“What are you doing? Let go of my son!” Mother Qiao shrieked as she rushed over to grab Lu Ye.
Lu Ye casually flung her aside, his eyes fixed coldly on Qiao Jianguo.
The pressure Lu Ye exerted left Qiao Jianguo struggling to breathe. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lin Xiaoxiao looking at Lu Ye with barely concealed admiration.
That pathetic masculine urge to come out on top took hold of him. He stiffened his neck and cursed:
“Lu Ye, who the hell do you think you are? You’re nothing but an orphan who killed his own parents. You’re only good enough to pick up the woman I don’t want!”
Bang!
Lu Ye hurled Qiao Jianguo away in one swift motion. He slammed into the wall and fell to the ground, unable to get back up.
Mother Qiao was terrified. She shrieked and rushed over to help Qiao Jianguo.
Captain Qiao pointed at Lu Ye.
“Fine! Fine! Do you think I’m dead, or what? How dare you, Lu Ye! You’d better believe I can make one call and get you kicked out of Qingshan Production Brigade!”
Lu Ye shot Captain Qiao a cold look, then lifted his foot to go on beating Qiao Jianguo, who was still spewing filth.
“Lu Ye, stop!”
A sweet, soft female voice rang out. Lu Ye instinctively halted and looked toward Lin Xiaoxiao, who had called him.
Without a second thought, Lin Xiaoxiao got up, hurried over, and grabbed Lu Ye’s large hand. She shook her head at him.
“Lu Ye, don’t dirty your hands over a man like that!”
Lu Ye went rigid, his gaze dropping to her soft, pale hand—a stark contrast to his own rough one.
His heart raced. For a moment, he hardly dared breathe, afraid he might scare away this unexpected delight.
Unfortunately, Lin Xiaoxiao had only grabbed him in the heat of the moment to stop him. As soon as he halted, she let go.
Lu Ye curled the hand she had held. A hollow feeling immediately settled in his chest.
Lin Xiaoxiao had no time to notice such details. She was worried that, in his anger, Lu Ye might hit Qiao Jianguo too hard.
Then they would go from being in the right to being in the wrong.
But Lu Ye was angry because of her, and Lin Xiaoxiao would not allow the brigade leader to threaten Lu Ye when he was only trying to protect her.
Her petite figure looked even smaller in front of Lu Ye as she stepped between him and the others, staring coldly at Captain Qiao.
“Your family certainly throws its weight around, Captain Qiao. You know perfectly well why your son got beaten. How come he can spew filth and spread lies and slander, but the person he’s attacking isn’t allowed to hit back?”
“You’re threatening Lu Ye, aren’t you? Am I supposed to assume that if he gets pushed around from now on, it’ll be retaliation by certain people?”
“If that happens, I’ll go to the commune and ask the leaders to judge for themselves whether this brigade is a production brigade run collectively—or the personal fiefdom of some local emperor who gets the final say in everything!”
Captain Qiao stiffened. He realized that, in a fit of anger, he had said something he shouldn’t have—and this little brat had caught him out.
His face rigid, he said, “That’s not what I meant. And what’s all this about a local emperor? Don’t talk nonsense, little girl!”
He glanced at his son, who was grimacing on the other side of the room, then gritted his teeth and tried to smooth things over.
“Jianguo shouldn’t have said what he did, but you were the one who insulted him first. Lu Ye was also wrong to hit him without warning.”
“As brigade leader, I won’t hold it against you. Both sides were at fault, so let’s put it behind us. Do you agree?”
Lin Xiaoxiao pursed her lips. She had insulted Qiao Jianguo because he deserved it—and had she said anything untrue?
But even a mighty dragon couldn’t overpower a local snake. Until she brought Captain Qiao down, she couldn’t afford to make an enemy of him outright.
Lin Xiaoxiao said coldly, “We can reluctantly put this behind us. But if my parents, my brothers, or Lu Ye are targeted in any way from now on, I’ll assume you’re behind it. You’d better be fair, Captain Qiao!”
Captain Qiao’s face turned green. He forced a smile. “Of course.”
Then he turned to Grandpa Lin and said bluntly, “Uncle Dashu, my Qiao family wouldn’t dare marry a granddaughter like yours. We’re leaving!”
As Captain Qiao turned to go, Lin Pandi shot Lin Xiaoxiao a resentful glare.
It was all her fault for running her mouth and angering her father-in-law!
