1983, Shidianzi Village.
In the pitch dark, inside a haystack, two figures were tightly entangled.
“Xiaomeng, where is that place? Why can’t I find it?”
“Oh, you’re so annoying…”
“Quick, help me untie it. My pants are killing me.”
The man’s breathing was heavy, his mouth full of warm, boozy breath, his hands grabbing and kneading wildly.
The woman couldn’t help but moan, half resisting, half inviting.
“Runsheng ge, who’s more exciting, Qingyan or me?”
“She’s not as slutty as you…”
After a while, the quiet village suddenly exploded into an uproar.
“Hurry and go look! Chen Xiaomeng and the village chief’s son Runsheng are tangled up together!”
A woman rushed in a panic to the small bridge at the village entrance, loudly shouting to the villagers who were gathered in clusters chatting.
“Really? For real?” A plump woman who was chewing on yellow beans spat out the fragments in her mouth with a “pui,” her face full of disbelief.
“Absolutely true!”
The woman bent over, panting: “The two of them were kissing passionately in the haystack at the threshing ground next door, clothes already off, and San Shun’s mother caught them red-handed!”
“Who did you say?”
The one who spoke was Chen Xiuying, none other than Chen Xiaomeng’s own mother.
Years ago, she had brought her young daughter Chen Xiaomeng to remarry into the Qiao family, forming a household with Qiao Nianshan, who was likewise widowed and had a daughter of his own.
At this moment, she suddenly stood up from the bridge pier, her voice trembling as she asked again: “Runsheng? With whom?”
“The village chief’s son Jiang Runsheng, with your Chen Xiaomeng! In the haystack, clothes stripped completely off…”
On the other side of the bridge, Qiao Qingyan was slowly walking over with books in her arms, and these words drilled into her ears without missing a single syllable.
The several books in the crook of her arm fell to the ground with a “clatter.”
The setting sun dyed half the sky red, and beneath the bridge the stream flowed slowly. Everyone’s gaze turned toward her in unison, and in an instant there was dead silence.
“Teacher Qiao…” someone called out to her awkwardly.
Qiao Qingyan’s heart sank.
Her fiancé Jiang Runsheng, and her stepsister Chen Xiaomeng, in the haystack…
“Impossible, my Xiaomeng would never do such a thing.” Chen Xiuying hurriedly defended her daughter.
There wasn’t much expression on Qiao Qingyan’s face. She was shocked for a moment, then said coldly: “Is there some mistake? We’ll know once we go take a look.”
When the Jiang family had originally sent a matchmaker to their door, they had made it perfectly clear that the one Jiang Runsheng was interested in was her.
How could he and Chen Xiaomeng…
Before long, the threshing ground was already packed tight with people.
Qiao Qingyan squeezed through the villagers to the front, and at a glance she saw Chen Xiaomeng standing beside the haystack with her clothes in disarray.
The corners of her eyes were reddened, and one hand was tightly clutching Jiang Runsheng’s sleeve. Jiang Runsheng hung his head, his white shirt stained with golden wheat straw, wrinkled beyond recognition.
[It’s done.]
A voice abruptly drilled into Qiao Qingyan’s mind, like someone whispering right against her eardrum.
She widened her eyes and looked at Chen Xiaomeng—
The other’s lips clearly hadn’t moved, yet the voice was incomparably clear.
[Jiang Runsheng has to marry me now whether he wants to or not. That little bitch Qiao Qingyan, what does she have to compete with me?]
Qiao Qingyan’s pupils suddenly contracted.
This voice… was her sister’s? Her inner thoughts?
In the crowd, San Shun’s mother was still spittle-flying as she described the scene: “I was leading Shun’er over from the west when I saw this haystack shaking, and heard a woman’s soft moaning… I was so embarrassed! I went up to look, and it turned out to be these two young people!”
“Not just me, Sister Qiao saw it too.” She pulled Sister Qiao over. “Tell them, didn’t you see it?”
Sister Qiao looked embarrassed. “I came to gather some wheat straw to burn at home after dinner, and I happened to run into them… At first I thought it was some young couple fooling around outside.”
She had never expected to catch the village chief’s son in an affair. She was already regretting it so much her guts turned green.
“Mom… sister…” Chen Xiaomeng looked frightened and aggrieved when she saw her mother and Qiao Qingyan, her hands clutching tightly at the front of her clothes.
But Qiao Qingyan clearly saw that the corners of her mouth were suppressing a smile she could not hide.
