Chapter 9

I have to say, Luan Yingjie and Qin Feng are really skilled at diverting attention and manipulating public opinion.

Seeing how confidently and aggressively they spoke, the onlooking villagers were all led by the nose, believing that Yun Angé was using Qin Lingnian’s influence to take revenge on Luan Yingjie.

Of course, Qin Lingnian didn’t think that way.

But seeing Yun Angé remain so calm, he believed she could handle it.

Still, he was especially curious—and even a bit expectant—about how this woman would turn the tables in such a dire situation!

Yun Angé curled her lips slightly, her eyes filled with contempt. Qin Feng and Luan Yingjie truly were a perfect match. In that case, she wished them bound together for all eternity—never to be separated.

“Qin Feng,” she said, voice sharp, “you claim to be a teacher, someone who educates and nurtures others, and yet you lie with such ease? Lying is one thing, but couldn’t you at least have written a script beforehand?! Luan Yingjie didn’t transfer from the commune tool shed to become a substitute teacher until late December of 1970 in the Gregorian calendar, but I ‘married’ Lingnian on November 2nd of that year…”

As Yun Angé said this, Qin Feng finally realized her blunder. Her smug expression disappeared in an instant, and she lowered her gaze, no longer daring to glare at Yun Angé with disdain.

Not only did Qin Lingnian notice Qin Feng’s guilty conscience, but a few sharp-eyed, observant villagers picked up on it too.

And after hearing what Yun Angé said next, more and more people began to believe that Qin Feng had indeed lied without even thinking it through.

“Everyone in the surrounding villages knows that my mother-in-law is kind and loving, treating me like her own daughter. The monthly stipends that Lingnian sends home are always handed over to me to manage. Seeing that I’m delicate and not in good health, my mother-in-law never let me work in the fields or do housework. With such a good mother-in-law and husband, I didn’t need to work at all. I lived a life of comfort and luxury at home.

Also, everyone knows that I, Yun Angé, am famously pampered and lazy. With a husband who dotes on me and a mother-in-law who spoils me, how could someone like me possibly hold a job? A substitute teacher at the village school has to stand for seven or eight hours a day. Be honest, could someone as delicate and lazy as me endure that kind of hardship?!”

Though nobody dared to openly speak against Qin Feng—since her father was the village head—a number of older women nodded in agreement with Yun Angé, and some younger wives whispered among themselves. Fragments of their gossip drifted through the crowd:

“She’s been waited on her whole life. Just walking a few steps gives her sore feet…”

“She’s so lazy she won’t even empty her own chamber pot…”

“The moment winter arrived, she refused to get out of bed because it was too cold. She even had Mingyue bring her meals to bed…”

Seeing that Yun Angé was about to turn the situation around, Qin Feng grew both anxious and furious. She exchanged several furtive glances with Luan Yingjie, confirming that there was no IOU. Then, stiffening her neck, she yelled:

“Yun Angé, whether you forced Yingjie to give up his job, only you know. If there’s no evidence and you refuse to admit it, we can’t do anything to you. But you must’ve written an IOU for the money you lent him, right? Then show us the IOU!”

Yun Angé gave a cold snort from her nose—though soft, it was dripping with contempt. “Luan Yingjie, Qin Feng, you’re only being this arrogant because I don’t have an IOU, right?

But every single penny Luan Yingjie borrowed from me—I remember it all clearly… I don’t have time right now to list every loan, so I’ll just tell you about the ones from this year…

On the 2nd day of the second lunar month, it was Qin Feng’s birthday. On the day before, Luan Yingjie borrowed 20 yuan from me to buy her a pair of black leather shoes at the county’s supply store.”

At this moment, everyone’s eyes turned to look at the black leather shoes on Qin Feng’s feet—indeed, the same pair Luan Yingjie gave her for her birthday.

Even in rural areas, no matter how well-off a family might be, people didn’t usually wear leather shoes. Qin Feng was the first woman in all the nearby villages to do so, and many still remembered how proudly she had shown them off…

She strutted around the village the entire day in those shiny heels with her pants rolled up, proudly proclaiming they were a birthday gift from Luan Yingjie.

