Chapter 80: The Two of Them Started Fighting

As she spoke, Tiezi’s mother’s face flushed with embarrassment, and she hesitated to continue.

“No need,” Song Yue said. “It was just a small thing, not a big deal.”

“Just remind the children not to go near the river.”

“The river is dangerous.”

Tiezi’s mother nodded. “Yes, we’ve told them. After getting a beating yesterday, they probably won’t dare go again.”

“Mm.”

With that, their conversation ended.

Neither spoke further, both focusing on their work.

As Song Yue worked, she kept her ears open, listening to the older women nearby gossip about the village.

Who was expecting a baby, whose son was looking for a wife, which daughter-in-law had another fight with her mother-in-law…

Eventually, the topic shifted to her.

They said she had gone to the commune that morning and scolded Chen Xiulan so fiercely that Chen Xiulan didn’t even dare to make a sound. That she was downright aggressive.

Song Yue: “…”

When did she ever scold Chen Xiulan?

She had only reasoned with her—never scolded her.

Chen Xiulan just couldn’t win in an argument. How did it turn into her being so fierce that Chen Xiulan didn’t even dare to speak?

Song Yue was speechless.

Just then, a sharp, ear-piercing voice rang out.

“You shameless thing! Running off to seduce my Zirui-ge!”

Song Yue recognized the voice immediately—Li Xinyue?

She quickly stood up and looked toward the commotion. It was a bit far, so she couldn’t see clearly.

She hesitated—should she go over and watch the drama unfold?

The older women around her moved first, hurrying toward the scene.

Song Yue’s brow twitched, and she immediately followed.

The people nearby also crowded over.

Determined to get a front-row seat, Song Yue sped up and squeezed her way to the front.

Li Xinyue and another girl…

The moment Song Yue saw the girl’s face, she recognized her as the one who had stuffed something into Zhao Zirui’s hands in the woods the other day.

If she remembered correctly, her name was Zhang Jiaojiao?

Li Xinyue clenched her fists, her eyes burning with anger as she glared at Zhang Jiaojiao.

“You know Zirui-ge is my fiancé, yet you still shamelessly cling to him and even give him things!”

“How can a girl be this cheap?”

Zhang Jiaojiao glared back. “Bullshit! You’re lying!”

“That day in the woods, Zhao Zirui never said he had a fiancée.”

The woods?

The moment the crowd heard that word, their gazes toward Zhang Jiaojiao subtly shifted.

Did that Zhang girl go into the woods with the new educated youth, Zhao Zirui?

Going into the woods together… wasn’t exactly a good thing.

This…

Song Yue: “…”

Li Xinyue had met her match. Zhang Jiaojiao deliberately mentioned the woods to make people think the worst.

She was clearly trying to use reputation to force Zhao Zirui into taking responsibility.

And if this was just the beginning, who knew what else she’d do next?

Li Xinyue might not be able to win this.

Li Xinyue was a little dazed. Zhao Zirui had never mentioned this to her.

She asked, “The woods? What woods?”

Zhang Jiaojiao sneered. “Isn’t he your fiancé? How come he didn’t tell you?”

Panic flashed across Li Xinyue’s face.

But she still believed Zhao Zirui. He wouldn’t betray her.

There must be something she had overlooked—something Zirui-ge had told her but she had forgotten…

Seeing Li Xinyue’s silence, Zhang Jiaojiao immediately realized that Zhao Zirui had never told her about receiving a gift from another woman.

If he hadn’t mentioned it, that meant she had a chance.

She already knew Li Xinyue was his fiancée, yet she had deliberately approached her today and deliberately revealed what happened.

Just to test if Li Xinyue was easy to deal with.

And as expected, the moment she suggested she had a connection with Zhao Zirui, Li Xinyue exploded.

An idiot.

A flicker of mockery and disdain flashed through Zhang Jiaojiao’s eyes, too fast to catch.

But Song Yue had been watching them both closely and noticed it right away.

Her brow twitched.

Zhang Jiaojiao couldn’t hide her smugness, while Li Xinyue’s panic was plain to see.

Pride versus panic.

A stark contrast.

But who would be the real winner in the end?

Just as she was thinking this, Song Yue caught a familiar face in the crowd out of the corner of her eye.

Liu Wei.

Liu Wei was lurking among the onlookers, clearly not planning to step in and help Li Xinyue.

Meanwhile, Li Xinyue was piecing things together.

Zirui-ge had told her before—he had gone to the woods to collect firewood, and then a girl had suddenly run up and shoved something into his arms before running off.

Woods = forest.

She had just used a different word.

Realizing this, Li Xinyue immediately said, “You’re the one who ran up to Zirui-ge that day and shoved something into his hands before running away, aren’t you?”

Zhang Jiaojiao’s smug expression froze.

Zhao Zirui actually told her about it?

Noticing Zhang Jiaojiao’s change in expression, Li Xinyue knew she was right. She felt a surge of relief and quickly pressed on.

“Zirui-ge already told us about it. And the thing you gave him? He threw it away right after telling us.”

“And as for your so-called ‘woods,’ Zhao Zirui was just gathering firewood. You, on the other hand, shamelessly followed him in.”

“A girl who doesn’t know how to avoid suspicion, throwing herself at an unfamiliar man—is it just you who’s shameless, or are all the girls from your village like this?”

With that last line, she dragged the whole village into it.

The onlookers were immediately displeased.

“Hey!”

“What kind of talk is that? Can’t you keep it about just the two of them? Why bring in the other girls?”

“Yeah, call out the person who did it, but don’t drag the rest of us in.”

As the crowd criticized her, Li Xinyue refused to back down.

She directly pointed at Zhang Jiaojiao.

“She’s from your village, and she represents your village’s reputation—”

The crowd fell silent.

Then Li Xinyue took a deep breath and cursed outright.

“You shameless tramp! Slut! Seducing other people’s men!”

Zhang Jiaojiao panicked. “You capitalist brat! Zhao Zirui said he doesn’t like you! He likes me! He’s going to dump you sooner or later!”

Li Xinyue trembled with rage.

She glared at Zhang Jiaojiao, then suddenly lunged at her, grabbing her by the hair and yanking hard.

Zhang Jiaojiao let out a shriek.

“Ahhh!”

The pain sent her into a frenzy.

She wasn’t going to just take it. She reached out, grabbed Li Xinyue’s hair, and yanked just as hard.

Hair-pulling.

Scratching. Biting. Kicking. Slapping.

One hit, one retaliation. It was a draw—neither gaining the upper hand.

The two of them rolled around on the ground, wrestling fiercely.

The older women shook their heads at the scene.

The men, however, found it somewhat entertaining—it had been a while since they’d seen a girl fight.

They fought until the brigade leader came rushing over.

“Hey!”