The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

”Don’t tell me you’re too scared to say this to Gu Jiaojiao’s face, so you have to hide like a rat and bad-mouth her behind her back. That’s just disgusting.”

”How they spend their money is their business. It’s what they want to do. It’s none of your business whether Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang go to school, so why are you all sticking your noses in? The nasty things you’re all saying... there’s something wrong with you.”

Chen Shulan and the two older women she was talking with were instantly displeased.

They were locals, through and through. Getting lectured by some Educated Youth? They weren’t about to stand for that.

”You little bitch, what business is it of yours if I bad-mouth Gu Jiaojiao? Mind your own damn business! Watch me tear that mouth of yours right off!”

Chen Shulan wasn’t afraid.

”Just you try and lay a finger on me. I’ll go straight to the village chief and tell everyone exactly what you were just saying about Gu Jiaojiao. And when her husband gets back, we’ll see if he’s willing to just let this slide.”

At the mention of the village chief and Leng Yuan, Chen Shulan’s bluster vanished in an instant.

The village chief blatantly favored Leng Yuan’s house. If he found out about this, they would undoubtedly be the ones to get a talking-to.

A reprimand wasn’t the main concern. The village chief was in charge of work assignments. A single word from him could land them the hardest, most grueling jobs. They couldn’t afford to get on his bad side.

Immediately, the two older women who had been gossiping with Chen Shulan spoke up. ”Chen Zhiqing, that’s not what we meant. It’s all a misunderstanding, a big misunderstanding. We promise we won’t talk about it again.”

Chen Ruoyu didn’t make things difficult for the two of them. Seeing that they promised not to say anything more, she let the matter drop.

Chen Shulan gritted her teeth, silently fuming. ”Chen Ruoyu, what gives you the right to be so smug? What I say about Gu Jiaojiao is none of your business!”

Chen Ruoyu scoffed. ”Gu Jiaojiao is my friend. When you slander her, it becomes my business. Besides, what’s all this about education being useless? How is it useless?”

”You’re spreading harmful ideas. Now that I’ve heard you, I can’t just stay silent.”

Chen Shulan was livid. She had said it was useless for Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang to study, not for everyone in the world. In the end, all she could do was grit her teeth.

”I know what you’re up to. You want a spot in the pig farming training, so you’re deliberately taking her side. I used to think you Educated Youth were so upright, but it turns out you’d sell your principles for a little something, too. Tsk, tsk.”

”But your little plan is going to fall through. There’s no way you Educated Youth are getting those pig farming spots.”

Chen Ruoyu’s expression changed.

’They were still vying for the pig farming spots. After all, the work was easier and earned more work points. Who wouldn’t want that?’

’Before they’d started working the fields, they would have turned their noses up at the smell of pigs. But now, with the work so hard their sweat practically shattered when it hit the ground, they were all desperate for a chance to shovel manure in the pigpen. It smelled awful, but it was so much easier.’

The only problem was that the villagers themselves were probably against it.

When Chen Shulan saw the change in Chen Ruoyu’s expression, she felt a thrill of satisfaction, knowing she’d hit a nerve.

’These Educated Youth think they can get the pig farming jobs? No one will agree. After all, everyone’s afraid that as soon as they learn the skill, they’ll just pack up and go back to the city. And what would the village do with the pigs then?’

It was a very practical concern.

It wasn’t just the villagers who were worried. The Educated Youth themselves couldn’t promise they would stay here forever; after all, they would head back to the city the moment they had the chance.

This created a dilemma.

Meanwhile, at the commune elementary school, Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang’s excellent grades had allowed them to skip ahead to the third grade.

When Lin Daya saw Sweet Girl sitting behind her, she was completely dumbfounded.