Li Zhengting’s tall, imposing figure radiated an overwhelming sense of pressure.
“Whatever happened, we’ll discuss it at home.”
His voice was deep, carrying the unmistakable tone of a command that allowed no argument.
However, after hearing his words, Yu Qinghuan not only refused to move but also shot him a sidelong glance.
“Home?”
Yu Qinghuan scoffed. The cleaver in her hand clanged loudly as she tossed it onto the nearby pile of firewood.
“Which home? That empty shell where there’s not even an iron cooking pot left, and where you couldn’t find a single grain of rice if you searched the entire place?”
“Regiment Commander Li, you can go back to your home. I still have important business to take care of.”
With that, Yu Qinghuan dusted the rust off her hands.
She couldn’t even be bothered to spare him another glance. Turning around, she strode out of the brigade headquarters.
Li Zhengting stood rooted to the spot.
For the first time in his life, a trace of bewilderment and helplessness appeared on his usually stern, handsome face.
In the military, his orders carried the weight of a mountain.
But in front of this newlywed wife who had only just married into his family—
His authority apparently wasn’t even worth the scraps of wood lying on the ground.
After leaving the brigade headquarters, Yu Qinghuan hurried straight to the village entrance.
There, she happened to run into Uncle Wang, one of the villagers, who was driving an ox cart to the county seat to deliver dried grass.
“Uncle Wang! Are you heading to the county seat? Give me a ride!”
Yu Qinghuan called out brightly and nimbly climbed onto the cart.
“Sure am! Hop on and sit tight!”
Uncle Wang flicked his whip. The old ox began pulling the cart at a leisurely pace toward the county seat.
Sitting on the pile of dried grass, Yu Qinghuan narrowed her eyes slightly.
She had already established her authority in Hongqi Production Brigade. For the time being, that awful family wouldn’t dare come looking for trouble.
But as long as the matter of her teaching position remained unresolved, she wouldn’t be able to rest easy.
The reason Li Chunhua had dared to behave so arrogantly was that she had someone secretly helping her inside the county Education Bureau—a clerk named Zhang.
That clerk had accepted a promise of benefits from Li Chunhua and Wang Ergou in exchange for helping them.
He had agreed that as soon as the transfer document arrived, he would immediately arrange Li Chunhua’s appointment.
“Since you people enjoy playing dirty, then today, this old lady will give you something truly spectacular to remember!”
A deeply mocking smile flashed across Yu Qinghuan’s eyes.
A little over an hour later, the ox cart finally arrived at the county seat.
Yu Qinghuan jumped down and, relying on her memories, headed straight for the county Education Bureau.
The building was a drab, three-story structure made of red bricks, with a wooden sign bearing black characters on a white background hanging above the entrance.
Yu Qinghuan took a deep breath and walked inside.
Unlike ordinary petitioners who might arrive crying and pleading, she went straight to the Personnel Section on the second floor.
BANG!
Yu Qinghuan slammed her palm onto the redwood desk in the Personnel Section office.
The tremendous noise startled several officials who had been drinking tea and reading newspapers. Their hands jerked, splashing hot water all over their trousers.
“Which production brigade are you from?! Don’t you know the rules?! What are you shouting about?!”
A middle-aged man wearing glasses and sporting a sharp, mean-looking face stood up and shouted at her.
This man was none other than Clerk Zhang, who had been secretly cooperating with Li Chunhua and preparing to accept a bribe.
Yu Qinghuan looked at Clerk Zhang, and suddenly her eyes reddened.
She threw back her head and began wailing at the top of her lungs.
“Government officials! Please save me!”
“I’m here to turn myself in!”
“I want to report myself and your own Clerk Zhang for conspiring to engage in corruption and steal the secure government teaching position belonging to the orphan of a martyr!”
Her voice was shrill and thunderous.
Through the windows and gaps beneath the doors of the Personnel Section, her words spread throughout the entire red-brick building in an instant.
“Turn herself in?”
“Corruption?”
“Stealing someone’s job?”
A dense flurry of footsteps immediately sounded in the corridor.
One after another, office doors swung open as officials who loved a bit of excitement poked their heads out to see what was happening.
Hearing the commotion, the director of the Education Bureau strode into the office with a dark expression.
“What is all this shouting about?! This is a serious government administrative institution!”
“You! Explain yourself! What exactly is going on?!”
Yu Qinghuan had been waiting for precisely this man—the director himself.
She wiped away her tears, pointed at Clerk Zhang, whose face was already beginning to turn pale, and spoke loudly.
