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When Lin Wanjun was pursuing her PhD, she had a nickname: “Desperate Third Lady.”
Even though she was a woman, her damn competitive streak was exceptionally strong—so strong it could make people’s blood boil.
To win, she would use any trick, willing to “kill a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred self-inflicted wounds”—a ruthless person who made even her fellow Shixiong tremble in fear.
She studied medicine, so she knew just how weak a person could become after three days of hunger.
Originally, she didn’t want to fuss over Meng Fugen anymore. But this brat wouldn’t stop spouting nonsense. If she didn’t properly correct his disgusting habits, she would feel she was wasting the meals she’d eaten over the past three days!
“What? Carry water?”
Meng Fugen had only drunk two bowls of thin porridge. It barely gave him any energy. At this moment, he was so hungry he could swallow a whole cow—how could he possibly have the strength to carry water?
“Yes, carry water!”
Lin Wanjun said, “You’ve been locked up for three days, and so have I. You’ve gone hungry for three days, and so have I. And you’re a man, I’m a woman—you should have the advantage here.”
“Today’s competition, at the very least, is a contest between you and me. At most, it’s a battle between our school and your clan. You can’t back down—otherwise, it counts as forfeiting and admitting defeat!”
Hearing this, Meng Shuanggou was furious.
“Admit defeat? Impossible! A woman dares to think she can lord over our clan?”
He said, “Fugen, when you compete with her, make sure she loses in a way that she can’t argue with!”
But Meng Fugen had no strength left to carry water. His legs were weak and his vision swam with stars. He probably couldn’t even lift an empty bucket.
Yet, when he saw the look in Meng Shuanggou’s eyes, he could only grit his teeth and go along with it.
Lin Wanjun laid out the rules.
She didn’t know how to use the well’s pulley system to draw water, so she had someone else pull the water up from the well. She and Meng Fugen were responsible for carrying it, and the challenge was simple: whoever filled their water jar first would win.
It wasn’t a complicated demand. Wei Yifu also considered safety, worrying that the two starved people might accidentally fall into the well and drown.
Soon, the challenge began.
Lin Wanjun grabbed her yoke and buckets and sprinted toward the well, her steps lightning-fast, leaving everyone around gaping in disbelief.
“Was she really locked up for three whole days? Did she really not eat a single bite?”
“Is there any doubt? Both the school and the clan stationed people to watch. No one could cheat!”
…
In the real world, Lin Wanjun had once gone on an outing with her Shixiong in a small mountain village, where they deliberately experienced the fun of carrying water with a yoke.
The Shixiong all struggled and staggered under the weight, but Lin Wanjun, clever as ever, quickly grasped the technique. Even the villagers couldn’t stop praising her.
A skill that seemed useless before was now coming in handy.
Halfway back with two full buckets of water, Lin Wanjun ran into Meng Fugen, who was listlessly carrying an empty yoke.
“You worthless thing!”
She didn’t even try to hide her contempt, spitting out the words with a hint of provocation.
Meng Fugen’s teeth itched with anger. He summoned all his strength to surge forward, but his body was far less obedient than his brain. After a few steps, he collapsed onto the ground.
By the time he crawled back to the well, Lin Wanjun had already completed her first trip and caught up.
“Oh? Still a man? You were so vigorous when hitting people—what a pathetic excuse for a man!”
Lin Wanjun knew how to break someone’s spirit, deliberately pressing on Meng Fugen’s sore spots with relentless precision.
Meng Fugen struggled to lift two buckets of water, enduring Lin Wanjun’s mocking jabs, but he didn’t even have the strength to retort.
“Ouch! What are you—bumping me for?!”
Just as he was nearing the end, Lin Wanjun suddenly bumped into him from behind. Caught completely off guard, Meng Fugen tumbled to the ground, spilling the water from his buckets.
Meanwhile, Lin Wanjun, carrying her two buckets with ease, walked past him and deliberately stepped on his hand.
“Oh, sorry, stepped on you!”
She said it aloud, but subtly pressed down and rolled her foot a few times, making Meng Fugen yelp in pain like a startled prairie dog.
The water jars weren’t very large—just four buckets would fill them completely.
Lin Wanjun carried the water to the jars, where Song Zhanjin was already waiting to receive the buckets and pour them in.
“Good! The school’s water jar is full first!”
