Those words sounded obviously fabricated.
Chang Qiuyue became even more convinced.
She assumed Mu Qinqin had regained her senses and didn’t want others to know she had lost her purity, which was why she was stubbornly denying everything. Raising her chin with reddened eyes, she said, “MuMu, don’t be afraid. We’re all here now. Just say whatever you want boldly. You’re a young woman—how could you possibly know how to repair a roof? And it’s so high up. You said before that you’re afraid of heights, so why would you climb onto a roof?”
On the rooftop, Mu Qinqin expressionlessly looked at the stone hammer in her hand.
She was seriously considering whether she should throw it down onto Chang Qiuyue’s head and solve the problem directly.
This woman was absolutely determined to pin the blame on Si Chengchen.
Her poor fictional husband.
Especially since the people inside were already starting to murmur among themselves.
“Exactly. She’s just a girl. Without a ladder, how could she even get onto the roof?”
“What else could it be? Si Chengchen must’ve become dishonest after going blind and figured he’d never get a wife, so he wanted to ruin some girl instead.”
“Isn’t this immoral relations between a man and woman?”
“And he used to be a soldier too.”
“I say we should report this to the village leader immediately. We can’t let someone like this stain our village.”
From the rooftop, Mu Qinqin looked down at the people speaking and memorized every single one of their faces.
Then she glanced at the hammer in her hand again.
Not enough of them.
She couldn’t smash all of them.
Then she looked at her fictional husband again.
So pitiful…
“Talking nothing but crap.”
A light laugh drifted into everyone’s ears along with the breeze.
The voice was soft and sweet.
The people below assumed they had heard wrong.
It sounded like Mu Qinqin had spoken.
But how could a city girl like her say something so vulgar?
Si Chengchen’s expression shifted slightly the moment Mu Qinqin spoke.
“Who says I don’t know how to repair roofs or climb walls?” After weighing the consequences of publicly beating people in this era—and the possible impact on Si Chengchen—Mu Qinqin slowly curled her lips into a smile.
Then, under everyone’s gaze—
She skillfully hammered here and patched there.
In no time, she repaired the huge hole completely.
Afterward, she moved like a monkey, nimbly climbing down the wall before even bouncing twice after landing.
Everyone was stunned.
Th-this…
“Educated Youth Mu, y-you’re even more agile than the monkeys on the back mountain. That’s amazing!” It was the same young man from earlier. Every sentence out of his mouth sounded ridiculous.
Mu Qinqin’s face darkened.
If you can’t compliment someone properly, then don’t.
The other villagers were also dumbfounded, all staring at her in shock.
“Educated Youth Mu, I didn’t expect you really knew how to fix roofs—and you did such a good job.” Since they were villagers, they could tell Mu Qinqin hadn’t merely patched it casually. She had genuinely repaired it very well, and their faces filled with admiration.
“How is this possible?” Beside them, Chang Qiuyue’s face had already turned deathly pale, her eyes full of disbelief.
Even now, she still wanted to stubbornly insist on her accusation.
Mu Qinqin sneered. Her hands itched terribly to smash the stone hammer onto Chang Qiuyue’s forehead, but she forcibly restrained herself. Lightly tapping the hammer against her palm, she innocently and blankly asked,
“I never said Comrade Si was following me. Qiuyue, why are you making things up?”
Then her expression turned serious.
“Everyone knows Comrade Si is a soldier devoted to the country and the people. Back when our village flooded, it was Comrade Si who risked his life to save the villagers in danger. His injuries were also caused while carrying out missions. How could he possibly do something like stalk a young woman?”
“Educated Youth Chang, you should know the saying: ‘Rumors spread with one mouth, but disproving them takes breaking your legs.’”
Mu Qinqin cast Chang Qiuyue a meaningful glance.
By now, Chang Qiuyue was trembling with rage.
She still wanted to argue further.
But Mu Qinqin spoke first.
