For the next few days, Zhang Yunxi was assigned to threshing.

Zhao Mo handed her the grain, and she threshed nonstop.

Threshing was an extremely exhausting physical task. By the end of the day, Zhang Yunxi was sore all over—her back ached, her limbs were weak, and she was completely worn out.

As the autumn harvest progressed vigorously in the countryside, letters arrived at the Wu family and Zhang Yujie’s home.

Wu’s mother was at home, so she received the letter earlier than Zhang Yujie.

After opening it, she was heartbroken and furiously cursed the ancestors of whoever reported her son and got him sent to the countryside.

But after reading the contents of the letter, she felt troubled.

Her son was asking her to send him the 500 yuan they had received from selling the job position, claiming that he was exhausted in the countryside.

But that job position had already been given to her eldest grandson.

How was she supposed to send him the money?

The family simply couldn’t come up with that much.

Setting the letter aside, Wu’s mother waited until the whole family was home to discuss the matter.

The eldest brother of the Wu family took charge and decided to send 100 yuan—

As a payment for the job.

After that, his son would also cover Wu Donglin’s monthly expenses of five yuan.

That was already very generous.

Wu’s mother was highly satisfied and praised her children for being truly brotherly and affectionate. “I’ll prepare some extra food for Donglin in the next few days and send it over. The autumn harvest is exhausting. Eldest daughter-in-law, help me out these next few days.”

Wu’s eldest sister-in-law rolled her eyes in secret. The youngest son was truly a treasure, wasn’t he? It was just the autumn harvest; it wasn’t like Wu Donglin was being sent to his death. But outwardly, she agreed, “Alright, I’ll help you after I get off work.”

“Good, good, good, you’re all such good kids.” Wu’s mother clapped her hands in satisfaction and laughed.

The family was all smiles.

But things were different for Zhang Yujie. When she received her letter, she was so angry she wanted to drag Wu Donglin over and beat him up!

Previously, she had known Zhang Yunxi had money and had gone to great lengths to trick it out of her. But Wu Donglin had taken all of it and given it to his gang of useless friends, never even considering her!

Now, Zhang Yunxi had found her niece and was treating her well, taking back the money she had given away.

Zhang Yujie found this extremely satisfying.

This kind of man—

Deserved to rot!

If it weren’t for the fact that his family had a formal worker’s job, would she have ever bothered flattering him?

In his dreams!

Wu Donglin was truly shameless, asking a high school freshman if she had money.

Wanting her to send him money?

He thought he could live off a woman? What a joke!

But then again…

There was a way. It wasn’t impossible to give him money.

The property deed—the damn thing had been taken by Zhang Yunxi!

None of them had expected her to leave for the countryside so quickly, let alone take the deed with her.

Their family lived in a communal building, which was fine. But because Zhang Yunxi’s father had once saved an engineer and helped the factory tremendously, as a reward, the apartment in the communal building had been officially given to them.

It wasn’t the kind of housing where they’d be forced to leave if they resigned.

That was why their family wanted Zhang Yunxi’s house.

But although they had moved in, without the deed, it was meaningless.

If Zhang Yunxi were to list the property for sale at the housing bureau, they’d be doomed!

They weren’t worried about whether Zhang Yunxi was smart enough to think of this.

They were afraid she would find a boyfriend in the countryside—just like her sister!

If Zhang Yunxi got influenced by her boyfriend and decided to sell the house, where would they live?

Before, the five of them had been crammed into an 18-square-meter space. Now, they had three bedrooms and a living room!

So spacious!

Therefore, Wu Donglin needed to trick Zhang Yunxi into giving up the deed.

If he did that, she could give him 100 yuan.

Of course, whether she actually gave him the money would be up to her.

When Zhang Yujie got home, she saw her brother eating meat and yelled, “Why don’t I get any?”

“You’re just a girl. What do you need meat for? Listen, if you don’t find a job or get married by the time you graduate high school, you’re going to the countryside as a ‘zhiqing.’”

“You…”

Zhang Yujie bit her lip.

But she was used to her parents’ favoritism by now.

Back in her room, she carefully took out the eggs her new suitor had given her and ate them cautiously.

If Wu Donglin couldn’t come back within a year, she would have to marry this new guy.

Originally, before Wu Donglin was sent away, she had planned to marry him. But who told him to be such a useless loser?

After eating, Zhang Yujie started writing a letter.

She first informed him that his job position had been taken by his eldest nephew, who now had a monthly salary of 23 yuan.

Thinking about that job, Zhang Yujie was furious.

She had said she would marry Wu Donglin so the Wu family would give her the job, but they had refused. So, she wrote as badly about them as she could. But she didn’t mention Wu Donglin’s parents—

Only the eldest branch of the Wu family.

She painted them as jealous people trying to steal his parents’ love and affection.

And as for responding to Zhang Yunxi’s feelings for him?

Of course, he should!

Zhang Yujie wrote extensively, carefully instructing him on how to sweet-talk Zhang Yunxi and trick her into giving up the property deed.

She believed he could do it.

After finishing the letter, she went to her new boyfriend, exchanged a kiss for postage money, and sent the letter out.

Zhao Brigade

The autumn harvest was over. Everyone was utterly exhausted, but their faces shone with joy. This was a bountiful year—they were sure to receive a good share of the grain.

Deng Damei, however, was worried.

Returning from the riverbank, she went to Zhang Yunxi and whispered, “I told my parents I have a boyfriend.”

“And?”

“I just told my boyfriend, and now he wants me to have dinner at his house tomorrow.” Deng Damei was anxious—it felt like a trap.

Zhang Yunxi rubbed her chin. “They’ll definitely ask if your parents really need that much money.”

“Exactly.” Deng Damei tugged at her hair repeatedly.

Zhang Yunxi quietly pulled her hand away. Did she not realize how much people would value their hair in the future?

“Yunxi, what should I do?” Deng Damei was at a complete loss.

Aside from Zhang Yunxi, she had no one else to turn to.

Zhang Yunxi patted her back. “Don’t panic. For a first meeting, just clean up, bring some small gifts, and you’ll be fine. I happen to have a pack of biscuits—bring that. Even if they have opinions about you, they’ll at least be polite because of the biscuits.”

“I don’t want to…”

“Why not? You helped me so much during the harvest—did I ever fuss over anything with you? It’s settled. I’ll give you a nice hairstyle later, and tomorrow, wear your cleanest clothes.”

Zhang Yunxi clapped her hands in decision.

Deng Damei whined and hesitated for a long time, unsure of what to say.

“Alright, Zhang the Stylist is now open for business.” Zhang Yunxi held up a pair of scissors and a comb, raising her chin at Deng Damei. “Trust my skills—they’re worth paying for.”

Deng Damei sat on a stool in the small courtyard, feeling strands of hair stick to her face and neck. A circle of cut hair surrounded her on the ground.

“Yunxi, what are you doing?”

“I’m trimming your bangs. Don’t move—this takes precision. This lousy pair of scissors is making it hard for me to work.”

“…Fine, whatever.”

Deng Damei sighed.

Forget it.

The kid was happy—let her have her fun.