Chapter 18

 Dealing with Qian Guilan

Aunt Qiao stood protectively behind Summer Wan’ang and confronted Qian Guilan with a sharp tone, “Qian Guilan, you’re embarrassing yourself. You’re trying to bully a young girl. Summer Wan’ang just said a few kind words, and you pushed her? Just because your son was a soldier for two years, you think you’re something special? My second son has been in the army for seven years—what did I say about it?”

Summer Wan’ang peeked out from behind Aunt Qiao, continuing the complaint. “Aunt Qiao, this big aunt kept bragging on the train about how her son is a soldier and how she’s a military family. She was so loud, not just the little girl, even I was scared my heart was going to jump out!”

Zhang Shiye could no longer hold it in and let out a chuckle. Aunt Qiao shot him a look. “What are you laughing at?”

Zhang Shiye cleared his throat and shrugged, “Nothing, I just remembered something funny.”

Qian Guilan: “…”

Summer Wan’ang: “…”

Others: “…”

Aunt Qiao: “…”

Everyone looked at him, and Zhang Shiye felt embarrassed. “Uh, Mom, you eat more, I’ll go talk to the Captain about this.”

Qian Guilan, realizing she had acted impulsively, now felt conflicted. She had been assigned to seed selection due to her foot injury, and this was a much easier task than the rest. She didn’t want to lose it. “Shuyun, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have bullied the new intellectuals. Could you speak to your husband about it?”

Aunt Qiao snorted. “The Captain handles matters of the team, not me! You’re disrupting the unity of the village and bullying the intellectuals who came to help with the construction. You’ll be punished for this!”

With that, she huffed again, and Summer Wan’ang followed suit, huffing as well, feeling emboldened.

They returned to their work area, and Aunt Qiao, seeing how much she liked Summer Wan’ang, couldn’t help but think that with four sons of her own, she wished she had a soft, delicate daughter like Summer Wan’ang.

Aunt Qiao patiently taught Summer Wan’ang, “When selecting seeds, choose ones that look healthy and uniform in size. That way, we’ll have a good harvest this year. Don’t worry if it’s your first time, just show me what you’ve selected.”

Summer Wan’ang acted obediently. “I understand, Aunt Qiao. Just pick the ones that look the best, right?”

Everyone laughed, except for Qian Guilan.

Qian Guilan squinted and said, “Shuyun, why did your eldest son suddenly bring you food today? He doesn’t normally come around, but now that the new female intellectual is here, he’s coming to see her. Don’t you think that’s a bit too coincidental?”

Qiao Enzi suddenly threw the corn seeds on the ground. “Qian Guilan, you shameless old thing, are you slandering my son? What’s wrong with my son sending me some food today because I’m not feeling well? Why does everything you say always sound like it’s impure?”

Xia Wanyang immediately responded, “Yes, Aunt Qiao, you see this triangular aunt? Not only is she bullying new intellectual youths, but she’s also causing discord in the team, ruining relationships, and now she’s deliberately tarnishing the reputation of the intellectual youth. It’s hard not to suspect something.”

“What do you mean?” Qian Guilan was so scared that her legs went weak. This girl was framing her!

Others started to realize that Qian Guilan often spread gossip and caused trouble in the past, so they started to doubt her and took a collective breath.

“You’re talking nonsense! My son is a soldier! If what you said was true, how did he pass the political review?”

Everyone turned their gaze toward Xia Wanyang.

She replied nonchalantly, “Your son became a soldier two years ago. Just because there were no issues back then doesn’t mean there are none now. I should report this and have the authorities come down and review the case again. If there’s anything that slipped through, it could be a big problem—either a parasite to the nation or a rat in the team!”

Qian Guilan was so scared that her lips trembled. If they reviewed it again, her son might lose his position in the army! Her husband would skin her alive!

