Chapter 11: Reverse Gossip

　　Gu Nianwei came back when Jiang Youtao was almost reaching the Hezhiqing point.

　　Her face turned red from running, and Jiang Youtao pretended not to care and asked, "What did that aunt ask you to do?"

　　Gu Nianwei fanned herself with her hands and said, "She asked me to go to her house for dinner, but I didn't agree."

　　The relationship between Aunt Wei Hong and Gu Nianwei is just like the relationship between Jiang Youtao and Xu Dazui today. Both of them were the ones who took Gu Nianwei to work after she went to the countryside.

　　After Gu Nianwei traveled through time, she has been getting along with her family. She thinks Aunt Wei Hong is quite nice. She is not like other women who like to gossip or pry into other people's affairs. It is quite pleasant to work and get along with her.

　　She don't know what's going on lately, but she always want to invite her to dinner.

　　Gu Nianwei had no shortage of food and drink. She had a lot of food in her space. She even packed up one or two hundred servings of spicy crayfish

　　Aunt Wei Hong has a large family, with more than ten people in total, including her sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. There are few strong laborers in the family but many children. She doesn't join in the fun, nor is she willing to do favors. Since ancient times, favors are the hardest to owe.

　　"Oh, I see." Jiang Youtao didn't intend to go into details. Everything should be done step by step. Her relationship with Gu Nianwei was not good enough for her to interfere in other people's relationships.

　　If she said anything to her now, not only will it hurt their budding friendship, it also easily leaves a bad impression.

　　What she had to do was to lurk in the early stages, and then take action when Gu Nianwei and Lin Jianzhong were on a blind date, so that she could ensure a one-shot kill.

　　Gu Nianwei didn't say much. They walked into the educated youth site hand in hand and got a basin and towel to wash their faces and hands.

　　Zhao Yonglan and Zhang Huihui also came back. Zhao Yonglan was pouting and looking angry, while Zhang Huihui was leaning against the firewall without saying a word and her face did not look very good either.

　　Jiang Youtao didn't ask or care. She washed her hands and face and went to the kitchen with Gu Nianwei.

　　Li Yunying was already setting the table. Gu Nianwei walked over to her and helped her serve the dishes. She asked, "What's going on in our room?"

　　"Zhao Yonglan asked Zhang Huihui to work for her."

　　Li Yunying and Zhao Yonglan are in the same group. Zhao Yonglan have been complaining about being tired and hot since they went to the fields in the morning. She didn't do much work, but she said she were so tired that everyone knew about it.

　　Zhang Huihui is in Group 4. She works well and gets along well with the fellow villagers. When it was almost time to get off work, Zhao Yonglan ran to Zhang Huihui and asked her to work for her.

　　This action shocked the surrounding villagers.

　　Educated youth went to the countryside every year, and there were many who were unable to do farm work, but this was the first time they had seen someone so confidently ask another educated youth to help her with her work.

　　Li Yunying knew with her toes that this matter would spread throughout the production team within the afternoon.

　　By then, the reputation of these educated youth will suffer another wave of damage.

　　After working in the countryside for many years, Li Yunying has long known that in the eyes of the villagers, the educated youth are all the same. If someone does something out of the ordinary, people will not point out the name of so-and-so, but will only say that he/she is an educated youth from which brigade.

　　Gu Nianwei and Jiang Youtao both thought: Are you serious?

　　Li Yunying continued, "This incident has a significant impact. In a small sense, it is a phenomenon of bullying among our educated youth. In a big sense, isn't this just the way the maids and young ladies in the old society behaved?"

　　In this age when even the most ordinary things can be misinterpreted to mean something else, it is hard not to think too much about Zhao Yonglan's attitude.

　　"Just wait, the captain will have to talk to her soon."

　　Li Yunying's words came true. Just when they finished their meal and was about to rest, the team leader came and asked for Zhao Yonglan by name. Zhao Yonglan was stunned.

　　She never expected that the captain would look for her, so she hesitated and refused to go out.

　　The team leader called out again outside, and Zhao Yonglan opened the door and went out. As soon as she went out, all the educated youth in the center could not sleep anymore, and they all pricked up their ears to listen to the sounds outside.

　　In order to avoid suspicion, the captain talked to Zhao Yonglan directly in the yard.

　　"Comrade Zhao Yonglan, I just received a report from the masses that you were not only lazy at work this morning, but also behaved like a capitalist lady, asking Comrade Zhang Huihui to help you with your work?"

　　As soon as the hat of Miss Capitalism was put on Zhao Yonglan, her face turned pale.

　　As the daughter of the deputy director, no one knew better than her what would happen if this hat was put on her. Not only would she be sent to the farm for labor reform, but her father's job at the TV factory would also be affected.

　　As the instigator of all this, she will definitely be criticized by the whole family. By then, her parents will not only not send her money or tickets, but it would be good if they don't come to the countryside to strangle her to death.

　　She hurriedly explained: "Captain, don't listen to what others say. I don't have such an idea. Huihui and I are good friends who grew up together. We were just joking today. If you don't believe me, ask her."

　　The team leader didn't have to pin this hat on Zhao Yonglan. The emergence of a capitalist in the team was not friendly to him as the team leader. The main purpose of the team leader's visit today was to curb Zhao Yonglan's evil tendencies, so that she would not go too far and cause trouble.

　　Zhang Huihui, who was called by Zhao Yonglan, hurriedly opened the door and went out. When the captain asked her, she nodded slowly under Zhao Yonglan's gaze.

