Chapter 17

This era isn’t exactly chaotic, but calling it peaceful wouldn’t be right either. In reality, since nothing truly harmful had happened in this matter, even if she went to the police, it was unlikely there’d be any outcome.

But if the village chief handled it here, that might be different — at least her reputation wouldn’t take another hit, and she could make sure this person never dared to harass her again. The original owner of this body hadn’t left behind much of a good name, but this was still different.

Gou Dong already had a guilty conscience about the whole thing, and his mother, seeing his reaction and expression along the way, knew her son was in the wrong. After the village chief gave them a scare, both mother and son became afraid.

“Village chief, come on, it’s not that serious. My Dongzi’s grown up now — he won’t do those rotten things anymore. There must be some kind of misunderstanding here.”

“Right, a misunderstanding. I was just… My mom asked me to go find Auntie Tian, and when I called out and no one answered, I thought maybe she was inside and didn’t hear me, so I climbed the wall to take a look…”

“Ah, yes, yes, it was me who told him to go find her. And you, child, if your aunt wasn’t home you should’ve just come back — why climb over the wall? Of course anyone would misunderstand that!”

“It was my fault. I won’t do it again.”

The two of them played off each other, framing the whole thing as a misunderstanding. The village chief glanced at Lin Xi and saw no expression on her face, so he figured things were more or less settled. Clearing his throat, he said:

“Whether or not this was a misunderstanding, the fact is you climbed into someone else’s yard and scared them. You should apologize.”

“Apologize? She was about to chop me with a knife! And you still want me to—”

“Apologize. We apologize. Qinyan’s wife, this is all a misunderstanding. I’ll apologize to you on Dongzi’s behalf. He didn’t mean any harm, so please don’t hold it against him.”

“Mom…”

Gou Dong was still unhappy and started to say something, but his mother shot him a glare. Then they heard Tian Yufen say:

“Xiao Xi, you weren’t too frightened, were you? In two days Qinyan will be back, and I’ll have him build the wall higher.”

Hearing that the fiend Gu Qinyan was returning, Gou Dong shuddered at the memory of being beaten and thrown into the pond. He quickly blurted out an apology:

“Sister-in-law, I shouldn’t have climbed over and scared you. I was wrong. I promise—no, I swear—I’ll never climb your wall again. I’ll even walk around your house when passing by. Please be generous and don’t hold this against me.”

What a joke! If he fell into Gu Qinyan’s hands again… he didn’t even want to imagine. He hadn’t known how to swim before — it was only because Gu Qinyan beat him up and threw him into the water so many times that he learned.

But later, Gu Qinyan’s beatings only got more painful — each one left him aching for days, and you couldn’t even see how bad the injuries were. It wouldn’t kill him, but it made him wish he were dead.

As for Gu Qinyan’s wife — he was truly afraid of her too. Both husband and wife were bad news. No matter how good-looking they were, he wouldn’t dare provoke them again. Other people might cost you money; these two could cost you your life.

Lin Xi ignored him and looked only at the village chief.

“Village chief uncle, even if him climbing my wall was a misunderstanding, how are we going to deal with the slander just now?

I’m a woman — my chastity and reputation are most important. And just now, his mother and he both accused me outright of seducing him. I’m not agreeing to just let that go without clarification.”

The village chief looked at Lin Xi in surprise. Normally, women would avoid such matters like the plague, afraid that even mentioning them would damage their reputation. But this young wife was unusually open, firm, and unwilling to take the smallest loss.

“Qinyan’s wife, that was our fault. I got flustered at the time and believed this brat’s nonsense, so I misunderstood you.”

“Sister-in-law, it was all a misunderstanding. Please forgive me this time. I was riled up when you were chasing me, so I spouted nonsense. Please, be magnanimous and let it go.”

“Qinyan’s wife, I’ll bear witness today that Gou Dong and his mother have admitted fault. We’re all villagers here — since it’s a misunderstanding, don’t hold it against them.

But Hu Sao, your boy Gou Dong wasn’t being decent today. Dongzi, you’ve done plenty of filthy things before, and for your father’s sake I’ve let them slide. But if you stir up trouble in the village again, I won’t let you off no matter where you run.”

“I understand, village chief uncle. I was immature before, but I’m different now.”

“Qinyan’s wife, you’ve been wronged today. I’ll make sure to explain this clearly to everyone in the village, so you can rest assured it won’t harm your reputation.”

Since things had come to this point, Lin Xi nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, village chief uncle, for being fair. It’s a blessing for the villagers to have you.

My back still isn’t fully recovered — I got so scared when chasing him earlier that it flared up again. Now that I’ve calmed down, the pain’s come back, so I’ll head home to put on some medicine.”

As she spoke, she pushed herself upright with a hand on her back. Tian Yufen supported her as they took their leave, and the village chief didn’t stop them.

“Third sister-in-law, when you get back, send Lan Hua back here.”

“She’s eating at my place. I’ll send her back after, and don’t deduct her grain ration.”

“That won’t do — grain isn’t blown in by the wind these days. Just have her come back; she can’t be eating yours too.”

“She’s family. How much can she eat, really?”

Without bothering further with him, Tian Yufen helped Lin Xi away. Since the village chief was kin, their families were close, so they didn’t stand on ceremony.

After they left, Gou Dong and his mother went home too — staying longer might make the chief start digging into past misdeeds.

On the way, Tian Yufen looked at Lin Xi with disapproval.

“You child, your back still isn’t healed. Why’d you run out chasing someone? If you strain it again, it’ll be hard to recover!”

After leaving the chief’s house, Lin Xi walked faster. She straightened up and pushed Tian Yufen’s supporting hand away.

“I’m actually fine now. Grandpa’s medicinal wine works wonders — these last couple of days it’s just been a little sore.”

She wasn’t lying — the medicinal wine truly worked well, and Tian Yufen’s long massages when applying it made it even more effective. Her back felt warm after each time, the medicine soaking in, and she healed quickly.

The two chatted as they walked home.

“Mom, is there an ox cart going to town tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow’s market day, so there is. But if you need something, I can buy it for you. You stay home and rest.”

Her son was coming back in a couple of days, and Tian Yufen knew the young couple hadn’t consummated their marriage on their wedding night. Now her daughter-in-law was more sensible and understanding than ever, so they’d surely manage it this time.

The only worry was if her back still hurt badly, they couldn’t consummate — that wouldn’t do. She decided secretly that from today on, she’d apply medicine more often and give her more massages to get her healed quickly.

Lin Xi had no idea what she was thinking and simply said:

“I’m not going to buy something — I’m going to sell something. I know the way now, so I can go by myself. You just wait for me at home.”