Chapter 52

Chen Jiayi looked at her in disbelief and shouted: “I even brought you eggs these past few days, and this is how you treat me?”  

Giving a few eggs was being exaggerated as if she had gifted mountains of gold and silver.  

“I would have forgotten if you hadn’t mentioned it!” Shen Yiyi sneered. “Over the years, haven’t you eaten quite a lot of my food? I’ve bought plenty of things for you too. When you first arrived, all those daily necessities like washbasins and blankets—weren’t they all provided by me?”  

Back when she was following the storyline, she had secretly taken five hundred yuan from home before heading to the countryside.

At the time, in order to build good relationships with the Educated Youth, she had been very generous.  

Coincidentally, Chen Jiayi had been penniless and eager to flatter her. With a wave of her hand, she had bought her quite a few things.  

Mother Li’s eyes widened in shock.  

Goodness gracious, the second child’s family was far too generous to outsiders! Who knew how much all that added up to?

She immediately chimed in: “That’s right, that’s right! If she doesn’t pay back the money, then go straight to the Public Security Bureau!”  

Seeing that Shen Yiyi was truly serious, Chen Jiayi, instead of panicking, calmed down. She looked at Shen Yiyi and said: “Shen Yiyi, do you really have to be this ruthless?”  

“What do you think?” Shen Yiyi stared at her.  

Chen Jiayi leaned in, seemingly wanting to say something in private, but Shen Yiyi avoided her.  

Chen Jiayi gritted her teeth and simply spat out one word: “Lin!”  

Lin Jiadong, who was standing to the side, immediately darkened his expression.  

Shen Yiyi, of course, knew what Chen Jiayi was referring to.  

Among everyone, Chen Jiayi was the most aware of what had happened between her and Lin Jiadong.

She was threatening her—if Shen Yiyi insisted on being this ruthless, she would reveal that even after getting married and having children, she had secretly inquired about Lin Jiadong.

She was certain that Shen Yiyi would be intimidated because if she exposed the matter, not only would Shen Yiyi face criticism, but Li Chen would also become the subject of ridicule.  

Shen Yiyi’s expression turned cold. “Lin what? What exactly do you want to say?”  

Seeing that Shen Yiyi was unmoved by either threats or persuasion, Chen Jiayi recklessly blurted out: “You and—”  

Before she could finish, she caught sight of Lin Jiadong’s warning gaze. Her heart filled with resentment and frustration. She wanted to reveal everything without hesitation, yet she feared that doing so would push Lin Jiadong away from her.  

In truth, even if Chen Jiayi exposed Shen Yiyi’s past feelings for Lin Jiadong, there might be some gossip, but it wouldn’t affect Lin Jiadong much.  

After all, it had always been Shen Yiyi who had liked Lin Jiadong one-sidedly—he had never paid her any attention.  

However, Lin Jiadong couldn’t afford to attract too much attention due to his background, and he also worried that if Shen Yiyi got too angry, she might reveal his family’s situation.  

Shen Yiyi wasted no time in striking first. Though Chen Jiayi had hidden it well in front of her, Shen Yiyi, having read the novel, naturally knew that Chen Jiayi also liked Lin Jiadong.  

Catching the way Chen Jiayi was looking at Lin Jiadong, she scrutinized them with an assessing gaze. “Chen Jiayi, me and what? Why are you looking at Educated Youth Lin like that? Are you two seeing each other?”  

With just one counterattack, even if Chen Jiayi exposed Shen Yiyi’s past feelings for Lin Jiadong, it would lose credibility.  

“You—you’re talking nonsense!” As expected, Chen Jiayi was completely thrown off by Shen Yiyi’s diversion.  

“Aren’t you?” Shen Yiyi raised an eyebrow. “You told me before that you liked Educated Youth Lin. Just now, he was so protective of you—I thought you two were together.”  

How did Shen Yiyi know that she liked Lin Jiadong? She had hidden it so well!

Chen Jiayi panicked. Instead of refuting Shen Yiyi immediately, she instinctively glanced at Lin Jiadong.  

The surrounding people perked up with interest, their gazes darting between Lin Jiadong and Chen Jiayi, eager for gossip.  

