Chapter 25: The Aftermath of Not Washing Her Feet

“It’s your business if you’re crazy, but I was sleeping just fine—why did you splash water on me?!”

“Splash you? That wasn’t splashing water,” Zhao Keke sneered. “I was helping you bathe! You won’t wash yourself, so I did it for you. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

“What I do is none of your business! How does it affect you?” Qin Fang shouted while flicking her wet hair.

“It does affect me! Yes, it does! Just look at how long you’ve been here—barely a few days! Smell this dormitory! Is this a place fit for human beings? A pigsty doesn’t even stink this bad!”

Zhao Keke was livid. If you don’t like being clean, fine. But if you really refuse to wash, at least leave your shoes and socks outside so you don’t stink up the place! No one wants to deal with your mess! But Qin Fang wouldn’t listen. She kept tossing her filthy socks onto the shared bench, stinking up the whole room.

While the two of them were shouting at each other, the other female educated youths entered and immediately wrinkled their noses at the smell.

“Qin, are you stirring up trouble again?!” Sister Jiang stormed in, glaring angrily at Qin Fang lying on her bed.

“Are you blind?! I was sleeping soundly and she poured water on me—and you say I’m the one causing trouble?!”

“If you hadn’t caused trouble, would Keke have poured water on you? Why didn’t she pour it on me then?” Sister Jiang snapped, then turned to a younger educated youth beside her. “Fang You’er, go to the village chief’s house and bring him here. I want to see what he has to say this time.”

“Fine, go ahead. I’m not afraid of you!” Qin Fang shot back, confident that since she was the one who got splashed, she had the moral high ground.

Fang You’er, upon hearing Sister Jiang’s instructions, dashed out and ran straight to the village chief’s house.

Over in the male educated youth courtyard next door, a few of them heard the commotion and exchanged looks. In unison, they said, “It’s starting again.”

On her way to the village chief’s house, Fang You’er deliberately made a fuss, shouting to anyone she passed about how filthy and annoying Qin Fang was.

So by the time the village chief arrived, there was already a crowd gathered outside the educated youths’ courtyard. Sister Jiang and the others weren’t embarrassed in the least. After all, it wasn’t them who were dirty—everyone knew who the disgusting one was.

Even Tao Hua (Peach Blossom) caught wind of the news from Fang You’er’s shouting. She ran over to Nan Qiao’s courtyard in a hurry and said:

“Jiejie! Jiejie! That educated youth Qin who came with you is causing a scene again!”

“What?” Shen Nian, who was washing up in the courtyard, wiped the water from her face and stood up.

“There’s a ruckus at the educated youth dorm. The village chief is heading over too. I heard that Qin got water poured on her because she wouldn’t wash her feet!” Tao Hua explained.

“Let’s go, let’s go! Tao Hua, let’s go watch the show!” Shen Nian tossed her towel and grabbed Tao Hua’s hand, dragging her along while muttering, “That Qin Fang really is a handful…”

After just a few steps, she seemed to remember something and turned to Nan Qiao, who was watching them from the window.

“Qiao Qiao, be good and stay home. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back!”

Before Nan Qiao could even reply, she had already rushed off with Tao Hua, afraid to miss a single detail.

Nan Qiao watched them run off, amused. These days, there weren’t many ways to pass time. Gossiping about village drama was basically the only entertainment after work.

Honestly… she kind of wanted to go too. But looking at her still slightly swollen foot, she let out a soft sigh and stayed home.

Back in the village, Fang You’er’s “public announcement” had made Qin Fang infamous. Now, there wasn’t a single person in the village who didn’t know about her hygiene issues. In the following days, the rumors only worsened—some even claimed that Qin Fang’s stench had knocked someone unconscious…

When Shen Nian arrived at the dorm, the village chief had just gotten there too.

A crowd of villagers surrounded the dormitory. The male educated youths next door were too embarrassed to come over, but some of them were peeking over the wall.

The village chief scolded, annoyed, “Get down from there! You’re all educated people—what are you doing climbing walls?”

The male youths weren’t fazed. One of them grinned and said, “It’s not like we can just walk over. We’re just watching the fun! You go on—we heard it’s already gotten pretty dramatic!”

The village chief snorted and waved them off, then marched to the doorway of the dorm, ignoring the boys on the wall.

“Can’t even eat a meal in peace. What are you yelling for, dragging me over like this?” he barked as he entered the courtyard.

