Liang Futian turned his head away, the corner of his mouth twitching. He couldn’t bear to watch.
All thunder and no rain—couldn’t you at least squeeze out a few tears?
Wang Haiyan’s head hurt, her back hurt, and her butt hurt even more. She felt like she might have a concussion—why else would she be seeing stars?
Before she could even catch her breath, the sight of Miao Qing’s pathetic act made her chest ache with rage.
Once again, fury took over her brain, and intelligence was chased off the high ground. She scrambled to her feet, pointed at Miao Qing and the other two, and yelled,
“I don’t care about your Sixth Uncle or Seventh Aunt—if you dare gang up on me, I’ll show you who’s boss!”
With that, she rolled up her sleeves and prepared to lunge again.
Liang Futian was so angry he laughed. Even the fiercest shrews in the village didn’t dare act this way in front of him. Today, he was truly seeing something new.
“You’re a new educated youth? What’s your name? Where are your documents? Take them out—let me see!”
Abandoning the last shred of leniency he’d held for the young girl, Liang Futian put on a stern face and summoned the authority of a brigade captain.
Wang Haiyan froze. She couldn’t help but recall the scene on the train when she’d been interrogated by the railway police.
She instinctively stopped moving, panic rising inside her, but she still forced herself to stick out her chin and ask,
“W-who are you? What gives you the right to see my documents?!”
“I’m the captain of Qingfeng Brigade.” Liang Futian clasped his hands behind his back, his gaze toward Wang Haiyan dark and intimidating.
“If you, a little educated youth, don’t cooperate, I’ll have someone give you a proper political education!”
He turned and instructed Tietui,
“Go—call Fan Xiaojun from the settlement over here. I want to ask him how the hell he’s been leading this team. All day long, nothing but trouble—not a moment’s peace. Damn it all!”
Wang Haiyan couldn’t help but shiver. How is that fool Miao Qing related to the brigade captain here?
But this wasn’t the time to think about that. Realizing she’d stirred up trouble, Wang Haiyan put away her resentment and quickly handed over her documents.
Fang Mingyuan, without waiting for Liang Futian to ask, also handed over his documents, and made sure to distance himself from Wang Haiyan.
“I’m an educated youth from Beijing. My name is Fang Mingyuan. The commune arranged for me to come to Yangfeng Brigade with Comrade Wang Haiyan on the ox cart.”
After checking both their documents, Liang Futian pointed at Miao Qing and asked Wang Haiyan,
“This matter today—what do you think should be done about it?”
“Captain, I really didn’t hit her! I—it’s because she slandered me on the train and got me— I was so angry I just cursed at her a little. I really didn’t hit her! If you don’t believe me, ask Fang Mingyuan!”
Wang Haiyan forced down her anger and tried desperately to prove her innocence.
Liang Futian looked at Fang Mingyuan. Fang Mingyuan cursed Wang Haiyan a thousand times in his head, but on the surface, he had to put on an innocent and confused expression.
“Captain, I—I was inside washing up at the time. I don’t know the details of what happened. I have no idea how it turned out like this.”
Wang Haiyan grew anxious.
“When you came over, I was just grabbing her—I didn’t hit her! And that kid over there even bumped into me!”
Fang Mingyuan scratched his head and played dumb.
“I saw you were about to fall, so I was focused on catching you. I really didn’t notice anything else.”
“But I really didn’t hit her! She laid down on her own—”
Wang Haiyan tried to struggle, but Liang Futian couldn’t be bothered to listen to her excuses.
“Enough. No matter what you say, she ended up like this because of you—you’re responsible!”
“Captain, she’s faking it! She slandered me the same way on the train! Don’t believe her!”
Wang Haiyan was hopping with anxiety, the familiar feeling of frustration once again choking her chest.
Miao Qing clutched her head, groaning weakly,
“Sixth Uncle… I’m dizzy… feeling awful… take me to… the clinic… medical expenses…”
Liang Futian shot Miao Qing a covert glare, but still played along with a stern face,
“You say she’s faking? Fine, we’ll take her to the commune clinic right now and let the doctor take a good look. For now, prepare ten yuan for medical fees, lost work wages, and nutrition expenses. We’ll settle the rest later if it’s not enough.”
