming.  

“Sister Shufen, please clean the cart before returning it.”  

“Yeah, it needs to be rinsed with water.”  

Looking at the manure-covered cart, Wang Shufen nodded.  

If you borrow something, you should return it clean.  

She pushed the cart to the river, fetched a bucket of water, and poured it over the cart.  

‘SPLASH!’  

“Sister Shufen, wait—!”  

The remaining manure on the cart was washed straight into the stream.  

Lu Fangfang opened her mouth but felt helpless.  

“What’s wrong, girl?”  

“Nothing… nothing,” Lu Fangfang replied with a wry smile.  

The manure water had already flowed into the creek, too late to do anything now.  

Forget it. Next time she wanted to catch fish, she’d just walk a little further upstream.  

As for whether the fish would swim upstream… she decided not to think about it.  

Wang Shufen scratched her head and continued rinsing the cart.  

Lu Fangfang stood by the river, absentmindedly stirring the water with her shovel.  

“Huh?”  

Squinting into the water, she noticed a swarm of small fish gathering around the manure that had just washed in.  

Lu Fangfang: “…”  

She silently swore never to eat fish from this part of the river again.  

“Girl, I’m going to return the cart first, then I’ll come back to plant vegetables.”

“Sister, slow down.”  

Lu Fangfang walked a bit upstream, squatted by the water, and washed her arms and hands.  

She bent down and sniffed herself, there was still a faint foul smell.  

Looks like she’d need to take a shower and wash her clothes in the afternoon.  

After shaking the water off her hands, she picked up the shovel and was about to head back to the fields when she spotted Yang Yufen in the distance.  

“Huh? What’s she doing here?”  

Yang Yufen was carrying an enamel basin, accompanied by a little girl, and walking toward them.  

“Ugh, it stinks, it stinks! Big girl, walk faster.”  

Yang Yufen covered her nose with a look of disgust.  

When she passed by Lu Fangfang, she let out a soft snort, still holding a grudge from yesterday.  

“Girl, hand me the rag.”  

The two of them walked to where Wang Shufen was scrubbing the manure cart, squatted down, and started working.  

“Yang Yufen, what are you doing?”  

“None of your business.”  

Yang Yufen shot her a glance, feeling a dull ache in her backside at the sight of Lu Fangfang.  

“…”  

Lu Fangfang found it amusing, this woman sure had a bad temper.  

Fine, since it wasn’t her concern, she wasn’t going to remind them. She simply stood aside, ready to watch the fun unfold.  

Yang Yufen took a piece of rag and wrapped it tightly around the mouth of the enamel basin, securing it with a rope, leaving only a small hole.  

She glanced smugly at Lu Fangfang before saying to her daughter, “Big girl, take out the beef bones.”  

The little girl opened a cloth bag and pulled out a large beef rib.  

Seeing this, Lu Fangfang couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed.  

“Ahem.”  

Yang Yufen, feeling a bit guilty, muttered, “I worked all morning to trade for this. I even washed the pot. I don’t owe anyone anything.”  

Lu Fangfang sneered but didn’t say a word.  

“Big girl, put the bones in quickly.”  

Yang Yufen was delighted to see a swarm of small fish swimming near the shore.  

She carefully placed the enamel basin into the water and pushed it toward the area where the most fish had gathered.  

Lu Fangfang: “…”  

She didn’t even know what to say. Yang Yufen had unknowingly placed it right in the spot where the most horse manure had been washed down.  

Seeing Yang Yufen’s proud expression, Lu Fangfang struggled to hold back her laughter. Without another word, she quickly grabbed her shovel and left, she was afraid she’d burst out laughing if she stayed any longer.  

Just then, Wang Shufen returned after delivering the cart.  

Noticing Lu Fangfang approaching, she pointed toward the riverbank and curiously asked, “Sister, why is Yang Yufen standing where I just washed the cart?”  

“Pfft!”  

Lu Fangfang couldn’t hold it in anymore and laughed out loud. “Sister Shufen… Yang Yufen is catching fish there. She must’ve smelled the fish from my house last night and got greedy.”  

“Huh?”  

Wang Shufen’s eyes widened. “Didn’t you tell her the water was full of horse manure?”  

“Ahem, Sister Shufen, don’t worry about it. I’ll tell her tomorrow, it won’t be too late.”  

Wang Shufen was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.  

By tomorrow, those little fish would already be in Yang Yufen’s stomach. This was clearly intentional, meant to gross her out.  

No doubt, Yang Yufen must have offended Lu Fangfang somehow.  

Shaking her head, Wang Shufen decided not to meddle in the matter.  

—

At the riverbank, Yang Yufen stared intently into the water.  

As more and more small fish swam into the basin, she grabbed the rope and yanked it up. ‘Splash!’  

“Big girl, hurry, open the bag!”  

After untying the rag covering the basin, they saw that it was packed with small fish.  

Yang Yufen couldn’t stop smiling, what a lucky day! She had found the perfect fishing spot and caught so many in one go.  

Looks like she’d be having a feast tonight.