Chapter 16

He Xianqiu had already reached the limit of her patience with Zhao Yaling. Although at first she had wanted to avoid her, it turned out that she couldn’t. Since she couldn’t avoid her, she wasn’t afraid either. After all, she knew the plot, even if she only remembered the general outline.

He Xianqiu got out of bed and walked over to Zhao Yaling’s bedside.

She looked at her calmly and said, “Come out for a moment.”

When Zhao Yaling saw that He Xianqiu was asking her to go outside, she was on guard. “What do you want to do?”

He Xianqiu replied evenly, “Nothing.”

Zhao Yaling was half-convinced, half-skeptical. “Really?”

He Xianqiu glanced at her. “Really.” (Not really.)

Zhao Yaling thought about it—if He Xianqiu tried to do anything to her, she could just shout for help and play the victim. So she followed her outside.

He Xianqiu led her away from the educated youth camp to a random secluded spot.

The two of them stood face to face. He Xianqiu was taller and looked down at her.

Zhao Yaling smiled. “Xianqiu, what did you bring me here for?”

He Xianqiu gave her a bland look and spoke indifferently. “There’s no one else here, so you don’t have to keep pretending.”

Zhao Yaling feigned ignorance. “Xianqiu, what are you talking about?”

He Xianqiu smiled faintly. “It’s just the two of us. Why bother putting on an act? You’ve stirred up trouble again and again, and it’s made me quite unhappy.” She paused and continued, “So, if I don’t get some payback, I’m not going to feel right.”

As she said this, she raised her hand and slapped Zhao Yaling hard across the face before the other woman could even react.

Seeing Zhao Yaling staring blankly, He Xianqiu let out a mocking laugh.

“What’s the matter? Can’t find anyone to rescue you? No way to put on a show now?”

Zhao Yaling truly hadn’t expected He Xianqiu to hit her. Half her face was already red and swollen.

Her expression twisted in rage. “He Xianqiu, why did you hit me?”

He Xianqiu crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. “Do I need to pick a special time to hit you? If you’d behaved yourself, naturally I wouldn’t have.”

Zhao Yaling said angrily, “I just couldn’t stand seeing you doing so well. Why should you be born into a wealthy family, loved by everyone, while I was scolded every day for being worthless, even forced to take my brother’s place and come down to the countryside?”

He Xianqiu looked at her coldly as Zhao Yaling’s face contorted with fury. “So you’re jealous, and that’s why you target me? That’s your parents’ problem, not mine.”

Zhao Yaling glared at her with hatred. “Why should you get to have such a good life while mine is so miserable?”

Why should He Xianqiu be so spoiled and still adored by everyone, while she, even though she was clearly better, had no good family? Why? Zhao Yaling was seething with anger, her jealousy twisting her features beyond recognition.

He Xianqiu couldn’t really understand that kind of mentality—it was frightening. She suddenly thought of the novel’s supporting female character’s fate and all the hardships she suffered in the educated youth camp. The more she thought about it, the more unsettling it became. Was it possible Zhao Yaling had deliberately caused it? She couldn’t help but suspect that the supporting character’s death had something to do with Zhao Yaling.

Seeing Zhao Yaling looking like she wanted to skin her alive, He Xianqiu’s voice turned cold. “You blame everything on me, but I’ve never done anything to wrong you. Clearly, your mind still isn’t clear, so I’ll help you wake up.”

With that, she slapped Zhao Yaling again, quick and forceful. Both sides of her face swelled up perfectly symmetrically. To be honest, He Xianqiu found the sight quite satisfying.

Zhao Yaling was so furious she raised her hand to hit back.

But He Xianqiu had been watching her movements closely. She reacted quickly and dodged aside, leaving Zhao Yaling to swing at empty air.

He Xianqiu found it laughable. Someone dissatisfied with her own life, who became jealous of others and couldn’t bear to see them happy, constantly scheming in the shadows like a rat in the sewer, never able to show her face in the light.

She stared at her. “I remember that the old me treated you very well, like a sister. I always thought of you when there was something nice to share. You knew perfectly well that I liked Chen Changping. And what did you do? You secretly started dating him. Then you came down to the countryside and started targeting me. Is this how you repay me?”

She was asking this on behalf of the supporting female character. Zhao Yaling knew that the supporting character liked Chen Changping. The girl even confided everything to her. And what did Zhao Yaling do? She went behind her back and started dating Chen Changping. That was probably why the supporting character eventually turned bitter—her crush ended up with her best friend, so she took it out on the female lead, only to be defeated by the protagonist halo.

Of course, the supporting character wasn’t without fault herself. She made such a mess of things for the sake of a man and ended up ruining herself.

Zhao Yaling sneered. “You only ever saw me as your lackey. You never really respected me.”

He Xianqiu couldn’t be bothered to argue. Her eyes turned sharp, her voice icy. “Whether you think that’s true or not, you know best. Consider this your warning. If you try any more petty tricks against me, don’t blame me for being rude. If I tell everyone about your little love affair, let’s see who they believe—let’s see what everyone at the camp will think of you two.”

Chen Changping must have known the supporting character liked him, but he still strung her along. Who knew how many gifts she’d given him? He Xianqiu wasn’t sure—she didn’t have the supporting character’s memories—she only recalled it being mentioned in the book.

