I was stunned for a moment. “You heard that?”
“Yeah, I have good ears,” Gao Shanfeng said. “It’s fine, don’t overthink it.”
I smiled and nodded. “You really are a good person!”
Gao Shanfeng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, shaking his head with a smile. “I didn’t do anything at all, and you keep praising me. I’m getting embarrassed.”
I grinned and said nothing more, but thought to myself: there’s so much you don’t know. Since heaven has let us meet again, it must be fate’s way of letting me repay you. I’ll help you however I can.
It’s just a pity—what can someone like me do for you? Suddenly I felt very disheartened.
Gao Shanfeng, probably afraid I’d overthink things, started talking about himself. He was a driver for the town’s State-Owned Construction Factory No. 1.
The moment I heard that, I exclaimed, “That’s a great place! Good benefits, high wages—I hear even college graduates can’t get assigned there! See, you really are an outstanding person!” Unfortunately, it went bankrupt later—but that was twenty years away, so no need to mention it.
Gao Shanfeng smiled until his eyes narrowed. “I’m just a driver. What’s so impressive about that?”
“Are you kidding? You’re very impressive! Haven’t you heard the saying? ‘Turn the steering wheel, and you wouldn’t trade the job even for county magistrate!’ A great man like you must have great parents, and your wife and kids will be great too…” Before I could finish the sentence, I suddenly remembered that his wife would die in childbirth, and I choked on my words. He was only in his twenties now—was he even married yet?
Gao Shanfeng turned his head toward me. “What’s wrong? You suddenly stopped talking.”
“Are you married?”
“Not yet,” Gao Shanfeng said with a smile. “But I do have a fiancée.”
I nodded. “Your future wife must be wonderful.”
“Mm, she’s a coworker of mine.”
I smiled. I hoped I could help him—keep her from dying in childbirth. Otherwise, wouldn’t my benefactor live an even harder life this time around? It suddenly occurred to me that being reborn had another benefit: I could foresee some of the tragedies that were going to happen.
So could I change them? Either way, I had to try.
He looked at me curiously. “What are you thinking about?”
I waved my hand. “Nothing. We’re at my house, just up ahead.” I pointed at the large courtyard ahead, where the big truck had already parked.
Gao Shanfeng hurried forward quickly.
I called after him, “My mom has a bad temper—she loves to scold people. Just ignore her when she does.”
“Okay, thanks for the heads-up.” Gao Shanfeng didn’t slow down; he walked even faster.
I hurried to catch up, but suddenly stumbled, and a hand shot out from behind and grabbed me so fast I nearly got pulled down to the ground. Furious, I turned around and shouted, “Who is it? What do you want?”
Looking back, it turned out to be Sister Wang, the village gossip.
This woman had always loved spreading rumors—a troublemaker who feared nothing more than peace and quiet. In my past life, she’d mocked me plenty of times. I had zero good feelings toward her. What was she trying to dig up this time?
Sister Wang was cracking sunflower seeds. She craned her neck to look up ahead, then grabbed my arm and grinned. “Busy, Zhenzhen? Who was that young man just now? He looks quite handsome. Is he your new fiancé?”
I said flatly, “What are you talking about? I just got divorced and you think I’d immediately find a man? Am I not afraid of being drowned in spit? I don’t know him. This comrade’s car broke down and it just happened to stop in front of our house.”
Sister Wang clearly didn’t believe it, her eyes still fixed on Gao Shanfeng.
He was talking with Zhao Qin, who, because of the fence at her house, was angrily berating Gao Shanfeng.
Gao Shanfeng kept apologizing, while my eldest brother stood by trying to smooth things over, exchanging a few words with him.
The two young men had pretty much finished clearing away the fence debris. Gao Shanfeng packed up his toolbox, popped open the hood, and started tinkering with the car.
Zhao Qin stood there with one hand on her hip, still nagging away, but nobody paid her any attention anymore.
“See? I wasn’t lying to you. We don’t know these people.”
Sister Wang nodded absently, glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then said, “Actually, I heard you’ve already slept with Xie Yanlai?”
Fire shot up inside me. “Who told you that? That’s utter nonsense! Do people have nothing better to do all day than smear me with talk like this?”
