Transmigration: On the Gossip Front
Chapter 511 - 512 Sister Flowers Educated Youth 29_1

Chapter 511: Chapter 512 Sister Flowers Educated Youth 29_1

Shen Yuan hadn’t expected that she would be so pitiful, already without any food to eat.

Yet Shen Jie could be so cold and indifferent, it infuriated her to no end.

As she left, she cursed all the way, thinking, "Don’t blame me for tarnishing someone’s reputation if you don’t lend me money."

Her plan wasn’t bad, some people did hear her criticizing Shen Jie, knowing she had come to borrow money, many just stayed silent.

Especially when everyone wasn’t foolish; couldn’t the educated youth from the neighboring village get advance rations if they had nothing to eat?

They often went to the next village to pick things or trade, and they also knew some things.

Generally, in a place backed by mountains and rivers, as long as people weren’t too lazy, it was absolutely impossible to have nothing to eat.

Now it wasn’t the early 1960s when food supply was very tight.

Especially since Shen Jie only refused to lend her money, yet she was out there cursing and bad-mouthing her.

It left a bad impression; these days, life is hard for everyone, it’s normal not to lend money.

And yet, she was out there cursing loudly, which really annoyed people.

Zhao Na from the house opposite just happened to run into Shen Yuan cursing and told Shen Jie.

Shen Jie had anticipated Shen Yuan would do this, "I refused to lend because, when I lent her so much money in the past, she never thought of repaying."

"I even said this time, if she had nothing to eat, she could ask the village for an advance. She said that would mean having to repay it."

"Isn’t this treating me like a fool?"

"She clearly doesn’t want to pay back, and my money is hard-earned, not blown in by the wind."

Feng Dan was also very angry and revealed why Shen Yuan didn’t have enough food, "Her man would rather have no harvest than stop fishing, he just won’t go into the hills to collect mushrooms. Is Xiao Jie supposed to look after them?"

Zhao Na had originally thought Shen Yuan was just lazy and didn’t work much, which was why she had so few work points; only to find out that she also had a man to support.

Zhao Jia happened to be looking for Zhao Na and of course wanted to hear what was going on.

"It’s the guy my cousin likes. He used to take good care of her back home."

"I thought, being a man, he’d take some responsibility. Moving to the Northeast, he’d at least make an effort, but I never expected this."

"Forget it, she’s my sister’s choice. If she likes him, that’s fine; we can’t say much."

Shen Jie’s face showed her difficulty, "Even though she’s my cousin, she’s actually quite distant. Her grandfather and mine were brothers, but there was some unpleasantness when my grandfather passed away, my dad was still young."

"Not to say we’ve cut off relations completely, but we’ve never been close."

"I didn’t want to mention it, considering she cares about face, but I never expected her to go this far," Shen Jie sighed helplessly.

"I know her intentions; she thinks if she ruins my reputation, I’ll soften, I’ll lend her money."

"But that’s impossible. I only have so much salary; I need to buy things for my family to take back, I need to eat and drink."

"My salary alone can’t support that many people."

Shen Xiaohui would send half his monthly wages directly, while Shen Jie would send large and small parcels back, things like pine nuts, mushrooms, and of course dried vegetables.

In many people’s eyes, it was the family sending money over for Shen Jie to help with shopping.

Everyone saw it and never thought that those ten or so yuan a month were actually for her.

"Right, don’t lend it to them," Zhao Jia said angrily. "Can’t catch any fish but still insists on fishing by the river, if that’s not a fool then what is."

"Exactly, it’s much better up in the mountains; there are mushrooms, pine nuts, and such."

One thing was for sure, as long as you were diligent and willing to work, you could really get quite a lot of delicious things.

Those could be nice as little snacks, or even to send back home in the mail, but they were all good stuff.

"They’re just lazy, climbing the mountain is exhausting, you have to scale it and then carry things back down." Zhao Jia didn’t like going to the mountain either. It was too exhausting, but for the sake of living, she had no choice but to do it.

She thought that Gao Jian’s unwillingness to climb the mountain was a sign of a lazy person.

For such people, who could smear Shen Jie, it was only right to unapologetically spread the word about Shen Yuan’s behavior.

An educated youth, who occasionally bought fish or game from nearby villages, listening to the talk, couldn’t help but feel it sounded a lot like the person he often traded with.

However, he didn’t speak up, knowing the character of the person was enough, since they had always settled their transactions cleanly.

When Zhao Yu heard the gossip outside, he brought it up with Huo Lei, "That educated youth with the surname Gao, he’s from our area too. Why does he seem to match the description of the person I often trade with?"

Huo Lei was aware that Zhao Yu often visited surrounding villages for food, undoubtedly in a way that involved spending money.

The Zhao Family’s expectations of him weren’t high; as long as he didn’t cause trouble, that was enough. They didn’t send money every month, but at least once every two or three months, enough to keep the lad eating well.

"Isn’t that..." Huo Lei thought of this and put down the book in his hands, "Should go and remind Shen Jie."

Clearly having money and yet constantly claiming to be poor, such people were truly disgusting. He had to make Shen Jie more aware of it, she couldn’t be conned.

"He hasn’t not borrowed money," Zhao Yu felt like Huo Lei might be overreacting a bit. Looking at that girl, she didn’t seem like someone who was easy to bully.

"Fear the gossip, if he keeps coming over, crying his heart out, what would people think?"

"They might think she’s a heartless person."

Huo Lei knew Shen Jie could withstand one or two visits of this crying act, but what about multiple times? When the surrounding people’s chatter became too much, could she still withstand it?

While reading on the kang bed, Shen Jie heard someone looking for her, her first thought was it had to be Shen Yuan;

This person would definitely not come just once and give up, she would definitely keep coming.

Surprised to find the visitor was Huo Lei, she wrapped herself in a coat and went out, of course, after a bit of tidying up.

Some thought Huo Lei and Zhao Yu were fine choices, especially the latter who would surely receive a remittance notice within two months. Then it was all about enjoying good food and drink—who wouldn’t be jealous?

Even though their relationship was quite good, they were careful to avoid doing anything improper. So why was he coming to find her now?

Stepping outside, Huo Lei quickly explained the reason for his visit, "I don’t know if your sister is aware of this."

"She doesn’t know," Shen Jie was certain of this, "She definitely doesn’t know about it."

"Gao Jian, he’s not a decent guy. Shen Yuan says Gao Jian always has no catch, but actually, he’s hiding his harvest."

"His family isn’t well off; his father passed away early, and he’s the eldest son at home, with younger brothers and sisters to care for."

Huo Lei coming to tell her this showed he was a decent person. Since that was the case, she decided to speak the hard truth.

Huo Lei didn’t expect Shen Jie’s sister to be that naive. "She... she really hasn’t noticed?"

"Love blinds," Shen Jie shrugged, "In her eyes, Gao Jian can do no wrong."

"It’s not that I haven’t hinted at it, but I don’t know if she just didn’t pick up on it or if she did and chooses not to pursue it. Either way, she doesn’t seem to care," she explained.