Font Size:
Chapter 8
Ruan Mingfu looked down at her, mocking, “Are you stupid? I already hit you, and you’re asking why I dared to?”
“Ahh!! You filthy bitch! I’m going to kill you!”
After getting drenched earlier, Xu Pandi had been fuming. Now, after being slapped, she was beyond enraged. If she didn’t fight Ruan Mingfu now, it wouldn’t make any sense.
Though the other female educated youth tried to hold Xu Pandi back, their faces were filled with disapproval toward Ruan Mingfu.
“Educated Youth Ruan, you’ve gone too far. Even if Pandi’s words were harsh, it’s because your actions caused everyone to be criticized. She’s upset, can’t you be more understanding?”
Ruan Mingfu responded firmly, “No.”
Miss Ruan had never compromised for anyone in her life.
Why should she be considerate of Xu Pandi? Who was considerate of her?
Female Educated Youth: “You!”
The other educated youths hearing this became even more displeased with Ruan Mingfu.
Xu Pandi was so provoked that she struggled wildly. “Let me go! I’m going to beat that filthy woman to death!”
“Let go!”
Xu Pandi struggled with such force that the other educated youths nearly lost their grip on her.
“Pandi, calm down.”
“How can I calm down?” Xu Pandi’s eyes were red with anger. “You weren’t the one who got hit! Let go of me!”
Ruan Mingfu watched the scene unfold.
In the past, she would have already gone back inside, too lazy to deal with this drama. But today’s situation involved her, so she needed to get to the bottom of it.
“Who told you all of this?”
All the educated youth turned to look at Hu Lihong.
Seeing Ruan Mingfu’s gaze on her, Hu Lihong couldn’t help but recall the fierce way she had slapped Xu Pandi. Given her own small stature, she knew she couldn’t withstand Ruan Mingfu’s wrath. She quickly admitted, “I overheard some of the older village women talking while I was working.”
Ruan Mingfu expected as much. The village’s elderly women were notorious gossips, often huddling together to discuss everyone else’s business.
And Ruan Mingfu was a frequent subject of their chatter.
“What exactly did they say?”
Hu Lihong glanced at Ruan Mingfu, her face showing hesitation.
Although she loved gossiping, she usually did it behind people’s backs. Now, being asked to repeat it in front of the person involved made her quite uncomfortable.
“You’re so talkative behind people’s backs, but now you’ve gone mute?” Ruan Mingfu found a spot to sit down, lifting her delicate chin to look at Hu Lihong.
Sunlight poured over her, making her look like a jade statue, glowing with an almost ethereal beauty.
Hu Lihong swallowed hard. She had often called Ruan Mingfu a vixen, but she never really noticed how beautiful she was. Now she understood what it meant to be a true beauty.
“At the Wu family wedding, someone saw you and Xie Yanzhao coming out of a room one after the other,” Hu Lihong hesitated, then continued, “And a while ago, when you went to the reservoir to meet him, people noticed that too.”
Hu Lihong didn’t even mention the more outrageous rumors. The old women could be quite crude, and what she had heard came in at least ten different versions.
Ruan Mingfu frowned. She felt a bit guilty because she really had done those things, but she hadn’t done anything improper.
Yet somehow, without doing anything wrong, she found herself the subject of such nasty rumors.
Xu Pandi sneered at her, “Doing such shameless things and still acting like nothing happened—your skin must be really thick.”
“Not as thick as yours.”
Ruan Mingfu smiled at her, nearly causing Xu Pandi to faint from anger.
“Do you even have any shame? Everyone at the educated youth camp is embarrassed to go out because of you!”
“Then why don’t you all just hang yourselves together?”
Ruan Mingfu spoke the most venomous words with the purest expression.
All the female educated youths present were stunned into silence.
How vicious—she immediately suggested they all go die.
Seizing the moment, Xu Pandi broke free from another female educated youth’s grip and lunged at Ruan Mingfu, her hands like claws. “You little wench, I’ll make you pay for hitting me!”
Zhu Hong jumped, her heart in her throat.
Ruan Mingfu, however, remained calm, readying her washbasin to counter Xu Pandi.
Poor Xu Pandi didn’t manage to land a hit on Ruan Mingfu. Instead, she received several blows from the washbasin. If the basin had been made of the old wooden kind, it could have seriously injured her.
The other educated youths quickly came to their senses and pulled the two apart.
Whenever Xu Pandi clashed with Ruan Mingfu, she always ended up on the losing side. This time was no different. Despite several people trying to hold her back, Xu Pandi was so enraged that she fought with the ferocity of someone who wouldn’t stop until one of them was dead.
“Come on, hit me if you can!”
Ruan Mingfu never imagined that using a washbasin in a fight could be so effective.
As some fought and others tried to break up the fight, the entire educated youth camp descended into chaos. Hu Lihong, ever the opportunist, stayed tucked away in a corner, refusing to move. Zhu Hong, being timid, was destined to be a bystander.
“Stop it! Everyone, stop fighting!”
The leader of the educated youth team rushed over after hearing the commotion, shouting several times to no avail.
As a man, he was hesitant to get physically involved in the brawl, which left him helplessly pacing back and forth.
