Chapter 74: Unacquainted with the Ways of the World

No, absolutely not, Tang Xin thought, almost wanting to slap herself. What nonsense was she thinking? That man was the pillar of his family—he would return home safely, for sure!

At that moment, Li Xuewei's voice could be heard from outside, "Hello, is Tang Xin home?"

Among the people at the educated youth station, Tang Xin was only somewhat fond of Li Xuewei, so hearing her voice, she lazily got up and went out. To her surprise, standing outside the courtyard gate besides Li Xuewei were Gao Meitong and Meng Jia as well.

Meng Jia especially—she had been rudely sent away last time, and now she had the nerve to show up again?

Meng Jia wasn’t empty-handed, though; she carried a bag containing several apples, not particularly good but not terribly bad either.

"Tang Xin, I genuinely came to see you last time. I didn't expect you to misunderstand me," Meng Jia said as she handed over the bag.

Tang Xin’s storeroom still held plenty of apples, so she hardly cared for what Meng Jia brought. Yet, she was bored and irritable, and curious about why the original heroine kept coming to visit—wasn’t Meng Jia supposed to be staying by Lu Liqin’s side, moving him to compassion so the male lead would take her back to the city with him?

Tang Xin decided to let them in, though she offered no tea to her guests. She sat down across from them, saying nothing.

Meng Jia glanced furtively at Tang Xin’s face, noticing her poor complexion, and spoke in the tone of an understanding elder sister, "Tang Xin, your status has changed now; you need to live well."

Tang Xin rolled her eyes and ignored her.

Li Xuewei, meanwhile, openly surveyed the entire house and smiled, "It’s very clean and tidy, Tang Xin. Your family is quite nice."

She didn’t mention that this was Tang Xin’s in-laws’ house. Li Xuewei was the eldest daughter of her family and knew more about the ways of life.

Gao Meitong nodded along, though she secretly felt disdainful. It was just a rural courtyard—how provincial. The city’s tall buildings were much better.

Still, hearing words that suited her, Tang Xin’s smile became a shade more genuine.

She looked at Li Xuewei seriously and said, "My mother-in-law is a hardworking woman and treats me very well. She handles everything inside and outside the house herself."

Was this boasting, showing off how well her life was after marrying? Meng Jia didn’t believe it; she thought Tang Xin was just putting up a front, trying to save face. It was only a country family, and both the elders and the younger ones were known for being difficult in the team. None of the Li family were present, not even Tang Xin’s mother-in-law, leading Meng Jia to believe Tang Xin’s days must be hard.

If the mother-in-law truly treated her well, wouldn’t she have come out to greet the visiting educated youths? But not a single member of the Li family appeared—what was that about?

Meng Jia seemed to have forgotten that last time she barged in, she had already caused unpleasantness. The fact that they were willing to receive her now was nothing short of a miracle.

Suddenly, Gao Meitong said, "Tang Xin, did you know? Lu, the educated youth, might be returning to the city soon."

Ha, regret it now? You insisted on marrying a country boy—otherwise, maybe Lu would have taken you back to the city with him.

Such thoughts flashed briefly through Gao Meitong’s mind. She actually hoped Lu would have nothing to do with any of the female educated youths.

Still, she was annoyed. No matter how much she hinted or tried to ingratiate herself, Lu’s attitude never changed—he barely acknowledged her, but whenever Tang Xin was mentioned, his expression shifted slightly.

Gao Meitong was deeply resentful, but like a mantis stalking the cicada, she saw the bigger picture. In fact, Meng Jia probably disliked Tang Xin even more, so Gao Meitong had encouraged them to come to the Li house together before Lu left.

Coincidentally, Tang Xin already knew about this, thanks to a letter from her mother. Still, Tang Xin felt there was no need for outsiders to meddle, so she smiled and asked Meng Jia, "Oh, why don’t you act spoiled with your brother Lu and ask him to take you back to the city?"

Meng Jia realized that Tang Xin was just as she used to be—or no, even more insufferable than before.

She had the temperament of a young lady, and her words could choke a person. How could someone like her have any pleasant days with her in-laws?

Meng Jia softly replied, "Don’t say that. We came to the countryside to contribute to building a new rural society; how could we abandon it halfway?"

Tang Xin wanted to laugh—how could someone like Meng Jia contribute to rural development? She couldn’t handle farm work and always appeared weak and tearful, yet dared to say such things?

Tang Xin nodded in agreement, "That’s true. With your high ideological awareness, you should stay here and never return to the city. Make sure your mother doesn’t ask mine to pull strings, and even if you get the chance, you should let someone else go back instead."

Meng Jia was dumbfounded, unable to believe Tang Xin could be so venomous. Look at what she was saying—was she cursing Meng Jia to never return to the city and to suffer in this rural backwater forever?

Seeing Meng Jia’s shocked face, Tang Xin looked even more surprised, "Did I misunderstand? Didn’t you say you would never abandon the cause of rural construction?"

Meng Jia had no words. She had said it, but that wasn’t what she meant at all.

Gao Meitong and Li Xuewei were equally speechless; Meng Jia had indeed said something similar just moments ago.

Because she had experienced reincarnation, Meng Jia knew that strange and supernatural things could happen in this world, so she usually avoided making promises. Yet every time she faced Tang Xin, she lost her composure.

Clearly, she was supposed to be favored by fate—granted another chance at life to grasp happiness. Why did she always come off worse whenever she met Tang Xin?

Now, she was worse off than in her previous life.

So Meng Jia could only comfort herself again: at least Lu Liqin and Tang Xin could not end up together now, and she had a half chance of success.

Forcing a smile, Meng Jia bid Tang Xin farewell, saying they would return to the educated youth station.

Tang Xin’s smile became dazzling. "Alright, go back then. You still need to work in the fields and can’t take random days off."