CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 37: SHIFTING THE BLAME

"Who on earth are you talking about?"

Ge Sujuan racked her brain, almost going through every chicken in the village in her mind, but still couldn’t figure out who Wang Nan was referring to.

Her head was filled with question marks.

"Lin Zhiqing."

Wang Nan didn’t beat around the bush and gave the answer directly.

Yi Chichi, "..."

It really was her.

This is hard to comment on!

Ge Sujuan was so shocked her jaw almost dropped, "The Lin Zhiqing who got caught and married right in the meadow?"

Wang Nan nodded.

After the brief shock of finding out it really was Lin Zhiqing, Ge Sujuan shook her head, "This girl really wants to die."

"No, she wants to live."

"She wants to live and still rolls in the meadow with someone?"

Yi Chichi was shocked, previously she rolled in the meadow and got caught and married on the spot.

Now again rolling in the meadow, and it’s not even with her legally married husband, but a real case of marital infidelity. If caught, she could be beaten to death.

No matter how you look at it, this doesn’t seem like wanting to live.

Wang Nan looked around, saw no one nearby, and then whispered softly to the two, "...The man rolling in the meadow with her is from the County Art Troupe."

Yi Chichi instantly understood, the man’s identity is not simple, Lin Zhiqing wants to use this man as a stepping stone to jump out of the Red Flag Brigade and into the County Art Troupe for a salary.

But—

"How do you know the man is from the County Art Troupe, do you know him?"

Wang Nan lowered her voice further, "I don’t know him, but an older sister I know is a bit related to that man’s wife."

This does make sense.

Yi Chichi still couldn’t figure it out, "How did Lin Zhiqing get connected with that man?"

Wang Nan actually knew this.

"That time we went to the county, Lin Zhiqing also went to the county."

"...That’s all the information?"

"How much more information do you need?"

Wang Nan glared at her, Yi Chichi just sighed, "This gossip is a bit all over the place, not exciting at all."

Indeed, it’s a bit all over the place.

"The main issue is we can’t figure out when they met, but judging by Lin Zhiqing’s actions, sooner or later, something will happen."

That man’s wife is no pushover; if things really go south, he can sweet-talk his way back into the family, but the woman might be beyond redemption.

At this, Wang Nan sighed, "I just hope when the Lin Zhiqing matter explodes, it won’t drag us down."

"This has nothing to do with us."

Ge Sujuan was unhappy, "The youths from our brigade neither cheat the young men nor the young women of the village, nor do they roll in the meadow with someone who has a partner. No matter how much anger they have, they can’t direct it at us."

"One must be reasonable!"

Wang Nan smiled bitterly, "The key problem is that not everyone is reasonable."

This is true, but Yi Chichi thought this isn’t really a big problem.

She laughed, "When you’re shameless, you’re invincible. To deal with unreasonable people, we just need to be more unreasonable than they are."

The only thing that can defeat magic is magic itself.

"As long as we don’t feel aggrieved, do whatever makes you comfortable."

Wang Nan and the others thought it over and found it reasonable.

But achieving this is very difficult.

They can’t let go, nor can they be easygoing.

But it is indeed a good approach.

Ge Sujuan chuckled, "Next time Mrs. Niu stirs up trouble, we can give it a try."

"I don’t want to deal with her."

Thinking of Mrs. Niu’s mouth, Wang Nan felt a shiver down her spine.

She admitted her tongue wasn’t that sharp, she had to organize her words in her head before she could curse someone.

The other was a master of cursing, words flowed like water whenever she opened her mouth.

Forget organizing a retort, she didn’t even have a chance to interrupt.

"If there’s a next time, you two handle it."

A classic case of pass-the-buck.

Instantly, the pressure was on Yi Chichi and Ge Sujuan.

"Let Chichi handle it."

Ge Sujuan was good at passing the buck, Yi Chichi suddenly felt her hands itch, wanting to poke her with a needle.

Instinctively wanting to touch her hair, she realized she was holding something, so she could only say helplessly, "We’ll talk about it if it happens, for now let’s head back."

"Let’s go!"

Upon reaching the Youth Corps Courtyard, the main gate was shut tight. Wang Nan reached out and knocked, "We’re back, open the door."

Startled by the knocking, Bai Chen and the others, upon hearing the familiar voice, immediately relaxed.

Qi Yang quickly ran over to open the door. Seeing they brought back a lot of things, he hurried to help them carry the stuff inside, then closed the door.

"What’s in the bucket? Why is it so heavy?"

"Meat!"

Qi Yang realized the weight seemed off, it must be a significant amount they’ve bought.

"Did you buy out all the meat at the stall?"

"Not that."

Yi Chichi shook her head, asking him, "And you guys, what did you buy?"

"We got something really good today."

"What?"

"Lard!"

It really was a good thing, Yi Chichi’s eyes lit up.

"Where is it?"

"In the kitchen."

They had just washed the lard, preparing to render it into lard.

The crispy bits left from rendering would add some fat when they made hot pot once snow came, it was a delightful thought.

"Let me take a look."

Before the words were even finished, Yi Chichi quickly disappeared from their sight.

The three of them were dumbfounded, her speed was incredible.

"Why is she in such a hurry?"

Qi Yang was puzzled, the lard was just there and wouldn’t run away.

Wang Nan and the others shook their heads, indicating they had no idea.

"Let’s go in."

Qi Yang carried the bucket to the kitchen.

Wang Nan and the others immediately followed.

Then, they saw Yi Chichi squatting by the basin, staring at the freshly washed lard.

"Can you spare me some?"

She urgently needed lard to make a functional ointment for her hands.

The original owner’s hand shape and finger length were beautiful, almost perfect, provided you ignored the cracks and calluses.

These were the hands of a laborer, embroidering insoles or daily objects wasn’t a problem.

But going for high-quality work using silk and silk threads was a no-go, too rough, it would snag threads.

Bai Chen nodded, "How much do you want?"

"A bowl of lard."

"No."

Wu Yongfei was the first to jump in and refuse, "There’s only this much lard, and how much lard can it render is still an unknown.

You just come in and ask for a bowl, what do we share after giving it to you."

This made sense.

Yi Chichi humbly asked for guidance, "How much can I have then?"

Meaning: I’ll listen to you.

Bai Chen thought for a moment, "How about we give you a pound of lard, and you can render it yourself."

Yi Chichi felt a pound was too little, probably wouldn’t produce much lard.

This wasn’t easy to come by, a pig had only so much lard, likely divided up before it even left the slaughterhouse. Any trickle that came out often didn’t reach their hands.

Buying it herself wasn’t an option, but—

"Can I trade you some meat for it?"

Bai Chen and the others thought there was something off about it; was she planning to drink the lard as if it were water?

"For one person, a pound of lard should be enough."

"I’m making an ointment."

She told the truth; living together in the same courtyard, many things couldn’t be hidden, and she didn’t intend to, since there wasn’t anything to be ashamed of.

Zhou Yadong became interested, "Can we use it too?"