Originally, Gao Lanying had thought that by making up an absurd excuse, exposing her own “private matter,” and apologizing to everyone for her ignorance, the whole affair would simply blow over.
What she had completely underestimated, however, was the combat power of the village’s countless aunties and gossips.
Especially with Wang Dahua acting as her personal publicity agent.
After Wang Dahua dragged Wang Baocai away from the Educated Youths’ Residence that day, they ran into Wang Maolu and his eldest son, Wang Baoshan, who were hurrying over after hearing the news.
Although Wang Dahua usually ruled the Wang household with an iron hand, she generally made a show of giving her husband some face in public.
But this time, she had truly suffered a setback at the Educated Youths’ Residence. She had practically been attacked from all sides and was furious and aggrieved.
The moment she ran into the father and son on the road home, she immediately found herself a convenient outlet for her anger.
Of the two, Wang Baoshan bore the brunt of it.
“You useless thing! Didn’t you know your mother and younger brother were being bullied? Why did you come so late?”
As she spoke, Wang Dahua smacked Wang Baoshan several times, still unable to vent her frustration.
“Mom, didn’t I rush over as soon as I heard the news…” Wang Baoshan tried to explain.
Before he could finish, Wang Dahua cut him off impatiently.
“Rushed over? At this rate, I thought you’d wait until your brother and I got home and you’d already finished eating!”
Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
Even that was not enough.
“You eat so much every day and all you know how to do is work. Have you worked yourself stupid?”
“Tell me, what use are you? And you still complain that we won’t provide a bride price so you can get married? Let me tell you, if you’ve got the ability, then marry a wife yourself!”
“Hah. Someone like you, and we’re supposed to rely on you in our old age?”
“How did I end up giving birth to such a waste?”
…
Wang Dahua unleashed a relentless barrage of insults.
At that moment, she poured all her anger onto Wang Baoshan as though some deep blood feud existed between them.
Her words became increasingly vicious until she finally exhausted herself and stopped.
The villagers nearby watched as the tall, sturdy Wang Baoshan’s face turned pale. His lips moved a few times, yet not a single word came out.
Seeing that he simply stood there silently after being scolded, Wang Dahua inwardly sneered at how useless he was.
Fortunately, her Baocai was clever. Everything the family owned would belong to Baocai in the future.
Only after Wang Dahua stopped did Wang Maolu finally speak.
Yet instead of criticizing his wife and younger son or showing concern for his eldest son, his attention was directed elsewhere entirely.
To everyone watching, it was obvious that Wang Maolu and Wang Baocai were completely accustomed to seeing Wang Baoshan, the eldest son and elder brother, treated this way.
“Dahua, Baocai, are you two alright? The moment I heard the news, I rushed over. I still came too late. It’s all Father’s fault…” Wang Maolu looked at Wang Baocai with concern.
“At least you’ve still got some conscience,” Wang Dahua said, finally feeling somewhat appeased.
Yet watching him fuss over Wang Baocai while Wang Baoshan stood there awkwardly beside them only irritated her again.
After calming down, Wang Dahua finally realized they were still outside.
Looking around at the villagers busy with their own work, she shot the two men a glare.
“Enough already. Why are you all standing around like idiots? Do you want people laughing at us?”
“You have no idea how vicious that new Educated Youth Gao is. If not for her, how could our Baocai have suffered like this?”
“Baocai is just too kind-hearted…”
As she complained, she pulled Wang Maolu and Wang Baocai toward home.
She did not spare Wang Baoshan another glance.
Like a man who had lost his soul, Wang Baoshan silently followed behind the three of them.
The moment the family disappeared from sight, the village aunties who had been pretending to mind their own business instantly gathered together.
“Didn’t I tell you so?” one woman said meaningfully to another.
“I saw it, I saw it. Goodness, I thought it was just a rumor. I didn’t expect it to be true.”
“What rumor? Tell us quickly!”
“Exactly! We’re all busy working here, don’t keep us in suspense.”
“That’s right.”
“Hurry up!”
Seeing everyone’s eagerness, the woman felt immensely satisfied.
She stopped keeping them in suspense.
