Every villager’s eyes were fixed on Shen Jiandang.
Their expressions screamed gossip.
Shen Jiandang felt as though needles were pricking his back. His face turned bright red as his eyes involuntarily drifted toward the girl he liked.
The moment he looked over, he met Zhao Xiaomei’s eyes.
She wore the exact same gossip-filled expression as everyone else.
What’s going on? Come on, tell us! Spill it!
Shen Jiandang: “…”
His eldest brother, Shen Jianguo, looked at him teasingly and nudged him with his elbow.
Not bad, Third Brother. You’ve become desirable enough that someone’s plotting to trap you.
Seeing her husband acting like that, Shen Jianguo’s wife angrily kicked him from behind.
Was this really the time to make fun of his younger brother?
Shouldn’t they hurry up and clear things up so that woman couldn’t cling to Shen Jiandang?
Putting everything else aside, if someone like Wu Laidi married into the family, their lives would never be peaceful.
Everyone in the production team knew that whenever Wu Laidi got anything, she mailed it home.
She loved taking advantage of others.
She even had sticky fingers.
Bringing her into the family would be like inviting a thief into the house.
Shen Jianguo turned around and looked at his wife pitifully.
We’re outside.
His wife rolled her eyes in disgust.
Having just suffered a blow from Zhao Xiaomei’s expression, Shen Jiandang was now dealt two more emotional blows by his brother and sister-in-law.
Isn’t anyone going to stand up for me?
Shen Hehua didn’t notice the small interaction between her brother and sister-in-law.
She was already so excited she could barely suppress the corners of her mouth.
He said it.
He actually admitted it!
Hahaha!
Li Hao had confessed.
At first, she had wanted to work together with her third brother to throw Li Hao into the river and force the two of them to stay together forever.
Perhaps she still wasn’t ruthless enough.
Or perhaps it was because she knew how her third brother and Zhao Xiaomei had suffered in her previous life because of their ruined reputations.
Especially Xiaomei…
In any case, she would take revenge.
She would settle the score.
But even against an enemy, she didn’t want to use such despicable methods against another woman.
Just like now.
Compared to simply throwing Wu Laidi into the river and forcing her together with Li Hao, she would rather expose every bit of their scheme in front of everyone.
After all, shameless people like the two of them wouldn’t necessarily stay together even if she forced them to.
They might become even more aggressive.
Even if she could help protect her third brother and Xiaomei…
She couldn’t protect every good young man and woman in the production team.
The families of Xiangyang Production Team might have their disagreements, but there wasn’t a single truly evil person among them.
Whenever something happened, even the village’s biggest troublemakers would lend a hand.
She didn’t want these two setting their sights on anyone else in the village.
She wanted everyone to know exactly what kind of people they were.
She wanted the entire production team to be wary of them and stop trusting them.
And given how the young women, married women, and older wives frequently visited neighboring villages, it wouldn’t take long for today’s events to spread throughout the surrounding production teams and communes.
It would be difficult to punish the two of them severely over today’s incident.
But ruining their reputations…
That alone was enough.
Although Li Hao’s intentions weren’t good, he was nothing more than a coward.
The real mastermind was Wu Laidi.
After today’s beating—and the secret pinches she’d given her in the water—Wu Laidi would definitely hold a grudge against her.
Shen Hehua didn’t believe she could simply endure it.
As long as Shen Hehua stayed alert and watched from the shadows…
The moment Wu Laidi made a move…
She would strike back.
In her previous life, for some reason, Li Hao had been executed, while Wu Laidi had only been sentenced to reform through labor.
Even if it had been fifty years…
She had still been responsible for ruining her third brother’s and Xiaomei’s lives.
Even if she hadn’t killed them with her own hands…
She had been the mastermind.
How could Shen Hehua not hate her?
In this lifetime…
She would never let Wu Laidi have an easy life.
Shen Hehua’s eyes darted around.
Then she turned and walked toward Wu Laidi by the river.
She had heard the villagers earlier.
Someone had shouted that Wu Laidi had regained consciousness.
But immediately afterward, someone else said she had fainted again.
Now was not the time for Wu Laidi to stay unconscious.
She had to wake her up.
Let Wu Laidi and Li Hao tear each other apart.
Wu Laidi’s scheme had already been exposed.
Li Hao’s motives hadn’t been completely revealed yet.
Judging from everyone’s reactions, Li Hao finally relaxed.
Most of them seemed to believe him now.
He absolutely didn’t want to be handed over to the Public Security Bureau and accused of attempted murder.
Even if he escaped execution, the best outcome would probably be being sent back and reassigned somewhere else.
