“Who would’ve thought an innocent young maiden would follow others’ example and sleep around.”
“What a disgrace!”
Wang Zhaonan heard these words as soon as she returned from working on the river embankment and reached the village entrance.
She was absolutely exhausted today. For some inexplicable reason, the village chief had assigned her to repair the river embankment, and by the time she finished work and reached the village entrance, she didn’t want to move a muscle.
She was thinking of sending her daughter to the village secretary’s house to ask them not to assign her such exhausting work again tomorrow.
As the mother-in-law of the village secretary’s precious son, surely she was entitled to some special treatment.
Just as she was daydreaming, she suddenly heard the words “having an affair.”
Wang Zhaonan stopped dead in her tracks and headed toward the crowd.
At that moment, the entrance to the village officials’ office at the village entrance was swarming with people, clustered in tight groups—Wang Zhaonan simply couldn’t squeeze her way in.
She grabbed a random person and asked, “Who’s having an affair?”
The person she grabbed had just arrived, just like her. “I don’t know whose shameless daughter it is, but I heard she slept with a married man and got pregnant.”
A married man?
Then it’s no big deal.
Wang Zhaonan didn’t even realize she’d let out a sigh of relief; when she spoke again, her tone was even more contemptuous and disgusted than the woman’s.
“Cheating with a married man and getting pregnant.”
“Which shameless slut is that? Isn’t she afraid of being drowned in a pig’s cage?!”
“Exactly. A slut like that deserves to be beaten to death and thrown into the West River to drown.”
Wang Zhaonan nodded fiercely: “Drowning is too lenient for a slut who corrupts public morals—she should be—!”
“Mom, what are you saying? That’s my little sister in there!” Zhu Lan, who had finally managed to cover her face and come out from inside, heard Wang Zhaonan say that Yu Xiaoqiu should be drowned the moment she stepped out.
Although she, too, thought that shameless woman deserved to drown, if that happened now, her family would truly be branded as adulterers.
Zhu Lan had married into the Yu family when her children were only two years old. They’d barely managed to split off from the main household and hadn’t even had time to enjoy their newfound independence; she certainly didn’t want to face the wrath of the entire village.
“What did you say?!”
“How could the one inside possibly be—”
The women who had been cursing along with her moments ago instantly shot her contemptuous glances. Wang Zhaonan was so shocked she couldn’t get her words out; she hurriedly pulled Zhu Lan into a corner to hide.
She asked anxiously, “What on earth is going on? How could the one inside be your younger sister?”
“How could your younger sister be involved with a married man? Isn’t she supposed to be with Chen Maocai?”
Zhu Lan was dumbfounded, her eyes wide: “Mom! You actually know?!”
“And you knew but didn’t stop her?!”
“Stop what? The Chen family’s marriage prospects are so good!” Most importantly, her precious daughter was blessed by the gods—she knew the future, she knew that Chen Maocai would one day become the richest man in the country.
The richest man in the country!
If she didn’t snag Chen Maocai now, once he became rich and powerful, was she going to let that little slut Yu Yin have him all to herself?
Wang Zhaonan didn’t see anything wrong with her daughter being with Chen Maocai. He’d lost his wife, and her daughter wasn’t married yet—who knew who would end up marrying whom in the end?
That’s exactly how it was when she was young. Her daughter had surpassed her and married even better than she had—she was overjoyed, so why would she stop it?
“What’s so great about the Chen family? Chen Maocai is Yu Yin’s fiancé!” Zhu Lan screamed.
After a moment’s pause, Zhu Lan recalled the recent village rumors about a marriage swap. She stared at her mother-in-law in disbelief; at that moment, she truly thought her mother-in-law had lost her mind.
“Mom, tell me—is it true what the village is saying about Xiaoqiu and Yu Yin swapping marriages?”
“Xiaoqiu has such a great match—what on earth are you thinking?”
“That Chen Maocai is a divorcee, and he has a three-year-old son!”
Wang Zhaonan shrugged it off. “So what if he has a three-year-old son? Once Xiaoqiu has a son of her own, it’ll be her child who inherits the family fortune in the end.”
“As for the match in the provincial capital…”
To be honest, although Wang Zhaonan had heard from her daughter that the match in the provincial capital wasn’t a good one—that marrying there would mean not only having to care for the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled, but also being bullied by relatives, and ultimately losing her home and even having to pay out of her own pocket—
it was, after all, the provincial capital. Marrying there meant she’d get a provincial capital household registration.
At first, Wang Zhaonan didn’t want to give the match back to Yu Yin. She’d paid fifty yuan to the matchmaker to secure that marriage in the provincial capital.
She’d initially planned to give the match to her niece on her mother’s side.
But after it came to light that Xiao Qiu had pushed Yu Yin off a hillside, they had no choice but to swap her in.
They’d laid out a perfect plan: once that slut Yu Yin agreed to the swap, they’d ruin her reputation, then bleed her dry after she was married off to the provincial capital.
But now—
Where exactly did it all go wrong?
How could Xiaoqiu be so careless—getting caught getting intimate with her husband-to-be?
“Forget about the match in the provincial capital. Just tell me what’s going on! How did they find out about your little sister?”
Zhu Lan was too shocked to speak; for a moment, she considered taking the child back to her parents’ home.
“Speak up! Are you mute?” Wang Zhaonan pushed Zhu Lan impatiently.
Just as Zhu Lan was about to open her mouth, another commotion erupted at the village entrance.
