Transmigration: On the Gossip Front
Chapter 302 Unlucky Female Educated Youth 2_1

Chapter 302: Chapter 302 Unlucky Female Educated Youth 2_1

Huang Lei had no clue about the undercurrents swirling around the trio’s mealtime; after she finished her steamed bun, she sneakily ate a piece of jerky while everyone else was distracted by their food.

It must be said that the cooking was indeed excellent. It made sense, given that the original owner’s grandfather had been a chef at a state-run restaurant, and his skills were absolutely top-notch.

The old man had only Huang Lei as a granddaughter, so of course, he passed all his culinary secrets onto her.

Yet, the old couple rarely had the chance to enjoy meals cooked by the original owner. Instead, the Zhao Family often called her to cook whenever they had to entertain important guests.

The original owner hadn’t thought too much about it, but Huang Lei now felt that the Zhao Family simply used the original owner as a cook.

In this lifetime, even if she had to cook, she wouldn’t be as foolish and naive as in her last life.

Feeling bored and not in the mood to chat with anyone, Huang Lei picked up a book and started reading.

After finishing their meal and returning to the carriage, Wang Nan and her friends saw Huang Lei still reading. "Xiao Lei, I’m really sorry, we forgot to bring you something to eat," Wang Nan said.

Zhao Aoran didn’t like to see Wang Nan always thinking about Huang Lei, "She brought her own steamed buns, she won’t starve."

"Right, I brought steamed buns. Just take care of yourselves," Huang Lei prayed internally, hoping that the trio would just go to the dining car for their meals.

That way, she could enjoy her meal in peace, without having to listen to any covertly offensive remarks.

"By the way, let’s have dinner together tonight," Wang Nan suggested, thinking it was a good idea.

"No need," Huang Lei politely declined, "Eating steamed buns is fine, and besides, someone should keep an eye on the luggage."

Having said that, there was not much else Wang Nan could do. Zhao Aoran was quite pleased with Huang Lei’s considerate behavior.

Feeling Zhao Aoran’s satisfaction, Huang Lei shuddered and continued reading her book.

Wang Nan noticed the book and peeked over, "Are you reading about agriculture?"

Huang Lei hummed an affirmation, "Aren’t we going to farm on the commune? I thought I should at least look over some theoretical knowledge."

The main point was that beyond a few types of books, this was the only one that was safe to read.

After scanning a few pages, Wang Nan found it as incomprehensible as a book from heaven and couldn’t bring herself to like it.

"But can you understand it?" Zhao Aoran sneered, convinced that someone with Huang Lei’s pig-brain couldn’t possibly grasp such material.

"I don’t, so I need to learn," Huang Lei said calmly and proceeded to read.

Zhao Aoran was infuriated by her response, but as a man, he knew he shouldn’t confront Zhou Lina head-on.

However, he secretly decided that if Huang Lei wasn’t going to show him respect, she shouldn’t expect to be included in any fun and games.

He had been quite worried about facing the hardships of being a sent-down youth, but now he felt that even though life would be tough, it at least wouldn’t be too terrible.

The food in the dining car was quite delicious, and Zhao Aoran thought he should go there earlier in the evening and order some braised pork.

And so, at every mealtime, Wang Nan and the others would go to the dining car to eat, leaving Huang Lei to eat her steamed buns at her seat.

"It must be nice, it must be nice to have money," someone finally couldn’t help but speak up as they watched Wang Nan and the others head to the dining car.

Though the others didn’t speak, envy was etched on their faces.

No matter their families’ financial situation, nobody had thought of eating in the dining car; despite the lack of need for ration coupons, one still needed money.

Just that alone was enough to deter a great many people, and seeing others frequently dining there, the envy, jealousy, and resentment in everyone’s hearts could no longer be suppressed.

Everyone was sent to the countryside as educated youth, and the food was very simple, with the most significant difference being whether there was meat or eggs. As long as we weren’t starving, that was enough.

But then three people suddenly emerged, eating every meal in the dining car; not feeling jealous would be unusual.

Huang Lei didn’t know whether Wang Nan and the others felt it, but it was that everyone spoke less and less to them. After all, there was an unseen distance between them, making it clear that even though they were all educated youth, there were distinctions.

Of course, they also cast sympathetic glances at Huang Lei. The four of them should have been acquainted, yet while those three feasted at each meal, she was huddled in her spot eating steamed buns.

There was another girl, Xiao Lei, who always said she would bring back food for her, but it never materialized beyond her pretty words, and Huang Lei never saw her actually bring any food.

If one didn’t know the full story, they might think Huang Lei was very caring and kind-hearted.

Yet in reality, she was someone whose words sounded nice, but her actions were entirely lacking, which reminded some of Wang Nan.

If they were assigned to work in the same place, one would hope that such scheming wouldn’t happen.

Huang Nannan, eating her last meal on the dining car, had no idea that her reputation had become somewhat tarnished.

She was starting to have regrets, but the thought of having Fan Xiaofei there made it difficult for her to let go.

However, it seemed that life in the countryside might not be so great. At the very least, it wouldn’t be like these few days, with meat in every meal.

Even at home, except during the New Year’s celebration, the meals were never this good.

Even during the New Year’s, she hadn’t enjoyed food as much as she had these past days, and it was because of this that she was genuinely worried about how she would adapt to village life.

When she expressed this, Fan Xiaofei and Zhao Aoran were both clueless. They were actually quite anxious as well.

"Didn’t we also participate in farm work? We’ve all adapted to it, haven’t we?" Fan Xiaofei tried to bolster their spirits.

He genuinely had no way out. With his family’s situation, there was no chance they would help him arrange a return to the city.

Even if they did help him arrange a return, life back in the city might not be any better, whereas the other three had chances for a city return with just a bit of maneuvering.

Whether Huang Lei returned to the city didn’t concern Fan Xiaofei, but he couldn’t bear the thought of Zhao Aoran and Wang Nan returning together.

If they went back and spent their days together, Fan Xiaofei dared not bet whether Wang Nan would end up with Zhao Aoran.

Right, he wasn’t mistaken; he knew that Zhao Aoran liked Wang Nan, but whether Wang Nan liked Zhao Aoran, he didn’t dare ask.

Whether his current situation would ever return to its former glory was an unknown.

Fan Xiaofei could only cling tightly to Wang Nan, preventing her from returning to the city. As long as they were together, he felt confident Zhao Aoran wouldn’t end up marrying Wang Nan.

Of course, the best solution would be to get Zhao Aoran married off; then, he definitely wouldn’t be able to be with Wang Nan.

But Zhao Aoran’s standards weren’t low, otherwise, he wouldn’t have set his sights on Wang Nan, just like him.

There was no helping it, though; willing or not, he had to find a bride for Zhao Aoran.

After considering all options, Fan Xiaofei thought of Huang Lei. He really didn’t like her; she seemed petty and couldn’t compare to Wang Nan at all.

He also didn’t understand why Wang Nan was friends with Huang Lei, but now it might be useful to exploit that relationship.

Zhao Aoran noticed Fan Xiaofei’s strange, calculating look aimed at him.

At first, he couldn’t think of anything that would make Fan Xiaofei scheme against him, but soon he realized why. It was simple; Fan Xiaofei, in his current state, couldn’t compare to him at all.

If it had been in the past, they would have vied to pay together, but now, Fan Xiaofei didn’t have that capability. Realizing this, Zhao Aoran was both happy and smug.