The militia captain stepped forward to take a look and gasped. The man on the ground had a flushed face, reeked of alcohol, and was clutching his crotch with both hands. His pants were soaked through—clearly, he had wet himself.
“Isn’t this Zhao Dazhuang? Wasn’t he just released this afternoon?” the militia captain frowned, signaling two of his men to tie Zhao Dazhuang’s hands and feet tightly with hemp rope.
More and more villagers gathered in the courtyard. When they saw it was Zhao Dazhuang, the crowd erupted.
“Climbing over the wall into the Su family’s yard in the middle of the night? What was this bastard trying to do?”
“What else could it be? He’s got his eyes on their daughter!”
“He’s got some nerve, breaking into the brigade leader’s house!”
Zhao Dazhuang was roughly hauled to his feet. His eyes were red and teary from the medicinal wine, and the pain in his lower body made it impossible for him to straighten up. But his mind wasn’t completely foggy yet. Hearing the villagers’ discussions, he knew that if he were convicted of being a hooligan today, he’d be facing a firing squad.
He struggled desperately, his hoarse voice screeching, “I’m not a thief! Su Nianqiu called me here! She told me to climb over the wall in the middle of the night! Everyone, listen to reason! This woman is already knocked up and lonely at night, so she asked me to keep her company! Look at what she’s wearing—it’s meant to seduce me!”
The crowd fell silent for a moment.
Several suspicious gazes landed on Su Nianqiu. She was only wearing a plain, thin long-sleeved nightgown. Though it covered her completely, it was thin and clung to her body.
Li Xiulan was furious. She raised a carrying pole, ready to smash his mouth. “I’ll tear your filthy mouth apart!”
“Mom,” Su Nianqiu reached out and grabbed Li Xiulan’s arm.
She stepped out of the shadows and stood in the light of the torches. There was no panic, no shame or anger. She walked up to Zhao Dazhuang and looked down at him.
“I called you here?” Su Nianqiu asked calmly.
“Yes! It was you! You acted all proper during the day, but at night you wanted me to come to your room for fun!” Zhao Dazhuang stubbornly refused to back down.
Su Nianqiu sneered, turned, and walked toward the door of the east wing. She bent down, picked up a rusty, long iron strip from the ground, and tossed it onto the muddy ground in front of the villagers, where it landed with a crisp clang.
“This fell in from outside the door,” Su Nianqiu pointed to the fresh scratches on the doorframe where it had been pried open. “If I called you here, why would I bolt the door? And what did you use to pry open the latch?”
Zhao Dazhuang stiffened his neck. “Who knows if you set me up on purpose!”
“I set you up?” Su Nianqiu took a step closer, her eyes sharp as knives. “Can everyone smell that pungent odor on him? That’s the medicinal wine I had in the room. You tried to force yourself on me as soon as you came in, so I splashed the medicinal wine on you and knocked you down with a bamboo pole. You said it yourself earlier—your mother made a scene at the police station to get you out, and this afternoon someone gave you a ‘bright idea’ to come ruin my reputation in the middle of the night. Once the rice was cooked, my father wouldn’t dare say a word, and you might even take over as brigade leader.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire crowd erupted in an uproar.
Su Jianguo’s face turned so dark it seemed like ink could drip from it, and the veins on the back of his hand, gripping a firewood chopper, bulged.
“You’re lying! I never said that!” Zhao Dazhuang panicked.
Su Nianqiu gave him no chance to catch his breath, continuing to strike at his heart with every word: “You didn’t say it? You, a good-for-nothing who can barely write your own name, could come up with a scheme like ‘cook the rice and force the brigade leader to step down’? Zhao Dazhuang, if you tell us now who put you up to this, my father might still consider you an accomplice. But if you don’t…”
She turned to Su Jianguo, her voice crisp and clear: “Dad, breaking into someone’s home armed in the middle of the night, with the intent to rape a woman—how many years does that carry under our country’s laws?”
