1980, Shidianzi Village
Under the cover of darkness, deep inside a stack of harvested wheat, two figures were tightly entwined.
“Xiaomeng, where is it? Why can’t I find it?”
“Oh… stop teasing…”
“Hurry and help me undo this. My pants are so tight they’re killing me.”
The man’s breathing grew heavier, his body reeking of warm liquor as his hands wandered clumsily over her.
The woman let out soft, breathy moans, resisting only in appearance.
“Brother Runsheng… mm… don’t…”
“Why do you sound so seductive…”
Moments later, the peaceful village exploded into chaos.
“Come quick! Chen Xiaomeng and the village chief’s son, Runsheng, are fooling around together!”
A flustered woman rushed to the small bridge at the village entrance and shouted at the villagers gathered there for an evening chat.
“Are you serious?” asked a plump woman, spitting out the soybean shells she’d been chewing, her face full of disbelief.
“Absolutely!”
Bent over and gasping for breath, the woman continued, “The two of them were making out passionately inside the wheat stack at the threshing ground. They’d even taken off their clothes! San Shun’s mother caught them red-handed!”
“Who did you say?”
The speaker was Chen Xiuying, Chen Xiaomeng’s biological mother.
Years ago, after being widowed, she had remarried Qiao Nianshan, another widower who was raising a young daughter. She had brought her own daughter, Chen Xiaomeng, into the Qiao family.
She shot to her feet from the bridge embankment, her voice trembling.
“Runsheng? With… who?”
“The village chief’s son, Jiang Runsheng—with your Chen Xiaomeng! They were in the wheat stack with their clothes completely off…”
Just then, Qiao Qingyan walked slowly toward the bridge with several books cradled in her arms. Every word reached her ears.
Clatter.
The books slipped from her arms and fell to the ground.
The setting sun painted half the sky crimson while the creek beneath the bridge flowed quietly onward.
Every pair of eyes turned toward her.
Silence fell instantly.
“Teacher Qiao…” someone called awkwardly.
Qiao Qingyan’s heart sank.
Her fiancé, Jiang Runsheng, had been in a wheat stack with her stepsister, Chen Xiaomeng…
“Impossible! My Xiaomeng would never do such a thing!” Chen Xiuying hurriedly defended her daughter.
Qiao Qingyan’s face remained composed despite the shock.
“We’ll know whether it’s true once we go and see.”
When the Jiang family had sent a matchmaker to propose, they had made it perfectly clear that Jiang Runsheng wanted to marry her.
How could he possibly have gotten involved with Chen Xiaomeng?
…
By the time they reached the threshing ground, it was packed with villagers.
Squeezing through the crowd, Qiao Qingyan immediately spotted Chen Xiaomeng standing beside the wheat stack with her clothes in disarray.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, one hand clutching tightly at Jiang Runsheng’s sleeve.
Jiang Runsheng kept his head lowered. Golden wheat stalks clung to his wrinkled white shirt.
It’s done.
A voice suddenly echoed inside Qiao Qingyan’s mind, as though someone were whispering directly into her ear.
She froze and stared at Chen Xiaomeng.
The other woman’s lips hadn’t moved at all.
Yet the voice was unmistakably clear.
Perfect. Jiang Runsheng has no choice now but to marry me. What’s that little bitch Qiao Qingyan going to use to compete with me?
Qiao Qingyan’s pupils contracted sharply.
That voice…
Was it her sister’s?
Was she hearing her inner thoughts?
Meanwhile, San Shun’s mother continued animatedly describing what she’d witnessed.
“I was bringing San Shun back from the west when I saw the wheat stack shaking. Then I heard a woman’s soft moans. I was so embarrassed, but when I went over to look… it turned out to be these two youngsters!”
“It wasn’t just me. Sister Qiao saw it too.”
She pulled another woman forward.
Sister Qiao smiled awkwardly.
“I’d just finished dinner and came to gather some wheat stalks for firewood. I happened to run into them… At first I thought it was just some newlyweds sneaking off for a little romance.”
She had never imagined she’d end up catching the village chief’s son in the act. She already regretted getting involved.
“Mom… Qingyan…”
Seeing her mother and Qiao Qingyan arrive, Chen Xiaomeng put on a frightened, pitiful expression, clutching her clothes tightly to her chest.
