After completing his tasks, Zhao Rencheng returned home and slept for a full day and night.

Zhang Yunxi and He Xiaoxiao also finally slept from 7 PM to 7 AM.

Early riser Deng Damei: “???”

What’s going on?

She always gets up at 5 AM. Is that too weird?

After some thought, she also slept until 7 AM. Sisters should do the same things; she needed to fit in.

Brigade Leader Zhao, with his hands behind his back, looked at Zhang Yunxi with annoyance: “Look at you, leading the way in sleeping in.”

“We’re conserving our energy,” Zhang Yunxi replied, yawning widely.

Brigade Leader Zhao: “Be more diligent.”

“Alright, Brigade Leader, I’ve been here for a month now. I can go to the city in a couple of days. You’ll have to write me a reference.”

“Go on, get to work quickly.”

“Got it.”

Zhang Yunxi stretched lazily. Ah, after a good sleep, her soul felt back in place.

Brigade Leader Zhao shook his head.

This girl.

When he arrived at the male educated youth area, Brigade Leader Zhao rolled a cigarette and continued to puff away, his brows furrowed like a small mountain.

Previously, he was worried about female educated youth asking the village men for help with work.

But even if female educated youth asked men for help, generally, the men didn’t lose out, so he wasn’t too concerned.

But Zhao Erhua was different.

She opened up a new world for everyone. She worked for the male educated youth, and she did it so diligently. If she was too slow, she even called her brother to help.

If someone criticized her, she would look down on them with an expression that said, “You don’t understand me.”

She even gained a sense of superiority from working.

Brigade Leader Zhao stared at Wu Donglin.

Wu Donglin was in another male educated youth’s field, boasting extravagantly.

He bragged about how amazing he was, and occasionally flaunted that a pair of sisters liked him—those sisters being Zhang Yunxi and her cousin.

Brigade Leader Zhao really couldn’t understand it.

He kept saying he had a girlfriend, so why did Zhao Erhua still like Wu Donglin?

Was she just looking for trouble?
And…

“Wu Zhiqing, come here!”

Wu Donglin looked at the Brigade Leader, seeing his sharp gaze, he felt a bit intimidated but not too scared. Under the watchful eyes of the other male educated youths, he walked over.

Villagers near the field also pricked up their ears to listen.

Because the Brigade Leader’s expression was clearly not good. When he scolded Zhang Yunxi, although he was also scolding, it was visibly more lighthearted.

Now, his eyes were like torches, as if he wanted to bore a hole through Wu Donglin.

“Brigade Leader, do you need something from me?”

“If you continue to slander Zhang Zhiqing’s reputation, I won’t mind sending you to the educated youth office. She’s a good girl, and from start to finish, there hasn’t been a single sign that she likes you. She even said that even if all the men in the world died, she wouldn’t choose you. I don’t know what you’re thinking, still saying she likes you. Where’s your shame?”

Ever since Wu Donglin argued with him on his first day in the village, Brigade Leader Zhao hadn’t liked him.

But as the Brigade Leader, he had to be more magnanimous and didn’t want to argue with a young man like Wu Donglin.

But hearing Wu Donglin always talking about Zhang Yunxi made him very uncomfortable.

Anyone with eyes could see Zhang Yunxi’s disdain for Wu Donglin, yet he kept boasting.

Especially since Zhang Yunxi was a young girl, without parents, and had a niece to support. It wasn’t easy for her to find a partner.

With Wu Donglin causing trouble like this, wouldn’t it make things even harder?

Even if she wasn’t considering marriage, as a man, openly slandering a girl’s reputation was just disgusting.

“What do you mean? I’m just telling the truth. Zhang Yunxi does like me. How she treated me before, you all don’t know. Now she’s just putting on an act in front of you. Even if she’s acting, she still likes me a lot. Not long ago, she even offered me money, but I didn’t take it because I don’t like her. Haha, you always defend Zhang Yunxi. Could it be that there’s something between you two?”

Wu Donglin sneered.

Was he offending anyone by telling the truth?

Brigade Leader Zhao’s cheek muscles trembled with anger.

Just then, Zhang Yunxi walked over, smiling brightly at Wu Donglin.

Wu Donglin, feeling smug, tilted his chin up.

Zhang Yunxi kicked him in the stomach, and before he could react, she grabbed his collar and punched him several times in the face.

The villagers gathered around in a commotion.

This Zhang Zhiqing…

She’s fierce!

Wu Donglin, dizzy from the beating, stammered, “What… are you… doing…”

“Beating is affection, scolding is love. See how much I like you.” Zhang Yunxi slapped him a few more times, and only when his face was swollen did she toss him aside with slight satisfaction.

After falling to the ground, Wu Donglin finally reacted, his eyes red with rage, “Zhang Yunxi! Don’t push your luck.”

Zhang Yunxi sneered, “I’m pushing my luck? Slandering an educated youth’s reputation can send you to the farm for re-education. Slandering a public official can even land you in jail. Brigade Leader Zhao is just overseeing my work. Is it wrong for Brigade Leader Zhao to take care of me? Cadres in any position serve the people. If serving the people means you’ll smear us with dirty rumors, how can our country carry out its work? Are you only concerned with trivial matters between men and women? Can’t you broaden your perspective?”

“Well said!”

“Exactly, our Brigade Leader treats everyone well. If we take his words seriously, wouldn’t that mean he can’t be good to us anymore?”

“Cadres only have the people in their eyes, not all this male-female nonsense. Besides, it was Wu Zhiqing who started badmouthing Zhang Zhiqing!”

Many villagers supported Zhang Yunxi.

This was also thanks to Brigade Leader Zhao’s efforts over the years and their shared disdain for Wu Donglin’s baseless slander.

Wu Donglin’s mind went blank.

Zhang Yunxi continued, “Everyone is afraid of gossip. A little bit of others’ chatter, and people dare not do many things. Do you want to slander my reputation, or are you using this to slander Brigade Leader Zhao, trying to exploit him for some ulterior motive, like… a Worker-Peasant-Soldier University recommendation?”

“I did not!!!”

Wu Donglin vehemently denied.

“How can you prove you didn’t?” Zhang Yunxi crossed her arms.

Wu Donglin’s face darkened, “I just didn’t!”

Zhang Yunxi shrugged indifferently, “Who knows? And you always say I like you. Why don’t you tell everyone here how I seduced you?!”

Wu Donglin, staring at her calm face, turned red with anger, “You bought me a pen!”

“Your girlfriend asked me to give it to you, she didn’t want my uncle to find out she was dating, so she said I gave it to you. If you don’t believe me, confront her face-to-face. You’re such a fool, talking to you makes me worry people will doubt my intelligence. How could I like you? Stop being so self-absorbed. If you want to use me to get aWorker-Peasant-Soldier University recommendation, just say it outright. Don’t beat around the bush, always bragging about how great you are. If you were really that great, you wouldn’t have been sent to the countryside. Stop pretending!”