Fang Xinyao looked at her as though she were an idiot. “Zhao Yumei, is there something seriously wrong with you!”
As she spoke, Fang Xinyao turned to Gu Guoxi and Zhou Zhonghua and said: “Brigade Leader Gu, Secretary Zhou, Gu Chuan and I are in a relationship. Zhao Yumei accused me without knowing right from wrong. My reputation is a small matter, but if my actions cause the entire brigade to lose face, then that will be a serious matter!”
“Not only will it affect our entire Hongqi Brigade, it will also affect our rating as an advanced brigade. It will even affect the marriage prospects of the girls in the brigade. How would girls from other villages dare marry the young men of our Hongqi Brigade anymore? When the girls in the village cannot get married and the young men cannot find wives, who will take responsibility for this?”
The people who had been enjoying the commotion and were not afraid of making matters worse all came back to their senses one after another. Indeed, just now, they had been too focused on listening to Zhao Yumei and Lu Zhangran say that Gu Chuan had dragged Fang Xinyao back into the house. As soon as they heard that, they had hurried over to see what was going on, never thinking about what would happen afterward.
Now that they had heard Fang Xinyao’s explanation, they finally realized how serious this matter was.
Every household had sons and daughters, and some had already reached marriageable age. If this matter affected their own daughters’ or sons’ marriages, would they not be furious to death!
Gu Guoxi nodded in agreement. He turned his head toward Zhao Yumei and said: “The two of them are in a relationship. You must have seen wrong because your eyes were playing tricks on you.”
Zhao Yumei immediately became anxious. “No, no, it wasn’t like that. Brigade Leader Gu, Secretary Zhou, I clearly saw Gu Chuan drag Fang Xinyao into the house, and he even pulled at her clothes…”
Gu Guoxi cut her off and shouted sternly: “Educated Youth Zhao! You won’t be satisfied until you completely ruin the reputation of our entire Hongqi Brigade, is that it!”
Seeing Gu Guoxi’s darkened expression, Zhao Yumei immediately stopped the words that she had not yet finished saying. She closed her mouth with an aggrieved look on her face, feeling extremely stifled inside.
“Educated Youth Zhao was lying. Chuanzi didn’t drag Educated Youth Fang. Educated Youth Fang walked into the house herself.”
At that moment, a woman’s voice came from the back of the crowd.
Gu Guoxi turned around and looked at the person who had come over. He could not help asking: “Aunt Zhu, is what you said true?”
Aunt Zhu nodded. “I saw it with my own eyes. At that time, I had just come over from that side when I saw Gu Chuan coming down from the mountain. Educated Youth Fang was waiting at the foot of the mountain with a jug of water in her hand. It seemed that she was waiting for Gu Chuan. Then Educated Youth Fang tripped and fell. I figured she must have hurt her leg. As for what happened afterward, I don’t know. In any case, Gu Chuan did not drag Educated Youth Fang around.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Guoxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and the heart that had been tightly suspended also relaxed.
Immediately afterward, his expression darkened. His already dark and weathered face looked even more imposing and stern as it sank.
“Educated Youth Zhao, has our Hongqi Brigade been depriving you of food or clothing? How dare you slander the reputation of our Hongqi Brigade like this! Go back tonight and write me a one-thousand-word self-criticism! Tomorrow at noon, you will be publicly criticized at the village entrance!”
Having said that, Gu Guoxi angrily turned around and left.
“This is simply outrageous!” Zhou Zhonghua also gave her a cold look before following him.
As soon as she heard that she not only had to write a one-thousand-word self-criticism but would also be publicly criticized, Zhao Yumei’s face turned pale with fright.
If she wrote a self-criticism and was publicly criticized throughout the entire village, she would be completely finished!
After that, she could forget about ever returning to the city. She would only be able to stay in this poor, remote mountain valley for the rest of her life.
