Judging from Liu Lingli's mother and Liu Lingli's current behavior, He Tiantian guessed that Liu Lingli would definitely complain after returning to her room.
"Don't speak yet, come here, maybe you can hear something else." He Tiantian smiled mysteriously and pulled Qi Xiaoyan to the back of the house where Liu Lingli had just been.
The educated youth settlement in Hujia Village was not good; it couldn't compare to the one in Qijia Village, which was converted from a local temple. Although it was older, it was still a brick house. Hujia Village only provided a few thatched houses, which were not well-ventilated, not warm, and not soundproof.
Qi Xiaoyan was very curious as to why Sister Tiantian had dragged her to the back of someone's house. Was she going to eavesdrop on their conversation?
A voice from inside the house asked, "Liu Lingli, who is that? Why don't you let them in to warm up?"
All I heard Liu Lingli say was, "It's a fellow villager of mine who went home for a visit. My mom asked her to bring me some clothes. I wrote to her last time asking her to prepare more things, but there are only two cotton-padded coats in there. I guess my fellow villager thought they were too heavy to carry."
Upon hearing this, Qi Xiaoyan's eyes widened. Good heavens, how could there be such a person in the world? Someone helped her, yet she still complained that the help wasn't thorough enough.
"It's such a long journey, it's already quite kind of them to bring it for you," another girl in the room said disapprovingly. "If you need anything else, you can have your mother mail it to you. Besides, two cotton coats are enough. You'll be going back home soon for the New Year holiday, and you can bring whatever you need then!"
Seeing everyone's reaction, Liu Lingli knew she couldn't say anything more.
At this moment, another person said quietly, "By the way, it's almost Chinese New Year. If that person goes back now, will he still go back for the New Year? Round-trip train tickets cost a lot of money, and they're not easy to buy."
"Her family is rich and powerful, so they don't care about these things. They can go back whenever they want. Just wait and see!" Liu Lingli said sourly. She had several siblings, and ever since she could remember, she always felt that her family was poor, that they didn't have enough to eat or wear. But when she saw He Tiantian being loved like a little princess, she felt extremely jealous.
When Liu Lingli saw He Tiantian on the educated youth train, she was suddenly inexplicably happy, even gloating. He Tiantian was rich and powerful and was pampered at home, but she still had to go to the countryside to become an educated youth like He Tiantian!
Seeing that He Tiantian could go home while she couldn't, she felt resentful again.
He Tiantian pulled Qi Xiaoyan away from Hujia Village and walked along the desolate path. The trees and grass on both sides of the road had turned yellow and withered.
"Sister Tian, why are you pulling me? I'm going to confront that Liu Lingli." Qi Xiaoyan was indignant on behalf of her good friend Ning; Liu Lingli was bullying her too much.
"Why are you so angry? Is it worth having a big fight with her?" He Tiantian said. "I owed her a favor before, and now I've repaid it, so I won't feel uneasy anymore. As for the sour things she said, it doesn't matter, I don't care. The most important thing is that I know what kind of person she is, so I'll know how to deal with her in the future."
"Letting that woman go like this is too lenient on her." Qi Xiaoyan was still unhappy, thinking He Tiantian was a coward. Given the chance, she would help He Tiantian teach this Liu Lingli a lesson.
After returning from Hujia Village, the two sisters hid in He Tiantian's room, chatting and laughing together. Qi Xiaoyan only left He Tiantian's room after dinner.
After dinner, He Tiantian took a box of Xinghualou pastries and a packet of chrysanthemum tea to the educated youth settlement.
When Sister Wu saw He Tiantian arrive, she quickly greeted her, "Tiantian, come inside and sit down. It must be very cold outside."
There's no entertainment right now. It's cold, so we can only stay indoors and chat. Things are strict now, and we can't play cards, so it's incredibly boring.
He Tiantian came in and said, "I'm here to treat everyone to some snacks and flower tea."
"Where did you get these snacks?" Ye Xiaofan asked, taking them and brewing some chrysanthemum tea. "They smell so good! We'll go up the mountain to get some next year too. Sweetie, can you teach us how to make them?"
"Of course! If you like, I'll call you when the chrysanthemums bloom so we can pick them together. We're warming ourselves by the fire all day, so drinking chrysanthemum tea is the best way to cool down," He Tiantian said with a smile. "I'll go call Huang Jingli and the others to come and have a piece."
"Hehe, if you want to give them food, you should just take it to them yourself. The four of us and those three don't talk to each other. Even if you let them in, they won't come in," Sister Wu said. "We haven't offended them, and we don't know why, they just ignore us."
Ye Xiaofan covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "When we were working on the river, we often brought snake meat to eat. We ate it with our mouths full of oil, but they didn't eat it themselves, yet they envied us for eating meat..."
Upon hearing this, Wang Lei and Zhang Qingshan chuckled softly. Those three were really fussy; if they wanted to eat, they should have just said so, but instead they kept making sarcastic remarks. They weren't those three's parents, siblings, or relatives; who would want to serve them?
"Oh, oh." He Tiantian understood. Just then, she heard the door open outside, so she took three pieces wrapped in oil paper and went out.
Seeing that it was Huang Jingli outside, not Lin Xiaoru, He Tiantian stepped forward and said, "Jingli, you're here! I have three pastries here. You can try them. They're from a long-established brand in Nanshi."
Huang Jingli was taken aback, not expecting He Tiantian to bring her food. She smiled and said, "Thank you. Did you go back to your hometown?"
"I had some urgent business at home and went back for a bit. You, Lin Xiaoru, and Li Mingkai each have one piece. If they don't want any, then you can have them all," He Tiantian said with a smile. Huang Jingli was alright, but as for Lin Xiaoru and Li Mingkai, they were practically nobody in He Tiantian's eyes.
Huang Jingli accepted the oil paper package from He Tiantian, deeply moved. In Qijia Village, because she and Lin Xiaoru were considered lagging behind in their work, they were disliked by the villagers. At the educated youth settlement, Lin Xiaoru offended Sister Wu and the others, and now those four older educated youths ignored them as well.
Caught in the middle, threatened by Lin Xiaoru, Huang Jingli was unhappy. She was deeply moved that He Tiantian remained unchanged in her treatment of her.
Thinking that Lin Xiaoru and Li Mingkai had gone to the county town with the oxcart from Hujia Village today, Huang Jingli pulled He Tiantian into the house and whispered, "Tiantian, you've been so good to me. There's something I feel guilty about if I don't tell you."
He Tiantian was secretly delighted. "I've been so good to you, just waiting for you to say that!"
To deal with people like Lin Xiaoru and Li Mingkai, we can't take direct action. Dividing them from within might have unexpected results.
Well, it's time to reap the rewards! (To be continued.)
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