Seeing that Xia Wanyang was about to say more, Qian Guilan rushed over to cover her mouth. Xia Wanyang, startled, sat down on the ground in shock.

Aunt Qiao helped Xia Wanyang up, “Qian Guilan, what exactly are you trying to do?”

At this moment, Zhang Heping walked over, glanced at Xia Wanyang and then at Qian Guilan.

“Qian Guilan, this is Xia Wanyang’s first day working. What deep hatred do you have against her that you’re bullying her like this? Enough, don’t bother with selecting the seeds anymore. Go dig manure. It’s almost time to fertilize, and you’re in charge of this patch!”

Zhang Heping thought Qian Guilan would throw a tantrum, but she immediately stood straight and agreed without a word!

Zhang Heping, puzzled, walked off. Aunt Qiao wanted to pull Xia Wanyang back to sit, but Xia Wanyang waved her hand and winked at her.

Then, she walked over to Qian Guilan’s side and whispered in her ear, “Aunt Qian, my dad is a division commander in the armed police. Your son is just a low-ranking soldier. If I call my dad and report you for bullying me, what do you think he would do? Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I’m my parents’ only daughter, and they spoil me like their precious gem!”

This time, not only did Qian Guilan’s lips tremble, but a pool of yellow liquid also leaked between her legs. Xia Wanyang frowned and quickly stepped back.

“Ugh~~”

The surrounding women made disgusted noises.

Aunt Qiao looked at Xia Wanyang, “Girl, what did you say to her? You scared her like this? She couldn’t be a suspect, could she?”

Xia Wanyang waved her hand, “I just scared her. Don’t worry!”

After the morning work, when they returned to the intellectual youth station, Xia Wanyang rushed to her room and took a shower in the space, though she didn’t wash her hair, afraid someone might notice. It had been a long morning with both work and arguing; she was exhausted.

She knew what work she was assigned, and she found a spot to stay out of the sun. When she went outside again, she didn’t need to wear long sleeves—just a short-sleeved shirt and a jacket for the journey. It was much cooler when she worked and could take the jacket off!

She found an almost new white T-shirt and black three-quarter pants to wear, then applied a thick layer of moisturizing cream to her face—this was from her last life, specially prepared by Zhang Shiye for her.

When she finished getting ready, the communal meal was just about to be served. “I had two pieces of snack; let Li Xiang have my portion!”

Li Xiang smiled like a fool, “Thank you, Sister Yang! You’re so good to me, knowing I need extra energy for tilling the soil. You’re giving me all the food!”

Li Wenzhu lowered his head, looking at the watery porridge in his bowl, thinking, “If only Xia Wanyang were mine, I could eat snacks with her instead of this pig food. I need to figure out a way to get her.”

At first, Li Wenzhu was drawn to Xia Wanyang’s looks, but now, after she repeatedly humiliated him in front of everyone, all that initial infatuation was gone. He now just wanted to control her and enjoy everything she had.

Yesterday, he saw a big package she had brought, filled with who knows what.

Fang Zhaodi saw Li Wenzhu eating in silence and not talking to her, thinking that maybe the food didn’t suit his taste. She immediately sneered, “The food’s so thin, did you steal some of our grain? How can you eat so little and still work in the fields? The human heart is so bad, even laborers can’t get a decent meal.”

Xia Wanyang laughed, “It’s just that your food is so well made. A person shouldn’t eat too much; when you’re full, you just find trouble. If you’re hungry, then stop being sarcastic!”

Fang Zhaodi didn’t dare argue with her, so she could only gnaw angrily on her pancake.

Xia Wanyang felt so exhausted. First, she argued with Qian Guilan outside, and now she had these two idiots hovering around her. When would this end? It seemed she’d have to think of a way to deal with these two and make them as obedient as Qian Guilan so that they would be sent to shovel manure!

But she was also happy—she didn’t fight for anything in her last life, and it ended badly for her. This time, she said whatever she wanted, and it really felt refreshing.