Chapter 6

“Oh please, Zhang Shufen, stop spouting nonsense. Wang Qiang is lying! How could I have had an affair with your man? Daniu and Erniu are my children with Tieniu,” Zhou Lanhua snapped, her eyes blazing as she glared hatefully at Wang Qiang.

“You accuse me of bearing children with the brigade captain? Why not claim that Daniu and Erniu are yours while you’re at it?”

In this situation, denial was her only choice.

Song Wanyue let out a chuckle.

The crowd burst into laughter with her.

Wang Qiang sneered. “Zhou Lanhua, look at me—do Daniu and Erniu resemble me in the slightest? Everyone, look at them closely. Don’t their mouths and noses look exactly like the captain’s? Even more, don’t they resemble Gu Dahai? Of course they do—brothers often share features.”

He added with mock fright, “I happen to think I’m the best-looking man in the village. Don’t you go framing me. I’m still a pure, untouched bachelor!”

The villagers’ eyes shifted repeatedly between the children and the men.

Cui Hehua roared with laughter. “Wang Qiang’s right! Just look—Daniu and Erniu really do resemble the captain. And Gu Dahai too!”

Song Wanyue raised her voice. “The more you explain, the more guilty you look. The truth is plain as day. Don’t smear an innocent man and ruin his reputation. Who would willingly be saddled with another man’s child?”

The Yang family was furious.

So Zhou Lanhua had brought bastards from another man into their home and lived off them?

Madam Yang cursed, “You shameless, wanton woman! Bringing illegitimate brats into our Yang household. Today you and your brood pack up and leave! I’d rather burn this house down than let you stay another night!”

Though Tieniu hadn’t been her most beloved son, he was still her flesh and blood.

Master Yang’s face darkened. “That’s right. You and those boys share no blood with us. My son is dead, and you’ve brought disgrace. Get out! Return the house and the twenty yuan I gave you when we split the family.”

He was already thinking about striking the boys’ names from the family genealogy.

Yang’s eldest son shook his fist at Zhou Lanhua. “You bitch! All this time you’ve been cuckolding my second brother? Get the hell out of our Yang family!”

Zhou Lanhua burst into tears. “You’re all bullying a helpless widow! Of course you waited until Tieniu died to torment us. Did you collude with Wang Qiang just to smear me and snatch this house back?!”

Song Wanyue thought, Just as I expected. Zhou Lanhua knew how to cry and attack first to defend herself.

Good thing she had already arranged for the Zhang family to fetch Granny Xie, slipping her ten yuan.

Yes—she had paid Wang Qiang and Granny Xie ten yuan upfront, promising another five later. After all, with Gu Weimin being the brigade captain, if he wasn’t crushed completely, he could still wriggle free.

Granny Xie stepped forward hesitantly. “There’s something… I don’t know if I should say it.”

Zhang Jianjun froze mid-puff on his pipe. Another revelation?

He pointed at her. “Go on, old Zhu’s wife. Speak. I’ll back you.”

Granny Xie cast a cautious glance at Zhou Lanhua. “Everyone knows she called me to deliver her babies. That day, only she and her mother were at home. She paid me two yuan, saying the child was premature and frail, couldn’t be taken out, and they still had to receive guests.

But in truth, the child was full-term. The dates never lined up—Tieniu’s death and her pregnancy didn’t match. Erniu was conceived two or three months after Tieniu had already passed.”

The Yang family’s mess was endless. Zhou Lanhua’s liaisons were trouble waiting to happen. Granny Xie had no intention of being dragged into it unnecessarily.

Madam Yang flew into a rage. “Xie Guihua, you vile hag! You dare lie and deceive us? Do you have no conscience?”

But Granny Xie showed not a hint of guilt. “Blame me? You were the mother-in-law. Why didn’t you come help? You knew your daughter-in-law was in labor, but you made excuses to visit your daughter instead. And now you have the gall to scold me? A mother-in-law as heartless as you—I’ve never seen the like!”

Indeed, Madam Yang had always been cold. Because Yang Tieniu had chosen Zhou Lanhua in love instead of marrying her niece as ordered, her attitude toward him had chilled since the wedding.

After Tieniu’s death, she and her husband had gone further, insisting Zhou Lanhua had cursed him to death.

Zhang Jianjun’s face was grim as he turned to Zhou Lanhua. “Well? What do you have to say? Admit it. Daniu and Erniu are Captain Gu Weimin’s children.”

At this point, Zhou Lanhua had no choice.

The Yangs were certain to drive her and the children out.

Her only hope now was to place the burden on the children’s real father.

Like a deflated balloon, she murmured weakly, “Fine. I admit it. Daniu and Erniu are mine and Gu Weimin’s children.”

At her words, Gu Weimin’s legs buckled. Still he tried to deny it. “No! They’re not mine. I have a wife and children already—how could I do such a thing? You just covet my position as captain! Those are not my children!”

But Zhou Lanhua pressed on. “Gu Weimin has a large red birthmark on his left buttock and a black mole on the sole of his right foot.”

At least having a father was better than having none.

Granny Xie beamed. “That’s right! I delivered Weimin—I know it’s true.”

Now let’s see how the mighty captain struts without his title.

If he hadn’t stacked the votes to give the best jobs—scorekeeper and tractor driver—to his relatives, her own son would have gotten the tractor job.

She’d long suspected the Gu family had rigged the results.

Now at sixty-seven, she had already passed the midwife’s work to her daughter-in-law. These days she mostly wandered the village, occasionally taking on work.

Suddenly she slapped her forehead. “Heavens, I just remembered! This past Mid-Autumn Festival night, I saw the captain coming out of Lanhua’s house carrying mooncakes. He said she bought them in the county for him. But I clearly remember the captain went to the county that day himself to buy mooncakes. He lied!”

Zhang Jianjun recalled it too.

“That’s right, old Gu. We went together to buy those mooncakes. So your midnight trip to Lanhua’s house was for an illicit tryst?”

So he had been hiding this from them all along.

Gu Weimin hadn’t expected people to remember such trivial things.

His face pale, he admitted it.

“Yes. Lanhua and I couldn’t resist. She came to me saying Tieniu couldn’t father children and her in-laws bullied her. I scolded the Yangs several times myself, but it never stopped. She wanted children, so she came to me.”

Zhang Shufen went berserk, clawing at Gu Weimin.

“Ahhh! Gu Weimin! I bore you five children! I kept your house, your family! And this is how you repay me? That tramp needed your help, did she? So you helped her right into your bed? Tell me, do you want her or me? Who matters more—me, or Zhou Lanhua?”

She would not yield.

Song Wanyue watched the scene, feeling nothing but satisfaction.

At last, the Gu family was drowning in their own mess, too busy to scheme against her.

As for Zhang Shufen—why pity her? A man’s betrayal was hardly the end of the world.

Song Wanyue sneered: “Aunt Zhang, at this point, do you still care whether your man loves you or not? Even Wei Yanwan had someone comforting her after a quarrel with her husband. And you? Still clinging to scraps? Why not find yourself another man already?”

Men could be ruthless—but she could be even more ruthless.