Chapter 11: The Deceived Girl in the 1970s: Fake vs. Real Daughter Story (11)

Unfortunately, although Xiaoxiao’s plan was well-intentioned, it didn’t go as expected.

The educated youths who had come into town that morning were all seasoned veterans, more experienced than Xiaoxiao. In particular, Long Lingling and Liu Lili weren’t keen on walking back either.

They wanted to catch a ride on the oxcart, too. But the team leader, concerned about overworking the oxen, absolutely refused to allow extra passengers. There simply wasn’t enough room on the cart, and he would not allow it to be overloaded.

This delay gave the others—especially the new educated youths—time to catch on, and they insisted they would all walk together.

Xiaoxiao was nearly driven mad with frustration. “Team Leader, if we’re all walking together, how do we handle the cart fare? We already paid, you know!”

The team leader was just as irritated. “Then each person gets to ride halfway. If you want to switch with someone for a seat, pay them two wen.”

Upon hearing this, some of the villagers left. They had stayed behind in hopes of mooching a ride, but now that there was no free seat to be had, they simply gave up and walked.

The educated youths, however, were willing to part with two wen. Still, they were displeased—normally that same amount could get them the whole trip. Now they had to walk half of it.

The village aunties who already had seats, on the other hand, were thrilled.

Xiaoxiao’s prediction turned out to be spot on. The new batch of educated youths hadn’t even walked a third of the way before they started whining about being too tired to go on, demanding a spot on the cart.

Some even stopped walking altogether.

Most vocal among them was the girl who’d earlier tried to chat Xiaoxiao up—Feng Qingqing. She insisted that Xiaoxiao give up her seat for her.

By now, Xiaoxiao had already learned the names of the new educated youths. The two brothers were Lu Ze and Lu Chuan. The girls were Feng Qingqing, Zhang Yumei, and Li Wenli. All of them were from Shanghai and seemed quite familiar with each other.

As soon as she heard their names, a surge of memories from the original host’s experience came flooding back into Xiaoxiao’s mind.

Back then, the original Ye Xiaoxiao had lived in the educated youth compound and accepted Wang Meiling’s team arrangements. Unexpectedly, three more female educated youths arrived afterward, forming their own clique, which left Xiaoxiao and Wang Xiuxiu as a pair.

The older educated youths stuck together, and the new ones formed their own group too. Given both Xiaoxiao’s and Wang Xiuxiu’s personalities, they became the easiest targets for bullying.

It wasn’t so bad at first, but over time, everyone realized they were soft targets, and nearly all the work in the compound fell on them.

Newcomers followed the lead of the older ones and joined in the bullying. This was part of what pushed Wang Xiuxiu to marry and leave.

After she got married, the original host was left alone, and her situation only worsened. With no support, she became even more of a target.

Plus, she frequently sent supplies to her adoptive parents, the Li family, but never received anything in return. Others began to speculate that she was hiding something about her identity, and the bullying grew more vicious.

If she ever showed a hint of discontent, she’d be scolded immediately.

Her health deteriorated under this constant stress.

Wang Xiuxiu had urged her to marry someone local, but the Li parents had warned her sternly not to. And she had obeyed.

The Li family didn’t want her marrying a rural man because they feared she’d stop sending them things if she settled down.

As for Zhang Jiabei—Xiaoxiao’s suspicions were right. That woman really had been reborn.

In her previous life, it was Feng Qingqing who had married Wang Jianjun. She followed him to his military post shortly afterward, so she no longer had to do farm work, and later he got promoted and treated her extremely well.

But Feng Qingqing didn’t cherish him. She ran off with another man, and Wang Jianjun’s mother died from the shock.

Zhang Jiabei, meanwhile, had been forced to marry a local man called Wang Mazi after falling into a river and being “rescued” by him.

Even though he treated her well, he had a pockmarked face and no prospects—far from the tall, handsome, strong Wang Jianjun, who didn’t have to work the fields and later became an officer’s wife.

So, after being reborn, she immediately schemed to snatch Wang Jianjun instead.

As for her splurging on Snowflake Cream and new clothes? That was to maintain her looks. She was afraid Wang Jianjun might turn his eyes back to Feng Qingqing if she didn’t take care of herself.

Her reason for approaching Xiaoxiao was twofold: first, she was testing if Xiaoxiao was also reborn. Since Xiaoxiao had moved out of the compound this time, she seemed different. Zhang Jiabei feared Xiaoxiao had her eye on Wang Jianjun as well.

That was why she pretended to invite Xiaoxiao to live with her. If Xiaoxiao had agreed, it would confirm her suspicions, and she’d immediately begin plotting against her.

But Xiaoxiao turned her down. Zhang Jiabei breathed a sigh of relief and decided to leave her alone.

Later, though, she noticed that Xiaoxiao seemed to have money. Even in her previous life, though she appeared poor, Xiaoxiao was frequently sending things into town. Zhang Jiabei tried to get something from her, but after being rejected again, she gave up.

Xiaoxiao, of course, knew none of this.

Right now, she was dealing with Feng Qingqing.

“You want me to get off so you can sit?” she said. “No problem. Give me a dime.”

She held out her hand for Feng Qingqing to pay up.

Feng Qingqing was livid. She had money, but she didn’t want Xiaoxiao to profit from it.

She was dying to lash out but remembered her ‘kind and gentle’ persona. She bit her lip and lowered her head, pretending to cry.

Lu Chuan said, “How can you be like this? We’re all educated youths. Can’t you just help each other out? Qingqing’s health is poor, so can’t you give up your seat?”

Li Wenli chimed in, “Yeah! You’ve been sitting for a while now. Can’t you let her sit for a bit? She’ll give the seat back later.”

Feng Qingqing looked toward Lu Ze. “Brother Ze, I really can’t walk anymore…”

Lu Ze frowned and looked at Xiaoxiao. “Comrade Ye, what would it take for you to give her the seat?”

Xiaoxiao replied, “I already said—just give me a dime.”

She could see it now: his brother loved her, she loved him, and as for Lu Ze’s feelings…

Hmm. She hadn’t quite figured those out yet.

Lu Chuan snapped, “This is extortion!”

Xiaoxiao replied coolly, “No one’s forcing you to trade with me.”

She found it strange—why were they so fixated on her? Offer three wen to any village auntie, and they’d definitely switch seats.

Feng Qingqing said, “Brother Ze, if Comrade Xiaoxiao doesn’t want to, it’s fine. I can walk… I don’t want to delay everyone.”

She glanced around at the others, looking aggrieved.

The team leader: These new educated youths are so dramatic. It looks like the compound’s going to be lively again. He just hoped they wouldn’t bother him too much.

The village aunties: Ooh, the educated youths’ relationships are complicated. Keep going—we’re bored on this ride anyway.

Others: That Feng girl sure is pretty, but way too delicate. Still, Ye Xiaoxiao’s got health issues too—it’s understandable she wouldn’t want to give up her seat.

Ah, these urban kids really are fragile.

Thankfully, Xiaoxiao didn’t know all this—otherwise, she might’ve gone to thank Auntie Cuilan and Old Chen.

Because of them, the team leader had switched her to lighter work. Everyone in the village now knew she was delicate and needed to be looked after.

So when Feng Qingqing pulled this stunt, no one spoke up to demand Xiaoxiao give up her seat.

All that time spent working with the aunties had paid off.

Compared to the other educated youths, she was more or less considered one of the villagers now.

Seeing no one rushing to defend her, Feng Qingqing was secretly annoyed. What was wrong with these people?

Weren’t they supposed to side with her, scold Ye Xiaoxiao, and make her give up her seat obediently?