The man’s voice was icy, yet it carried an unmistakable note of grievance.
Jiang Nuan stared at him, finding it hard to reconcile this aggrieved tone with his usual cold, distant demeanor.
After a brief moment of shock, the brigade leader angrily pointed at Lu Daqiang. “Are you even human?! Lu Lin is your own brother, and you actually said something like that to him?!”
The villagers erupted again.
“If he were human, he wouldn’t have had an affair with Lu Rou and shamelessly fathered a bastard!”
“Beast worse than pigs and dogs! You’re the one who deserves to die!”
Lu Daqiang stared at his younger brother in disbelief.
Since childhood, no matter how much advantage he took, this dull, silent brother of his had never uttered a complaint.
And today, in front of so many people, he had exposed him—and even put on such a wronged expression.
“N-no… it’s not like that,” Lu Daqiang stammered, shaking his head frantically. “I was just keeping his things for him. He’s my own brother—how could I pocket his belongings?”
“Enough nonsense!” Jiang Nuan tore her gaze away from Lu Lin, suppressing the doubt in her heart as she picked up the wooden stick again.
She pressed it directly against Lu Daqiang’s forehead. “Hand everything over. If you don’t, I’ll smash your skull open!”
Lu Daqiang trembled violently, his legs shaking nonstop. “D-don’t be impulsive… I’ll go get them right now.”
Afraid he might hide something, Jiang Nuan said coldly, “I’m coming with you.”
Before she could even finish speaking, the brigade leader had already led the villagers along to help move the items.
Lu Daqiang walked ahead unwillingly.
Jiang Nuan kicked him from behind to hurry him along.
After they got married, Lu Daqiang had found an excuse to move out of the bridal room and live alone—just to make it easier to carry on his affair with Lu Rou.
In her previous life, she had been insecure and timid.
Because she was overweight, she felt unworthy of Lu Daqiang and never dared to oppose anything he did.
As she walked, Jiang Nuan cursed herself for being so foolish.
They had carried on their affair right under her nose for decades, and she had never noticed.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she kicked Lu Daqiang again.
“Hurry up! Stop dawdling!”
He was kicked to the ground, landing flat on his back with his limbs flailing.
The villagers burst into laughter.
Lu Daqiang shot Jiang Nuan an angry look, but when he met her icy gaze, a chill ran down his spine. Gritting his teeth, he scrambled up and shuffled to his room.
Seeing him hesitate at the doorway, unwilling to go in, Jiang Nuan clicked her tongue impatiently and kicked the door open herself. When she saw the cabinet was locked, she ordered, “Open it!”
Grabbing him by the collar, she flung him in front of the cabinet.
Under so many watchful eyes, Lu Daqiang didn’t dare refuse. Suppressing his humiliation, he pulled out the key and opened it.
Sure enough, all of Lu Lin’s belongings were inside.
A brand-new army-green quilt and overcoat. Stacks of new clothes and fabric.
Grain coupons.
Meat coupons.
Sugar coupons.
Various medicines. Packets of peach pastries. Malted milk powder.
Countless valuable items filled the cabinet to the brim.
Jiang Nuan shoved Lu Daqiang aside and led the villagers in carrying everything back to Lu Lin’s room.
Watching the cabinet being emptied, Lu Rou and Old Madam Lu were frantic—but utterly powerless.
After clearing out Lu Daqiang’s room, Jiang Nuan suddenly turned to look at Lu Rou.
Lu Rou’s heart skipped. “W-what do you want? Second Brother’s things were all in Brother Daqiang’s room. I didn’t take a single thing.”
Jiang Nuan sneered. “But you took my dowry.”
Her natal family had favored sons over daughters and hadn’t planned to give her any dowry at all.
But unexpectedly, Lu Daqiang had offered a high bride price of two hundred yuan.
Since they were from the same village, and the Lu family had given such a large bride price, Jiang Jianguo felt embarrassed to send her off with nothing.
Reluctantly, he gave her one cotton quilt and two pieces of pure cotton fabric.
Because of that, he had often cursed Jiang Nuan behind her back as a money-losing burden.
