Many of the villagers who hadn't gone far saw the two of them walking home together. They were all a bit surprised, since they knew very well what kind of person Gu Jiaojiao was.
A pampered girl from the city, unable to lift a finger. She liked Yun Zhiqing and had done many embarrassing things for him. She had only been here for a little over half a month, but the entire Qingshan Team knew about it.
Now she'd actually married Leng Yuan. Could they really have a good life together?
「Meanwhile, with the sent-down youths.」
Li Hongmei was being questioned by Chen Ruoyu.
"Hong Mei, didn't you say you didn't know where Gu Jiaojiao went? Why did Gu Jiaojiao just say she told you?"
Li Hongmei clearly knew Gu Jiaojiao had gone to find Leng Yuan, yet she'd pretended not to know and even told them to go ask around.
That's what had attracted such a large crowd.
Not only had they been made a laughingstock, but they had also all gotten two work points deducted.
Li Hongmei had long since guessed that Gu Jiaojiao's words would arouse suspicion, so she had already prepared a response.
She put on a wronged expression. "I thought Jiaojiao left right after she told me. Besides, this sort of thing is bad for her reputation. If she hadn't been gone all night, I wouldn't have said a word."
This statement from Li Hongmei was plausible and put her in a reasonable position, since it did concern Gu Jiaojiao's reputation.
Chen Ruoyu gave her a suspicious look but couldn't see through the act. She could only assume that Li Hongmei had truly been acting with Gu Jiaojiao's best interests at heart.
Li Hongmei had to repeat this explanation to several people before everyone's suspicions were finally dispelled.
After a busy morning and getting her work points deducted, Li Hongmei's resentment toward Gu Jiaojiao deepened.
Strictly speaking, she had no real grudge against Gu Jiaojiao. It was just that after Gu Jiaojiao came to the countryside, she ate well, had nice things, was beautiful, and was even popular with the male youths. Li Hongmei couldn't help but feel it was unfair.
But Gu Jiaojiao was a fool. She had the temper of a pampered young miss, couldn't do anything, and was always complaining about one thing or another. She was picky about everything. It didn't take long for her to offend everyone, and after a while, no one wanted to bother with her anymore.
It was then that Li Hongmei saw her chance. She took the initiative to befriend Gu Jiaojiao, even helping her with laundry and cooking, all for the sake of getting benefits from her.
And Gu Jiaojiao was generous. Not only did she give her many things, but she was even willing to lend her Money Tickets.
But seeing Gu Jiaojiao treat her so well, Li Hongmei didn't feel happy. Instead, her jealousy only grew.
'Why? Why does Gu Jiaojiao get to have such a good life?'
On top of that, she had confessed her feelings to Leng Yuan and been rejected, losing face. So, she decided to use Gu Jiaojiao to get revenge on Leng Yuan.
'Gu Jiaojiao is an idiot. Yun Hao clearly doesn't like her, but she's still infatuated with him. All I had to do was tell her that Yun Hao had feelings for her, and she immediately treated me like her closest confidante, telling me all her secrets.'
'And I seized the opportunity to suggest that she get close to another man who was just as outstanding as Yun Hao. That way, Yun Hao would surely get jealous and realize his true feelings for her.'
'Gu Jiaojiao only hesitated for a moment before agreeing. She immediately started getting close to Leng Yuan. She even listened to me and went to find him in the middle of the night. And that drug she put in his cup? I was the one who helped her buy it.'
'Of course, I lied to Gu Jiaojiao and told her it was just a sleeping drug, that he'd just fall asleep after drinking it. The goal was to make Leng Yuan take responsibility by making it look like they had slept together, even though they hadn't. Then, once Yun Hao realized his feelings, Gu Jiaojiao could go back and clear things up with Leng Yuan.'
'Gu Jiaojiao didn't suspect a thing.'
'To make sure everything went smoothly, I even arranged for a few of the village girls to come by at that exact time, so they would just happen to see Gu Jiaojiao going to Leng Yuan's house.'
Everything went just as she had planned. Gu Jiaojiao didn't come back all night. Li Hongmei casually let the news slip, went to find Li Fenggu, and then pretended to be looking for someone as she asked several villagers. Those villagers were all nosy, so they immediately followed Li Hongmei to Leng Yuan's house.
At first, it was just one villager, but then more and more gathered. Eventually, half the village was there.
'The audience had arrived. As long as Gu Jiaojiao was found at Leng Yuan's house, both of their reputations would be ruined.'
'Leng Yuan would be punished, and Gu Jiaojiao would be ostracized. As Gu Jiaojiao's only friend, I would naturally be able to get even more benefits from her.'
It was such a brilliant plan to kill two birds with one stone. She had thought of everything, except for the one thing she never expected: Leng Yuan and Gu Jiaojiao had gotten their marriage license.
'They got their license, so what the hell was there left to ruin!'
'Not only was this whole morning a complete waste of effort, but I also earned Leng Yuan's suspicion and offended half the village. The loss far outweighed the gain.'