Old Lady Qin was filled with regret.

If she had known that these bandits were all heartless scoundrels, she would have never brought them to the Song family to steal food.

She could have just let her own Qin family secretly steal it themselves.

As Old Lady Qin was stewing in her frustration, Song Xiangdong turned his gaze toward her, his voice cold and hard:

“Is what they’re saying true?”

The moment Old Lady Qin met Song Xiangdong’s cold, piercing eyes, she shuddered and felt a sinking feeling in her heart.

How could she have forgotten that back when Song Xiangdong was just a teenager, he was already the leader among the boys in the village?

She remembered one winter when Old Man Song went to town to sell cabbages and was punched by some local thugs, making his nose bleed. Young as he was, Song Xiangdong’s face turned ashen with rage and he single-handedly took on seven or eight thugs in town.

Even though he got hurt in the process, the thugs were all beaten so badly that their faces were swollen like pigs.

Recalling the pathetic state of those thugs, Old Lady Qin’s face turned pale and she immediately burst into tears:

“Oh no! Xiangdong, dear nephew, this wasn’t my fault!

It was all that wretched girl’s idea.

That worthless girl told me your family had plenty of food, always eating white steamed buns and rice. She said you all were living well.

At the time, I was starving, and when I heard that, I had evil thoughts.

Xiangdong, dear nephew, my mind was clouded by greed.

I’ve been punished for my wrongdoing, didn’t Sister Chrysanthemum(Juhua) already give me a good beating?

I’ve learned my lesson and I won’t do it again.

Please, forgive me. Can you?”

Old Lady Qin’s face was a mix of snot and tears, making her look utterly pitiful to onlookers.

By now, the villagers had heard the commotion and started gathering around the Song family’s courtyard, forming a dense crowd.

Some of the more soft-hearted villagers, seeing how pitiful Old Lady Qin looked, felt sympathy and spoke up in her defense.

“Xiangdong, Old Lady Qin has admitted her mistake.

Your family shouldn’t hold onto this too tightly.

After all, we’re all from the same village. If there’s something to discuss…”

The busybody man who was rambling on suddenly felt a cold gaze from Song Xiangdong.

“You, come here…”

Uh, what for?

The busybody, confused, stepped forward. Just as he was about to ask why, a sudden iron fist came crashing down on his face.

“What the hell!

Song Xiangdong, you bastard, what was that for?!”

The busybody, now in pain and completely flustered, covered his face and cursed.

Song Xiangdong calmly approached and said in a detached tone.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.

Uncle Ji, look, I’ve admitted my mistake.

Don’t hold it against me. We’re all from the same village.

Whatever the issue is, we can talk it out.”

*Damn it, Song Xiangdong, you dog!*

Old Man Ji was left speechless, his face turning red with frustration. He couldn’t say a word!

What could he say?

He had just told the Song family the same thing and now Song Xiangdong was using his own words to mock him.

What could he do?!

The villagers around him, seeing Old Man Ji’s constipated expression, couldn’t hold back their laughter.

Serves Old Man Ji right!

What business does he have meddling in other people’s affairs?!

It’s one thing to act high and mighty in the village, but now he’s gone and run his mouth at the Song family’s place.

Got beaten up, didn’t he? Serves him right!

The villagers were fed up with Old Man Ji’s meddlesome ways and seeing him get his comeuppance made them feel a sense of justice.

“Fine!

I must’ve had nothing better to do than stick my nose where it didn’t belong!”

Old Man Ji, holding his face in anger, squeezed through the crowd and left.

Meanwhile, Song Wanyue’s small, delicate face was full of excitement.

Hmph.

That nosy old man finally left.

Even a normally sweet girl couldn’t help but feel a little devilish in this moment.

～

Just as Little Devil Song Wanyue was feeling pleased, her father, Song Xiangdong, who had just dealt with Old Man Ji, turned his gaze to her grandmother.

“Mother, how do you think we should handle this?”

Song Xiangdong handed over the decision-making to her mother.

What to do?

Hmph, Old Lady Qin dared to scheme against the Song family!

She shouldn’t expect any mercy!

Chen Juhua didn’t even glance at the now-terrified Old Lady Qin and said sternly,

“Xiangdong. This isn’t something our Song family can decide.

Go and call Jiandang. He’s the brigade leader, it’s his responsibility!”

Hearing Chen Juhua’s words, the villagers couldn’t help but laugh.

Ha, the brigade leader, with his short temper, would surely fly into a rage once he heard about Old Lady Qin’s wicked deeds.

Old Lady Qin is in big trouble now.

Because of her greedy, detestable nature, the villagers of Dahe Mountain despised her.

Seeing her trembling with fear, the villagers tried to stifle their laughter.

The villagers were right, when Song Jiandang found out about this, he nearly leaped out of bed in fury, almost putting his pants on backward. He stormed out of the house, leading a group of strong young men to the Song family’s place, where he unleashed a torrent of scolding on Old Lady Qin and dragged her straight to the brigade headquarters.

With the government cracking down on misconduct, each production brigade was doing its best to maintain a good reputation and ensure that the villagers lived well.

Song Jiandang had just recently assured the commune secretary that the villagers of Dahe Mountain were all honest and decent and that nothing bad would happen.

But right after he said that, Old Lady Qin went and embarrassed him.

Gathering a gang to rob food, how serious is that?!

What a fool, this Old Lady Qin must have been kicked in the head by a donkey!

Song Jiandang was furious for days, making life miserable for Old Lady Qin’s entire family. Not only Old Lady Qin but also her son Qin Dahai, his wife Li Erhua, their daughter Qin Rongrong and their precious grandson Qin Baozhu, every single one of them was dragged to the commune to clean the latrines.

The Qin family had nothing better to do, right?

