Chapter 32

“You’re not going over there?”

Jiang Henián looked up at He Jinshan and asked in a low voice.

He Jinshan stood in the shadows, glancing at the sun-drying ground ahead where a yellow lamp had been set up and more and more people were gathering.

“Go ahead.”

Jiang Henián was a little surprised.

Could it be… he brought me here on purpose?

Seeing He Jinshan’s furrowed brows, she looked down at his slightly bent right leg and suddenly understood.

He must be in pain from walking. Seeing such a dense crowd, he probably changed his mind about going.
His leg still couldn’t bear prolonged standing, and who knows how long this so-called all-village meeting would last. Better not go—might get bumped into.

“Then be careful on your way back, don’t walk too fast. If it starts hurting, just sit by the roadside and rest for a bit.”

Jiang Henián lowered her eyes and gave careful instructions, still a little worried.

Normally, with such a serious injury, it would be impossible to walk around like this just ten days later. For others, even being able to sit up and move their leg would be a miracle.

Although the two of them had many unusual circumstances, they still couldn’t be careless. What if he ended up with lasting aftereffects?

She stood there quietly nagging, completely forgetting who it was that carried her back all the way home before, steady and strong, even while kissing her breathless and catching her mid-jump without stumbling.

He Jinshan held back a barely visible smile and nodded toward the path ahead.

“Can you see the rest of the way?”

Jiang Henián nodded. With some light ahead, she could see the road.

“San Ya?”

“What are you standing there for! Where have you been fooling around again? Get over here now!”

A sharp and angry voice cut in.

Jiang Henián quickly took a few steps back, hiding her hands behind her and discreetly waved goodbye. Before Wang Chunfang could rush over to pick a fight, she turned and walked toward the sun-drying field.

She and He Jinshan had been standing too close. If someone saw, in this era, even eight mouths wouldn’t be enough to explain it away.

He Jinshan leaned against a tree in the shadows, arms crossed, his cold gaze sweeping over the fierce-looking farmwife who glared when Jiang Henián walked past.

The drying field was packed with people.

Some squatted on firewood chatting while chewing on dry tobacco, some gnawed at steamed buns, others twisted straw rope in their hands, a few held babies, and some even brought their rice bowls to eat while squatting by the curb. It was bustling with activity…

Jiang Henián ignored Wang Chunfang’s glaring and went straight to the edge of the field under a tree where there were fewer people.

She had no interest in getting yelled at. It would be the same things again—scolding her for not going home to feed the pigs and shovel manure, or for getting docked work points today. She was tired of hearing it.

After resisting and talking back a few times, her vicious stepmother, who used to pick on the weak, could now only bark.

Speaking of which, ever since Jiang Yanqiu broke off her engagement, the atmosphere in the Jiang family had been downright strange.

Jiang Chengmin smoked with a dark face every day, Wang Chunfang was like a menopausal lunatic yelling at anyone in sight, daughter-in-law Lu Shuying was so upset she wouldn’t even leave her room with her baby, and even Jiang Yanqiu, who had gotten what she wanted, wore a sour stepmother face every day and got scolded constantly by Wang Chunfang.

Probably because they had no way to return the 100 yuan bride price to the He family, everyone was secretly scheming.

Jiang Henián smirked.

Good. No one’s bothering her.

Everyone could enjoy their own bright future.

…

After a while, the village secretary Zhang Likun finally put down his tea mug and stood up to speak, following an exaggerated welcome speech from Ding Guangsheng.

This so-called all-village meeting was really just dragging a red-painted desk out of the team office and setting it up in the drying field to make it look official.

Everyone was used to it by now.

While the secretary was talking, people quietly slowed their activities, stuffed buns in their mouths all at once to show some respect.