“Oh, I was just saying it casually. Why are you getting so worked up? If you didn’t sleep with him, you didn’t. Don’t get excited, I’ll be going.”
This time it was me who wouldn’t let her leave. “No, you’re going to explain this to me clearly. What exactly is going on? Who told you?”
Sister Wang smiled awkwardly. “Someone at the county maternity hospital saw your medical records—someone from our village. They said you had an abortion, and that Xie Yanlai married you out of necessity.”
I was so furious my hands were trembling. “Bullshit!”
In my past life I did have an abortion, but that was after marriage, when that scumbag was mistreating me. Right now I’m still a virgin maiden—how dare they slander me like this?
Sister Wang hurriedly said, “Maybe it was just someone with the same name. Don’t get worked up—look, your face has gone all pale.”
I nodded. “Sister Wang, since you know what kind of person I am, don’t go spreading gossip. A woman recovering from an abortion needs proper rest, right? Have you ever seen me miss a single day out in the fields? Besides, getting an abortion these days requires a certificate from the village—would a big hospital just perform surgery on anyone without one? Go ask the village head and you’ll find out. My conscience is clear, and if I ever catch the person spreading this gossip, I’ll tear her mouth apart!” I rattled all this off in one breath, and Sister Wang was stunned listening.
“Goodness! Zhenzhen, you’ve really changed. You used to be a silent gourd who couldn’t string two words together, just like your father. How did you get so sharp?”
“Driven to it, that’s all!” I said through gritted teeth. “Thank you for telling me about this. I’m definitely going to get to the bottom of it. What a vile, rotten thing to do—slandering me like this?”
“How would I know who said it? It’s just rumors flying around.” Sister Wang hastily offered a few words of comfort and then left.
I watched her retreating figure, then turned to head back. Xie Yanlai and I had only just separated, and already rumors like this were circulating?
Sister Wang loved spreading gossip, but she didn’t invent it.
Nine times out of ten, this was spread by Xie Yanlan’s family. In my past life, his mother pulled stunts like this plenty of times, and my reputation was all but ruined. No matter how much I suffered, people just thought I deserved it.
Clearly it was Liu Yaolan who wronged you, so why are you trying to ruin me? Is this supposed to make my reputation so bad that I’ll have no choice but to up with Xie Yanlai? Absolutely despicable—shameless beyond belief?
I stomped angrily toward the front, so lost in my thoughts that by the time I reached the doorway I nearly crashed right into Zhao Qin. She immediately shoved me aside in disgust.
“Don’t touch me! Just looking at you makes me sick!”
I stumbled back a few steps before I managed to steady myself. I gave her a glance and moved off to the side.
Her disgust toward me was completely out in the open now—her eyes were practically spitting fire, as if she wanted to beat me to death.
I didn’t feel much about it. Honestly, I could understand her. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t have a pleasant face for a illegitimate daughter my husband brought home either.
“What are you still standing there for? Go make lunch. And take apart and wash the bedding your sister left behind!”
“I’m not washing it. She nearly ruined my whole life. My reputation in the village is already destroyed, and it’s all her fault. I’m not going to be nice to her.” I said calmly. Especially with that rumor about my miscarriage—there was no proof, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it had something to do with her. After all, a miscarriage diagnosis like that couldn’t just be written up by anyone; it required a household registration booklet and proof of employment.
I had questions in my heart, and I wanted even less to do with anything concerning Liu Yaolan.
Zhao Qin grabbed a broom and came at me. I ran all around the yard, shouting at the top of my lungs, “Bro! She’s going to hit me again!”
Almost simultaneously, my brother burst out, flustered. “Mom, what’s going on now? Everything was fine a minute ago!”
“This damn girl won’t listen. Am I not allowed to discipline her?”
“Calm down—there are outsiders here!” My brother grabbed Zhao Qin and, after much coaxing and pleading, finally wrestled the broom out of her hands.
I picked some green beans and a couple of cucumbers, planning to make cucumber soup.
Zhao Qin stormed off furiously to take apart Liu Yaolan’s bedding, cursing me the whole time as she washed the clothes. “What are you up to now?”
“I’ve been working all morning. Even if you’re not hungry, I still need to eat.” I called out to the people outside, “Comrades, it’s already noon. Would you like to have lunch at our place? It’s already noon.”