No matter what Niu Maizi said, the truth was already right in front of everyone. Nobody believed her.
After all… look at where the money was hidden.
Inside her underwear pocket!
If Li Shulan were trying to frame her, how could she secretly slip money into her underwear without her noticing?
Everyone had basically pieced the situation together by now.
Niu Maizi had gone to Li Shulan’s house to introduce her to a man. Li Shulan got angry and wanted to find something to chase her out with. It was at that moment that Niu Maizi spotted the cloth pouch containing the money, and while Li Shulan wasn’t looking, hid it in her underwear.
Then when Li Shulan was beating her later, she realized the money was gone—leading to everything everyone saw today.
Over two hundred yuan!In the countryside, a whole family might need years to save up that much.
Just as Li Shulan said—breaking one leg wasn’t too much. Breaking two would still be deserved!
Having gotten what she wanted, Li Shulan planned to leave.
But since Niu Maizi’s leg was broken, her cursing gradually turned into wailing, screaming that unless Li Shulan compensated her, she would go throw herself into the river.
Li Shulan spoke up, “Compensation is fine. As long as you sign a statement saying you were beaten because you stole money, I’ll give you twenty yuan as compensation for my ‘moment of carelessness.’”
Partly she didn’t want to make things difficult for the team captain, and partly—breaking someone’s leg in public like this would eventually give people something to gossip about if she didn’t show at least a little gesture.
Besides, her plan today wasn’t exactly airtight; it wouldn’t withstand close scrutiny.
Better to spend a little money and cut things cleanly.
Of course Niu Maizi and Qin Dazhu refused at first. A broken leg—what could twenty yuan do?
Li Shulan didn’t hold back.“Yes, I broke your leg. But it’s only a small shin bone. Go to the hospital and have them set it with a wooden splint—one month and it’ll heal. The cost won’t even reach five yuan. The remaining fifteen is me being generous, covering your lost wages for the month.
“If you still want to use this to extort me, then forget it. Let’s just go to the police station and see what they say.”
With those words—and the captain pressuring them—within a few minutes the signed statement Li Shulan wanted was in her hand.
She kept her promise, pulled out two large-denomination bills, and tossed them over.
Then, while everyone was present, she raised the fire tongs and declared:
“Since we’re all here today, let me state something clearly. For my entire life, I belong to Qin Erzhu. I will live as his woman and die as his ghost! If anyone dares mention introducing me to another man, telling me to remarry, or if anyone who’s tired of living tries climbing into my bed—watch me beat him to death!”
After that she rolled her eyes at Niu Maizi, turned around, and left.
She wasn’t about to delay her sewing work.
..
On the other side—
The moment Qin Qin saw Aunt Lan fighting with Aunt Niu, she received her father’s signal and hurried to the back mountain to find Meng Yue.
Aunt Lan spoiled her two daughters-in-law endlessly these days, so she’d probably listen if one of them stepped in.
But when Qin Qin arrived, she happened to see Meng Yue smiling at Yang Weiming.
Meng Yue remembered her mother-in-law’s reminders, so these days while working in the fields, whenever Yang Weiming spoke to her, she barely responded—three sentences from him, one sentence from her. Sometimes she even bragged about her mother-in-law without intending to—just like now.
Yang Weiming was hoeing the ground while chatting lightly.
“Comrade Meng, your mother-in-law really dotes on you. She brings you snacks every day while you work. If your parents knew you married so well, they would be very happy.”
Meng Yue nodded with a smile.“Yes, my mother-in-law treats me very well. Not only does she cook for me and Xiaoxiao every day, she recently added to our bride price. My sewing machine, Xiaoxiao’s bicycle—they were all from her. She even gave us each an extra four hundred yuan for our dowries, bringing the total to six hundred.”
Hearing that, Yang Weiming’s eyes flickered.
“It’s because you deserve it. Back in the old days in Beijing, a family like the Qin’s wouldn’t even have gotten close to someone like you. Naturally, they have to cherish you more.”
He wanted to praise Meng Yue to make her understand that marrying Qin Zihuai was marrying down. Someone like her should only marry someone with a Beijing household registration.
Someone like… him.
They were both Beijing natives, even attended the same high school. If she had to marry, she should have married him.
Of course, that was his previous thought.
Now that Meng Yue was already married, even if she divorced, she’d be a second-marriage woman—not good enough for him.
The reason he approached her now was simply money.
The Qin family was rural, but both Qin brothers earned a lot. And Meng Yue herself had plenty of money.
He was secretly dating the team captain’s daughter, but although Qin Dan Niu was a team captain, rural people didn’t earn much. She’d never bring him much financially. He just planned to use her to get an easy job and a worker-peasant-soldier university recommendation.
And if he could hook Meng Yue on the side—then use the promise of marriage back in the city as bait, drain as much money from her as possible, and improve his life—wouldn’t his future be wonderful?
Meng Yue wasn’t naïve, so she instantly understood the hidden meaning behind his words.
She originally didn’t want to respond.
But when she turned her head and happened to see Qin Qin approaching, she immediately smiled at Yang Weiming again—but her tone became mocking.
“What kind of ‘background’ does the Qin family have? My father-in-law is an honored liberation hero. My mother-in-law is a poor peasant. My husband is an engineer at the provincial machinery factory. Xiaoxiao’s husband used to be a soldier. With such an outstanding family background, Xiaoxiao and I are the lucky ones to marry into the Qin family!”
Yang Weiming didn’t expect one sentence to anger her so much.
Just as he stepped forward to explain, Qin Qin ran over.
“Comrade Meng! Your mother-in-law is fighting your eldest aunt-in-law over at Fang Mountain! She even broke a leg with a fire tong! My dad told me to come get you—hurry!”
Meng Yue’s eyes filled with worry at once.
She grabbed Qin Qin’s hand.“Comrade Qin Qin, is my mother-in-law okay? Whose leg is broken?”
Thinking of how Meng Yue had smiled at Yang Weiming earlier, Qin Qin felt incredibly annoyed and just wanted to send her away quickly. She shook her head.
“I don’t know. I only heard someone shout that a leg was broken after I’d already run partway back. When I looked again, people were crowding around. I don’t know whose leg it is. You should go see for yourself.”
Hearing that, Meng Yue didn’t dare delay. She quickly asked Qin Qin to help request leave from the team captain and ran off immediately.
After she left, Qin Qin looked toward Yang Weiming.
“Comrade Yang, what exactly were you talking about with Comrade Meng? She looked so happy just now.”