Bang, bang, bang… bang, bang, bang…

In the middle of the night, the front door was being knocked loudly.

Ning Shu was really angry.

She had been sound asleep and was woken up by the noise. Who wouldn’t be upset?

“Keep sleeping, I’ll check it out,” Lin Guodong said as he patted her arm, put on his long pants, and then threw on a coat before heading outside.

“Xiao Lin… Xiao Lin, open the door. It’s me, Lu Hong, Sister Lu,” called out Lu Hong from outside.

Lin Guodong, upon hearing it was Lu Hong, hurried to open the door.

He saw Lu Hong at the gate with a flashlight, and beside her were a young girl and two women he didn’t recognize.

“Sister, what’s going on?” Lin Guodong asked with a calm face, though he was puzzled.

He couldn’t figure out what was happening.

They had just returned from their hometown today, so it didn’t make sense that they’d had a fight in just one afternoon.

Plus, his wife and kids hadn’t mentioned any issues.

“Xiao Lin, you know Xu Weilin, the squad leader under Yang, the deputy battalion commander, right? He’s currently on a mission,” Lu Hong said.

Lin Guodong nodded, “Yes, I know. He’s been on a mission for half a month…” Hearing Lu Hong mention him suddenly made Lin Guodong worried. “Is it something about Xu Squad Leader?”

The thought that something might have happened to Xu Weilin made him feel uneasy.

To them, every comrade was like family, no matter if they were from the same battalion or not.

Hearing about trouble befalling a family member naturally made them feel bad.

“No, no, don’t worry, it’s not about Xu Squad Leader,” Lu Hong quickly clarified, knowing the deep feelings comrades had for each other. “It’s like this: Xu Weilin’s mother said that Xu Weilin’s wife stole some money and accused her of being immoral. But Xu Duomei, Xu Weilin’s daughter, said that the money was borrowed from your family’s three children, and there’s an IOU with your family’s children…”

It turned out that Xu’s grandmother, while walking home, found the house empty and went looking for people.

Someone said Xu Duomei had gone into the medical office.

When Xu’s grandmother arrived, she saw Xu Duomei’s mother receiving a glucose drip.

Xu’s grandmother then accused Xu Duomei’s mother of damaging the family’s reputation by stealing money and hit her.

What seemed like a small matter turned serious because Xu Duomei’s mother was unwell and receiving glucose.

The hit led to serious consequences.

The medical office, concerned about the severity of the situation, contacted Lu Hong.

After learning from Xu Duomei about the money’s origin, Lu Hong came to investigate at Lin’s house.

And that’s what happened.

Lin Guodong nodded. “Yes, She did borrow money from the three children. She borrowed it before dinner today and even wrote an IOU. I saw the IOU when I got back, and both my wife and I know about it.”

Lu Hong sighed with relief. “I trust you. Can I have the IOU now? I need it for something. I’ll return it later.”

Lin Guodong had no objections. “Just a moment, I’ll go get it.”

He went to knock on Sanbao’s door. “Yibao, Erbao, Sanbao, Dad needs to talk to you.”

Even though the three were sound asleep, they were still woken up by their father.

Yibao, still groggy, asked from inside the room, “Dad, what’s the matter?”

Lin Guodong replied, “Yibao, I need to use the IOU you wrote tonight. A young girl’s family has had some trouble.”

“Okay, Dad. Just a minute.” Yibao kept one eye shut and got out of bed, still half asleep.

He fetched the IOU from a tin box and handed it to Lin Guodong. “Here’s the IOU. I’m going back to sleep now.”

His voice was soft, and he seemed more focused on action than awareness at that moment.

“Good boy, go back to sleep.”

Lin Guodong checked the IOU and then handed it to Lu Hong, who was waiting at the door. “Sister-in-law, here’s the IOU.”

Lu Hong took it and examined it with a flashlight.

Seeing the IOU made her smile, lightening her mood from the troubling situation with the Xu family.

She said, “It really is written like a child’s handwriting. I’ll take this IOU now and return it to your child once I’ve sorted out the matter.”

“Alright.”

Lu Hong didn’t stay long and left with another woman from the area.

On the way, the other woman asked with concern, “Director, does this mean Xiaoyue was wronged by her mother-in-law? It’s unacceptable to wrong someone and then injure them severely. Such behavior tarnishes our unit’s reputation.”

Xiaoyue is Xu Duomei’s mother, and the woman speaking was a member of the family committee, so Lu Hong wasn’t the only one in the committee.

Lu Hong said, “Hmm, we’ll need to wait for Zhang Xiaoyue’s side of the story and also for Squad Leader Xu to come back before we can figure this out.”

There were always many issues in the family quarters—conflicts between women, family disputes, and so on.

No matter what the issue was, it ended up being brought to the Women’s Federation.

