Chapter 25 The Deceived Girl in the 1970s: Fake vs. Real Daughter Story (25)

After Lu Ze moved out of the educated youth compound, only Lu Chuan, Feng Qingqing, and Li Wenli remained among the new arrivals.

Since her falling-out with Feng Qingqing, Li Wenli no longer helped with chores or tolerated either her or Lu Chuan. The three of them were practically arguing every day.

Li Wenli, on her own against the two of them, was constantly at a disadvantage. Then she received a letter from home scolding her and demanding she apologize to Feng Qingqing and take good care of her or else.

At first, Li Wenli considered backing down. After all, Feng Qingqing and Lu Chuan were truly well-off, and their families spared no expense for them. But when she saw the smug look on Feng Qingqing’s face, she just couldn’t stomach it.

In the end, Li Wenli found a local man and got married. The man’s family wasn’t rich, but they were decent folks, and Li Wenli, being diligent and good at sweet-talking, quickly won over her husband. He treated her well.

After all, marrying a city girl in the countryside was no easy feat. Li Wenli was still a virgin and not bad-looking, so for a modest rural household, she was quite a catch.

Xiaoxiao only found out about this when she was invited to the wedding meal. For a moment, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of admiration—what a ruthless move.

She wasn’t sure whether Li Wenli genuinely liked the man or was just trying to escape Feng Qingqing and her own family.

But Xiaoxiao didn’t concern herself with it. What mattered was that after Li Wenli’s marriage, the village aunties all seemed to suddenly take a keen interest in matchmaking, and many of them started asking Xiaoxiao.

What could she do? She had to brush them off with polite excuses. And if that didn’t work, she’d say she was too young to be thinking about marriage.

According to Zhang Yumei, she’d already written to her family asking for a transfer to a location closer to home. And her family had started working on it.

Sure enough, just before New Year, Zhang Yumei left, and Lu Ze rented the house she had been living in.

Lu Ze also asked his family to help him transfer, but they refused. They insisted he stay and look after Lu Chuan, worried he might get into trouble. But Lu Ze was truly fed up.

In his eyes, as long as Feng Qingqing was around, Lu Chuan would never develop a brain.

Left with no choice, Lu Ze simply told his family that if they didn’t start sending money and ration coupons directly to him, he would stop caring about Lu Chuan entirely.

His family caved, sending him a large sum all at once, asking him to spend sparingly as it was meant to cover a long period.

In reality, the Lu family’s situation had worsened. They had once been propped up by the Zhang and Feng families. But after Zhang Yumei’s departure, the Zhangs cut ties, and the Fengs became ambiguous. The Lu’s already shaky position deteriorated further.

Eventually, the Lu family was sent down.

Old Master Lu got wind of it and preemptively cut ties with all younger generations via a public newspaper notice before the official order came down.

Lu Ze and Lu Chuan only learned about this from Feng Qingqing.

After that, Lu Ze kept the money and ration coupons a secret. He decided Lu Chuan needed to suffer for once. Only when he changed his ways would Lu Ze consider giving him half the money.

At first, Lu Chuan didn’t notice anything. But the next month, when no new money came and what he had was long gone, reality hit him hard.

He went to find Lu Ze, but since Lu Ze had resolved to teach him a lesson, he completely ignored him.

To make matters worse, Feng Qingqing began to distance herself.

Soon after, she even started associating with Wei Jingchuan from the senior batch of educated youth and joined their cooking team.

Lu Chuan felt utterly betrayed. He questioned Feng Qingqing:

“Why? Weren’t we doing just fine? Why did even you abandon me? Is it because you’re afraid I’ll drag you down? Or do you despise me now that I can’t give you money?”

Feng Qingqing looked hurt and replied, “Brother Chuan, how could you say that? Wasn’t the money yours to spend?”

Lu Chuan: “Didn’t most of it go to buying you things?”

Feng Qingqing: “But I didn’t ask for it! You insisted on giving it to me! How can you say this about me? We grew up together. Is that really how you see me?”

Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke, as if deeply wronged.

In the past, Lu Chuan would’ve instantly apologized and done everything to cheer her up. But now… it seemed his brain had returned for a moment?

He looked at her and asked, “Then why didn’t you say anything before joining the senior educated youth’s team?”

Feng Qingqing replied sorrowfully, “It was just the two of us left, and I can’t cook. I didn’t want to burden you, so I… But I didn’t think you’d misunderstand me like this…”

And just like that, she left the rest unsaid, letting him fill in the blanks. A masterclass in emotional manipulation.

Sure enough, Lu Chuan’s brain promptly left the building again. Flustered, he said, “I’m sorry, Qingqing. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have said those things. Please don’t leave me. Let’s still be together. I don’t mind the hardship. Believe me, I can take care of you!”

Feng Qingqing (inwardly): You can’t even take care of yourself, and you think you can take care of me? Yeah, right.

She didn’t answer—just kept crying.

Lu Chuan kept begging, “Qingqing, trust me. I’ll work harder starting tomorrow. I’ll take care of you. And my brother—I’ll go apologize to him too. He must still have money. Don’t worry, I won’t let you suffer.”

Feng Qingqing kept crying.

Eventually, Lu Chuan gave up and slumped to the side, dejected.

Feng Qingqing turned and went back into her room.

She’d already gotten a letter from home, telling her to cut ties with the Lu brothers or risk being implicated. The thought of those who’d already been sent down or thrown into cowsheds terrified her.

So when she realized that Wei Jingchuan liked her, she took the opportunity to express her desire to join the older educated youth group.

With Wei Jingchuan speaking on her behalf and her willingness to spend money buying meat for everyone, she was easily accepted.

She was assigned to a cooking team with Wang Xiuxiu, whom Wei Jingchuan said was hardworking and honest. Wang Xiuxiu’s previous partner, Liu Lili, was reassigned to join Wang Meiling and Long Lingling.

Feng Qingqing wasn’t thrilled that one group had two people while the other had three, but she couldn’t openly object. Since Wei Jingchuan had arranged it, she decided to wait and see.

—

With fewer chores to do, Xiaoxiao began going up the mountain to gather firewood. She continued trading sweets with local children, but now that every family was busy stockpiling firewood for winter, most weren’t allowed to trade anymore.

Xiaoxiao had dreams of becoming like those female leads in period novels—catching wild rabbits and pheasants, even hunting wild boars, then selling them on the black market for money. But reality refused to cooperate.

She tried putting animals in her space, only to discover that she had to physically touch them for it to work. And while she often saw rabbits and pheasants, she couldn’t catch them—just drool over them from a distance.

She wasn’t skilled at hunting either. After trying several methods and failing, she finally gave up.