Chapter 6 Kneel down and admit your mistake?

Zhao Hang was utterly baffled, but that kick from Chang Suisui had really hurt. Now even breathing made his stomach ache terribly.
“Chang Suisui, what the hell are you going crazy for?” he shouted, shielding Chang Meili in his arms, his face full of accusation, as if she were being completely unreasonable.

Even if she were jealous of Chang Meili, she shouldn’t have embarrassed him like that in front of everyone. All it would do is push him further away. If only she acted a bit more like Chang Meili—soft and sweet—how could he not side with her?

Seeing this, Chang Meili nestled deeper into Zhao Hang’s embrace, sniffling and sobbing as she said weakly,
“Cousin, I know you don’t like me being with Brother Hang… If you’re upset, I… I can…”

“Meili, what are you saying?” Zhao Hang frowned deeply.
“She’s clearly the one in the wrong. Why are you apologizing to her? If she doesn’t kneel and admit she’s wrong today, I won’t let this go!”

Chang Suisui’s lips twitched. Listening to them talk to themselves like this made her want to laugh in disbelief.
How full of themselves were these two? Kneel and apologize? Not let it go?

The crowd around them began whispering and commenting.

“That poor little Chang Meili… bullied by her cousin since they were young. Even after being sent down here, she still can’t catch a break.”
“Chang Suisui is really something—chasing after Zhao Hang even though it’s obvious he doesn’t like her. She’s so pitiful it’s embarrassing.”
“Ugh, throwing yourself at someone who doesn’t want you? That’s just pathetic!”

A chorus of voices echoed through the sent-down youth commune. Almost everyone was siding with Zhao Hang and Chang Meili, and many were blaming Chang Suisui for interfering with a “true love.”

Hearing all the mocking and harsh words made Chang Meili inwardly smug.
So what if Chang Suisui could hit people now? Still dumb as a rock.
Everything was going according to her plan.

“Cousin, don’t blame Brother Hang—it’s all my fault. If you want to hit someone, hit—”
Before Chang Meili could finish, she saw the look in Chang Suisui’s eyes suddenly change. She flinched.

Remembering how Chang Suisui’s slaps came with terrifying accuracy, she quickly changed her words.
“If you want to hit someone, just beat us both to death! Whatever makes you happy—boo hoo hoo…”

Zhao Hang, seeing Chang Meili putting on such a pitiful act, felt his pride burn.
Holding her in his arms, he turned to Chang Suisui and yelled,
“Chang Suisui, if you have a problem, take it out on me! Don’t make things hard for Meili. We—AHHH!!!”

Before he could finish, Chang Suisui picked up a firewood switch and started whipping him.

“Coming at you, huh?”
“Deeply in love, are we?”
“Putting on airs, right?! Damn it, I hate people who act all high and mighty in front of me!”

She lashed him while cursing, the blows so painful that Zhao Hang rolled around on the ground, screaming.
He’d grown up in the compound, soft and spoiled—he had never suffered like this.
After just a few strikes, he was in full panic. When he tried to snatch the switch from Chang Suisui, she beat him even harder.

In no time, this grown man was curled up, crying like a child.
Chang Meili stood nearby, frozen like a quail, too scared to even step in.
Because she knew, if she dared say even one word, she’d be the one crying next.

Chang Suisui had gone insane—completely insane!

The other sent-down youths had clearly noticed too, and several of them rushed off to find the village chief.

“What’s going on here?!”

When the village chief arrived, he found Chang Suisui calmly twirling a willow switch, sitting atop the stone mill in the commune’s courtyard.
He froze.

He’d met this young woman before—quiet, reserved, not one to speak much.
The Chang family had asked him to look after both girls when they were sent down, and since Chang Meili was also his son’s fiancée, he’d paid special attention.

He had been alarmed when he heard that one of the Chang girls had gone mad at the commune—he assumed someone had bullied her.
But now it looked like she was the one doing the bullying.

Seeing the village chief arrive, Chang Suisui hopped off the millstone.
The crowd instinctively backed away several steps, afraid she might start swinging again.

“Village Chief, you’ve got to help Zhao Hang!” Chang Meili ran toward him like she’d found her savior. “He’s about to be beaten to death by Chang Suisui!”

The village chief’s brow creased.
He looked at Chang Meili with visible disapproval and took a step back.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this. There’s no need to overreact, little Chang.”

His gaze toward Chang Meili clearly carried disdain.
He knew full well how she’d been getting close to Zhao Hang despite being engaged to his son.
He would never have allowed her to marry into their family if it weren’t for the arranged engagement.

Chang Suisui knew the village chief was a good man, which was why she allowed others to go fetch him.
Now that he was here, and everyone had gathered, she walked up to him with tears welling up in her eyes.

“Village Chief, thank god you’re here. That heartless Zhao Hang has been carrying on with my cousin behind my back. I want to report them for having an affair!”

Gasps echoed across the commune.

“What does she mean, ‘behind her back’? Does she and Zhao Hang have a thing?”
“Isn’t Chang Meili engaged to the village chief’s son? But she’s been flirting with Zhao Hang all the time!”
“Even if Chang Meili is messing around, Chang Suisui shouldn’t slander Zhao Hang like that.”

The murmurs rippled through the crowd, making Chang Meili’s heart pound with panic.
She had only used Zhao Hang to get a permit to return to the city—her real interest was in Xie Jianguo.
If the village chief found out about her entanglement with Zhao Hang, she’d be ruined!

Just as she was about to clarify that she and Zhao Hang were just like siblings, Zhao Hang suddenly shouted,

“Meili and I are truly in love! The engagement with you was arranged by our elders. This is a new society—why should I accept an arranged marriage?!”

Chang Meili wanted to strangle Zhao Hang right then and there.
If he’d denied it, there would’ve been nothing Chang Suisui could do.

But now that he shouted it, everyone knew he was originally engaged to Chang Suisui—and that she was the homewrecker!

How was she supposed to face Xie Jianguo now?

Damn Zhao Hang! Damn Chang Suisui!

Chang Meili bit her lip hard, but now she couldn’t explain anything.
She could only hold on and find a chance to explain to Xie Jianguo later.

Chang Suisui looked at Zhao Hang coldly, lips curved in a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“True love, huh?”

Zhao Hang visibly flinched.
After the beating earlier, he now had a trauma response to those two words: “huh?”