What started as a fight between Ruan Mingfu and Xu Pandi quickly escalated into an all-out brawl. Ruan Mingfu, with her weapon in hand, fared relatively well. Xu Pandi, on the other hand, was a mess—her hair disheveled like a bird’s nest, her face scratched, and her clothes in tatters.
The fighters were so engrossed that they didn’t care about the team leader. Even if the village team leader had been there, they would have kept fighting.
*
When the village team leader heard the news, he rushed over too. But after shouting a few times with no response, he was left feeling awkward.
It wasn’t until Xie Yanzhao, who had come with the village team leader, used his long arms and legs to pull Ruan Mingfu out of the crowd and then slammed a stick against the door, creating a loud bang, that everyone finally stopped.
Ruan Mingfu, now in Xie Yanzhao’s grasp, stopped struggling.
This man was truly terrifying.
He had smashed a door made of two thick wooden planks with one strike. If that stick had hit a person instead… Well, that would have been the end of them.
Xie Yanzhao, with a stern expression, looked at the female educated youths as if they were fresh recruits in the army. Even the toughest among them was too scared to disobey, let alone the most timid like Zhu Hong, who clung to the wall, wishing she could melt into it.
Xu Zhu’s expression was complicated, and he hesitated before looking at Xie Yanzhao.
Forget it, with Miss Ruan the little firecracker around, Old Xie might not remain a bachelor for long.
The village team leader was furious, his face livid. In all the time Ruan Mingfu had been here, she had never seen him so angry.
Xu Pandi, seeing an opportunity, began to cry as she sat on the ground, “Team leader, it’s all Ruan Mingfu’s fault! She slapped me and hit me with a washbasin multiple times.”
Her hair was a mess, her face was bruised, and she sat on the ground throwing a tantrum, looking just like a madwoman.
The village team leader: “……”
Compared to Xu Pandi, Ruan Mingfu looked much more composed. Her disheveled hair didn’t make her appear disheveled. Instead, it gave her a more gentle appearance.
“You keep running your mouth, and I’ll hit you again.”
“Team leader, look, she dares to scare me right in front of you,” Xu Pandi seized every chance to stir up trouble, “Team leader, I want to report Ruan Mingfu for messing around with men!”
The village team leader: “…… Enough with the nonsense. All day long, you’re just creating trouble. If you’re so idle, you can go and pick up manure for me.”
So annoying, not a single one of them is easy to deal with!
He could believe Educated Youth Ruan was involved with men, but if it were Xie Yanzhao, it was impossible.
Others might not know, but he knew Xie Yanzhao’s background. With a bright future in the military. Educated Youth Ruan Zhiqing is a fairy in the world. No normal person would do such a thing to ruin his own future.
Xu Pandi was shocked, “Team leader, why are you covering for her?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Who am I protecting?”The team leader’s patience was wearing thin. “If you think I’m covering for Ruan Mingfu, go report me to the county!”
“All day long, you do nothing but pry into other people’s business. Do you have any evidence that Ruan Mingfu is involved with men? Where are the witnesses you mentioned?”
Xu Pandi looked towards Hu Lihong.
Hu Lihong quickly hid behind someone, cursing Xu Pandi under her breath.
Determined to take down Ruan Mingfu, Xu Pandi seized the opportunity and said, “Lihong knows.”
The team leader turned his gaze.
Hu Lihong, gritting her teeth, stepped out from behind others.
She glanced awkwardly at Ruan Mingfu, “I only heard a few idle rumors while working. How can that count? Team leader, don’t you agree?”
Xu Pandi was stunned.
“No, but you said before…”
Hu Lihong, with a serious face, said, “I said I heard it from others.”
This fool doesn’t even understand the basic principle of catching people in the act but still tries to accuse Ruan Mingfu. Others aren’t stupid.
The team leader, with his hands behind his back and a look of discontent, said to Xu Pandi, “Fine, since Educated Youth Hu said it’s a misunderstanding, don’t jump to conclusions. Apologize to Ruan Mingfu, and let’s end this.”
“What?” Xu Pandi couldn’t believe it, “She hit me, and now you want me to apologize?”
The team leader was fed up with Xu Pandi, “If you hadn’t accused her of messing around, would she have hit you?”
“No, she beat me up and she wants me to apologize to her? No way,” Xu Pandi had been holding a grudge against Ruan Mingfu for a long time. Seeing the team leader siding with her only fueled her anger, “She hit me, I want compensation, and I’ll report her to the police and send her to jail!”
The team leader’s face darkened at these words.
Before he could respond, Ruan Mingfu spoke up, “I also support reporting to the police.”
She scanned the faces of everyone around her, her presence commanding respect without anger, “And let’s investigate who’s spreading these rumors and trying to slander a soldier who protects the country!”
**
Hey guys, do check out my other translation projects:
Ongoing
Completed
Ayalee[Translator]
Hi there! Aya here 🌸 If you're enjoying my translations, feel free to treat me to a Ko-fi—it would absolutely make my day! ☕💖 Thank you for your support! ｡˚🐈⬛.𖥔 ݁ ˖