The female educated youths were all standing outside the room, refusing to go in. When the village chief arrived, Zhao Keke was the first to complain:

“Village Chief, look at Qin Fang! Last time she tried to pick and choose the best rations and the team leader had to mediate—we put up with it. But now, not even two days later, she’s at it again! She even accused us of stealing her grain. And just take a whiff inside—can anyone live in that room?!”

The chief, hearing her complaints, kept walking, planning to scold them for being oversensitive. But the moment he stepped into the room, he almost threw up the meal he’d just eaten.

If it weren’t for the dignity of his position, he would’ve cursed Qin Fang out right there.

What kind of young girl could live in a place that smelled this bad? Not even the footwraps of an 80-year-old woman smelled this rancid!

Struggling to hold in his disgust and nausea, the chief said, “Everyone, come out and talk,” then turned around and stepped outside.

Sitting at a small table in the courtyard, breathing in the fresh air, the village chief finally felt alive again.

“Village Chief, how are we supposed to live like this?” Zhao Keke followed behind him with a few other girls.

“Exactly! We’ve put up with everything else to avoid conflict with her, but how can we live in a room that smells like that?”

“Zhao Keke! You—and you!” Qin Fang emerged from the room and snapped. “Stop twisting the story! We’re talking about you splashing water on me—don’t drag in other nonsense!”

But as she approached, the smell followed her out of the room.

“Wait! Stay there! Don’t come any closer!” the village chief stopped her immediately, unable to endure the odor. “How could a young girl live like this?”

Qin Fang, a little embarrassed by his words, sniffed around herself. It doesn’t smell that bad, she thought…

Truth be told, she usually did wash up before bed. Otherwise, her roommates wouldn’t have exploded like this after only a few days.

But she had sweaty feet, and after working all day in cloth shoes, the odor was particularly strong.

Besides, she was mad at Dong Jiayan tonight—that’s why she didn’t wash up. Was it really that big of a deal? She hadn’t even eaten yet, for crying out loud! Qin Fang stewed inwardly.

“Village Chief, it’s not that bad, right? Aren’t you overreacting a little? What we should be discussing is that Zhao Keke splashed water on me. Now my bed is soaked—how am I supposed to sleep tonight?”

“She should have splashed you! You never think about how we’re supposed to sleep! The dorm reeks—how are we supposed to rest?! Don’t be so selfish!”

“How smelly can it be? What, are you going to die from it? Drama queens!” Qin Fang rolled her eyes in disdain.

“Qin! Don’t you know when to quit? We’ve been too nice to you these past few days, haven’t we?” Sister Jiang snapped and stepped forward angrily.

The village chief saw that things were about to erupt again and quickly shouted, “Enough! You’re all grown adults—do you really enjoy bickering like this every day?”

The others were scolded, but Qin Fang stood there with her arms crossed, looking completely unconcerned.

“Village Chief, this never happened back at our previous educated youth post. I accepted responsibility for the grain issue last time, but I can’t take this today. If anyone can tolerate it, let them room with her!”

The village chief saw the situation and realized this conflict couldn’t be easily resolved. There was no way to have the other girls move out—not with so many people and nowhere else to house them.

Trying to mediate was pointless too. It had only been two days and already there’d been back-to-back incidents. Even if they smoothed things over now, it wouldn’t last long.

Which meant the only solution… was to move Qin Fang.

The only problem was—where to move her?

“Comrade Qin, there’s a small room at the foot of the hill behind the backyard. If we clean it up, it’s livable. I can offer it as a single room—would you be willing to move there?”

Upon hearing this, Qin Fang’s eyes darted around in thought. After a while, she asked, “Do I have to pay for that room?”

“No,” the village chief replied. “It used to be for the forest ranger, but since the rangers were reorganized, it’s been vacant. It’s close to the youth compound, so we’ve just been using it to store firewood and odds and ends. There’s a heated brick bed, but it’ll need cleaning before it’s usable.”

The village chief had almost forgotten about that little house. It wasn’t big, but its door faced the back courtyard of the youth dormitory, so it was relatively secure.

“Then I’m not cleaning it,” Qin Fang said smugly, arms crossed and chin raised, her tone proud.

“Just say whether you’ll live there or not,” the village chief said impatiently.

“If it’s free and I don’t have to clean it, sure. A single room’s way better than being crammed in with them anyway.” She shot the others a disdainful glance.

