Chapter 21.2

Bai Yin was shaking with rage, almost ready to slap Wang Guiying.

She truly hated her.

In her previous life, Wang Guiying had looked down on her, refusing to approve of her marriage to Feng Shengli. It was only because Feng Shengli had been so persistent—threatening to die if he couldn’t marry her—that Wang Guiying finally gave in.

But after Bai Yin married into the Feng family, Wang Guiying had tormented her endlessly. No matter what she did, Wang Guiying would find fault with it. Eventually, Bai Yin’s mental health deteriorated—and Wang Guiying was largely to blame.

Now that she had been given a second chance at life, just thinking about how Wang Guiying had treated her before made her want to strangle the woman.

But that was only in her mind. In reality, she didn’t dare.

Feng Shengli’s father was the director of the farm’s logistics department. If she hit Wang Guiying today, by tomorrow she’d be cleaning latrines. And forget about taking the college entrance exam in a few years.

Not only could she not hit her—she couldn’t even argue.

Even if she wanted to argue, she couldn’t win. Wang Guiying was an illiterate shrew whose mouth could spit filth like a machine gun. Bai Yin couldn’t keep up.

All she could do was endure it and try to earn some sympathy.

To outsiders, Bai Yin did seem quite pitiful. She couldn’t win an argument, couldn’t get a word in edgewise. She looked like a scholar caught in a brawl with a soldier—red-eyed with frustration.

Someone tried to mediate. “Maybe the educated youth didn’t tell Shengli to take the apples after all. Look at her.”

“Pah!” Wang Guiying spat. “Look at what? That fox-face? She’s just pretending to be pitiful. You’re all grown adults—don’t fall for her act!”

Even the person trying to help got scolded. After that, no one dared speak up for Bai Yin.

Just then, a calm voice rang out. It wasn’t loud, but everyone heard it clearly.

“I can testify. It wasn’t Comrade Bai who asked Feng Shengli to take the apples. He took them himself. Comrade Bai didn’t want them—he insisted on giving them to her.”

Ye Huan had finally figured out the situation. Wang Guiying, Feng Shengli’s mother, clearly didn’t approve of Bai Yin. She must’ve come today to use the apples as an excuse to humiliate her—hoping to drive her away and stop her from chasing after Feng Shengli. There was no way she would allow them to get married.

Ye Huan actually felt a little sorry for Feng Shengli. He liked Bai Yin, but his mother didn’t.

She hadn’t finished the storybook, so she didn’t know who would win in the end—the mother or the son.

But if she were Bai Yin, no matter how much Feng Shengli liked her, she wouldn’t marry him.

Feng Shengli wasn’t ugly, but he wasn’t good-looking either—and she didn’t like men who weren’t handsome.

Plus, his mother was so mean and unreasonable. It was clearly Feng Shengli who insisted on giving Bai Yin the apples, yet his mother was accusing Bai Yin of seducing him.

Ye Huan hadn’t seen Bai Yin seduce anyone. In fact, she’d seen her reject him just yesterday.

Bai Yin clearly wasn’t as sharp-tongued as Wang Guiying, whose mouth fired insults like a machine gun. Bai Yin didn’t even get the chance to speak.

Many onlookers believed Wang Guiying, thinking Bai Yin had a greedy mouth and tricked Feng Shengli into stealing apples for her.

But Ye Huan had seen it herself—Bai Yin didn’t want them. Feng Shengli had insisted.

So she spoke up.

When someone suddenly spoke in Bai Yin’s defense, everyone turned to look at Ye Huan. Wang Guiying immediately redirected her anger.

“How do you know Shengli insisted?”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” Ye Huan replied. “Yesterday, I was coming back from town and saw the whole thing. Feng Shengli was holding a bag of apples and trying to give them to Comrade Bai. She refused and said she wanted to walk back with me. Feng Shengli put the apples on the ground and ran off. Comrade Bai called him several times, but he didn’t respond.”

