Chapter 124: A Curious Mindset—What Do You Want?

All the women looked confused.

At that moment, one of the women, who was holding a one-year-and-two-month-old child, suddenly heard a few loud plop plop sounds coming from the baby’s bottom. Almost immediately, a foul smell spread through the already noisy room.

“So stinky…”

“I’m so sorry, my baby pooped his pants. I’m really sorry, I’ll take him out right now to change him.”

The woman holding the baby hurried out. But the lingering odor didn’t disperse right away. The rest of the women covered their mouths one after another, complaining as they fanned the air.

Song Hongmei couldn’t help but laugh at the way they were all frowning and covering their noses. She remarked,

“If you can’t even handle a little smell like this, then don’t be curious about how a cow gives birth to a calf. That smell is way worse. Cows poop while giving birth too. Only Chu-meizi could endure it without even flinching.”

As soon as she said that, the women’s mouths opened in shock, their eyes full of complex emotions they couldn’t quite put into words.

The image in their minds was too vivid—they didn’t dare imagine it any further.

When their eyes turned toward Chu Yue again, their expressions had changed completely. Their previous confusion turned into open admiration.

Xia Xiaolan suddenly had a realization and said,
“No wonder the other day when Comrade Chu and Commander Lu came back, they both smelled awful. So that’s what it was about.”

“Chu-meizi, you’re amazing. You could stand all that? If it were me, I’d probably have puked on the spot…”

The conversation buzzed back and forth. The women all claimed they couldn’t stand it, yet gathered around Chu Yue, asking nonstop about the details. Maybe this was just human nature—the curiosity for things strange or grotesque.

Song Hongmei, clearly very pleased, looked at Chu Yue and said,
“Chu-meizi, what you did was a big deal. You protected a valuable asset of the Shilin Village commune. On behalf of the organization, I commend you. If you have any requests—so long as they’re within reason—I can agree to them.”

With those words, the women’s admiration for Chu Yue turned into envy.

That was a promise from Song Hongmei—something countless people begged for but never got.

Chen Fengying said,
“If I were you, Chu-meizi, I’d ask for an honorary certificate and hang it on the wall. Everyone who visits your house would see it. So impressive!”

Zheng Yue’e added,
“Honorary certificates are nice and all, but they can’t be eaten. I say go for something practical. Back in my village, when someone was named a Model Laborer, they gave out pork. Chu-meizi, why don’t you ask for two jin of pork?”

“Does Chu-meizi look like someone who’d care about pork? I still say go with the certificate!”

“I say pork is better! Two jin can last a whole month! Nothing beats pork!”

“Certificate!”

“Pork!”

Chu Yue hadn’t said a word yet, and the women were already breaking into two arguing camps.

She quickly spoke up to calm them down,
“Sisters, thank you for your kind thoughts. But I don’t need an honorary certificate, and I don’t want pork either. What I did doesn’t deserve a certificate, and if I want to eat pork, I can just buy it myself.”

Song Hongmei, being a seasoned revolutionary, instantly knew from Chu Yue’s tone that she had more to say.

She leaned in and asked,
“Then what do you want?”

Chu Yue’s smile faded, her expression turning serious.

“Sister Song, I’d like you to help uphold justice,” she said firmly.
“I’m sure you’ve heard about why I ended up at the old site of Shilin Village that night.”

Speaking of this matter, Song Hongmei’s expression also turned serious.

“Mm, Han Shi went to investigate it, and he reported everything to me afterward.”

Chu Yue continued,

“Sister Song, there are so many families in our compound—nearly 70 to 80 percent have children. Now that there’s actually been a human trafficker found among our neighbors, how can we feel at ease?
What if one day my little Yuanbao disappears? I’ll definitely suspect Li Jinhua, and there will be conflict.
Sister Song, I know I haven’t been in the compound for long, I don’t have much seniority… but we’ll be putting down roots here for decades to come.
All we want is a safe environment.”

Song Hongmei’s tone grew heavy.

“You mean…?”

“Please ask Li Jinhua to leave the compound and return to her hometown.”

Chu Yue said bluntly, stating her request outright.

Song Hongmei looked up and glanced at the other sisters-in-law around them. She asked,

“What about the rest of you? What do you think? Say your piece.”

But at this moment, all the sisters-in-law became timid one by one.

After all, anything said in this room in the morning could reach Li Jinhua’s ears by the afternoon.

Everyone had heard clearly how that shrew Li Jinhua had cursed out Chu Yue. Yet Chu Yue had acted as if she was completely unaffected, not caring at all, not getting angry, just letting Li Jinhua rant and rave through the whole compound.

None of them wanted to be the first to stick their neck out, so one after another, they kept their mouths shut.

Only Chen Fengying had a bit of courage. She echoed Chu Yue’s words:

“I think Chu Yue is right. As long as Li Jinhua stays, there won’t be peace in the compound. Let her go back to wherever she came from.”

As soon as she finished, a few others nodded slightly in agreement.

Seeing everyone’s reactions, Song Hongmei understood the sentiment.

“I’ve heard your opinions. But I need to discuss this with Commander Zhou first. It’s not something I can decide right away.
All of you, just live your lives peacefully—don’t overthink it.”

“Mm. With you here, Sister Song, we feel reassured.”

Before long, the sisters-in-law left after offering their New Year’s greetings.

At this point, Chu Yue’s plan was about 70% complete.
The remaining 30% depended on Song Hongmei—after all, the final say on whether Li Jinhua stayed or left was in her hands.

---

But that very afternoon, an unexpected event occurred, one that completely pushed Li Jinhua’s situation to the brink—and accelerated Chu Yue’s plan.

There was a sister-in-law in the compound named Yang Jiuhong, who had a four-year-old son named Ping’an. The child suddenly went missing.

“Ping’an? Ping’an? My Ping’an is missing!”

Yang Jiuhong searched the entire compound, but no matter where she looked, she couldn’t find her son. In the end, she stormed off to confront Li Jinhua directly:

“My Ping’an is missing! Did you take him? Give me back my son!”

“Yang Jiuhong, are you insane? What does your missing child have to do with me, Li Jinhua?”

“What does it have to do with you? It has everything to do with you! Li woman, you even dared to sell your own granddaughter—who knows if you’ve set your eyes on my kid now?
My Ping’an is chubby, good-looking, and a boy. Maybe you saw money in him and decided to sell him too?”

Li Jinhua spat forcefully on the ground.

“You crazy woman, what nonsense are you spewing?! If your son’s gone, that’s just your bad luck. What’s it got to do with me?”

That sentence completely set off Yang Jiuhong.

Usually, Yang Jiuhong was one of the most mild and obedient military wives in the compound, barely noticeable, never the type to argue or fight.

But as the saying goes: “A mother becomes fierce for her child.”

For the sake of her son, Yang Jiuhong was capable of doing anything!