“At the end of March—I can’t remember the exact day—there was a sudden cold snap. Qin Feng caught a cold, and Luan Yingjie borrowed 5 yuan from me to buy her two cans of yellow peach preserves and two jin of sponge cake…”

“In mid-May, the weather got hot. Lingnian happened to send me two summer dresses. Luan Yingjie begged me to sell one to him. Since Lingnian said the dress could count as a meeting gift for Luan Yingjie, I didn’t ask him for money…”

“In early July, Luan Yingjie borrowed another 10 yuan—he wanted to take Qin Feng to the county…”

“That’s enough! Yun Angé, that’s enough!” Luan Yingjie shouted, his face turning green with rage, his whole body shaking.

He claimed to be angry because Yun Angé was lying, but to the crowd, he looked like someone ashamed and enraged by being exposed.

Ever since Qin Feng snagged the dashing and widely admired “number one scholar among the educated youth,” Luan Yingjie, she never stopped showing him off. Every time he tricked something out of Yun Angé and gifted it to her, she would flaunt it everywhere…

“People in big cities really know how to celebrate. Just look at how grand he made my birthday—he even went to the county to buy me leather shoes!”

“I just had a cold for a few days and lost my appetite, and Yingjie got all worried, said I looked thinner, and bought peach preserves and sponge cake to nourish me.”

“Yingjie even wrote to his mom about us. She liked me so much she went to the overseas store to buy me a dress that only foreign guests can wear…”

So even though Yun Angé had no IOU, everything she mentioned matched Qin Feng’s boasts—and even Qin Feng herself began to believe that the money must have come from Yun Angé. The others were even more convinced.

Even if Luan Yingjie had become a substitute teacher at the village school—and even got officially hired last month—his salary and subsidy weren’t enough to feed himself, let alone buy all those things for Qin Feng.

Meanwhile, Yun Angé had long managed the finances of Qin Lingnian’s household. With a generous monthly stipend, she had plenty of money.

Though the villagers didn’t like Yun Angé, they weren’t brainless. A little deduction revealed the truth.

Yun Angé looked at the flustered Luan Yingjie, then glanced at the ashamed and furious Qin Feng—her face alternating between red and pale—and suppressed the joy bubbling inside.

“Luan Yingjie, I don’t blame you for being dishonest—I only blame myself for being stupid. Since you say that without an IOU, you won’t pay me back, then I’ll take it as a lesson I paid for with money. At least now I know the meaning of the phrase ‘a fair face may hide a foul heart.’”

The crowd let out a collective sigh. Though no one dared accuse Luan Yingjie outright—out of fear for Qin Feng’s connections—the looks they threw him were as sharp as slaps to the face, as if they were smacking him swollen.

“You… You…” Luan Yingjie had never been so humiliated in his 22 years of life. He had no idea Yun Angé had such a sharp tongue.

He didn’t realize she could be so ruthless and cold toward him. He took several deep breaths to calm himself and stared at Yun Angé with eyes full of both disappointment and anger.

“Yun Angé, I misjudged you… Tell me, how much do I owe you? Give me an exact number. I’ll pay every last cent. After that, we’ll be done. No more ties between us…”

At that moment, Luan Yingjie no longer feared the quietly watching Qin Lingnian. He stared at Yun Angé with a heartbroken and devastated expression.

But he didn’t truly mean to repay the debt—it was just a veiled threat!

He still had this delusional belief that Yun Angé loved him. He thought she was only doing this for wealth, to avoid being bullied, to please Qin Lingnian—so she deliberately cut ties with him.

Surely someone had badmouthed them to Qin Lingnian, claiming she and Luan Yingjie had an improper relationship. And to maintain his pride as a man, Qin Lingnian forced Yun Angé to publicly shame him and break off all contact.

Yes, that must be it.

Yun Angé loved him so much—she would never humiliate him publicly unless Qin Lingnian had forced her.

Just like he himself liked Yun Angé—but to escape hardship and live a better life, he had to start dating Qin Feng. Sometimes he had no choice but to scold Yun Angé

in front of Qin Feng and publicly denounce her.

Still, even if he understood her pain and helplessness, he hated that she humiliated him just to please Qin Lingnian.

All these years, every time Yun Angé found out he gave the things he tricked out of her to Qin Feng—whether food or clothes—she would argue with him for days. And every time, he would threaten to break up, forcing her to apologize.

So this time, he would teach her a real lesson!

Once Qin Lingnian left, he’d make her get down on her knees and beg for his forgiveness—licking his dirty feet if she had to!