Chapter 10 – What Nonsense Are You Spouting?

After Li Hongmei went over to Zhou Ye’s courtyard, she saw that, like the other homes, his walls were made of mud.

But over here, it was just a fenced courtyard. There was a row of fences in the middle of the yard, so it was easy to clearly see what was happening in the neighboring courtyard.

Li Hongmei walked over carrying a package. When she saw that Jiang Manman and her companions were actually living next to Zhou Ye, her expression instantly turned sour.

“You all live here?”

Jiang Manman rolled her eyes dramatically.

“Secretary Zhao arranged for us to stay here. Got a problem with that? If you do, go take it up with him.

If you’re capable of overruling Secretary Zhao, I’d be impressed!”

Li Hongmei was instantly left speechless, her eyes filling with tears. She looked aggrievedly at Zhou Ye.

Zhou Ye’s brows furrowed in irritation. With a loud bang, he shut the courtyard gate.

“Comrade Zhou, I heard you fell into the water, so I came to check on you. I brought some ginger and brown sugar to make ginger tea for you.”

“Get lost!”

Li Hongmei’s eyes turned red again.

“Comrade Zhou, I was just worried you’d catch a cold. How could you speak to me like this?”

Zhou Ye glanced over at the chubby girl in the neighboring courtyard. She was looking at him mockingly.

He rolled his eyes with annoyance.

Then he said coldly,

“Comrade Li, can you please stay away from my house?

You’re making it easy for people to get the wrong idea. I’m not interested in you, so why are you hanging around?”

Li Hongmei was completely humiliated by his blunt rejection. Her face turned bright red with anger.

Tang Xiaomin exchanged a glance with Jiang Manman and whispered,

“Wow, that Comrade Zhou sure knows how to reject someone. Look at that girl’s face—it’s red from embarrassment.”

Jiang Manman pursed her lips.

After tidying up a bit, she said,

“Let’s head into the county now. We need to buy pots, bowls, and even a kang mat. Otherwise, we’ll have to sleep on the bare mud kang tonight.”

Tang Xiaomin nodded vigorously.

“Exactly! Let’s also grab a meal at the state-owned restaurant. Better yet, let’s get enough for dinner and tomorrow’s meals too.

I heard farm work is exhausting. I might be too tired to cook later.”

Jiang Manman had no objections.

“Perfect, I was thinking the same thing. A little hard work will help me shed some of this fat. Let’s go!”

They were ready to leave right away, but the courtyard didn’t even have a lock.

This brigade was safe enough that people didn’t lock their doors and nothing was stolen off the streets.

But since they’d just arrived, having no lock made them feel pretty uneasy.

“Maybe we should ask Comrade Zhou next door?”

Hearing Tang Xiaomin’s suggestion, Jiang Manman frowned. She really didn’t like men who attracted too much attention.

But… reality didn’t care about preferences.

“You ask. I don’t want to talk to him.”

Tang Xiaomin suddenly grinned.

“Are you shy?”

Jiang Manman paused, her mouth twitching. Her personality was a lot like the original owner’s.

In fact, she kind of liked the original character’s temperament. She just couldn’t bring herself to say those harsh words.

But shy? Never.

“Not at all. I just… Oh Xiaomin, go ask him already!”

“Hahaha, and you say you’re not shy! I think you totally are.

No need to be embarrassed though. Even if he didn’t really fall into the water, the fact that you tried to save him is commendable.”

Jiang Manman rolled her eyes again.

“Never happening again!

Let’s go—go ask him now.”

Giggling, Tang Xiaomin turned and called out to Zhou Ye in his courtyard,

“Comrade Zhou, do you have a spare lock we could borrow?

We’ll return it after we buy one in the county this afternoon.”

Zhou Ye looked over at Jiang Manman, who had her back to him.

He suddenly felt like laughing.

“Sure! We happen to have an extra one. You can just have it.”

“Wow, Comrade Zhou, you’re so generous. Just don’t forget you still owe Comrade Jiang twenty jin of rice!”

Tang Xiaomin said this as she glanced at Li Hongmei, who was still lingering outside Zhou Ye’s courtyard.

Zhou Ye rolled his eyes again. Even he was still eating brown rice—where was he supposed to get white rice from?

What kind of fantasy was that?

“Fine. You’re heading into the county, right? I’ll come along and buy twenty jin of rice for you.”

He said this as he went back inside to grab the lock.

Li Hongmei, still standing outside his gate, looked over at Jiang Manman and the others. She bit her lower lip, walked up to their door, and said to Jiang Manman,

“I was wrong for how I spoke earlier, but you’ve seen how cramped the educated youth spot is.

Why don’t I come live with you too? I can help—”

“I can’t. You’re not welcome here.

Weren’t you just calling me fat? And now you want to move in with us? I bet it’s just so you can seduce men.

Educated youth, huh? We came to the countryside to help build it, not to hunt for men.

Oh wait, you’re not looking for a man, you’re just throwing yourself at one. And he’s not even interested.

You’re still shamelessly clinging to him? Have some self-respect! You’re an embarrassment to female educated youths. Get lost.

Or do you want me to go dig up dung from the latrine and throw it on you?”

That tirade left Liu Hongmei completely stunned.

Her face flushed bright red with fury, and she rushed toward Jiang Manman.

“You—what did you say?! I’ll fight you!”

As Li Hongmei charged, Jiang Manman didn’t hesitate—she lunged forward and kicked her straight to the ground.

She yanked a fence slat from the side and began beating her with it.

All the pent-up anger in her chest erupted on Li Hongmei.

“That’s what you get for acting stupid! Don’t mess with me!

Next time you see me, you better stay far away!”

Tang Xiaomin was totally dumbfounded by Jiang Manman’s fierce assault.

She’d known this girl was wild ever since the train ride, but this was next-level.

Zhou Ye frowned as he watched Jiang Manman swinging that fence slat. Why did it feel like she was beating him instead?

The commotion quickly drew the attention of nearby villagers.

“Whoa, are these the new educated youths?

Why are they fighting already?”

After a few more whacks, Jiang Manman stopped. Li Hongmei had never been so humiliated in her life.

She covered her face and cried pitifully,

“I—I came to help—”

“Shut up! Or I’ll keep going!

Get lost before I go scoop up dung and shove it in your mouth! Let’s see you spew crap then!”

Li Hongmei choked on her sobs, then let out a loud wail and ran away crying.

The villagers who had gathered wore varied expressions.

“This chubby girl is something else!”

“Didn’t they just arrive today? Already getting into fights?”

Hearing their chatter, Jiang Manman threw aside the slat, clapped her hands clean, and addressed them with a cupped-fist gesture:

“Greetings, fellow villagers. I’m Jiang, she’s Tang, and we’re both educated youths from the city.

The quarters at the youth post were too crowded, so we rented this courtyard.

We’re new to the brigade and still learning, so we ask for your patience.

If you’ve got extra chairs or stools, lend us a few. If not, even a couple of eggs will do.”

Villagers: …

What nonsense are you spouting?!

They only came to watch the drama, but this? They were done here!

Everyone rolled their eyes and wandered off in silence.

By the next morning when it was time to work, one thing was clear across the village—
This chubby female educated youth?
Not someone to mess with.

As for Jiang Manman, she and Tang Xiaomin followed Zhou Ye to the county to go shopping.