CHAPTER 32: CHAPTER 32: BULLIED

"Lin Xiang!" Aunt Lin was at her wit’s end with Lin Xiang and could only lash out impotently, "I never expected you to turn out this way, raising a child without a father is indeed wrong!"

"Yes, yes, your daughter’s got her father’s teachings and still did those uncultured things, guess her father wasn’t up to much either!"

Aunt Lin clutched her chest, nearly out of breath.

What kind of karma did she have to suffer to be spoken to like this by Lin Xiang, a junior?

She thought having reinforcements would make a difference, but Lin Xiang just got more relentless with her insults?

Uncle Lin found himself in an uncomfortable spot, having maintained his persona for so long, only to have Lin Xiang tear it apart today.

He grabbed Aunt Lin by the arm to pull her away, but not before Aunt Lin spat some harsh words at Lin Xiang, "Lin Xiang, don’t ever think of me coming to your house again. Even if you beg me, I won’t come!"

Lin Xiang blinked, "Didn’t our families already fall out long ago? Besides, with your greedy ways, I’m afraid to let you into my house, let alone beg you to come! How can you be so shameless?"

Aunt Lin left while covering her face, and whether she cried or not, Lin Xiang didn’t know.

After Aunt Lin’s family left, Lin Xiang bowed deeply to the people who had just spoken up for her, "Aunts, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, who knows what my aunt and uncle would have done to me."

"I’m just saying, your aunt is truly shameless! Let’s not mention the past, how can she shamelessly come to demand the quota repeatedly?"

"Maybe they think my mother and I are easy to push around."

"But back to the point, you really don’t have a quota slot? You helped the cotton spinning factory secure an overseas order; are they giving you nothing in return?"

Lin Xiang composed herself and spoke seriously, "Aunt, you’re mistaken. I was there as a translator. The foreigners cooperated with the cotton spinning factory due to the factory’s strength being evident, not merely because of a few words from me. The foreigners aren’t foolish, are they?"

"Moreover, the reason I could work as a translator was the appreciation of my superiors. Being able to contribute my part to this endeavor is my honor, so how can material rewards measure up?"

With Lin Xiang’s words, her image among the villagers was completely transformed.

Still, Lin Xiang receiving no material rewards eased the villagers’ minds quite a bit.

Jealousy, it’s everywhere, and Li Hua Team is no exception.

After chatting with the aunts for a bit, Lin Xiang returned home and headed straight to the kitchen.

There wasn’t much flour left at home, so she went to the cellar and brought up about ten pounds of sweet potatoes, cleaned their skins, and began making sweet potato starch.

"This is truly tiring, you can’t produce much in a day; maybe I should get a simple machine to free my hands."

Lin Xiang was muttering to herself, but her hands continued without pause, repeating the same motions mechanically, not even noticing the person standing beside her.

When she finished straining the sweet potato starch, she was ready to stand up with the sieve when she noticed someone had been standing next to her, startling her so much that she almost dropped everything.

"Yang Lihua, what are you doing? You scared me!"

Yang Lihua touched her nose tip, "I saw you working so intently, I didn’t want to interrupt you, wasn’t intending to scare you."

Lin Xiang set the sieve down, clutching her chest, and couldn’t help but take another look at Yang Lihua.

Something seemed different about her today, her eyes were red as if she had just been crying.

"What’s wrong with you? Did something happen?"

The key point being that she and Yang Lihua weren’t close; they were previously "rivals," and Yang Lihua had troubled her many times because of it.

"Waa..."

As soon as Lin Xiang finished speaking, Yang Lihua burst into tears, seemingly wanting to cry out all the grievances in her heart.

Lin Xiang feared the fences weren’t soundproof and others might mistakenly think she was bullying Yang Lihua, so she quickly dragged Yang Lihua inside, closed the door to muffle her cries.

Sitting Yang Lihua on a stool, Lin Xiang kindly poured her a cup of water, "What’s the matter, someone bullied you?"

Yang Lihua continued sobbing.

"Stop crying and say something, it’s really worrying otherwise."

Saying so, Lin Xiang still tried hard to comfort Yang Lihua.

After a while, Yang Lihua finally stopped crying, looking at Lin Xiang with her red eyes, and asked in a muffled voice, "Did you meet Wen Siyuan today?"

Lin Xiang immediately raised her hands high, "I swear, Wen Siyuan and I have nothing going on, the team leader can attest I gave him a good scolding."

"Do you know why he went to the team department today?"

Lin Xiang shook her head.

She had so many things to handle daily, where would she have time for Wen Siyuan, the scumbag?

Yang Lihua sniffled, "The commune offered a few slots for returning to the city, and our Li Hua Team got one too. Wen Siyuan heard about it and came to me, hoping I’d beg my mom to give him that slot."

Naturally, Yang Lihua refused.

Since being scolded by Lin Xiang at the team department’s entrance before, she had gained clarity and saw Wen Siyuan’s true nature. She was planning revenge, so why would she give him any benefits?

Besides, Li Hua Team had only one slot; everyone was watching. Her mom was merely a women’s director, how could she have the power to get one for Wen Siyuan?

Even if she could, it would take significant effort and money. Wen Siyuan couldn’t even support himself, couldn’t afford it, does it mean her family should subsidize him?

Most importantly, after returning to the city, Wen Siyuan probably wouldn’t return to Li Hua Team, so after everything she does, what’s the point?

Is she being stupid?

Wen Siyuan still thinks she’s an easy-to-fool girl?

"Isn’t this a good thing? You’re awake now, no longer deceived by Wen Siyuan, that’s a good thing. Why are you crying? You aren’t sad you have to break up with him, are you?"

"Am I that kind of person!"

Lin Xiang nodded heavily.

Truth be told, Yang Lihua appeared to have a serious love obsession.

Yang Lihua rolled her eyes angrily, "I’m not crying because he’s leaving, it’s because he... he bullied me..."

The last few words were so soft that Lin Xiang had to listen closely to even hear them.

Her eyes widened, "Bullied? Do you mean what I think you mean?"

Yang Lihua hesitated, then gently nodded.

She bit her lip tightly, tears welling in her eyes again, her hands tightly clutching her clothing.