After slapping Zhao Yaling twice, He Xianqiu finally felt a bit of relief. She didn’t care whether Zhao Yaling was grinding her teeth in hatred behind her as she turned around and walked back to camp.

She lay back down to rest. Today she didn’t have to work—she could take the whole day off. And tomorrow, she wouldn’t have to work either. She was officially going to the school with the other teachers to recruit students.

The brigade leader took the elementary school project very seriously. Since the sweet potatoes were almost all planted, today was set aside so the educated youths could rest and go to their interviews, to get the school up and running as soon as possible so the kids could start classes.

So the educated youth camp had the entire day free.

After a while, Zhao Yaling came sneaking back in. Zhou Hanmei, in the dorm, saw how she was covering her face and asked curiously, “Comrade Zhao, what happened to you?”

Zhao Yaling covered her face and smiled. “I had an allergic reaction. I’m hiding it so I don’t scare you.”

Zhou Hanmei suddenly understood but asked with concern, “Is it serious?”

“It’s nothing—it’ll be fine in a few days.”

He Xianqiu heard the commotion, glanced up at her, then looked away. Zhao Yaling probably wouldn’t dare to play the victim this time. If she did, and He Xianqiu confronted her directly, she could kiss her gentle, considerate image goodbye.

In the dorm, if you weren’t lying around daydreaming, you were sleeping. In this era, there wasn’t really anything for entertainment. He Xianqiu had only been here a few days—she wasn’t familiar with the place and didn’t dare to wander around.

At that moment, she suddenly missed her electronics so much. She longed to play games and read novels. Unfortunately, all she could do was think about it—electronic devices wouldn’t be around for many more years.

After lying on her bed for a while, it was noon. She got up—it was her turn to cook today. Stretching, she headed for the kitchen.

She’d seen the other educated youths cook—it looked pretty simple. Just stir a few times and it was done. How hard could it be?

He Xianqiu washed the vegetables, then lit the wood with a match. She began mimicking the others’ movements, trying to stir-fry.

She was never stingy with oil, so she poured in a lot, then dumped in the vegetables to fry.

As she cooked, thick smoke billowed up, spreading out of the pot in all directions. He Xianqiu’s eyes stung so badly she couldn’t keep them open, and she started coughing so hard it felt like she’d cough up her liver.

Tears streamed down her face from the smoke, but she still held onto the spatula and kept stirring the vegetables.

Smoke poured out of the kitchen and drifted outside. The other educated youths saw it and hurried over anxiously.

Song Wenzhong and He Qiye walked into the kitchen and were shocked to see smoke filling the entire space.

Song Wenzhong covered his nose and mouth and asked, “Comrade He, what are you doing?”

He Xianqiu answered through her nose, “I’m cooking.”

He Qiye was dumbfounded. “This is cooking?”

He Xianqiu nodded, then realized they couldn’t see anything through the smoke, so she called out, “Yes. Just wait a little—I’ll be done soon.”

The two of them swallowed nervously as they looked at the billowing smoke but finally retreated outside.

Honestly, they were a bit afraid she’d blow up the kitchen. But surely it wouldn’t go that far… surely…

It really didn’t. He Xianqiu eventually finished cooking and carried the dish out. But when she looked at the sticky, charred black mess, she fell into deep thought.

Why did my stir-fried vegetables end up like this?

Song Wenzhong and He Qiye stared at the food, which looked like a lump of charcoal, and fell silent.

One by one, the other educated youths came out to see what was going on. Among them, the lively Sun Xiaoyuan couldn’t help asking, “Who made this? It’s a little… hard to tell what it is.”

He Xianqiu gave an awkward smile. “I cooked it.”

Sun Xiaoyuan scratched his head. “Ah, Comrade He made it? Well… it’s certainly… unique…”

Everyone looked at the blackened lump and didn’t feel much appetite. Even He Xianqiu disliked it herself. But since it was her turn to cook, she suggested, “Should I make another batch? I haven’t cooked the rice yet.”

The male educated youths rushed to stop her. “Comrade He, let us cook instead. You’ve worked hard all morning—just rest.”

“Yes, yes—Comrade He, we’ll handle it. You relax,” Song Wenzhong quickly said.

He Qiye also nodded firmly, indicating that the men would do the cooking.

Song Wenzhong and He Qiye had witnessed her first attempt and really didn’t want her going back in there, worried she’d actually set the kitchen on fire this time.

They were so eager that they practically raced each other into the kitchen.

He Xianqiu could only sigh helplessly. “Alright.”

She knew perfectly well that they just didn’t want her to cook again. The charred lump probably wouldn’t just give them diarrhea—it looked bad too.

The rest of the camp was quite satisfied with this arrangement. They were determined not to let her near the stove again, afraid she’d ruin the food or burn the kitchen down. Even though it was just coarse grains, it could fill their stomachs, and the kitchen hadn’t been easy to build—it required finding and trimming wood and assembling everything. Too much trouble to redo.

With Song Wenzhong and He Qiye cooking, everyone else sat in the main hall and chatted.

He Xianqiu just listened quietly, occasionally nodding. When the topic turned to her, she’d say a few words. The atmosphere was lively but not awkward.

But the hall was missing three people: Sun Xiaoyan, Zhao Yaling, and Chen Changping.

He Xianqiu knew exactly why Zhao Yaling wasn’t here—she’d slapped her twice, and her face was still swollen. She didn’t dare show herself.

In any case, she was quite happy not to have to see those unpleasant people.