“Bullshit! What the hell are you talking about?” The Liu family members all reacted as if Lin Miaoyin had exposed the secret they were trying to hide. They jumped up angrily.
“Just because you’re Captain Lin’s daughter doesn’t mean you can make up whatever you want!” Mrs. Liu rushed over, pointing a finger so close to Lin Miaoyin’s face that it was almost touching her.
Lin Miaoyin stepped back in disgust and sneered, “I’m not making this up. Everyone can see what you’ve done with their own eyes.”
The people around them also frowned and started thinking about it. Surprisingly, they felt that Lin Miaoyin’s guess actually made sense.
Old Man Liu had three sons, and they had separated into their own households a long time ago. After Old Man Liu became paralyzed last year, they were supposed to take turns caring for him. But in these difficult times, when people could barely feed themselves, who had enough food to support someone who could no longer work?
So all three sons kept making excuses and pushing the responsibility onto each other. In the end, the Party Secretary had to step in and mediate before they reluctantly settled the matter.
But the arguments never stopped. They fought and quarreled every few days. Anyone who saw Old Man Liu felt sorry for him. He was terribly thin, with only skin and bones, and often looked confused and dazed.
If Old Man Liu died in one of their homes, it would cause a lot of trouble and bring bad luck to the family. So if they carried him outside and let him die somewhere else, judging by the Liu family’s behavior, they really were capable of doing it.
Besides, they claimed they were taking Old Man Liu to the clinic. That was almost unbelievable. Their family was so poor that they usually wouldn’t even take their children to the clinic for a cold or fever. Would they really be willing to spend money taking Old Man Liu there?
Just then, Party Secretary Li arrived after hearing what had happened.
Party Secretary Li was about the same age as Lin Miaoyin’s father. He carried a cloth umbrella and came with his son.
The rain had already weakened considerably, leaving only a light drizzle.
“Liu family, what are you doing? You left your own father lying out in the rain?”
Party Secretary Li had received a college education and held very traditional values. He could not stand to see people treating their parents so badly.
Captain Lin was in charge of production, while Party Secretary Li handled political matters. On top of that, Party Secretary Li was much stricter than Captain Lin. He had also been assigned by the government rather than elected by the villagers, so everyone in the brigade was even more afraid of him.
As soon as Party Secretary Li arrived, the Liu family’s confidence immediately disappeared. Lin’s father went over and briefly explained everything that had happened.
Party Secretary Li thought for a moment before asking Zhu Wanqin, “Wanqin, are you certain Old Man Liu died not long after you left?”
Zhu Wanqin answered, “Judging from the situation, yes.”
Party Secretary Li fell silent and thought carefully. Then he went back to question the Liu family.
Seeing that everyone’s attention was focused on Party Secretary Li and the Liu family, Lin Miaoyin turned around to check on Meng Yuanzheng.
But someone had already gotten there before her.
Zhu Wanqin, aren’t you the female lead? Wake up! Your destined man is still digging coal at that little coal mine behind the mountain! You’ve got the wrong person!
“Comrade Meng, I heard you were injured, so I brought you some medicine.”
Zhu Wanqin took a tube of ointment from her coat pocket. She stood beside Meng Yuanzheng, holding her umbrella over his head while offering the ointment to him with one delicate hand.
Meng Yuanzheng had always been spoiled and lazy. After being beaten and then standing in the rain for so long, the moment the two men let go of him, he bent over and supported himself with his hands on his knees.
He waved his hand, refusing the ointment.
Zhu Wanqin was slightly stunned. She pressed her lips together before saying, “Your injuries look pretty serious. But the clinic is already closed. You should put some medicine on them.”
“No need. Thank you.”
Meng Yuanzheng straightened up, only to see a woman striding over and taking the ointment from Zhu Wanqin’s hand.
Lin Miaoyin smiled brightly. “I heard Comrade Zhu came from the city, so this medicine must be expensive. How could we just take it for free? How about this? We’ll buy it from you. I’ll bring the money to your place tomorrow.”
Zhu Wanqin quickly waved her hand. “No, no, it’s really not necessary. I have plenty more. Besides, Comrade Meng helped me carry my luggage today.”
As she spoke, she looked at Meng Yuanzheng with a grateful expression.
Unfortunately, Meng Yuanzheng had his head lowered, staring at the injuries on his arm. He did not notice her at all.
Lin Miaoyin was completely confused.
What was wrong with this female lead?
