Chapter 58 : Drama Queen

“Art Troupe…”  

In the early hours of the morning, Lu Fangfang lay in bed, murmuring unconsciously.  

She had a dream that she passed the entrance exam for the art troupe and became a solo singer.  

Her first performance was a great success, receiving a standing ovation.  

Just as she was about to make a name for herself in the art troupe, Zhuang Mingcheng suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her, and kissed her fiercely, and then…  

Then, she couldn’t continue dreaming. After all, how could she dream about something she had never experienced?  

Lu Fangfang lay in bed, staring blankly as she slowly opened her eyes.  

“Um?”  

She immediately shut her eyes again, but she couldn’t fall back asleep, let alone continue the dream.  

After a while, she sat up in frustration.  

Picking up the watch next to her pillow, she checked the time it was already past seven o’clock.  

“How did I sleep for so long?”  

Lu Fangfang was surprised. She had gone to bed before eight o’clock the previous night, meaning she had slept for almost twelve hours.  

She rubbed her temples and felt a slight headache.  

After getting up and washing up, she still felt sluggish and low on energy.  

She knew it must be because she had overworked herself the day before.  

Reheating the leftover porridge from last night, she grabbed a steamed bun and forced herself to eat a little more.  

Today, she had to plant potatoes. After breakfast, she took a kitchen knife and started cutting the potatoes in her sack along the bud points.  

Since she planned to plant five rows of potatoes, she cut a few extra and placed them in a bag.  

Once she was done, she took out the kettle Wang Shufen had given her yesterday, added some sugar, and filled it with hot water.  

Hanging the kettle around her neck, she picked up the potatoes, a hoe, and a shovel, then headed to the wasteland by the river.  

At that moment, Wang Shufen was spreading horse manure on the field.  

Seeing Lu Fangfang approach, she paused and said, “Sister, when you plant the potatoes, sprinkle some horse manure on them, or they won’t grow big.”  

“Also, gather some hay, burn some wood ash, and coat the potatoes in the ash before planting them. Don’t water them when you plant them, or they’ll rot easily.”  

“Okay, I’ll do that later. Sister Shufen, are you thirsty? I brought some sugar water.”  

Lu Fangfang shook the kettle around her neck.  

“I just got here. I’m not thirsty yet.” Wang Shufen smiled and waved her hand.  

Feeling a bit disappointed, Lu Fangfang returned to her own field.  

She put down her things, poured out the potato pieces from the sack, and went to the nearby wasteland to gather hay.  

After burning a pile of wood, she let the ashes cool down before dipping all the potato pieces in the ash.  

The field ridges had already been prepared. Lu Fangfang used her hoe to dig a trench in the middle of the ridge, then placed the potato pieces one by one at a distance of about 30 centimeters, with the buds facing up.  

Finally, she shoveled some horse manure and sprinkled it over the potato pieces.  

By the time she finished, it was almost ten o’clock.  

“Um?”  

Lu Fangfang looked up, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and saw Yang Yufen and her daughter again.  

The two of them were pinching their noses as they quickly ran toward the spot where they had caught fish yesterday.  

Lu Fangfang smirked. She had planned to find Yang Yufen later, but she hadn’t expected to run into her here.  

Glancing down at the shovel in her hand, still covered in horse manure, she walked over with a mischievous grin.  

“Big girl, help me hold the rope loop. I need to tie it tightly so the fish won’t escape.”  

Yang Yufen and her daughter were busy with their task and didn’t pay any attention to Lu Fangfang.  

“Ahem…”  

Lu Fangfang casually waved the manure-covered shovel in front of Yang Yufen.  

Only when Yang Yufen saw the manure on the shovel did Lu Fangfang pretend to rinse it in the water.  

As expected, Yang Yufen immediately panicked. She stood up and shouted, “Lu Fangfang, stop it! Are you trying to disgust me?”  

“What’s wrong?”  

“Bah! What do you think?”