Wang Guiying’s face darkened. “Who are you?”

A nearby aunt chimed in, “She’s the new educated youth, Ye Huan.”

Wang Guiying sneered, “No wonder she’s siding with that fox. Birds of a feather! You say you saw it—how do we know you’re not making it up?”

Wang Guiying clearly didn’t take the educated youths seriously. If Ye Huan dared speak up for Bai Yin, she dared to scold her too.

And scold she did. Who was going to stop her? Her husband was the logistics director!

…

But Ye Yongzhen wasn’t having it. Ye Huan was her niece. Scolding Ye Huan was the same as scolding her.

Everyone else was afraid of offending Wang Guiying—but not her.

So what if it was about their men? Wang Guiying’s husband was a logistics director, but hers was a military instructor. Who was afraid of who?

Ye Yongzhen rolled up her sleeves and marched over, her voice louder than Wang Guiying’s. “Wang Guiying, what kind of crap are you spouting? What’s this got to do with Huanhuan? You’re even scolding her now? It was your son who was shameless and tried to force those apples on Comrade Bai! Huanhuan’s just telling the truth. What, telling the truth is wrong now?”

She didn’t stop at scolding. She was about to hit Wang Guiying too—only to be held back by Chen Fenge and the others.

Ye Yongzhen wasn’t done. She pointed and yelled, “Say one more bad word about my Huanhuan and I’ll rip your mouth apart! Try me!”

Wang Guiying was stunned. Wasn’t Ye Huan a newcomer? Since when was she related to Ye Yongzhen?

No one had heard anything about such a connection.

Aside from a few people from Group Two, everyone else looked confused. Chen Fenge explained, “Yongzhen is Comrade Ye’s aunt—blood relative. Don’t you see how alike they look?”

Everyone: “…”

Not really!

In terms of looks, Ye Huan had an oval face, fair skin, and a delicate presence—like a flower in spring.

Ye Yongzhen had a broad face, dark skin, and a towering build—like a black mountain.

Their tempers weren’t alike either. Ye Huan was gentle, Yongzhen was fiery—like a dry reed bundle ready to ignite.

The only thing they had in common was the surname “Ye.”

Otherwise, there was nothing similar at all.

“How could they possibly be related?” someone whispered.

Chen Fenge insisted, “They are. Who’d fake a family relationship like that?”

The crowd couldn’t make sense of it, but if both Yongzhen and Fenge said so, it must be true. Who’d fake kinship anyway?

Now that she knew Ye Huan was related to Ye Yongzhen, Wang Guiying didn’t dare scold her anymore. Even when facing Bai Yin, she toned down the insults—no more “fox” this or that.

But she still wanted her apples back. She’d spent a yuan and twenty cents, plus a fruit coupon on them—there was no way she’d let that fox get them for free.

Avoiding Ye Huan, she turned to Bai Yin. “I won’t bring up the past, but give me back those apples and we’ll call it even.”

Bai Yin said flatly, “I threw them away.”

Wang Guiying’s voice jumped an octave. “What?! You threw them away? Where?!”

“In the pond.”

“You think you can just throw away something you didn’t buy yourself?!”

Bai Yin ignored her. She bent down, picked up the hoe Wang Guiying had flung to the ground, and got back to work.

Wang Guiying was left standing there, unsure whether to leave, stay, scold, or stay silent.

…

Just then, Sun Guoqing arrived—and he wasn’t alone. He’d brought Xu Guochao too.

Sun Guoqing had worried Wang Guiying wouldn’t listen to him and that he’d lose face trying to stop the fight, so he had gone to get Xu Guochao, the director.

Wang Guiying might not care about Sun’s words, but she wouldn’t dare ignore Xu.

