Quick Transmigration: The Gossip Master Took the Black Lotus Script - Chapter 23

At this time of year, there weren’t many people up in the mountains, so there was no need to worry about being seen. Luo An moved quickly, and in no time she had caught two wild pheasants and a hare.

Cooking was the one thing Luo An could actually do. Since cultivators could live without eating, cooking was unnecessary—but roasting game had become her hobby. She still had plenty of roasted meat stored in her Qiankun pouch, but somehow it never tasted as good as something fresh off the fire.

She lit a fire, roasted one pheasant, and polished it off without leaving a single bite. Then, carrying the other pheasant in one hand and the hare in the other, she headed down the mountain.

When she appeared, pheasant in one hand and hare in the other, Duan Jia’s jaw nearly dropped.
“You… where did those come from? Don’t tell me you stole someone’s livestock…”

Luo An really wanted to roll her eyes. As if she needed to steal from others—what an insult!

“I caught them myself. Since you think they’re of questionable origin, you can skip dinner tonight.”

Skip? Impossible! She’d finally gotten a chance to eat meat—how could she give that up?
“No, no, no! I just said the wrong thing. Don’t take it to heart, please. An An, Sister An, how are we going to cook them tonight? I can do it.”

Hearing that the other girl knew how to prepare them, Luo An was genuinely surprised.
“Didn’t expect a pampered young lady like you to know this kind of thing. Not bad! Let’s do braised tonight. I’ll try your cooking first—if it’s good, then from now on we can share meals together.”

Of course, Luo An wasn’t talking about sharing meals at the noisy and crowded commune dormitory. Every time she ate there she felt like a thief sneaking around—how could an old demon like her tolerate that humiliation?

So she had already picked out a small courtyard to live in by herself. Now that she had found a “little chef,” it was the perfect chance to recruit her.

Duan Jia beamed. She’d loved eating since she was young, but her mother’s cooking had always been mediocre, so she had learned to do it herself. Over time, she had actually gotten quite good.

When she found out she was being sent down to the countryside, her little brother cried like crazy. At first, she thought he couldn’t bear to be separated from her, but then the brat slipped up and she realized—he wasn’t sad about her, he was sad about losing the delicious meals she cooked.

Served him right. Now he’d be stuck eating their mother’s cooking every day, and then he’d know just how good he’d had it!

Hmph!

In Houshan Village, catching pheasants and rabbits didn’t require turning them over to the commune. But if someone caught larger game, then it would be divided among the whole village.

So when villagers coming off work saw the pheasants in Luo An’s hands, they were envious, but none dared try to snatch food from a girl.

Later, Luo An delivered the hare to the village chief, and at the same time bought an uninhabited courtyard for a very low price.

Meanwhile, chaos was brewing in the educated youths’ dormitory, led—as usual—by Liu Lihong.

After stewing in resentment all day, Liu Lihong had decided to teach the two newcomers a lesson. Her method was simple: since tending pigweed was easy work, she wanted to dump all the cooking and water-fetching duties on them.

Yu Sheng and Zhao Quan thought it wasn’t fair, but they were newcomers and men to boot, so they couldn’t win against Liu Lihong in a temper. As for the others, only two older educated youths spoke up for fairness. The rest stayed silent—after all, if someone else did the cooking and fetching water, they wouldn’t have to lift a finger after farm work. Everyone knew how to do that math.

So when Duan Jia returned with the pheasant on her back, she was startled to find everyone waiting in the courtyard, either standing or sitting.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

The moment Liu Lihong saw that only Duan Jia had returned, her voice rose by eight decibels.
“What’s going on? You had such an easy job picking pigweed, so why did it take you so long? We’ve all been sitting here hungry!”

She sounded exactly like one of those unreasonable, overbearing mothers-in-law. Normally good-natured, Duan Jia had seen enough of Luo An trouncing those two scumbags the past couple of days, so she wasn’t quite so timid anymore.

“Liu Zhiqing, what are you saying? Am I your father or your mother? Since when did coming down to the countryside mean we had to pick up an extra ancestor? If you want to eat, cook for yourself! Why are you yelling at me?”

“You had such an easy job. What’s the harm in coming back to cook? Or are you expecting us, after working ourselves half to death, to serve a spoiled little miss like you?”

Once, “Missy” might have been a title of respect, but in these times, it was a curse. If someone labeled you that way, you might be dragged off and “taught a lesson.”

Duan Jia had seen plenty of this kind of thing in the city. The anger flared hot in her chest—this shameless woman was trying to ruin her!

She dropped her basket and raised a hand to slap Liu Lihong. But two years of hard labor had given Liu Lihong plenty of strength. She caught Duan Jia’s hand mid-swing.

“Trying to hit me? You really don’t know what’s good for you!” she sneered, lifting her hand to slap Duan Jia in return.

Luckily, Yu Sheng and Zhao Quan reacted quickly. One blocked, the other pulled, and managed to get Duan Jia safely out of reach.

“What are you doing? Really want to go against me?” Liu Lihong glared at the two men. Neither was particularly handsome—Yu Sheng looked ordinary but scholarly, while Zhao Quan was big and a bit slow-looking—but neither was her type, so just seeing them annoyed her.

“Going against you? Hardly,” Yu Sheng said calmly. “But Duan Zhiqing and Luo Zhiqing helped us on the way here. We can’t just stand by and watch her be bullied.”

“Ha! You’re all in it together, snakes and rats of a kind. No wonder you ganged up on poor Shao Zhiqing all along the way. You’re just jealous of him!”

Jealous? Jealous of Shao Jing? What was there to be jealous of—his brains without wisdom, or his two-faced hypocrisy?

Zhao Quan and Yu Sheng exchanged looks, both full of helplessness. A crazy woman really couldn’t be reasoned with.

At that moment, they both thought the same thing: Where’s that demon Luo An? We’re no good at these shouting matches!

And speak of the devil—Luo An had just stepped out of the village chief’s house when she heard that Comrade Liu Lihong was stirring up trouble again. Her eyes lit up, and she strode toward the dormitory, practically flying. Good thing she didn’t run into anyone on the way, or jaws would have dropped.

“No matter what anyone says today, those two have to handle the cooking and water-fetching. Otherwise, they can get out of the dormitory!” Liu Lihong, knowing Luo An wasn’t around and the others couldn’t beat her, puffed herself up even more.

The next second, a devil’s voice rang out from the gate.
“Well, well. What are you now, Liu Zhiqing—a leader? Giving orders so righteously?”

Then, stepping inside, Luo An glanced around and called out,
“Duan Jia, tell me—what kind of nonsense is this madwoman making now?”

With Luo An here, Duan Jia finally had her backbone. She pouted miserably.
“She said our work was too easy, so she wants us to take over all the cooking and water.”

“Is that what everyone else thinks too?”

Duan Jia shook her head and pointed out the two who had spoken up for her.
“The others didn’t say anything.”

Silence meant agreement—everyone knew that.

Luo An nodded slightly, face expressionless, and walked into the courtyard. Seeing her like that made Liu Lihong’s stomach drop.

And she was right to be worried.