“Isn’t it about Wang Baocai’s failed attempt to report Educated Youth Gao today? Strange, isn’t it? He used to follow her around everywhere, yet this time he turned against her. Tsk, tsk…”
“At first I thought he’d simply been spoiled rotten by Wang Dahua and become lazy. Who would’ve thought he was so righteous that he couldn’t tolerate wrongdoing?”
Her tone was loaded with implication.
The others were all experienced adults and immediately understood what she meant.
As for Gao Lanying’s explanation, very few of them actually believed it.
They might not have much education, but they still knew that castor bean powder wasn’t something people casually consumed.
Gao Lanying was supposedly a high school graduate. They simply didn’t believe she wouldn’t know that.
Still, although her behavior often struck them as improper, she had never truly offended anyone in the village.
Naturally, no one intended to keep hounding her over the matter.
Besides, Wang Baocai had always chased after Gao Lanying. Perhaps he’d simply been rejected again and was acting out of resentment.
His willingness to report someone based solely on speculation left many people dissatisfied.
They felt he was not the sort of person worth associating with. After all, who would want a relative or friend who was uneducated, petty, and prone to making accusations?
After this incident, many matchmakers quietly removed him from their lists of eligible bachelors.
The development left Wang Dahua dumbfounded and caused her to resent the “source of disaster,” Gao Lanying, even more.
That, however, was a matter for later.
At the moment, everyone was busy discussing the issue and forming their own opinions.
“Everyone already knows about that joke of an incident. I thought you had some great secret to tell us.”
At that moment, Aunt Lin interrupted the discussion.
The woman who had started the topic had been worrying about how to smoothly steer the conversation toward her real target.
Hearing Aunt Lin’s words, she secretly rejoiced.
Clearing her throat, she lowered her voice dramatically and shared a rumor that had long circulated through the village.
The gist of it was that Wang Dahua and the Wang family heavily favored one son over the other.
Before Wang Baocai was born, things had been fairly normal. As the only child at the time, Wang Baoshan had been treated reasonably well.
But after Wang Baocai’s birth, aside from the grandparents, the Wang couple’s attitude toward their eldest son steadily deteriorated.
They never beat or abused him outright, but they were completely indifferent toward him.
Wang Baoshan consistently earned ten work points a day through hard labor.
Years earlier, he had even saved the village’s elderly carpenter while working in the mountains. Since the carpenter had neither children nor heirs, he had passed some of his woodworking skills on to Wang Baoshan.
Yet Wang Baoshan dutifully handed over all his earnings to his parents, who only used the money to support their younger son.
This year, Wang Baoshan was already twenty-two.
In the village, men his age were usually already engaged unless they had health issues or were too poor to marry.
According to the gossip, there really had been girls interested in him.
After all, he was handsome and hardworking.
Yet nothing ever came of it.
Afterward, no more marriage proposals arrived because Wang Dahua had spread word that not only would Wang Baoshan require a bride price, but the bride’s family would also need to provide a substantial dowry before she would allow the marriage.
That demand drove away every interested family.
After all, no one expected help from their future in-laws, but neither was anyone willing to practically pay for the privilege of marrying off their daughter.
Even after revealing all this, the woman still seemed unsatisfied.
Finally, she added a seemingly casual remark.
“Poor Baoshan. He was born at only seven or eight months, yet somehow grew up strong and healthy. People thought his life would be smooth sailing after that, but once his younger brother was born, his parents stopped caring about him. During those hard years, he was already supporting the family at such a young age…”
That final comment completely satisfied everyone’s appetite for gossip.
Afterward, everyone tacitly agreed that it was getting late and that they should return to work.
In reality, they left in small groups of twos and threes, eager to continue discussing the matter elsewhere.
As for Gao Lanying, she finally got her wish.
Her own scandal was largely overshadowed, although the way it happened was rather unexpected.
Lin Baiyu only learned about the Wang family’s gossip afterward when Aunt Lin and Lin Wenhu came by the Lin house.
The information alone earned her another ten melon-eating points.
Although she regretted not being present to witness the gossip firsthand and earn even more points, the experience gave her a new idea for collecting them.
How had she never thought of befriending the village aunties before?
No matter. Once school started, there would be plenty of opportunities to interact with them.
At that thought, Lin Baiyu felt quite pleased with herself.