CH 4

The farm’s dining hall is not far away. When a group of educated youths went to the hall, Qin LingLing and Fu XiaoYue already had their lunch. Two plain vegetables, two pieces of braised pork, and a bowl of brown rice. This already considered as a feast.

Because the earthy yellow layer on the outside of the brown rice was not removed, the rice had an odd odor. According to Qin LingLing’s prior living circumstances, she thought this type of rice would be better for the chicken. Even the so-called braised pork was prepared in a unproperly manner. It coats the other two green vegetables in front of her in oil. For Qin LingLing, who used to eat all kinds of delicious snacks before, the food she’s eating right now are quite lacking.

However, for the past three days, she was sick in Gu’s house and did not eat anything good. The only good thing is that Gu Yao had secretly boiled the eggs and peeled them for her. The eggs were so fragrant and soft. Compared with other foods, it is simply delicious.

The smell of the brown rice and the two pieces of beef is a little too much for Qin LingLing to handle. It’s incredible to be able to eat rice nowadays. The farm has porridge most of the time, with sweet potato shreds added to the porridge and cooked together. Less rice is used and more sweet potatoes are used. They also eat corn cake on occasion, which is regarded as a a pretty good meal.

The farm have added veggies to go with rice and two pieces of meat today because it is the tenth. Despite the fact that the meat is small, these people are unable to resist because they have not eaten meat in a long time. Qin LingLing also didn’t dare to eat it all in one sitting. Because this type of meat is not always available, and it is vital to save a small amount of the meat’s aftertaste.

Consider her prior life, she could rely on her own hard work to thrive despite being an orphan. In any case, she is employed in the city. Despite the fact that she has no father, mother, or relatives, she is able to feed herself. She would buy herself food and drinks whenever she had extra money. She has never been so flustered as she is now, eating two pieces of meat like eating a whole bowl of braised pork merely to prolong the taste of meat.

Fu XiaoYue ate quickly, and said as she ate, “It’s delicious.”

For this era, when meat and fish aren’t available all year, isn’t this a good meal?

Qin LingLing took her time eating, whereas Fu XiaoYue ate quickly. Seeing Qin LingLing move slowly, she assume it must be because of her ill, and had no appetite, right?

After watching Qin LingLing for a long time, she could not help but ask: “LingLing, how is your family’s situation? Your family… can he come back safely?”

The “your family” in Fu XiaoYue’s mouth refers to Qin LingLing’s husband, Gu Zheng. These days, the other half is generally referred to as “my family” and “your family”, instead of calling them husband and wife.

Qin LingLing shook her head, “I don’t know for the time being, the news is not accurate yet.”

According to the description in the book, the husband of the original owner never appeared, saying that he died on the battlefield, and the original owner also received a compensation payment, but it was snatched away by her in-laws before she can even use it. In the end, her husband’s family was unable to keep her, and her family did not want her to return home. Everyone would bully her, and she would eventually blacken as a result of her misfortune.

So, she thought, by now, Gu Zheng should be dead, right?

However, now that the exact news has not receive yet, she cannot say that her man is dead, so what if there is really a miracle and he can come back?

Qin LingLing caught a glimpse of Zhang HuiShan approaching them. In her bowl, there was still a chunk of pork and a bite of rice. When Qin LingLing noticed this, she hastily shoved the final piece of meat into her mouth, then casually scooped up the last portion of rice and wiped her lips afterward. Otherwise, once Zhang HuiShan arrives, the meat will be in her mouth instead.

In the memory, the original owner’s meal was often robbed by Zhang HuiShan. She did not dare to say anything thanks to her soft steamed bun [1] personality.

[1] 包子 / bao zi – steamed bun, describes the kind of people who have a soft personality, timid and dare not to say anything when they are bullied.

Zhang HuiShan looked at her empty bowl, suffocating in her heart. Seeing this, she directly put the lunch box down in front of Qin LingLing viciously. The sound “bang” left Fu XiaoYue frightened.

Zhang HuiShan questioned: “Qin LingLing, you’re eating so fast, are you afraid that I will steal your food?”

Fu XiaoYue nervously pulled Qin LingLing’s hand, for fear that Qin LingLing would be bullied by Zhang HuiShan again, and wanting to help her explain something, but as soon as she opened her mouth, Zhang HuiShan said, “Fu XiaoYue, this matter has nothing to do with you. I am talking to her.” After saying that, a pair of eyes deadly stares at Qin LingLing.

At this moment, Zhang HuiShan is like a junior high school senior who Qin LingLing met when she was in elementary school, showing her status with her teeth and claws.

She was still terrified of those ferocious people when she was a child. Later in life, as she grew older, she realized that when you are weak, people would simply bully you. When it’s time to be strong, you have to be strong, and when it’s time to be weak, you have to be weak. This is the only way to stay alive.

For this reason, in the face of Zhang HuiShan’s teeth and claws, Qin LingLing just explained, “I’m just hungry and didn’t think that much.” She had a calm face and did not look the least bit defiant.

Zhang HuiShan stared blankly at her. In a split second, she felt that she had misunderstood Qin LingLing. This Qin LingLing was still the soft bun who did not dare to speak loudly when she saw her.

But thinking about the moisturizing cream, she pressed Qin LingLing who was about to leave again, “What about the cream, what are you going to say about that?”

“What cream?” Qin LingLing still looked puzzled.

Lin QiQi hurriedly said: “Where is the cream that you often put in your case? When we went back, we found that your moisturizing cream was gone. Did you hide it?”

“No! Is my cream missing?” Qin LingLing looked innocent; her eyes filled with doubts.

“Why not? You came back and cleaned up the house. And now your cream is gone. You must have kept it hidden for fear of us using it.”

“I really didn’t. I did not see the cream when I came back. I assumed it was one of you who had taken it. Could it be that my cream was gone when I was away?”

Lin QiQi still wanted to say something, but Zhang HuiShan said first: “You really didn’t hide it?”

“No, I’m not hiding it; we used to use it together, so why would I?”

Qin LingLing’s honest look made Zhang HuiShan even more puzzled. Could it be that Qin LingLing really did not hide her moisturizing cream?

“Then if you didn’t hide it, why did the moisturizer suddenly disappear?” Lin QiQi said.

“I also want to know.” Qin LingLing replied, still with a blank face.

Zhang HuiShan examined Qin LingLing’s face and could not see any trace of lying. She reasoned that if Qin LingLing truly lied, she would be able to see it. Is it possible that the cream was taken by someone else?

She swept her gaze to the other female educated youths living in the same house and asked, “Who was the last to leave this morning?”

Several people looked left and right but they were not sure.

“We left in a hurry at the time, so I don’t know who was the last.” Lin QiQi said.

“I believe it was ZhaoDi was the last person to leave.” Lin Fen also open her mouth and spoke.

Zhao ZhaoDi, who was named, waved her hand quickly, “It’s not me, I remember QiQi is the last one! When I left, I called QiQi, and she happened to be wiping her face, and then she caught up with us.”

Everyone moved their eyes from Zhao ZhaoDi to Lin QiQi again.

Lin QiQi immediately panicked, “No, it’s not me. When I left, I clearly saw that it was still there. I didn’t take the cream, really…”