My, my! Is this really the price to buy back a life?

Qin Fang felt extremely aggrieved by Su Liang's glare. She felt that Su Liang's love for her had soured, and he was getting more and more fond of glaring at her lately.

Even though her charm had increased, it was useless; Su Liang no longer loved her as deeply as he had back in Kyoto.

Had Xu Lin known what was on Qin Fang's mind, she would surely have offered this remark: "A hundred sorrows beset a couple in poverty!"

With Su Liang and Xu Lin taking a stance, Liu Pandi immediately followed suit. The little money she had in her hands needed to be saved for medical treatment, so she could not bear to part with too much.

Yet, being the team leader, she could not give too little either. A single yuan was already Liu Pandi's absolute limit.

Because Liu Pandi contributed her money so quickly, Qin Fang had no opportunity to make up for her own hesitation. She could only watch helplessly as the other educated youths made their donations, which were mostly one yuan each.

Of course, there were those who genuinely could not bear to part with the money or simply had none to spare, such as Chen Zhaodi, who donated fifty cents.

The donation process went quickly. In no time at all, the educated youths had donated more than half the required amount, and finally, everyone cast their gazes upon Qin Fang.

They all wanted to see how much this fake young socialite, who had taken over the phoenix's nest, was prepared to donate.

Under everyone's scrutiny, Qin Fang donated one yuan with a dark expression, instantly drawing a chorus of jeers.

"Hah, and here I thought she'd donate a fortune. Turns out she's just as stingy, tsk tsk!"

"They say the richer people are, the stingier they get. That saying holds so true! One yuan—does that even cover the heel of one of her little leather shoes?"

"Tsk, and just for this, just for this, she went around talking about arranging a return-to-the-city quota for Du Yong? Just for this?"

"Heh, who can't talk big? She was definitely lying to Educated Youth Du—a pair of absolute frauds."

"Pui, shameless wretches! They must have seen how honest Educated Youth Du was and bullied an honest man to the extreme."

"Ain't that the truth? Educated Youth Du's bamboo basket came up empty this time; he waited on them for nothing."

......

The educated youths murmured among themselves, words that left Qin Fang and Su Liang too ashamed to face anyone.

They knew one yuan was far too little, but who told Su Liang to blurt out what he did in the first place?

Besides, the promise to help Du Yong return to the city was something they had pledged themselves. As for whether it could actually be fulfilled in the end, they had figured it would be no problem at the time.

As for now? It was hard to say.

Su Liang truly lacked the face to sit there any longer. With an ashen, fury-twisted face, he stood up and ran back to his room.

Deprived of her protector, Qin Fang could not bear to stay either, so she had no choice but to retreat with a dark expression.

Since someone took the lead in leaving, the others had nothing more to say and began standing up to depart. Wu Qi saw this and thought this wouldn't do—they hadn't even finished discussing the matter!

He hurriedly shouted, "Hey, don't leave yet! We haven't finished discussing how to take care of Educated Youth Du."

"Educated Youth Du is a man, so it's inconvenient for female educated youths. You male educated youths figure out the arrangements," Liu Pandi said without looking back as she walked to her room.

Unreconciled, Wu Qi wanted to say more, but was met with an utterly speechless roll of the eyes from Chen Zhaodi.

Chen Zhaodi snapped back irritably, "Comrade Du has both a broken leg and a broken arm. Does Educated Youth Wu think it's convenient for female educated youths to take care of him? He's not her husband; which woman could possibly care for a patient like that?"

Without looking back, she walked away, closely followed by Zhao Nan and Zhao Qing, who kept their heads down, feeling that Chen Zhaodi's retort was spot on.

Taking care of a patient like that wasn't just a simple matter of fetching meals or feeding water; it involved assisting with going to the bathroom.

Very soon, the female educated youths cleared out entirely. Wu Qi pushed up his glasses, a look of helplessness flashing across his face, and turned his gaze to the remaining male educated youths.

"What about you lot?" he asked.

Han Hong and Zhang Xiang exchanged glances and lowered their heads. They had little interaction with Du Yong and had barely exchanged a few words; it made no sense for them to be the ones to provide care.

