Chapter 102

“And it gets worse—when Comrade Feng tried to move back to the educated youth dormitory, Shen Guixiang went wild and tied her up with a rope! How is that any different from the behavior of bandits and tyrants?”

“We are determined to crack down on such despicable actions. That’s why tonight’s brigade meeting calls on all of you, our outstanding comrades and community members, to join us in educating these troublemakers, Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe, through criticism and ideological reform.”

“Alright, everyone, let’s share some positive and progressive thoughts with Comrade Shen and Comrade Yin.”

Shen Guixiang had deeply offended many in the brigade, and plenty of people harbored grudges against her.

As soon as Liu Zhishu finished speaking, rocks, rotten vegetables, and eggshells began flying at Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe, who were tied up at the threshing ground.

Some even went as far as throwing foul-smelling dog feces.

The dog feces splattered across Shen Guixiang’s face, reeking horribly. She wanted to curse and scream, but her mouth had already been stuffed with a dirty sock by Gong Minbing, leaving her to glare furiously at the crowd, trying to identify who had dared to throw it at her.

However, the area was in chaos, and it was too dark to see who the culprit was.

Yin Zhihe wasn’t spared either. A rock struck his forehead, leaving a bloody gash.

While throwing stones might have been a step too far, Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe had angered so many people that Gong Minbing decided to turn a blind eye as long as no one was seriously injured.

“These two have caused enough trouble already,” Gong thought. “If they don’t learn their lesson now, who knows what they’ll do next to harm the brigade’s interests?”

No one could determine who had thrown the dog feces or the stones. But hidden among the crowd, Lu Jiao knew it had been her younger brother, Lu Wenhua, who had thrown them.

Of course, Lu Wenhua hadn’t done it out of concern for his sister. He had been egged on by Liu Chunhua.

Seeing Lu Jiao’s glance, Liu Chunhua approached her with a fawning smile.

“Jiao Jiao, your brother is standing up for you!”

“Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe are monsters. They beat you so badly they ruined your health. How could you endure such suffering without telling me?”

Hadn’t she told them?

She had returned to her parents’ home late one night, covered in bruises, and told Liu Chunhua everything. She had even lifted her shirt to show her injuries.

Liu Chunhua had held her and cried at the time.

But then Lu Jianguo, her father, accepted two pounds of white flour and a can of preserved food from Shen Guixiang and sent her back, saying, “Husband and wife fight at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of it.” Liu Chunhua hadn’t said a word in protest.

It wasn’t just their indifference that left Lu Jiao heartbroken. She could have endured that.

What crushed her spirit was knowing that her parents, fully aware of her suffering, had made things worse by taking advantage of her plight.

While she was bedridden from being beaten, they snuck into Shen Guixiang’s home to dig for hidden gold.

Now look where that had gotten her.

Not only had they failed to find the gold, but they’d also made her life even harder. Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe despised her even more now, branding her family as thieves.

Meanwhile, Shen Guixiang tricked the naïve and wealthy Feng Shishi into renting a room, hoping to force Yin Zhihe into divorcing her.

The gold wasn’t found, and now Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe despised her, branding her family as thieves. Meanwhile, Shen Guixiang tricked the naive and wealthy Feng Shishi into staying at their house, planning to force Yin Zhihe into divorcing her.

All of this stemmed from her own mother’s actions.

Now that the brigade was standing up for her, Liu Chunhua suddenly started acting concerned, trying to play the role of a good mother.

Was it because they hadn’t gotten their hands on the gold?

Lu Jiao knew the truth. If the gold had been found, Liu Chunhua and Lu Jianguo would have sold her out again in a heartbeat, all for the sake of Lu Wenhua.

Lu Jianguo wasn’t her biological father, so she could understand his priorities. But Liu Chunhua was her birth mother, the one who had given birth to her.

How could her own mother treat her like this?

Lu Jiao was utterly disillusioned. She didn’t even have the strength to argue with Liu Chunhua anymore. Instead, she looked at her mother with the cold, distant gaze one reserves for a stranger.

“You ungrateful child! Your brother and I are just worried about you,” Liu Chunhua said, still trying to explain.

