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“Who are you? I don’t think I know you.”
Lin Qinglan rolled her eyes at Cheng Youjin.
Who was this delusional man? Did he mistake her for Lin Qingmei?
If he dared speak to Lin Qingmei like this, he clearly didn’t value his life—she could slap him straight into the sea.
“Lin Qingmei, stop pretending. I know you like me. But we’re already broken off, and the one I love is Xiaohua, not you. Just let go!”
Cheng Youjin even flipped his hair dramatically and gave Lin Qinglan a flirtatious wink he thought was charming.
“Get lost! You look like a toad and still think you’re worthy of Qingmei? Go look in a mirror, will you? You make me lose my appetite just looking at you. Ugh, so gross. A toad and a dog—I hope you live happily ever after.”
Lin Qinglan pretended to gag several times in front of the disgusting couple.
Since they loved each other so much, great—lock them up together so they couldn’t go out and harm others.
“Qingmei, how can you say that about us? I know I’m not good enough for Brother Youjin, but I love him too much. Please, I hope you’ll let us be together.”
Lin Qinghua bit her lip and trembled slightly, like she was enduring immense grievance.
Cheng Youjin was heartbroken by Lin Qinghua’s delicate and helpless expression, and it made him hate Lin Qingmei, his ex-fiancée, even more.
If it hadn’t been for his parents wanting to curry favor with Lin Qingmei’s grandfather, he never would’ve gotten engaged to this “crude” woman.
He only blamed himself for not meeting Qinghua earlier—how much she must’ve suffered under Lin Qingmei’s shadow all these years!
“Lin Qingmei, Qinghua is with me now. I won’t allow you to bully her anymore!”
“Are you a rooster or what? Cackling all day long. And you, the blind toad—what a perfect pair you two make.”
Lin Qinglan could tell at a glance that Lin Qinghua was a typical fake-sweet, fake-innocent type.
But her level of scheming? Still too amateur to be a threat.
In her past life, Lin Qinglan had seen all kinds of manipulative women—green tea types, white lotus types—their tricks were way more advanced than this one’s.
“Sister Qingmei, how could you say that about me?”
Lin Qinghua really looked like she was about to cry. She hadn’t expected that after such a short time apart, Lin Qingmei’s tongue had become so sharp.
“Alright, I’m heading home. I’ll come find you some other time. Bye, scummy couple.”
Peh! What a shameless pair. She couldn’t believe the original Lin Qingmei had tolerated them for so long.
That night when she got back, she was definitely going to talk to Qingmei and think of a way to teach them a lesson.
Just before leaving, Lin Zheng made a silly face at Cheng Youjin and Lin Qinghua.
“Scummy couple! Bleh bleh!”
“You little brat, come back here! I’ll teach you a lesson!”
Cheng Youjin was furious. What was going on with this kid? Wasn’t Lin Qingmei’s brother still in the northeast? Then who was this kid?
“I’m not that dumb! Why would I come back for you to hit me? If you’ve got the guts, come hit me here!”
Lin Zheng was worried Cheng Youjin might really chase them down, so he grabbed Lin Qinglan’s hand and ran.
They were still unfamiliar with Linjiawan. It was better to hurry home for now.
And once his second sister came back, he would definitely tattle about how that scummy couple bullied him.
At that moment, Lin Qingmei didn’t know that Cheng Youjin had returned to Linjiawan.
She was busy doing bookkeeping.
“Qingmei, come with me to the commune for a meeting this afternoon.”
The village head had just gotten off the phone with the commune—they said the county magistrate would be attending a meeting this afternoon.
“Huh? Don’t you usually go to meetings by yourself? Why do I have to come this time?”
“The county magistrate will be there today. I need you to take notes for me.”
The village head took this meeting very seriously. He was afraid his slow handwriting might cause him to miss important details.
Qingmei was the most educated person in Linjiawan, and she had a great memory.
Bringing her along was clearly the best choice.
“Alright, fine.”
…
County Magistrate Wang Ziyang had only recently transferred to Nancheng County from Beijing this year.
As the saying goes, “a new official sets three fires”—his first “fire” was aimed at the aquaculture industry.
“Magistrate, it’s almost time for the meeting. We should head to the Nanfeng Commune now.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Lin Qingmei and the village head arrived by ox cart and happened to run into the county magistrate and his secretary just getting out of their vehicle.
The magistrate was a man in his forties, followed closely by a younger secretary.
As they passed by, the secretary nodded politely at Lin Qingmei.
“Qingmei, do you know the county magistrate’s secretary?”
The village head, who had been walking behind her, caught the exchange and grew curious about her relationship with the man.
“Kind of.”
He Xufeng, the county magistrate’s secretary, had been Lin Qingmei’s high school classmate.
However, during their two years in high school, they barely interacted.
He Xufeng had been a popular figure—top of the class, from a good family, good-looking, and admired by many girls.
Meanwhile, Lin Qingmei had been focused solely on studying. The two had essentially lived in different worlds.
The village head had initially wanted her to go cozy up to the secretary, but then remembered her cold personality and gave up the idea.
Those attending today’s meeting included the heads of all production brigades in the Nanfeng Commune, as well as commune leadership.
The topic of the meeting was to expand seafood farming operations to boost income for the villagers.
Nancheng County was a coastal region, but most of its land was saline and alkaline—unsuitable for farming grains.
Expanding aquaculture was the best choice for development.
“I’ve selected Linjiawan as the proposed site for the seafood farm. Of course, if anyone has other suitable locations, you’re free to bring them up.”
Linjiawan’s brigade had the largest population and widest beach area in the entire commune, making it the most suitable choice for building a seafood farm.
Magistrate Wang had carefully considered the decision—since the seafood farming project was his idea, he wanted to create a political achievement through it.
“I think the Hongqi Brigade is also quite suitable. Our beach area isn’t much smaller than Linjiawan’s.
Plus, we even have a pier, which makes transportation easier.”
As soon as they were invited to speak up, the Hongqi Brigade jumped at the opportunity.
They knew that once the seafood farm was operational, it could bring significant income to their village.
He was determined to fight for this opportunity, hoping to improve the villagers’ livelihoods.
“What nonsense! Most of your beach is already used as a pier—what land do you even have left for a seafood farm?”
The Linjiawan brigade leader had been quietly rejoicing that they’d been chosen.
He didn’t expect Old Liu from the Hongqi Brigade to be so bold as to compete for the farm project.