After all that roundabout chatter, this was what He Yan had been plotting?
No wonder the brat had not only sent Old Madam Lu and her eldest daughter-in-law tumbling down the embankment with a swing of his shoulder pole yesterday, but had also spoken up for Bai Su.
In fact, the brigade leader had indeed intended to give the worker-peasant-soldier university admission place allocated to their brigade by the commune to Educated Youth Zhou. The young man was modest, considerate, and perceptive. He was an excellent young man.
The only problem was that Educated Youth Zhou possessed medical skills, and if he left, the brigade would have difficulty finding someone suitable to take over his duties at the medical station.
If the Lu family’s second daughter-in-law really knew how to treat patients, then the arrangement might actually work.
The brigade leader studied He Yan for a long moment. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, brat. Lihua is a good girl, but she’d have to be willing too.”
“Hehe, what could I possibly be up to? Uncle, don’t go making things up.”
He Yan looked somewhat uncomfortable. “Auntie Bai really does know how to treat patients.”
“All right, all right!”
When He Yan tried to shamelessly continue pleading his case, the brigade leader gave him a disdainful look. “I’ll think this matter over later. Spring planting is keeping everyone busy, so hurry up and get back to work in the fields.”
“All right, Uncle! Think it over carefully. I’ll head back to the fields now!”
Knowing that when the brigade leader said he would consider something, there was a good chance it would happen, He Yan grinned as he left the room, letting out a cheerful whistle…
The rice paddies, carefully plowed by oxen, were bustling with activity.
Some people were pulling up rice seedlings, others were marking out planting grids, and still others were transplanting the seedlings. The brigade’s commune members and educated youths were all working enthusiastically.
Lanhua had been assigned to supervise the educated youths’ work, while Lihua, Hehua, and Chunya had been assigned to transplant rice seedlings in a one-mu[1]A mu (亩) is a Chinese unit of land area equivalent to approximately 667 square meters, or one-sixth of an acre. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3694785_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3694785_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); paddy.
Standing with their feet submerged in muddy water was already quite cold. Bai Su’s third daughter, Hehua, had been bent over transplanting rice seedlings for most of the morning, and the constant feeling of someone staring at her sent chills down her spine.
When she turned slightly and met the hateful gaze of her older cousin, Lu Chunya, she couldn’t help shivering.
She shrank back like a frightened quail and moved closer to Lihua. “Sister, why is Chunya looking at me like that? It’s frightening.”
While separating a bundle of rice seedlings, Lihua glanced toward Chunya, who was bent over planting rice as though nothing had happened.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Lihua comforted her timid younger sister. “You didn’t snatch those steamed buns and eggs this morning. Mom was the one who gave them to us.”
“Why has Mom suddenly become so tough?”
Thinking about how she had eaten the steamed bun and egg that should have belonged to her older cousin, Hehua trembled with fear. Given how petty Lu Chunya was, she would never let the matter go. Hehua pressed close to Lihua, trying to keep as much distance as possible between herself and Chunya.
Lu Chunya was absolutely furious!
Why should Lihua and her sisters get to eat white-flour steamed buns and eggs while she had to make do with white rice porridge and pickled vegetables?
Her grandmother was terribly stingy. Breakfast was usually nothing more than sweet potato porridge with pickled vegetables, and the porridge was so watery it was practically rice water. It never filled anyone up.
Being able to eat thick white rice porridge should already have been a treat.
But Lu Lihua and her sisters had eaten precious eggs and white-flour steamed buns!
Without a single substantial bite of food in her stomach, Chunya quickly grew hungry while working in the fields. She spent most of the morning deliberately dragging her feet, leaving Lihua and Hehua to do more of the work.
When Hehua finally fell behind her older sister, a malicious smile flashed in Chunya’s eyes. She grabbed a bundle of rice seedlings, took aim at Hehua, and hurled it toward her.
“Hehua, you’ve run out of seedlings over there. I’ll toss you some.”
Hehua couldn’t dodge in time. The bundle landed beside her, splashing muddy water all over her.
Her face turned pale, and she bit her lip. “Sister Chunya, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“No, I didn’t. You were running out of seedlings.”
Seeing Lihua turn around from where she was planting rice ahead of them, Chunya put on an innocent expression. “Sister Lihua, I was just trying to help Hehua by tossing her some seedlings. Why is she falsely accusing me?”