Where could possibly be better than Xiangyang Production Team?
Shen Jiandang noticed the direction Shen Hehua was heading.
His eyes flickered.
He grabbed Li Hao and followed after her.
The team leader called over several young men from the village.
“You boys go to the educated youth dormitory. Explain what’s happened to the others there, then search Educated Youth Li’s grain supplies with them.”
Although he believed most of the story, he was still the team leader.
Everything required evidence.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain things to the higher authorities and the Educated Youth Office.
After the young men left, the team leader sighed.
If only Li Hao really had tried to murder someone.
Even if he had only accidentally pushed her into the river during an argument…
At least one educated youth could be sent away.
And maybe the other one could claim illness and return to the city too.
Sigh…
What a headache.
With another sigh, he clasped his hands behind his back and followed the crowd of curious villagers, who had all moved with Shen Hehua and Shen Jiandang.
As they approached Wu Laidi…
Shen Hehua’s eyesight had become much sharper than ordinary people’s after awakening and being reborn.
Even in the dim evening light, she could clearly see Wu Laidi lying on the ground.
Did she really faint from anger?
She crouched down, reached out, and began pressing hard on Wu Laidi’s philtrum.
Very hard.
Without stopping, she kept talking.
“Educated Youth Wu! Educated Youth Wu! Wake up! Wake up!”
“Educated Youth Li says you wanted my third brother to save you so you could force him to marry you. Is that true? Say something!”
“I never imagined you were this kind of person.”
“You’re really bold.”
“Weren’t you afraid my brother wouldn’t arrive in time and you’d actually drown?”
“And Educated Youth Li is so weak. He couldn’t have saved you anyway.”
Li Hao: “…”
I’m weak?
Then he looked at himself.
He was still being held like a little chicken by Shen Jiandang, completely unable to resist.
Fine.
Maybe he was a little weak.
But did she really have to say it so bluntly?
His eyes drifted toward Wu Laidi lying on the ground.
Since he was already in trouble…
The person who had persuaded him into all this shouldn’t get away with it either.
He had already admitted that Wu Laidi had done it on purpose.
He didn’t mind revealing even more.
Curling his lips, he said,
“She wouldn’t have drowned.”
“Wu Laidi can swim.”
“She’s actually a very good swimmer.”
“She even knows all kinds of swimming strokes…”
Wu Laidi, who had just been awakened by Shen Hehua pressing her philtrum:
“…”
Damn you, spineless coward! Are you seriously not done yet?
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
She quickly interrupted Li Hao’s confession with a fit of coughing.
If he kept talking, she would never be able to explain herself.
Opening her eyes, she looked up at Li Hao with tears filling them.
“Comrade Li…”
“How could you take advantage of the fact that I was unconscious and couldn’t defend myself just to slander me?”
She looked as though she had suffered an enormous blow.
“I admit…”
“I did give you grain.”
“But I only gave it to you because you knew I liked Brother Jiandang.”
“You said you had a way to help me.”
“You told me that as long as I gave you something in return, everything would work out.”
“That’s why today’s events happened.”
“I was standing peacefully by the river, thinking you had arranged for Brother Jiandang to meet me.”
“But instead…”
“You struck the back of my neck with your elbow.”
“While I was still dizzy, you pushed me into the river.”
“If I had known this was your idea of helping…”
“I… I… I…”
Sob… Sob…
She slightly turned her head, exposing the swollen bruise on the back of her neck for the older women beside her to see.
Giving Li Hao grain was an undeniable fact.
Once the team leader investigated, everyone would discover that the grain had belonged to her.
There was no denying it.
Everyone in the village roughly knew how much grain each educated youth received.
The grain in her own storage matched what she had given Li Hao.
Besides, her cabinet had always been locked, and the women’s dormitory was also locked.
The male educated youths couldn’t get inside.
She could only have handed it over herself.
Instead of letting everyone imagine the worst…
It was better to admit it herself and simply change the explanation.
Hmph.
Since Li Hao dared to expose her…
She would simply pin everything on him instead.
What an idiot.
If only he had waited until she woke up.
She could have simply claimed she had accidentally fallen into the river.
Why had he panicked and told the truth?
As for the injury on the back of her neck…
Wu Laidi lowered her head, her eyes turning icy.
Of course she knew Shen Hehua had been the one who hit her.
But Li Hao had already revealed that she could swim.
There were people at the educated youth dormitory who also knew she could swim.
At this point…
The only believable explanation was that Li Hao had struck her so hard she became dazed and couldn’t react before falling into the water.
That was the only story that made sense.
As for Shen Hehua…
Hah.
Once she married into the Shen family…
She would find her a “good husband”…