A whole ceramic basin of bean-bran noodles.
He Shiyi ate two bowls, Luo Lingfeng ate three.
There was even some left for Hunhun.
Hunhun spread all four legs and chased He Zhu all over the village and the surrounding hills.
Terrified, He Zhu scrambled up a tree and only then managed to escape Hunhun’s relentless pursuit.
“Woof—”
Hunhun bared its teeth at He Zhu up in the tree, wagged its tail, grabbed the dog leash in its mouth, and ran back to the thatched shed.
The people were full.
The dog was full.
He Shiyi offered to wash the bowls and pot for Luo Lingfeng, but he gently refused.
“You were frightened last night and argued fiercely with your family this morning. You’re exhausted in both body and mind—go rest.”
He Shiyi hated owing men favors the most.
Accepting help or kindness from a man always made her uneasy.
With nothing else to do after eating, she stood in front of the shed, thinking about how to repay Luo Lingfeng.
There was a patch of open land in front of his house— a private plot allocated to him by the production team.
Other families used their plots to grow corn, sweet potatoes, or pumpkins.
But Luo Lingfeng’s plot was planted with green beans, eggplants, cucumbers, and leafy greens.
Next to the vegetable beds were rows of watermelon seedlings covered with plastic film and small hoop tunnels.
Row after row of vegetables and watermelon vines stood like lines of soldiers— neat, disciplined, and full of vitality.
He Shiyi found something to do.
She squatted in the cucumber patch, pulling weeds while humming songs from the twenty-first century.
At noon in summer, the sun was merciless.
After weeding for a while, her face flushed, heart pounding, sweat soaking through her coarse cloth clothes.
She straightened up and complained to herself.
【In weather this hot, why am I pulling weeds? Have I lost my mind?】
But when she looked at the half-row of cucumbers she’d already cleared, she clenched her teeth.
She decided to finish this row before resting.
The scorching sunlight poured over her— her slender waist, full chest, rounded hips, long legs, paired with smooth, flawless wheat-colored skin and a healthy, rosy glow.
And that long, dark, glossy braid swaying across her back— everything about her radiated a unique, irresistible charm.
“Heh heh… Sister Shiyi, you’re really pretty.”
“Ah!”
He Shiyi looked up and met Silly Dan’s fat, greedy, dark face.
Silly Dan wore baggy shorts, a freshly picked cucumber in his hand.
He grinned foolishly at her, his mouth stuffed with cucumber.
“Sister Shiyi, I like you. Marry me—I’ll give you cucumbers to eat.”
“Get lost!”
He Shiyi threw down the weeds, kicked Silly Dan, and stood up to head for the shed.
Silly Dan rubbed his aching leg, still following her reluctantly.
“Sister Shiyi, marry me—I’ll climb trees and steal bird eggs for you.”
Afraid of waking Luo Lingfeng during his noon nap, He Shiyi growled low:
“Get lost right now, or I’ll let the dog bite you!”
“Woof—”
Hunhun chased Silly Dan away.
“You cheap slut who’s been slept on by thousands! Broad daylight and you’re already fooling around with a halfwit! You’re shamelessly promiscuous yourself, yet you had the nerve to accuse my Cuihua of fooling around—”
A woman in her fifties suddenly ran down the village road.
She was bloated, dark-skinned, with a fierce, unreasonable old face.
Her upper body was bare, as if her skin had been scorched by heat, and she wore loose blue coarse-cloth pants.
Hands on hips, stamping her feet, her breasts sagging all the way to her navel, swinging wildly— she stood in the road, cursing furiously.
He Shiyi searched her past-life memories.
This woman was Ma Chun—
He Zhu’s sister-in-law, her former aunt, and He Cuihua’s biological mother.
In Nanfeng Village, everyone avoided Ma Chun.
She was infamous—unreasonable, vicious, rotten to the core.
Last night, He Cuihua had been detained by militia commander Wu Liangcai and taken to the commune’s armed department.