It was true that Hehua didn’t have any spare seedlings beside her, so it appeared that Chunya hadn’t done it deliberately.
But the smug gleam in her eyes had already betrayed her.
This wasn’t the first time Chunya had played such petty tricks. Because Bai Su favored Lu Dajun, she had also shown Chunya a little extra affection. As a result, Lihua and her sisters had always swallowed their grievances in silence.
Lihua glared at Chunya, intending to endure it as usual.
But for some reason, the image of Bai Su placing a small stone in her hand the previous evening suddenly appeared in her mind. The moment that stone struck her grandmother, Lihua had felt all the resentment weighing on her chest disappear, leaving her with a sense of relief she had never experienced before.
She also remembered what Bai Su had said: “If you practice blind filial piety, I’ll lose respect for you.”
Lihua didn’t want to endure it anymore!
And she certainly didn’t want to stand by and watch her younger sister being bullied.
She picked up a bundle of rice seedlings piled beside the ridge and hurled it toward Chunya.
The bundle landed beside Chunya’s feet, splashing muddy water all over her.
But that wasn’t enough. Lihua continued throwing bundles, one after another, with remarkably accurate aim.
Mud splattered everywhere, covering Chunya’s rolled-up trouser legs and clothes. Some of the splashes flew so high that they struck her face, and muddy water even got into her mouth.
Once she was finished, Lihua gave Chunya a smug look of her own.
Chunya wanted to scream and curse at Lihua, but the overwhelming humiliation made her feel so wronged that she burst into loud sobs.
Just then, Lu Dajun returned carrying a shoulder pole loaded with rice seedlings. Seeing Lihua throwing bundles of seedlings at his younger sister Chunya, and looking completely unapologetic about it, he couldn’t help growing furious.
His aunt had suddenly gone mad as though possessed by a ghost, and now his younger cousin was starting to act crazy too!
First, his aunt had attacked people with a sickle. Then, early this morning, she had put on another performance. The story of how he had tried to sell his younger cousin to raise money for his marriage to Educated Youth Zhao had now spread throughout the entire brigade.
Worse still, when he had gone to help Educated Youth Zhao transplant rice seedlings earlier, even the educated youths had been discussing the matter.
People were also saying that he cared about nothing but money, that he only pretended to be respectable, and that he was unwilling to spend money on medicine and medical treatment for his mother and grandmother.
Everyone in the brigade was now praising his aunt Bai Su for being honest and kindhearted. Even after everything that had happened, she was still thinking about having Lihua’s uncle send money so she could save it for his marriage.
After hearing those rumors, Educated Youth Zhao had begun looking at him with contempt. She refused to let him help with her work and seemed to be deliberately distancing herself from him.
Lu Dajun was already seething with anger, his frustration building inside him.
When he saw Lihua throwing rice seedlings at Chunya, his temper flared even higher. “Lu Lihua, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Tossing Chunya some rice seedlings!”
Lihua looked completely innocent. “Chunya has run out of seedlings. Eldest Cousin, can’t you see that?”
Lu Dajun glared fiercely at Lihua. “You call that tossing seedlings? You’ve splashed mud all over her!”
“That’s exactly how Chunya threw them. Didn’t Hehua get splashed with mud too? I was only trying to help Chunya by tossing her some seedlings. Eldest Cousin, why are you falsely accusing me?”
Lihua gave him a taste of his own medicine, repeating Chunya’s earlier excuse word for word.
“Lu Lihua, who gave you the nerve to behave like this?”
The veins on Lu Dajun’s forehead bulged with anger. Still carrying his shoulder pole loaded with seedlings, he started advancing toward her.
But just then, a carefree, mocking voice sounded behind him.
“Well, well, well! Instead of putting your energy into working, you’re standing here throwing your weight around?”
He Yan, standing beside the irrigation ditch along the paddy ridge with an empty basket in his hand, reached out and grabbed Lu Dajun’s shoulder pole.
Recognizing He Yan as the man who had helped Bai Su knock his mother and grandmother down the embankment yesterday, Lu Dajun gritted his teeth in hatred.
He glared viciously at He Yan. “I haven’t settled yesterday’s score with you yet!”
“You landlord tyrant’s bastard! Mind your own damn business!”
References[+]