Yang Yufen was so furious that her nose almost twisted in anger. She pointed at the shovel and snapped, “There’s so much manure on it! If it gets into the water, how am I supposed to catch fish?”  

“I thought you didn’t care about that,” Lu Fangfang said, shaking her head as she pulled back the shovel. “Yesterday, Sister Shufen washed the manure cart here, and the manure water flowed into the river. I—”  

“Urgh!”  

Before Lu Fangfang could finish, Yang Yufen’s face turned pale, and she covered her mouth with her hand.  

Suddenly, she remembered the fish with the bulging belly from last night…  

“It’s strange, though. The manure water attracted a bunch of little fish. They were swimming around like they were looking for food. Oh, by the way, Sister Yufen, did you catch a lot of fish yesterday?”  

Lu Fangfang looked at her with curiosity.  

Yang Yufeng couldn’t hold it in any longer. She bent over and gagged a few times.  

“Stop… stop talking about it!”  

Her face scrunched up, and goosebumps spread across her arms and neck.  

Out of sight, out of mind if no one mentioned it, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. It’s not like the fish tasted any different.  

“Sister Yufen, what’s wrong? Didn’t you feed the fish to the chickens? Honestly, it’s fine. Fish eating horse manure isn’t a problem.”  

Lu Fangfang tilted her head in mock surprise, then suddenly gasped. “Wait… Sister Yufen, you didn’t eat the fish, did you?”  

“Urgh!”  

Yang Yufen gagged again.  

“Well, actually, it’s okay to eat it,” Lu Fangfang said quickly, struggling to keep a straight face. “Just remove the fish’s internal organs. The manure is only in the stomach. Wash it properly, and it’s fine. People don’t eat horse manure, after all.”  

“You… you…”  

Yang Yufen’s hands trembled. She pointed at Lu Fangfang, but for a long time, no words came out.  

“Ah? Sister Yufen, don’t tell me… you didn’t even remove the fish’s internal organs?” Lu Fangfang covered her mouth, pretending to be shocked.  

After a moment, she quickly tried to “comfort” her. “Sister Yufen, it’s really not a big deal! Actually, a little bit of horse manure isn’t bad for you. I heard it’s even used as medicine, it helps reduce internal heat.”  

Yang Yufen: “…”  

Her face turned even paler, and she felt a chill run down her spine.  

“Lu Fangfang, you… you’re ruthless!”  

Yang Yufen gritted her teeth. “I can’t afford to mess with you, but I can stay away from you! Big girl, let’s go!”  

She no longer cared about catching fish. She turned around and staggered away, looking like she had lost a battle.  

“Hey? Sister Yufen? Sister Yufen!”  

Lu Fangfang called after her, but Yang Yufen only walked faster.  

Turning to look at the big girl, she noticed that the little girl, unlike her mother, didn’t seem fazed at all.  

Lu Fangfang took out two fruit candies and held them out. “Big girl, go tell your mother that if I had known she was going to eat those fish, I definitely would have warned her.”  

The big girl said nothing. She just grabbed the candies, unwrapped them, stuffed them both into her mouth, and then picked up her things and left.  

“…”  

Lu Fangfang shook her head and went back to work.  

—  

Yang Yufen’s face was still pale, but she was unwilling to let it go.  

When she saw Wang Shufen working in the field, she quickly walked over and asked, “Sister-in-law Shufen, did you really wash the manure cart over there yesterday?”  

Wang Shufen turned to look at where she was pointing, then nodded. “My sister and I pushed two carts of manure, and then we rinsed the carts there.”  

“Sister-in-law Shufen, why didn’t you tell me?!”  

Yang Yufen stomped her foot in frustration.  

“The manure water runs off pretty quickly. What was there to say?”  

Wang Shufen scratched her head and smiled innocently.  

“You… You’re in cahoots with Lu Fangfang!”  

Yang Yufen finally realized what was going on. Fuming, she turned and stormed off.  

“Of course I am!” Wang Shufen called after her with a laugh. “Why would I be on your side?”