Chapter 51

“Yiyi!”  

Shen Yiyi had just finished bundling a stack of firewood when she heard someone calling her.

When she turned around, she saw Chen Jiayi with an indignant expression.  

“Yiyi, did Li Chen actually make you go up the mountain to chop firewood? You were raised in comfort—how could you possibly do such a thing?”  

Shen Yiyi looked at her, speechless. “Are you okay?”  

Chen Jiayi noticed that Shen Yiyi was displeased and quickly changed the subject. “Yiyi, don’t be mad. I mainly came to bring you an egg.”  

She reached into her pocket, took out an egg, and shoved it into Shen Yiyi’s hand. “Speaking of which, where were you this morning? I wanted to give this to you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. I specially boiled it for you—I wouldn’t even bear to eat it myself…”  

Shen Yiyi: “…”  

Every time, Chen Jiayi had to emphasize that she had specially boiled the egg for her and that she couldn’t bear to eat it herself, as if afraid Shen Yiyi wouldn’t recognize her kindness.  

Shen Yiyi lifted her gaze and scanned the area where the Old Li family lived. Her eyes locked onto Dahua, and she waved her over.  

Dahua was standing next to her mother. When her mother saw Shen Yiyi’s gesture, she gave Dahua a gentle push, signaling her to go over.  

Dahua ran up to her. “Second Aunt-in-law?”  

Without hesitation, Shen Yiyi handed the egg to Dahua.  

Chen Jiayi’s eyes widened in shock. “Yiyi, that egg was for you! Why are you giving it to someone else?”  

“You gave it to me. So I can’t give it to someone else?” Shen Yiyi countered.  

Chen Jiayi hadn’t lied to Shen Yiyi—she truly couldn’t bear to eat the egg herself. Her family refused to give her money and constantly drained her resources, leaving her with very little.  

If she hadn’t wanted Shen Yiyi to buy her a cotton coat for the winter, she would never have brought so many eggs for her in the first place.  

And now, something she couldn’t even bear to eat had been casually given away by Shen Yiyi.

It felt like a slap in the face.  

But she didn’t dare get angry at Shen Yiyi—her goal had yet to be achieved. Forcing a smile that looked worse than crying, she said: “Yes, I gave it to you, so you can do whatever you want with it.”

Shen Yiyi nodded. “Do you have anything else to say? If not, I need to get to work!”  

“I do!” Chen Jiayi immediately responded. She had already noticed that Shen Yiyi had changed drastically recently. If she didn’t take the initiative, Shen Yiyi wouldn’t give her money to buy a cotton-padded coat.  

Shen Yiyi raised an eyebrow, finally unable to hide her greedy expression. “Speak. What is it?”  

Chen Jiayi instantly put on a troubled expression and pulled Shen Yiyi aside. “Yiyi, I have no other choice but to ask for your help. Could you lend me ten yuan? Winter is coming, and I don’t have warm clothes. I need to buy cotton and fabric to make two padded coats.”  

Shen Yiyi smirked. “I remember you seem to ask me for money to make clothes every year?”  

As soon as the word “lend” came out, Chen Jiayi became alert. “Wasn’t that money you gave me?”  

In the original storyline, Shen Yiyi had indeed been generous with Chen Jiayi, never mentioning that the things she gave were loans.  

But Shen Yiyi no longer wanted to acknowledge it. “When did I say it was a gift?”  

“The first year I arrived, you saw me wearing thin clothes in the freezing winter and gave me money to buy clothes. I told you I didn’t know when I could pay you back, and you said I didn’t have to.” Chen Jiayi quickly explained.  

“That was the first year. But I didn’t say that in the second year, did I?”  

Chen Jiayi’s eyes widened. Since Shen Yiyi had said repayment wasn’t necessary in the first year, she had naturally assumed that every year after that, Shen Yiyi had continued to give her money willingly.  

Shen Yiyi continued on her own. “We’ve been in the countryside for seven years now. I’ve given you ten yuan every year to buy clothes. The first year, I let it go. But for the remaining six years, that’s a total of sixty yuan. Return that money to me first, and then I’ll consider lending you more!”  

