Transmigration: On the Gossip Front

Zhao Yadong handed Zhang Yu a stack of things at the door, and Zhang Hui, with her sharp eyes, caught sight of it.

"Zhao, what did you give my sister? What’s that?" Why give it to Zhang Yu and not her, even though she thinks she’s prettier than Zhang Yu.

Zhao Yadong glanced at Zhang Yu, unsure if he should speak. Zhang Yu didn’t care, "Last time I was off, I went up the mountain and got some mushrooms. After drying them, I had Zhao help me sell them."

Zhang Hui knew Zhang Yu would go up the mountain during her breaks. She had wanted to tag along, but Zhang Yu would leave early in the morning and only return in the afternoon.

Once, Zhang Hui went with her, and by the time she reached the foot of the mountain, she was already exhausted. After that, she never went with Zhang Yu again, but she knew Zhang Yu had picked quite a few mushrooms.

Zhang Hui looked surprised, "Weren’t those supposed to be mailed back home?" She had told their parents she would go up the mountain to pick mushrooms during her break, so when Zhang Yu mailed them back, they would be considered her achievement too.

Who would have thought, Zhang Yu didn’t plan to mail them but to sell them directly. What could she do now? All the things she said before were impossible to justify.

Zhang Yu knew Zhang Hui was anxious; of course, since the mushrooms were sold, how could she show her virtue? "Why would I mail them back?"

"Mailing them back, the family won’t say anything good about me. They’ll certainly praise you instead, saying you picked them. Either way, I won’t get any credit. I might as well exchange them for money." Zhang Yu was straightforward.

"You could also go pick mushrooms to show some effort."

"Today I asked Zhao Yadong to help me mail a letter. In the letter, I mentioned I picked mushrooms on the mountain but wouldn’t mail them. After all, my pocket money compared to yours isn’t much. You usually get fabric and other things."

"To compensate for the financial gap, I need to pick mushrooms. If they want to eat, they can come to you."

"Xiao Hui, you’re the dutiful daughter in our parents’ eyes." Zhang Yu stayed in touch with her high school friends, unlike the original Zhang Yu, who lost contact with them after moving to the countryside.

This time, she had to maintain contact with the classmates who stayed in the city, especially those working at the machinery factory, needing to communicate often.

Zhang Hui, listening to Zhang Yu’s words, immediately felt downcast. She truly regretted it now. Why did she have to reply in the letter that she would mail dried mushrooms back home? Now she was pushing herself into a difficult situation.

She was angry, really angry, but couldn’t let it out. Otherwise, people would certainly ask why she insisted on Zhang Yu mailing them back when it was her who said she’d mail mushrooms home.

"I heard from my friends that my parents and yours had mentioned at the factory how filial you were, saying you wrote them letters and mailed mushrooms back home." Keeping in touch with friends is good; any gust of wind from the Zhang Family is known immediately.

"By the way, Zhang Tao’s girlfriend is the daughter from the family of some leader. My mother already said they’re waiting for your filial act, niece." See, the things haven’t even arrived, yet the gossip is rampant.

Apparently, even Zhang Tao’s girlfriend’s family knows. Zhang Hui must mail them.

Ugh, Zhang Hui never thought the family would know about this, but they were even bragging outside. What to do?

She originally intended to take credit for the mushrooms Zhang Yu mailed back as her achievement. Who would have thought, Zhang Yu’s not mailing them, what to do?

"Dear sister, you’re truly my dear sister. I’ve already boasted. If I don’t mail them back..." Zhang Hui looked at Zhang Yu pitifully.

"Besides, the family wired you money." Zhang Hui emphasized.

"Yes, but that’s for taking care of you, isn’t it?"

"I offer labor; you provide money. You don’t have money, so the family gives it to me."

"Why not have the family send you money, and then you can pay me monthly? I’m providing labor; you pay." This way, later when Zhang Fu complains about her spending the money, she can make them provide proof.

She’s paying for Zhang Yu’s labor? Then every month, the family wires her at least forty or fifty? Zhang Hui quickly indicated she couldn’t do it.

It’s imminent that Zhang Tao will get married, and while Zhang Tao doesn’t mind the family giving her so much money every month, his wife might not agree.

Plus, as Zhang Li’s age increases, the family will need to spend more money. Once they realize how much is wired to her monthly, won’t they have opinions?

"Aren’t you afraid I won’t give you money then?" Zhang Hui laughed and asked.

"Not really. If you don’t pay, I won’t work, and I don’t need to take care of you. I can just do more farm work or spend more time in the mountains and still earn money, living the same as now."

Tch, trying to threaten her? She doesn’t need to think; this type of threat would backfire.

"Can you cook? Can you wash clothes?" Zhang Yu chuckled at the thought, "Tomorrow is the start of the month; we can try it for a month."

Let her do the work herself? Zhang Hui wouldn’t dare try it for a month, "Sis, I’m really kidding with you. I don’t know how to cook."

"You could eat with those intellectual youths." Zhang Yu sincerely suggested.

"I don’t want to." Zhang Hui had never eaten communal meals with those intellectual youths. Though she’d never tasted it, she knew it wouldn’t taste good.

Not to brag, but Zhang Yu’s culinary skills were genuinely excellent. If provided with better ingredients, she could certainly cook even tastier meals.

"So you know how to choose." Zhang Yu chuckled, "So..."

"Forget it, let’s have the family wire the money to you. Otherwise, when the new sister-in-law arrives and discovers how much money I get monthly, she surely won’t feel comfortable."

"Oh, in that case, sure, we’ll sign an agreement stating this money is for taking care of you, which is why the family wires it to me."

"It’s my labor fee. Let my parents, your parents, and you sign it." Zhang Yu truly regretted not thinking of this before. Had she thought of it earlier, she would have signed it back home.

Ugh, do we have to sign such an agreement? Zhang Hui instinctively rejected the idea. She knew verbal agreements could be retracted, but once a written agreement is signed, it cannot be changed.

"This, this isn’t necessary, right?" Zhang Hui stammered.

"Why not? We all know it’s labor fees, yet you feel I should still mail things home because the family wires me money."

"I sense something’s off. I haven’t been in the Northeast long, nor been an intellectual youth for long, yet you all start blurring the lines."

"No way." Zhang Yu was firm that this matter couldn’t be ambiguous, "Even if Zhang Tao knows, I really can’t trust them. Twisting facts is your forte."

"I’ll be mailing a letter back home. Next month I’ll take another month’s labor fee. If the parents don’t sign, nor Zhang Tao, acknowledging it, then next month is the last month of cooperation."

Even if they decide not to give Zhang Yu money, she didn’t care. She already had avenues for earning money, "Or you could let Zhang Bin or Zhang Li come over."