Ruling the Historical Romance Novel as the Female Supporting Character-Chapter 210: Sister-in-Law, You Have a Misunderstanding About Yourself

"You guys were too cold just now. She prepared food for us, after all," Ding Xiaoyu muttered softly.

But the older educated youths didn’t appreciate her sentiment. They even rolled their eyes discreetly when Su Yijia wasn’t looking. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"You have no choice but to interact with Comrade Su since you share a room with her, but we’re different. We can’t afford to get too close to them."

"Xiaoyu, we advise you not to talk too much with them. These people are ruthless. Just look at what happened to Xuezhen."

The older educated youths’ whispers were filled with fear they couldn’t hide.

"What does that have to do with the inspectors? It was clearly Xuezhen’s fault!" Ding Xiaoyu retorted angrily, slamming the thermos and lunchbox onto the table.

The sound startled them, and they all glanced nervously at Su Yijia. Seeing that she hadn’t looked their way, they breathed a sigh of relief and glared at Ding Xiaoyu.

"No matter how wrong Xuezhen was, she was still one of us! You live with her every day, shouldn’t your bond be closer than with these inspectors? Even though Xuezhen brought it on herself, it was ultimately the inspectors, relying on their status, who dealt the harsh blow. Look at how Xuezhen had been in the village for years; aside from labor punishments, the villagers never went that hard on her."

"Xiaoyu, if you think you can curry favor with the inspectors and get back to the city through them, I advise you to give up that idea. These people are sharp. They won’t waste time on us educated youths."

Their words made Ding Xiaoyu’s eyes well up with tears of anger, but the others simply didn’t believe her and thought she was being unrealistic.

Even among those who were sent to the countryside, there were better and worse assignments. For instance, those sent to the agricultural provinces like Jiang Province and An Province, while the work was hard, at least received ample grain and didn’t have to worry about going hungry. Those sent to the Eastern Provinces, though cold, also had abundant agriculture and frequent hunts organized by the villagers, ensuring a steady supply of food. Additionally, they enjoyed long winters from November to March or April without fieldwork.

However, the western regions and their current location were among the worst. The dry conditions meant hard labor and poor harvests, often leaving them dependent on government aid and struggling to get even half-full.

Those assigned here had families who had essentially given up on them. Previously, some of the female comrades had hoped to marry one of the three eligible male inspectors, but the arrest of Wu Xuezhen, the most attractive among them, had shattered those hopes. Now, they just wanted to stay as far away from the inspectors as possible and avoid trouble.

"So, according to you, we should just not eat these dishes?" Xia Pengzhan, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up, opening the lunchbox and thermos. The enticing aroma was too overwhelming. The educated youths, who had intended to refuse, swallowed their words.

Wu Linong hesitated but found an excuse, "If we don’t eat, they’ll definitely think we have something against them. That would just be asking for trouble."

"You think your attitude didn’t already offend them?" Ding Xiaoyu retorted irritably. She reached out to take the dishes, saying, "Since you want to draw a clear line, then we’ll just eat these ourselves."

"Xiaoyu, are you holding a grudge against us now? We promise to be a bit friendlier to the inspectors so they won’t think we’re afraid of them, alright?" Wang Huijing patted Ding Xiaoyu’s arm in a forced display of friendliness.

Ding Xiaoyu wasn’t truly looking to hog the food. Hearing their conciliatory words, she withdrew her hand. They quickly figured out how to eat the crayfish and, finding the taste irresistible, focused solely on grabbing more pieces. Given that Su Yijia hadn’t provided much, the dish was emptied within minutes, with even the broth used to flavor their rice.

The meal was over in just a few minutes. Licking their lips, they glanced at Su Yijia, who was still eating. It wasn’t that they expected more food, but they were curious about the recipes for the crayfish and snails. If they could learn how to make these dishes, their meals would be much more enjoyable.

However, their fear of Su Yijia and the other inspectors was too strong. In the end, they nudged Ding Xiaoyu to ask for the recipes. Despite her hesitation, she couldn’t refuse and walked over.

"Comrade Su, how did you prepare these snails and crayfish? They’re absolutely delicious. Could you teach us?" she asked, her voice a mix of hope and anxiety, worried their earlier attitude might have upset Su Yijia.

But Su Yijia hadn’t taken offense at their behavior. After feeding a spoonful of porridge to Qin Kaize and wiping his mouth, she replied, "I’ll show you in the evening. We’ve run out of snails and crayfish for now, but I’ll teach you when I cook tonight."

"Great! We’ll go catch some after work this afternoon and then come learn from you." Ding Xiaoyu sighed in relief, making sure to clarify their intentions to avoid any misunderstanding.

As Ding Xiaoyu returned to the table, Gao Huabin couldn’t help but express his discontent, "Sister-in-law, why are you teaching them? They spoke so poorly of you just now."

The others thought they had spoken quietly enough, but everyone except the elderly Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin had heard them clearly, thanks to their keen senses or special training.

"It’s not a big deal. Why hold a grudge?" Su Yijia shook her head with a smile. She wasn’t one to start a fight over trivial matters.

Gao Huabin looked at her incredulously. "Sister-in-law, you’ve really mellowed since coming here."

"Are you saying I used to have a bad temper?" Su Yijia teased, pretending to be annoyed.

"Not bad, just... you definitely weren’t someone to mess with," Gao Huabin stammered, only to be met with cold stares from Qin Kaize and Xia Weiguo.

"Jiajia, don’t mind him. He’s not thinking straight," Xia Weiguo quickly tried to placate her. To him, Ze’s wife never had a bad temper; she never started trouble without reason.