Chapter 20

“Don’t, Ting Ge, after we finish planting the rice, I still have to go up the mountain with you and Sister-in-law to get some wild game. Don’t forget about me just because you’ve got a wife now,” Zhou Yanfeng joked.

Earlier, Lu Baiwei had won Zhou Yanfeng over with her cooking, and now, after showing her skills in removing leeches, Zhou Yanfeng had even more respect for her as his sister-in-law.

As the morning work came to an end and it was nearly time for lunch, Lu Baiwei efficiently finished her tasks. She stepped onto the field ridge and began picking fragrant cassia flowers.

While Zhou Yanfeng was planting rice nearby, he called out to her.

“Sister-in-law, what are you picking these flowers for?”

“This is called cassia flower, also known as ‘snake-killing herb.’ This season, there are many snakes and bugs on the mountain. I’ll dry some to make medicinal pouches. Carrying them will help ward off snakes.”

Zhou Yanfeng was surprised that a bush flower by the rice field could have such a function. He looked at Lu Baiwei with even more admiration.

He Ting, on the other hand, was starting to feel irritated. He thought Zhou Yanfeng must have some screws loose—how could a man be so clueless, always following his wife around?

“Why is he always hanging around my wife?” He Ting muttered to himself.

He called out to Lu Baiwei, “Weiwei, I’m thirsty.”

“Okay, I’ll get you some water.”

With mud on his hands, He Ting waited as Lu Baiwei took out the mint tea she had made earlier in the morning and poured it from a metal mug. She even helped open the mug and handed it to him.

Lu Baiwei had boiled the mint tea with honeysuckle and chrysanthemum, and when she finished, she added a chunk of rock candy for extra sweetness.

The tea had a light green hue and looked refreshing.

Zhou Yanfeng leaned in again, “Sister-in-law, what kind of tea is this? It looks so green, it must be really thirst-quenching.”

He Ting couldn’t take it anymore.

“Sweet mint tea,” He Ting answered flatly.

He then turned to Zhou Yanfeng, “Do you want some?”

Zhou Yanfeng was so thirsty he nodded honestly.

He Ting’s face turned serious. “If you want some, go marry a wife.”

It felt like a sharp jab to Zhou Yanfeng’s heart.

Zhou Yanfeng felt that He Ting wasn’t being fair to him. He sulked and focused back on planting rice.

After finishing his work, He Ting washed his feet in the stream, then walked up the ridge to pick some more cassia flowers with Lu Baiwei.

As if to assert his claim, He Ting suddenly picked the best bunch of flowers and tucked them into Lu Baiwei’s hair.

Lu Baiwei shot him a playful glare. “Stop fooling around and pick the flowers properly.”

He Ting grinned.

Even standing on the ridge in rolled-up pants, He Ting’s good looks remained undiminished.

Even standing on the ridge with his pants rolled up, He Ting’s handsome looks were completely unaffected.

The mountain breeze blew through, and the scene of him and Lu Baiwei picking flowers together caught the eyes of the young educated youth who hadn’t finished their work yet.

When Lu Baiwei was feeding He Ting water, a pair of eyes from the neighboring rice field was stealthily watching them.

Now, as the couple stood on the ridge picking flowers, the scene was even more eye-catching.

Yin Zhihe, who had almost been Lu Baiwei’s husband, felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.

He regretted letting Lu Jiao Jiao lure him into the haystack.

Originally, the person who should have been betrothed to him was Lu Baiwei.

Lu Baiwei was always more beautiful than Lu Jiao Jiao, and standing beside the young educated youth from Beijing, she didn’t look out of place.

He heard that the commune was recommending Lu Baiwei to take over her grandfather’s position as the barefoot doctor of the commune.

In the future, Lu Baiwei wouldn’t have to work in the fields; she could still earn work points, and even full work points. The commune would also give her a salary, while Lu Jiao Jiao always slacked off when it came to work.

How could she compare to Lu Baiwei?

That day at the commune’s threshing field, when Lu Jiao Jiao told him that her sister wanted to meet him in the small woods, he eagerly went, only to be dragged into the haystack by Lu Jiao Jiao.

