Chapter 10: Seat-Swapping Turmoil

Li Zeyu didn't notice the hatred in Su Ruo's eyes; he walked up to her and said, "Comrade, my sister is feeling unwell—could you trouble yourself to swap seats with her?"

Although Li Zeyu's tone was polite, Su Ruo did not miss the contempt in his eyes—something she had never noticed in her previous life.

Su Ruo said icily, "No swap!"

The smile on Li Zeyu's face froze instantly; for years he had relied on his good looks to always succeed with girls, but he never expected to be rejected today by a country girl, and his expression immediately turned ugly.

The girl walking behind Li Zeyu immediately poked her head out to scold Su Ruo: "Comrade, we are all educated youths sent to the countryside; we should help each other. This comrade just wants to swap seats—it's not a big deal—how can you be so selfish?"

Chen Wei fell for Li Zeyu at first sight; she had never seen such a handsome guy before, and now seeing the boy she likes suffer a setback, she naturally wanted to help him.

Su Ruo looked up and, upon seeing Chen Wei, snorted coldly in her mind: "Huh, another acquaintance!"

Since the other party came forward on their own, Su Ruo wasn't polite either, saying with a cold face: "This is my seat—I'll swap if I want to, and I won't if I don't! I've never heard of using the banner of mutual help to force others to change seats."

Or do you think you're superior, that whatever you fancy others must unconditionally give up for you, and if they don't, they're selfish! What kind of bandit logic is this?

Li Zeyu and Chen Wei hadn't expected that the slight, petite Su Ruo would speak so rudely; they felt a surge of anger but couldn't find words to retort.

Li Shirou saw the situation turning bad and quickly said, "Brother, it's fine for me to sit here."

Then she turned to Su Ruo and said, "Sorry, I've been frail since childhood; my brother worries about me, so he wanted to swap seats with you—please don't be angry."

That frail, delicate posture, as if a gust of wind could knock her over, was truly like a white lotus in a prosperous age.

In her previous life, whenever Li Shirou assumed that pose, Su Ruo would immediately rush forward foolishly, volunteering to do all her chores; now seeing it again, she only felt her own stupidity.

The people around originally disliked the siblings' behavior of forcing others to swap seats, but seeing Li Shirou like that, they thought it wasn't really a big deal, and felt Su Ruo's making a fuss was overly petty.

Su Ruo, upon seeing their expressions, knew what they were thinking, and the corner of her mouth involuntarily curled into a cold arc.

In her previous life, Li Shirou was exactly like that—she loved to feign pity and weakness before a crowd, as if anyone who refused her request was at fault.

In her previous life, Su Ruo was always led by the nose by Li Shirou; now she definitely won't be.

She raised her voice and spoke righteously: "The state sent us to the countryside to temper our will and forge our spirit of endurance! Since you're so delicate you can't even sit in a vehicle, what are you doing going to the countryside? If you really got there, you wouldn't talk about building the motherland—just not causing trouble for the locals would be good enough."

Nowadays in the countryside, which village doesn't have a few educated youths who moan all day, do no work, and still eat for free?

So when Su Ruo's words came out, the surrounding villagers' emotions were instantly stirred; looking at Li Shirou, their eyes were full of contempt and disgust.

Because the grain these educated youths eat comes from the village—it belongs to everyone!

Li Shirou had practically turned the tide, but she never expected Su Ruo's few sentences to instantly win over those people to her side, making her eyes flare with anger.

Do you think she wants to go to the countryside? If her family hadn't run into trouble, leaving her no choice, she wouldn't go there.

Li Zeyu's face also darkened beside her: "If you don't want to swap seats, then don't—why must you speak so venomously?"

Su Ruo raised an eyebrow: "Did I say something wrong? If you're unwell, you should stay home instead of coming out to cause trouble, yet you act as if everyone ought to accommodate you."

Li Zeyu clenched his fists until his veins bulged; Li Shirou quickly pulled him to sit beside her, saying, "Brother, I'm fine—don't get angry!"

Only then did Li Zeyu suppress his anger, though his face remained a frighteningly dark bluish-black.

Just when the matter seemed settled, the woman opposite Su Ruo, who loved to watch a spectacle, jumped in and said, "Little girl, it's just swapping a seat—look at how delicate and weak this girl is, while you're strong and healthy; even if you swapped, what's the big deal? How can someone so young be so unreasonable?"

Su Ruo sneered: "Auntie, your words sound so nice—why don't you swap then?"

As soon as she said that, the woman was left speechless; it was midsummer, the carriage was stuffy and hot, and with the crowd, the air was filled with an unpleasant odor.

Only the window seat offered a bit of relief—opening the window not only let in a breeze and fresh air, but most importantly, it prevented being jostled by people in the aisle.

Everyone knows the window seat is best; this woman isn't stupid, so how could she swap with Li Shirou? She said that just to speak freely without discomfort, being generous with others' sake.

The woman, feeling unhappy after being rebuked, could see Su Ruo wasn't easy to bully, and muttered under her breath: "Sharp-tongued, watch out—you might not get married."

Su Ruo ignored her; she had never planned to marry in this lifetime, and as for whether she could marry or not, it was certainly not this old lady's concern.

After putting those people in their place, Su Ruo felt great—especially seeing the Li siblings' ugly faces—she felt completely refreshed.

As the saying goes, "Endure a moment and ovarian cysts appear; retreat a step and breast hyperplasia occurs." This lifetime, Su Ruo decided to do whatever made her comfortable and would never wrong herself again!

As for what the Li siblings did to her in her previous life, this is merely collecting a little interest; she will definitely repay them bit by bit in the future.

(End of chapter)