Gu Jiaojiao was at home cooking. After setting the rice to steam, she went out to the private plot in her backyard to pick some vegetables.
The private plot was enclosed by a stone wall, built to keep animals from the mountains from coming down and ruining the vegetable garden. At just over a meter high, however, anyone standing outside it was still visible.
Gu Jiaojiao spotted Chen Shulan standing just beyond her private plot and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
'What's she doing, loitering outside my vegetable garden?'
Still, the land outside the wall wasn't hers. If the woman wanted to hang around, it was none of Gu Jiaojiao's business.
She decided to ignore Chen Shulan, squatting down and getting to work picking vegetables.
Chen Shulan was left speechless.
She'd been loitering there for ages, a knot of resentment twisting in her gut.
