Chapter 8

“That’s because I trusted you. Now I’ve gotten a little smarter. You say I set you up like this, but I had no reason to.”
Song Wanyue wasn’t foolish enough to admit she had swapped anyone.

They were just outsiders, even enemies. Even if they had been acquaintances from her old world, she wouldn’t acknowledge them.

Zhou Shanshan had already torn off her mask with Song Wanyue. This wretched woman had ruined her plan.

She knew that without marrying a richer wife, Gu Dahai’s family would never let her go. That was why she had helped them scheme against Song Wanyue.

As long as Song Wanyue married Gu Dahai, she could take his child with her to the capital. Then Dahai could inherit Song’s father’s job—how perfect would that be?

But fate… fate hadn’t gone the way it should.

The more she thought about it, the more unwilling she felt.

Zhou Shanshan cried out in disbelief, “Song Wanyue, you ruined me! It should have been you with Gu Dahai on your bed, not me! I should have been the university student, returning to the capital with honor. That was supposed to be my life—not stuck here in the countryside, facing the dirt every day.”

Deep down, Zhou Shanshan worried that even if she did get into university, the Gu family wouldn’t let her return to the city.

Because taking Gu Dahai and his child to live in her family home was impossible.

Her parents’ house was tiny and overcrowded. And in the capital, Dahai would never find a proper job.

Her words sent the crowd into an uproar.

“So Zhou Shanshan had such a vicious heart! She didn’t want her country husband and child, so she tried to dump them on Song.”

“Truly—nothing is more venomous than a woman’s heart. And now you still want to say she’s pitiful?”

“How scary. I’d better stay far away from her—I don’t want to be her next target.”

Song Wanyue put on an innocent look. “I changed clothes and went straight to work. You and Dahai rekindled your old romance, then Zhang Shufen caught you and joined in—and you still want to dump the blame on me? Too outrageous.

I’m not interested in Gu Dahai. You already have children, Shanshan. I only said those words for your sake. You’ve got a child barely two months old, and you left him behind after the divorce. Did you even think of his feelings? That’s when he needs his mother most.”

She could play the morality card too.

Zhou Shanshan rolled her eyes. “Impossible! You said before that you liked Dahai, and you liked children. You told me that if you became his wife, you’d take good care of the baby for me. That’s why I dared to divorce him.”

Of course, almost no one believed her.

Cui Hehua burst out laughing. “Oh please, Educated Youth Zhou, don’t you feel guilty saying that? What girl here—unless her family is truly desperate—would willingly become a stepmother? What a joke!”

The villagers all began pointing fingers.

“That’s right, stepmothers have it rough.”

“Exactly. Why would young Song fall for someone like Dahai who already has a child?”

“True, Song’s an only daughter, her family dotes on her. Her standards can’t be that low.”

“And now that the college entrance exams are back, she can easily go to university and return to the city. Once there, she’ll have her pick of male students.”

Song Wanyue thought, Cornered dogs really do jump walls.

“Zhou Shanshan, now you’re slinging mud at me again.”

She strode forward and slapped Zhou Shanshan several times.

“This is for smearing me.”

“This is for falsely accusing the innocent.”

“This is for tricking me into coming down to the countryside with you.”

“And this—this is for ending our so-called friendship. From now on, we’re done. I don’t recognize you as my sister anymore.”

The best thing the original owner had done in over a year down here was refusing the men’s advances. Her parents had warned her countless times—when she returned to the city, she must find a proper husband there.

In the original story, she was caught in bed with Gu Dahai and forced into marriage. Back in the city, she even had to bring him along. And even if she hadn’t, Dahai knew her family’s address—no one but Zhou Shanshan could have told him.

Song Wanyue’s face hardened. “I never fancied Gu Dahai. And now, I despise you too. Daring to act but not to admit it—clinging to your ex-husband, swallowing aphrodisiacs yet refusing to acknowledge it. Oh right, Party Secretary—didn’t you say they found the aphrodisiac on Zhang Shufen? Why don’t we ask where it came from?”

