Chapter 37

Before Qin Qingman could get closer, she had already heard the words of the group. A man in his thirties, with a simple and honest appearance, was holding onto a young woman in the middle of the crowd, repeatedly saying, “You can’t just abandon me and the child. You’re a sent-down youth, but you can’t just leave your husband and child behind.”

A woman in her fifties, presumably his mother, was clinging to the young woman’s leg, crying out desperately.

“Daughter-in-law, even if you think my Baogen is ugly, you should at least stay for the sake of the child. For the sake of the kid, stay. If you leave, what will happen to the child and Baogen? Please, I beg you, stay. From now on, you’ll be in charge of the house, you can eat as much grain as you want, I won’t interfere anymore.”

“No, I don’t know you. Let go of me, let go of me!” The young woman, with a pale face, flushed red in embarrassment, but no matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t break free.

More importantly, a child of about three years old was holding onto her other leg, crying for his mother.

“Honey, I know you think I’m useless, but you can’t just ignore the child. He’s innocent. He’s only three years old—how can a three-year-old child live without his mother? How can you be so heartless? Is your old classmate more important than the flesh on your body?”

The middle-aged man continued to reveal more details.

The elderly woman also kept urging, “Daughter-in-law, you’re married and have a child now. Why is your heart still outside? No matter how good it is out there, it doesn’t belong to you. Come back home. Let’s live a good life together.”

……

At first, the crowd of onlookers had thought this couldn’t be a family. They noticed the young woman was beautiful and fair-skinned, with hands that showed no sign of hard labor. How could a woman like her fall for the relatively unattractive son of the old woman?

But as the entire family wailed and cried, and as more and more details were revealed through their words, the onlookers started to believe it.

There were sent-down youth from all over the country, some of whom worked honestly, while others were unable to bear the hardship.

Especially for some of the female sent-down youth, in order to avoid hard labor, they simply found a local family with a decent background to marry into.

By marrying, they were naturally supported by the man and didn’t have to do much work.

Once it became clear that the young woman was a sent-down youth, some of the onlookers mistakenly thought they had figured everything out.

Some of the older women in the crowd started to criticize her with disdain.

“I say, little sister, as the old saying goes, ‘marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog.’ Since you chose to marry him in the first place, how can you still have an affair? Hurry up and go home with your husband and child to live a proper life. In our place, a woman who eats from one bowl while eyeing the other is punished severely.”

“Even though we’re liberated now and don’t care so much about the three obediences and four virtues, a woman should still be dutiful after marriage. Don’t go around flirting with others. It’s disgraceful.”

“Let me tell you, people like us locals shouldn’t marry these sent-down youth. When they need us, they put on a smile, but when they don’t, they wish they had never met us. Just drag her away, she’s annoying to look at.”

“Right, just looking at her is annoying. I thought she had really suffered some kind of injustice, but it turns out she’s just a white-eyed wolf.”

“Drag her away, drag her away, so unlucky.”

……

As soon as the group of older women spoke up, the middle-aged man quickly dragged the young woman away, thanking the onlookers as he went, “Thank you, Aunties, for speaking the truth. We’re leaving now, we’re leaving.”

The elderly woman also quickly got up from the ground, grabbing her grandson and following after them.

At this point, Huang Wanqing was genuinely terrified, her eyes brimming with tears. She struggled desperately, shouting, “Let go of me! I don’t know you! I’m here looking for my brother! My brother is a soldier, from the XXX division!”

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment when he heard Huang Wanqing’s words, but he ultimately gritted his teeth and continued to pull her away, cursing under his breath, “I know your lover is a soldier, but that doesn’t mean you can act like this. Don’t embarrass yourself out here. Come on, let’s go back. If you don’t go, I’ll break your legs.”

“I’m really from Beijing, just arrived in Baicheng. I don’t know you. Let go of me!” Huang Wanqing kicked and struggled, almost biting with her teeth in desperation.

She was scared, extremely scared.

Seeing the way the people around her looked at her, Huang Wanqing felt an overwhelming sense of despair. Had she known she would be this unlucky, she would have come to Baicheng with the other educated youth. She never imagined she would encounter such terrifying events.

A complete stranger dared to forcefully “recognize” her as family and drag her away.

This was lawlessness!

Faced with Huang Wanqing’s struggles, the middle-aged man lost his temper. He raised his hand and slapped her hard. This woman was so vile. If he didn’t teach her a lesson, she would naively think someone would step forward to help her. He had to break her pride and confidence.

Zhou Baogen thought to himself how perfect his plan was, and in his gaze toward Huang Wanqing, there was a hint of smugness.