Xu Guochao arrived to see everyone standing around, not working. They were gathered like it was a market. His brows furrowed deeply as he shouted, “You all think you’re on vacation?! Lao Fang’s over there breaking new ground and needs people! He’s asked me for help multiple times. If you’ve got time to loiter, go help him dig!”

At that, the crowd laughed and scattered.

Wang Guiying still muttered about the apples but was dragged away by an older woman.

Soon, only Bai Yin was left in the field. She said nothing, just continued hoeing, seemingly with renewed energy.

Xu Guochao was surprised.

This educated youth used to wear a perpetual frown and barely worked. She had always looked unwilling and listless.

But lately, she was diligent and focused. Jiang Chaoqiang had told him that, but he hadn’t believed it—until now.

She really had changed.

Xu liked hard-working people. His impression of Bai Yin immediately improved. He figured she must’ve felt wronged by Wang Guiying and, as director, he ought to say something. So he walked over.

“I heard everything from Guoqing on the way here. What happened today was Wang Guiying’s fault. The farm will give her a formal warning. Don’t take it to heart—she just talks nonsense. Think of it as hot air.”

He said that, but in truth, because of Old Feng, they wouldn’t be officially reprimanding Wang Guiying. Still, he’d have a word with Old Feng to make sure he kept his wife in check. It wasn’t good for him either if she kept bullying people under his name.

Bai Yin replied, “Thank you, Director Xu. I’m fine. If there’s nothing else, I’ll get back to work. I need to finish this patch today.”

“Go on, then.”

Xu nodded in satisfaction. Such a sensible girl. Even though she was bullied, her eyes were red but she hadn’t cried or tattled—she just wanted to work. A good comrade.

He couldn’t help but sigh. If only all the educated youths were like Comrade Lian  and Comrade Bai.

***

The commotion was over, and though everyone went back to work, they were still full of gossip.

Many of the aunties wanted to ask Ye Huan questions but were chased off by Ye Yongzhen.

Once they were gone, she turned to Ye Huan and whispered, “Did Comrade Bai really throw the apples in the pond?”

She just couldn’t believe it.

If Bai Yin really didn’t want those apples, she could’ve just let Feng Shengli throw them wherever. It wasn’t her doing, and Wang Guiying couldn’t blame her.

Why would she carry them all the way back only to throw them away?

That would be like taking off your pants to fart—completely unnecessary.

Ye Huan wasn’t sure herself. When they’d walked back together, Bai Yin had still been carrying the apples. She hadn’t mentioned what she was going to do with them. Once they reached the educated youth compound, they had each gone to their rooms.

She might’ve gone out later and tossed them into the pond—but Ye Huan hadn’t seen it.

The pond was just behind the compound. It was the farm’s fish and lotus pond—only a five or six-minute walk away.

Ye Huan explained this honestly.

Ye Yongzhen scoffed. She was sure Bai Yin hadn’t thrown them away.

After all, Bai Yin had often accepted things from Feng Shengli before. There was no way she’d suddenly change.

Wang Guiying might be a shrew, but she wasn’t wrong—Bai Yin had always been good at coaxing things out of Feng Shengli.

What her true motives were, though, was unclear.

Ye Huan had just arrived, so Ye Yongzhen didn’t want to drag her into all this gossip. She changed the subject.

……

After working all morning, just as Sun Guoqing shouted, “Time to stop!”

Zhao Pingtao leapt up and ran off like a gust of wind.

Sun Guoqing yelled after him, “Never this fast starting work, but first to run when it ends!”

Zhao Pingtao yelled back, “I’m going to find Ye Huan—she’s new and doesn’t know the way!”

That was just an excuse. He’d already promised Ye Huan they’d walk to and from work together.

He’d spent all morning bottling up gossip to share with her—first and foremost, he had to ask: did Bai Yin really throw those apples away?

A bunch of aunties had asked him, but how would he know? He might live in the same courtyard as Bai Yin, but they barely spoke. He didn’t pay attention to what she did.

But Ye Huan definitely knew.