CHAPTER 16: CHAPTER 16: A WOMAN’S SECOND REINCARNATION

"As expected, dogs only know how to yap," Lin Xiang’s hoe deliberately swung towards Wen Siyuan’s foot, and the unsuspecting Wen Siyuan got hit, yelping in pain while clutching his foot.

"Lin Xiang!"

Lin Xiang ignored him completely, shouldered her hoe, and moved to another spot to continue digging for mushrooms.

Her demeanor infuriated Wen Siyuan.

Instead, Lin Xiang treated all his noises as dog barks and ignored whatever he said.

After finishing her mushroom digging, Lin Xiang carried her basket back to the team office.

She hadn’t even entered the gate when she was stopped by someone.

"Smartie Wen came looking for you again earlier. Lin Xiang, how can you be so thick-skinned? You keep saying you don’t fancy Smartie Wen while tugging and pulling with him, you’re shameless!"

Lin Xiang stood her hoe by her feet, looking coldly at the girl in front of her.

This person was Yang Lihua, Zhao Chunping’s daughter, about the same age as Lin Xiang. Yet, Yang Lihua was one of the few high school graduates in the Li Hua Team, so she considered herself superior. Due to their "rival" status, she always looked down on Lin Xiang, who was seen as lazy and had a bad reputation in the village.

"Look at you, at least you went to high school, your uncle is an official worker at a steel plant, your mom is the women’s director of our Li Hua Team, and though your dad doesn’t hold any position, he has carpentry skills. With your status, you could aim for a formal worker in town, why do you fancy Wen Siyuan?"

"You’re completely unbothered by him being a freeloader and juggling multiple women!"

Yang Lihua stiffly replied, "There’s no such thing, you’re targeting Smartie Wen because of your spite from lost love!"

Lin Xiang touched her nose, "Is Wen Siyuan saying this to you?"

Yang Lihua said nothing, silently admitting it.

"Well done!" Lin Xiang applauded Yang Lihua, "Don’t mention being a high school graduate, with that brain, no matter how much you study, you’ll be fooled by men without a clue! You don’t use your brain at all, hence you deserve to be tricked by men!"

"Getting fooled is your own business, don’t instigate your mom to give me trouble. She’s not young anymore, aren’t you afraid of her being embarrassed along with you?"

"Lin Xiang, you you you..."

Yang Lihua pointed a finger at Lin Xiang but couldn’t form a complete sentence after a long while.

Since when did Lin Xiang become so articulate?

Yet Lin Xiang held Yang Lihua’s hand, pushing her finger down, earnestly speaking, "There are plenty of men in this world better than Wen Siyuan, if you seriously select, you’ll find one who suits you well in every way. With Wen Siyuan, even if you marry him, your days of suffering are yet to come."

"Yang Lihua, marriage isn’t a small matter, finding a partner is a woman’s second rebirth. You wouldn’t want to spend decades dragging along with such a loser, right?"

Yang Lihua obviously didn’t expect Lin Xiang to tell her these things. She was taken aback for a moment and said awkwardly, "Didn’t you used to chase after Wen Siyuan too? You were even more excessive than I am!"

"Who says otherwise!" Lin Xiang slapped her thigh in agitation, "That’s why, after seeing his true face, I immediately came to my senses! Look at me now, I can rely on my abilities to help our Li Hua Team connect phone lines! You’re one of the few women in the village who went to high school, you have a bright future ahead; why cling to this loser Wen Siyuan?"

Yang Lihua was momentarily speechless and didn’t know how to respond. Lin Xiang seemed unfamiliar to her now.

But Lin Xiang patted her shoulder, "Because we share the same experience, I’m warning you with good intentions to avoid repeating my mistakes. Of course, if my words seem annoying, you can choose not to listen. Just don’t treat me as an imaginary enemy and keep causing me trouble!"

The book lacks records about Yang Lihua, but liking someone like Wen Siyuan means her fate wouldn’t be promising.

Lin Xiang couldn’t bear watching such an innocent girl ruin her life over the wrong guy.

Moreover, she didn’t want Yang Lihua to keep provoking her mom to cause her trouble, which was unbelievably annoying.

When Lin Xiang finished speaking her mind, she didn’t care about Yang Lihua’s complex and changing expressions behind her and entered the team office with her half-basket of mushrooms, heading straight to the kitchen.

"Girl, you’re back!" the team leader asked Lin Xiang warmly, "Have you decided what dishes to prepare for the commune leaders and telecom bureau comrades?"

In the seventies, when people were generally hungry, having a filling meal was a luxury, which is why the team leader valued today’s reception meal so highly.

"Our team raises chickens, right? Catch an old hen, we’ll use half for soup - old hen stew with mushrooms, it’s tasty and nutritious. The other half can be used to stir-fry a dish. Additionally, we’ll prepare two vegetable dishes, avoiding extravagance while ensuring everyone is full."

By now, it’s seventy-seven, and many teams have started large-scale chicken and duck farming. Killing an old hen for the reception meal is not unusual, and the commune director won’t object.

"Alright, I’ll go catch a chicken now."

The team leader picked the fattest old hen from the coop and brought it to Lin Xiang for preparation. Lin Xiang raised the knife, hesitating for a long time on how to start.

Although she is a food blogger, there’s no rule that food bloggers must know how to slaughter chickens!

The ingredients she uses can be bought ready-made, but she truly fears killing chickens.

"Look at me, young ladies like you haven’t witnessed such bloody scenes. Let me help you prepare the chicken broth."

"Okay, I’ll start cooking then."

Lin Xiang prepared four dishes and a soup—the soup being old hen stewed with mushrooms—and the stir-fried dishes were spicy diced chicken, cucumber stir-fried with eggs, spicy shredded potatoes, plus meat stew with vermicelli.

Uncertain about Director Qian’s taste, Lin Xiang prepared both heavy and light-flavored dishes. Old hen stew was quite presentable in the seventies, including several vegetarian dishes completed the table with proper etiquette, preventing Director Qian from accusing the Li Hua Team of extravagance.

Lin Xiang cooked swiftly, and by the time the telecom bureau staff finished connecting the phone line, the reception meal was ready.

"We won’t eat, serving everyone is my duty as the commune director, no need to go to great lengths to host us."

The team leader hurriedly said, "Director Qian, you’re too polite. We’ve only prepared some homely dishes by the girl. You’ve been busy all morning, can’t let you go back hungry."

While Director Qian wondered who the girl was, Lin Xiang quietly raised her right hand, "I am the girl."