He had used this method to find several wives. Once the wives were dragged back to his home, they could only accept their fate. Though two had been smart enough to escape, they had not dared to make it public. While Zhou Baogen would certainly be caught if they did, the two educated youth who had been his wives had their reputations ruined.

That was why the two runaway wives had not reported him to the authorities, and he had remained free all this time.

His third wife, whom he and his mother had guarded closely, was kept chained up every day. She had given birth to a son.

If it hadn’t been for the birth of the child and three years having passed, Zhou Baogen and his mother’s guard would not have become lax, and they would not have let her escape.

Fuming with anger, Zhou Baogen and his mother chased after the woman to Baicheng. At the train station, he saw Huang Wanqing in the crowd.

Huang Wanqing was tall and beautiful, and he immediately set his sights on her.

The previous woman, who had been locked up for four years, had aged, and her skin was no longer as good. How could she compare to the youthful and stunning Huang Wanqing?

Zhou Baogen quickly shifted his attention.

Zhang, who had worked with Zhou Baogen for years, immediately cooperated. When Zhou Baogen mentioned Huang Wanqing, she quickly sweet-talked her grandson into calling Huang Wanqing “mother.”

The child had been raised by Zhang since birth, and his morals had long been corrupted.

Upon hearing there was candy, the child, eager to please, would have called any strange woman “mother”—even if she had asked him to eat excrement.

That was why there had been the scene just moments ago.

Zhou Baogen looked at Huang Wanqing with pride, and the slap he aimed at her was harsh. Just as he thought everything would proceed as it had in the past, he felt a sharp blow under his armpit.

It was a forceful strike, so strong that he not only retracted his hand from slapping Huang Wanqing, but he also recoiled several steps, clutching his side.

This unexpected turn of events shocked everyone.

It wasn’t just Zhou Baogen and his family who were stunned—passersby who had been watching the scene from a distance were also in shock. The one who struck Zhou Baogen was a girl, one even more beautiful and striking than Huang Wanqing.

This girl appeared delicate and refined, not someone you would expect could knock down a strong man.

But the reality was surprisingly different.

Zhou Baogen had been knocked down by this girl.

Huang Wanqing, who had been saved, stood frozen for a second before grabbing Qin Qingman and burst into tears. She kept repeating that she did not know Zhou Baogen and his family, and that she had just arrived from the capital to Baicheng to find her brother.

“You’re talking nonsense, you’re clearly my wife.” Zhou Baogen said as he looked at Qin Qingman, showing no trace of guilt. After regaining his composure, he stood up straight.

He had no intention of letting Qin Qingman go, especially after she had walked right into his trap. As he began to come up with a reason to drag her away as well, Qin Qingman spoke.

“I’m from the Hongqi Brigade, Kaoshan Village. My husband is a soldier in the XXX Division. I heard everything you said just now. This matter must be investigated. If there’s no soldier from the XXX Division with a wife like you described, then you’re slandering soldiers, which is a serious crime. You’ll end up in jail.”

Upon hearing Qin Qingman mention her husband from the XXX Division, Zhou Baogen felt as though he had slapped himself.

He had just repeated Huang Wanqing’s words without thinking, and now he regretted it. How dare he confront the XXX Division? He wasn’t suicidal.

“Comrade, you misheard, I…” Zhou Baogen hastily tried to explain.

“Misheard?” Qin Qingman’s eyes turned cold as she stared at Zhou Baogen. “Ask the people around us, did they mishear too? Didn’t they all hear you say that your wife’s lover is a soldier?”

“Being a soldier doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in the XXX Division.” Zhou Baogen replied, sweat starting to bead on his forehead.

He hadn’t expected Qin Qingman to be from this area, and he certainly hadn’t expected her background to be so formidable.

Qin Qingman’s face grew colder in response to Zhou Baogen’s forced explanations. Her voice rose, and she asked loudly, “But just now, this young lady clearly said she was visiting the XXX Division to see her brother!”

“I…” Zhou Baogen panicked.

Especially when he noticed the looks the crowd was giving him, his eyes started darting, and he began to step backward.

Qin Qingman had no intention of letting Zhou Baogen off the hook.

Zhou Baogen’s tricks were well-known in the modern world, and from the moment she had seen him in the car, she had suspected something. From getting out of the car to catching up with him, she had gathered enough information to confirm the truth. Now, she was determined to bring Zhou Baogen to justice.