Zhou Chen looked around and asked aloud, "If we go take care of Du Yong, how will work points be calculated? What about food and lodging? We can't possibly exhaust our labor and work points, only to shell out our own money and points on top of that, right?"

Wu Qi: ......How was he supposed to answer that? He couldn't possibly chip in his own money, could he?

Even if Wu Qi wanted to chip in, he didn't have that kind of money to spare. He was just a child from an ordinary family with younger brothers and sisters still to support.

His family was in no position to support him; in fact, they expected him to contribute to the family's finances.

Therefore, this was a question Wu Qi could neither answer well nor answer at all.

If Du Yong was supposed to pay, Du Yong simply lacked the financial means to do so.

In his predicament, a cornered Wu Qi cast his gaze upon Ning Xiaodong.

Ning Xiaodong lived like an invisible man; having him look after Du Yong should be fine, right?

With Fang Lu, who was too self-conscious and timid to refuse, plus a Ning Xiaodong, that ought to be enough to take care of Du Yong.

However, before Wu Qi could even speak, Ning Xiaodong stood up and left. Taking care of Du Yong was completely out of the question.

*I may not want to stand out, but I'm not an idiot,* Ning Xiaodong thought to himself.

A chore that nobody else wanted to touch was certainly not one he intended to take on. Besides, he still had to go down to the fields to earn work points.

If he didn't earn work points, what would he eat? What would he drink? He couldn't just starve his way through life.

Just the sight of Ning Xiaodong's retreating figure stirred all sorts of random thoughts in Wu Qi.

It was as if he understood the message conveyed by Ning Xiaodong's back. Why was this happening?

Soon, the educated youth courtyard was left with only Wu Qi as a solitary figure, making his eyes burn with rage. These people simply didn't take him seriously at all.

Meanwhile, Xu Lin was walking back, chatting and laughing with Qian Li and the others. When they reached the row of connected rooms, everyone split up and returned to their respective quarters.

As Xu Lin walked up to her own door and reached out to push it open, she spotted a sachet resting on the threshold.

The sachet was exquisitely embroidered, and though its contents were unknown, it was stuffed so full that it bulged.

What amused Xu Lin the most was that this sachet had initially been placed on the left side of the door, near the doorframe.

Back then, Xu Lin had feigned blindness and completely ignored it. Who would have thought that after taking a stroll outside, it had somehow migrated to the exact center of the door.

Xu Lin strongly suspected that if she continued to ignore it and refused to pick it up, the sachet would end up hanging directly beneath her lock.

Whoever left it was deathly afraid she wouldn't see it or wouldn't bother picking it up.

Tsk tsk, so this was the "life-buying money"?

A talisman materialized in Xu Lin's palm. The moment she picked up the sachet, the talisman suddenly expanded, completely enveloping it.

Back inside her room, Xu Lin held the sachet in her hand, turning it over and over to inspect it.

The craftsmanship was delicate and the color a vibrant crimson, but that hue had been dyed with fresh blood.

Tsk tsk, Qin Fang really stopped at nothing in her attempts to do her in.

Xu Lin opened the sachet and found ten ten-yuan banknotes inside. *Tsk, a hundred yuan to buy my life—how truly stingy.*

This made Xu Lin suspect that Qin Fang didn't have much money left either.

Naturally so; the two of them were reckless spenders who treated money like running water. Once their supply was cut off, they had no ability to hold onto wealth, let alone save it.

Xu Lin pulled the money out and laid it on the table, then turned the sachet inside out to inspect it further. Right inside the lining, she found her birth date and time inscribed.

She had to hand it to Qin Fang; a great deal of effort went into this scheme. Expecting that Xu Lin might break their spellcraft, they had even incorporated her exact date and birth time.

What a pity they had crossed paths with Xu Lin, whose mastery of mystical arts was profound. No matter how thorough their preparations, it was all for naught.

No, not for naught—Xu Lin was not someone who swallowed losses easily. She was bound to retaliate.

Xu Lin needed to make Qin Fang understand that not every plot succeeded, and not every scheme came without a price.

Right now, the filthier the methods they employed, the harsher the karmic backlash would be.