Zhang Jianjun rubbed his face—it hurt. Who would have guessed this educated youth girl hit so hard?

“Uh, yes… Zhang Shufen, go on, where did the drug come from?”

Zhang Shufen’s mind was a mess. Numbly, she muttered, “Dahai stole it from the vet two days ago.”

She was still distracted, thinking about what Wanyue had said about “finding another man.” Surely her husband would choose Zhou Lanhua. She was young, pretty, and had two little sons. Unlike her own children—already grown. Even her youngest, Dahai, was married with a child.

The village vet, Zhang Minglang, nodded. “I checked yesterday. A packet of aphrodisiac was indeed missing. It’s meant for pigs.”

Zhang Jianjun glared furiously at Gu Dahai. “Well, how do you explain that? The drug was stolen by you. If you three really tried to set up Educated Youth Song, how could a weak girl like her escape?”

Gu Dahai was speechless. Damn, Mother, your mouth is too quick.

Song Wanyue spread her hands. “Exactly. I’m just one weak girl—I couldn’t possibly handle three people at once. The only explanation is that they took the aphrodisiac themselves, trying to spice things up. Haven’t we heard before about that neighboring brigade, where a father and daughter had an affair and even had a child?”

In truth, if it had only been her alone, she could never have subdued the three of them so quickly.

And right now, with her fever-weakened body, she didn’t even have much strength.

The more absurd the story sounded, the more it made sense.

Wanyue turned to Zhang Minglang. “Uncle Zhang, how long does it take for the aphrodisiac to take effect after being eaten?”

“If you take a lot, ten to twenty minutes. Less, maybe half an hour,” Zhang answered carefully.

Song Wanyue said, “Everyone knows I’m weak—I can barely earn five or six work points a day. Sometimes, just to avoid falling short, I trade food so others can do my share. There’s no way I could have dragged all three of them together within half an hour. And no one saw me doing anything shady, right?

For them to be unconscious until the drug took effect would have taken at least half an hour. In a village this small, if I’d really done it, someone would’ve seen. Since no one did, the only explanation is they were sneaking around themselves.”

Zhou Shanshan clutched her head in pain. “Impossible! If it wasn’t you, then who was it?”

In her heart, she admitted—Wanyue really couldn’t have done it alone.

Unwilling, she pressed, “No, it was you. You must have had help, didn’t you? Which man was it? Who helped you?”

Her eyes darted around the crowd.

People shrank back in fear.

She lunged at Wang Yong, grabbing his shirt. “You—Wang Yong! Was it you who helped that slut Song Wanyue?”

When Wanyue had first arrived in the village, Wang Yong had pursued her enthusiastically.

Wang Yong yanked his shirt free. “It wasn’t me! I was digging sweet potatoes today with Ermazi and Song Ming. Don’t frame me!”

Ermazi, Lin Youyu, was so frightened he ran far away.

“Educated Youth Zhou, I’ll vouch for Wang Yong. We only went to the educated youth dorm when we heard the commotion.”

Zhang Jianjun massaged his aching temples. This farce was giving him a headache.

Finally, he announced the punishment.

“The verdict is this: Gu Weimin and Zhou Lanhua will tend the cattle and clean the cowshed. Zhang Shufen, Gu Dahai, and Zhou Shanshan will raise pigs and clean the pigsties. For a year. Four work points per day.

Gu Weimin’s post as brigade leader is revoked. Tomorrow at 7 a.m., before work starts, we’ll elect a new brigade leader. Anyone over eighteen with primary school education may stand for election.

As for this adultery scandal—by rights, you should be paraded through the streets. But the village is giving you face—take the chance, stop lying to cover your sins. It’s shameful. Especially you, Zhou Shanshan.

All five of you, reflect on yourselves. And you, Old Gu—you’re not young anymore. Don’t you feel ashamed?”

Song Wanyue listened to the verdict, deeply satisfied.