The Xu Brigade was made up almost entirely of people with the surname Xu.
The brigade secretary and brigade leader held absolute authority in the village.
Secretary Xu’s face darkened.
“Xu Youtian, you’ve really made something of yourself. You’re bringing the old society’s way of abusing daughters-in-law into your own home.”
Xu Youtian was startled.
“Secretary, it’s all a misunderstanding.”
Several young wives from the village couldn’t stand it any longer.
“Hmph! Misunderstanding my foot! Yang Xiaolin and Hong Shanpang never stopped bragging in front of us about how they bullied Educated Youth Su.”
Xu Youtian’s cold gaze landed on his two daughters-in-law.
Yang Xiaolin feared her silent father-in-law the most. She shrank back.
“Dad, we usually get along well. We were just joking.”
“That’s right, just joking,” Hong Shanpang echoed.
Su Xiaoqi sniffled and cried.
“Who jokes like that?
They beat me nearly to death. If I hadn’t forced myself to crawl into the kitchen for a bowl of rice porridge because I wanted to see Zhou Ye one last time…
I’d be nothing more than a freshly dead corpse by now…”
The brigade leader and Secretary Xu looked extremely grim.
Every brigade in the commune was competing with one another. If their brigade gained a reputation for abusing a soldier’s wife, the entire commune would publicly criticize them.
The brigade leader spat on the ground.
“Do you think Secretary Xu and I are fools? If Zhou Ye’s wife gets bullied again, go straight to the brigade office. We’ll show the Xu family what happens.”
Secretary Xu also spoke earnestly to Xu Youtian.
“Educated Youth Su is a soldier’s wife. If you mistreat her, you’ll disgrace the entire Xu Brigade.”
Xu Youtian and Yang Huaihua didn’t understand.
Wasn’t it just beating up the newly married daughter-in-law? How did that involve the whole brigade?
They were also relatives of a soldier’s family.
They had questions, but they didn’t dare ask.
Still sobbing, Su Xiaoqi said,
“Thank you, Secretary Xu. Thank you, Brigade Leader. I was even thinking that if things got any worse, I’d go to the commune office and cry for justice…”
The women’s director quickly comforted her.
“Educated Youth Su, if there’s any problem, we’ll settle it here in the brigade. If you’re in trouble, come to the brigade office.”
That was exactly what Su Xiaoqi wanted to hear.
“Thankfully, I have all of you.”
Then she looked pitifully at Yang Huaihua and Xu Youtian.
“Can I eat the same meals as my younger sister-in-law?”
No.
Yang Huaihua wanted to refuse, but she didn’t dare. Her lips trembled with anger.
“Dad. Mom doesn’t want to. Don’t you want to either?” Su Xiaoqi turned to Xu Youtian.
Though unwilling, he forced a smile.
“Your health isn’t good. For the next few days, you’ll get one boiled egg every day.”
Secretary Xu finally relaxed.
“Good, good. A harmonious family prospers. Don’t bully people over every little thing anymore.”
But Su Xiaoqi had no intention of letting Hong Shanpang and Yang Xiaolin off.
“Secretary Xu, the injuries on my arms are only superficial. The wounds on the rest of my body are much worse.
I’m dizzy, my stomach hurts, and I think even my bones are injured.
Do you think I should ask the People’s Public Security Bureau to seek justice for me? Then I can stay at the commune clinic for ten or fifteen days getting IV drips.”
The Xu family nearly fainted.
Was she planning to bankrupt the family?
“You’ll be fine after resting for two days,” Yang Huaihua muttered bitterly, secretly blaming Yang Xiaolin and Hong Shanpang for beating Su Xiaoqi so badly.
Yang Xiaolin was the first to jump up.
“Su Xiaoqi! We never tried to kill you!”
“That’s right. We barely hit you.”
Su Xiaoqi smoothly moved beside Secretary Xu.
“Secretary Xu, according to them, as long as I didn’t die, it counts as barely hitting me…”
Secretary Xu’s face turned as black as ink.
“The two of you want to receive some ‘education,’ do you?”
Everyone knew that “education” at the commune wasn’t just a lecture.
Neither of them wanted that.
“We wouldn’t dare.”
Su Xiaoqi wiped away her tears and timidly looked at Secretary Xu and the brigade leader.
“Half a month of IV drips, medicine, injections, and nutritional supplements… Asking each of them to compensate me ten yuan isn’t too much, is it?”
Secretary Xu had figured it out.
Every sentence Su Xiaoqi spoke was aimed at taking this matter to the commune.
Yang Xiaolin’s vision went black.
“You can hit me back if you want, but don’t expect any money.”
“If you’ve got the guts, then hit me!” Hong Shanpang said, her heart aching at the thought of paying.
