It was 1976.
By the small river in Hongxing Production Brigade.
“Shameless little slut, you already have an illegitimate child with someone and still dare to seduce your brother-in-law. Did you tell Brother Juncheng bad things about me, so he didn’t take me back to the city?”
With a sharp slap, Su Qian’an was caught off guard as Su Jiaojiao struck her across the face. Her head snapped to the side, and her cheek quickly swelled red and purple.
“Cousin, you’ve misunderstood. I have nothing to do with Brother Juncheng.”
Stunned for a moment by the slap, Su Qian’an tried to defend herself, feeling an inexplicable sense of grievance.
Su Jiaojiao’s eyes were filled with venom as she suddenly shoved her into the river and sneered coldly.
“Stop lying to me. You even managed to seduce Huo Zheng into bed—how could you possibly not care about someone as outstanding as Brother Juncheng? I think you just want to break up our marriage!”
The “Brother Juncheng” Su Jiaojiao referred to was a single educated youth in the production brigade.
His family had secured a return-to-city quota, and he would be leaving in two days. Not only that, he had even invited Su Qian’an—who was a married woman—to take a look at the city.
But clearly, she was the one who met Brother Juncheng first. He must have liked her too; otherwise, he wouldn’t have accepted the eggs she gave him.
Everyone in the village knew she was meant to be Brother Juncheng’s future wife! So why was he taking Su Qian’an, that fatherless and motherless wild child, and not her?
It wasn’t fair!
They were both daughters of the Su family, so why did Su Qian’an have that seductive, bewitching face? And even after giving birth to a child, the men in the brigade still liked her!
The more Su Jiaojiao thought about it, the angrier she became. She picked up a large stone and fiercely hurled it toward the person in the water.
If that face disappeared, let’s see how she could still seduce men in the brigade!
She was just like that shameless mother who ran off with a man—both of them were cheap, disgraceful women.
“Aah!”
The stone hit Su Qian’an’s head. Blood flowed down her fair, delicate face, dripping into the water and spreading into a faint red cloud before quickly dispersing.
Su Qian’an looked at her in disbelief.
“Su Jiaojiao… are you crazy?”
“Yes, I am crazy.”
“What do you think you are? A fatherless, motherless wild child, and you still dare to steal my man? You’re nothing more than a dog our family raised—feeding you a few meals doesn’t make you the master! If you hadn’t slept with that Huo guy and had his bastard child, my mother would’ve already sold you to Old Wang the widower!”
Su Jiaojiao’s hatred intensified as she lifted another large stone.
“Su Qian’an, go die!”
“Help—!”
Not far away.
“Brother Zheng, that bastard Xu Guanghan is really asking for too much. We didn’t even make much profit on this batch, and there are still so many brothers waiting to eat. Should I have someone tie him up and make him spit out all the money?”
The speaker was a man with a clean, harmless-looking face and a faint smile.
The man he called “Brother Zheng” had sharp brows, a cold and hard face, and a long scar about half a finger in length at the corner of his eyebrow, adding a fierce edge to his appearance.
He was very tall—around 190 cm—with broad shoulders and long legs, like a mountain, giving a strong sense of security.
Huo Zheng glanced at him.
“No need.”
Zhao Yingjun scratched his head anxiously.
“Then what do we do? Just swallow this loss?”
Suddenly, faint cries for help came from a distance. Zhao Yingjun perked up his ears.
“Brother Zheng, someone’s calling for help!”
“I’m not deaf,” Huo Zheng replied indifferently.
“Brother Zheng, should we go save them?”
Their reputations were notoriously bad in the surrounding villages. Especially Brother Zheng—he was rumored to have forced the Su family girl into bearing his child.
Because of his ruthless methods, no one dared to stand up for Su Qian’an. Some even watched the show from the sidelines.
Huo Zheng curled his lips in disinterest and took a few steps forward—then suddenly stopped.
The voice… sounded familiar.
Without hesitation, he turned around and quickly ran toward the direction of the sound.
“Brother Zheng, slow down—wait for me…”
The words “Brother Zheng” echoed again from afar. Su Qian’an forced her eyes open, but her strength was already gone. Her body weakened as she sank down…
Pain. Her head felt like it was being pierced by needles.
Fragmented images flashed through her mind—sometimes clear, sometimes blurry, sometimes merging together, sometimes shattering apart.
In her ears, there were still a sharp unfamiliar voice and a childish voice choked with tears.