Chapter 4: Making New Friends

Li Lin and Hu Yingying chatted for a while, but it wasn’t until her stomach growled loudly that Li Lin reluctantly stopped, saying, “It’s noon already. Let’s eat first, then we can continue chatting after lunch.”

“Perfect, I’m hungry too.” Hu Yingying, feeling that Li Lin was exactly the kind of friend she had been looking for, eagerly agreed.

She pulled out her lunchbox, placed it on the table, and opened the lid. “Lin Lin, this is the braised pork my mom made for me. Let’s share it.”

“No, you go ahead. My mom packed some food for me too,” Li Lin replied. She hadn’t expected Hu Yingying to be so generous, but she knew that eating meat in the hot summer would be a bit risky, so she pulled out her own lunchbox, politely declining the offer.

“Aiya, it’s too hot for braised pork in summer! It’ll spoil by tonight.” Hu Yingying ignored Li Lin’s refusal, quickly grabbed Li Lin’s lunchbox, opened it, and pulled out a steamed bun. Then, she added some of her own braised pork into it and said with a grin, “Look, now I have a meat bun, and you get some braised pork!”

Li Lin watched her, shaking her head helplessly. She handed over a boiled egg from her lunchbox. “Here, have one of my eggs too.”

“Thanks!” Hu Yingying gratefully took the egg, then added some rice to Li Lin’s lunchbox. “Here, you need some rice too.”

“Enough, enough, I can’t eat that much,” Li Lin said, seeing Hu Yingying piling more food on her plate. She picked up her lunchbox and tried to politely decline.

“Okay, okay,” Hu Yingying agreed, then dug into her food—one bite of braised pork, one bite of rice, and one bite of steamed bun. She savored it with obvious pleasure, making the people nearby envious.

Liu Lan, sitting nearby, could smell the delicious braised pork and swallowed her saliva. She quietly took out a small steamed bun from her own package and began eating it, her eyes red with hunger as she devoured it.

As for Zhang Qinghua, who had been watching Li Lin and Hu Yingying, a dark expression crossed his face. He thought to himself, *Don’t let them go to the same place—otherwise, they’ll have it rough.*

But his companion, Sun Xiaogang, didn’t care about such things. He pulled out a bun from his pocket, opened his lunchbox to reveal scrambled eggs and stir-fried cabbage with meat slices, and started eating heartily. The smell of food filled the air, and it made everyone else even hungrier.

After finishing her meal, Li Lin turned to Hu Yingying. “Yingying, can you watch my things for me? I’m going to the bathroom and to get some water.”

“Go ahead, I’ll keep an eye on everything for you,” Hu Yingying assured her with a thumbs up.

Li Lin chuckled and shook her head. She stood up and was just about to walk away when Liu Lan’s voice interrupted.

“Li Lin, where did you get that military water bottle? I don’t remember Uncle Li buying you one,” Liu Lan asked, her jealousy obvious as she looked at the water bottle hanging on Li Lin’s chest.

“*Slap!*”

Without warning, Li Lin slapped Liu Lan’s face, her voice cold. “Liu Lan, my family’s business isn’t something you need to know about.”

Liu Lan, clutching her stinging face, teared up and said, “I was just asking! Why’d you hit me for no reason?”

“Yeah, Li Lin, you’re going a bit too far,” Zhang Qinghua spoke up, seeing Liu Lan’s pitiful expression. “She was just asking a question. Why did you have to hit her?”

Li Lin turned her gaze to the still weeping Liu Lan, her voice cold as she rubbed her sore hand. “You think you can report me for going to the countryside behind my back? I haven’t even settled the score with you for that. Now you’re trying to get in my face again?”

Liu Lan, hearing this, instantly froze, her words stuck in her throat. She lowered her head, too afraid to speak. If Li Lin exposed what she’d done, what would everyone think of her? The thought was too unbearable to imagine.

But Hu Yingying, seemingly unaware of Liu Lan’s discomfort, turned to Li Lin in shock. “Lin Lin, you didn’t go to the countryside voluntarily?”

“No, my family had already arranged a job for me. The paperwork was all ready, but someone—don’t know when—reported me to go to the countryside behind my back. My family wasted so much time and money because of that,” Li Lin explained, now sitting down next to Hu Yingying instead of heading to the bathroom.

“Wait, what? Then what’s your relationship with Liu Lan?” Hu Yingying asked, stunned. She thought they must be related in some way, since Liu Lan had managed to get Li Lin sent to the countryside.

“Related? Not at all. Liu Lan is just my neighbor downstairs. She’s jealous that I got a job after graduating high school, so she secretly reported me to go to the countryside. How bad can a person be?” Li Lin’s tone turned sharp with anger as she recalled the incident, her eyes beginning to redden. (Perhaps this was the previous owner’s lingering emotions.)

“Yeah, that’s really bad! We should stay far away from her from now on. Who knows what bad ideas she might come up with out of jealousy?” Hu Yingying said, noticing Li Lin’s eyes were red. She patted her shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t be upset. Just keep away from people like her.”

Zhang Qinghua, realizing what kind of person Liu Lan was, looked at her with disdain and lowered his head, not wanting to look at her anymore.

Liu Lan, seeing that even Zhang Qinghua was ignoring her, began to resent Li Lin. She blamed her for everything. If Li Lin hadn’t exposed what she had done, she wouldn’t be in this humiliating situation where everyone was avoiding her.

Li Lin, however, didn’t care about Liu Lan’s thoughts. After chatting with Hu Yingying for a while, she stood up and headed for the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, she locked the door behind her and entered the space. She took the elevator to the eighth floor, where she grabbed a few big White Rabbit milk candies and slipped them into her pocket. Then she took a shiny Omega 17 diamond stainless steel watch from the stack of items she’d brought into the space and put it on her wrist.

Looking at the stack of money tickets inside the space, Li Lin couldn’t help but lick her lips. *With all of this, I won’t have to worry about food, water, or money when I’m in the countryside. I won’t even have to work hard on the farm to earn work points. It’s all so easy to imagine!*

Afterward, she returned to her room, used the bathroom again, and cleaned her military water bottle. She then filled it with mineral water from a large bottle she picked up at the supermarket before exiting the space.

When she came out, she met a sharp and capable-looking older sister who noticed the watch on Li Lin’s wrist and asked her the time.

After thanking her, Li Lin adjusted the time on the watch and then returned to her seat.

“Yingying, you can go now. I’ll watch your things,” Li Lin said, sitting back down. “I’ve got it covered.”

“Alright!” Hu Yingying answered enthusiastically. She grabbed her enamel cup and struggled her way through the crowded aisle to the bathroom.

In this way, the group of travelers endured three long days and nights on the train, each managing the discomfort in their own ways.