As Gu Xiuxiu pushed her way through the crowd, she finally squeezed in just in time to see Lin Dabao and Lin Xiaoya trembling uncontrollably, crying so hard they couldn’t speak.
She panted, looking around in panic. Seeing no one giving her strange looks, she finally caught her breath a little.
It seemed they hadn’t dragged her down into this. Good. If her parents found out that she had heard about Lin Xiaoya’s plan and not only failed to stop it but had actually laughed at her, they’d break her legs!
Gu Xiuxiu breathed a sigh of relief.
An idea came to her. She decided to further polish her own righteous image.
Gu Xiuxiu cleared her throat loudly, putting on the airs of a high school student. With a stern face, she pushed through the crowd to the front and jabbed her finger at Lin Xiaoya’s forehead.
“Lin Dabao! Lin Xiaoya! Just how outrageous are you two going to be? Is our Gu family’s and the martyr’s reputation something for you to trample on like this? How can you face my brother’s sacrifice?”
Her righteous and emotionally charged scolding drew everyone’s attention. They realized it was the girl from the Gu family.
Because she was a martyr’s sister, everyone gave her some deference, stepping back to listen.
“Such a young age and you’re already up to no good, coming to the supply and marketing cooperative to throw a tantrum and roll around? And you want special privileges? You’re smearing the reputation of our Red Star Production Brigade! Worse, you’re smearing mud on the faces of my second brother and my sacrificed eldest brother!”
To demonstrate her anger and sense of justice, she even gritted her teeth, reached out, and twisted Lin Xiaoya’s arm hard, pulling her out from the crowd. She said sharply, “Hurry up! Apologize to the comrades at the supply and marketing cooperative! Apologize to everyone!”
Lin Xiaoya’s arm hurt terribly. Overwhelmed with grievance, she cried even louder, struggling and shouting, “Sister Xiuxiu, didn’t you tell me to come? Why are you scolding me too? Wuwu…”
Lin Dabao also shielded his sister, crying out, “Sister Xiuxiu, that’s not what you said yesterday! You clearly said we’d definitely be able to buy the good stuff and take it back! You even said you’d back us up!”
The two children, in pain, fear, and feeling wronged, incoherently exposed Gu Xiuxiu. Even though it wasn’t entirely accurate to the facts, they were beyond caring.
This sudden reversal stunned everyone.
“What? Xiuxiu told them to come?”
“She knew about it yesterday? And she didn’t stop them? She even let them come? And she’s from a martyr’s family!”
“She was just lecturing them a moment ago, was that all an act?”
“And she even laid hands on them, what was she thinking?”
“Well now, isn’t this egging the kids on to make a mistake and then playing the good guy?”
“The kids don’t know better, but she’s a high school student. Surely she should know better?”
Just then, two people in the crowd wearing glasses and Mao suits—the principal and the Chinese language teacher from the commune middle school—were taken aback. Seeing Gu Xiuxiu, their expressions turned exceptionally grim.
They had originally come to purchase supplies for the school but ended up witnessing this entire scene.
The Chinese teacher was furious, raising his voice:
“Student Gu Xiuxiu, you are truly heartbreaking! You clearly knew about their misguided notions beforehand. Not only did you fail to dissuade them with correct thinking, you actually encouraged them. Afterward, not only did you not reflect on your own mistake, you attempted to cover it up with an even more erroneous method. What kind of behavior is this? To put it seriously, this is a problem with your character.”
The older principal also shook his head in disappointment, his tone grave. “Student Gu Xiuxiu, we teach you knowledge, but more importantly, we hope you can become people of high moral character. A noble person is cautious even when alone, not deceiving others in dark corners. Your actions today, where is the bearing of an educated person?”
Gu Xiuxiu turned back, dumbstruck. Hearing these words, she felt ice-cold all over.
How was she to know the teachers were here?
Now, it was as if she had taken those two slaps meant for Lin Dabao and Lin Xiaoya.
She hardly dared imagine how her classmates would talk about her when she returned to school!
Gu Xiuxiu’s face turned white. Covering her face, she began to cry. Under the pointing fingers and disappointed gazes, she quickly turned and ran.
Another commotion arose at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative.
Lin Jianguo and Wang Shufen, the couple, had arrived in a frantic hurry.
Wang Shufen burst in, making a fuss. “What’s going on? What’s happened to my Dabao and Xiaoya?” Instinctively, she tried to pull the two children behind her.
Lin Wanxing had been waiting for this very moment!
She raised her tear-streaked face to look at her parents, her voice filled with the desolation and resentment of being betrayed, and spoke of what she had reminded them before.
“Dad, Mom, I told you a long time ago that you needed to discipline Dabao and Xiaoya properly. But you said they were just kids fooling around, that it was only right for me, as their older sister, to help and support my younger siblings…”
She spoke with heart-wrenching sorrow.
The gazes of the onlookers instantly focused entirely on Lin Jianguo and Wang Shufen, filled with disdain and condemnation.
The couple was dumbfounded. They still didn’t know what was going on, so why was everyone looking at them?
“If the parents think this way, no wonder the kids dare to act like this!”
“Truly, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will be crooked! That Wanxing girl is really out of luck to have such a natal family!”
“Thank goodness Wanxing girl herself understands what’s right and wasn’t led astray!” the leading cadre snorted coldly.
Wang Shufen, shamed by the sudden accusations and the surrounding stares, flushed red and then turned pale. She wanted to retort, but what Lin Wanxing said was the truth. They really had thought it was only natural to take advantage of the Gu family before!
Lin Jianguo hung his head even lower, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
They had come intending to back up their children, but never expected to become the target of public criticism the moment they arrived!
At that moment, another group of people arrived upon hearing the news.
Father Gu and Mother Gu walked in with grim faces.