That was the smugness of success, exactly the same curve she had worn every time she schemed to frame Qiao Qingyan and made their parents favor her and scold Qiao Qingyan.
Could everything today have been deliberately planned by Chen Xiaomeng?
Qiao Qingyan silently clenched her fists, her gaze sweeping back and forth between the two, an indescribable emotion surging in her chest.
“Qingyan, let me explain…” The strong smell of alcohol hit her as Jiang Runsheng approached.
He wanted to grab her hand, but Qiao Qingyan coldly dodged away.
Jiang Runsheng looked at her helplessly, his eyes full of regret and shame.
“Xiaomeng, how, how could you and Runsheng…” Chen Xiuying was so angry her chest felt blocked, and a rush of blood surged upward.
Her most beloved daughter was still unmarried, yet she had been caught in an illicit affair with someone in the wheat stack. Her reputation for chastity was completely ruined.
How would she ever hold her head up in the village again?
Several women nearby covered their mouths and whispered:
“Tsk tsk, I never expected Runsheng, who looks so refined, to do something like this.”
“Who doesn’t know he’s about to marry Qingyan? The older sister seduced her future brother-in-law. How can she face Qingyan?”
“Bah, really shameless. What kind of behavior is this…”
These words stabbed into Jiang Runsheng’s head like fine needles. He hated himself for drinking and failing to resist temptation, for being muddled for a moment.
Chen Xiaomeng secretly curved her lips. [You’d better say more. It’s better if this gets blown out of proportion.]
Qiao Qingyan frowned slightly. So it really was deliberate on her part.
More and more villagers gathered.
“This has to be reported to the commune! This is immoral and brings shame to the whole village!” Someone in the crowd shouted loudly. “The village chief always talks about moral conduct. This absolutely cannot be glossed over!”
“Exactly. You can’t show favoritism just because he’s the village chief’s son!”
Some egged them on and shouted, while others stayed silent. Those who egged them on were bold and unafraid of offending people; those who stayed silent did not want to get involved or offend anyone.
As soon as the words fell, the crowd automatically parted to form a path.
An old man in a blue dacron cadre uniform walked over with his hands behind his back. It was none other than Village Chief Jiang Decheng.
His gaze fell heavily on the two people in disheveled clothes, and his dark, weathered old face was frighteningly grim.
A woman stepped forward and said, “Village Chief, look at the ugly thing these two young people did at the threshing ground. How should this be handled?”
Jiang Decheng’s brows twisted into a knot. The dignity and glory he had accumulated his whole life had been trampled ruthlessly by his son in this moment.
But he had to force himself to hold on. He could not panic or lose composure. He still had to clean up his son’s mess and cover for him.
If this got out of hand, his son would even lose his job at the township broadcast station.
The villagers were whispering and discussing in low voices. Jiang Decheng slowly raised his hand, and the noisy environment instantly fell silent.
“Runsheng, tell me, what is going on here?” Jiang Decheng tapped his old tobacco pipe, glanced at Chen Xiaomeng, who was pressing her lips together, and his expression darkened even more.
“Dad,” Jiang Runsheng explained, “I drank too much…”
Tonight, it was Chen Xiaomeng who came on to him first.
In truth, Jiang Runsheng liked Qingyan. She was much prettier than her sister, but Qingyan was usually too reserved—she wouldn’t even let him hold her hand.
After their marriage was arranged, aside from taking a few walks along the river, they had done nothing else.
He was at the age of hot-blooded youth, and having had a bit to drink, he wanted to try…
Looking at Chen Xiaomeng’s seductive, silky eyes, and the girl’s soft body pressing up against him of her own accord, he had momentarily lost control…
Someone shouted: “This has to be reported to the commune! Runsheng at least holds a government job—a moral conduct issue is a serious matter. We can’t just let it go!”
Immediately someone echoed: “Village chief, you can’t show favoritism just because Runsheng is your son.”
“Dad, we can’t report this to the commune!” Jiang Runsheng hurried forward, his legs giving way as he dropped to his knees before his father with a “thud.”
Seeing this, Chen Xiaomeng knelt down as well, speaking softly: “Village chief, I am already Runsheng’s now.”
Suddenly, Qiao Qingyan’s mind went blank with a ringing for a few seconds, and her sister’s inner voice rang out clearly in her ears once again:
【Wonderful, now Jiang Runsheng is caught in a bind—he has no choice but to marry me!】