But Lu Jiao didn’t respond. She turned and walked away without a word, as if Liu Chunhua and Lu Wenhua were nothing but filth.

The barrage of rotten vegetables, stones, mud, and even dog feces continued to rain down on Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe.

Liu Zhishu, worried that someone might get seriously injured, decided it was time to put an end to it.

“Alright, that’s enough. Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe have learned their lesson. You’ve all seen the consequences they’ve faced. If anyone still doesn’t want to change their ways, feel free to go home and keep beating your wives, abusing your children, or disrespecting your elders. But don’t blame us for what happens next.”

Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe had terrible timing. The commune had just held a meeting emphasizing the need to protect educated youth who had come to the countryside. Their actions—tying up Feng Shishi—had put them in the spotlight as prime offenders.

Even the county’s Women’s Federation got involved, and it was all because of their antics.

To set an example and prevent other brigades from mistreating the educated youth, the commune decided to use them as a cautionary tale, marking them as key targets for criticism.

Though they couldn’t be punished for the injury to Lu Jiao’s stomach because she hadn’t pressed charges, and Feng Shishi hadn’t suffered any real harm, that didn’t stop the commune from using them to “kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.”

After being subjected to ideological reform in their own brigade, Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe were taken to other brigades for further criticism and education. By the time they returned, they were half-dead and utterly humiliated.

With Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe out of the picture, Lu Jiao should have been able to breathe a sigh of relief. She even took some of the money and ration tickets Shen Guixiang had hidden and went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things.

On her way back, she passed by the brigade’s health clinic and saw He Ting washing clothes. She froze.

He was washing Lu Baiwei’s undergarments.

Standing on the bridge, Lu Jiao stared in shock.

How could He Ting do that?

How could he treat Lu Baiwei so well?

Compared to He Ting, Yin Zhihe was like night and day. He Ting cherished his wife, while Yin Zhihe only knew how to beat her.

Regret surged through her heart once again. Tears welled up in Lu Jiao’s eyes as she thought about her marriage to Yin Zhihe.

“Lu Jiao, what are you doing here?” a voice suddenly snapped her out of her daze.

“Lu Jiaojiao, what are you doing?”

Feng Shishi had come from the educated youth station to look for He Ting. Seeing Lu Jiaojiao standing on the stone bridge, staring dazedly at He Ting as he washed clothes, made her feel a surge of displeasure.

Snapped out of her thoughts by Feng Shishi’s sharp tone, Lu Jiaojiao quickly wiped away her tears. When she noticed that He Ting, busy washing clothes, had glanced over, she hastily turned her back to him.

“Lu Jiaojiao, I’m asking you! Why are you staring at my Brother He Ting?”

It was as if someone was eyeing her prized possession, and Feng Shishi wouldn’t let it go.

Was it wrong for her to steal a glance at He Ting?

In her previous life, He Ting had been her husband.

Even though nothing had happened between them, it still felt closer than whatever was going on between him and Feng Shishi.

With reddened eyes, Lu Jiaojiao snapped back, “What’s wrong with me watching my brother-in-law do the laundry? Who are you to him? Why do you care?”

“You…”

Feng Shishi almost forgot that Lu Jiaojiao was, in name, Lu Baiwei’s younger sister.

A younger sister watching her brother-in-law do laundry? Shameless.

But ultimately, they were relatives, and He Ting hadn’t said anything about it. Feng Shishi had no choice but to drop the issue and remember why she’d come to find him in the first place.

She called out to He Ting, “Brother He Ting, today Fangfang is getting married. Come with me to the neighboring Hongqi Brigade for the wedding banquet. I’ve never been there and don’t know the way.”

“No time,” He Ting replied bluntly and decisively. “I need to help my wife with the laundry.”

Feng Shishi: “…”

Then she noticed what He Ting was holding and her face immediately flushed red.

How could a man wash that for a woman?

From Liu Cuifang, she had learned that He Ting married Lu Baiwei because of a childhood engagement arranged by their grandfathers.

Shen Guixiang had told her that He Ting only married the brigade leader’s niece, Lu Baiwei, to avoid hard labor.

Feng Shishi had always thought that even though He Ting was married to Lu Baiwei, she could still win him over.

But now they had a child.