Zhu Lan turned around and saw several village leaders—the village secretary, the village chief, the brigade captain, the brigade accountant, and the women’s director—hurrying toward them.
Zhu Lan immediately clamped her mouth shut; there was no point in saying anything now.
Sure enough, before the officials even reached the village entrance, someone was already shouting, “Where’s that ‘slut’?”
“What are you all gathered here for? Move aside!” Ye Hong, the Women’s Committee Director, led the way, barking orders at the clustered villagers to disperse.
Most villagers were afraid of the officials, so as soon as Ye Hong spoke, they immediately made way for her.
Soon, the path leading to the village officials’ office was cleared, and Ye Hong and the other officials who had rushed over saw Yu Xiaoqiu and Chen Maocai, bound hand and foot and kneeling at the office door.
Chen Maocai had already regained consciousness. After waking up, he had been screaming and ranting, even threatening to kill Old Lady Chen, so she had stuffed a stinky sock into his mouth.
Secretary Chen Shan’s face darkened instantly when he saw his beloved youngest son being treated this way.
“Old Lady Chen, isn’t what you’re doing against the rules?”
Old Lady Chen didn’t give him the time of day, snorting, “How am I breaking the rules? Did I violate discipline, or am I shamelessly having an affair?”
Chen Shan was at a loss for words.
He already knew what had happened before he arrived. On one hand, he was disappointed in his son for being so careless in his misdeeds; on the other, he resented Yu Xiaoqiu from the Yu family for being so shameless—not only had she seduced his brother-in-law, but she’d also been caught.
In short, he was seething with anger.
Not only had he failed to vent his anger, but he’d also been publicly rebuked by Old Lady Chen. Since becoming the village secretary, Chen Shan had never endured such humiliation.
Gritting his teeth, he snapped, “It’s not even certain whether they were having an affair.”
Old Lady Chen sneered, “I saw it with my own eyes, and several others saw it besides me. Are you suggesting we’re all blind?”
Chen Shan had already thought of a counterargument. “Just because an engaged couple about to get married lost control for a moment, does that mean they have to report it to an old woman like you?”
As soon as he said this, the village square—which had just quieted down—erupted into commotion once more.
“What do you mean? Chen Maocai and Yu Xiaoqiu are getting married?”
“Wait a minute, isn’t Yu Yin the one engaged to Chen Maocai?” ”
“The Village Secretary wouldn’t lie just to protect his own son from being targeted, would he?”
“Keep it down!”
Hidden in the crowd, Yu Yin curled the corners of her mouth, unsurprised.
Sure enough, to avoid being targeted and to preserve Chen Maocai’s reputation, they’d ultimately chosen to turn the rumor of a marriage swap into reality.
But… it seemed they hadn’t given her a second thought.
Although she desperately wanted to leave, did that mean she, Yu Yin, had to play along with their script?
The smile on Yu Yin’s lips quickly faded. As the villagers’ whispers and speculation spread, Chen Shan’s face grew even darker.
“Quiet!” Chen Shan shouted.
“I think you’re the one who needs to be quiet,” Old Lady Chen said, pointing at him. “Chen Shan, don’t think becoming the Party Secretary will let you cover up the truth. Your son is having an affair with his fiancée’s older sister—are you going to admit it or not!”
“I won’t admit it. Yu Yin and Yu Xiaoqiu were swapped long ago. Our family and the Yu family have re-arranged the engagement. If you don’t believe me, ask the Yu family.”
Just then, Chen Shan spotted Wang Zhaonan hiding in the corner.
He gave Wang Zhaonan a nod and called out, “In-law, come out here and tell everyone—have our two families swapped the betrothed and re-established the engagement?”
Wang Zhaonan, of course, confirmed it.
“Yes, yes, yes. My in-law is right.”
“Our two families have long since renewed our engagement. Now my son-in-law is a ‘Mao Cai’—my legitimate son-in-law.”
Chen Shan shot a cold glance at Old Lady Chen. “Old Lady Chen, what do you have to say? These betrothed couple didn’t know any better. Although it’s a bit against public decency, we can’t just slander the young people for a minor mistake and accuse them of having an affair, can we?”
“It wouldn’t make sense to report this to higher authorities. They might even think that some official in our village is abusing his power for personal gain.”
It was clearly him who was abusing his power.
The Chen family was shameless and heartless—not only had they schemed against her son, but they’d also ruined her eldest grandson’s life.
The worst people in Cuizhu Village were none other than Chen Shan’s family.
“You—”
“Mother, we have to stick to the facts.” Village Chief Chen Dahe stepped forward, shaking his head to signal Old Lady Chen to let it go.
Chen Shan had backers—not just in the county seat, but reportedly even in the provincial capital.
They were no match for Chen Shan.
Old Lady Chen’s face flushed crimson with rage; she refused to accept this.
She’d finally found an opportunity to avenge her son and eldest grandson—she wouldn’t let it go.
Just then, a slender, frail figure came into view, and Old Lady Chen’s eyes widened for a moment.
She grabbed Yu Yin by the arm. “What you all say doesn’t matter—only the person involved’s word counts.”
“Yin Yin, tell us—did you and Yu Xiaoqiu swap spouses? Are those two scoundrels having an affair?”
Yu Yin lowered her gaze, suppressing the sharp glint in her eyes.
She could feel everyone’s eyes fixed on her.
There was curiosity, sympathy, and even disgust and warning.
Under those stares, Yu Yin slowly opened her mouth. “…No.”
“I don’t know when I was swapped with my sister.”