“You there! On the wall!” the village chief called. “Come down and help clean out the little house. I’ll give each of you two work points!”

The male youths hanging on the wall looked unhappy. They disliked this Qin girl too—so much drama, and now she stank on top of it.

Just look at the village chief—he nearly passed out after stepping inside!

But since they’d already watched the whole spectacle, and now they were being offered work points, they couldn’t refuse. Besides, there wasn’t much stuff in the little house; a few of them could clean it up quickly.

So, they hopped down from the wall.

“Let’s be clear, Village Chief,” one of the male youths said, glancing meaningfully toward the girls’ dorm. “We’re only cleaning out the little house. Whatever’s inside there, we’re not touching.”

“No one’s asking you to. Would we really have you clean a girl’s stuff?” the chief retorted.

“Alright then.” With that, the boys went off to clean the room. They weren’t worried about moving the girl’s things—they were just terrified of carrying anything that stank like that.

“Village Chief,” Wenwen suddenly spoke up once the plan was settled. “I’ve got a small clay stove. Since Comrade Qin is moving out, it won’t be convenient for her to come and go during meals. How about I lend it to her so she can cook for herself? Once she’s able to buy her own stove, she can return mine. How does that sound?”

“What do you think?” the village chief turned to ask Qin Fang.

“Of course I’m fine with that. But I don’t have money right now. It’ll be a while before I can buy a new stove.”

“Alright.” Wenwen was doing everything she could to get Qin Fang out of there once and for all.

“Settled, then. Everyone get to work,” the village chief said, rising to dismiss the crowd.

But just as he stood up, Qin Fang called out, “Village Chief, this matter is settled, sure. But Zhao Keke soaked all my bedding—what are we going to do about that?”

“What do you want to do about it?” the chief asked, clearly annoyed. This girl was just too much.

“Qin Fang, don’t push it! You already got your own room—what more do you want?” Sister Jiang shouted from the side.

“I want her to pay me for it,” Qin Fang said bluntly, ignoring Sister Jiang and looking right at the village chief.

The village chief rubbed his temples. Regardless of how annoying Qin Fang was, Zhao Keke had done something wrong. But compensation? It was just a wet quilt. Air it out and it’d be fine—what was there to compensate?

“Just hang it up to dry. It’s not damaged. What compensation?” the village chief shot her a glare.

“Village Chief, you’re being biased. They complain I stink and you make me move. She drenched my bed and you tell me to just dry it out. How is that fair?”

“Qin Fang,” Wenwen interrupted, unwilling to argue further. “You’re not getting compensation, but how about this—I won’t ask you to return the stove either. Does that work? If so, pack your things and go. We need to air out the room so the rest of us can finally sleep.”

“Sister Wenwen…” Zhao Keke tugged on her sleeve in protest.

“Do you agree or not?!” Wang Wenwen ignored her, staring hard at Qin Fang.

“Where’s the stove? I want to take it to my new room,” Qin Fang finally relented.

Wenwen let out a breath of relief and pointed to a corner by the wall.

Qin Fang walked over and examined it. The stove wasn’t new, but it was worth a few yuan—good enough.

She picked it up and, without saying a word to anyone, left.

The village chief saw the situation was resolved and finally relaxed. He sat in the courtyard and waited for Qin Fang to finish packing her things and carry them out of the room. Only then did he stand up and say:

“Alright, alright. Show’s over—go home!”

The onlookers started to disperse, chatting and gossiping as they went. Of course, most of the talk centered around how stinky Qin Fang was.

Among the crowd, someone snickered with a bit of local flavor:

“Didn’t that Er Gou’s mother want him to marry an educated youth? I think Qin’s perfect for him.”

“Stinky match made in heaven! I once went to her house to collect a debt—my eyes burned from the smell!” an older auntie said dramatically, waving her arms.

“Don’t know how anyone lives like that.”

“They’re probably used to it. Once you’re used to a stink, no one complains,” someone added with a chuckle.

Inside the youth compound, while Qin Fang was busy moving her belongings, the male youths had already cleaned out the small room. When they saw her, they simply said:

“It’s ready. Move your stuff yourself,” and turned to head back to their dormitory.

Qin Fang didn’t care about their attitude. As long as the place was clean, that was enough for her.

She began carrying her things over, trip by trip. Since the distance wasn’t far, she finished before long.

Back in the girls’ dorm, the rest of the female educated youths opened all the windows and sat helplessly in the courtyard, waiting for the room to air out.