　　Zhang Huihui thought very clearly that her parents both worked under Zhao Yonglan's father. If Zhao Yonglan's family could not be completely pushed into the quagmire today, then this matter would have to be hastily resolved like this.

　　In fact, the current result is already the best one for her. If the team ignores Zhao Yonglan, then she will definitely be like before, not only doing her own work, but also helping Zhao Yonglan.

　　No one is born wanting to be someone else's slave, and the same is true for Zhang Huihui.

　　She believe that after today, Zhao Yonglan will never dare to order her or Liu Yingjun around so unscrupulously again.

　　The captain looked at Zhang Huihui for a long time and nodded: "Since you all said so, then this matter will end here. I don't want similar incidents to happen again in the future. Okay, you guys take a nap, I'm leaving."

　　The captain left, and Zhang Huihui went straight back to the room without even looking at Zhao Yonglan. Zhao Yonglan followed her in soon after, and she lay down in the bed, and soon she began to sob.

　　No one came to comfort her.

　　After working in the morning, everyone was very tired and fell asleep to the sound of Zhao Yonglan's crying.

　　The sound of a gong was heard outside. Gu Nianwei pushed Jiang Youtao, and Jiang Youtao immediately woke up. Gu Nianwei rummaged through the cabinet at the foot of the kang, took out a pair of knitted gloves and handed them to Jiang Youtao.

　　Jiang Youtao thanked her, got off the bed and went out to work.

　　Li Yunying, Zhang Huihui, and Zhao Yonglan also stood up. Zhao Yonglan's eyes were red and swollen, but no one asked any more questions.

　　The work in the afternoon was still weeding, but this time Zhao Yonglan didn't dare to complain about being tired or hot, nor did she dare to go to Group 4 to ask Zhang Huihui to help her.

　　Jiang Youtao still gets along happily with the aunts.

　　This time she still heard a lot of gossip, and the one that excited them the most was that the branch secretary's eldest grandson Su Yang was getting married at the end of the month.

　　"That girl is eighteen years old and has just graduated from junior high school. It is said that she is a classmate of Su Yang and is a good match for Su Yang."

　　The grandson of the village party secretary, Su Yang, is one of the few students in Liushugou Brigade. He is now in his second year of high school and will graduate at the end of September. When high school graduates, they can go to the commune and eat state-owned grain by making some connections.

　　"If you ask me, Dingbang from the village party secretary's family is not bad either. If he hadn't had diarrhea when he was taking the high school entrance exam, he would be a high school student now." The third child in the village party secretary's family is called Su Dingbang. He is the late-born son of the village party secretary and his wife, and is only one year older than Su Yang.

　　It is not uncommon in this era for the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to be in confinement at the same time. It is also common for the elder sister-in-law to breastfeed the younger sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

　　"It's a pity for Dingbang." Xu Dazui and others sighed.

　　"Doesn't that mean that the young wife, Su Yang, and Su Dingbang are classmates?"

　　"That's not the case."

　　Jiang Youtao was completely in the dark and had no idea who they were talking about, but this did not stop her from following this group of middle-aged and elderly women to watch the show.

　　Listening to them talking about what dishes and meat each family cooked for lunch, she felt very emotional.

　　The intelligence these women had was so detailed, and there were only so few secrets in the village that could be hidden.

　　Xu Dazui and others talked about the things in the village over and over again, and felt that they were all old stories and nothing new, so they turned their attention to Jiang Youtao.

　　"Hey Youtao, you guys in the city don't have so many stories than in the countryside, right?"

　　The farthest place Xu Dazui had ever been to in her life was the county town. She could never imagine what life was like in a bigger city. That was why she was particularly curious about city life.

　　Fourth Aunt Jiang and Second Aunt Zhang also turned their eyes to Jiang Youtao.

　　Didn't this question touch upon Jiang Youtao's true nature? She thought to herself, your little country stories are nothing compared to anything else. All the melodramatic novels I've read can be put together from the Shanghai Railway Station to Pudong.

　　She straightened her face and said to Xu Dazui and the others, "Where there are people, there are always disputes, and the city is no exception. There are many cases of fathers and sons turning against each other and brothers becoming enemies, just like what you said."

　　It was the first time that Xu Dazui and the others heard people talking about the gossip in the city. They listened very carefully and even their movements slowed down a little.

　　As soon as Jiang Youtao finished speaking, Xu Dazui took over: "Tell me the details quickly."

　　Jiang Youtao looked at the grass in her hand and said to the aunts, "I'm fine with talking about it, but I have a problem. When I talk too much, I work slower..."

　　Aunt Jiang Si pulled the grass in Jiang Youtao's hand and said, "Just talk about your own things. We sisters will do the work. We sisters are quick."

　　Aunt Zhang came over to pull out the grass in front of Jiang Youtao: "Hurry up."

　　Jiang Youtao groaned in her heart, thinking that she couldn't just be perfunctory with these lovely old sisters, right?

　　She thought about it, and when she thought of the words "exciting" and "melodramatic", a story called Temptation of Going Home, a period piece, jumped into her mind.

　　"It's about two girls, one named Xiaoru and the other named Xiaoli. They grew up together and had a very good relationship. When it was time for them to get married, Xiaoru married the factory director's son, while Xiaoli was neither too high nor too low."

　　"Although Xiaoru married well, her mother-in-law is not a good person and always bullies her. Xiaoli felt very distressed when she saw this, so she came to comfort her."

　　"One time, Xiaoru came back from shopping and saw her husband and Xiaoli lying on their wedding bed..."