Seeing that Song Yitang had her heart set on separating from the family, Captain Zhang knew this wasn't a child's temper tantrum, but that she was serious this time.
Before Song Yitang left, Captain Zhang cleaned out an old and worn stove for her and emphasized that even if she didn't want it, it would have been thrown away.
Heating was no longer an issue, so Song Yitang made do with the stove to heat up food for meals.
Since she didn't have any farm tools, she had to go to the warehouse to register and borrow them like the Educated Youth, and later return them.
When working in the fields, Song Yitang was isolated, but she just focused on hoeing the ground without looking up.
She lived only for herself, so she didn't care what others said about her.
While working, her mind recalled the night before going to sleep, when she had looked at the books in the space and found that the knowledge explained there was even more comprehensive and detailed than the textbooks distributed at school.
She was so enchanted that she read late into the night before going to sleep.
The system emerged not long after she started work the next day.
[Detecting that the host's physical condition is poor, please gain weight until you reach 90 jin to receive the reward of master class online courses.]
Gain weight? What kind of reward is master class online courses? Song Yitang pondered in confusion.
[Current weight: 80.4 jin]
Gaining ten jin was no small challenge for Song Yitang, as everyone was eating coarse grains at the time, and it was normal for nutrition to be lagging.
Looking around the whole Golden Brigade, not a single fat person could be found.
While Song Yitang was worried about how to gain weight, Li Ping couldn't help but interject.
"Why do you have to do this, Tangtang?" she said.
"Isn't it nice to enjoy the good life in our family, instead of going against your family to the point of breaking ties? Do you think you can just let the matter of separating from the family go?"
"Ruizi still has a high fever up to now. If he becomes delirious and fails to get into college because of the fever, I'll hold you accountable."
The sound of Li Ping's mental calculations was deafening.
Without stopping her work, Song Yitang snorted coldly and retorted, "People are quick to blame the road for being uneven when they can't manage it themselves. With his brain undeveloped and cerebellum not functioning, it would be a waste of money even if he studied."
"Let me make it clear once more, in this lifetime, I'd marry a dog or a pig before I marry Zhang Rui."
This was a veiled way of saying Zhang Rui was worse than a pig or a dog.
Furthermore, the whole brigade knew Zhang Rui's poor academic performance, but Li Ping insisted on inflating her son's abilities, claiming he was destined to be a top scholar.
"You shameless little wretch, with just two ounces of cheapness in you, how dare you insinuate my son is worse than a pig or a dog!"
Li Ping was half-dead with anger at the sight of the calm and collected Song Yitang.
In a fit of rage, she grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Song Yitang.
"You damned mongrel, heartless beast! We should never have saved you, should've let you die in that pond to join your annoying grandmother!"
A sense of alarm shot through Song Yitang's heart.
"You nasty old hag, say that again?" Song Yitang dropped her hoe and grabbed onto Li Ping's collar.
Li Ping, barely five feet tall, was now being hoisted by her collar by the five-foot-five Song Yitang, barely touching the ground with her toes.
Dressed thickly for winter, Li Ping's aged face turned red as she struggled to breathe.
"You wretch! How dare you treat me like this!"
Li Ping reached out to scratch Song Yitang's face but missed as the latter dodged.
"Tangtang, don't stoop to her level, calm down," said Aunt Liu, rushing over from next door to pull the two apart.
Once Song Yitang cooled down, she realized she had been impulsive and let go of Li Ping.
At this critical moment, it was best for her to keep a low profile, or life would become even more difficult.
Li Ping took the opportunity to fall back onto the ground, bursting into tears and blowing her nose.
"Murder! Someone's being murdered! The younger generation is now daring to step all over their elders' heads!"
Aunt Liu picked up Song Yitang's hoe and handed it back to her, consoling, "Don't mind that kind of old shrew; getting involved with her is like dealing with a plaster that won't come off no matter how hard you try to shake it."
