Chapter 18: You Actually Dared to Hit Me!

“What a coincidence, Xia Xiying, one of the educated youths? You’re here to exchange for goat milk too?”

Su Taotao racked her brain to recall the memories of the original host. That’s right, these were two of the educated youths who used to live with her at the educated youth point. The one who looked elegant and pretty was none other than the female lead of the original story, Xia Xiying, or Comrade Xia, the educated youth.

Su Taotao discreetly sized her up. With her dignified appearance and a name that screamed protagonist, it was no wonder she was the female lead. Su Taotao, on the other hand, with her seductive appearance and name, was clearly the side character. No wonder she was the villainess; it made sense that she was a supporting role.

Xia Xiying smiled gently. “Yes, it’s rare to see Comrade Su this early.”

The other female youth, Wang Xiaohong, sneered. “I thought I was mistaken. Comrade Su usually doesn’t get up until late in the morning, right? Quite early today, huh?”

Su Taotao smiled back. “You’re out this late? My mother-in-law went to work early. Aren’t you afraid of losing work points?”

Xia Xiying calmly replied, “I’m not feeling well, so I took the morning off. Ah Hong is accompanying me to exchange for some goat milk.”

Su Taotao smiled and didn’t say anything further, standing behind them in line and trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.

Wang Xiaohong gave her a surprised look. The usually argumentative Su Taotao was unusually quiet today?

Not used to this, Wang Xiaohong nudged Xia Xiying’s arm and gave her an inquiring look.

Xia Xiying gently shook her head and remained silent too.

For a moment, an awkward silence fell over the group.

But the awkwardness certainly wasn’t affecting Su Taotao, who was busy recalling the plot.

It was quite a dramatic story. This dignified female lead actually had feelings for Fu Zhengtu, but because she was “reserved,” she couldn’t bring herself to confess to Fu Zhengtu. She could only watch as Su Taotao “stole him away.” Even after Su Taotao and Fu Zhengtu got married and had children, Xia Xiying still felt that Su Taotao wasn’t good enough for Fu Zhengtu. This was something the “original Su Taotao” knew, which was why she would go to the educated youth point to cause trouble every now and then.

The original host’s decision to marry Fu Zhengtu wasn’t purely out of love; she had her reasons. First, it was to escape the hard labor. Second, it was driven by her desire for prestige. As the face and the most promising young man of Qinglian Commune, Fu Zhengtu was highly sought after by the female comrades, and marrying him was the envy of everyone. Third, it was because of her rivalry with Xia Xiying. Whatever Xia Xiying desired, the original host felt compelled to compete for it. Marrying Fu Zhengtu required all her efforts and schemes.

However, Xia Xiying was intelligent and emotionally savvy. Even after their marriage, she would only bite her lip and look longingly at Fu Zhengtu a few more times whenever they met, which already infuriated the “original Su Taotao” and gave her more reasons to cause trouble at the educated youth point.

But as a side character destined to highlight the protagonist, Su Taotao was always at a disadvantage whenever she confronted Xia Xiying. This further emphasized Xia Xiying’s dignified and graceful demeanor as the original wife, while Su Taotao was the typical side character—looking “seductively coquettish” and behaving “schemingly manipulative,” a walking Su Daji.

Su Taotao sighed and glanced at the composed Xia Xiying, then at her own generously proportioned figure. Even though it sounded like a humble brag, having such a good figure was truly a burden in this era. She also wanted to dress like a cold and elegant white moonlight.

“Comrade Su?” The young comrade in charge of exchanging the goat milk was so dark-skinned that his blushing face was quite noticeable. He called Su Taotao twice, and after seeing no response, his face turned even redder after another glance.

Xia Xiying, who had just finished exchanging her goat milk, waved her hand in front of Su Taotao. “Comrade Su?”

“Ah?” Su Taotao snapped out of her thoughts. “Is it my turn?”

The dark-skinned young comrade nodded. “Give me your bowl and eggs.”

Su Taotao handed over her bowl and eggs.

Wang Xiaohong, seeing this, sucked in a breath and couldn’t help but sneer. “Does Comrade Su think one egg is enough to exchange for such a large bowl of goat milk?”

She stressed the size of the bowl with extra emphasis.

Su Taotao ignored her. She had thought she would get to see the process of milking the goats, but the milk was already in a bucket, ready to be exchanged. What a pity.

Then, the young comrade gave her a full bowl of goat milk.

Wang Xiaohong: “……” Her face stung.

Su Taotao wasn’t sure how much milk she could get, so she brought the largest soup bowl from her house. It was so big it was almost like a small washbasin. She figured she’d take whatever they gave her. To her surprise, the earnest young man filled the massive bowl to the brim for her.

Even someone as tough as Su Taotao felt a bit embarrassed and asked, “Can I really exchange for this much?”

The young man didn’t dare look her in the eye and stammered, “Y-you were the last one, and this is all that’s left. I-I’ll give it all to you.”

