Chapter 23: I Prepared the Medical Expenses

Zhao Qiu Hua gave a cold snort, "If you can't eat the grapes, you call them sour."

Sun Xiaoqin was furious the moment she heard this, "None of your damn business."

"People are eating meat, is that any of your business?" Zhao Qiu Hua couldn't stand it anymore. Two days ago, she had forgotten to put away her malted milk powder jar, and a full third of it was missing. Such things had never happened in the Educated Youth Dormitory before; it only started after this Sun Xiaoqin arrived. Did she even need to say who drank it? Although she had no proof, in her heart, she was certain that Sun Xiaoqin was the one who did it.

"Can't we even talk about capitalist behavior? If you want to eat meat every day, why come to the countryside? Did you come to the village to enjoy a life of luxury, and now we aren't even allowed to speak of it?" Sun Xiaoqin stood her ground, having forgotten the slap from earlier.

Xie Yuanyuan was just about to get up, but An Yinan pressed her back down.

She herself walked out the door; since the insults had reached her doorstep, if she endured this, she wouldn't be An Yinan.

She opened the door and smiled, "Are you talking about me?"

Sun Xiaoqin's eyes were bloodshot as she glared straight at An Yinan. It was all because of her that she went hungry every day; she couldn't get enough to eat and yet had to smell the aroma of meat. What kind of life was she living?

Furthermore, ever since Xie Yuanyuan pointed out that she wasn't contributing any grain, everyone was now keeping an eye on the grain bags, making it impossible for her to pull any tricks. She blamed both of them.

An Yinan walked slowly to stand in front of Sun Xiaoqin, her voice faint, audible only to Sun Xiaoqin, "It seems you have forgotten a few things."

As the words fell, a slap landed. Even she hadn't expected that she would have to perform this action twice in one day.

Originally, everyone was just watching the spectacle, thinking it was a verbal dispute, so no one paid much attention.

The crisp sound of the slap made everyone stop what they were doing.

Xie Yuanyuan and An Xiangbei also hurried out of the room and stood behind An Yinan.

An Yinan kept a wooden expression, staring fixedly at Sun Xiaoqin, "I'm afraid you've forgotten the pain once the wound healed. Do you remember now?"

Sun Xiaoqin's face was twisted with ferocity, and at this moment, Zhao Jiang rushed forward, "An Yinan, you've gone too far! How can you just hit people?"

Zhao Jiang looked at Sun Xiaoqin with heartache. Sun Xiaoqin's ferocity faded, leaving only fragility. Half of her face was swollen, tears fell in strings, and she sobbed softly.

"Educated Youth Zhao, I'm fine. It was my own loose tongue; I shouldn't have spoken. I won't speak anymore, sob sob sob."

Sun Xiaoqin's fragile words and faint, timid appearance made Zhao Jiang's eyes turn bloodshot.

"An Yinan, you slapped Xiaoqin, so I'll return the slap to you. We'll be even." As Zhao Jiang said this, his hand was already reaching out.

But An Yinan's reaction was even faster. She kicked out with her foot, and Zhao Jiang took flight in a soaring posture. He hadn't expected that Sun Xiaoqin was still standing behind him to protect him. His flight path was too short, and his back made direct contact with Sun Xiaoqin's chest...

With the two of them in a position of Zhao Jiang on top and Sun Xiaoqin on the bottom, a sharp pain radiated from Sun Xiaoqin's chest. This time she was truly crying; didn't you see her eyes were all red?

Meanwhile, Zhao Jiang was hunched over, his abdomen cramping with pain, and the veins on his face were bulging.

"Get... quick, get up." Sun Xiaoqin didn't have much strength and couldn't push Zhao Jiang off her body at all, so she could only remind him intermittently.

Zhao Jiang had recovered slightly and immediately stood up, while heart-wrenchingly helping Sun Xiaoqin to her feet.

Sun Xiaoqin was trembling all over from the pain; Zhao Jiang weighed a full one hundred and forty jin, and his entire weight had pressed down on her.

"Xiaoqin, how are you? Where does it hurt?" Zhao Jiang watched Sun Xiaoqin clutching her chest, and his hand subconsciously reached out.

Those who had just regained their senses were now once again dumbfounded.

Sun Xiaoqin felt a large hand cover her chest and she stiffened abruptly, letting out an "Ah!" that tore through her throat.

An Yinan rubbed her ears. Well... the plot development was a bit unexpected.

"I'm sorry, Xiaoqin, I didn't react in time, I didn't know... I'm sorry, I will take responsibility." No one knew if Zhao Jiang had done it on purpose or if he really hadn't reacted in time; that answer could only remain in his own heart.

Sun Xiaoqin ran away, and Zhao Jiang chased after her.

An Yinan rubbed her forehead, "I had prepared the medical expenses, why did they both leave?"

Her words made everyone in the quiet courtyard shiver.

"Um, Educated Youth An." Zhao Qiu Hua didn't know what she wanted to say, but it felt inappropriate not to say something at this moment.

However, once she realized that she hadn't spoken ill of her anyway, she wasn't afraid anymore.

"Don't pin the words 'capitalism' on me; I can't afford that label."

"Also, I earn eighty Work Points a day. I have the ability to eat meat, and I have the ability to eat it every day. If you could earn eighty Work Points a day, I think you could too. Instead of having the energy to be jealous of others, you might as well go to the fields and do more work. What does everyone think?"

Now, no one dared to look directly at An Yinan's gentle smile. Seeing that smile reminded them of Sun Xiaoqin's face, Zhao Jiang's veins while clutching his stomach, and oh, that awkward groping incident. (Just understand it.)

Everyone felt a chill run from their toes to the top of their heads. Ruthless! Using both soft and hard tactics.

Zhang Zhihe had been called away by the Captain and only learned about these things upon returning to the Educated Youth Point. His impression of Sun Xiaoqin worsened, and his attitude toward Zhao Jiang, whom he had previously thought was very honest, also changed.

From the first day, he knew An Yinan was not to be trifled with, and since she always cooked for herself, it had no impact on their collective, so he hadn't spent much effort on her. Now he had gained a new understanding; it seemed he would have to pay more attention to the Educated Youth Station in the future to ensure nothing went wrong.

An Yinan took Xie Yuanyuan and An Xiangbei back to their room. After washing her hands, she sat at the table as if nothing had happened.

Xie Yuanyuan and An Xiangbei were also exceptionally quiet at this moment, with only the sound of slurping noodles in the slightly crowded kitchen.

After the meal, Xie Yuanyuan continued to lie like a corpse; she had said that today, other than eating and going to the bathroom, she absolutely would not get out of bed.

After washing the dishes, An Xiangbei walked to An Yinan's side.

"You said your friend is a child from the Cowshed. What do you think?" The conversation between the siblings finally came.

An Xiangbei thought for more than ten minutes before looking up firmly at An Yinan, "Whose child he is doesn't matter. He is very good and kind. When he finds wild fruit, he shares it with me, teaches me to recognize poisonous mushrooms, and helps me with problems I don't understand. Sister, I want to be friends with him."

An Yinan was somewhat surprised to hear her brother's words. Many people who have been drenched in the rain want to break others' umbrellas, but there are also those who, after being drenched, want to help others shield themselves from the rain.

She was very gratified that her brother was the latter type of person.

He didn't care about his friend's status; he only cared about the friendship between them.

"I am very gratified." An Yinan first expressed her own feelings. Sometimes when relatives express themselves, they don't look at how others see it, but focus more on the feelings of their kin.

Anyone in the world can misunderstand me, but why must you?

A very simple feeling, perhaps it could become the final straw that breaks the camel's back.