But Qiao Qingyan clearly saw the trace of a smile she was desperately trying to suppress.
It was the exact same smug smile Chen Xiaomeng always wore whenever one of her schemes succeeded—whenever she framed Qiao Qingyan and manipulated their parents into taking her side.
Could today’s incident have been planned all along?
Qiao Qingyan silently clenched her fists as her gaze shifted between the two of them, emotions churning inside her chest.
“Qingyan… let me explain…”
The strong smell of alcohol wafted from Jiang Runsheng as he reached for her hand.
She calmly stepped aside.
Jiang Runsheng looked at her helplessly, his eyes filled with guilt and remorse.
“Xiaomeng… H-how could you and Runsheng…” Chen Xiuying was so furious that her chest tightened.
Her beloved daughter wasn’t even married yet, yet she’d already been caught having an affair in a wheat stack.
Her reputation was ruined.
How would she ever hold her head high in the village again?
Several women nearby whispered among themselves.
“Tsk, tsk. Who would’ve thought Runsheng, who looks so refined, would do something like this?”
“Isn’t he about to marry Qingyan? How could the older sister seduce her own future brother-in-law? What a betrayal.”
“Shameless. Absolutely disgraceful.”
Each remark pierced Jiang Runsheng like a needle.
He hated himself for drinking too much and letting temptation cloud his judgment.
Chen Xiaomeng secretly curled her lips.
Go ahead. Keep talking. The bigger the scandal, the better.
Qiao Qingyan frowned slightly.
So it really had been deliberate.
More and more villagers gathered.
“This should be reported to the commune!” someone shouted. “This kind of immoral behavior disgraces the whole village! The village chief is always preaching about proper conduct—he can’t ignore this!”
“That’s right! He can’t show favoritism just because it’s his own son!”
Some people loudly echoed the sentiment, while others remained silent, unwilling to offend anyone.
Just then, the crowd parted on its own.
An elderly man wearing a blue cadre uniform walked forward with his hands clasped behind his back.
It was the village chief, Jiang Decheng.
His heavy gaze settled on the disheveled pair, his weathered face dark with anger.
“Village Chief,” one of the women said, “look at what these two have done at the threshing ground. How are you going to deal with this?”
Jiang Decheng knitted his brows.
The dignity and respect he had spent his entire life building had been utterly destroyed by his own son.
Still, he had to keep his composure.
He had to clean up the mess.
If the matter reached the commune, his son would almost certainly lose his job at the township radio station.
The villagers continued whispering among themselves.
Slowly, Jiang Decheng raised one hand.
The noisy crowd instantly fell silent.
“Runsheng,” he said, tapping his old tobacco pipe against his palm, “tell everyone exactly what happened.”
His eyes swept briefly toward Chen Xiaomeng, whose lips were tightly pressed together, making his expression grow even darker.
“Dad…” Jiang Runsheng began defensively. “I drank too much…”
Tonight, it had been Chen Xiaomeng who had approached him first.
Truthfully, the one he liked was Qiao Qingyan.
She was far prettier than her older sister.
But Qingyan had always been reserved.
She wouldn’t even let him hold her hand.
Since their engagement, all they’d done was take a few walks along the riverbank.
Nothing more.
He was a young man in the prime of his life.
After drinking a little alcohol, he’d wanted to satisfy his curiosity…
When Chen Xiaomeng looked at him with those seductive eyes and pressed her soft body against his, he had lost control for a moment.
Someone in the crowd shouted,
“This has to be reported to the commune! Runsheng works for the government. A moral scandal like this is a serious offense—we can’t just pretend it never happened!”
Others quickly agreed.
“Village Chief, you can’t protect him just because he’s your son!”
“Dad, you can’t report this to the commune!”
Jiang Runsheng hurried forward. His knees gave way, and with a thud, he knelt before his father.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaomeng also dropped to her knees and spoke in a fragile voice.
“Village Chief… I’m already Brother Runsheng’s woman now.”
At that moment, Qiao Qingyan’s head buzzed.
Once again, her sister’s thoughts rang clearly in her ears.
Wonderful. Now Jiang Runsheng has no way out—he has no choice but to marry me!