Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 188 - 187: In the End, She Misplaced Her Trust

Chapter 188: Chapter 187: In the End, She Misplaced Her Trust

Zhao Zhuangshi’s ox cart was a ride Lin Nianhe dared not take again—she had learned her lessons from history.

"Uncle Team Leader, I’ll just ride my bike there this afternoon, I..."

"Where do you need to go this afternoon?"

Wang Shumei and Wen Lan walked into the courtyard and happened to hear Lin Nianhe’s words.

Lin Nianhe casually responded: "I need to make a trip to the town to buy some grain for my childhood friend."

The expressions on both their faces instantly grew complex.

Wang Shumei looked at Wen Lan: "Didn’t you tell her?"

Wen Lan spread her hands: "I thought you did."

Lin Nianhe: "...?"

Wang Shumei tugged at the corner of her mouth, obviously uncomfortable: "Nianhe, the principal said we’re going to have a meeting at the commune this afternoon, you... It seems you weren’t around when the principal mentioned this yesterday."

Lin Nianhe looked at them, her mood rather complicated.

Three people, two groups—after all, it was she who had trusted the wrong people.

Lin Nianhe squinted at the bunch of celery in Wen Lan’s hand, asking: "What are you two having for lunch?"

"We’re making dumplings," Wen Lan replied, "We’ve got some pork fat residue too; it’ll be great for the filling."

Lin Nianhe: "I’m here to freeload a meal!"

Wang Shumei laughed: "What’s all the fuss about? We’ve already prepared a portion for you, come and help out."

Lin Nianhe placed her hands on her hips: "I refuse to work! I only brought my mouth!"

She had been let down, she meant to punish these two women, to throw her weight around in their house and show them the seriousness of the situation.

Starting with this meal of dumplings.

Wen Lan: "Then we’ll just stuff your mouth and not let you have even a sip of the dumpling soup."

Lin Nianhe licked her lips.

Ten minutes later, Lin Nianhe was sitting at the door of the small hut in the backyard, picking over vegetables.

Wang Shumei kneaded dough and scolded her: "Aren’t you something? If you didn’t want to work you should have sneaked over quietly. Why did you have to be so obstinate and cause a scene? Now you’ve put yourself in an awkward spot right in front of Xiao Lan."

Lin Nianhe glanced at Sister Lan carrying water by the well, mumbling under her breath: "You two withhold information from me, I thought at the very least I deserved some compensation."

Wang Shumei paused in her kneading, pondering seriously for a moment before speaking: "I think, no compensation is necessary."

Lin Nianhe: "..."

"I bet Xiao Lan feels the same."

"..."

Lin Nianhe felt that the most troublesome issue she was currently facing was no longer how to protect Little Fourth Sie’s innocence, but that she urgently needed a veto.

She wondered if sitting quietly in front of their door would do any good.

"You silly girl, you’re so slow when it comes to work."

Wen Lan filled the water vat and upon turning back saw Lin Nianhe still struggling with the celery.

She promptly snatched the celery from Lin Nianhe’s hands, while chattering away: "Waiting for you to prepare this celery, we’d have to wait till next year to eat dumplings." With those words, she quickly sorted the celery, rinsed it clean with water, and carried the vegetable basin into the kitchen.

By the time Lin Nianhe got up from the small stool, the kitchen was already echoing with the clanging sounds of chopping filling.

Lin Nianhe leaned against the door, watching her diligent companions and asked, "So what else can I do now?"

Wen Lan was chopping stuffing with one hand and casually tossed a bulb of garlic to her with the other: "Peel the garlic."

"Alright."

Lin Nianhe caught the garlic and returned to her beloved little stool.

As the garlic skins fluttered in the wind, Wen Qingqing and Wen Ruannuan finally grew tired of crying and came around to the backyard.

The backyard was much more spacious than before, Wang Shumei and Wen Lan had cleaned it thoroughly.

Wen Ruannuan’s eyes immediately lit up, and she trotted over to Lin Nianhe to ask, "Nianhe, is this your house?" pointing to the new house behind Lin Nianhe.

"Oh, no, I live over there." Lin Nianhe nodded toward her own small house.

Wen Ruannuan turned to look and then looked back at Lin Nianhe with eyes full of sympathy.

That tiny house, it must be too cramped even for one person to stretch their legs, right?

She rubbed her hands and asked, "So how many people live in this one?"

"Two." Lin Nianhe raised her head with a smile at the corner of her mouth, "Why? You want to live here?"

"Yes..."

"That won’t work."

Before Wen Ruannuan could finish speaking, Lin Nianhe flatly refused: "This house was built with their own money by two people. As long as they’re here, it’s not anyone else’s turn to live in it."

Li Dahe had said it before when Wang Shumei wanted to build the house, the land could be used by them, but the house... if they returned to the city, the commune would not compensate them for the cost of building the house.

After all, no commune would build three rooms for two Educated youth; they couldn’t afford such an expense.

Wang Shumei agreed, but with one condition—if she and Wen Lan didn’t return to the city, no one else could be let into the house.

Her request was voted on and passed in a meeting with Li Dahe, Wang Hong, and Accountant Zhao.

Wen Ruannuan, of course, didn’t know this, she turned her head to Wen Qingqing and called softly, "Sis."

Wen Qingqing also longed for the spacious backyard, saying, "Nianhe, let’s discuss it. We sisters can put in half of the money and move into one of the rooms, how about it?"

Lin Nianhe placed the plump garlic cloves into the bowl, turned her head, and shouted, "Sister Shumei, someone wants to do business with you. Hurry up and have a chat with them."

Wang Shumei had just set down the kneaded dough and came out upon hearing this.

She looked at the two unfamiliar sisters, knowing these were the new Educated youth who came today—Lin Nianhe’s neighbors.

Considering Lin Nianhe, Wang Shumei’s attitude was friendly: "Hello, greet two new comrades, I’m Wang Shumei, what can I do for you?"

Wen Qingqing slightly lifted the corner of her mouth, repeating what she’d just said.

Wang Shumei’s gaze flickered and, seeing Lin Nianhe still indifferently peeling garlic, she understood what she meant.

She chuckled and shook her head: "That’s not possible, in a little while my sister will also come over. This was especially built for her, and besides, we’ve spent nearly two hundred on this house from front to back. If you just want a more spacious house, thirty to fifty would be enough."

Wen Qingqing and Wen Ruannuan hadn’t expected Wang Shumei to refuse in such a way.

Wen Qingqing frowned slightly—the Wen family was not as well off as the Lin family, and they had two younger brothers in school. With only one hundred yuan in their pockets for rural work, averaging fifty each, and that money was for buying grain, so they couldn’t spend it recklessly.

Wen Ruannuan then turned to Lin Nianhe, speaking softly, "Nianhe, help us out, that room is too small, and we simply can’t live there."

The garlic-peeling sister raised her head, perplexed: "That room was originally for two people to live in."

The Wen family’s sisters: "..."

After a brief silence, Wen Qingqing squatted in front of Lin Nianhe, using the gentle mask she had worn for eighteen years: "Nianhe, we’ve just arrived, and we don’t know anything about this place, you see, we grew up in the same courtyard, and Comrade Wang’s sister isn’t here yet, can we borrow it for a month or two to get accustomed?"

Lin Nianhe: "Then you should ask her, the house isn’t mine, how could I possibly make that decision?"