Lin Pandi gritted her teeth and looked around at the Lin family. Every one of them was useless, doing nothing but glaring. Not one of them would step forward to stop the Qiao family and stand up for her.
Her eyes hardened. She raised her voice.
“Since you’ve taken advantage of me and now refuse to own up to it, I’d rather bang my head against the wall and die right now than wait for everyone to drown me in spit!”
She suddenly scrambled to her feet and charged toward the wall Qiao Jianguo had just hit.
Just as she expected, she didn’t hit the wall. Qiao Jianguo, who had just started to recover, grabbed her and held her back.
She struggled with all her strength, crying out, “Let go of me! Just let me die! Brother Jianguo, if you don’t want to marry me, why won’t you let me die?”
Grandpa Lin finally couldn’t sit still. He slammed his hand on the table and pointed at Captain Qiao, roaring, “Are you trying to drive my granddaughter to her death?”
He called to Eldest Uncle Lin, “Go to the Old Party Secretary’s house and borrow his bicycle right now! I’m going to the commune to report Captain Qiao’s family for abusing their power, taking liberties with my granddaughter, and refusing to take responsibility!”
Captain Qiao’s face darkened. He hurried to stop Grandpa Lin.
He glanced at his son and Lin Pandi, who were now clinging to each other. His son’s stupidity made his vision swim.
He had clearly seen the guilt in his son’s eyes earlier. He knew Qiao Jianguo hadn’t acted honorably.
Captain Qiao gritted his teeth. “Fine! We’ll marry her! We’ll arrange the engagement now, and she’ll move in tomorrow! Can we stop making a scene now?”
The room fell silent at once. Lin Pandi sniffled twice, then clung to Qiao Jianguo’s waist, feigning helplessness as she refused to let go.
She was pleased with herself, but put on a pitiful, wronged expression.
The two families sat down again to discuss the arrangements. The hundred yuan in bride-price originally meant for Lin Xiaoxiao would go to Lin Pandi, who would move in with the Qiao family the next day.
Captain Qiao thought the whole thing was disgraceful, so there would be no wedding banquet.
Once Eldest Uncle Lin and Eldest Aunt Lin had the hundred yuan in hand, they couldn’t care less that everything was rushed or that their daughter would have no banquet. They happily agreed.
They even turned warm and friendly toward Captain Qiao and Mother Qiao. Now that the marriage was settled, they were counting on their future in-laws to help them get ahead.
Lin Pandi kept her head down and said nothing. None of the rest mattered. What mattered was that she had snatched Lin Xiaoxiao’s good man.
Lin Xiaoxiao immediately spotted the trap the Qiao family had laid.
With the marriage arranged so hastily, Qiao Jianguo couldn’t possibly submit a marriage application to the army in time. And the Qiao family hadn’t mentioned getting a marriage certificate, either.
They were probably planning to cast Lin Pandi aside later by leaving her with a marriage in name only.
Lin Xiaoxiao had been about to kindly point it out, but when she met Lin Pandi’s resentful gaze, she kept her mouth shut.
Like goes with like. Neither of them was any good, so let them torment each other from now on.
Once everything was settled, the Qiao family left with grim faces. Only Lu Ye remained.
Grandpa Lin looked at him. He dropped the last of the politeness he had still shown Captain Qiao’s family and made an outrageous demand.
“If you want to marry Xiaoxiao, you’ll have to come up with two hundred yuan in bride-price!”
Lin Xiaoxiao was just about to curse him when Lu Ye gently pressed her back into her seat. He would handle their business.
Lu Ye looked at Grandpa Lin with an impassive gaze.
“Fine. But Lin Pandi and I were engaged before, and my father brought your family plenty of game.”
“During those years of famine, my father even gave your whole family grain to keep you fed.”
“Strictly speaking, those things were given for my fiancée, Lin Pandi. Now that my fiancée has changed, shouldn’t you return them?”
Lu Ye took a small notebook from the dry jacket he had taken off before going into the water and said evenly,
“I’m not asking for more than what’s owed. This is a record of everything my father sent the Lin family after Eldest Uncle Lin saved his life and he arranged for Lin Pandi and me to be betrothed as children, along with the equivalent prices at the time.”
“I’ve calculated it. From the engagement until my father died three years ago, fourteen years in all. Those things were worth four hundred and eighty-seven yuan, six jiao, and three fen.”
“You can just give me the money. Of course, you can return the goods themselves instead, if you prefer!”