Jiang Lin’s strength overwhelmed Meng Yiyi, who was not physically strong, and she was knocked down against the nearby wall with a slap.

“Waaah!” Meng Yiyi covered her face and cried.

She wanted to run, but Da Bao, Xiao Bao, and Sun Qinghui stood in her way.

There was no way she could escape.

It was a complete humiliation.

Cheng Da Bao tightened his grip on Xiao Bao’s hand and waved it in satisfaction.

Xiao Bao clapped his hands and cheered, “Good job, Linlin! Let her dare to instigate my mom to abandon us.”

Jin Lei hurriedly stepped in to intervene, “Jiang Lin, stop fighting!”

Jiang Lin sneered, “Don’t worry, she’s not worth my time.”

She turned to Sun Qinghui and said, “Sun Qinghui, see which female youth here is the weakest, unable to do physical work. Let her take this teaching job. I’ll go inform the brigade.”

This teaching position had originally been secured through Yan Runzhi’s connections with the former brigade secretary.

Moreover, changing the teacher wouldn’t have much impact on the elementary school.

The youth were all somewhat stunned.

They hadn’t expected Jiang Lin to take back the teaching job and give it to a fellow youth instead of keeping it for herself.

She was truly generous to them!

Those who had previously found Jiang Lin difficult to understand were feeling guilty now.

They had thought she was aloof and arrogant, but those were outdated views.

Jiang Lin had clearly matured; now she was a friendly and proactive youth.

Sun Qinghui said, “Jiang Lin, you should keep it for yourself. You got married and used connections precisely because you didn’t want to work hard.”

Jiang Lin replied coldly, “No need. After these years of training, I’ve adapted to the life of the working people.”

Being an elementary school teacher didn’t pay much, and it would restrict her movements.

She also wanted to maintain good relations with the youth, like Sun Qinghui, who were mostly honest and promising.

Her main target was Meng Yiyi, who had truly angered her!

She looked at Meng Yiyi and said, “From today onwards, you go your way and I’ll go mine. Let’s not interfere with each other. You don’t need to feign concern and instigate me to abandon my husband and children and return to the city while you stay behind.”

“Whatever. I’ve only been looking out for your good. If you don’t appreciate it and slander me with such malicious thoughts, I… I must be blind!” Meng Yiyi’s eyes were red with anger, and her body trembled violently with grievance.

She glared tearfully at Jiang Lin and then glanced at Da Bao and Xiao Bao with disdain. “Fine with me to break off. From now on, I won’t bother with these idle thoughts. I’ll just focus on living well for myself.” With that, she took a few steps forward and coldly told Sun Qinghui, “Get out of my way! A good dog doesn’t block the road!”

Sun Qinghui didn’t argue with her and stepped aside.

Just as Meng Yiyi was about to return to her room, Jiang Lin spoke up, “Since we’re at this point, give me back the letters my parents wrote to me.”

Although the original owner had cut ties with her parents, claiming they wouldn’t communicate anymore, they still occasionally sent letters.

Meng Yiyi had helped collect them, claiming Jiang Lin’s parents were biased, with the contents accusing her of being fallen and cowardly.

Outraged, the original owner refused to read or reply to these letters, which Meng Yiyi continued to collect on their behalf.

Later, Meng Yiyi claimed her parents were extremely disappointed in her, and she no longer received letters.

This was indirectly conveyed to the original owner by Meng Yiyi’s parents, further estranging her.

Jiang Lin was convinced that Meng Yiyi was up to something, and she intended to reverse her course, convinced of the existence of letters.

Although Jiang’s parents had their faults, they were still ordinary parents who wouldn’t abandon their daughter for years.

“No, no!” Meng Yiyi denied it categorically. “There were letters initially, but you refused to read them and tore them up. Later, hardly any letters came.”

“If I read the letters and my parents criticize and scold me, would I be happy? I refused to read them then, but now I don’t believe you. I want to see them!” Jiang Lin stared at her. “Bring out the letters, or I’ll search for them myself.”

“They were thrown away long ago. Who would keep them?” Meng Yiyi tried to step into her room, her legs trembling.

Da Bao immediately blocked the door, saying, “Old witch, give the letters back to my mom!”

Meng Yiyi’s face was pale, filled with sadness and anger. “You, you’re going too far!”

Jin Lei continued to protect her. “No one should casually go through someone else’s things.”

Sun Qinghui sneered, “When you bully classmates at school, haven’t you rummaged through their schoolbags?

During protests, haven’t you stormed into people’s homes, offices, and dormitories, rummaging through things?”

Jiang Lin turned to Sun Qinghui. “Sun Qinghui, you’re the squad leader at the commune. Please ask her roommates to point out where her things are, and I’ll confirm them myself. After all, some of my things are still there too, and it’s fair that I take them back.”

Although she knew Meng Yiyi’s belongings, she didn’t want to barge in directly to avoid objections from other commune members.

Meng Yiyi staggered, looking as if she might collapse. “Jiang Lin, what are you trying to do? Is this how you repay me?”

Jiang Lin replied firmly, “I am standing up to you. You played tricks on me before, but today I won’t let you manipulate me. I want answers to see how deceitful you really are!”

She grabbed Meng Yiyi’s arm and pulled her aside.

Meng Yiyi was no match for her, infuriated and in tears.

Ignoring Meng Yiyi’s protests, Jiang Lin strode into the room—a typical space with mostly kang beds.