Su Jianguo immediately chimed in, his voice booming and resonant: “That’s an extremely serious crime of hooliganism combined with sabotaging production and construction! It’s enough to warrant execution! At the very least, it’s twenty years of reform through labor at a farm in the Great Northwest!”
“Twenty years of reform through labor!”
Zhao Dazhuang was so terrified his legs went weak. If not for the two militiamen holding him up, he would have collapsed to his knees right then and there.
The villagers’ gazes toward Zhao Dazhuang had completely changed. If some had initially doubted Su Nianqiu’s character, now, upon hearing “plotting to seize the brigade leader’s power,” everyone understood. This wasn’t just a matter of improper conduct between a man and a woman—this was outright tyranny, an attempt to harm others for personal gain!
“Beat this troublemaker to death!”
Someone shouted, and several hot-tempered villagers rushed forward, delivering a flurry of punches and kicks to Zhao Dazhuang.
“Stop hitting me! Ouch! Stop!” Zhao Dazhuang writhed on the ground in pain, blood streaming from his nose.
Company Commander Wang did not intervene. Only after everyone had vented their anger did he wave his hand, signaling for Zhao Dazhuang to be hauled back up.
“Speak! Who put you up to this?” Company Commander Wang demanded sternly.
Zhao Dazhuang’s face was bruised and swollen, tears and snot smeared across it. He wanted to confess, but he had no idea who that person was. That afternoon, he had been sleeping under the big tree at the village entrance when he vaguely overheard two people chatting behind the tree. They said the brigade leader cared most about his reputation, and if Su Nianqiu were truly violated by someone, Su Jianguo would surely cover up the scandal and accept the perpetrator as his son-in-law.
He never saw their faces.
“I… I don’t know… I didn’t see who it was…” Zhao Dazhuang wailed.
Su Nianqiu narrowed her eyes slightly. Didn’t see anyone? This method fit the style of that green tea bitch, Chen Xiaoman, perfectly.
But it didn’t matter. The monk might run away, but the temple remains. Today, they would deal with Zhao Dazhuang first.
“It’s fine if you don’t know,” Su Nianqiu said, looking at Zhao Dazhuang. “You climbed over the wall and broke into my home with malicious intent—that’s an indisputable fact. Your mouth spread rumors about me and ruined my reputation. Now, we have both the culprit and the evidence. Dad, send him to the commune’s armed forces department tonight. He can’t stay in this village anymore—he’s nothing but trouble.”
Su Jianguo nodded and turned to issue orders to Company Commander Wang: “Company Commander Wang, take four men and escort this bastard to the commune tonight. Hand him directly to the commune secretary and the police station chief! Tell them that the Red Flag Brigade absolutely cannot tolerate such hooligans and tyrants! If they dare release him casually again today, I, Su Jianguo, will go to the county committee tomorrow to file a complaint!”
“Yes, sir!” Company Commander Wang responded loudly.
Zhao Dazhuang was dragged out of the courtyard like a dead dog, leaving behind a trail of his desperate pleas and cries for mercy.
The courtyard fell silent.
Su Jianguo turned around, faced the full courtyard of villagers, took a deep breath, and declared loudly, “Fellow villagers! My daughter is pure and innocent! The child in her belly comes from a proper and honorable source! Today, everyone witnessed the fate of that beast Zhao Dazhuang. From now on, if I hear anyone in this village gossiping or slandering my daughter, they’re no better than a scoundrel like Zhao Dazhuang! I will not let it go lightly!”
The authority of the brigade leader was unmistakable at this moment. The villagers nodded in agreement.
“Don’t worry, Brigade Leader, none of us believe that good-for-nothing’s words!”
“That’s right, Nianqiu is such a fine girl—she must have been framed by this beast.”
The tide had completely turned.
Su Nianqiu stood under the moonlight, watching the villagers’ retreating figures, a faint, cold smile curling at the corner of her lips.