“What are you doing—what are all of you doing?!”
Qin Qin rushed over and forcefully separated the two, then glared angrily at Yang Weiming. “Comrade Yang, were you just about to give the chicken leg I gave you to Comrade Meng?”
Yang Weiming hadn’t expected Qin Qin to suddenly run over.
“Comrade Qin, I only thought Comrade Meng looked a little hypoglycemic. I was worried she’d faint and affect our work progress, so I thought of giving her the chicken leg. I didn’t mean anything else. Don’t misunderstand.”
“Hmph!” Qin Qin snorted coldly.
She then turned to Meng Yue, frowning. “Comrade Meng, you’re already married. Could you at least—ah!”
Before she could finish her sentence, the braid on the right side of her head was yanked back hard.
“Little Qin girl, what were you planning to say to my daughter-in-law? Were you about to call her shameless? Your mother didn’t give you those two eyeballs to use as decorations—they’re for seeing things clearly! It’s obviously that Yang boy tailing my daughter-in-law like a dog. And yet you want to hang a dirty label on her? Believe it or not, I’ll go straight to the station and accuse you of slander, have you sent to the northwest for re-education!”
“Aunt Lan, I didn’t—I wasn’t trying to accuse Comrade Meng! Aunt Lan, please let go, my hair is going to come off!”
Qin Qin was not like Zhang Cuiping, who couldn’t read the situation.
She was the daughter of the captain of Yangjiao Brigade.
She naturally understood the relationships in the brigade.
What’s more, her father had been lecturing her and her siblings these past days—under no circumstances were they to clash with Aunt Lan’s family. Otherwise, her older brother’s chance to join the army at the end of the year could be ruined. If that happened, her dad might literally break her legs.
She had spoken to Meng Yue only out of a moment of anger.
Luckily she hadn’t finished her accusation—otherwise, while she might be the captain’s spoiled daughter today, tomorrow she might become a crippled, pitiful girl no one wanted.
She knew very well who she could offend, and who she absolutely could not.
If Meng Yue were not Li Shulan’s daughter-in-law, Qin Qin would’ve had someone “teach her a lesson” the very first day rumors about her and Yang Weiming spread.
She never would have tolerated the gossip for this long.
She really had been too impulsive just now.
“Aunt Lan, I swear, I really wasn’t going to say anything about Comrade Meng. Aunt Lan…” Qin Qin continued anxiously.
Meng Yue also came over. “Mom, I’m fine. Comrade Qin didn’t say anything yet. Please give her another chance.”
Li Shulan wasn’t stupid. She wouldn’t truly offend the brigade captain over a word that hadn’t even been spoken.
She just needed to assert dominance.
Now that Qin Qin had apologized and her daughter-in-law was pleading for her, she let the matter slide and released her hair.
“Little Qin girl, since my daughter-in-law is pleading for you today, I won’t pursue it. But if there’s a next time—if I ever see you bullying her again—don’t blame me for being rude!”
“Li Shulan, you’re too domineering! Why don’t you control your daughter-in-law? If she wasn’t married and still fooling around, would little Qin girl be so angry?”
In every village, there were those who understood the situation—and those who didn’t, and who were always sour when others were doing well.
Li Shulan turned toward the woman who’d spoken.
It was Yang Ladi, who had remarried into the brigade.
And once Yang Ladi spoke up, others joined in.
“That’s right, Shulan! You treat your daughter-in-law too well. City people are city people—they never truly want to marry into the countryside. Look how you serve her food and drinks every day. Meanwhile she’s out there pulling and tugging at other men during work. Shameless!”
“More than tugging! Just yesterday afternoon I saw the two of them slip into the woods. When they came back, their clothes were soaked with sweat. Tsk tsk, city people sure play wild!”
Outside the crowd, Qin Lixun watched Li Shulan and Meng Yue being surrounded, a cruel smile curling at his lips.
This damned old woman Li Shulan—did she really think the Qin family was so easy to push around?
It was one thing that she barged in to yell at them, but she’d even taken so many things from his house.
