Chapter 7

“They already have kids, so they won’t have to worry about who’ll take care of them when they’re old. Why still care about some old man?”

Zhang Shufen’s sobbing stopped.

Looking dumbfounded, she said, “You’re right… Gu Weimin, I don’t want you anymore. You can go live with Zhou Lanhua.”

Her scheme had fallen through—she couldn’t outmatch Song Wanyue today. Still, it didn’t matter. She had three sons and two daughters; she wouldn’t starve.

Zhou Lanhua, on the other hand, still had small children. She would definitely need Gu Weimin’s support.

Seeing the situation more or less settled, Zhang Jianjun began chasing people off. “Alright, you’ve seen enough fun. Time to get back to work. Gu Weimin, your post as brigade leader is gone. You had an affair with a widow during your marriage, fathered two illegitimate children, and as for your wife being involved with Dahai and the educated youth Zhou… later we’ll hold a meeting to deal with it.”

Old Gu… getting on in years, and still scheming like this.

How could paper ever cover fire?

Wang Qiang grinned cheekily. “Party Secretary, let us finish watching first, otherwise we won’t have the heart to work. With such a big scandal, better let everyone hear the result.”

He wouldn’t be satisfied without seeing Gu Weimin’s punishment with his own eyes.

Song Wanyue smiled. “Yes, Party Secretary, it’s like having an itch we can’t scratch. If we don’t see the outcome, we won’t be at ease. It’s only half an hour until the lunch break anyway—why not just finish this now? We’ll watch the excitement and then head home to eat.”

Hilarious—the Gu family was truly finished.

She almost wanted to buy firecrackers to set off in celebration.

Rotten man, don’t even think about touching her.

And Zhou Shanshan—she was the truly vicious one.

Taohua Village was in the south. In October, besides planting rapeseed and digging sweet potatoes, there wasn’t much else to do.

The happiest of all was Cui Hehua—Gu Weimin had lost his position as brigade leader, and Zhang Shufen was about to lose her husband too.

Looking at the eager faces of the villagers, Zhang Jianjun could tell they wanted to stay and watch.

Clearing his throat, the man said, “Alright then, whoever wants to stay and watch can stay, whoever doesn’t can get back to work.”

At that, about a third of the villagers left.

When it was time to eat, food mattered more than gossip.

Ten minutes later—

Zhang Jianjun said, “Uncle Xu, after discussing among the village cadres, we’ve decided to remove Gu Weimin from his post as brigade leader. Tomorrow, we’ll elect someone new. As for the adultery, we haven’t figured out the punishment yet.

Sending them on a shame parade seems too much—after all, we’re neighbors. If they’re dragged to the county, it won’t just disgrace the Gu family, but our whole Taohua Village.”

This was already a lenient decision, considering they were all villagers.

Xu Jianshu stroked his white beard, looking troubled. “You’ve done well. We elders also discussed it. How about this—let Gu Weimin and Zhou Lanhua tend the cattle and clean the cowshed. And Gu Dahai, Zhang Shufen, and the educated youth Zhou Shanshan—they’ll raise pigs and clean the pigsties. For a year. Each will only earn four work points a day.”

At this, Zhou Shanshan protested loudly.

“No! I’m going to take the college entrance exam, I can’t go clean pigsties. We’re the victims here!”

Zhang Jianjun, losing patience, snapped, “Then tell us who did it? Who has such skill to put the three of you together in one bed? We even found a packet of powder on Zhang Shufen, which the village doctor said was an aphrodisiac.

You want to blame it on Song, but she had changed clothes and gone to the fields right away. The Zhang family vouched for her. Barely twenty minutes passed—what, you think she can fly over rooftops?”

Cui Hehua curled her lip. “You only pick on Wanyue because she’s easy to bully. Back when she first came to the village, how much work did you trick her into doing for you? You think we’re blind? Later, when she came to her senses, she stopped hanging around you. I say you’re just jealous of her.”

Gu Dahai protested, “You just decided it was our fault without investigating! I’m divorced from Shanshan—why would I still sleep with her? And my mother was there too—this is slander!”

Bang!

Xu Jianshu slammed his cane hard on the ground.

“Song has witnesses. And the three of you—Gu Dahai, Zhang Shufen, Zhou Shanshan—who can prove you were knocked out and dumped on that bed? No one. Then it’s just your own misconduct. Without evidence, what else can we say?

Then explain—why were you at the educated youth dormitory during work hours? Where are your witnesses?”

Gu Dahai’s mind went blank.

Right—he couldn’t explain why he was sneaking around the educated youth dormitory instead of working.

He stammered, “I… I… just went home to use the toilet. Then I was knocked out, and when I woke up… I was on that bed.”

That excuse had been agreed upon in advance—only the people on the bed had been swapped.

Zhang Shufen stuttered, “Me too. On my way to work, I suddenly blacked out, and when I woke up, you were all there. Nothing happened between Dahai and me. I’m too old to be interested in such things anyway.”

Zhou Shanshan added, “Same with me. Suddenly blacked out, and then I woke up like that.”

Four-year-old Erdan, drooling, pointed at Gu Dahai. “Big Brother Dahai, you’re lying. I saw you at the educated youth place, going round and round.”

He had clearly seen Gu Dahai lingering around the educated youth dorm.

Zhang Jianjun asked, “Erdan, you said you saw Gu Dahai wandering outside the educated youth dorm? Are you sure you didn’t mistake someone else?”

Erdan’s father held the boy in his arms. “Go on, son, don’t be afraid. Daddy’s here.”

Erdan nodded. “Yes, it was him. I was playing hide-and-seek with Hua’er and Erzhu. I hid in the educated youth garden and saw Big Brother Dahai go into the house. Then we left.”

Everyone turned to look at Hua’er and Erzhu.

The two kids nodded.

Hua’er smiled. “Yes, I was playing hide-and-seek with them near the educated youth place.”

Now Zhang Jianjun was glaring at Gu Dahai, eyes sharp as knives.

“Gu Dahai, what else do you have to say now?”

Song Wanyue smiled sweetly. “Dahai, telling one lie means you need countless others to cover it up. And look—you slipped. Admitting you had an affair isn’t the end of the world. In front of everyone, we all have our flaws. Yours is just… a bit unusual, a bit eccentric. Just don’t use me as your shield again.”

Now there was no way they could push her into being a stepmother.

For his bizarre tastes, before she returned to the city, she would make sure the whole village saw him clearly.

Lies could easily become “truth.”

Am I being too wicked? she thought. It must be the resentment left in this body seeping out.

Turning to Zhou Shanshan, she said, “Shanshan, I’m not you. I don’t want Dahai. I’m going to take the college entrance exam and return to the city. From now on, let’s keep our distance—otherwise, if something happens, you’ll just drag me down again.”

Zhou Shanshan’s forehead twitched with rage, her eyes fixed on Song Wanyue. “Wanyue, you’re so strange today. You’ve never been this tough before. Even when you refused me, you couldn’t help but still lend a hand.”