Chapter 23.1 Separation 3

Having received Jin Zhuang’s response, Shu Qingyao beamed.

“Captain Jin, then I’ll trouble you. After we move, Xie Hezhang and I will treat you to dinner.”

Jin Zhuang also smiled and said, “Dinner is fine. I’ll be happy if you just stay out of trouble.”

He clearly treated her like a hot potato.

Shu Qingyao wasn’t worried about being treated as a nuisance. She had money, and money could make the devil grind. Besides, according to her plan, she wouldn’t be staying in Helian Village for long.

Next year, when the college entrance exams resumed, she would take Xie Hezhang to university.

Whatever Jiang Xun had, Xie Hezhang deserved to have too.

After bidding farewell to Jin Zhuang, Shu Qingyao returned to the educated youth dormitory nonchalantly.

The educated youths had already finished lunch and were still taking a nap. They were gathered in the dining hall, chatting in groups of three or four. When they saw Shu Qingyao return, everyone fell silent.

Their eyes all looked over.

The news of Shu Qingyao’s incident at the Wang family had spread throughout Helian Village. Even if the educated youths didn’t want to know, they had all heard about it.

In a place like the countryside, this kind of thing was not only easy to spread but also easy to distort.

With so many people talking, rumors could easily turn into truth. In this era, there was still no escaping the discrimination against women who had lost their virtue.

Even if Wang Wei hadn’t succeeded, with the help of those who were deliberately spreading rumors, Shu Qingyao had already gone from being a virgin to a “slut.”

This change in the news was also partly due to Ruan Wenhui. She had always hated Shu Qingyao. Now that she saw her misfortune, she wished she could personally step on her a few times. She wouldn’t miss such a good opportunity.

During the days when Shu Qingyao was away, Ruan Wenhui had been spreading rumors vividly at mealtimes. Seeing the disdain in everyone’s eyes towards Shu Qingyao, she felt as excited as if she had taken a stimulant.

Shu Qingyao glanced at the dining hall and didn’t pay much attention.

She was about to move out anyway. She wasn’t familiar with these people, so she didn’t care what they thought.

She was in a good mood and hummed a tune as she walked towards her dormitory.

Ruan Wenhui watched Shu Qingyao’s back. Seeing that she hadn’t become pale and haggard after being hospitalized for a week, but had actually become even more beautiful, she felt a surge of anger.

She couldn’t help but say to Jiang Qin, who was cracking sunflower seeds next to her, “She was defiled by a wild man, and she still dares to come back swaggering. She’s so shameless!”

Jiang Qin paused her sunflower seed cracking. She still had a bit of sympathy for Shu Qingyao, a fellow woman, and they had no grievances between them. The poor girl had suffered such a great loss for no reason, there was no need to gossip about her.

She shook her head and said to Ruan Wenhui, “Wenhui, you have to work later. Go take a nap and talk less.”

Ruan Wenhui snorted coldly, “I’m not going to sleep. I find it unlucky to be neighbors with that slut!”

She had a loud voice anyway, and she deliberately raised it, so that the whole dining hall could hear her.

Ruan Wenhui looked at the subtle expressions on everyone’s faces and felt a surge of joy.

She wanted to ruin Shu Qingyao’s reputation!

She wanted to see if any man would still flirt with her in the future!

She wanted to see how she could still be so aloof!

…

Shu Qingyao was holding a bunch of peanut candies and standing at the corner.

Ruan Wenhui’s shout of “slut” was truly deafening.

It made her teeth itch and her palms itch.

Tang Maning, who was accompanying her, saw that her expression was wrong and quickly said, “Qingyao, let’s go back to the room and rest. You have to move tonight.”

She was afraid that Shu Qingyao would be sad and upset.

The gossip in Helian Village was not pleasant to hear.

Shu Qingyao’s expression was calm. She put the peanut candies in Tang Maning’s hand and said, “Wait for me.”

Tang Maning was surprised and uncertain. She watched Shu Qingyao’s calm back as she left, wondering what she was going to do.

After a while, Shu Qingyao came back with a basin of water.

Over there, Ruan Wenhui was still chattering, vividly describing how Shu Qingyao had been played by Wang Wei. The expressions on the faces of those around her were becoming increasingly uncomfortable, but she didn’t notice.

Until a “splash” sound, a basin of icy cold water was poured over her head.

Ruan Wenhui screamed in fright. Before she could react, Shu Qingyao grabbed her hair and pulled her off the dining table, pressing her to the ground. She punched her on the bridge of her nose, causing her nose to bleed.

Shu Qingyao straddled Ruan Wenhui’s waist, her movements steady, accurate, and ruthless. She punched Ruan Wenhui several times in the soft tissue areas of her body.

It was good that she had learned self-defense. She used the least amount of effort to get the greatest reward. In just a few moves, she had beaten Ruan Wenhui until she was screaming and crying, calling for her father and mother. Her face was swollen like a pig’s head.

Shu Qingyao’s movements were too fast. No one in the room had reacted. By the time everyone rushed over to persuade them and stop them, Shu Qingyao had already finished.

She clapped her hands, stood up from Ruan Wenhui, threw the iron basin next to Ruan Wenhui’s head, and smiled sweetly, “If I hear you gossiping about me again, next time I’ll pour boiling water on you!”

Ruan Wenhui lay on the ground, unable to speak from being beaten. She was stunned by the beating.

Only when Shu Qingyao’s iron basin landed next to her did she shiver and come to her senses. She looked at Shu Qingyao, who was smiling sweetly at her, with a pale face, as if she had seen a ghost.

She always felt that something was wrong with Shu Qingyao. She was different from the Shu Qingyao in her memory. Not only was she not as easy to talk to, but she was also becoming more and more ruthless in her methods…

Just because she said a few words about her, did she have to be so ruthless to her?

Ruan Wenhui was filled with resentment, but she didn’t dare to speak up anymore. After being pulled up by Jiang Qin, she pursed her lips, lowered her head, and retreated to the side.

Shu Qingyao took the peanut candies from Tang Maning’s hand, poured them onto the table in the dining hall, and said to the educated youths in the dining hall, “I’m moving out today. It’s a happy occasion. Come on, have some candy!”

Peanut candies were a good thing. The educated youths would sometimes go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a few pieces to satisfy their cravings, but they had never seen anyone as generous as Shu Qingyao, who directly gave out a pound or two to share.

You can’t bite the hand that feeds you. The educated youths invited Shu Qingyao to sit down and chat, asking her where she was going to move.

Shu Qingyao smiled brightly and said, “Nowhere. I’m going to live at Xie Hezhang’s place.”

As soon as she said this, everyone was filled with mixed emotions.