Wasn’t it written in the original story that Zhu Wanqin avoided Meng Yuanzheng like the plague and never gave him a pleasant look whenever she saw him? And Meng Yuanzheng, believing that anything he couldn’t have was worth having, had always been eager to chase after her even when she treated him coldly.
So why had things changed now?
Zhu Wanqin was acting very friendly toward Meng Yuanzheng, while Meng Yuanzheng looked as if he didn’t know her and didn’t want to talk to her.
Could Lin Miaoyin have remembered the female lead’s name incorrectly?
Was Zhu Wanqin actually the female educated youth who fell in love with Meng Yuanzheng and opposed the female lead?
Meanwhile, Party Secretary Li had already figured out what had happened.
Although he was strict and somewhat old-fashioned, he was clever, intimidating, and good at getting people to talk. Lin Miaoyin and Zhu Wanqin’s earlier analysis had already broken through the Liu family’s psychological defenses. It only took Party Secretary Li a few questions to get the truth out of them.
It turned out that Old Man Liu had already been on the verge of death that morning. He had been lying on the kang, breathing heavily and constantly complaining that his chest hurt. He could barely breathe in.
The three sons of the Liu family had gathered together to discuss what to do about their father’s condition.
But none of them wanted Old Man Liu to die in their own home. None of them wanted to spend money on his funeral either. Yet if they refused to hold a funeral, they would be condemned and criticized by everyone in the brigade.
They argued and argued, but could not reach an agreement.
Then Old Man Liu suddenly had another attack and looked as if he was about to die at any moment.
They had no time to think anymore. They couldn’t let him die in their own home. Once he died there, the room where he had slept would be considered unlucky and might become unusable.
So they decided to carry him to the back of the mountain and let him die outside.
But after they had only walked a short distance, they saw two educated youths approaching from far away.
An idea immediately came to them.
If they could blame Old Man Liu’s death on someone else, they could at least get money from that person to cover the funeral expenses.
So they slowed down and began shouting anxiously, “Help! Someone help! Dad, how are you? Please don’t die!”
Educated youths came from the city, and people said they were usually honest and liked to help others. Especially someone like Meng Yuanzheng, a hotheaded young man who loved showing off in front of women.
Sure enough, Meng Yuanzheng took the bait.
He immediately went over to check on Old Man Liu, laid him on the ground, and began doing chest compressions.
Old Man Liu actually seemed a little better at that moment. His breathing became more stable.
But the Liu family was unhappy about this.
How could the old man suddenly look like he wasn’t going to die just because someone pressed on his chest?
They immediately stopped Meng Yuanzheng and pretended to be in a hurry to take Old Man Liu to the clinic.
They carried him away.
Meng Yuanzheng kindly followed them.
The Liu family had originally planned to find a way to kill Old Man Liu and then blame his death on Meng Yuanzheng. But they couldn’t do anything with Meng following them the entire time.
Fortunately, Old Man Liu couldn’t hold on any longer and eventually died.
That was exactly what they wanted.
Once they reached the area outside the clinic, where there were many people around, they deliberately attracted everyone’s attention and then accused Meng Yuanzheng of being the murderer.
They beat him up and dragged him to the Lin family to demand an explanation.
Who could have expected that Lin Miaoyin and Zhu Wanqin, two women, would understand so much and see through their scheme?
The rest was left to Party Secretary Li, Lin’s father, and the others to handle. Everyone else returned to their homes.
“Thank you, Comrade Zhu.”
Although Lin Miaoyin was unwilling, she still had to keep up appearances. She reluctantly helped Meng Yuanzheng walk.
Zhu Wanqin smiled gently. “It was nothing. Comrade Meng was only helping others because he is a kind person. Good people are rewarded for their kindness. Besides, the people’s eyes are sharp, and all bad ideas will eventually be exposed.”
“I admire Brother Meng’s character very much. I couldn’t stand by and watch him be falsely accused, so I followed my heart and came forward to testify for him.”
Well said! Very well said! She really is a model educated youth with the right values!
Lin Miaoyin kept the smile on her face and nudged Meng Yuanzheng with her elbow.
“Are you going to thank her or not?”
Meng Yuanzheng lifted his eyes and said dryly, “I already thanked her.”
Lin Miaoyin: “…”
Zhu Wanqin’s expression stiffened slightly, but she quickly smiled again.
“It’s getting late. Go back and get some rest. Remember to put some medicine on your injuries and drink some ginger soup, too. You don’t want to get sick. If you run out of ointment, you can come and get more from me.”
After Zhu Wanqin left with her umbrella, Lin Miaoyin couldn’t shake the feeling that something was strange.
But she couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong.