The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 105: Bringing Huang Jingli Together_1

Chapter 105: Chapter 105: Bringing Huang Jingli Together_1

From the behavior of Liu Lingli’s mother and Liu Lingli herself now, He Tiantian guessed that when Liu Lingli went back to her room, she would definitely complain.

"Don’t speak yet, come over here, maybe you can hear something else," He Tiantian said with a mysterious smile, pulling Qi Xiaoyan to the back of the room where Liu Lingli was just located.

The youth hostel in Hujia Village was not good, not as good as the one Qijia Village had converted from the Land Temple. Even though it was a bit old, it was ultimately a brick house. Hujia Village just set up a few thatched huts, which could at best be described as draft-free, but neither warm nor soundproof.

Qi Xiaoyan was very curious. Why did Sister Tiantian pull her to the back of someone’s house? Was it to eavesdrop on their conversation?

They could only hear someone inside asking, "Liu Lingli, who was it? Why didn’t you let them in to warm up?"

They heard Liu Lingli respond, "It was an old acquaintance from my hometown who was on her way home. My mom had her bring me some clothes. I had asked my mom to prepare some things in my last letter, but now there are only two cotton-padded clothes. I guess my acquaintance found them too heavy to carry."

Upon hearing this, Qi Xiaoyan’s eyes widened. My goodness, how could there be such people? Someone had helped her, and yet she complained that they hadn’t helped enough?

"The journey is long; it was nice of them to bring things all this way for you," another girl in the room said, not able to stand it, "If you still need something, you could ask your mother to mail it. Besides, two cotton-padded clothes should be enough to wear. The New Year’s holiday is coming up, and you’ll be able to go back then. Whatever you need, you can bring it yourself at that time!"

Seeing everyone else respond this way, Liu Lingli couldn’t say much more.

Then someone else said softly, "By the way, the New Year is approaching. If that person is going back now, will they go back again for the New Year? Back-and-forth train tickets cost a lot of money, you know? And getting train tickets isn’t that easy either."

"Their family has money and power; they don’t care about such things. As long as they want to go back, they can. Just wait and see!" Liu Lingli said bitterly. She had several siblings, and as far back as she could remember, she always felt her family was poor, never having enough to eat or warm clothes to wear. But when she saw how He Tiantian was pampered like a little princess, her heart was filled with envy.

When she saw He Tiantian on the train going to the countryside, Liu Lingli felt a perverse joy, even schadenfreude. Despite He Tiantian’s wealth and pampered upbringing, wasn’t she going to labor in the countryside just like her?

Seeing that He Tiantian had the chance to go home while she could not made Liu Lingli feel even more discontented.

He Tiantian, pulling Qi Xiaoyan behind her, left Hujia Village, walking on the desolate path. The trees and grasses on both sides of the road had all turned withered and yellow.

"Sister Tiantian, why did you pull me away? I’m going to confront that Liu Lingli," Qi Xiaoyan defended her good friend’s honor. She felt Liu Lingli was too bullying.

"Why are you so angry? What’s the point of having a big fight with her?" He Tiantian said, "I owed her a favor before, and now I’ve repaid it. I don’t need to feel uneasy anymore. As for those bitter words, it doesn’t matter, I don’t care. Most importantly, I know what kind of person she is now. With this knowledge, I’ll know how to deal with her in the future."

"Just letting that woman off the hook so easily, she’s getting off too light," Qi Xiaoyan grumbled inside, thinking He Tiantian was too soft-hearted. Given the chance, she intended to help He Tiantian teach Liu Lingli a lesson.

Having returned from Hujia Village, the two sisters hid in He Tiantian’s room, chatting and laughing together. Qi Xiaoyan didn’t leave until after they had finished dinner.

After eating dinner, He Tiantian took a box of pastry from Xinghua Building and a packet of Chrysanthemum Tea to the lodging.

Sister Wu saw He Tiantian coming and hurried to greet her, "Tiantian, come inside and sit, it’s very cold outside, isn’t it?"

There were no entertainment activities. With the cold weather, people could only huddle inside and chat. Now that rules were strict, they couldn’t even play poker, which was especially boring.

He Tiantian came in and said, "I’m here to invite everyone to have some pastries, drink some floral tea."

"Where did the pastries come from?" asked Ye Xiaofan, taking them and preparing to brew some Chrysanthemum Tea, "It smells so good. Next year we should also gather some from the mountain, Tiantian, can you teach us how to make it?"

"Of course, I can. As long as you all like it, when the chrysanthemums bloom, I’ll call you, and we can pick them together. Now, spending all day by the fire, drinking a bit of Chrysanthemum Tea is the best for reducing internal heat." He Tiantian said with a smile, "I’ll go call Huang Jingli and the others over to join us.

"Heh, if you want to give them some, you’d better deliver it yourself. The four of us don’t speak with those three. Even if you asked them to come in, they wouldn’t" Sister Wu said, "We haven’t offended them, and I don’t know what got into them, but they just ignore us."

Ye Xiaofan covered her mouth and giggled, saying, "When we were working on the river dredging, we often brought snake meat to eat, indulging in it until our mouths were dripping with oil. They didn’t eat it themselves but were envious of us eating meat..."

As soon as this was mentioned, Wang Lei and Zhang Qingshan also chuckled. Those three people were really fussy without reason, wanting to eat but not saying a word, and instead making snide remarks on the side. They weren’t their parents or siblings; who would enjoy waiting on them!

"Oh, I see." He Tiantian understood and just as she heard the sound of a door opening outside, she took three pieces wrapped in oil paper and went out.

Seeing that it was Huang Jingli outside and not Lin Xiaoru, He Tiantian approached her, saying, "Jingli, you’re here. I have three pieces of pastry here for you to try, they’re specialty treats from an old famous shop in Nan City."

Huang Jingli was startled, not expecting He Tiantian to bring her food and said with a smile, "Thank you, did you go back to your hometown?"

"There was an urgent matter at home, so I went back for a bit. You, Lin Xiaoru, and Li Mingkai, each take a piece. If they don’t want theirs, then you can have it all," He Tiantian said with a smile. In her heart, Huang Jingli was just alright, but as for Lin Xiaoru and Li Mingkai, they didn’t amount to much in He Tiantian’s eyes.

When Huang Jingli took the oil paper package from He Tiantian, she was very moved. In Qijia Village, because she was associated with Lin Xiaoru’s group and was behind in work, she wasn’t well-liked by the villagers. At the youth work team, Lin Xiaoru had offended Sister Wu and the others, and now those four seniors didn’t associate with them either.

Caught in the middle, Huang Jingli was not happy being threatened by Lin Xiaoru. The fact that He Tiantian treated her as she always did moved her deeply.

Remembering that Lin Xiaoru and Li Mingkai had gone to the county town with a Hu Family Village ox cart that day, Huang Jingli pulled He Tiantian into the room and whispered, "Tiantian, you’ve been so good to me, there’s something that would weigh on my conscience if I didn’t tell you."

He Tiantian was amused, thinking, I’ve been so good to you just waiting for you to say this!

Dealing with people like Lin Xiaoru and Li Mingkai, one couldn’t act directly; undermining them from within might yield unexpected results.

And now, it was time to harvest the fruits of her