If he didn’t destroy Meng Yue, he wouldn’t be worthy of the surname Qin!
He couldn’t strike openly—but couldn’t he do it secretly?
See, all he had to do was make sure she and a man were seen together—and the rumors would spread like wildfire.
In their countryside, ruining a woman was the easiest thing in the world.
“Really? Aunt He, you saw it yourself? Comrade Yang, tell us—was Comrade Meng sweet or not? Hahaha—ah!”
The man’s laugh was abruptly cut off by a shoe hitting his face.
Before he could react, Li Shulan pulled a rolling pin from behind her waist and started beating him mercilessly.
“Aah! Ah! Aunt Lan, what are you doing?! Stop! If you keep hitting me, I’ll fight back—ah! It hurts! Aunt Lan, I was wrong! Aah…”
People tried to intervene, but Li Shulan knocked them back with her rolling pin.
“Well? Still feeling mouthy, huh? Qin San’gou?” She only stopped once the man curled on the ground sobbing.
At this moment, Qin San’gou’s parents came running from the next brigade. Seeing their youngest son beaten like that, their eyes blazed with anger.
“Li Shulan! I’m going to the station to report you! I’ll accuse you of intentional assault! You’ll go to jail! I’ll even report your son to his army unit and have him expelled!”
But Li Shulan looked entirely unconcerned—she even smiled.
“Qin Youjin, go report me. See if it works. He insulted and slandered a woman. Forget me giving him a beating—he ought to be sent to labor reform. And don’t make me start talking about you stealing the brigade’s timber and engaging in illicit trading. If anyone’s going to the station, it’s your whole family—they’ll send all of you to labor reform!”
Her words sent shockwaves through the crowd. All eyes immediately shifted to Qin Youjin.
Qin Youjin almost instantly shouted back.
“Li Shulan, stop spouting nonsense! I never stole any timber! Say another word and I’ll—”
But her next sentence shut him up completely.
“You mean the timber you hid under the west side of Xigang Mountain?”
The crowd’s expressions suddenly turned vicious.
“So it’s true, Qin Youjin! You dare steal brigade timber? I’m reporting you! I’m reporting your whole family!”
“Report! We must report! I’m going right now to find the brigade captain—block off Xigang Mountain and catch the thief red-handed!”
Someone immediately ran off to fetch the captain.
But Li Shulan wasn’t done.
After finishing off Qin Youjin and Qin San’gou, she turned toward Yang Ladi, who’d spoken first.
“Yang Ladi, you’ve been married into our Yangjiao Brigade for nearly ten years, right? Must be hard for you—working during the day, and at night having to take care of two men. Oh right, is your husband here? Does he know your youngest son is actually your brother-in-law’s child?”
“And you, Li Cui—didn’t you notice your grain disappearing faster? Every Wednesday night, your husband climbs the mountain with Widow Zhang to ‘look at the moon and count the stars.’ They count for one or two hours—tsk, so romantic.”
“Oh, and Wu Liu—why didn’t your daughter Xiaofang come to work for the wheat harvest? Ah, silly me—you just had her get an abortion, right? Tsk, I heard the father was her own brother-in-law. You really know how to raise a child.”
“Auntie Zhao—how is it that your son, Jiancai, is already twenty but still… built like a five- or six-year-old down there? Is that true?”
If everyone liked gossip so much… fine.
Then no one would have a good time.
Li Shulan would go mad and drag them all down with her.
From this day forward, when anyone heard her name, their hearts would tremble.
By now, everyone in the brigade had only one thought:
Li Shulan had gone insane.
Completely insane.
These weren’t rumors—these were deadly secrets that could ruin families.
They couldn’t let her keep talking.
People rushed forward to stop her.
“Aunt Lan, we were wrong—we were all wrong! Comrade Meng and Comrade Yang have nothing between them, nothing at all…”
Li Shulan finally paused, and through the crowd her gaze found Qin Lixun at the edge of the field.
She curled her lips into a faint smile.
Qin Lixun felt a chill climb up his spine. His legs went weak and he stumbled to the ground.
It was over…