The person who came was He Mei, someone Li Wanqing knew.
She was one of the educated youths at the Educated Youth Station, and she had arrived at Renxing Brigade together with the original owner back then.
The two of them had a pretty good relationship!
Actually, the original owner had always been kind-hearted and shy, so she got along fairly well with most of the educated youths at the station.
Over the past two years, the educated youths at the station would occasionally help her out. Otherwise, the original owner’s situation would probably have been even worse.
Now that Li Wanqing had taken over the original owner’s body, she naturally intended to remember this kindness.
Cheng Nuo was still receiving an IV and hadn’t woken up yet, so Li Wanqing couldn’t bring herself to leave him.
What surprised her was that Meng Renjie had actually taken the initiative to take care of the child.
“I’ll look after the child. You go. Don’t let them bully you again.”
Li Wanqing was embarrassed.
If Doctor Meng knew that she had wielded a knife, kicked down a door, and snatched money, she wondered what he would think of her.
The brigade headquarters was located in the former village commune, about ten minutes from the health clinic.
There was a row of neat adobe buildings with a total of six rooms.
One was the brigade cadres’ office, one was a meeting room, one was a reception room, and the remaining rooms were storage rooms.
There were several storage rooms, specifically used to keep brigade documents, farming tools, and some valuable supplies.
The walls were painted with slogans such as “Rely on Our Own Efforts and Work Hard” and “Unite as One and Look Forward,” all of which bore the unmistakable characteristics of the era.
They fully reflected the hardworking and optimistic spirit of the ordinary people of that time.
The reception room was furnished very simply. There was a square table and several benches, all of which had long since lost most of their paint.
Fortunately, things from this era were built to last. They still looked sturdy enough to be used for another ten years or so.
A portrait of the great leader hung in the center of the wall in the reception room. Beneath it were ten large characters:
“Serve the People and Be Responsible to the People.”
Besides the brigade cadres and the Cheng family, there were also several villagers who had nothing better to do and had come over to watch the excitement.
The moment Li Wanqing stepped through the doorway, before anyone from the Cheng family could say anything, the onlookers began chiming in one after another.
“Third daughter-in-law of the Cheng family, you’re finally here! Hurry up and apologize to your mother-in-law. Then this whole thing will be over.”
“Exactly! How can a daughter-in-law threaten her mother-in-law with a knife?”
“You haven’t even figured out what happened yet. Stop making baseless accusations!” He Mei shouted anxiously.
“Educated Youth He, you’re the one wronging us. We’re only telling the truth.”
“Exactly. She’s a woman who forced a man into marrying her. Who knows what she’s capable of?”
“Third daughter-in-law of the Cheng family, I’m telling you, you’d better admit your mistake. If your mother-in-law doesn’t forgive you, this matter won’t be over!”
“You’re going too far!”
He Mei had always been impulsive and couldn’t stand such things.
She rolled up her sleeves and was about to go forward and argue with them, but fortunately, Li Wanqing grabbed her.
“The brigade captain is here. Don’t be impulsive!”
He Mei had defended her without hesitation, and Li Wanqing was deeply grateful.
But making a mistake because of these people wasn’t worth it.
The people who had been sneering and making sarcastic remarks were all close to Liu Yufen on ordinary days.
Without asking what had actually happened, they had immediately started blaming her.
Didn’t they know how the original owner and her daughter were treated in the Cheng family?
It was simply a case of birds of a feather flocking together. They were all cut from the same cloth as Liu Yufen.
Arguing with people like this was nothing but a waste of breath—and they were disgusting to boot!
Brigade Captain Zhang Jianguo swept his eyes over the gossiping villagers and waved his hand sternly.
“Go do whatever you’re supposed to be doing! Why are you all crowding around here?”
“Captain, we just finished the autumn harvest. Everyone’s just trying to relax a little, aren’t we?” Wang Guiying said with a shameless grin.
Luckily, she had followed them here.
