Chapter 161: Refusing to Give Up Until All Hope is Lost

Meng Jia did not believe for a second that Li Sheng possessed any such capability. Come to think of it, Tang Xin might end up having to beg both her and Lu Liqin.

Envisioning such a scene, Meng Jia felt immensely smug, almost wanting to let out three triumphant roars toward the sky.

As ill luck would have it, Tang Xin walked over from a distance at that exact moment, instantly snapping Meng Jia back from her imagination to reality.

The reality was that Meng Jia naturally assumed she was far superior to Tang Xin now.

She and Lu Liqin would soon be returning to the city, whereas the country bumpkin Tang Xin had married—what use was he?

She had heard that the Li family had a mountain of troubles. Even if they seemed all right at present, who knew how much of her own belongings Tang Xin had poured into supporting the Li family?

Judging by her appearance, it looked as though Tang Xin had just returned from the commune.

Meng Jia purposely called out to Tang Xin and asked, "Since you just came back from the commune, was there still any pork left to buy?"

Treating it as nothing more than being bitten by a dog, Tang Xin had no desire to pay attention to that person and simply kept walking forward.

Just as she was about to reach the production team, she happened to run into Li Kai on his way out, so Tang Xin had lent him her bicycle to ride.

That was why she had walked back.

As a result, Meng Jia was extremely dissatisfied with Tang Xin's reaction, likely because she felt that she herself now ranked a cut above the other woman—

After all, the one who had married Lu Liqin was none other than Meng Jia herself, meaning she was a future wealthy businessman's wife.

And as for Tang Xin, she was merely a pitiful wretch destined to rely on the charity of a wealthy businessman's wife in the future. Meng Jia thought to herself with self-righteous delusion.

Therefore, seeing Tang Xin ignore her, Meng Jia became extremely displeased and said haughtily, "I'm talking to you, didn't you hear me?"

To her surprise, Tang Xin actually turned her head around with a look of utter astonishment: "Is someone speaking?"

At this point, everyone finally caught a clear look at the items Tang Xin was holding in her hand.

Someone who had already witnessed this before asked, purposely putting on a show for the others, "Oh, educated youth Tang, is this a remittance slip? Is it a reply from the newspaper office?"

After all, the article written by educated youth Tang had been published in a provincial newspaper, and they had even paid her a manuscript fee.

This was a fact known to many people in the production team. Goodness gracious, it really was remarkable, and apparently, it wasn't just the once.

Could it be that she had received another one?

The crowd grew noisy and excited, but Meng Jia was extremely displeased. So what if Tang Xin had somehow managed to write an article?

A mere few dollars, could that possibly compare to her?

One must know that the Lu family had sent Lu Liqin a hundred dollars in one lump sum, and he had handed all of it over to her.

More would be sent next month, so by her calculations, she was currently much wealthier than Tang Xin.

Having money made one willful, so Meng Jia raised her eyebrows and cast a sidelong glance at Tang Xin, making no attempt to conceal the contempt in her eyes.

Sure enough, she heard someone nearby asking, "Educated youth Tang, how much money can you get this time?"

"That's right, I heard you got three dollars the first time."

"And five dollars the second time."

"I wonder how many dollars you're getting this time."

A few dollars wasn't much, but just think about how long it had been since the beginning of the Chinese New Year. People like them had to toil in the fields for a whole year just to earn twenty or thirty dollars from their work points.

Upon hearing this, Meng Jia let out an uninhibited cold snort, making her disdainful attitude crystal clear.

Yet Tang Xin merely looked at the remittance slip in her hand and said, "It's the same type of article I wrote before, so the manuscript fee is about the same."

Meng Jia looked down on her completely. Oh, please, even if the fee went up a bit—

Six dollars, what was there to show off?

So she deliberately coughed to draw everyone's attention before asking, "Tang Xin, exactly how much money is it? What's the meaning of hiding it like that?"

With that, she gave a tug to the new clothes she was wearing.

Look at that, this was the demeanor of a wealthy person. Meng Jia's entire outfit added up to well over fifty dollars.

Tang Xin cast a cold glance at Meng Jia's antics. Originally, she had been willing to let things go for Lu Liqin's sake and couldn't be bothered to engage, but who knew this woman simply didn't know how to exercise restraint.

She truly wouldn't shed a tear until she saw her own coffin!

Looking at this absurd woman, Tang Xin knew it was likely impossible to keep a low profile today, so she simply raised the remittance slip in her hand and said, "The manuscript fee this time is neither more nor less, a full three hundred dollars."

"Three hundred dollars?" Auntie Huo widened her eyes, looking completely incredulous.

Not to mention her, even Meng Jia froze on the spot, instinctively blurting out, "Impossible, you're lying."

Judging by the expressions on the faces of the people around them, most of them seemed to be thinking the exact same thing.

At that moment, a literate young woman nearby examined the letter and remittance slip in Tang Xin's hand and announced to everyone:

"It's because educated youth Tang's article won first place in a competition held by the newspaper office. The three hundred dollars is the prize money plus the manuscript fee."

In an instant, the crowd's attitude shifted once more, and they all swarmed around Tang Xin, heaping praises upon her.

They called her a literary star descended from the heavens, declaring that no other girl in the production team, nor any of the educated youths from the city, could possibly compare to her.

These words not only praised Tang Xin but also simultaneously degraded Meng Jia, who was standing right beside them.

Naturally, Meng Jia was furious, her expression turning utterly unsightly. Unfortunately, no one was willing to pay her any attention anymore.

This scene was completely different from what she had imagined. Meng Jia gritted her teeth so hard they felt ready to shatter, yet the depression in her heart found no outlet for release.

Just as she turned her head, however, she discovered that Lu Liqin had arrived there at some point as well. Standing right by her side, he was staring in a daze at Tang Xin amidst the crowd, completely motionless.

For a moment, a blazing fury surged within Meng Jia. Unable to hold back, she gave Lu Liqin a shove and scolded, "Are you out of your mind? She's already married someone else, and you're still pining after her like this?"

Usually, whenever Meng Jia nagged like this, Lu Liqin would simply let it pass without talking back, but this time, as if possessed by some ghost, he remarked, "We are the exact same kind of people anyway; who is really any better than anyone else?"

If it had been in the past, Lu Liqin would still be harboring the thought that Tang Xin was merely being willful and throwing tantrums. But now, living with Meng Jia and especially after witnessing her true nature, Lu Liqin finally realized how profoundly wrong he had been.

It was just like back then—when Tang Xin had clearly reached her breaking point, wasn't it completely normal for her to demand compensation and restitution after Meng Jia took so many of her things?

Was he out of his mind back then? How could he have continued to take Meng Jia's side and accuse Tang Xin of throwing a childish temper tantrum?

Ever since marrying Meng Jia, in particular, Lu Liqin often found himself having strange dreams about a bizarre world.

In that world, Tang Xin had died, and he had married Meng Jia.

The reason for their marriage was identical to the present: he had done so out of a sense of responsibility, so their relationship after marriage was rather poor, maintaining merely a facade for outsiders.

Having lost all spiritual sustenance, the Lu Liqin in that dream had poured all his energy into his career, ultimately succeeding in building a vast business empire.

Oh, and by the way, doing business in that world was entirely reasonable, logical, and legal.