Gao Qishan had been a soldier in his youth and only returned home after being discharged for an injury. Breaking a woman’s arm would be a piece of cake for him.
His sharp gaze swept over the surrounding people, focusing on the men.
“If anyone in our Gao Family Village dares to commit crimes and bully women, I’ll break his family jewels!”
The men instantly clamped their legs together, not daring to look at Cheng Hui again.
Cheng Hui looked at Gao Qishan. She would remember this favor.
Having seen enough of the spectacle, the crowd dispersed, satisfied.
Before leaving, everyone took a few more glances at Cheng Hui.
Cheng Hui had been in this village for nearly a year, yet the words she had spoken today were more than they had heard from her all year!
And she had spoken so logically and reasonably… But, was the child in her belly really Gao Yuan’s?
Cheng Hui ignored the crowd’s stares. She scanned the people and quickly found her target.
“Gao Zhi, help me take my quilt to the Educated Youth Spot. I’ll be staying there tonight,” she said.
She looked at Gao Zhi with a complicated expression. This was a drama queen, one of her insufferable little sisters-in-law.
But she wasn’t malicious. She wore her heart on her sleeve and was direct, never having backstabbed her.
In her past life, she had been a great help in finding her daughter.
Hearing that Cheng Hui was going to the Educated Youth Spot, Gao Qishan was instantly relieved.
This Cheng Hui really wasn’t stupid. If she dared to go into the house now, Zhu Qiufang’s children would actually beat her.
Gao Zhi was the child left by the second widow and was not on the same side as Widow Zhu.
But that didn’t necessarily mean she would listen to Cheng Hui.
Sure enough, fifteen-year-old Gao Zhi turned her head away and said petulantly, “Why should I help you?”
Cheng Hui said, “I’ll give you 50 cents.”
Gao Zhi froze, then turned and rushed into the Storage Room, emerging moments later with the quilt.
Cheng Hui smiled. “You also have to help me walk over there.”
“No problem!”
Gao Zhi tucked the bedding under one arm and supported Cheng Hui with the other as they left.
Behind them, the gazes of Zhu Qiufang and Zhang Laizi were like poisoned daggers.
…
The Educated Youth Spot wasn’t far. It was at the head of the village, next to the elementary school. There were two large red-brick courtyards, one housing all the male Educated Youth and the other for the females.
The female Educated Youth Spot had two rooms, but right now, all eight of them were crammed into one to save firewood.
A few girls who hadn’t gone to watch the commotion were listening to the returnees recount the events. Just as they got to the exciting part, Cheng Hui walked in.
The room fell silent, and everyone looked at her with strange expressions.
Suddenly, a female Educated Youth got off the kang, pulled Cheng Hui over, and looked her up and down. “Little Hui! You’re back! I can’t believe you’ve suffered so much! That hooligan just now didn’t bully you, did he?”
The others’ expressions changed. That’s right, a hooligan had just been in Cheng Hui’s room…
Cheng Hui looked at Su Xiao and smiled.
Setting another trap for her?
She had been so blind in her past life, always treating her as a good sister.
Ever since they were young, she had shared everything good with her and confided all her secrets to her.
And what about Su Xiao? She had pretended to be drowning to get her to save her! But in the end, she had held her down, pushing her head into the water!
Only when she stopped struggling did Su Xiao drag her ashore and start crying her eyes out!
If Gao Yuan hadn’t been home on leave and given her artificial respiration and CPR, she would have died!
How hateful that she had been so stupid in her past life, believing Su Xiao’s lies again—that it wasn’t intentional, that she couldn’t swim, that she was panicking and didn’t know what she was doing…
And she had continued to be good sisters with her!
Her breakup with her ex-boyfriend, her marriage to Gao Yuan, her misunderstanding that Gao Yuan had someone else, and his dislike for her—all of it was inextricably linked to Su Xiao!
Cheng Hui asked the female Educated Youth who had been recounting the story, “Did you not explain it clearly? I heard about Widow Zhu’s scheme beforehand and went to report it to the Small Team Leader early on. The people in the room were the militia, and I was still at the Small Team Leader’s house. So I never came face-to-face with that hooligan!”
“Oh, oh, I did say that!” the girl said quickly.
The others also came to their senses, feeling awkward.
They could only blame Cheng Hui’s consistently bad reputation… The moment there was any hint of trouble, they were prone to thinking the worst.
Gao Zhi placed the bedding on the kang and looked at Cheng Hui, waiting for her money.
Cheng Hui whispered, “Give me a few minutes.”
She pulled her hand away from Su Xiao, sat down on a chair, and let out a long breath.
The room was warm, and her tense nerves finally relaxed.
Suddenly, she felt the baby in her belly give her a light, lively kick, and she smiled blissfully.
In a cheerful tone, she asked Su Xiao, “Xiao Xiao, three months ago you told me your mom was seriously ill and needed surgery. Is she better now?”
Su Xiao paused for a moment before smiling. “She’s much better, thank you for asking.”
“Good. In that case, when can you pay back the 50 yuan you borrowed from me?” Cheng Hui asked.
Everyone looked at Cheng Hui in surprise. She had that much money? And she had lent it to Su Xiao?
Fifty yuan was a huge sum.
Take Gao Lao San’s family, for example. With many children and few able-bodied workers, they ended the year in debt to the Production Team, not earning a single cent.
Other farming families might earn 20 or 30 yuan a year. This was the entire family’s income, not the per capita income.
A large, fat pig of lesser quality would only sell for about 50 yuan.
Su Xiao’s face stiffened, and she frantically shot glances at Cheng Hui.
Hadn’t she told her not to flaunt her wealth?! Not to let others know she had so much money?!
Which also meant she couldn’t tell outsiders that she had lent her money…
Cheng Hui pretended not to understand and asked with a puzzled look, “What’s with that expression? We grew up together, classmates from elementary school all the way to high school. When you asked to borrow money, I didn’t even make you write an IOU. You’re not going to deny it, are you? If you do, I’ll have to write to your mom and ask her to pay it back…”
“Look at you, what are you saying!” Su Xiao said angrily. “I’m just upset that you’re flaunting your wealth! If you hadn’t gone around telling everyone your dad was an official and that your family was rich, would Zhao Wei have kept chasing you? And now you’re doing it again!
“You said it yourself, we grew up together, closer than real sisters! Am I the kind of person who doesn’t pay back a loan?”
The corners of Cheng Hui’s mouth curled up slightly. In truth, her loss in her past life wasn’t entirely undeserved.
Look at how she spoke—setting another trap for her, gaslighting her, and all without confirming whether she had borrowed the money or how much.
“So, the 50 yuan you borrowed from me, when exactly are you going to pay it back?”
Cheng Hui held her hand with one hand and wiped her eyes with the other. “I have no choice but to ask you for this money.
“You saw what happened. I can’t go back to the Gao family. I have nothing now but my bedding! I need to eat. When are you going to pay me back?”
Su Xiao was furious. Money, money, money, she couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning money! Why had she become so vulgar! Where was her feigned aloofness?
On the surface, however, she said with embarrassment, “You know that money was to save my mom’s life. Although she’s better now, she hasn’t gone back to work and has no salary. As soon as she saves up enough to mail it to me, I’ll definitely pay you back right away!”
So, if she didn’t pay it back, it was her mother’s problem, not hers.