He Tiantian feigned curiosity and said, "Sister Jingli, what difficulties have you encountered? Tell me, and if there's anything I can help you with, I'll do my best."
Seeing He Tiantian's naivety and concern for her, Huang Jingli finally made up her mind and said, "Tiantian, you have to be careful. The other day I accidentally saw Lin Xiaoru writing a letter, and your name was in it. It was a letter to the commune. I bet Lin Xiaoru reported you."
He Tiantian was taken aback. In fact, although she and Lin Xiaoru had bickered a few times since they came to Qijia Village, it was not a major conflict and had not reached the point of reporting or exposing each other.
Lin Xiaoru is so malicious!
At the same time, He Tiantian was also thinking to herself, "Is such a kind girl born with a personality that attracts hate?"
Qi Jianguo, the Qi family—that's a grudge from a past life, so I won't go into it!
But what deep-seated grudge could she possibly have against Lin Xiaoru?
He Tiantian neither dug up her family's ancestral graves nor stole her man, so why would she frame her behind her back like this?
"Did you see what she revealed about me?" He Tiantian asked curiously, wanting to know what explosive information Lin Xiaoru knew.
Huang Jingli made up her mind, took out a crumpled piece of paper from the bottom of the wardrobe (it had been torn and then glued back together), and handed it to He Tiantian, saying, "Take a look for yourself!"
He Tiantian was furious when she saw this. Wasn't this a rumor? When did she ever have an affair with Niu Dajun? All she did was ride on Niu Dajun's bicycle, and that became an affair?
"Nonsense!" He Tiantian was furious. "How could Lin Xiaoru talk such nonsense? I have no grudge against her."
Huang Jingli smiled wryly and said, "Don't even mention you. I'm from the same place as her, and we were even junior high school classmates. Now I'm still being threatened by her at every turn!"
He Tiantian's attention shifted to Huang Jingli, and she asked incredulously, "You're so good to Lin Xiaoru, how could she threaten you?"
“Yes, you wouldn’t believe it if I told you.” Huang Jingli smiled bitterly. “Do you know? My family was from a rich peasant family before Liberation. To prevent me from being sent out for re-education, my family put me on the educated youth train. Lin Jingru knows my background. If we disagree, she’ll report me for being from a rich peasant family, saying that I’m lazy, greedy, and have the attitude of a landlord’s wife.”
Now it was He Tiantian's turn to be dumbfounded! Lin Xiaoru was so despicable! Reporting her was somewhat understandable, given the unpleasantness between them. But she even reported her own friend! What a heartless person!
“Jingli, I went back to Nanshi a few days ago. The atmosphere there has improved. There are no more re-education classes on the streets. You can rest assured for now. As for Lin Xiaoru, you should still be careful.” He Tiantian comforted her. “I was very touched that you told me this news. If you have any difficulties in the future, you can tell me. I will definitely help you if I can.”
Huang Jingli nodded and said, "Thank you. I was just afraid that Lin Xiaoru might harm me one day. I wouldn't even have any friends, and no one would speak up for me. Lin Xiaoru saw you sitting on the back of the postman Niu Dajun's bicycle and then framed you. But there's no rule that says you can't sit on the back of a man's bicycle, so you shouldn't be punished because of Lin Xiaoru's report. But this kind of behavior is disgusting, and it gets distorted as it's passed around."
He Tiantian understood this as well, and nodded, saying, "I understand, Sister Jingli, thank you. Can I have this piece of paper? Don't worry, I will definitely not confront Lin Xiaoru."
"Okay, I believe you." Huang Jingli was also shrewd; this piece of paper was essentially her pledge of allegiance to He Tiantian.
"Oh dear, why are you the only one here today? Where's Lin Xiaoru?" He Tiantian asked, wondering if today was the day to report her.
“She and Li Mingkai went to the county town to buy things, but I didn’t have any money, so I didn’t go,” Huang Jingli said. She had sent all her money home in hopes of easing the financial burden on her family.
"Keep these snacks for yourself, don't give them to them. It's best to finish them before they come back. If they see them, they'll probably give you a hard time again." He Tiantian wrapped the snacks in oil paper and handed them to Huang Jingli. "It's getting late, I should go back."
Just then, He Tiantian heard someone enter the room. Upon closer listening, she realized it was Lin Xiaoru and Li Mingkai who had returned.
Huang Jingli quickly hid the snacks, gave He Tiantian a wink, and said, "What are you doing here? You're like a weasel visiting a chicken, you're up to no good."
He Tiantian was secretly surprised to see that Huang Jingli had changed so quickly. Lin Xiaoru was too amazing, turning her into a secret agent and underground worker.
He Tiantian quickly stepped back and said, "I just came here to have some fun, I didn't mean anything by it."
"Alright, you've seen enough, you can leave now," Huang Jingli said irritably, giving He Tiantian a wink, signaling her to leave quickly.
He Tiantian came out of the house and bumped into Lin Xiaoru, who had a big smile on her face.
"What's wrong with you two? You're about to fight over something so trivial?" Lin Xiaoru asked with a smile, while Li Mingkai behind her also looked on with interest.
He Tiantian didn't have time to talk to someone as two-faced as Lin Xiaoru, and said, "Who knows? That's nonsense!"
After saying that, he ran out of the educated youth settlement.
Hearing the commotion, Sister Wu, Wang Lei, and the others saw He Tiantian leave alone, so they chased after her and saw her off.
"Sweetie, what's wrong? Did Huang Jingli bully you?" Sister Wu said angrily. Huang Jingli was too much. Sweetie brought them some snacks and was scolded.
Seeing that they had walked some distance from the educated youth settlement, He Tiantian smiled and said, "It's alright. Huang Jingli and I put on a show to make Lin Xiaoru think we had a bad relationship. Actually, that's not the case. Huang Jingli is actually a nice person. Today she told me that Lin Xiaoru wrote a letter reporting me for having an affair with the postman, Niu Dajun. I heard that you two don't get along well with Lin Xiaoru either, so you should be careful. Although she made it up out of thin air, such things won't kill you, but they'll definitely annoy you."
"What?!" Sister Wu roared in anger. "That piece of trash actually framed you like that. Just wait till I get back, I'll tear her mouth apart."
He Tiantian quickly pulled the agitated Sister Wu aside and said, "Sister Wu, don't stoop to her level. Even if we beat up Lin Xiaoru, it wouldn't make a difference. We are gentlemen, and she is a scoundrel. It would only make things difficult for Huang Jingli. That's why we put on an act together."
Wang Lei chuckled and said, "You women are so calculating. But we definitely need to be wary of Lin Xiaoru from now on. If we confront her directly, we'll be accused of ganging up on her. Let's wait and find a better opportunity to deal with Lin Xiaoru." (To be continued.)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com