Wei Yifu and Meng Shuanggou, serving as referees, saw Lin Wanjun’s jar filled to the brim, while Meng Fugen was still sprawled on the ground, groaning.
“Director Meng, sorry, our school won!”
Wei Yifu couldn’t hide the smile at the corner of his mouth. The school staff gathered around also clapped and cheered.
“So what if you won? It’s not an official competition—what’s there to be proud of?”
Meng Shuanggou’s face fell, but he still tried to put on a tough front.
When he reached Meng Fugen, he ground his teeth and said, “Aren’t you embarrassed enough? Why are you still lying there? Come on! Back with me!”
Meng Fugen scrambled away, crawling and tumbling, not daring to provoke Lin Wanjun even a little.
He feared this crazy woman might devise another cruel trick against him; he worried he might truly be ruined by her.
Lin Wanjun, triumphant like a female general after a victory, was happily escorted back to the school by her husband Song Zhanjin and her mother-in-law Li Yuetang, surrounded by cheering onlookers.
“Junjun, come eat!”
Li Yuetang set a few corn buns and some pickled vegetables, along with a bowl of thick rice porridge, in front of Lin Wanjun.
Looking at the cramped living conditions and the meager meal, Lin Wanjun felt like crying.
No, it would have been better to stay a few more days in the detention cell—at least it was a single room, and she could eat and drink without restraint.
Though she now had freedom, living in a dorm with a dozen people, holding corn buns in her hands with not a drop of oil in the vegetables—this was exactly like a scene from Tears Behind Bars!
“Mom, I’m not hungry!”
Lin Wanjun spoke up—not to pretend, but because she genuinely wasn’t hungry. Before coming out, she had just polished off an entire fragrant, oily claypot rice with Chinese sausage.
An older woman beside her said, “Child, eat quickly. Don’t be fooled by these few corn buns—your whole family saved them just for you!”
Hearing this, Lin Wanjun was utterly shocked.
The moment she arrived, she had been locked up, and she truly hadn’t realized how harsh life was here.
Good grief—turns out the detention cell was the place to enjoy life!
“Mom, didn’t you all eat breakfast?”
Lin Wanjun asked.
“We did! We already ate!”
Li Yuetang smiled, her eyes slightly red, and reached up to touch Lin Wanjun’s fair, flushed face.
“You were locked inside for three days, my girl. You suffered so much. Look at you—so yellow and thin from hunger. It really breaks Mom’s heart!”
Speechless, Lin Wanjun thought: “Mom… I know you care, but can we not lie to each other? I can clearly feel my waistband is tighter than before!”
The talkative older lady chimed in again.
“Your mother-in-law and husband only drank the thin broth from the porridge; the thick part was all saved for you!”
Hearing this, Lin Wanjun felt a strange mix of emotions.
The corn buns and porridge she had looked down on were actually saved for her by her mother-in-law and Song Zhanjin, who had gone hungry themselves.
Touched as she was, she still couldn’t eat much.
To avoid wasting food, Lin Wanjun first handed one corn bun to Song Zhanjin and then gave one each to her mother-in-law.
“I’ve been hungry for three days; I can’t eat too much at once, or my stomach won’t handle it!”
Even as she said it, Lin Wanjun felt a pang of guilt.
Hungry? Ha! While her mother-in-law was gnawing on scraps outside, she had been enjoying luxurious meals in the detention cell—how could she possibly claim hunger?
“Right, right, right! I completely forgot about that!”
Li Yuetang said, “Then start by drinking some porridge to take it easy!”
With just one small corn bun, Li Yuetang still insisted on giving half to her husband, claiming she couldn’t finish it herself.
As a female family member, she didn’t have to do any heavy labor—just sewing, mending, and washing. But Song Mingcheng and Song Zhanjin had been assigned to the lumber company, doing grueling physical work every day. Without food, how could they possibly endure it?
Lin Wanjun took a few sips of porridge herself, giving the rest to Song Zhanjin.
She wasn’t being sentimental like her mother-in-law, pitying her husband; she simply couldn’t eat more because she was already full.
Yet Song Zhanjin looked deeply moved, gently stroking Lin Wanjun’s face with all the warmth in his heart.
“Junjun, I will never let you down.”
Lin Wanjun’s inner thoughts: Big Brother, don’t get all sentimental just yet. Later, if you and the canonically paired heroine leave me alive, then maybe…!