Chapter 15: The Deceived Girl in the 1970s: Fake vs. Real Daughter Story

After everyone had left, the team leader pointed at Ye Xiaoxiao and grumbled, “You! Always stirring up trouble.”

Xiaoxiao grinned and replied, “Now don’t blame me; I was minding my own business at home. This was trouble dropping from the sky, not something I asked for.”

The team leader scowled. “Well, just don’t cause me any more headaches.”

The villagers watching nearby flinched a little when he pointed—half-expecting Xiaoxiao to kick him across the yard like she had with the others. But when they saw her smiling sweetly and not angry at all, they relaxed.

Xiaoxiao knew the team leader had still leaned in her favor just now. After all, if you got into a brawl and didn’t even lose work points, that was saying something.

Looks like being good with Auntie Tan was the right move after all. Sure, she may have overpaid a little when bartering before, but consider it an investment. She was new here with no roots, so how could she call anyone out for overpricing? No one forced her; she offered the trades herself.

Besides, even if she’d wanted to threaten someone for overcharging, she’d have no leverage. It was the village who handled the sale and took the money, not the team leader’s family.

In the end, the extra money at least bought her peace. As long as she didn’t go stirring things up, no one in the village would dare mess with her.

Like today: even if the team leader hadn’t stood on her side, just being fair would’ve been enough to make her money worthwhile.

Still, the team leader was annoyed. And someone had to catch that fire.

The educated youth had already bolted. He couldn’t yell at a young girl, so the villagers standing around gawking made perfect targets.

“All of you—just standing around watching the show! Couldn’t even try to pull them apart? Still loitering here? Are you waiting for me to reward you or something?!”

Seeing that he was genuinely angry, the villagers scattered quickly.

Though the crowd dispersed, they still chatted in small groups, gossiping about the incident.

“Wow, who knew Ye Xiaoxiao could curse people out so well?”

“And did you see how she fought? Two grown men couldn’t take her down.”

“Or maybe those two were just pathetic.”

“Say, what’s up with those guys and that new girl Feng? Why are they so quick to defend her?”

“That Feng girl isn’t simple. You lot with unmarried sons—keep a close eye on them.”

…

The team leader’s face turned even darker as he overheard the muttering from a distance.

He made a decision then and there: since these new educated youth had so much energy to cause trouble, clearly they didn’t have enough work. From now on, he’d assign tasks according to the full village quota—no more slacking off.

Especially those new ones—they were born to stir up drama. Let them get tired. Maybe then they wouldn’t have energy to make trouble.

That day, Ye Xiaoxiao and her trio—Feng Qingqing, Lu Chuan, and Lu Ze—became the talk of Wangjia Village.

Back at the educated youth quarters, tensions between the new and old members finally exploded.

Zhou Weiguo and Wang Meiling felt deeply embarrassed. Their long-standing image as “good cop and bad cop” had completely crumbled.

Until now, they’d kept the youth camp in line: Zhou Weiguo played the kind leader while Wang Meiling played the strict one, and people listened.

Ye Xiaoxiao was the first exception. She refused to be managed. But since she’d moved out, he hadn’t paid her much attention.

Now, these new arrivals were even worse than Ye Xiaoxiao. She only refused to take a loss but never picked fights. These newcomers? Chaos incarnate.

If they stayed, Zhou Weiguo could already see the future: chickens flying, dogs jumping, and no peace whatsoever.

Taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down, he finally said, “Since you think the educated youth quarters are so filthy and unhygienic, perhaps you’d better find somewhere else to live.”

Lu Ze tried to smooth things over. “It was just a misunderstanding. Let’s not get upset.”

Zhou Weiguo gave him a flat look. “We all know whether it was a misunderstanding or not.”

“In any case, if you choose to keep staying here, from now on you’ll be responsible for your own meals and firewood. You can borrow some firewood for today, but make sure to gather enough from the back hill tomorrow to replace it.”

“As for dinner tonight, don’t expect to eat with us. Wait until Wang Meiling and the others are done before you go cook.”

With that, he turned and walked back into the house, ignoring them completely.

Feng Qingqing started crying in a small, pitiful voice.

“I… I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I just didn’t want to break unity. That’s why I said what I said. I didn’t expect… sob…”

Lu Chuan rushed to comfort her. “Don’t worry, no one blames you. Don’t cry. If they don’t want to eat with us, fine. We don’t want to eat with them either!”

Lu Ze was beyond exasperated. He was seriously tempted to punch his brother.

This was clearly Feng Qingqing’s fault, and yet Lu Chuan was blindly defending her. No wonder he got beaten up.

Lu Ze was even beginning to wonder—maybe Ye Xiaoxiao was right. Had his brother actually lost his brain? Or filled it with crap?

Feng Qingqing stole glances at Lu Ze as she sobbed. Seeing his deep frown and silence, she grew even more anxious.

What if Lu Ze was starting to dislike her because of this?

That thought filled her with real panic.

She hadn’t meant to make things go this far. She usually didn’t leave such obvious traces when she manipulated people. But something about Ye Xiaoxiao just triggered her. She couldn’t help but want to go after her.

Ye Xiaoxiao gave her a sense of threat. And sure enough, nothing ever went her way when Xiaoxiao was around.

If Lu Ze ended up hating her because of this, she would never forgive Ye Xiaoxiao.

She cried harder.

“Brother Ze, I…” I know I was wrong. Please don’t hate me. I didn’t mean to. I was just… jealous that she got to live in such a nice, big house. I’ll go apologize to her tomorrow.”

Lu Ze’s frown deepened.

Lu Chuan, frantic from her crying, shouted at his brother, “Brother! Say something! Can’t you see how sad Qingqing is? She even said she’d apologize! Why are you still blaming her?”

“It’s all Ye Xiaoxiao’s fault. If she’d just agreed to let Qingqing move in, none of this would’ve happened!”

Lu Ze’s tone was cold. “Lu Chuan, what’s wrong with you? Is this what our family taught you? Have you completely lost your sense of right and wrong?”

“Every time it’s about Feng Qingqing, you lose your head. Honestly, Ye Xiaoxiao was spot on.”

Lu Chuan exploded. “Are you even my brother anymore? Why are you siding with an outsider?”

“If I weren’t your brother, I wouldn’t give a damn about your mess. If you got yourself beaten half to death, it wouldn’t be my problem.”

“That’s too much! Mom told you to take care of me and Qingqing! And now we’re the ones getting bullied, and you’re telling us to apologize?!”

“I support what’s right—not who I’m related to. And if I hadn’t stepped in, you’d still be lying on the ground.”

Feng Qingqing tried to intervene through her sobs. “Please stop fighting… It’s all my fault… I’ll go apologize to Ye Xiaoxiao.”

“You will not!” Lu Chuan snapped. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Li Wenli and Zhang Yumei also jumped in to comfort her.

Meanwhile, the older educated youth had finished cooking. Seeing that the newcomers were still busy crying and arguing, without a single person offering to help with dinner, they all shook their heads.

The male youth silently resolved to stay far away from Feng Qingqing in the future. She was too dangerous.

The female youth sneered and decided to keep their distance from all the newcomers.

Even Liu Lili, who had once entertained thoughts of getting closer to Lu Ze, gave up completely.