22
Preserving Her Reputation
Jiang Zhizhi froze. Though the moonlight provided some illumination in the darkness, it wasn’t particularly bright. She could just make out a Thermos bottle woven from rattan beside the stove, identical to the one the Liang family normally used.
So she didn’t think much of it – mainly because it never occurred to her that someone would poison it.
Yang Fengmei exclaimed in surprise: “You’re saying you came out at night, took a Thermos bottle from beside the stove into your room, drank the water inside, then lost control and ran to the river to jump in?”
Jiang Zhizhi nodded: “That’s right.”
Yang Fengmei’s face instantly darkened: “What despicable bastard would dare use such underhanded methods, and even target our house! Just wait until I find out who it is – I’ll skin them alive and throw them in the river.”
But Jiang Zhizhi knew in her heart that investigating this matter wouldn’t be so easy. They had already missed the best timing, and now that she was lying in the hospital, she couldn’t be sure if the Thermos bottle would still be in her room when she returned.
Still, whoever did this would inevitably leave traces behind.
She had plenty of patience to wait for the perpetrator to make their second move. When that time came, she would return the favor in kind.
After all, she had always been someone who repaid every slight.
Following Zhou Xiye’s instructions, Yang Fengmei went to the state-owned cafeteria and bought another serving of Wonton. Zhou Xiye had given her five jin worth of Food Stamps anyway, and whatever wasn’t used would be hers to keep.
This confirmed it – Zhou Xiye must truly have taken a liking to Comrade Jiang. Otherwise, why would he be so considerate in every detail?
Jiang Zhizhi never expected that being sick would earn her such a large bowl of Wonton, each dumpling plump and round with thin wrappers and generous filling.
Watching Yang Fengmei swallowing saliva beside her, she felt somewhat embarrassed: “Auntie, you didn’t need to buy this for me. Any ordinary food would have been fine. Besides, I can’t finish this much – let me share half with you.”
Yang Fengmei quickly waved her hands. When Zhou Xiye gave her the Food Stamps, he had told her to buy a meal for herself too, but she couldn’t bear to eat alone. She wanted to save the money to prepare something nice for her husband and son when she returned home.
“You eat, you eat! I already ate outside, I’m not hungry.”
Jiang Zhizhi knew Yang Fengmei was lying: “Auntie, I have internal heat right now and don’t have much appetite. If you don’t help me, I won’t be able to finish this and it’ll go to waste. I just want to drink some broth – I really can’t eat the solid parts.”
Seeing Jiang Zhizhi’s sincere expression, Yang Fengmei thought it made sense – someone who just had a high fever really wouldn’t have much appetite. She took out the lunch box she brought and divided the Wonton into two portions, still giving Jiang Zhizhi two extra dumplings.
“Even if you don’t feel like eating, you should have more. Eating more will help you fight the illness. Look how thin you are – just going into the river gave you a high fever.”
Jiang Zhizhi smiled faintly without responding. Yang Fengmei helped her sit up, and the two ate the Wonton together.
Between bites, Yang Fengmei sighed with appreciation: “The Wonton from this cafeteria is really delicious. The flavor is so fresh and bright – look how much Dried shrimp they put in! When my family makes dumplings for New Year’s, we’re never this generous with the shrimp.”
She ate with complete satisfaction, drinking every last drop of the broth before adding some hot water to rinse out the lunch box and drinking that too.
After finishing her half portion of Wonton, Jiang Zhizhi broke out in a sweat, feeling much lighter and more energetic.
She got up and walked around, feeling that everything was fine, then quietly waited for Liang Dazhuang to come pick them up from the hospital.
…
Zhang Zhao noticed that Zhou Xiye had been acting strangely all day. The man who never smoked was now sitting by the riverbank smoking, his gaze deep and distant as he stared at the rushing waters.
Carrying a lunch box, Zhang Zhao approached: “Boss, time to eat.”
Zhou Xiye glanced at him, then turned his gaze back to the river, taking a deep drag of his cigarette.
