Chapter 1: Caught in the Sorghum Field

June.

The sky had brightened early.

The commune members had only just started work when, deep in the sorghum fields at the foot of the mountain behind Red Star Brigade of Qinghe Commune, chaos erupted.

Tang Zhen had just knocked out a young intellectual who was attempting something indecent and thrown him down a small slope by the edge of the field.

But as he turned around, what he saw made his breath catch Tang Tian was tugging at her own clothes.

“Ugh… So hot…” Tang Tian whimpered, as if trapped inside a furnace. Her whole body flushed and feverish, she tore at her clothes, then started pulling at her undershirt.

Her porcelain-white hands tugged with such force the veins stood out, twisting her thin vest out of shape and exposing a trembling patch of snowy skin.

Just as she managed to cool down a little, a shirt draped over her shoulders, bringing with it the crisp, minty scent of a man.

Like a little puppy catching the scent of meat, Tang Tian instantly clung to him, rubbing against his chest.

Not stopping there, she wrapped her arms around his neck, rubbing her face against his cheek, placing scattered, messy kisses with her warm lips.

But the fire in her body only burned hotter. Tears welled in her eyes as she cried out, “It hurts… it’s unbearable…”

Tang Zhen, whose face had been kissed over and over, stiffened. He wrapped his torn shirt back around her, trying to cover her up.

But Tang Tian wasn’t cooperative at all her small hands roamed freely over his body.

“I don’t feel good…” she pouted, her delicate face unnaturally flushed. Her teary almond-shaped eyes were misty, and her red lips looked like ripe cherries begging to be picked.

Her soft body pressed tightly against him, but no amount of writhing eased her suffering. Growing desperate, she suddenly bit down on his Adam’s apple, grinding her teeth in frustration.

“Ahh…”

Her soft moans, laced with tears, were a pitiful plea for comfort.

Tang Zhen’s eyes darkened instantly. His sharp, chiseled features tightened, a dangerous storm gathering in the depths of his gaze like a wild beast slamming against its cage.

In a single moment of distraction, Tang Tian tackled him, knocking him flat and crushing a patch of sorghum.

With the upper hand, Tang Tian immediately went for his buttons. When they didn’t come undone, she angrily tugged at them. When tugging didn’t work, she tried biting them.

And she bit hard.

Tang Zhen winced in pain, finally pushing her small face away with one large hand that easily covered her cheek.

“Sweetie…”

“Be good… just hold on,” he murmured hoarsely, holding her tightly. It took all his strength to restrain the feverish girl. He was drenched in sweat it was harder than facing ten knife-wielding criminals barehanded.

But just as he finished speaking, she leaned in and sealed his lips with hers, her little tongue slipping in. That was almost his breaking point.

She clung to him like an octopus, kissing with fervor, the only way to keep her from struggling.

Helpless, Tang Zhen forced himself to focus. He reached into his military-green shoulder bag and pulled out an aluminum lunchbox.

To calm her down, he flipped her over, pinned her beneath him, and quickly pulled down her pants. A blinding flash of white hit his eyes. Feeling restrained, Tang Tian began to struggle again.

“Be good. Don’t move,” he soothed in a husky voice, then swiftly pulled out a pair of tweezers, grabbing an alcohol-soaked cotton ball to disinfect her skin.

He followed with a syringe prepped in advance. The moment the needle pierced her skin, the girl let out a tearful cry of pain.

After injecting the medicine, he pressed a cotton ball to the spot. Her soft skin sank beneath his fingers, the touch tender and warm, yet it made Tang Zhen tremble.

So close.
He almost didn’t make it in time.

After the injection, Tang Tian grew drowsy. Her ear rested against his chest, lulled to sleep by the steady thump of his heartbeat.

Though Tang Tian was asleep, the trouble wasn’t over. Outside the sorghum field, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed faintly.

Tang Zhen hurriedly dressed her, carefully checking the area for anything left behind. Then, carrying the unconscious girl, he dashed out of the field and took a roundabout path toward the Tang household.

Luckily, most of the villagers had been summoned to the sorghum field to “catch the adulterers.” Taking a side path, Tang Zhen didn’t run into anyone.

The Tang house was quiet. The main gate was locked.

Tang Zhen took the key from around Tang Tian’s neck, unlocked the door, carried her into her room, stripped off her soiled clothes, dressed her in clean ones, and tucked her into bed.

He fetched water to wash her face and hands, even combed her hair neatly.

Only after handling every detail did he finally step out and relock the door.

He let out a heavy sigh of relief but his expression quickly turned icy, and he rushed back toward the sorghum field.

Before long, the Tang family’s door was opened again.

“Sweetie? Sweetie…”

Tang Tian stirred awake at the sound of someone calling her. With great effort, she opened her eyes to see her birth mother, Liu Guifang, leaning over her with a look of pure relief.

Outside, there was a ruckus. Words like “adulterers,” “molestation,” and “criminal” could be faintly heard.

Tang Tian sat up and looked at her mother.

Though normally scatterbrained, her mother clearly understood her daughter’s gaze this time and instantly grew angry.

“They’re accusing you of having an affair! Tang Yun said you and that young intellectual Tao Shengli ran into the sorghum field together. She brought the brigade leader to catch you two but didn’t find anyone. Then she claimed you were hiding. Your grandma said you were sleeping at home, but they wouldn’t believe her and insisted on checking. Your grandma blocked them outside the courtyard.”

Tang Tian processed her mother’s words, and her mind immediately turned to the terrifying dream she’d just had.

In that dream, she had been caught in the sorghum field with Tao Shengli.

The entire village had pointed fingers at her calling her shameless, saying she’d disgraced the brigade, calling her a prostitute.

They mocked her for pretending to be innocent when she was actually loose and indecent.

Her grandmother wept as she cradled her, while her mother took a hoe and struck the onlookers, injuring one seriously and three lightly. She was arrested and sentenced to life in prison.

The family had to pay a huge fine, their lives falling apart.

Her relatives blamed her, cursing her behind her back calling her a jinx, a troublemaker, and worse.

Even her estranged father returned from the city just to slap her twice and disown her on the spot.

Her grandfather, enraged, tried to fight her father. In the struggle, he fell and hit his head ending up paralyzed.

In the dream, she had tried to stop it, to save her mother and grandfather, but she couldn’t move just watched as everything fell apart.

Her family shattered, and with no one left to protect her, she was tormented by Tao Shengli until her death.

Now fully awake, Tang Tian lowered her head. Her fingers clenched around her teacup, knuckles white.

Thank God. Thank God this time it was different.

Thinking of that strange heat she’d felt, a chill crept across her pale face. Though she was always protected at home, it didn’t mean she was stupid.

Whoever planned all this… never intended to leave the Tang family a way out.

No matter who it was even if they fled to the ends of the earth she would make them pay.

The ones far away, she couldn’t reach yet.

But the one nearby. That military-issued canteen!