“If everyone wrongfully accused Comrade Si just because of your words, wouldn’t that break his heart? Don’t forget that after the flood, Comrade Si even used his own salary to help support everyone. The villagers all remember kindness—I’m sure nobody would misunderstand Comrade Si because of this.”
She smiled gently, her tone soft.
But the meaning behind her words was crystal clear:
What kind of heartless bastard would misunderstand Si Chengchen over a few rumors?
Among the crowd, the men and women who had followed along insulting Si Chengchen earlier immediately flushed red and quietly shrank backward.
Mu Qinqin sneered inwardly at the sight.
They were nothing more than jealous people who had envied Si Chengchen for becoming a battalion commander and living well in the past. Now that he was injured, they wanted to step on him to satisfy their pathetic sense of superiority.
In the original novel, some villagers remembered Si Chengchen’s kindness, while others were simply rotten people.
Apparently several of those rotten ones had come today.
“That’s not what I meant. I was just worried about you.” Seeing the situation turning against her, Chang Qiuyue could only force out a strained smile no matter how unwilling she felt.
“So that’s what it was.” Mu Qinqin looked completely touched. Mimicking Chang Qiuyue’s earlier act, she tearfully grabbed her hand, while the stone hammer in her own hand accidentally knocked against Chang Qiuyue’s wrist.
Before Chang Qiuyue could bare her teeth in pain and yank her hand away, Mu Qinqin quickly continued,
“I’m so touched, Qiuyue. You were already this worried when I went out alone during the daytime. Next time you go out at night to deliver biscuits to someone, make sure you bring me along. It’s dangerous outside at night—I’d be worried something might happen to you.”
Mu Qinqin spoke with such heartfelt sincerity.
It truly sounded as though she regarded Chang Qiuyue as her dearest friend.
But Chang Qiuyue’s face turned alternating shades of green and white with fury.
Especially after fully processing her words.
The night she secretly went out to deliver biscuits to Song Qing—how did Mu Qinqin know about that?!
Sure enough—
Quite a few people immediately picked up on the implication.
“Going out alone at night? Delivering biscuits? To who?”
“No idea, but Qiuyue looked really happy when she came back.” Innocent little white-flower Mu Qinqin came naturally to her. Since she had always worked diligently in the fields, the villagers already had a favorable impression of her. Now, with her blinking innocently while speaking, she looked as sincere as possible.
Several gossip-loving aunties in the crowd immediately teased,
“Oh my, does Qiuyue have a sweetheart now?”
Another auntie sneered disdainfully, “What kind of sweetheart requires sneaking out at night to fool around?”
“No, I was just giving…” Chang Qiuyue weakly tried to explain, but after stammering for ages, she still couldn’t come up with anything convincing. Aside from Mu Qinqin, she barely had any close relationships with anyone.
The original Mu Qinqin had been completely fooled by her and genuinely treated Chang Qiuyue as a good friend.
Little did she know that this “good friend” had wanted to drug her to death.
In the end, Chang Qiuyue couldn’t explain herself at all. Stomping her foot anxiously, she burst into tears and ran away.
Mu Qinqin, whose combat power was supposedly low, could only sigh emotionally.
Back when she read the novel, she had already felt there weren’t many smart people in it.
Now that she saw them in person—
Sure enough, they were all weaklings.
Since everyone had left, it wouldn’t be appropriate for Mu Qinqin—a young woman who had just repaired the roof—to remain alone inside a grown man’s house.
So…
She waved her hand and left as well.
“See you around.”
Once the faint fruity fragrance unique to Mu Qinqin finally faded from the room—
For some reason, Si Chengchen stood at the doorway staring in the direction she had left, feeling an unfamiliar sense of emptiness and disappointment in his chest.
The emotion felt too strange to him, making him frown uncomfortably.
Just as he was about to turn back inside—
Suddenly, a small head popped out again from beside the fence at the entrance.