After greeting everyone, Tian Baozhu headed straight for the brigade headquarters. She had already agreed with Party Secretary Liu yesterday to pick up the referral letter. Besides, it would take a considerable amount of time just to get to town, and there was only one bus a day from town to the county. If she was late, she would miss it.
However, just as she approached the brigade headquarters, she overheard two older women gossiping. If her ears weren’t sharp enough, she wouldn’t have realized that the subject of their spit-flying chatter was herself.
Tian Baozhu was in no rush to get to the brigade headquarters. She stood quietly behind the two women, listening to their back-and-forth.
If she hadn’t been the subject of their conversation, she might have been thoroughly shocked by what they were saying.
“Aunt Yanhua, is what you’re saying true?”
Li Yanhua was in the middle of an animated storytelling session. Upon hearing the sudden question, she immediately patted her chest and replied, “Of course it’s true. I saw it with my own eyes.”
Guo Cui had been about to chime in agreement, but as she nodded, she realized something was off. That voice wasn’t hers!
She quickly turned her head to look behind them and found Tian Baozhu’s smiling face right in front of her.
“Ah, my goodness!”
Guo Cui was so startled that she fell flat on her bottom.
“Guo Cui, what’s wrong with you? Did you see a ghost?” Li Yanhua, still unsatisfied with her gossip session, was annoyed by Guo Cui’s reaction. She scolded while casually turning around to see what had scared her friend so badly.
Before Li Yanhua could mock Guo Cui for being cowardly, she found Tian Baozhu standing right behind her. The young woman’s face wore a smile, but her eyes were icy cold.
Li Yanhua’s voice caught in her throat, like a chicken with its neck stepped on, producing a strangled gurgle.
“T-T-Tian… Educated Youth Tian…?”
“Aunt Yanhua said she saw me hugging and kissing someone with her own eyes. I’m curious, where exactly did you see this? Who was I hugging? Are there any witnesses? If you can’t give me a clear explanation today, I’ll go to the commune and ask what the penalty is for persecuting educated youth.”
Hearing Tian Baozhu’s words, Li Yanhua’s legs went weak. Like Guo Cui, she collapsed onto the ground with a thud.
“I… I was just talking casually. Besides, I’m not the only one saying it; others in the village are talking about it too.”
“Tsk. I just asked you directly, and you said you saw it with your own eyes. If others are talking, didn’t you start the rumor? Besides, right now, I’m using my own two eyes and ears. I’ve seen and heard you gossiping. I haven’t seen anyone else.”
Tian Baozhu sneered as she watched Li Yanhua try to distance herself from the rumors.
Li Yanhua, flustered by Tian Baozhu’s aggressive questioning, scrambled to her feet. Brushing off the dust, she shouted, “You’ve done something shameful, and you still have the nerve to question me? If I were you, I’d just throw myself into the river. You’re so shameless you can ask such a thing, but I’m too embarrassed to even say it.”
With that, she tried to hurry away.
Seeing this, Guo Cui silently cursed Li Yanhua for being despicable and attempted to sneakily get up and flee as well. After all, getting caught red-handed spreading rumors behind someone’s back was quite humiliating.
Neither of them thought there was anything wrong with gossiping about others behind their backs.
The two women had their plans all figured out, but Tian Baozhu grabbed their wrists and, with a swift spin, twisted their arms behind their backs. She held one wrist in each hand, and with just a slight application of pressure, the two women howled in pain.
Li Yanhua and Guo Cui felt as though their arms were about to be snapped. The pain was so unbearable that tears and snot streamed down their faces involuntarily.
Branch Secretary Liu had agreed to meet Tian Baozhu, so he was waiting at the brigade headquarters early in the morning. He had just raised his tea mug to take a sip when he heard wailing outside.
“What’s going on?” asked Cheng Dapeng, the brigade’s accountant, who had stepped out with Branch Secretary Liu. He craned his neck curiously.
The sight that greeted them was Tian Baozhu holding Li Yanhua and Guo Cui in a firm grip, leaving them both dumbfounded.
“E-Educated Youth Tian… what’s happening here?” Branch Secretary Liu was equally taken aback.
Yesterday, Educated Youth Tian had been polite and reasonable. What had gotten into her today? However, recognizing Li Yanhua and Guo Cui as the village’s notorious gossips, he quickly pieced things together.
They had probably been spreading rumors about Educated Youth Tian behind her back and got caught red-handed.
Li Yanhua and Guo Cui, spotting Branch Secretary Liu and Cheng Dapeng, were about to wail loudly and complain about how Tian Baozhu had treated them. But before they could, an even louder cry came from behind them.
“Branch Secretary Liu, you have to get justice for me!”
Tian Baozhu shoved Li Yanhua and Guo Cui aside, covered her face, and tearfully began her complaint to Branch Secretary Liu. Her words tumbled out rapidly, her sobs not hindering her recounting of events in the slightest.
After hearing Tian Baozhu out, Branch Secretary Liu’s face darkened with anger.
“Li Yanhua, Guo Cui, is what Educated Youth Tian said true? Do you realize that if something happened to her because of the rumors you’ve been spreading, you’d be held accountable? If she really did jump into the river and lost her life, could you sleep soundly at night with a death on your conscience?”
Li Yanhua was stunned. Wasn’t this supposed to be her usual tactic? How had this city-educated young woman pulled it off more smoothly than she ever could?
She dismissed Branch Secretary Liu’s questioning inwardly but felt a newfound wariness toward Tian Baozhu. After all, a young girl like her was supposed to be thin-skinned. Yet despite the humiliating things Li Yanhua had said, Tian Baozhu seemed unfazed and had even dragged her to the brigade headquarters. Shouldn’t she have been too ashamed to show her face?
Guo Cui, on the other hand, glanced at Educated Youth Tian after hearing Branch Secretary Liu’s words and felt a pang of guilt.
“Branch Secretary Liu, I know I was wrong. I promise I won’t gossip behind anyone’s back again.”
Seeing Guo Cui admit fault, Li Yanhua snapped back to reality, her eyes widening. She yanked Guo Cui’s arm and hissed in a low voice, “Have you lost your mind? Why are you admitting guilt? If you want to grovel, go ahead, but I’m not.”
If they both denied spreading rumors about Tian Baozhu, Li Yanhua was sure there was nothing the girl could do to them.
Guo Cui shrank back at Li Yanhua’s words but didn’t comply with her demand.
“Alright, I accept Aunt Guo Cui’s apology. I won’t pursue this further,” Tian Baozhu said, dabbing at her eyes, taking a deep breath, and putting on a brave face for everyone.
Branch Secretary Liu sighed in relief upon hearing this. After all, women gossiping behind each other’s backs was common in the village. If he had to settle every such dispute, he wouldn’t have time for anything else—he’d be stuck at the brigade headquarters from morning till night, judging cases endlessly.