Wang Xiaohong was the first to object. “What do you mean ‘all that’s left’? You clearly have ulterior motives, using public resources to curry favor with a female comrade! My bowl is much smaller than hers, and it wasn’t even filled to the top. Who do you think you are, giving her a full bowl? Do you want me to report you to your village leaders? I can make sure you lose this job!”

The young man, whose face was already flushed from embarrassment, tried to explain. “I-I didn’t take advantage of the public resources. I raised the commune’s sheep, and I have a share of the sheep milk every day. I just gave up my share!”

The young man waved the large ladle in his hand. “One egg exchanges for one ladle of milk. It’s the same for everyone. I just gave Su Taotao my own share. I can give my share to whoever I want. Not even the village leaders can tell me what to do, let alone you!”

Wang Xiaohong didn’t expect this, but it confirmed her suspicions about the young man’s favoritism.

With a cold laugh dripping with sarcasm, Wang Xiaohong said, “Oh, I didn’t realize you two were such good friends behind closed doors. But Comrade Su has a husband and a son and still dreams of returning to the city. Could it be that you……”

Wang Xiaohong covered her mouth, widened her eyes, and pretended to be too scared to continue.

The young man, both shocked and afraid, stammered even more. “Y-you… don’t spout nonsense! I-I didn’t mean anything like that! There’s nothing going on!”

Su Taotao, tired of Wang Xiaohong’s act, slowly poured all the milk back into the bucket. She took the large ladle from the young man and scooped a full ladle for herself. Only then did she speak leisurely. “Thank you, young comrade. I have elderly and young ones at home who really need the milk for nutrition. But what you did wasn’t right. Everyone is struggling. Your family probably needs the milk too. Don’t give up your share in the future.”

The young man looked at Su Taotao blankly for a moment before lowering his head and softly saying, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I really didn’t mean anything by it…”

Su Taotao cut him off. “Thank the comrade on my son’s behalf. Please save an egg’s worth for me tomorrow. I’ll come by to exchange it.”

Everyone appreciates beauty, and with her looks, it was normal for the young man to try to please her. His gaze was pure, and she didn’t feel offended.

Upon hearing her request, the young man nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes! I’ll save some for you!”

Looking into his clear eyes, Su Taotao continued, “I know you meant well, but malicious people in this world like to speculate and spread rumors. They might try to ruin someone’s reputation. You need to be more careful next time.”

Feeling extremely guilty, the young man glared at Wang Xiaohong with disgust, snatched the milk back from her, placed an egg into her bowl, and threw it at her feet.

“The sheep pen is contracted by me and the commune. I raised the sheep, and the milk is under my care. I can exchange it with whoever I want. Not even the village leaders or the commune can tell me what to do. Get lost, and don’t come back! Even if you do, I won’t exchange anything for someone as dirty-minded as you!”

Wang Xiaohong was stunned, pointing at herself in disbelief. “I’m the troublemaker? I have a dirty mind? If you don’t have a mirror at home, maybe you should take a good look at yourself and how you leer at Su Taotao like that…”

Before she could finish, Su Taotao spun around and slapped her across the face.

“Did Wang Xiaohong forget to bring her brain today, or did she fall into a pit of manure? Watch your mouth. If you don’t have a brain, then shut up!”

Shocked and angered, Wang Xiaohong lunged at Su Taotao. “You actually hit me! How dare you! I’m going to fight you!”

Su Taotao shrugged, cracking her neck with a casual twist. She handed the bowl of milk to the young man. “Hold this for me, please.”

The moment the milk was in the young man’s hands, Su Taotao had already grabbed Wang Xiaohong’s jaw, applied a skillful twist, and pushed her back. Wang Xiaohong’s jaw was dislocated in an instant.

Wang Xiaohong fell to the ground, unable to speak from the pain, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

Xia Xiying, startled, put down the milk and rushed over. “Xiao Hong, are you okay? Su Taotao, we’ve shared a room before. How could you be so vicious? What did you do to her?”

Su Taotao smiled. “You don’t have anyone to do your dirty work for you anymore. Are you anxious?”

Su Taotao then stopped smiling, walked over, looked down on them, and squatted next to Wang Xiaohong. She lightly patted Wang Xiaohong’s face and then tapped her neck, her movements slow and deliberate. Leaning in, she said, “I’ve been through worse, so I don’t hold back when I need to. Be smart and don’t provoke me again. If you can’t learn to keep your mouth shut, I’ll help you with that. And next time, I might just ‘accidentally’ twist your neck a little too far.”

Just as Su Taotao had taught Fu Yuanhang, either don’t act at all, or when you do, make it count, so they think twice before crossing you again.

Right now, Su Taotao was extremely grateful to her grandmother from her previous life who had sent her to learn martial arts.

She blew off imaginary dust from her hands and then stood up calmly, taking back her goat’s milk from the guy, and even thanked him politely.

The three of them stood there with their mouths hanging open, staring after her in disbelief.

Of course, one of them was the one she’d just disarmed.

Xia Xiying was the most stunned, especially because she felt exposed. She couldn’t figure out how almost drowning could transform someone’s presence and attitude so completely. The person in front of her was completely unrecognizable as the Su Taotao she knew.