In the end, Li Shulan was escorted home by the brigade leader, Qin Daniu. Even Meng Yue was given half a day off because of the incident.
At the same time, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in Li Shulan’s mind:【Ding! Protected daughter-in-law’s reputation. Reward: 200 yuan cash, 1 jade thumb ring, 1 watch voucher】
After sending her to the house, Qin Daniu apologized nonstop.
“Sister Lan, your eldest daughter-in-law’s matter was my oversight. And that girl Qin Qin—she spoke without figuring out the truth. Sister Lan, please don’t be angry. I’ll give her a proper lesson later!”
“Alright, I already scolded Qin Qin for her nonsense. Let’s just drop it. I know you still have a lot to handle—go take care of your work.”
Everything she exposed earlier wasn’t made up—every bit of it was true.
It was just that none of those things were supposed to come to light until years later.
Just like the recent Zhou Cuiping incident.
That one happened because Xiao Liu, who worked at the grain station in town, went to the Zhang house to deliver snacks and happened to catch Zhou Cuiping holding hands with their brigade’s educated youth Wu while they sat on a hillside. He charged in and fought Wu on the spot.
The matter blew up, Zhang Cuiping’s father lost his position as brigade leader, and Cuiping was hastily married off to a commune over a hundred li away.
Rumor had it she wasn’t allowed to return home.
Although Li Shulan had been crazy in her previous life, her mind had always been clear. She knew perfectly well what gossip could be shared and what could not.
What she said today in the fields was ugly, sure—but nothing disastrous.
Except for the matter of Qin Youjin’s family stealing collective lumber.
Exposing that a bit earlier didn’t hurt anything.
From a personal standpoint, none of the four—the father and his three sons—were good people. It was because of their scheme that both her daughters-in-law fell into the water in the first place.
Back then, their family had calculated that once the two women fell into the river, Second Dog and Third Dog would jump in to “save” them. They didn’t even bother deciding who would save whom, because in their family… wives were meant to be shared.
But no one expected that both Meng Yue and Su Xiao could swim. After falling in, they immediately swam toward the shore.
But Qin Er’gou and Qin San’gou blocked both sides of the riverbank. As long as the girls tried to climb up, they would grab them.
Then the two daughters-in-law exchanged a quick whisper, took a deep breath, and dove underwater, planning to swim downstream before resurfacing.
Except halfway through, Su Xiao suddenly cramped. Meng Yue went to save her, and Su Xiao, in panic, clung to her tightly. The two of them sank deeper and deeper.
Fortunately, they had already drifted downstream and were underwater—Qin Er’gou and Qin San’gou completely lost track of them.
That was when Qin Zihuai and Qin Zixuan arrived; they pulled the two unconscious women from the water and performed CPR.
Villagers didn’t understand CPR—they only saw chest pressing and mouth-to-mouth, so naturally, the girls had to marry the men who “saved” them.
In her previous life, Li Shulan hadn’t known any of this at first.
She thought the daughters-in-law intentionally schemed to marry her sons.
When she later learned the truth, she suspected the girls had been touched by Qin Er’gou and Qin San’gou and weren’t “clean,” so she treated them even worse.
Today, Qin San’gou basically delivered himself to her doorstep.
She had been worrying about how to deal with their family!
If she suddenly fought them or reported them out of nowhere, Qin Er’gou and Qin San’gou might drag out the river-incident and slander her daughters-in-law again.
But now, today’s situation gave her the perfect excuse.
No matter what people thought, they would only say Qin San’gou said something wrong.
Even if his family tried to bring up the river incident again, people might not believe it—and after today, not many would dare spread rumors about her daughters-in-law again.
After all, who didn’t have their own dirty secrets?
Especially in the countryside—chaos was normal.
Not only did she have memories others lacked, but in her previous life she had been a notorious gossip queen, so she knew even more secrets.
That was her personal reason for reporting Qin Youjin.
And as for the collective good—
The lumber belonged to the commune. Exposing it early protected public property.
As for why she hadn’t beaten up Yang Weiming this afternoon—it was because when she saw Qin Qin, a sudden thought had flashed through her mind.
“Eldest daughter-in-law, come to the west room. I need to talk to you,” she called outside.
Meng Yue, who had the afternoon off, had taken the quilts out to sun along with Su Xiao’s and her mother-in-law’s. Hearing the call, she came into the west room.
“Mom? Do you need help with anything?”
“No. Sit down.”Li Shulan stepped on the last stitch of her thread before speaking:
“Eldest daughter-in-law, starting tomorrow, if that educated youth Yang talks to you again, you don’t have to avoid him completely. Out of five sentences, reply to one. Keep him hanging, understand?”
Meng Yue shot up in panic, nerves tightening.
“Mom, tomorrow morning I’ll ask the captain to transfer me far away from him, I—”
“What are you so nervous for?”
“Mom, please believe me, I really have nothing to do with him. I haven’t even spoken more than a few sentences!”
Li Shulan laughed. “I believe you. I’m telling you to string him along not for anything improper—but for your job.”
“My… job?”
“Yes. For you to get into the sewing group.”
“The brigade leader’s youngest daughter, Qin Qin, likes that Yang Weiming. And Yang Weiming is eyeing you. With me around, even if Qin Qin wants to trip you up, she wouldn’t dare. But she also won’t dare fight with Yang—she’s afraid he’ll dislike her.”
“The only move she’ll have left is to ask her father to transfer you away.”
“Originally, when the wheat harvest is over, your second sister-in-law will go teach at the school, and only then can you transfer to the sewing group. But if the brigade leader personally transfers you over, you won’t need to suffer so much in the fields.”
Hearing this, Meng Yue finally relaxed.
“Mom, I understand.”
Li Shulan nodded. “You don’t need to treat that boy well—just acknowledge him occasionally. And tomorrow I’m going to the county to buy you a sewing machine in advance.”
She also needed to stockpile meat, milk powder, malted milk, and White Rabbit candies to nourish her daughters-in-law. When the eldest gave birth, they’d need milk powder too.
Just earlier, she had already examined the reward—the thumb ring was small but had excellent jade quality. The watch voucher, combined with the industrial coupons she’d stored in her space, was enough to buy two watches. She would buy both daughters-in-law a watch this trip.
When her second daughter-in-law started teaching, she could wear a watch to work.
Dinner was ready quickly with the eldest daughter-in-law’s help. Su Xiao returned from work soon after—her voice arriving even before she stepped through the gate.
“Mom! Big Sis! I heard you stood up for Big Sis this afternoon—was it amazing?!”
During dinner, Su Xiao made them retell every detail from start to finish.
After eating, Li Shulan sat in the courtyard with her two daughters-in-law, chatting while knitting sweaters.
Last time she bought snacks from town, the system rewarded her with four balls of gray yarn. She planned to knit herself a sweater, then make ones for her daughters-in-law, and when their leftover yarn was added, they could knit sweaters for their parents and send them back home.
Just as they were knitting, a knock sounded outside the courtyard.
“Little Li’s wife, it’s me, Old Secretary.”