“…This time, Shuiquan Village suffered heavy losses from a wolf pack attack—four cattle dead, fifteen sheep gone, eight pigs mauled, thirty other animals injured, and among villagers: one dead and five wounded. Only three wolves were killed. This is the most serious wolf attack our Wulin Town has seen in forty years and must be taken seriously!”

Wulin Town was a mountain town in northern China, consisting of three villages: Huagou, Caojia, and Shuiquan, with the town center located over ten kilometers away, outside the mountains.

All three villages bordered the Wuling Mountains.

Wuling Mountain wasn’t a single peak but a range of continuous mountains. No one knew how vast or deep it truly was. Those who ever tried to venture deep inside had never returned.

The outer areas close to the villages weren’t dangerous. People often went to gather firewood or wild vegetables and mushrooms, sometimes even caught wild game.

But crossing over into the inner mountains—few dared. The trees were tall and thick, blocking out all sunlight. It was easy to get lost, poisonous fog could rise without warning, and venomous snakes and ferocious beasts lurked deep within.

Many years ago, hunters would enter the mountain to hunt, but ever since a renowned old hunter disappeared a decade ago, no one had dared to take that risk again.

Decades ago, wolves from Wuling Mountain occasionally roamed nearby—fierce and with glowing green eyes.

Later, during disaster years, wolf extermination campaigns drove the surviving wolves back deep into the mountains. There hadn’t been sightings for years.

No one knew why they had started showing up again. And today, at noon, an actual pack stormed into the village like they were starving, hunting wildly.

It took only half a day before all surrounding villages knew.

Now, holding this night meeting under lights had everyone a little anxious. The crowd below began murmuring:

“With all that food in the deep forest, why would wolves come down the mountain to steal?”

“Things have been strange lately. Didn’t the He family go into the mountains a while back and—”

The speaker got elbowed by someone next to him.

Everyone knew: about half a month ago, the He family’s youngest son, a soldier, had returned and was nearly killed by a wolf at the village entrance.

What’s more, the engagement with the Jiang family’s stepdaughter had already been broken off even while he lay bleeding on the kang. The Jiang family had rushed over to call it off, and the poor guy had agreed, probably heartbroken.

Sure, being disabled meant not wanting to hold the girl back, but still—the timing was questionable.

It was said the He family’s old matriarch had cursed for three days and nights in the yard after hearing the news. She nearly dumped a bucket of manure at the Jiang family’s door.

Wang Chunfang wasn’t someone to be messed with either. She went around saying the He family was heartless and brought bad luck, ruining her daughter’s future.

Former in-laws turning to enemies—villagers had a field day gossiping and still wondered whether the bride price had been returned.

The villages nearby were all dirt poor. Even their pockets were cleaner than their trousers. Twenty years ago, a 180-yuan bride price was sky-high and a great source of bragging rights.

Even now, many arranged marriages were sealed with just a few yuan, a strip of pork, and two jars of pickled melon before the girl moved in.

Now the He family’s boy still lay at the foot of the mountain, never even seen in public since. Poor guy.

At 28, in this state, it’d be even harder to find a wife.

At tonight’s meeting, the He family stood on the far left and the Jiang family on the far right—opposite corners, as far away from each other as possible.

When someone blurted out a reminder, everyone’s faces darkened.

Old Lady He clutched her handkerchief and let out a cold snort. Zhang Fengying quickly supported her mother-in-law, soothing her gently.

The He family’s second daughter-in-law, Zhang Lijuan, sat on a small stool her husband had brought, heavily pregnant, sewing little tiger shoes for the “golden egg” in her belly like none of it concerned her.

Jiang Henián cast a few glances and calmly sized up the awkward-looking He family members. Then she leaned back against the tree, crossed her arms, and half-closed her eyes.

Village meetings were basically just group gossip sessions. Someone shouts, the leader talks, the crowd yells ten times louder. It never ends.

She’d been exhausted lately. The shouting of the village aunts and uncles was practically white noise at this point, lulling her toward sleep. Her eyelids were starting to droop.