Fine, they could go clean the public toilets at the commune!

Ah, I’m still too kind-hearted.

This is too easy on the Qin family!

Song Jiandang smugly thought.

The Qin family,

Pfft, What kind of “kind-heartedness” is this?!

Every day, the Qin family, reeking from the stench of the latrines, carried their foul-smelling buckets and dragged themselves through their work.

For Old Lady Qin and Li Erhua, cleaning latrines wasn’t too bad, they were used to such work from fertilizing the fields during busy farming seasons.

But for Qin Dahai and Qin Rongrong, who valued their pride above all else, it was worse than death.

Especially for Qin Rongrong. While Old Lady Qin doted on her precious grandson Qin Baozhu, treating him like a precious decoration, Qin Rongrong not only had to carry the filth but also had to take care of Qin Baozhu.

Day after day, Qin Rongrong returned to the village reeking of filth, seething with anger as she secretly cursed and blamed her fate.

You wretched girl! Song Wanyue!

Curse you to death!

～

While the Qin family was enduring their miserable days, the Song family was enjoying their peaceful life.

That night when Old Lady Qin led a group of village ruffians to the Song family’s place, claiming they had food, it sparked a lot of gossip among the villagers.

Could the Song family really have food?

Otherwise, why would Old Lady Qin go there to rob them?

She wasn’t stupid!

Because of this, some of the villagers began to speculate and they would speak in a snide, sarcastic tone whenever they saw the Song family.

Chen Juhua knew exactly what these fools were thinking, so she deliberately staged a scene where her grandson Song Wenzhe pretended to faint from hunger and then she ran crying through the village asking for help. The villagers, eager for gossip, rushed to see what was happening.

But when they got to the Song family’s place, they saw that the rice jar was so clean that not even a mouse would bother stealing from it.

Their second grandson had fainted from hunger. Where on earth would they get food?!

Where?!

Where from, from heaven, maybe?

Why doesn’t Old Lady Qin just fly to heaven!

From then on, whenever the villagers saw Old Lady Qin returning from the commune carrying a bucket of filth, they would make snide remarks, provoking her into hopping around in frustration.

Pfft,

It was all that wretched girl Qin Rongrong’s fault, just wait until I get home and deal with that little hussy!

～

Day by day, time passed and as July came, the weather in Dahe Mountain grew increasingly hot and the oppressive summer heat set in, worsening the village’s famine.

The once-green mountains had been stripped bare of wild vegetables and fruits by the villagers.

Even so, the villagers could barely manage one meal a day and the starving children would often band together with baskets on their backs, heading to the river behind the mountain to catch fish.

But catching fish in the river was no easy task—after a few encounters with bait, the fish had become wary and would swim around any bait they saw.

The children, frustrated by this, would return home empty-handed, heads hanging low.

As time went on, the children, unable to catch any fish, grew so thin that they resembled bony chicken feet, a sight that saddened the brigade leader Song Jiandang. Driven by desperation, he went to the commune and caused a scene.

As they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Unable to stand Song Jiandang’s pestering, the commune secretary finally found a way to get some sweet potatoes and coarse grains from the higher-ups and sent them to Dahe Mountain.

However, the coarse grains weren’t given for free, the villagers had to help the commune’s emergency repair team build a dike, earning one work point per day.

Only after the famine was over and the commune was more prosperous would these work points be redeemed.

“Those are the terms. Song Jiandang, do you accept them?”

The commune secretary asked with a stern face.

Ha, what’s there to accept? As long as there’s food to eat, we don’t even need work points.

Song Jiandang grinned broadly and returned to Dahe Mountain with a big smile on his face.

His foolish grin even made the secretary laugh.

When he got back to the Dahe Mountain production team, Song Jiandang took a loudspeaker and shouted out the good news to the villagers.

The villagers, overjoyed by the news, cheered and hollered.

Haha, we’ll have food to eat. Let’s get to work!

And so, the commune’s coarse grains filled the villagers’ bellies and with full stomachs, they enthusiastically went to the commune’s emergency repair team to help build the dike every day.

While the village’s strong laborers worked on the dike, the women at home busied themselves with cooking and fetching water.

In the sweltering summer heat, working under the scorching sun all day, the men in the village turned red as lobsters and became terribly thirsty.

One day, as usual, it was another unbearably hot day and Chen Juhua, along with her daughters-in-law, boiled some water at home and handed it to Song Wanyue and Little Wenhao to carry to the men working on the dike.

Cicadas were buzzing incessantly in the sycamore trees outside, and Song Wanyue, wearing a small straw hat, led her little brother Wenhao as they headed toward the dike, completely unaware of the shadowy figure following them.

Qin Rongrong’s eyes were filled with malice as she trailed behind the siblings, her mind filled with sinister thoughts. When they reached the slope leading down to the dike, she would rush forward and push Song Wanyue down into the river!

Drown her!

Qin Rongrong waited and waited until finally, Song Wanyue, with her small basket on her back, began to descend the slope toward the dike. Seizing the moment, Qin Rongrong charged forward and with all her strength, shoved Song Wanyue.

“Fifth Sister! Wah!”

Caught off guard, Song Wanyue let go of her grip on Wenhao, sending the little boy flying. Terrified, he burst into tears as he watched his sister tumble down the slope.

Song Wanyue rolled down the hill, her tender skin scraping painfully against the sharp stones on the dike. Her head hit a large rock with a sharp pain, and just as she was about to black out, a figure dashed toward her.

She fell into a cool, refreshing embrace.

“Brother Chen Chuan?”

Before she lost consciousness, the last thing the little girl saw was the boy’s cold, dark eyes, so close to her.

What is going on?!

Seeing this, Qin Rongrong’s face twisted with envy and hatred.

—