Having narrowly escaped death, Zhang Zenglan’s legs trembled uncontrollably.
How had this girl become so terrifying? In the past, she had always been so sweet and polite, calling her “Auntie” this and “Auntie” that. Clearly, her earlier meek and obedient manner had all been an act!
Thank goodness the marriage between Haoyu and her had never actually gone through. If it had, she would have spent the rest of her life walking on eggshells and living in constant fear. Thinking of this, Zhang Zenglan felt an unexpected sense of relief.
Leaning against the wall beside her, she shot a quick glance at the burly man with the bulging eyes and signaled for him to seize Xie Mingzhu. But the man looked at the knife still in Xie Mingzhu’s hand, remembered the ruthless way she had acted just moments before, and instinctively shrank back.
People were always like that: the soft feared the tough, the tough feared the reckless, and the reckless feared those who had nothing left to lose. Xie Mingzhu had made it abundantly clear that she did not value her own life, while these others cared deeply about their own safety—so naturally, no one dared to step forward. What if she really meant it?
The woman standing next to the big man quickly spoke up. “Sister, I think we should go home first. This girl truly has no regard for her own life!”
Even if Zhang Zenglan was willing to risk everything, the rest of them still wanted to live.
Recalling the sharp blade gliding across her own face, Zhang Zenglan pressed her lips together and thought for a moment before muttering, “All right—let’s go.”
She shot one last wary look at Xie Mingzhu, then turned and led her relatives away.
Only after watching them disappear did Xie Mingzhu hurry forward to bolt the main gate of the yard. She had been lucky to scare them off; if they had all rushed her at once, she had no idea how things would have turned out.
Back inside her room, she locked the door and let out a long, shaky breath. These people were truly lawless and unreasonable.
She realized this could not go on. If they came back in even greater numbers next time and overpowered her before she could act, she might not be so fortunate.
She stood up and opened the door again, determined to go find the brigade Party Secretary. As soon as she stepped out, she nearly collided with Huo Xuan, who was just reaching for the latch.
Reacting quickly, Huo Xuan grabbed her arm to steady her. “Where are you going?”
Once she found her footing, Xie Mingzhu answered, “To see Secretary Chen.”
He loosened his grip. “What for?”
Xie Mingzhu then told him everything that had just happened.
Upon hearing her account, Huo Xuan’s expression darkened instantly, turning cold and forbidding.
“Go back inside. I’ll handle this,” he said. Without waiting for her reply, he swung his bicycle around and pedaled straight toward the brigade office.
Xie Mingzhu watched him leave, hesitated for a moment, then decided to follow anyway.
When she arrived at the brigade office, she found Zhang Zenglan sitting on the ground, wailing loudly and slapping her thighs in a dramatic show of grief. In addition to the fresh cuts on her cheeks, she now had two black eyes that stood out prominently.
“Secretary Chen, you be the judge!” she cried. “Is there any justice left in this world? I was sitting peacefully at home, and this girl barged in and beat me up like this! How am I wronged?!”
She sobbed even louder. “What have I ever done to deserve this? Because of her, my son Haoyu and Xiaoqing have already ruined their lives. Now do you want to see me dead too?!”
Secretary Chen looked utterly exasperated. After listening to her rant, he turned to Huo Xuan. “Educated Youth Huo, tell me your side of the story.”
Huo Xuan’s face remained icy and impassive. He did not bother with long explanations, merely casting a sharp glance at Zhang Zenglan—one that made her flinch and shrink backward instinctively.
“She deserved every bit of it,” Huo Xuan said coldly. “If I hadn’t held back, she would be in far worse shape.”
Secretary Chen frowned, but before he could speak, Xie Mingzhu’s voice rang out from the doorway. “Zhang Zenglan, do you honestly not know exactly why you got hurt?”
Huo Xuan turned his head at the sound. Seeing her there, he frowned. “Why did you follow? I told you I’d take care of it.”
Xie Mingzhu gave him a brief glance. With his temper, he would refuse to explain anything properly, and in the end, they might end up looking like the ones in the wrong.
Secretary Chen also looked toward her, confused. “Educated Youth Xie, both of them are shouting and contradicting each other. I can’t make sense of it. Tell me exactly what happened.”
Xie Mingzhu spoke clearly and steadily, recounting every detail of the incident from start to finish.
“If I hadn’t managed to intimidate them, I don’t know whether I would have lived to see tomorrow,” she said firmly. “Secretary Chen, I am not an orphan with no one to stand up for me. I have a father and brothers back home. This brigade is not beyond the reach of the law. As its leader, you have a duty to ensure my safety.”
She added, in a tone that carried quiet authority, “To speak plainly, my father holds some influence in Shanghai, and my two older brothers each have promising careers ahead of them.”
Bringing up her family was a deliberate move, intended to make Secretary Chen consider carefully which side he ought to support. Though Zhang Zenglan and her group were clearly in the wrong, Xie Mingzhu worried the secretary might still favor local villagers over outsiders.
Secretary Chen listened closely, then looked at her with a thoughtful gaze. “Even so, you cannot just attack people. That was wrong, no matter what led up to it.”
Xie Mingzhu let out a short laugh. “Oh? So they can come storming into my home, but I have no right to defend myself? Secretary Chen, even you cannot be that biased, can you?”
She lifted the back of her shirt to reveal her injury. “You see only the marks on her face—but are you blind to what I have suffered?”
Since Zhang Zenglan and her people had brought this trouble upon themselves, Xie Mingzhu had no qualms about making them answer for her pain.
Secretary Chen instinctively averted his eyes, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of her back—covered in a massive, deep purple‑black bruise that made it obvious how severely she had been hurt.
“If I were to have this examined and officially documented at the county Public Security Bureau,” Xie Mingzhu continued, exaggerating slightly, “this woman would certainly be locked up!”
In truth, the injury was not serious enough to warrant criminal charges, but she knew Zhang Zenglan had little education and no knowledge of the law—so it was enough to scare her.
Seeing Xie Mingzhu trying to pin this injury on her, Zhang Zenglan panicked. She scrambled to her feet and pointed a trembling finger at Xie Mingzhu, her voice turning shrill. “Don’t you dare try to slander me! Don’t blame everything on me!”
Her finger jabbed forward, nearly touching Xie Mingzhu’s face.
Xie Mingzhu slapped her hand away sharply.
“You liar!” Zhang Zenglan shrieked. “We had barely set foot in your yard when you pulled a knife and held it to my throat! You cut me and now you try to turn it all around! None of us even laid a finger on you—you must have hurt yourself somewhere else and are trying to blackmail me!”