Yun Jin selected He Zizhen's old clothes, patched pants, and unwearable shoes, packed them into a small bag, and took them to school the next day.

After school, Yun Jin and He Lifang met in the grove.

She handed the cloth bag to He Lifang: "See if you can wear it. It belongs to my niece. She has grown a lot taller and is almost as tall as me now. She can't wear her clothes from last year."

"I'm so embarrassed," He Lifang said awkwardly.

Yun Jin shook her head: "Just because that scumbag threatened and intimidated you, you didn't back down and were willing to testify for me. What are these clothes? Your courage is worth my kindness."

He Lifang felt even more embarrassed.

I never expected that my moment of courage would earn me her gratitude.

"Try them first." Yun Jin took out the shoes. They were old cloth shoes with good soles, but they were too small and pinched her feet. He Zizhen couldn't wear them, but Yun Jin had her own shoes.

He Lifang tried it on, and the size was just right.

They didn't look like they'd been worn for long; there were no patches, and the soles weren't worn much. "These shoes are really for me?"

"If you can wear it, it's yours. Wear it!" Yun Jin took out the clothes again. If Yun Jin hadn't said they were old clothes, everyone would have thought they were new. Occasionally, one or two pieces had patches, but they all looked brand new.

The wear and tear is minimal, and it has been washed until it is slightly whitish.

Compared to her patching one patch after another.

These clothes and pants are really great—they wash out quickly and lose their color easily.

He Lifang said, "Yun, please don't pity me. You brought your own clothes to give me clothes. If that's the case, I really can't accept old clothes."

"Don't worry about wearing them. I'm not that selfless. These are things we don't wear. You know, my wife's family is a military officer's family. They're well-off and don't have many children. If you don't want them, we can't wear them either."

He Lifang believed it and gratefully accepted the cloth bag: "Thank you, I like it very much. I have never worn such nice clothes in my life."

From childhood to adulthood, she always wore her older siblings' hand-me-downs; for her, they were basically just for covering her body.

The few clothes she's wearing now are all from the family's slightly better clothes, which were brought to her so she could go to university and broaden her horizons. They plan to buy fabric and return them to her when she earns money.

The family was too poor and they favored boys over girls.

If she hadn't been smart enough to get into university, she would never have been able to leave her hometown, come to Beijing, and meet Yun Jin, who was so good to her.

He Lifang said, "I will repay you when I make money in the future."

"Okay, treat me to roast duck when you make money!" It's just roast duck; she'll definitely be able to afford it once she starts working.

At that time, He Lifang didn't know that roast duck was very expensive. After all, she had heard many people say that things in Beijing were expensive and everything required coupons. Some of them had gone to eat there and almost ran out of money for food.

In He Lifang's mind, roast duck was something she couldn't afford.

It wasn't that roast duck was too expensive, it was that she was too poor.

He Lifang didn't mind the clothes Yun Jin gave her, and wore them the next day.

Knowing that summer was approaching, Yun Jin only picked out light spring and summer clothes, planning to ask He Zizhen again in winter if she had any thick winter clothes, since winters in the capital were very cold and one couldn't get through them without a thick cotton-padded coat.

Seeing He Lifang dressed in clean and tidy clothes, some classmates almost didn't recognize her: "I've never seen you wear these clothes before!"

“I didn’t have any before.” He Lifang knew what they were looking at, so she said frankly, “Comrade Yun gave them to me. They are old clothes from her family, and they fit me quite well.”

"How could you have the nerve to take someone else's old clothes?" another female classmate, who wasn't dressed very well either, mocked. "Don't you have any backbone?"

He Lifang was personally attacked, and her face turned pale. She felt ashamed to face anyone.

Yun Jin happened to hear this and immediately stood next to He Lifang: "How is that spineless? Haven't you ever worn other people's clothes? Now that resources are scarce and fabric is precious, don't we all wear new clothes for three years, old clothes for three years, and then patched and mended for another three years?"

“We can’t wear these clothes anymore, so we can’t just throw them away and waste them. What’s wrong with giving them to He Lifang?” Yun Jin sneered, “Are you jealous because I only gave them to He Lifang and not to you?”

The female classmate blushed and readily admitted, "Yes, I was just jealous. Since you're going to do a good deed, and so many people in the class don't have nice clothes, why don't you give them all away?"

"You're the one who's talking, aren't you? You said He Lifang had no backbone before, how dare you ask me for old clothes now? Am I your mother or your grandmother? You've spoiled me rotten." Yun Jin was someone who made all the women in the family compound tremble with fear.

Once at school, her fighting spirit remained off the charts.

"I can give my clothes to whomever I want. When I was being smeared, why didn't you stand up for me? I was worthy of He Lifang. Do you deserve her?" Yun Jin wouldn't give her any face.

The female classmate who was rebuked was so angry that she covered her face and ran away crying.

Seeing that Yun Jin was not someone to be trifled with, the others didn't dare to utter a single word.

They're not stupid; they know who's easy to bully and who's not to be messed with.

Yun Jin is someone they can't afford to mess with.

Putting aside her, the man who beat someone to a pulp that day knew that her family was not to be trifled with.

That was a military officer; with just a few words, he arrested the arrogant Pan Liwei.

Even the university he painstakingly stole couldn't be attended.

He Lifang was worried that Yun Jin would get into trouble, so she said, "Don't argue with others because of me in the future. I'm fine. You'll get used to it."

“You can’t keep putting up with this. If someone makes you uncomfortable, you should make them even more uncomfortable,” Yun Jin said. “Anyway, you have nothing to lose. If they criticize you, you should criticize them back.”

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