In his eyes, that was already generous enough.
But Old Madam Lu thought differently. She had no idea what madness possessed Lu Daqiang to offer such a large bride price to this “fat hag”—he might as well have given it to his own daughter.
On the wedding day, when she saw how little dowry Jiang Nuan brought, she immediately pulled a long face and humiliated her.
The very next day, she found an excuse to take the dowry and gave it to her daughter.
Lu Rou had long regarded Lu Daqiang’s possessions as her own. She had just lost so many good things, and now Jiang Nuan wanted her dowry back too. She immediately jumped up and played dumb.
“When have I ever seen your dowry?! You must be so poor you’re trying to grab anyone’s things!”
She had already planned to use the two pieces of fabric to make two beautiful dresses. Now that they were in her hands, how could she possibly return them?
Jiang Nuan couldn’t be bothered to argue. She walked straight into Lu Rou’s room and quickly came out carrying her dowry.
Lu Rou hadn’t expected her to snatch them so brazenly and was too late to stop her.
On the wedding day, the entire village had come to watch the festivities. They instantly recognized the items in Jiang Nuan’s hands as her dowry. Their looks toward Lu Rou filled with contempt.
Lu Rou’s face flushed a deep purple. Seeing Jiang Nuan about to walk off with the items, she refused to let her have them so easily and lunged to grab them back.
But her foot suddenly slipped, and she slammed into a stone in the yard.
“Ah!”
Her shrill scream filled the courtyard.
Clutching her abdomen, Lu Rou’s face turned deathly pale as she curled up on the ground. She felt a warm liquid spreading down her legs.
“Why is Lu Rou bleeding so much?!”
The villagers cried out in alarm as her trousers were quickly soaked red with blood.
Jiang Nuan’s eyes narrowed coldly as she stared at Lu Rou’s belly. Suddenly she remembered—at this time, Lu Rou was already pregnant with Lu Qing.
Having been reborn and faced with so many events, she had actually forgotten something so important.
“She hit her stomach—why is there so much blood?” Jiang Nuan feigned shock, covering her mouth as she stared at Lu Rou’s abdomen.
Old Madam Lu’s eyelid twitched violently.
Wailing, she pulled her daughter into her arms. “Rou Rou! What’s wrong with you?!”
Though she cried loudly, calculation flashed in her eyes.
She had long planned that once her daughter started showing, she would rent a place in the county town for her to hide and carry the pregnancy to term, telling others she had gone back to her maternal home to care for her grandmother.
Her hometown was far away, with winding mountain roads. No one would go to verify it.
After the child was born, she would stage another act and have Jiang Nuan “find” the baby, raising both children for her daughter.
Jiang Nuan was such a fool—she would never discover the truth.
But today that fool had suddenly gone mad and exposed the affair.
Damn her! She deserved a miserable death!
No one else could find out about the pregnancy.
Old Madam Lu glared furiously at Jiang Nuan. “It’s all your fault, you wretch! If it weren’t for you, Rou Rou wouldn’t have fallen. If anything happens to her, I’ll never let you go!”
Jiang Nuan snorted coldly at the baseless accusation. “What’s the point of wailing here? Why not let the village doctor take a look? So much blood all of a sudden—could it be there’s a bastard in her belly?”
Experienced women in the crowd immediately sensed something was wrong.
“Could Jiang Nuan actually be right?!”
Old Madam Lu’s temples throbbed as she shouted desperately, “Don’t listen to this wretch’s nonsense! Rou Rou’s monthly cycle is due in the next couple of days. It must’ve come early from being angered by her!”
Jiang Nuan rolled her eyes. “What woman has her cycle come in a sudden gush like that? Pregnant or not—let Doctor Zhang take a look.”
Coincidentally, the village doctor, Zhang, was also among the onlookers.
Jiang Nuan pulled him forward. “Doctor Zhang, your family has practiced medicine for generations. We all trust your skills. Please check my sister-in-law—see if she’s pregnant.
If she really is, she needs to be sent to the hospital immediately. If we delay, her life could be in danger.”