“This young lady clearly looks like a traveler who just got off the train. You thought she was alone and had no one to pick her up, which is why you dared to try your little scheme. Today, you’re coming with us to the police station. If we don’t get to the bottom of this, more innocent girls will suffer. Maybe it will be strangers, maybe it will be someone’s daughter. This kind of crime only happens in remote, desolate places where people feel they can get away with it.”

“Miss, are you sure you’re not mistaken?” Zhou Baogen stammered.

A woman in the crowd, who had previously spoken up for Zhou Baogen, could hardly believe what she was hearing.

She couldn’t believe her own eyes.

“I really don’t know them. I just got off the train, and I’m not familiar with this place at all.” Huang Wanqing said as she hid behind Qin Qingman, tears streaming down her face.

She clung tightly to Qin Qingman, who was the only person willing to believe her, the only one willing to help her.

“You’re lying. You’re clearly my wife! If you don’t believe me, you can’t possibly not believe a three-year-old child.” Zhou Baogen said, noticing the child in his mother’s arms. He immediately grabbed the child and pulled him into his own arms.

There had been others who had once doubted him, but the child was always the perfect shield.

Seeing Zhou Baogen with the child, the crowd began to waver.

“Child, come here, tell Auntie, who is this person? If you tell the truth, you’ll get candy.” Qin Qingman said, taking a candy from her pocket and waving it in front of the child, while pointing at Huang Wanqing.

A verbal promise was nothing compared to the real temptation of candy.

The child immediately grinned and shook his head, saying, “I don’t know.”

“You little brat, what are you talking about? This is your mother, don’t you recognize your own mother?” Zhang, Zhou Baogen’s mother, quickly covered the child’s mouth, but she was a second too late. She could only hold him in her arms and offer a hasty explanation.

At the same time, she gave her grandson’s backside a warning pinch.

The pinch made the little boy stop speaking, but his eyes were fixed on the candy in Qin Qingman’s hand.

He had told the truth, and he believed Auntie would give him candy.

Qin Qingman had achieved the effect she wanted. There was no going back on her word, and she tossed the candy toward the child in Zhang’s arms.

The child immediately struggled to reach for the candy.

Of course, he didn’t catch it, as Zhang stopped him.

“Someone, help! Grab these two! I suspect they’re human traffickers!” Qin Qingman called out to the crowd for help.

In this time and place, calling someone a trafficker might not invoke as much hatred, but calling someone a “bad guy” was sure to stir people into action.

“You filthy woman, what nonsense are you talking? You’re in cahoots with this thief, trying to tear our family apart! I’m going to fight you!” Zhang shouted.

Seeing that people were starting to get riled up and prepared to help, she quickly set the child down and charged straight at Qin Qingman.

She had planned to sacrifice herself to give her son a chance to escape.

As long as he ran out of the city and into the forest, her son would be safe.

Zhang thought her plan was perfect. She believed she could handle Qin Qingman, but she had forgotten how Qin Qingman had just stopped Zhou Baogen from slapping Huang Wanqing.

Qin Qingman didn’t show mercy just because Zhang was over fifty years old.

Having practiced Taekwondo, she kicked out without hesitation.

A bad person, no matter how old, was still a bad person. There was no reason to treat them differently just because they were elderly.

Qin Qingman’s kick was powerful, knocking Zhang to the ground, unable to get up for a while. Zhang clutched her stomach and kept crying out in pain. Her grandson, terrified, threw himself onto her and began crying loudly.

The sounds of the elderly and the child crying drew even more attention.

Some people who had just exited the train station and didn’t know what had happened rushed over. They arrived too late and only saw Qin Qingman kicking the elderly woman, followed by the cries of both the elderly and the child—such a tragic sight.

“Hey, what are you doing? Why are you hitting an old woman?”

Some people, outraged, pointed at Qin Qingman and charged at her.

At that moment, with a loud thud, Zhou Baogen, who had just managed to escape the crowd, was sent flying several meters and knocked to the ground next to Zhang by a powerful kick from Wei Ling.

Wei Ling’s strength was entirely different from Qin Qingman’s.

With that kick, Zhou Baogen spat out blood.

The blood sprayed in a perfect arc, landing directly on Zhang’s face.

Zhang’s tears, which had been faked, turned genuine.

She was now truly distressed for her son.

Just when Zhang thought someone would step forward to criticize Wei Ling, no one did. Instead, the crowd made way for her.

At that moment, Wei Ling, wearing a green military coat, was carrying Chuchu on her shoulder and walking with the firm stride of a soldier.

The sharp aura she exuded and the gun strapped to her waist immediately commanded the attention and respect of everyone around.