“Director! My name is Yu Qinghuan, and I’m an officially appointed substitute teacher at the county’s primary school!”
“The night before last, the Li family locked me inside a woodshed and starved me, then forcibly tried to make me sign a transfer document!”
“They told me that Clerk Zhang from your bureau had already accepted a huge bribe of five hundred yuan from them!”
“They said that as soon as the transfer document arrived, my teaching appointment would immediately be transferred into Li Chunhua’s name!”
“I narrowly escaped death last night, and my conscience simply won’t allow me to stand by and watch the country’s educational appointments be corrupted by privilege and money!”
“That’s why I’ve come before the authorities today to confess my own involvement and report Clerk Zhang for taking bribes! I’m also reporting myself for being ‘voluntarily’ forced to transfer my position!”
“Director, five hundred yuan! That’s an enormous amount of corrupt money!”
“I’m begging the authorities to open an investigation immediately, seize Clerk Zhang’s property, and execute me while you’re at it!”
Yu Qinghuan’s tactic of reporting herself while exposing others was shamelessly audacious.
She had deliberately lowered her own standing as far as possible while elevating the seriousness of the accusations to the highest level.
In an era when “class enemies” and corruption were treated as terrifying threats, a bribe of five hundred yuan combined with the accusation of persecuting a martyr’s orphan was enough to put Clerk Zhang directly on the chopping block.
Cold sweat poured from Clerk Zhang’s body. His legs trembled like a sieve.
“Y-You’re talking nonsense! I didn’t do anything! Director, she’s slandering me!”
“Slandering you?”
Yu Qinghuan let out a cold laugh and pulled out a photocopy of the letters Li Chunhua had hidden in her room. She appeared to take them from her pocket, but in reality, she had retrieved them from her dimensional space.
These were handwritten letters exchanged between Li Chunhua and Clerk Zhang, in which they had secretly discussed the details of transferring the teaching position!
“Director, these are the letters exchanged between Clerk Zhang and my sister-in-law. You can compare the handwriting!”
“If the authorities refuse to investigate this matter, I’ll go straight to the county disciplinary inspection commission next door, and then to the People’s Armed Forces Department, to turn myself in!”
The director took the letters. After reading just one glance, his face darkened until it was black as the bottom of a cooking pot.
If a scandal like this reached the county disciplinary inspection commission and the People’s Armed Forces Department, he could kiss his own position as director goodbye.
“You scoundrel!”
The director slammed his palm onto the desk and pointed at Clerk Zhang.
“Zhang San! So this is what you’ve been doing behind our backs!”
“Security Section! Take him away immediately! Suspend him pending investigation and hand him over to the disciplinary inspection commission for a thorough inquiry!”
Clerk Zhang’s legs gave way completely. He collapsed onto the floor and was dragged away by two security officers like a dead dog.
With this rotten apple dealt with, the director turned toward Yu Qinghuan. She still wore an aggrieved expression, but her eyes were bright and clear.
His expression immediately softened into a warm smile.
“Comrade Yu Qinghuan, don’t worry. The authorities will act fairly.”
“You deserve praise for having the courage to correct wrongdoing and expose corruption.”
“Your teaching position belongs to you. No one is going to take it away!”
The director personally picked up his pen and stamped Yu Qinghuan’s appointment certificate again with the Education Bureau’s large, bright-red official seal.
He even took special care to write eight prominent characters in the remarks section:
[Orphan of a Martyr — Special Protection]
With those eight characters on her certificate, no one in the entire county’s education system would dare lay a finger on Yu Qinghuan from that day forward.
“Thank you, authorities! Thank you, Director!”
Yu Qinghuan happily accepted the certificate and carefully tucked it against her chest as if it were a priceless treasure.
She walked out of the red-brick building with leisurely, unhurried steps.
The afternoon sunlight was somewhat dazzling, but its warmth spread pleasantly across her body.
Her revenge had been served, her job was secure, and she felt absolutely wonderful.
However—
The moment she stepped through the two heavy iron gates of the Education Bureau—
SKREEECH!
An ear-piercing sound of brakes suddenly rang out violently at the main entrance.
A military-green jeep, its body still covered in mud, swerved to a sudden stop directly in front of Yu Qinghuan.
The car door swung open.
Li Zhengting stepped out in his military uniform, his chest still rising and falling slightly.
His deep, complicated eyes locked unwaveringly onto Yu Qinghuan’s small face, still smeared with stove ash.