Wang Haiyan nearly choked on her own breath.
“Ten yuan?! You—you— I don’t have any money! Not a single cent! My luggage was thrown away because of her!”
“Then we’ll deduct it from your assignment allowance!”
Liang Futian couldn’t be bothered to waste more words. Seeing Fan Xiaojun leading a few people over, he immediately gave orders,
“Go—hitch up the brigade’s ox cart and take Miao Qing to the commune clinic! And bring this—this Wang-what’s-her-name female educated youth along too. She’s paying!”
Let them keep making a scene—one pays, the other gets poked with needles. They’ll both learn their lesson.
Fan Xiaojun stumbled, nearly falling flat.
Wang Haiyan felt her vision go dark and her legs go weak.
This isn’t a brigade captain—this is a bandit!
Fang Mingyuan glanced at Miao Qing, feeling this was his chance to shine. He lowered his voice and warned Wang Haiyan,
“I think you’d be better off paying up and ending this. Taking it to the commune will only make things worse.”
Wang Haiyan looked at Fang Mingyuan with gratitude. Comrade Fang is such a good person. At a time like this, only he’s still thinking about me.
Fang Mingyuan felt sick inside from her gaze. He quickly averted his eyes and urged her to focus on the matter at hand.
“You need to decide fast—otherwise it’ll be too late.”
Wang Haiyan took a deep breath, grinding her back teeth as she swallowed the humiliation.
“I—I’ll pay!”
Fan Xiaojun quickly stepped in to smooth things over, putting on a smiling face as he said to Liang Futian,
“Captain, since she’s willing to pay, maybe we don’t need to take this to the commune after all?”
Liang Futian felt a slight regret. He was already covered in fleas—itchy enough not to care—and buried in debts—too many to worry about. His face was already lost, so he truly didn’t care what the commune thought.
But still, fewer troubles were better than more, so he nodded in agreement.
Fan Xiaojun immediately sealed the deal,
“Then—you’ll pay Miao Qing ten yuan, and we’ll call it even!”
Wang Haiyan’s back teeth were nearly ground to dust as she forced herself to nod.
But then Miao Qing spoke up faintly,
“Twenty yuan!”
Wang Haiyan was so furious she nearly jumped out of her skin, her voice cracking,
“Twenty?! Why don’t you just rob someone?!”
Miao Qing continued her act slowly,
“I was—just recovered—you hit me—now it’s relapsed.”
“You—despicable, shameless, brazen! This is outright extortion! You—”
Wang Haiyan exploded into curses. Fan Xiaojun and Fang Mingyuan were both speechless with exasperation.
Even at a time like this, she still can’t see reality?
The more she curses, the more she’ll have to pay!
Liang Futian secretly glared at Miao Qing. She shot back a look that said she would absolutely not back down.
Helpless, Liang Futian coughed loudly to remind the still-raging woman,
“If you don’t want to pay, then we’re going to the clinic.”
Wang Haiyan instantly fell silent. No one here knew better than her just how frail Miao Qing’s health was. Miao Hong had personally told her that their family’s fool was a reincarnated debt-collector. From childhood to now, they’d spent at least eight hundred, maybe even a thousand, on her medical bills—her mother’s salary had practically all gone to the fool.
If they went to the clinic and the doctor found Miao Qing had actually relapsed, wouldn’t she be stuck paying for life?
After turning it over and over in her mind, Wang Haiyan had no choice but to bite down, swallow the blood with her teeth, and accept it.
A clean profit of twenty yuan—Miao Qing was satisfied.
She staggered into the room, peeled off her dirt-covered coat and pants, and crawled under the covers to pretend to sleep while cultivating.
She slept all the way until evening, when Tietui came to bring her dinner.
Dinner was egg drop soup with small pickled vegetables. Miao Qing ate while listening to Tietui give her the accounting.