Even Huang Wanqing, terrified, buried her head completely behind Qin Qingman. It was too frightening. This was the scariest person she had ever seen, and it was the first time she had witnessed someone kick another person several meters away. If that kick had landed on her, she wouldn’t have had a chance to survive.

“Move aside, comrades, please make way! The police are here! Let the police decide who’s right and who’s wrong. They’ll definitely clear up the truth!” Just as Huang Wanqing was trembling in fear of Wei Ling, Xiao Shi arrived with officers from the local police station.

This was why Wei Ling had arrived later than Qin Qingman.

The county police station wasn’t far from the train station, and Xiao Shi had rushed over immediately, so they arrived quite quickly.

When Zhou Baogen saw the officers in police uniforms, he rolled his eyes and fainted.

He knew he had gotten himself into deep trouble.

If he had known it would turn out like this, he wouldn’t have provoked Huang Wanqing today.

“Comrade, police comrades, it’s them! I don’t know them! They insisted on taking me away, claiming I’m their runaway daughter-in-law. I have proof, I’m from Beijing, I’m a sent-down youth working here. I really do have relatives in the XXX Division!” Zhou Baogen pleaded, trying to shift the blame.

Huang Wanqing, upon seeing the police, finally felt a sense of relief. She nervously pulled her identification documents from her pocket.

She had been too afraid to take them out earlier, worried they might get torn up, and then she wouldn’t even have a place to cry.

Hearing Huang Wanqing mention she was from Beijing, Qin Qingman and Wei Ling exchanged a glance.

Could it be exactly what they had suspected?

Wei Ling, looking at the calm expression on Qin Qingman’s face, felt uneasy. He truly didn’t recognize her, or else he wouldn’t have failed to identify her until now.

The officer leading the team was named Zheng Xuesong. He took the identification documents from Huang Wanqing and began to examine them.

A minute later, he returned the documents to Huang Wanqing.

“Comrades, this comrade Huang’s identity is legitimate. She did indeed arrive in Baicheng today. I’ve checked her identification and train ticket, and everything matches correctly.” Zheng Xuesong confirmed, using the authority of the police to vouch for Huang Wanqing.

Such verification was genuine and reliable, impossible to fake.

When they heard that Huang Wanqing had no connection with Zhou Baogen, the older women who had mocked Huang Wanqing earlier now turned red-faced with embarrassment.

However, people at that time were different from those in later generations. They had a sense of accountability and courage to face their actions.

With flushed faces, the women who had previously been sarcastic toward Huang Wanqing now apologized and admitted their wrongs to her, while spitting at Zhou Baogen and his mother in disgust.

“These two are so evil! They deceived everyone’s trust!” the women muttered.

The crowd was enraged as they recalled Zhou Baogen and his mother’s deceitful tricks. They were not only frightened but also angry.

If it had been their own daughter who had encountered such villains, would they have escaped their clutches?

Most likely, they wouldn’t have.

“Comrade police, these two are so wicked, they must be severely punished! You must interrogate them properly and see if there are other women who’ve been harmed.” the crowd demanded.

The anger in the crowd was palpable, and if it hadn’t been for the police officers, the mob might have killed Zhou Baogen and his mother with a barrage of snowballs. Even with the officers present, Zhou Baogen and his mother were kicked several times by the furious crowd.

Zheng Xuesong and the other officers had no choice but to turn a blind eye. The wrongdoers had stirred up public anger, and at least the people had the right to vent their frustrations.

This was the kind of police that existed in that era.

As the crowd made way for the officers to escort the criminals, a figure suddenly emerged from the edge of the crowd.

It was a woman with unkempt hair.

She was dressed in ragged clothes, her bones visible, her cheekbones prominent. But her eyes burned with a fiery rage, as if she could set everything ablaze. “Comrade police, I want to accuse Zhou Baogen of illegally imprisoning and raping a sent-down youth! I also want to accuse Zhang Shi of being an accomplice.” the woman shouted.

The woman was Ma Xiuying, the so-called daughter-in-law who had escaped from the Zhou household.

Upon hearing Ma Xiuying’s words, and seeing her tortured, almost unrecognizable appearance, both the police and the crowd were filled with a new level of fury toward Zhou Baogen and his mother.

“Beasts, you deserve to die!” the crowd roared.

Countless feet stamped toward Zhou Baogen and his mother.

Far in the distance, Huang Wanqing, watching Ma Xiuying, suddenly shivered. She grabbed Qin Qingman’s arm tightly.

She thought about herself.

If Qin Qingman hadn’t saved her, she might have shared the same fate as Ma Xiuying.