This wasn’t the first time something serious like this had happened, and Lu Hong felt quite helpless.

Why did women always have so many problems?

“According to Xu Duomei, Xu Weilin’s mother is also quite something. She even said behind Xu Squad Leader’s back that she hoped Zhang Xiaoyue would die soon so Xu Weilin could marry someone else. Such things are not even fit for animals to say,” said one of the Women’s Federation members.

In the quiet of the night, their conversation went unheard.

Back in the room, Ning Shu, feeling a bit groggy, asked, “What’s going on? Who was it?”

Lin Guodong replied, “It was Sister Lu from Commissar Zhang’s family, and it’s about Xu Weilin’s family…” He recounted the events.

Ning Shu, once she heard the details, became a bit more alert. “Could it be that the young girl was wrongfully accused of borrowing money?”

This situation seemed familiar.

Ning Shu recalled a time when she had lent fifty yuan to Lin Xiaoshan and was also wrongfully accused of theft.

“That’s probably it,” Lin Guodong said.

Ning Shu and Lin Guodong both thought along the same lines. “Let’s not worry about it for now. We’ll deal with it tomorrow,” Lin Guodong said.

“Okay,” Ning Shu agreed, figuring it was not directly related to their family; they had just lent some money in good faith.

The next day

After having a good breakfast, the three children each took a piece of sugar cane and headed off to school.

As they went, Yibao kept feeling like they had forgotten something.

It wasn’t until they reached school and saw Yang Wenjie that they remembered— they had forgotten to ask their mother if they could give some sugar cane seedlings to Yang Wenjie and his family.

As usual, when the children went to school, Ning Shu stayed home.

Since it was the season for bamboo shoots, she would usually go to the mountains to gather them.

However, due to the events of the previous night, Ning Shu stayed home today.

After breakfast, she went next door to visit Aunt Yang.

“Auntie, are you home?”

Aunt Yang’s family had already had a good breakfast, and the kids had gone to school. Zhao Huan, Aunt Yang’s daughter-in-law, was sweeping the floor.

When Ning Shu arrived, Zhao Huan called out, “Mom, Ning Shu is here to see you,” then told Ning Shu, “My mother is inside cleaning.”

In the past three years, the relationship between the two families had been good, though Ning Shu and Zhao Huan didn’t speak much.

Zhao Huan usually went out with Aunt Yang, so when Ning Shu encountered them, she mostly talked with Aunt Yang while Zhao Huan listened quietly.

Essentially, Zhao Huan was not very noticeable.

Hearing her daughter-in-law, Aunt Yang shouted outside, “Ning Shu, I’m inside. Come in quickly.”

The weather in late December was already cold, but today was sunny.

Aunt Yang was inside preparing quilts, planning to take them out to dry once the dew had settled.

Ning Shu greeted Zhao Huan and went inside.

She wasn’t too fond of visiting the elderly’s rooms because they often had a distinct smell and weren’t very clean.

However, Aunt Yang’s place was an exception.

Both she and her home were kept very tidy and clean, giving off a respectable impression.

According to Aunt Yang, she wouldn’t do anything that would embarrass her son.

“Are you busy, Aunt?” Ning Shu didn’t go inside but stood at the door and asked.

Aunt Yang replied, “Yes, I’m going to dry the quilts since the weather is nice today.”

Quilts in rural households aren’t very thick.

It’s a bit cold to sleep in them during winter, but they warm up significantly after being sun-dried.

Aunt Yang was curious, “What brings you here today? Is there something going on?”

Ning Shu stepped further inside, speaking softly as if sharing a secret. “Did you hear about what happened in our family compound last night?”

Aunt Yang’s interest was immediately piqued. “You mean about Xu Weilin’s wife being beaten by his mother and ending up in the hospital?”

Ning Shu’s heart sank.

Beaten so badly she was hospitalized?

That was serious.

Seeing Ning Shu’s shocked expression, Aunt Yang continued, “You didn’t know? I heard people talking about it while washing things by the well this morning.”

She enjoyed gossip, especially about family matters, and never missed a chance to hear such news. “They said Xu Weilin’s wife was sick and had to get glucose at the clinic.

Xu Weilin’s mother thought she stole the money for the glucose and beat her up at the clinic, causing her to faint.

Later, it turned out that the money was borrowed by Xu Weilin’s daughter, not stolen.

To beat someone to the point of unconsciousness is quite severe.

When I was back home, even when women fought, it was just hair-pulling.

This is a daughter-in-law, how could anyone be so ruthless?

Besides, even if the money was stolen, it was for medical treatment.

If there was a need to reprimand her, it should be done at home, not at the hospital. It’s really unacceptable.”

Aunt Yang sighed as she spoke.

But before she could finish her sigh, Ning Shu added, “The money for the glucose was actually borrowed from my family’s Yibao, Erbao and Sanbao.”