They had heard that the Lin children were causing trouble at the supply and marketing cooperative under the Gu family’s name and felt their reputation was tarnished. They had come specifically to scold the Lin family for failing to raise their children properly and causing trouble for the Gu family.
Mother Gu entered with a stern face. Her gaze swept over the sobbing Lin siblings and the embarrassed-looking Lin parents. She was just about to open her mouth to reprimand them.
But then she overheard the lingering, not-yet-dispersed murmurs from the crowd:
“…Who would have thought it was Gu Xiuxiu who…”
“…She looks like a quiet, well-behaved high school student, but her mind is so cunning…”
The reproach on the tip of Mother Gu’s tongue instantly stuck in her throat. The accusatory expression on her face froze.
Father Gu also stood rooted to the spot, his complexion shifting.
They had come with great momentum, ready to hold the Lin family accountable, only to find out it was Gu Xiuxiu who had egged them on?
The slap to their faces was loud and clear. The old couple stood rigid, unsure whether to advance or retreat, their expressions a sight to behold.
The leading cadre said with a dark expression, “Come! All of you, come with me. We need to have a good talk about family ideology and education. This is a problem with your family values!”
All four of them were taken into the office.
Finally, Gu Jianfeng arrived as well.
He silently looked at Lin Wanxing, who was leaning against the counter, crying so hard her shoulders trembled slightly, her face pale. He was taken aback. Listening to the discussions of the surrounding crowd, he finally learned that the cause of all this was actually his own sister’s instigation.
A powerful wave of astonishment and guilt flooded his chest, making him feel somewhat unable to hold his head high.
It was their Gu family’s fault, for not raising Gu Xiuxiu properly, that caused Wanxing to suffer such great grievance and have to clean up this mess in front of so many people.
Hearing that she had nearly died by crashing her head earlier, Gu Jianfeng felt even more a fire in his heart, anxious and distressed.
He couldn’t find any fine words to say. He could only turn to everyone with a solemn face and apologize:
“Everyone, I’m sorry. This is all our family’s fault. It’s our family that let Wanxing suffer. We didn’t educate Xiuxiu properly. We will definitely discipline her and her moral character when we get back.”
After speaking, he placed one hand on Lin Wanxing’s back, guiding her, and used the other to shield her tear-swollen, red face as he led her outside. He said, “Please make way, everyone. I’ll take her back first.”
The onlookers dispersed.
Once outside the supply and marketing cooperative, Lin Wanxing finally raised her head and pushed aside the messy hair stuck to her tear-streaked face.
She looked at Gu Jianfeng, quickly frowning with urgency and criticism in her tone, “Why did you have to come out and take all this blame upon yourself?”
Her move was meant to teach her younger siblings a lesson; exposing Gu Xiuxiu was just a side effect. Who would have thought Gu Jianfeng would be so honest and straightforward, stubbornly taking all the blame himself?
Gu Jianfeng was momentarily stunned. It was the first time he had seen Lin Wanxing speak to him in a tone tinged with complaint. But she wasn’t exactly blaming him either; she seemed to be chiding him for being too kind-hearted.
Gu Jianfeng blinked his dark eyes, realizing that Lin Wanxing was just being good-natured, unwilling to involve him, and was feeling anxious about it.
His large hand, which had been resting on her shoulder, now loosened somewhat awkwardly.
It was the first time a woman had spoken to him with a hint of… affectionate reproach?
Then he said in a low voice, “Wait a moment.”
He turned around and, with his long strides, ran back into the supply and marketing cooperative.
Lin Wanxing was still puzzled, brushing her bangs away from her face again.
She fanned herself with her hand, watching through the window as the Lin parents and the Gu parents, pale-faced, were being lectured by the leading cadre, talking over each other, gesturing helplessly, unable to explain clearly. A cold smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Meanwhile, Gu Jianfeng was inside, thinking. He walked up to the counter. The crowd had just dispersed, and the older saleswoman was still tidying up.
He pointed at the bolt of red-checkered Dacron fabric that Lin Xiaoya had coveted earlier, then tapped on the glass countertop at the White Rabbit Creamy Candies and the Snowflake Cream moisturizer.
“Sister Zhang, could you please get that? Enough of this fabric for a set of clothes. Also, one pack of the candies and one jar of the Snowflake Cream.”
He took out several fabric coupons and money from the pocket of his straight military trousers and paid without much hesitation.
In the 1970s, Dacron fabric, White Rabbit Creamy Candies, and Snowflake Cream were all scarce and valuable commodities, especially for rural families.
Sister Zhang’s expression softened. She glanced at Lin Wanxing standing outside and said, “Getting these for her?”
The news about Gu Jianfeng inheriting both family lines had already spread.
She pursed her lips in a smile, observing Gu Jianfeng’s upright posture, his serious and meticulous face, his tightly pressed lips as if accepting a mission, though the tips of his ears were slightly red.
She handed him the wrapped items and said in a lowered voice, “Be good to her. She’s suffered such a great grievance. Don’t be such a closed gourd (meaning an uncommunicative person). Say some nice words to her.”
Gu Jianfeng nodded.
He took the package, turned around, and quickly ran back out.
Standing tall and straight, neat and clean, his figure imposing, he stood beside Lin Wanxing and handed her the package.
Lin Wanxing was taken aback for a moment. She watched as he unfolded the cloth wrapping to show her the contents inside, and it took her a moment to process it.
Gu Jianfeng, the uncommunicative one, spoke up: “This fabric is pretty. Like the bright feathers of a duck. You’ll look even prettier wearing it.”
Having said that, he tightly closed his mouth and stuffed the package into Lin Wanxing’s hands.
Lin Wanxing really felt a black line forming on her forehead. Who describes clothes that way?!
She immediately wanted to jab at him with a few sharp words.