Zhao Yumei hurried after them. “Brigade Leader Gu, Brigade Leader Gu, I can explain this matter. Please listen to me…”
Seeing that it had all been a misunderstanding, the villagers also dispersed one after another.
The dilapidated house, which had originally been bustling with noise and commotion, immediately became quiet.
“Phew…”
Fang Xinyao let out a long breath and only then realized that her palms were covered in sweat.
That had really been tense and exciting just now!
Fortunately, she had managed to muddle through it!
She knew that in this era, if a man and a woman were caught having an improper relationship, they could very well end up being executed by firing squad!
She did not want to get shot immediately after transmigrating here.
Gu Chuan looked at her with a serious expression, as though he had mustered up a great deal of courage. “I’m sorry about tonight. I am willing to take responsibility for you. If you really meant what you said before, I am willing to marry you.”
“Mm! Of course I meant it!”
Fang Xinyao nodded emphatically, her little face equally serious. “I said I would take responsibility for you, so naturally, I have to keep my word.”
Thinking back to what had happened earlier, Gu Chuan’s face grew warm. Immediately afterward, he became somewhat self-conscious. “Don’t you dislike me because I’m a cripple?”
Fang Xinyao’s gaze swept lightly over his left leg. “Although your leg is injured, you never slack off when you work. You earn ten work points every day. You work better than those who have all four healthy limbs! None of them can compare with you! I believe that even if you have a lame leg, you can still support yourself and support this family!”
The girl’s words were like a clap of thunder that rang out in his heart.
He raised his head and met the girl’s dark, serious eyes. Gu Chuan felt as though something had suddenly crashed open inside his heart, shaking his entire mind.
The nervousness in Gu Chuan’s heart eased, and he nodded solemnly and seriously. “All right. Then in a couple of days, I’ll go to the Educated Youth Residence to ask for your hand in marriage. For now, I’ll take you back.”
“Mm. Then I’ll wait for you.”
Fang Xinyao readily agreed.
Upon hearing this, Gu Chuan’s eyes lit up, and he was immediately enveloped by excitement and joy.
As though he had thought of something, he turned and walked to the bed board. He pulled out the bed board, then knocked open a brick inside the bed and took out a cloth bundle from within, handing it to Fang Xinyao.
Fang Xinyao asked curiously: “What is this?”
“Your betrothal gifts.”
Fang Xinyao opened it and saw two neatly arranged bundles of banknotes inside. One bundle consisted entirely of ten-yuan notes, amounting to several hundred yuan, while the other bundle consisted of smaller denominations, including one-yuan, fifty-fen, ten-fen, one-fen, and twenty-fen notes, along with some cloth coupons, grain coupons, industrial product coupons, and the like.
“This should be everything you own, right?” Fang Xinyao asked in astonishment. With this much money, even in the 1970s, it would have been a huge sum.
Yet he had simply handed it over to her!
She did not know whether he was foolish or just simple-minded!
Gu Chuan rubbed his head, looking rather foolish. “You’ll be my wife from now on. You’ll be in charge of the money.”
Fang Xinyao wrapped the money back up. “I live at the Educated Youth Residence right now, and it isn’t convenient to carry so much money around. You should keep it for now. Once we get married, you can let me manage it.”
As she spoke, she returned the cloth bundle to Gu Chuan.
Gu Chuan thought about how there were many people at the Educated Youth Residence and how complicated things could be there, so he nodded. “All right.”
He took out five ten-yuan notes and several cloth coupons from inside. His face reddened slightly as he said: “Don’t go to work tomorrow. I’ll do your work for you. Take the money into the city and buy yourself some good food. Then get some cloth and have two new outfits made.”
“All right.” Fang Xinyao’s heart warmed, and she accepted them with a smile.
Although this man had a lame leg, he was steady and hardworking. He was also reliable and knew how to care for his wife. So far, he seemed pretty good.
Thinking this, Fang Xinyao did not feel very resistant to the matter after all. After all, Gu Chuan was also a victim in this situation.