He used to try too hard, doing things for them that felt more like begging than helping, so they weren't enthusiastic at all.
"Then I'll go tell the Party Secretary about this right now!" the village chief said with a smile to Fu Wenwen. "I won't go back on my word, and from now on, you'll be our village's scorekeeper!"
"What? Why should you give my job to her! I'm the village scorekeeper!" Zhu Xi, who had been eavesdropping by the door, suddenly heard her father say she was losing her job as scorekeeper. She immediately rushed out, pointing at Fu Wenwen and demanding an explanation.
"Because you kept the scores a complete mess. Are you satisfied with that answer?" Seeing his own daughter, the village chief couldn't help but feel disappointed. He had thought that since his daughter had studied for so long, she would surely be able to handle something as simple as keeping scores.
But what happened? Not only were the scores a mess, but she even miscalculated them, forcing the Party Secretary to re-calculate everything himself, which only increased the workload.
The Party Secretary had brought this up more than once, and he had also spoken to her about it at home countless times, but what was the result? She still didn't take it seriously. She kept messy records, and if someone said a few nice words to her, she'd give them extra points. With an attitude like that, how could she be a scorekeeper?
"Even if I kept the scores a mess, can she do any better? You can give the job to anyone, why specifically her! Did you fall for her fox-spirit face too?" Zhu Xi, furious, pointed at Fu Wenwen, her words becoming increasingly nasty.
Fu Wenwen frowned. She hadn't expected Zhu Xi to harbor such strong malice towards her. Yet, they had no conflict, no relationship whatsoever. Where did this animosity come from?
"What did you say? Say it again if you dare!" The village chief was shocked and enraged to hear such vulgar words from his own daughter.
"Where did I go wrong? She just uses that fox-spirit face to charm all of you. Whatever she says, you all believe. You all help her, but I'm your own daughter! Why do you help her instead of me! You know I hate her, so why give my job to her?" Zhu Xi was afraid of her father but also felt extremely resentful.
"Although I don't know why you have such strong malice towards me, I have something I need to make clear to you," Fu Wenwen said seriously, looking at Zhu Xi. "Everyone helps me not because of how beautiful my face is, but because what I say is reasonable, and I stand on the side of justice."
"Yes, I admit that my looks are considered quite pretty in Honghe Village and the surrounding areas. However, a person's character has nothing to do with their appearance. People aren't necessarily bad just because they're beautiful, and similarly, people aren't necessarily good just because they're ugly!" Fu Wenwen said, looking at Zhu Xi.
"Your malice towards me stems from the fact that my face is beautiful, because you are jealous, you are unwilling to accept it. You badmouth me everywhere in the village, you gossip about me. By doing so, will you win against me? No, everyone will believe me because they know I am not the person you claim to be. Instead, they will think that you yourself are not a good person, that your character is poor!" Fu Wenwen's words only made Zhu Xi more furious.
"You're talking nonsense! Why does everyone help you? It's because you've bewitched them!" Zhu Xi pointed at Fu Wenwen and shouted angrily.