“Hahaha…”

Many people burst into laughter, and Zhao Siyu covered her mouth, laughing so hard her body trembled.

Lin Xiaoyu raised her voice, “Yes, my mom bought them for me! I misunderstood her before and thought she didn’t treat me well.”

“But actually, my mom treats me the best! She loves me the most! Not only did she buy me new shoes, but she also buys me buns and fried dough every morning for breakfast. She even gives me one yuan of pocket money every week.” She said this while pulling the money out to show everyone.

“Wang Meng, don’t slander me just because you don’t have new shoes and have to wear your brother’s old army shoes out of jealousy.”

Wang Meng lost control, “Who’s jealous of you? Your mom doesn’t even like you!”

When Zhao Siyu saw the stack of change in Lin Xiaoyu’s hand, her pupils shrank—she didn’t even get that much pocket money.

Thinking about how others used to envy her for having pocket money, but now might turn to envy Lin Xiaoyu, made her feel quite upset.

Lin Xiaoyu said, “Well, who’s jealous—only they know in their heart. Your mom’s the one who doesn’t like you. Didn’t you say before that your brother hit you, and your mom helped him scold you? You also said the person you hated most in the world was your mom.”

In the past, Lin Xiaoyu would always walk away quietly when classmates laughed at her.

If she couldn’t walk away, she’d just endure it silently.

She was always afraid of conflict and never talked back.

But for some reason, today, facing the laughter and slander, she felt a surge of courage.

The words flowed smoothly out of her mouth.

She was shocked at how well she could speak.

Hearing this, the others looked at Wang Meng with odd expressions.

Their faces seemed to say: “She actually said she hated her mom.”

Wang Meng’s eyes turned red with anger. “Lin Xiaoyu, you’ve gone too far! That was a secret I told you—how could you say it in front of everyone?”

Lin Xiaoyu blinked her bright eyes and retorted, “What I told you was also a secret. I asked you not to tell anyone, and yet you did.”

So what right did Wang Meng have to scold her?

“You…” Wang Meng choked for a second, then pointed at Lin Xiaoyu and shouted, “You’re shameless! You got into a relationship with Zhang Tiejun just to get an ice pop!”

Lin Xiaoyu froze for a second, then quickly snapped back, “Nonsense! I did NOT get into a relationship with Zhang Tiejun!”

That ice pop had become a black mark in her life—she never wanted to eat one again.

“If you weren’t dating him, why did you eat his ice pop?”

Lin Xiaoyu replied, “He offered it to me! I’ll pay him back double!”

She had planned to return the money to Zhang Tiejun today, but he didn’t come to school—maybe because Qin Ye had beaten him up pretty badly.

“I didn’t date him, and I never will! I just want to study hard and get into a good college!”

“What’s all this noise about?” their homeroom teacher, Mr. Cheng, walked over from Class 1 of Grade 11.

Lin Xiaoyu’s mind quickly turned, and she pointed at Wang Meng. “Mr. Cheng, Wang Meng is spreading rumors that I’m dating Zhang Tiejun!”

Wang Meng was stunned. She didn’t expect Lin Xiaoyu to report her to the teacher.

“I wasn’t spreading rumors! She ate his ice pop herself! If there’s nothing between them, why would Zhang Tiejun buy her an ice pop?”

Lin Xiaoyu retorted, “He wanted to treat me! During the final exams last semester, you treated the top 20 students in the grade to ice pops too, Mr. Cheng. So does that mean everyone who ate your ice pop is in a relationship with you?”

“Nonsense!” Mr. Cheng scolded with a stern face.

Lin Xiaoyu stuck out her tongue and looked down.

“Wang Meng, instead of focusing on your studies, you spread rumors about your classmates. If I hear about this again, I’ll have to call your parents in for a serious talk.” Mr. Cheng looked at her sternly.

As their homeroom teacher, he knew who the good, honest students were.

Lin Xiaoyu had good grades and was timid and well-behaved.

