Xu Laidi’s face twisted. Bai Yunjiao, standing nearby, let out a little snicker. Since their last argument, Bai Yunjiao and Xu Laidi’s relationship had soured completely. In fact, almost no one in the dormitory liked Xu Laidi’s personality.
“What are you laughing at?” Xu Laidi snapped, glaring at Bai Yunjiao.
Actually, Song Wei had laughed too, but Xu Laidi didn’t dare openly start trouble with her.
Bai Yunjiao smiled softly and said, “Why are you getting so upset, Xu? Can’t I even laugh? Besides…” She paused, eyeing Xu Laidi’s face with a half-finished sentence.
“City girls don’t wear makeup like that. If they did, they’d be too embarrassed to go out looking like that.”
Xu Laidi glared, “What do you mean by that? Are you saying I’m ugly?”
Bai Yunjiao waved her hand. “I didn’t say that—those are your words.”
Song Wei couldn’t help herself; she burst out laughing. Bai Yunjiao had some real wit in her.
Gao Le and Zhao Su hoped the two would keep arguing, anything to distract Xu Laidi from them. But unfortunately, she wasn’t forgetting her target so quickly.
“Gao Zhiqing(educated youth), do you think I look bad too?”
Her sudden question made Gao Le jump. Wasn’t she focused on Zhao Su just a moment ago?
“Hey, Gao Zhiqing~~” Xu cooed, trying to get his attention.
He couldn’t hold it in any longer and shouted, “Please, just don’t ask me! It’s too scary for me to look at, okay? Go ask someone else. I don’t want nightmares tonight!”
Xu Laidi: ……
Everyone else held back laughter out of politeness, but Song Wei couldn’t stop giggling, nearly dropping the bucket of crayfish in her hands.
Xu Laidi felt her heart break. Why was it that men always liked it when Bai Yunjiao acted coy, but when she tried the same thing, it was a disaster?
Embarrassed, she stamped her foot and was about to leave, but then she noticed something moving in Song Wei’s bucket. She reached over and tried to pull the lid off, driven by her nosy nature.
“Let me see what goodies you brought back this time.”
As she pulled back the leaf covering, her face shifted from excitement to disappointment.
“Why are there so many crayfish in here? You’re that hungry?”
Song Wei rolled her eyes and shook the bucket a bit, nearly splashing it on Xu Laidi.
She shrieked and jumped back, “Watch it! This is my best outfit!” She straightened her dress—an outfit with red floral patterns that she thought made her look amazing.
Song Wei scoffed, “It looks to me like you’re the one desperate for food here. Acting like a fool.”
Xu Laidi grumbled, “What a cheapskate. It wouldn’t have hurt you to show me.”
Trying to hold onto her pride, she looked at Gao Le and Zhao Su and said, “You two must be blind if you think I’m not good enough. One day, you’ll be stuck marrying a village girl!”
Gao Le and Zhao Su: … Please, go ruin someone else’s life instead!
Finally, she turned away with a dramatic swish of her dress, casting a flirtatious glance at Luo Yecheng and a few of the other male members. Making those male educated youths so embarrassed that they wished they could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
Song Wei: …Well, she’s really outdone herself this time.
Liu Linlin rolled her eyes. “Ridiculous.” She eyed Luo Yecheng and considered whether she should try putting on some makeup herself. She was sure she’d look a lot better than Xu Laidi.
As soon as Xu Laidi left, Gao Le and Zhao Su looked relieved and dashed off to their rooms like they were escaping a nightmare. Meanwhile, Song Wei and Li Juan prepared to clean the fish and crayfish.
When the others saw the fish, their eyes lit up. Even though fish had a strong fishy smell, they were still meat, something they hadn’t had in a long time.
“Song Zhiqing, Li Zhiqing?” Bai Yunjiao called out from behind them.
“What’s up?” Song Wei asked.
“Could I trade some white sugar for one of your fish?”
Bai Yunjiao had given it some thought and figured she’d have better luck trading with Song Wei than trying to get anything for free.
Song Wei raised an eyebrow. “Sure. How much sugar are you offering?”
Bai Yunjiao hesitated before saying, “The smallest one, for two ounces of white sugar?”
The smallest fish was just about the size of an adult’s hand.
“Fine, deal.”
Bai Yunjiao looked relieved and quickly hurried to her room to grab the sugar, as if worried Song Wei would change her mind. She returned shortly with the sugar, and Song Wei kept her word, handing over the fish.
Bai Yunjiao beamed as she took it, just as Ma Qian approached.
“Want me to help you clean the fish, Bai Zhiqing?”
Bai Yunjiao’s smile froze for a second before she managed to say, “Thank you, Ma Zhiqing. Yes, please help.”
After he’d finished cleaning it, she sighed. “Too bad it’s such a small fish. But thank you, Ma Zhiqing. Once I cook it, I’ll save you some fish broth.”
Cough, cough, she added weakly, “I haven’t been feeling well lately. I wanted some fish to get my strength back. If only I were as strong as the rest of you, I wouldn’t need to depend on anyone.”
Ma Qian, who had been looking forward to sharing the fish, realized he couldn’t possibly accept it now that she’d said that.
“Ah… well, yes, do take care of yourself, Bai Zhiqing.”
She smiled warmly. “Thank you, Ma Zhiqing.”
Once she turned away, though, her smile turned icy. Dream on if you thought you’d get any of my fish.
Inspired by her success, some of the others also tried to trade for fish. Song Wei didn’t mind trading a couple since she was more interested in the crayfish. In the end, three of the older workers pooled together half a pound of sugar to trade for a bigger fish.
Luo Yecheng seemed interested too, but since he and Song Wei weren’t on good terms, he couldn’t bring himself to ask her. Instead, he turned his attention to Liu Linlin, who was watching Song Wei gut the fish.
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