Song Yitang nodded in agreement and followed Aunt Liu to another spot.
The crying and cursing attracted the attention of everyone around, and they all looked up and over.
In the Golden Brigade, Li Ping's reputation was very poor; she was a woman who loved to take small advantages and was vain at the same time. Not many people were willing to be close to her, and everyone had spread the news about that day's events, but few dared to believe entirely what came out of Li Ping's mouth.
Wang Chunhua was also drawn in, and though she initially didn't plan to meddle, she walked past after seeing Song Yitang with her head held high, proud as a peacock.
Ignoring the strange looks from everyone, she approached Li Ping.
"Auntie, what happened to you?"
After crying out for so long, and finally having someone to talk to her, Li Ping seized the opportunity.
"That cheap mixed breed Song Yitang tried to kill me, she just tried to strangle me!"
Wang Chunhua didn't care about the truth; she just wanted to find an excuse to trouble Song Yitang, to teach her a lesson.
"Don't worry, Auntie Li, I'll go and demand justice for you!"
Wang Chunhua felt very smug inside, as she hadn't expected to find an opportunity so soon.
"Tangtang, don't bother arguing with that whore. I heard you moved to the Educated Youth Spot, is it cold there?"
"Come to Auntie's house for dinner after you finish work."
Aunt Liu had previously come as a refugee and it was Song Yitang's grandmother who had taken her in, eventually finding her a family to join.
Aunt Liu's eyes were filled with unstoppable distress as she looked at Song Yitang.
"If you dare to refuse, then don't call me Auntie again."
Song Yitang could only swallow the words of refusal.
"Song Yitang, for someone who has been to school for a few years, don't you even understand the basic respect for the elderly and love for the young?"
"Furthermore, Auntie Li's son saved you, and not only were you ungrateful, but you also assaulted an elder. For these two reasons alone, I could report you to the commune."
Wang Chunhua came just to stand on the moral high ground and criticize.
Song Yitang had already noticed Wang Chunhua's hostility towards her the day before.
She knew Fu Hao was no good.
"Chunhua, don't speak so harshly. You weren't here just now; you don't know the whole process of what happened..."
Song Yitang didn't want to cause trouble but wasn't afraid of it either. Faced with someone who appeared to be asking for a scolding, she was ready to oblige as much as possible.
"Is that so? Then go ahead and report me, I wonder how many years not respecting your elders earns you these days."
As long as Song Yitang had no moral ground, she didn't care about being morally blackmailed by her.
"Don't you have any compassion? You dare to bully an elder, who knows what you might do next, perhaps even commit murder or arson."
Song Yitang was quite surprised by Wang Chunhua's outburst, which in her memory from her previous life was just as ridiculous as Li Ping's.
How had she become so refined in her insults after just a few days interacting with the educated youth?
"I didn't, but you do, you're a living Bodhisattva in this world. But even a Bodhisattva knows that 'a dog catching mice is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong.' Don't you, the living Bodhisattva of the Golden Brigade, know that?"
"If you really want to help them, why not just marry Zhang Rui and become Auntie Li's daughter-in-law?"
Wang Chunhua was so angry she stuttered, "In your dreams, who would jump into that pit of fire with blind eyes!"
"But it's a fact that Zhang Rui's brother saved you, and it's also true that you bullied Auntie Li. You owe her an apology!"
Claiming to act on Li Ping's behalf, she was actually trying to suppress me and build her own prestige.
"When did Auntie Li take in such a loyal dog?"
"You... you..."
Wang Chunhua held back the urge to curse and was left speechless by Song Yitang's retorts, unable to let off any steam.
Song Yitang's lips curled into a smile, "I still have work to do. Go check if your owner's dead."
These words triggered a lot of laughter from those around her.
"How did Song Erya become so sharp after a dunk in the water?"
"Yeah, she used to be as dull as a mute gourd, now she can really talk."
Song Yitang smiled and said nothing.
Now her grudge with Wang Chunhua was truly settled.