Zhang Zhao couldn’t contain his curiosity: “Boss, where did you go last night? You didn’t return until daybreak, and your clothes were still wet.”
Zhou Xiye remained silent, yet the scene from last night lingered stubbornly in his mind. Under the cover of darkness, his senses had been heightened, etching the memory even deeper.
Seeing Zhou Xiye’s stern expression, Zhang Zhao didn’t dare make another sound. Having followed Zhou Xiye for ten years, he had never seen him like this before—as if grappling with some insurmountable problem. Even when they were on missions navigating minefields, Zhou Xiye had never been this troubled.
Shoveling rice with millet into his mouth, Zhang Zhao stole occasional glances at Zhou Xiye. What could have happened?
Were they being reassigned to another post?
Zhou Xiye swallowed hard, closing his eyes in an attempt to banish the memory of Jiang Zhizhi kissing him, along with the lingering softness, but it was futile.
…
In the afternoon, Liang Dazhuang came to pick up Jiang Zhizhi from the hospital. By the time they returned to the village, it was already evening.
Old Liang was waiting at home. Seeing Jiang Zhizhi, he expressed genuine concern: “Comrade Jiang, how are you feeling? Are you better?”
Yang Fengmei couldn’t wait any longer. After chattering nonstop, she went into Jiang Zhizhi’s room to look for the thermos bottle. After searching around, she found nothing: “Was our house robbed? The thermos bottle is gone.”
Old Liang was shocked upon hearing this: “So they’ve poisoned our house now! Just wait until I find out which bastard did this—I’ll make sure they pay.”
Jiang Zhizhi had expected the thermos bottle to disappear. Besides, villagers rarely locked their doors properly—sometimes they just loosely secured the main gate. But the low walls were easy for any adult to climb over.
After entering her room, she checked around. Her bag and other belongings were untouched, and the money and ration tickets stuffed inside were still there. It seemed the intruder had only come to destroy evidence.
Old Liang grew angrier the more he thought about it. He went to the village loudspeaker and started announcing: Has anyone recently seen someone climbing into my house? They stole our thermos bottle, especially last night and this morning. If anyone saw anything, report it immediately. There will be rewards for reporting, but those who conceal information will have a year’s worth of Work Points deducted.
Those who report will be rewarded thirty Work Points.
A person could only earn three to five Work Points for a full day’s work. Now, with just one report, they could get thirty. Everyone at home was straining to remember if they had seen anything. Some regretted not going out for a stroll at night—they might have witnessed something.
Jiang Zhizhi hadn’t expected Old Liang to use such a blunt, straightforward approach.
At the Educated Youth Housing, Chen Shuangyan had just picked up her bowl to eat when she heard the broadcast from the loudspeaker. Her hands trembled uncontrollably. She leaned close to Sun Xiaoyue: “What should we do?”
Sun Xiaoyue glanced around, shooting Chen Shuangyan a warning look to keep her voice down, then motioned for her to follow outside.
They found a secluded spot. Sun Xiaoyue stared at Chen Shuangyan: “Didn’t you say you’d handle it? How did it turn into such a big commotion? And Jiang Zhizhi didn’t even get punished.”
Chen Shuangyan had calmed down by now: “It should be fine, right? I just put the diarrhea medicine in the thermos bottle. At worst, the whole family would have stomach troubles, and no one would suspect us. They’d probably just think they ate something bad.”
Sun Xiaoyue stared at her in shock: “You put the entire packet of medicine I gave you into the thermos bottle?”
Chen Shuangyan nodded: “Yeah, I thought if it was just mild diarrhea, it wouldn’t teach her a lesson, so I put it all in.”
Sun Xiaoyue didn’t dare to make a sound. That dosage could make several bears lose control, let alone humans.
She didn’t know Chen Shuangyan was so foolish as to put the drugs in the thermos bottle.
Chen Shuangyan grew worried again: “I threw the thermos bottle into the ditch behind the village. Is that alright?”