“…” Chen Jiayi was dumbfounded.  

“Alright, I need to work now. Please move aside.” Shen Yiyi spoke as she prepared to walk past her, but Chen Jiayi suddenly grabbed her arm.  

Chen Jiayi had originally come to ask Shen Yiyi for money, yet now she had ended up in debt instead. How could she accept that? “Yiyi, you can’t do this to me! I thought that money was a gift, that’s why I spent it!”  

“You thought I gave it to you? Where did you get such nerve?”

Shen Yiyi sneered. “Let go!”  

Er Bao saw that his mother was angry and immediately stepped forward, trying to pull Chen Jiayi away. “My mother told you to let go!”  

“This is between me and your mother. A child like you shouldn’t interfere!” Chen Jiayi snapped, shaking off Er Bao’s hand.  

Because of Shen Yiyi, Chen Jiayi had never been kind to the Three Baos before. She had no sense of restraint when dealing with them. However, she had forgotten that they were currently standing on a hillside.

With that forceful shove, Er Bao lost his balance and fell backward. Shen Yiyi, reacting quickly, grabbed his hand, while Dahua rushed in from behind and wrapped her arms around Er Bao, preventing him from rolling down the hillside.  

Shen Yiyi’s heart nearly stopped in fright. Seeing that Er Bao was unharmed, she immediately swung her hand and slapped Chen Jiayi across the face.  

A loud “smack!” echoed through the air, audible even from over a hundred meters away.  

Mother Li hurried over, followed closely by the rest of Old Li’s family.  

Seeing the commotion, others nearby also gathered to watch the scene unfold.  

Realizing that the situation was turning against her, Chen Jiayi clutched her face and began crying pitifully.  

Compared to Shen Yiyi, who looked fierce and aggressive, most people instinctively sided with Chen Jiayi.  

Lin Jiadong, his expression grim, cast a glance at Shen Yiyi and said: “Educated Youth Shen.”  

In front of the crowd, this was how he addressed her. “Slapping someone in public like this—isn’t that a bit excessive?”  

“You didn’t even ask what happened before rushing to defend her.” Shen Yiyi sneered. “What exactly is your relationship with her?”  

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Lin Jiadong quickly glanced at Jiang Ailing, who was among the onlookers. “I’m just saying, no matter what happened, you are both female comrades. If there’s a conflict, you should sit down and talk it out properly. Why resort to violence?”  

“You don’t even know what happened, yet you’re so eager to stand up for her? And you still claim there’s nothing between you two?” Mother Li immediately retorted, glaring at him fiercely.

“Fine, I won’t say anything more.” In front of his fiancée, Lin Jiadong didn’t dare to be associated with another woman, so he immediately shut his mouth.  

Mother Li then turned to Shen Yiyi. “Yiyi, what’s going on here?”  

“She owes me money and hasn’t paid it back. Now she wants to borrow more. I refused, and she even pushed Er Bao.” Shen Yiyi said, casting a sidelong glance at Jiang Ailing.  

The moment Mother Li heard this, her anger flared.

Money and her grandson were everything to her. She immediately shouted, her voice booming: “You wretched woman! Owing money and not paying it back is bad enough, but you dare to push someone? What kind of twisted logic is that?”  

“I didn’t! That money was clearly something she gave me!” Chen Jiayi cried as she argued.  

“I pitied you. Every winter, I saw you without warm clothes, so I lent you ten yuan each year to buy some. We’ve been in the countryside for years, and I never missed a year in giving that ten yuan. The first year, I truly felt sorry for you and said you didn’t need to pay it back. But my money doesn’t fall from the sky! That first year, I let go. But for the following six years—that’s sixty yuan—I never explicitly said it was a loan, but I certainly never said it was a gift either! If you had even a shred of shame, you’d know you should pay me back.”  

Shen Yiyi spoke all in one breath. Before Chen Jiayi pushed Er Bao, she hadn’t truly intended to take back the money she had given in the past, following the storyline as before.  

But now, she had changed her mind. This debt must be repaid!  

“If not, we’ll take this matter to the Public Security Bureau!” Shen Yiyi declared, issuing her final ultimatum.