Chapter 273 - 271: Maybe Your Curse Actually Worked

Chapter 273: Chapter 271: Maybe Your Curse Actually Worked

"I won’t even get into the other petty stuff. Anyway, they’re the kind of people who’d die if they couldn’t take advantage of us," Lin Qiao said bitterly.

"Pfft."

Lin Qiao’s fierce expression made Gu Nuan Nuan burst out laughing.

Lin Qiao glared at her. When she saw Gu Nuan Nuan was still laughing, her glare intensified. Gu Nuan Nuan quickly waved her hand, finding it harder and harder to stop laughing. "Just tell me already! I’m dying to know what they did to make you so angry. You looked like a lion baring its fangs and claws. You can’t blame me for cracking up."

"Hmph, still making fun of me? You’re a heartless one." Lin Qiao swatted her in frustration. Not feeling any better, she swatted her again, then couldn’t help but start laughing herself.

"Ahem."

Perhaps the grudge ran too deep. After just a couple of laughs, Lin Qiao stopped and continued indignantly, "The main reason we put a fence around our bamboo grove is because their family was always sneaking in to dig up shoots. The woman of that house is completely unreasonable. I mean, it’s not often you find people who steal things from others’ property, right? But we had the bad luck of running into that bunch of weirdos. Stealing! If they just dug up a little to eat at home, we’d let it slide. But not only do they dig them up themselves, they bring other people along, encouraging everyone to do it too. They claim the grove belongs to everyone in the village and that it’s unreasonable for our family to monopolize it just because we paid a small contract fee. Can you believe that twisted logic? And what’s worse, quite a few people actually thought she had a point! It got to the point where even people who wouldn’t have stolen before were all swarming over there, acting like it was their god-given right. Tell me, isn’t that infuriating?"

Lin Qiao vigorously patted her chest, trying to calm herself down. "Originally, if someone from the village occasionally snuck in to dig up a few shoots to eat, we’d just pretend we didn’t see it. It’s not worth making a fuss over something so small, and we don’t have the energy. But people like her are a rare breed. Our family was already struggling, and then they had to go and... What’s even worse is that we heard they were selling the stolen bamboo shoots! Isn’t that just adding fuel to the fire, trying to drive us to our graves? My mom got so mad she argued with them several times. But they just rely on their powerful relatives. The village secretary is on their side, too, and always just tries to smooth things over. Every time, he’d give her a half-hearted talking-to, then keep telling us that since we didn’t catch them in the act, we had to name who told us, or else we had no evidence..."

"Hmph, if we could say who told us, who would ever dare tell us anything again? Wouldn’t that just send their family running over to cause trouble for that person? It’s infuriating! Seeing their smug faces... One time, our family decided to be ruthless and staked the place out. We finally managed to catch someone red-handed, but they just stubbornly insisted it was their first time and that they hadn’t even gotten any shoots yet. And just like that, the whole thing was dropped again..."

Lin Qiao was seething with hatred. Gu Nuan Nuan asked thoughtfully, "That family next door, does anyone from their family work at the Zhang Group?"

"Not yet. Her son is still in high school and graduates next year. I’ve heard that woman bragging to people, saying that when her son graduates, he’ll definitely go work at the Zhang Group." Lin Qiao kicked the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust that settled on the tips of her shoes. Angrily, she kicked it again. "People like that, acting like they’re so high and mighty. Anyone who didn’t know better would think their family owned the Zhang Group, the way they talk about getting in whenever they want. Hmph, I hope her son gets rejected."

"...Maybe your curse actually worked," Gu Nuan Nuan said, speechless for a moment, before giving a meaningful smile. Lin Qiao immediately brightened up, a look of longing on her face. "Hmph, if that’s really true, then that’s what you call just deserts. Thank heavens for that." Gu Nuan Nuan laughed again.

"You two, walk a little faster. Lunch is about to be served at home." Lin Qiao’s father, who was walking ahead, turned and called out. The two girls looked up and realized with a start that they had fallen far behind him while talking. They stopped their conversation and hurried to catch up.

When they arrived at Lin Qiao’s house, Gu Nuan Nuan saw that there were three banquet tables set up. The front door was wide open, with one table at the entrance, one in the main hall, and another in Lin Qiao’s parents’ room. By the time they arrived, most people were already seated. The ones at the entrance were relatives from Lin Qiao’s maternal grandmother’s side.

The teachers invited by Lin Qiao’s uncle were in the main hall. Gu Nuan Nuan did indeed see her own class’s teacher, as well as several others who looked either familiar or were complete strangers. The dishes were already on the table, and everyone had a steaming bowl of white rice in front of them. Seeing that the bowls were still full, it was clear they had just started eating.

Lin Qiao pulled Gu Nuan Nuan forward to quickly greet her uncle and her own teacher, then pulled her into her parents’ room. Most of the people in this room were children, with one or two adults—all women—sitting with the younger kids.

Lin Qiao settled Gu Nuan Nuan next to her two younger sisters, telling them to take care of her. "I’ll go get you some rice," she said and was about to leave when someone called out to her. "Lin Qiao, bring another bowl for me while you’re at it. The rice is really good today."

"Okay, Auntie," Lin Qiao replied sweetly and turned to leave.

Gu Nuan Nuan had just sat down and hadn’t even had a chance to look around when Lin Qiao’s sister, Lin Long, eagerly brought her a clean bowl, chopsticks, and a spoon. "Big Sis, the rice today is delicious," she said.

"Oh, really?"

Gu Nuan Nuan pinched Lin Long’s cheek and asked with a smile. She knew, of course, that whenever a family hosted a banquet, the rice served at lunch was always especially popular. It was steamed in large steamers, making it incredibly fragrant, but it was too time-consuming and laborious for families to make on a daily basis. Still, seeing how cute Lin Long was, she didn’t mind teasing her a little, so she pretended not to know and asked deliberately.

"Of course, it’s true! I can eat two big bowls of this rice even without any other dishes." Lin Long looked at Gu Nuan Nuan with a sincere, ’I’m-not-lying’ expression and nodded vigorously. Not to be outdone, Lin Qiao’s other younger sister, Lin He, chimed in, "Big Sis, it’s really delicious! You have to eat a lot later."

"If you both say it’s that good, then it must be true. I’ll make sure to eat a lot, then. Don’t you cry when I eat all the rice in your house!" Gu Nuan Nuan said with a grin, reaching over to pinch Lin He’s little cheek. This made her laugh shyly. She started to pull away, but then seemed to remember something and forced herself to stay still, letting Gu Nuan Nuan pinch her cheek. "It’s okay. Mom was afraid there wouldn’t be enough, so she steamed a lot today." She paused for a moment, then blushed and added in a tiny voice that only they could hear, "But I don’t think the rice is as tasty as the candy you gave us, Big Sis. I’d never seen that dark candy before, but it’s just as yummy as the white milk candies." As she spoke, she gulped.

"That’s chocolate. If you like it, how about I bring you some more tomorrow?" Gu Nuan Nuan was completely charmed by the little girl. Lin He got excited at once and nodded furiously. Lin Long, listening from the side, looked on with a bit of envy, her eyes fixed on Gu Nuan Nuan.

"You’ll get some too." Gu Nuan Nuan’s words made her excited as well. Her little face immediately flushed as she let out a low cheer. "Thank you, Big Sis!"

"Country bumpkins will be country bumpkins. Acting like they’ve never even seen rice before."