“I’ll show you who’s not allowed! You rotten-hearted scoundrel, how dare you slander my daughter!”
Li Xiulan’s eyes were bloodshot, and the shoulder pole in her hands whistled through the air with fierce momentum.
Thwack!
The pole landed solidly on Zhao Dazhuang’s back, making him yelp and leap up in pain.
“Ouch! They’re hitting people! The Su family is hitting people!” Zhao Dazhuang rolled on the ground clutching his back, but his mouth still spewed filth. “What? You do something shameful and won’t let anyone talk about it? Su Nianqiu is a loose woman! Who knows whose bastard she’s carrying!”
“I’ll smash that foul mouth of yours today!”
Blinded by rage, Li Xiulan raised the shoulder pole to strike again.
“Stop!” Su Jianguo roared, not at his wife, but at the villagers who were watching the commotion with glee.
His tall frame shielded his wife and daughter. His square face, weathered by years of sun and wind, was now as dark as the bottom of a pot, radiating the authority of a production team leader. “Anyone who dares spread another rumor today will be charged with undermining collective unity! Don’t even think about getting a single work point this year!”
Work points!
These were the lifeblood of the commune members!
At these words, the villagers who had been ready to join in the jeering immediately fell silent, each sealing their lips tightly.
Only then did Su Jianguo turn to Zhao Dazhuang, who was still rolling and wailing on the ground, his gaze as cold as ice. “Zhao Dazhuang, what did you just say? Have the guts to repeat it!”
Zhao Dazhuang shivered under his murderous glare, but emboldened by his own “righteousness,” he stiffened his neck and shouted, “I’m telling the truth! Su Nianqiu is carrying a bastard! So what if you’re the team leader? Does that mean you can cover up your daughter’s loose behavior?”
“Good, very good.” Su Jianguo laughed in extreme anger. Pointing at Zhao Dazhuang, he said word by word to the militia captain beside him, “Tie up this troublemaker who spreads rumors and ruins people’s reputations! Take him to the town police station! I want to ask the public security comrades whether slandering a woman’s virtue carries no responsibility these days!”
To the police station?!
Now Zhao Dazhuang was truly terrified. He was just a village ruffian, used to petty theft and bullying others because his family was large, but the thought of dealing with uniformed police officers made him more timid than a rabbit.
“No… don’t, Uncle Su! I… I was just joking…” Zhao Dazhuang’s face turned pale with fear as he scrambled up from the ground to beg for mercy.
“Joking?” Su Nianqiu, nestled in her mother’s arms, finally caught her breath.
She gently pushed Li Xiulan away and, supported by her parents, stood up shakily.
Though soaked to the bone, her hair disheveled, and her face pale, the innate cool pride etched in her bones made her stand out like a crane among chickens in the crowd.
All eyes were fixed on her.
They expected her to cry, to make a scene, to deny it to the death.
However, Su Nianqiu merely cast a cold glance at the terrified Zhao Dazhuang. Then, she took a deep breath, her gaze calmly sweeping over everyone present. Her red lips parted slightly, and her voice, though not loud, carried clearly to every ear.
“I am pregnant.”
Boom!
Su Nianqiu had actually admitted it herself!
Even Su Jianguo and Li Xiulan, who were shielding her, turned around in shock, staring at their daughter in disbelief.
Qiu’er… she… she actually admitted it?!
The villagers were utterly dumbfounded. They had seen people with thick skin before, but never this thick! Getting pregnant out of wedlock and still daring to admit it so brazenly in public?
Su Nianqiu ignored everyone’s shock. Her gaze fell back on Zhao Dazhuang, a cold curve lifting the corner of her mouth.
“I am indeed pregnant. However,” her tone shifted abruptly, her voice turning sharp and severe, “does the child in my belly have even the slightest connection to a piece of scum like you, who isn’t even worthy of being called a human?”
“Listen carefully, and I ask all you uncles and aunties to bear witness.”
Su Nianqiu straightened her spine, her words ringing out firm and clear: “I, Su Nianqiu, am carrying the child of a man for whom I willingly bore this child! He is a hero who stands tall between heaven and earth! He is not some ambiguous, nameless man!”
“As for you, Zhao Dazhuang!” Her eyes became as sharp as blades. “Without a shred of evidence, you spread rumors in public, ruined my reputation, and even drove me to throw myself into the river. This debt, if my parents won’t settle it with you, I, Su Nianqiu, will settle it with you to the very end!”
Her words, forceful and resolute, carried such a powerful aura that it stunned everyone present.
Zhao Dazhuang felt a chill under her gaze but stubbornly blustered on, “You… you’re lying! You say he’s a hero, so he’s a hero? If you have the guts, bring him out here! I think you’re just making it up!”
“Does my daughter need to explain herself to the likes of you?” Li Xiulan, having regained her composure, was both shocked and heartbroken inside, but her instinct to protect her young immediately placed her on her daughter’s side.
She slammed her carrying pole on the ground, splashing mud and water. “Even if my daughter never marries in her lifetime, her father and I can afford to raise her! The child in her belly is our Su family’s own grandchild! Whoever dares to say a single word against it, I’ll split them open first!”
“That’s right!” Su Jianguo also spoke up in a deep voice, his tiger-like eyes containing authority. “My daughter, Su Jianguo’s daughter, and my Su family’s grandchild are not for you gossipmongers to point fingers at! All of you, get lost! From now on, if anyone dares to wag their tongues about this matter again, don’t blame me for forgetting our ties as fellow villagers!”
With the brigade leader having spoken, who dared to linger? The villagers exchanged glances and finally scattered like birds and beasts, slinking away in disgrace.
Zhao Dazhuang also tried to slip away but was firmly restrained by the militia.
“Uncle Su, Brigade Leader Su! I was wrong, I was really wrong!” He wailed and begged for mercy.
Su Jianguo snorted coldly, “Too late! Take him away!”
A storm that could have ruined a girl’s entire life was thus suppressed by Su Nianqiu’s parents in the most forceful and uncompromising manner.
Watching her parents standing protectively before her, Su Nianqiu felt a sting in her nose, and her eyes instantly reddened.
Was this… unconditional favoritism and protection?
It felt so good.
“Qiu’er, come home with your parents.” Su Jianguo took off his own jacket and draped it over his daughter’s shoulders, his voice filled with heartache.
Back home, with the courtyard gate closed, shutting out the outside world.
Li Xiulan could no longer hold back. She hugged Su Nianqiu and wept bitterly, “My foolish daughter, what on earth happened? That man… who is he? How could he let you suffer such injustice alone?”
Su Jianguo also wore a pained expression, sitting on the edge of the kang, smoking one pipe of tobacco after another.
Su Nianqiu knew it was time for the truth-telling session.
Leaning weakly in her mother’s embrace, she was just about to start explaining when suddenly, everything went black before her eyes, and her whole body went limp.
“Qiu’er!”
“Daughter!”
Su Jianguo and Li Xiulan were scared out of their wits.
In the last second before losing consciousness, Su Nianqiu felt a sudden, scorching heat from the Dragon-patterned Jade Pendant—which the original owner had kept close to her chest—radiating from her chest…