Just then, Wen Anning happened to be visiting the Xu Brigade.
When she heard what had happened, she hurried over.
She was acknowledged by both families as a lucky star, and thanks to her, her natal family’s life had grown better and better.
Out of all her admirers, she had chosen Xu Yong’an.
“Su Xiaoqi, we’re all family. We’ll see each other every day. My eldest and second sisters-in-law know they were wrong. They won’t joke like this again.
Why don’t you be generous and forgive them this once?”
The moment Su Xiaoqi saw her, she recognized the self-righteous saint had arrived.
“You’re not even married yet, and you’re already calling them ‘eldest sister-in-law’ and ‘second sister-in-law.’ Since we’re all family, then you can pay the twenty yuan for them.”
In everyone’s eyes, Wen Anning was the image of perfection.
As long as she spoke, most people listened.
“Su Xiaoqi, you…”
“You what? You’re not paying a single cent, yet you think you can settle everything with just your mouth?” Su Xiaoqi looked her up and down. “Then why don’t you take the beating for them?”
Yang Xiaolin and Hong Shanpang were delighted.
The two of them nodded frantically.
“Thank you, Anning!”
Yang Huaihua’s eyes widened.
“How can Anning take a beating for you two?”
Wen Anning didn’t believe Su Xiaoqi would actually hit anyone.
Looking at her gently, she tried to melt Su Xiaoqi’s evil heart with her warm smile.
“Su Xiaoqi. I’ll take the beating for my two sisters-in-law.”
A mocking smile appeared in Su Xiaoqi’s eyes as she looked around.
She snatched a shovel from Old Xu Six next door.
“Stand still. I’m going to beat you to death.”
She swung the shovel toward Wen Anning’s head.
“Don’t move. I only need to hit you ten times.”
Wen Anning never imagined Su Xiaoqi would completely ignore common sense.
Forget ten hits—even four would kill her.
She immediately turned and ran.
“Mom! I don’t want to take the beating for them!”
With a grin full of menace, Su Xiaoqi shouted,
“Wen Anning! If you make a mistake, you admit it. If you’re getting beaten, stand up straight and take it!”
Wen Anning ran as fast as she could.
Su Xiaoqi chased even faster.
Xu Yong’an hurried forward in panic.
“Su Xiaoqi! You’re not allowed to bully Anning!”
Su Xiaoqi slammed the shovel onto the ground.
The loud crash startled Wen Anning so badly that she tripped over a clod of dirt and fell face-first onto the hard-packed road.
“Ah…”
The shovel was stopped by Xu Yong’an.
Sweat covered his forehead.
“Su Xiaoqi! How can you really hit someone?”
“But Wen Anning asked me to. Didn’t she want to do a good deed and take Yang Xiaolin’s and Hong Shanpang’s place?”
Su Xiaoqi sneered.
“Wen Anning, do you still mean what you said?”
Wen Anning’s knees hurt, her lips hurt, and even her palms burned with pain.
Su Xiaoqi was a complete shrew.
She shook her head desperately.
“I don’t want to do it anymore.”
Resting the shovel on her shoulder, Su Xiaoqi sneered with disdain.
“You should’ve said so earlier. So all your good deeds are just using your mouth to pressure other people.”
“Let me tell you something. I’m morally bankrupt. Don’t expect to guilt-trip me with your so-called virtue.”
Her words ripped away Wen Anning’s perfect facade.
The villagers clicked their tongues.
Only then did they realize that Wen Anning had always gained a good reputation simply by talking, never contributing money or effort herself.
It was infuriating.
The aunts, sisters-in-law, and unmarried girls all looked at Wen Anning differently now.
Standing proudly, Su Xiaoqi turned to Yang Xiaolin and Hong Shanpang, whose legs were trembling.
Neither of them had expected the woman they always bullied to become as fierce as a bandit.
“Su Xiaoqi, don’t hit me!”
“I was wrong!”
Could a single apology bring back the original Su Xiaoqi’s life?
Her expression darkened.
“Twenty yuan, or the two of you each take ten hits with the shovel. Your choice. I’ll give you three minutes to think.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three. Time’s up.”
The onlookers were speechless.
Three minutes?
That was only three counts!
Yang Huaihua hurried over to help Wen Anning up.
The poor girl’s lips were split, one palm was scraped raw, and her swollen lips looked pitiful.
No matter how they looked at it, Su Xiaoqi had gone too far.
Yang Xiaolin was on the verge of tears.
“That was only three counts!”
“I learned it from you. Isn’t that exactly how you counted whenever you bullied me?”
Su Xiaoqi raised the shovel again.
“I’ll give you ten yuan. Hong Shanpang can give you the other ten.”
Yang Xiaolin was terrified.
More than dying, she feared being beaten into a cripple by Su Xiaoqi.