In front of one was an old desk piled with books by great figures, some newspapers, and various everyday items like tea jars and combs.

A fellow female commune member named Ye Jing pointed to a locked drawer and an old woven box on the floor. “These are hers,” she said.

Jiang Lin reached for the keys, but Meng Yiyi naturally refused to give them up.

Without further words, Jiang Lin grabbed scissors from a sewing basket and attempted to pry open the lock.

Nowadays, locks were often just hinges with nails holding them in place, easy to remove without a key.

Meng Yiyi tried to stop her but was restrained by Ye Jing and the other women.

Jiang Lin removed the hinge, opened the drawer, and found letters, notebooks, and receipts inside.

“Don’t touch my things!” Meng Yiyi screamed, tearing at Jiang Lin’s face in desperation.

Jiang Lin dodged and pushed Meng Yiyi away onto the kang bed. “Stay out of this!”

She pulled out a handful of letters and threw them on the table, quickly scanning through them.

To her surprise, among her own parents’ letters was one from Bian Haitao.

She sneered, “Meng Yiyi, you’re quite something!”

Meng Yiyi cried out, “I kept these for you! You cut ties with them and didn’t want to see these, so I kept them for you…”

The other commune members smirked.

Earlier Meng Yiyi denied having them, then said they were lost.

Now that they were found, it was quite embarrassing for her.

Jiang Lin casually pulled out another letter and unfolded it.

She read a line, “Our family is also struggling, but here’s ten yuan for you.”

Her face turned cold instantly, squinting as she stared at Meng Yiyi. “You often ask my parents for money, Meng Yiyi, you despicable person!”

Meng Yiyi grabbed a poker from the corner and lunged at Jiang Lin, screaming, “Bastard!”

Without waiting for Sun Qinghui and the others to intervene, Jiang Lin charged forward and grabbed Meng Yiyi’s arm, twisting it hard.

The poker slipped from Meng Yiyi’s grasp.

Jiang Lin raised her hand and slapped her, then grabbed her hair and pressed her against the edge of the kang bed. “You instigated me to cut ties with my parents, calling me stupid! My parents write to me, and you ask them for money — is this how you care for me? Meng Yiyi, you’re truly heartless!”

The original host was naive, while Meng Yiyi was cunning, using the original host’s name to correspond with her parents and ask for money.

Sun Qinghui and the others were furious. “Meng Yiyi, no wonder your living conditions always improve. You better explain clearly how much money you’ve taken from them. We can verify this, so you can’t deny it.”

Jiang Lin’s parents always included remittance receipts when sending money, and the county’s post and telecommunications office had records of every transaction.

Meng Yiyi was well aware of this fact.

However, Meng Yiyi had never imagined that Jiang Lin, with whom she had a strained relationship, would confront her about these letters.

She had told the original host to write home and inquire about her parents’ situation.

Meng Yiyi never mentioned receiving money from Jiang Lin’s parents, often complaining instead about their favoritism and neglect towards her.

She would say things like, “Your parents are too biased. They never ask about you coming here. I have to ask my parents to talk to them before they say a word,” or “When my parents send me money, they also ask if they’re giving you any. They always say they have no money.”

Sometimes, she would mention sending a little money along with her letters, but it was usually just a token amount, which only angered Jiang Lin further.

Meng Yiyi had never expected this situation would lead to a falling-out with Jiang Lin, leaving her embarrassed.

She never planned to burn or destroy the letters and receipts; instead, she thought they might be useful in the future.

Jiang Lin then pulled out a small notebook belonging to Meng Yiyi, a ledger recording remittances and other important matters.

It seemed both of them liked keeping diaries, which made things easier.

To her surprise, she found letters and remittances from Bian Haitao and someone named Lu Hang.

Lu Hang? Jiang Lin thought for a moment. He was the son of the director of the provincial textile factory, a troublemaker.

Meng Yiyi was indeed impressive.

Even that troublemaker couldn’t forget about the original host’s beauty, and she managed to benefit from it without the original host knowing anything about it.

Jiang Lin couldn’t believe it!

Meanwhile, Meng Yiyi continued to cry and plead innocence, claiming she had always taken care of Jiang Lin when they were younger, and that cutting off ties with Jiang Lin’s parents was to protect her.

Jiang Lin turned to Sun Qinghui. “Sun Qinghui, you’re the squad leader here. Please handle this.”

Sun Qinghui and the others were stunned.

They had never heard of such things before.

Meng Yiyi was truly something.

Meng Yiyi kept crying, “Jiang Lin, you’re repaying kindness with ingratitude! These were all things you asked me to do, and now you’re turning against me!”

Jiang Lin said, “I used to be so naive. How could I ever be so clever to ask you to manage money from others for me, and then spend it on yourself? Am I that despicable?”

Sun Qinghui replied, “Let us handle this matter at the commune. We’ll help you calculate how much money in total.”

Jiang Lin took away all the letters concerning herself, leaving Sun Qinghui and the others to tally up the money. “Meng Yiyi, you better confess. If your confession doesn’t match our calculations, we’ll report this to the police and have the post office investigate.”

The post office keeps records for at least ten years, so everything can be checked.

Meng Yiyi turned pale.

She avoided discussing the remittances and played the emotional card instead. “Jiang Lin, we’re good friends. I only helped receive your letters when you cut ties with your parents. Is that worth you accusing me? If that’s the case, who would dare be friends with you?”