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Lin Ting quickly replied, “That’s more than enough.”
Before taking the firewood, she discreetly slipped a few fruit candies into the brigade leader’s wife’s pocket.
Each of the three girls had contributed two pieces of candy to make that small gift.
Yu Mo had picked some leafy greens and potatoes from the private garden, and with that, the three of them left the brigade leader’s house.
When Qian Sulan reached into her pocket and discovered the candies, she was touched.
These new educated youths sure know how to behave!
When the trio returned to the dormitory, the senior educated youths were already about to eat.
Lin Ting’s group wasn’t in a rush. They split up their tasks: Lin Ting fetched water, Zhong Shuhe helped Yu Mo prep ingredients, and soon a fragrant pot of sausage, potato, leafy greens, and mixed-grain rice was cooking.
As the delicious aroma wafted out, the senior educated youths started swallowing hard.
They suddenly felt like they’d missed out on a fortune.
If only we hadn’t tried to intimidate the new girls yesterday,
maybe we could’ve shared that meat!
Now they could only watch and smell.
The usually silent female youth Tan Hongxia couldn’t help but grumble:
“This is all your fault for trying to scare the newcomers.”
“If not for that, I’d be eating meat tonight!”
She had clearly seen Zhong Shuhe pull out a whole sausage.
There was no way just the three of them could finish it all, right?
Some of the others were feeling guilty too, but since they’d all agreed to haze the newcomers yesterday, no one dared speak up against it now.
Jiang Yanmei licked her lips and said,
“If they had any sense of respect, they’d share some with us.
After all, we came to the countryside first—we’re technically their seniors.”
Wen Chunlan chimed in in approval,
“We live in a communal environment. When there’s food, it should be shared.
Keeping it all to themselves like this is shameful behavior!”
Jiang Yanmei added,
“Maybe their parents just didn’t teach them how to share.
It’s not entirely their fault. But they do come off a little… unlikable.”
“We outsiders have no right to teach them, of course.”
Wen Chunlan immediately jumped up,
“Then I’ll go teach them basic manners myself!”
Jiang Yanmei’s eyes flashed with a subtle emotion. She sighed,
“Wen, you’re still too impulsive.”
Wen Chunlan didn’t hear that last part. She was already stomping off toward the kitchen—
And just in time to catch the three newcomers splitting the sausage.
Since it was Zhong Shuhe’s sausage, naturally she was the one dividing it.
She split it into three equal parts, one for each of them.
Wen Chunlan’s heart was itching with jealousy.
So generous! Too bad I’m not one of them.
Lin Ting had noticed someone lurking at the doorway long ago,
But since that person didn’t speak, she simply ignored them.
She looked at the sausage in her bowl, picked it up with her chopsticks, and was just about to eat when—
“Wait!” someone yelled.
Not rushing to eat meat? You’ve got a screw loose!
Wait for what?
Lin Ting took a big bite without hesitation, shooting her two companions a glance:
Hurry up and eat!
Zhong Shuhe and Yu Mo instantly followed her lead.
Wen Chunlan was livid.
“How can you eat meat without sharing?!”
Yu Mo looked genuinely confused.
“There’s just the three of us eating. How is that not fair?”
Wen Chunlan snapped,
“You had meat and didn’t offer any to the rest of us.
You snuck in here to eat—it’s obviously selfish!”
Lin Ting almost laughed from anger.
“Who shares their meat with others these days?”
“Would you?”
In this day and age, even having meat was a luxury—who would just give it away?
Wen Chunlan argued,
“Didn’t Zhong Shuhe share her sausage just now?”
She turned to Zhong and demanded,
“How could you only give it to the two newcomers?”
Zhong Shuhe rolled her eyes.
“I can’t cook, Lin Ting brought the iron pot, Yu Mo cooked the food—
Wouldn’t it make sense that I give them a little sausage as thanks?”
“I can’t just take advantage of them forever, can I?”
“Not everyone is like you—always looking to freeload!”
Wen Chunlan was furious. It took her a few moments to stammer out,
“When did I ever freeload?!”
Zhong Shuhe shot back:
“If you’re not here to freeload, why are you even standing here?”
“Just to watch us eat meat?”
While they argued, Lin Ting had already finished eating.
“Zhong, you finish up—I’ll handle the rest.”
Zhong Shuhe shot her a grateful look, just as Lin Ting picked up a fire poker and stood up.
Wen Chunlan was startled and stammered,
“W-What are you doing?!”
Lin Ting twirled the fire poker and said coldly:
“Anyone with basic manners knows not to barge in during someone else’s mealtime.”
“And nobody—nobody—asks for a share of someone else’s meat like you just did.”
“One more word out of you, and I won’t hold back.”
Wen Chunlan’s pride kicked in.
She figured that if she backed down now, the new girls would never respect her again.
So she straightened her back and barked,
“I’m just trying to teach you the basic principles of being a decent human being!
You should at least be grateful—”
Before she could finish, Lin Ting swung the fire poker.
“AHHH!” Wen Chunlan screamed.
Just then, the other educated youths rushed in and saw Lin Ting chasing Wen Chunlan around,
whacking her several times as Wen screamed bloody murder.
Even just listening to the shrieks made them wince in pain.
The senior youths collectively gasped.
This Lin Ting… is terrifying!
Thank goodness we didn’t try to beg for meat ourselves, or that would’ve been us getting beaten!
Jiang Yanmei was stunned. It took her a long while to snap out of it and call for the male youths to help break up the fight.
After all, she was the one who’d indirectly encouraged Wen Chunlan to go over. Now she felt a little guilty.
The male educated youths rushed in to intervene—and each one got smacked a few times too.
The pain made them cry out, and they were traumatized.
From then on, they all decided:
Avoid Lin Ting unless absolutely necessary!
Only when she was thoroughly tired did Lin Ting stop.
Wen Chunlan shouted that she was going to report her to the brigade leader.
“Go ahead!”
“You want me to borrow a loudspeaker too, and broadcast to the whole village that you shamelessly tried to beg for meat?”
Wen Chunlan, unable to endure the humiliation, slunk back to her room crying.
Yu Mo secretly gave Lin Ting a thumbs-up.
“Big Sis, that was awesome!”
Zhong Shuhe joked,
“I kinda want to call you Big Sis too!”
After that night, Lin Ting’s reputation was sealed.
Whenever the senior educated youths thought back on that scene, they still felt a little shaken.
Both Yu Mo and Zhong Shuhe were fully committed to clinging to Lin Ting’s coattails.
“Big Sis, you must be tired. I’ll boil some water for you to bathe.”
Yu Mo darted into the kitchen to start a fire.
Zhong Shuhe offered her last stash of creamy rabbit milk candy.
“Have a piece—it’ll sweeten your mood.”
Just as Lin Ting unwrapped a candy and popped it into her mouth, Zhong Shuhe leaned in with a serious expression:
“Lin Ting, if I ever get bullied in the future… will you have my back?”
Lin Ting blinked.
Why did this feel like some gangster boss taking in a lackey?
She looked at Zhong’s delicate face and nodded instinctively.
“Sure. We’ll look out for each other from now on.”
Zhong Shuhe bowed deeply in thanks.
“Thank you, Big Sis Ting!”
And just like that, Lin Ting became the undisputed “big sis” in the hearts of Yu Mo and Zhong Shuhe.
In this unfamiliar and challenging place, they finally felt a bit of security.