CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE FOR DOING THIS?

Xu Qinghuan’s face was calm as she quietly watched Lu Nianying act.

Suddenly, there was a shout of "Ah!", followed by a splash in the backyard. Zhang Tieshan rushed over to see, and there lay Qu Qiongfang on the ground, her arms and legs sprawled out, one hand holding a teacup, the other a toothbrush.

The water from the teacup had spilled over her face and chest, soaking the clothes she had just changed into that morning.

Zhang Tieshan went to help Qu Qiongfang, nearly slipping and falling himself.

"Who poured all the water here?"

Zhang Tieshan simply stood outside and shouted angrily.

Everyone ran over to take a look, and saw the ground in the backyard was completely wet.

It hadn’t rained for several days, and everywhere was dry, except for this spot. It wasn’t near the left or right lean-to, but directly in front of the upper house’s backyard door, the path they all used to get to the vegetable garden, which had now turned into a mud pit.

Yesterday, the water from the water jar disappeared.

Xu Qinghuan glanced at Lu Nianying, whose face turned from red to white.

At that moment, a young male educated youth with a baby face hesitantly raised his hand and spoke softly, "I know who splashed water here yesterday."

"Who was it?" Qu Qiongfang, covered in mud, got up.

Even with her good temper, she couldn’t suppress her anger now.

"It was Educated Youth Lu."

The male educated youth was Song Anping, seventeen years old, about the same age as Xu Qinghuan, and had been in the countryside for a year.

Lu Nianying shuddered, her face turning pale, "You... You... What deep hatred do you have for me, to slander me like this?"

Sometimes girls have a gender advantage, for instance, in times like this. When Lu Nianying cried, with tears streaming down her face like a pear blossom in the rain, it instantly garnered immense sympathy from the educated youths, who glared at Song Anping with anger.

Song Anping was startled and raised his hand, "I... I’m telling the truth!"

But it seemed no one believed him.

Xu Qinghuan chuckled, "You never interacted with him, why would he slander you? What do you have that’s worth slandering?"

This made sense, and the bystanders took another look at Lu Nianying.

"Educated Youth Lu, what was your intention in doing this?" Qu Qiongfang had taken a nasty fall, what if she had broken a bone?

Besides, she only had two sets of clothes to change into, and the ones she wore yesterday had just been washed this morning, now they’re all dirty again.

"Ha! What other reason could there be? We three came back late yesterday, and she emptied the water jar so we couldn’t bathe, didn’t she?" Qiao Xinyu taunted.

Xu Qinghuan quickly added, "I’m sorry, I got the male educated youths involved, making them fetch extra water today. This incident started because of me, I apologize to you all!"

After saying that, she bowed to Liu Zhijian and Huang Dahai, who were responsible for fetching water yesterday.

She knew Zhang Tieshan definitely wouldn’t want to fetch water again.

The two men hurriedly waved their hands, Huang Dahai said, "This has nothing to do with you, someone did it deliberately, if not you, they would have found some other reason. Don’t take it to heart, it’s not worth upsetting yourself over people like this."

"Exactly, exactly!" Chen Dewen chimed in, echoing with enthusiasm.

Lu Nianying sobbed as she approached, "Qinghuan, I’m sorry! I didn’t know you hadn’t showered yesterday, I didn’t mean to scoop out all the water, it’s because, because, because..."

Kong Lijuan stepped forward, "Nianying, didn’t you say yesterday that a rat drowned in the water jar, and you found it disgusting, so you emptied it out?"

"Right, right, right, that’s what happened. I’m not like you say, purposefully preventing you from bathing. Besides, what purpose would that serve? You still bathed eventually, didn’t you?" Lu Nianying, tugging at Xu Qinghuan’s sleeve, cried.

Xu Qinghuan pulled her sleeve back disdainfully, "You harm others, does that mean they must be harmed by you? No need to apologize to me, I wasn’t the one you ultimately hurt. Apologize to the male educated youths, and now it’s early in the morning causing all this ruckus, nobody’s had breakfast yet."

Regardless of whether or not there was a dead rat, Xu Qinghuan effectively pinned the blame squarely on Lu Nianying.

Time was running out, as the second call for work had already sounded, and the educated youth spot, due to lack of water, hadn’t managed to prepare breakfast. People rushed off, hastily grabbing their secret stashes of food to eat on the way.

Everyone was displeased, holding great resentment towards Lu Nianying.

Xu Qinghuan handed a few pieces of egg cake to Qiao Xinyu, "Eat quickly and go!"

Qiao Xinyu held the egg cakes in one hand and a water bottle in the other, "Huanhuan, you have to stay together with Xiaomin, don’t get separated."

"I know, I know, just take care of yourself!" Xu Qinghuan waved dismissively.

She and Yu Xiaomin needed to go into town today, so Xu Qinghuan shared three pieces of egg cake with Yu Xiaomin, and they ate as they walked.

"Qinghuan, I don’t need this much, just one piece is enough for me." Yu Xiaomin kept one piece, returning the other two to Xu Qinghuan.

Xu Qinghuan avoided it, "Don’t start with me on this, I already know, you don’t really need to go to town, even if you did to buy something, the supply and marketing cooperative is enough. You’re going just to accompany me. If you don’t eat my egg cake, then don’t come with me."

The egg cake was something Mother Lin forced her to take when she boarded the train, weighing at least four or five pounds, meant for her to eat on the train.

She couldn’t eat it on the train at all and had kept it in her space ever since, where it absorbed a lot of spiritual energy. The space also had preservation functions, keeping the food as fresh as the day it was stored, no matter how long it stayed.

Yu Xiaomin had no choice; she really was hungry and had never tasted anything so delicious before. She quickly devoured one piece in a few bites. After downing two pieces of the egg cake, she felt fuller than she had ever been in her life.

"Want some more?"

Xu Qinghuan had also eaten two pieces herself, feeling satiated. She offered Yu Xiaomin the remaining piece.

She noticed her sister really enjoyed it.

Food from this era had barely any additives, maintaining the original taste of the ingredients.

"Educated Youth Xu, what are you eating there, smells so good, let aunty have a taste. Oh my, it’s egg cake, isn’t it? Aunty’s never tried it before!"

Qiu Linghua appeared again, she had thought about asking Yu Xiaomin for some, but seeing the way the young girl devoured it, as if she’d never eaten something so tasty, she changed her mind.

But Xu Qinghuan was different; she ate elegantly, and even if she couldn’t finish it, she shared it with Yu Xiaomin.

Yu Xiaomin, frightened, stuffed the last piece of egg cake into her mouth, hurriedly urging Xu Qinghuan to eat her piece rapidly.

Xu Qinghuan wrapped it in a handkerchief and put it in her yellow canvas satchel. As she looked up, her brows were exquisitely shaped, and she smiled with crescent eyes like a little deer, "Aunty, there are plenty of things you haven’t eaten; let Uncle buy them for you. The braised pork at the state-owned restaurant is delicious, tender and juicy, rich but not greasy, one bite and it melts in your mouth..."

Qiu Linghua started drooling, making a slurping noise, until she heard a burst of laughter, realizing she’d been tricked by Xu Qinghuan. Angrily, she said, "If you’re not going to give, then don’t, why make me crave it? You bunch of educated youths sent to the countryside, each one of you is something else..."

Chug chug chug!

The hand-tractors were coming over. Seeing the man with a sour face sitting in the driver’s seat, Qiu Linghua shrank back, picked up her basket, and climbed onto the ox cart, head down.