Ma Chun had wanted to confront He Shiyi that very night, but her family had only three people, and one was already detained.
Afraid she couldn’t beat He Zhu’s six-person household, she swallowed her rage.
Early this morning, when He Shiyi caused a scene and split the family, Ma Chun had seized the chance to teach her a lesson.
But fearing she’d miss work points, she endured it again.
After getting off work, she hastily swallowed a few mouthfuls of lunch, then ran over bare-chested, waving her arms wildly, to settle the score.
Her filthy curses quickly drew a crowd.
“Woof! Woof woof—!”
He Shiyi’s dog shot out of the fields.
It stood beside her, baring its fangs and barking back at Ma Chun.
He Shiyi frowned, her eyes turning vicious in an instant.
【Ma Chun is a key figure in Nanfeng Village.
Take her down, and it’s like taking down all the village women.】
A sinister, dark intent buzzed up from her gut.
She stopped Hunhun, who was about to pounce.
Rolling up her sleeves, she stepped onto the gravel road in front of Luo Lingfeng’s house and strode righteously toward the ferocious Ma Chun.
Less than two meters apart.
Under the eager gaze of the onlookers, a bloody confrontation seemed inevitable.
Yet suddenly, a faint, careless smile appeared on He Shiyi’s face.
“Auntie, whatever He Cuihua did last night—the whole village knows. I didn’t falsely accuse her.”
“You still dare say you didn’t falsely accuse her?! If it weren’t for you, my Cuihua wouldn’t be in trouble! You abandoned your grandma, parents, brother, and sister-in-law just to make it easier to fool around with men— running off to live on your own! You’re vicious, rotten, unfilial, shameless—”
Ma Chun slapped her own backside pa-pa, jumping and spewing filth nonstop.
Even the He family—still starving—ran over to watch the show.
“Damned girl, let your aunt curse you to death. Let’s see if you still dare split off and live alone.”
He Shiyi folded her arms, smiling calmly as Ma Chun cursed her.
Arguing with someone like this was pointless and useless.
She decided on a single, fatal strike— to plant fear deep in Ma Chun’s heart.
Best if Ma Chun panicked at the mere sight of her in the future.
He Shiyi narrowed her eyes, watching Ma Chun spray spit everywhere, waiting for the perfect moment.
“She’s too easy to bully! If it were me, I’d have torn her aunt’s mouth apart already.”
“She’s always been gentle and patient—used to being bullied.”
“Her own daughter’s being abused, and He Zhu and his wife are just standing there laughing. Are they even human?”
“They’ve never treated He Shiyi like a real daughter. That’s normal.”
The crowd sympathized with He Shiyi, but not one person dared step in.
Suddenly, a savage grin twisted at the corner of He Shiyi’s mouth.
She shot her leg out and kicked Ma Chun square in the sagging chest.
“Ah—!”
Ma Chun had been cursing enthusiastically, completely unguarded.
She let out a pig-slaughter scream, clutched her belly, and doubled over in agony.
“I’ll let you curse! I’ll rip all your hair out!”
He Shiyi sprang onto Ma Chun’s back like lightning.
Her left hand grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked viciously.
Hunhun lunged in too, clamping onto Ma Chun’s pant leg and dragging backward.
Black-and-white strands of hair littered the ground.
Hunhun yanked Ma Chun’s pants off completely.
She lay naked and face-down on the ground.
“Go on—curse me! Why aren’t you cursing anymore? Curse me! Keep cursing! Curse!”
He Shiyi slammed Ma Chun’s head into the ground repeatedly, like pounding garlic.
Ma Chun had lost all her earlier arrogance.
Blood seeped from her mouth as she whimpered weakly.
“Damned girl… hitting an elder… you’ll die badly… you’ll be struck by lightning—”
Ma Chun’s husband, He Dong, came running with a hoe raised high.
His face twisted with rage, the hoe swinging down toward He Shiyi’s slender, delicate body.
“Little slut! I’ll smash you to death with one swing!”