As soon as Wang Lili finished speaking, Zhao Xiaoyan couldn't help but frown. "Lili, how can you say that? We just got separated after the event and it took us a while to reunite. It's not what you think at all! Li Juan is a good girl. Don't always say such unpleasant things. It's not good for our future relationship."

She couldn't stand Wang Lili's hostility towards Xu Xinghe these past few days. Even though the other party hadn't done anything wrong, she was always being targeted for no reason.

Upon hearing this, Wang Lili abruptly sat up on the kang (a heated brick bed), her hair disheveled, her eyes filled with pent-up resentment. "A good girl? If she were a good girl, would she have all those old educated youth fawning over her the moment she arrived? When we were planting trees, so many people were vying to help her dig the holes, but she just stood by and watched! You and I are exhausted every day, barely able to get enough work points, so why can she get away with it so easily?"

"And today's whole roasted lamb! So many male educated youths handed her meat skewers and roasted lamb, why can she eat so much? We are all educated youths who came to the countryside, why can she get special treatment?"

Wang Lili became more and more agitated as she spoke, her voice rising in pitch, and her eyes gradually reddening. "So what if she's a little prettier? Why does she get to live such an easy life, with so many people fawning over her? We have to work ourselves to the bone, and we can't even get a bite of hot meat?"

Xu Xinghe stood there, listening to Wang Lili's repeated accusations, and her heart calmed down.

She hadn't expected the other person to be so jealous. In just a few days, they had remembered these trivial matters so clearly, even twisting them into something like seducing someone or seeking special treatment.

Zhao Xiaoyan quickly stepped forward and pulled Wang Lili's arm, "Lili, don't get agitated, it's all a misunderstanding! The old educated youth helped voluntarily, Li Juan refused, and she's been busy cultivating seedlings every day, don't say such things about her..."

"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding!" Wang Lili shook off Zhao Xiaoyan's hand, tears suddenly falling, her voice trembling with sobs, "When I was at home, my mother always said I wasn't as pretty as other girls, and even here, I still can't compare! Why does she get so many privileges just because she's pretty, while I have to work hard and nobody cares?"

As she spoke, she buried her face in her pillow and began to cry, her sobs becoming more and more aggrieved.

Zhao Xiaoyan had no choice but to pat her back to comfort her, occasionally turning back to give Xu Xinghe an apologetic look.

Xu Xinghe watched this scene without saying anything, but silently walked to his kang (a heated brick bed), took off his coat and spread it on the kang.

There's absolutely no point in arguing with someone like Wang Lili who's blinded by jealousy.

She won't listen, and she won't listen to reason; instead, she'll think I'm just making excuses.

Moreover, Xu Xinghe and Jiang Linchuan won't be able to stay at the forest farm for long. Political Commissar Wang said that they would be able to leave in two months at most, as long as they found that top-secret document.

Instead of wasting your energy on Wang Lili, you should rest well, recharge your energy for the next task, and keep an eye on Zhang Qiang's movements.

After lying down, Xu Xinghe pulled the blanket over herself and closed her eyes.

Wang Lili's intermittent sobs and Zhao Xiaoyan's comforting voices could still be heard from inside the dormitory.

Two months later, she would leave this turbulent youth settlement. These trivial conflicts were just minor episodes during her mission and not worth her time.

Before she knew it, Xu Xinghe had fallen asleep.

When I woke up again, it was already the next day.

Wang Lili had just woken up. When she saw her open her eyes, she glared at her fiercely, then grabbed her toiletries and went out the door.

Zhao Xiaoyan was very helpless. She had tried to persuade Wang Lili all night yesterday, but Wang Lili just wouldn't listen.

As the saying goes, you're bound to run into each other again. They all live in the same room, and this whole mess will make it awkward for them to see each other in the future...

Once Wang Lili's figure had completely disappeared through the doorway, Zhao Xiaoyan quietly approached Xu Xinghe and whispered, "Li Juan, actually... Lili is quite pitiful too."

Xu Xinghe looked at Zhao Xiaoyan, waiting for her to continue.

“Although she was from the city and both her parents worked, she had a bad life.” Zhao Xiaoyan sighed, lowering her voice even further. “Not long after she was born, her father ran off with another woman and never came back. Every time her mother saw her, she thought she looked like her father, and she would beat and scold her when she was unhappy. Later, her mother remarried, and her stepfather had two daughters. Both of those girls were more beautiful than her, and her stepfather and stepsister didn’t like her either, always saying she was ugly. When she went out, the neighbor’s children would also laugh at her. Over time, she became very sensitive and especially hated good-looking people.”

Zhao Xiaoyan paused, then added, "Actually, she's not ugly at all, she just always keeps her head down and lacks confidence. I only found out about these things after talking to her before. I was thinking... if you knew, maybe you could be more understanding of her."

After listening, Xu Xinghe calmly sat up, looked at Zhao Xiaoyan, and said clearly, "Xiaoyan, I know she has had a hard time, but her suffering was not caused by me, nor can it be a reason for her to vent her anger on me. I didn't provoke her, nor did I take anything from her. It's unfair for her to target me because of her own unhappiness."

After saying that, she picked up her toiletries, got out of bed, and said, "I'm going to wash up."

Watching Xu Xinghe turn and leave, Zhao Xiaoyan stood there stunned.

She had always thought the other person was gentle and easy to talk to, but she never expected that she would be so opinionated about something like this.

I was worried she was too soft-hearted, but now it seems I was overthinking it...

Xu Xinghe walked into the washroom and looked at herself in the only small round mirror. Her face still had freckles that she had deliberately drawn on, and her skin tone had been darkened. But even so, it still couldn't hide her originally delicate features.

She sighed softly. Wang Lili's experience deserved sympathy, but sympathy did not mean tolerating unjustified harm.

That's it. As long as the other party doesn't cause trouble, she'll pretend nothing happened to avoid any complications.

After washing up, everyone rushed to their work area.

Jiang Linchuan was assigned to replant the newly arrived poplar saplings. He worked quickly and planted ten saplings in just two hours. He watered each one thoroughly and tamped down the soil, waiting for the subsequent inspection.

"Guowei, I'm going to get some fertilizer over there." Zhang Guoming, a fellow educated youth working alongside him, said this as he carried an empty basket toward the warehouse.

Jiang Linchuan nodded, and was about to squat down to check when he heard a greeting coming from the nursery where Xu Xinghe was not far away.

It turned out that the aunt in charge of seedling cultivation had asked her to help tidy up the seedlings. He thought that he was free for the time being, so he got up and went over to help Xu Xinghe before coming back.

Less than ten minutes after he left, Liu Hu, along with three veteran educated youths and two new educated youths he had recruited, sneaked up to the saplings that Jiang Linchuan had planted.

Liu Hu squatted down, glanced around, and smiled sinisterly. "He punched me yesterday, so today I'll teach him a lesson. Pull up all these seedlings, and trample them so he can't replant them!"