Wang Meng, on the other hand, never studied seriously and spent class time fussing with the few strands of hair on her forehead.

Just last Friday, he’d seen Wang Meng flirting with a boy from the neighboring class after school. He hadn’t said anything—giving her some dignity as a girl.

And now she dared to slander Lin Xiaoyu?

Wang Meng’s face turned pale.

She immediately lowered her head and admitted, “Mr. Cheng, I was wrong. I—I won’t do it again.”

If her parents got called in, she could forget about going to school. Her mom would kill her.

And with no job waiting for her at home, dropping out would mean getting married off right away.

“As long as you know you were wrong.” Mr. Cheng nodded, then looked at Lin Xiaoyu. “You’ve been studying with a great attitude lately. Keep it up and try to get into a good college—you’ll bring honor to our school.”

Lin Xiaoyu was a smart student, just not always focused.

But with more effort, she could definitely make it into a good university and make the school proud.

“I will!” Lin Xiaoyu nodded vigorously.

Seeing the teacher value Lin Xiaoyu so much, Zhao Siyu stomped her foot and walked away with a swish of her braid.

That noon, more people showed up than the previous day. Li Shuping sold 30 servings of dumplings.

Quite a few people who found them tasty bought frozen ones to take home and cook later with their families.

In the afternoon, with no customers, Li Shuping sat and made dumplings.

With a container to store them in, she could prepare extras when she had time.

“Auntie Li.” Qin Ye walked over carrying a basket.

“Oh, you’re back.” Li Shuping placed the freshly wrapped dumplings into a bamboo sieve, patted the flour off her hands, and stood up.

Qin Ye squatted down, trying to remove the basket from his back.

Li Shuping reached out to help him.

He’d been walking a long way with that basket, and sweat covered his forehead.

He wiped it with his sleeve, pulled some money from his pocket, and handed it over.

“Sixty eggs cost 2.40 yuan. I bought in bulk, so the vendor gave me two extras—62 total. Carrots were 0.015 yuan per jin, ten jin cost 0.15 yuan. Chives were one cent per jin, so ten jin was 0.10 yuan.”

Qin Ye’s throat was dry from talking, so he swallowed before continuing: “Ginger was 0.05 yuan per jin, five jin cost 0.25 yuan. Garlic was the same—five jin, also 0.25 yuan. Altogether it cost 3.25 yuan. Here’s the change—1.75 yuan.”

That was less than Li Shuping expected to spend. She counted out 0.80 yuan from the returned money and handed it to him. “Thank you. This is your payment for the trip.”

Qin Ye wiped his hands on his pants before taking the money and bowed. “Thank you, Auntie Li.”

“Have you eaten lunch? I’ll make you a bowl of dumplings.”

Qin Ye licked his lips and shook his head. “No need, I already ate…”

Grrr— his stomach growled loudly, cutting him off and making him blush.

Li Shuping couldn’t help but smile. “Sit down and rest. The dumplings will be ready soon.”

“No, really. I’ll go home and cook. I—I can’t afford dumplings.” Qin Ye hung his head in embarrassment.

He’d worked all morning, going through several villages, just to earn 0.80 yuan.

Even spending a dime felt painful—dumplings cost way more than that.

“You don’t need to pay. Just sit and wait.” Li Shuping washed her hands, threw the freshly wrapped dumplings into the pot, and said, “They’re already in the pot. If you don’t eat them, it’d be a waste.”

She didn’t give him a chance to refuse.

Qin Ye’s eyes turned red, and he quickly lowered his head. “Th-thank you, Auntie.”

His voice trembled slightly.

From childhood to now, it was the first time someone had been so kind to him—paid him for his work and treated him to a meal.

A bowl of dumplings—twenty of them, with both beef and chive-egg fillings—he ate while blinking hard, trying to stop tears from falling.

It was the best meal he’d ever had—and one he’d remember for the rest of his life.