Meng Yue and Su Xiao both looked toward their mother-in-law. Li Shulan gave a small nod.“Go open the door.”
When the courtyard gate opened, Qin Dechang and Qin Lixun stood outside, each carrying a small cloth sack.
Li Shulan glanced at her two daughters-in-law and signaled for them to return to the house.
Once they were back inside, she led the visitors to the west room.
..
Qin Dechang stepped forward with a smile.“Little Li daughter-in-law, I came tonight to apologize on behalf of this boy here. He shouldn’t have assigned your elder daughter-in-law to work with Comrade Yang. The boy was being foolish. Please don’t hold it against him.”
Qin Lixun quickly chimed in with an apology:“Sister-in-law Lan, it was my mistake. I shouldn’t have put my niece-in-law together with a male educated youth. Tomorrow—I’ll separate them tomorrow. I won’t give Comrade Yang any more chance to get close!”
Li Shulan let out a cold laugh.
“A mistake? Lixun boy, your sister-in-law here isn’t stupid. I know perfectly well what you’re scheming. You want to ruin my daughter-in-law’s reputation, make it so I can’t hold my head up in the brigade, make my Zi-huai wear a green hat, isn’t that it?”
“Xiao Li daughter-in-law, that’s absolutely not what he meant!”
“Sister-in-law Lan, I didn’t mean that. I swear I didn’t—”
Li Shulan raised a hand and cut him off.“Whether you meant it or not, you know perfectly well yourself. And I don’t want to hear your useless dog-swearing. I only have two things to say tonight.”
She turned to Qin Dechang.
“Old Secretary, from ’58 until you retired in ’68, you secretly skimmed a total of 10,300 work points. At an average of four cents per point, that’s over four hundred yuan. Add in the collective seeds, tools, and fertilizer—you’ve taken at least seven or eight hundred. And you kept it all written in a ledger, didn’t you?”
At those words, Qin Dechang’s face instantly drained of color.
Impossible. He had hidden that ledger extremely well—his own wife didn’t know about it. How did Li Shulan know? And so precisely?
But Li Shulan didn’t stop.
She turned to Qin Lixun.
“And you, Lixun. After the autumn harvest last year, when you went up the mountain for firewood, you saw the captain’s third daughter-in-law, Comrade Xu, alone. You forced yourself on her. Afterwards, to stop her from reporting you to the police, you promised to compensate her fifty yuan. Correct?”
Thud!
Qin Lixun dropped to his knees the moment her words landed.
Back then, it had been a moment of lust. He had checked carefully—there was no one around. How could Li Shulan know?
If Xu Hui had been an ordinary educated youth, or anyone else’s wife, he wouldn’t have worried. If he couldn’t suppress the matter, his father could.
But Xu Hui was Qin Daniu’s daughter-in-law!
Qin Daniu was fiercely protective, and his family’s third son liked Xu Hui desperately. If they found out, they would beat him to death.
“Sister-in-law Lan, I—I didn’t mean it. I—I wasn’t thinking. Sister-in-law, you absolutely mustn’t say anything. If you tell, Qin Daniu’s family will kill me!”
Li Shulan said nothing.
Seeing this, Qin Dechang’s already-stooped back bent even lower.“Xiao Li daughter-in-law, whatever you want, just say it. As long as I can do it, I’ll do my utmost.”
Li Shulan crossed her legs the other way, speaking slowly.“Old Secretary, now you wrong me. I have two promising sons—what could I possibly want? Would I need to extort you?”
“Rest assured, I have no intention of exposing these things.”
Corruption among brigade leaders was common knowledge. Reporting it would offend many people, not just Qin Dechang. His family might take the brunt, but the other leaders would all start guarding themselves against her. She didn’t rely on them for a living, but offending the entire leadership would make life in the brigade far from convenient.
A warning was enough. And after the incident this afternoon, rumors wouldn’t dare spread again.
As for Qin Lixun’s crime—she didn’t need to report it. Soon the captain’s third daughter-in-law would give birth, and then people would naturally know.
But she wouldn’t let it slide.
Li Shulan continued:
“I’ve always been someone who doesn’t provoke others. But if someone provokes me, I always repay the debt.”
“Lixun boy, don’t you love ordering people to haul manure? Starting tomorrow, as the small-team leader, you’ll take the lead and haul manure for an entire month. No objections, right?”
“No objections, none at all! I’ll haul manure starting tomorrow, for a whole month!” He hurriedly added, “And tomorrow I’ll transfer Comrade Meng to the best fields to work with my wife. My wife will help her—I won’t make things difficult for her ever again!”
“No need. Keep everything as it was before. No special treatment for my daughter-in-law. I believe in her. If we change groups it’ll look like we’re guilty. Just put Comrade Yang with her—I want to see which fool still dares spread rumors about her.”
Qin Lixun froze, unsure whether she meant it literally or sarcastically.
Afraid he might ruin things again, Li Shulan added: “I’m taking leave tomorrow to go to the county town and buy a sewing machine as betrothal gift for my elder daughter-in-law.”
Hearing this, Qin Lixun was confused, but Qin Dechang immediately understood what she meant. He quickly said:
“Alright, Xiao Li daughter-in-law, don’t worry. Comrade Meng will remain exactly as before—same groups, same work arrangement.” He then extended the two cloth bags. “These are a small token of apology from Lixun. Please accept them without hesitation.”
Li Shulan waved them away immediately.
“No need. I don’t lack anything. Take them back.”
This situation was different from the last time she went to settle accounts at their home. That time, she had many witnesses supporting her.
Taking gifts now?
One report to the authorities and she’d become an accomplice—she couldn’t afford that.
She even escorted them as far as Zhou Wanxiang’s door, calling out her close friend to chat a moment—just to ensure Zhou’s family could testify she didn’t take a thing.
Thanks to her maneuvering, Qin Dechang could only swallow his anger along with his broken teeth.
And he wasn’t the only one furious tonight.
Nearly the whole brigade spent the evening talking about Li Shulan—praising her, blaming her, calling her fierce, vicious, domineering—everything. But one thing was certain: no one dared offend her again. Not even casually joke about her daughters-in-law.
..
At that moment—
At the east end of the brigade, Li Shulan’s elder brother-in-law, Qin Zhu, was lying on the kang chatting with his wife.
“Old man, that third brother’s wife is really something. She dropped three or five bombs today—now who in the village would dare say a word to her? Heaven really is unfair. That vicious woman is living such a good life, two sons both successful. I heard her boys send home forty to fifty yuan every month! Who knows how much she’s saved all these years. And she even built that flush toilet recently. Truly unfair…”
“Enough. Don’t talk about her. Did you find anything about what I asked last time?” Qin Zhu interrupted.
At that, Niu Maizi sat up excitedly.“Don’t even get me started—I actually found someone perfect in town. The commune’s radio announcer. Thirty-eight years old. His wife died giving birth. He’s alone now. I’ve seen him—he looks good, has a job. Just wave him over, and that vicious woman will surely throw herself at him!”