How could he have believed it back then?

If he had married the capable Lu Baiwei, his mother wouldn’t have to work in the fields anymore to earn work points. Lu Baiwei could even earn his share of work points for him.

He really had lost out on something valuable.

Yin Zhihe regretted deeply. Thinking about how he had fallen for Lu Jiao Jiao’s trick, he almost wanted to slap himself.

No, he couldn’t marry Lu Jiao Jiao.

If Lu Jianguo and Liu Chunhua insisted that he marry Lu Jiao Jiao, fine—he would follow his mother’s suggestion and demand that Lu Jiao Jiao pay him 188 yuan as a dowry before they could get married.

As Yin Zhihe watched He Ting place flowers in Lu Baiwei’s hair on the ridge, he couldn’t help but feel a deep resentment for not being the one to marry her. He made up his mind never to marry Lu Jiao Jiao.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Gong Minbing and two others walking up the small path next to the ridge.

“Yin Zhihe, come up here.”

Gong Minbing stood on the path by the stream and called, “These two Public Security officers need to speak with you. Stop planting the rice and come up for the investigation.”

People in this era were afraid of trouble, especially since Yin Zhihe had done something guilty.

When he saw the two Public Security officers who had come with Gong Minbing, his heart skipped a beat.

Stepping up onto the ridge, he pretended to be calm in front of Lu Baiwei. “Do these two officers have something to talk to me about?”

“Don’t you know if there’s something or not?” The tall officer behind Gong Minbing said coldly. “Lu Jiao Jiao has reported to the commune that you’ve been harassing her. Come with us.”

Yin Zhihe’s face turned pale, and he was so frightened that he lost all composure.

Yin Zhihe’s face changed, and he was so scared that he lost all composure.

He tried to defend himself, saying, “Officers, I didn’t do it! I was framed by Lu Jiao Jiao! Please believe me!”

“Whether or not you did it will be clear after we investigate at the commune,” one of the Public Security officers standing next to Gong Minbing said with a stern expression. “Yin Zhihe, stop talking nonsense. Come with us and cooperate with the investigation.”

Meanwhile, Shen Guixiang was slacking off and hadn’t gone to work.

It was only after the two officers had taken Yin Zhihe away that Shen Guixiang finally learned the news from the commune members.

When she found out that her son was being investigated for harassment based on Lu Jiao Jiao’s false accusations, Shen Guixiang collapsed to the ground, crying loudly like a wailing ghost, regardless of the dirt and dust that covered her body.

“What kind of sin is this? That Lu Jiao Jiao, with her black heart!”

“That shameless woman, pulling my son into a haystack, then turning around and accusing him of harassment!”

“I curse Lu Jianguo and Liu Chunhua’s entire family to die! I curse them to have sons with no…”

Shen Guixiang’s curses against Lu Jianguo’s family were beyond He Ting’s control.

However, there was one person she couldn’t include in her curses: Lu Baiwei.

Protecting his wife, He Ting gave Zhou Yanfeng a look.

Zhou Yanfeng immediately understood: “Auntie, do you think crying will bring your son back to the commune?”

“Instead of crying here, why not go find the ones who harmed your son and settle the score with them?”

Zhou Yanfeng’s words reminded Shen Guixiang.

Right!

Yes, yes!

She should go after the ones who harmed her son—Lu Jiao Jiao and her family.

“Lu Jianguo and Liu Chunhua are up to no good. It must have been those two with their black hearts who pushed Lu Jiao Jiao to report to the commune. It was their idea to harm my son.”

“I’m going straight to the Lu family to find Lu Jiao Jiao and tear that slut apart…”

Don’t underestimate Shen Guixiang’s fighting spirit; after all, she was the one who almost drove Lu Baiwei to drink pesticide in her past life.

As expected, Shen Guixiang would never disappoint.

Just as Lu Baiwei and He Ting returned home after cooking, her brother, Lu Wenhua, came to the door with a face scratched and bleeding.

“Sis, hurry and send Brother-in-law to my house, Dad was pushed over by Shen Guixiang and hurt his back.”

“She even hit Second Sister and scratched my mom’s and my face.”