Lin Jiadong was exasperated. It was bad enough that defending Chen Jiayi had gotten him linked to her, but now even staying silent had done the same? He quickly said: “Educated Youth Shen, don’t speak nonsense. Educated Youth Chen and I are innocent—we’re not seeing each other.”  

“Alright, whether you two are together or not is none of my concern.” Shen Yiyi waved a hand dismissively, then turned to Chen Jiayi, shifting the conversation back. “What I care about now is—are you going to pay me back or not?”

“I won’t ask for much. Over the years, you’ve eaten my food, drunk my drinks, and used my things—many people at the Educated Youth station know about this. You can’t deny it. I won’t even demand extra, let’s round it off. Including that 60 yuan, just pay me back 100 yuan!”  

Chen Jiayi opened her mouth, wanting to steer the conversation back to Shen Yiyi’s supposed marital infatuation with Lin Jiadong.

However, not only did she fail to find the right words, but she also realized in horror that she had already lost the upper hand. Even if she brought it up again, without evidence, it was uncertain whether anyone would believe her.  

Evidence…  

She had none!  

Everything about Lin Jiadong had only ever been spoken between her and Shen Yiyi.  

Her mind was in complete chaos, and she instinctively blurted out: “I don’t have any money right now!”  

“No money? That’s fine.” Shen Yiyi had already thought of an alternative for her. “Then you can repay me with work points!”  

At first, she had considered raiding Chen Jiayi’s belongings at the Educated Youth station. But then she remembered—this woman, for some reason, was completely controlled by her family. Despite being exploited by them, she never resisted and sent everything valuable back home.  

Even if she did search her belongings, there was probably nothing worth taking.  

But the autumn harvest had just ended, and right now, work points were likely the most valuable thing Chen Jiayi had.  

In order to send more grain home, Chen Jiayi worked diligently. She usually earned eight work points a day and sometimes even ten.  

With this year’s good harvest, she was bound to receive a substantial amount of grain—perhaps even some money.  

“No way!” Chen Jiayi shrieked. Ever since the autumn harvest began, her family had been sending letters urging her to send food home.  

A pitiful woman, indeed. But as the saying went, pitiful people often had their own faults. Shen Yiyi had no intention of bearing the consequences of someone else’s misfortune.  

After years of playing the role of a professional vicious female supporting character, she had seen every one of her characters receive their due punishment. That was why she firmly believed in karma.

Shen Yiyi called out to Dahua: “Dahua, can you help me find the village chief or the Brigade Leader?”  

She needed the village chief or the Brigade Leader to act as a witness so that the work points could officially be transferred to her.  

“Dahua, hurry up.” Mother Li urged, adding: “Don’t call the Brigade Leader, call the village chief instead!”  

The village chief was from the Li family clan, making things much easier to handle than if the Brigade Leader got involved.  

Dahua took off running, and Er Bao quickly followed.  

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Li Chen arrived together with the village chief. Along the way, he had already heard the whole story from Dahua and Er Bao.

As soon as he arrived, his gaze toward Chen Jiayi turned dark and cold.  

If Chen Jiayi had been a man, she probably would have been beaten to the ground by now.  

Since the village chief belonged to the Li family clan, he naturally sided with Shen Yiyi. Besides, the matter itself was already in Shen Yiyi’s favor. Without hesitation, he declared that Chen Jiayi’s debt to Shen Yiyi could be repaid with work points until the full amount was settled.  

Realizing that the situation was beyond her control, Chen Jiayi burst into tears and ran off, leaving behind the firewood she had painstakingly gathered.  

With her departure, the whole spectacle finally came to an end.  

The onlookers smacked their lips in satisfaction before dispersing. What they had witnessed today was more than enough for them to gossip about for days.  

Their main topics of discussion boiled down to two things—one, Chen Jiayi’s character; and two, how Shen Yiyi was foolish yet loaded with money.  

What Shen Yiyi didn’t know was that because of this incident, the villagers began treating her with noticeably more warmth.

Many started thinking that if they could get close to her, they might just gain something valuable in return.