Li Wanqing had actually had the guts to take a knife to Liu Yufen?
There was no way she could miss such a spectacle!
“Then shut your mouths and behave yourselves. Otherwise, I’ll deduct your work points.”
Zhang Jianguo knew he couldn’t drive these people away, so he had to intimidate them a little.
Work points were no less important than money. He didn’t believe he couldn’t keep these women in line!
Sure enough, the moment Zhang Jianguo said that, no one dared to make another sound.
After silencing the gossipers, Zhang Jianguo turned his attention to Li Wanqing. His attitude was no longer as stern as before.
The educated youths at the station were generally well-behaved and educated, so he had always treated them fairly well.
“Educated Youth Li, your mother-in-law, Comrade Liu Yufen, says you took a kitchen knife and attacked her, and that you also stole money from the family. Is that true?”
Li Wanqing shook her head without hesitation.
She was determined not to admit a thing.
After all, Liu Yufen had been the only person there at the time. There was no evidence, and Li Wanqing refused to believe the Cheng family could do anything to her.
“You little bitch!”
Seeing that Li Wanqing refused to admit it, Liu Yufen immediately started cursing.
“Are you saying you didn’t barge into my room today with a kitchen knife?”
“Are you saying you didn’t take my money?”
Li Wanqing quietly moved behind Women’s Director Gao Chunmei and looked at Liu Yufen with a frightened expression.
“Mother, I had the kitchen knife because I was cutting vegetables. And I rushed into your room because Nuo Nuo had a fever. I was worried, so I panicked and ran in.”
“To hell with your bullshit!”
Liu Yufen let out an enraged roar.
“Captain, this bitch won’t admit anything until she sees the coffin! Give her thirty strokes first, then we’ll talk!”
Li Wanqing hadn’t expected Liu Yufen to actually say something like that!
The Qing Dynasty had been over for more than a hundred years, and she was still talking about beating people with a cane…
Wasn’t she afraid of getting herself criticized?
It was 1976. The overall political atmosphere wasn’t as tense as it had been in previous years, but saying something like that was still completely unacceptable.
“What beating? This is the new society. We don’t follow the ways of the old society anymore. If you keep spouting such nonsense, I’ll send you to the commune and have them educate you properly.”
Zhang Jianguo’s face darkened.
If the policies hadn’t changed, and if Liu Yufen didn’t have a son serving in the military, then with a mouth that ran as recklessly as hers, she would have been in serious trouble!
Liu Yufen glared viciously at Li Wanqing.
It was all this bitch’s fault. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so angry that she’d lost her head.
Cheng Anju tugged at her clothes.
“Don’t be so anxious, woman. The brigade cadres are fair and impartial. Once they figure out what happened, they’ll certainly give us justice.”
Hearing the old man’s words, Liu Yufen immediately understood his meaning.
Her body went limp, and she collapsed onto a bench.
“Captain, I was wrong.”
The moment Liu Yufen opened her mouth, her voice became weak and pitiful.
“But I just can’t help being angry! How did our Cheng family end up with such an unfilial daughter-in-law?”
She cried so bitterly that anyone who heard her felt heartbroken.
Even the eldest daughter-in-law of the Cheng family, Zhao Jinzhi, began crying along with her.
Naturally, Zhang Jianguo found it difficult to say anything more.
Li Wanqing raised an eyebrow.
She hadn’t expected her usually quiet and inconspicuous father-in-law to actually be the most formidable person in the entire Cheng family!
With just a sentence or two, he had completely turned the tables!
He Mei was so furious that her fists clenched tightly.
The Cheng family was truly shameless.
They had secretly bullied Wanqing and her daughter, and now they were trying to smear Wanqing’s reputation.
How utterly shameless!
She couldn’t take it anymore!
Li Wanqing reached out and grabbed her arm, shaking her head at her.
Now was definitely not the time to settle things with fists.
When dealing with people like this, of course the best way was…
to fight magic with magic!