Chapter 5

“Younger sister-in-law, you just rest here, your sister-in-law and mother-in-law will go seek justice for you.”

After Zhang Guihua finished speaking, she didn’t even turn her head and quickly followed in her mother-in-law’s footsteps.

Zhao Cuilan came out of the house, looked at the old man and the eldest son, and repeated the incident of Si Yueyue’s premature labor once again.

Old Master Lei’s face darkened upon hearing this. Matters between women were not something they, as men, could get involved in, so he handed it over to his wife and eldest daughter-in-law: “Oldest, go call the brigade leader.”

“Alright.”

“Third, stay home and watch the children.”

Lei Yu, who had just heard the news and was burning with anger, immediately nodded at his father’s instructions: “Got it, Dad.”

Si Yueyue heard the commotion outside and knew that her family had gone to seek justice for her. This time, she would sever all ties with that so-called female protagonist…

In the book, Zhao Cuilan hadn’t managed to make it back in time. Lin Mengling had leisurely called over the Lei family, and by the time Zhao Cuilan and the others returned, Si Yueyue was already barely breathing.

The bit of strength she had left was not enough for her to give birth. The Lei family could only watch helplessly as Si Yueyue died along with her unborn child.

Because of their guilt toward Si Yueyue, the Lei family later treated Lin Mengling, who was both a “friend” and their “life-saving benefactor.” very well. But they hadn’t expected that Lin Mengling wasn’t grateful—she even caused the Lei family to be destroyed.

This time, she would never let Lin Mengling take advantage of that so-called favor to demand any kindness from the Lei family. They could only be enemies…

Zhao Cuilan, seeing that the old man had made all the arrangements, quickly headed toward the educated youth spot with her eldest daughter-in-law.

“Heaven damn that Educated Youth Lin, city folks don’t treat lives as lives, my poor second child~”

“She killed someone, Educated Youth Lin killed someone, this educated youth broke the law knowingly…”

As the two women walked, they cried. And as they cried, they shouted.

The village women who were in charge of gossiping heard the commotion and came out to listen. Wang Chunhua saw that the usually sharp-tongued mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair were crying with such righteous grief that she hurried over to get the news.

“Old Eldest Lei’s family, what are you doing? Who killed someone?”

Zhang Guihua waved her hands and gestured as she recounted the whole story. Everyone was stunned—this seemingly weak and gentle Educated Youth Lin was actually such a person?

“Dear heavens, this is terrible, isn’t this harming the Lei family’s second daughter-in-law?”

“Yes, I heard from Auntie Li that the midwife nearly couldn’t deliver the baby.”

“Wow, then this Educated Youth Lin didn’t just kill one person—she was going to cause two deaths!”

“Hmph~ that Old Second Lei’s wife was carrying twins. If they really couldn’t save her, that would’ve been three lives lost. We can’t keep such a cold-blooded, vicious person in our brigade.”

“That’s right, that’s right. What if something happens to us one day and she just watches us die?”

“Exactly. Our brigade used to be so harmonious, and then she came along—a rotten apple spoiling the bunch…”

At that moment, the one everyone was calling the “rotten apple.” Educated Youth Lin, was pacing anxiously in her room at the educated youth site.

She had originally planned to delay passing on the news so that Si Yueyue would be long dead before she came forward to claim credit. But who would’ve thought that before she even got to the fields, the Lei family had already returned.

She could only hope that idiot Si Yueyue had forgotten what happened. Otherwise, if things were exposed, she’d be in serious trouble.

Lin Mengling looked out the window. At this time, it should be fine by now… right?

The two other educated youths in the room looked at the pacing Lin Mengling and grew annoyed.

“Can you just sit down quietly? If you want to walk, go outside. You’re pacing around and it’s giving us a headache.”

“Educated Youth Weng, fellow comrades, I’m sorry. I just had a bit of discomfort in my stomach earlier, so I got up to walk around. I’m feeling better now, I won’t pace anymore.”

“Hmph~ Don’t act like we’re bullying you. If you’re unwell, then lie down. Who the hell paces like you when they’re not feeling well?”

Lin Mengling lowered her head, hiding the harsh glint in her eyes.

“Yes. Educated Youth Weng, you’re right. If I feel unwell again, I’ll just lie down. I won’t pace anymore…”

The other educated youth looked at Lin Mengling, wanting to say more, when suddenly a commotion was heard outside.

“What’s going on out there?”

Educated Youth Weng glanced at her. “No idea. Let’s go take a look. I heard the voices of the male educated youths—it sounds like they opened the gate.”

“Mm.”

The two headed out together, with Lin Mengling following behind them. It was only when she stepped into the courtyard that she heard everything clearly.

“Lin Mengling, you cowardly turtle, you finally dare come out.” Zhang Guihua immediately rushed forward, grabbed Lin Mengling by the hair, and gave her a hard slap across the face.

“Ah… what are you doing hitting me?” Lin Mengling covered her face, her eyes full of fury as she stared at Zhang Guihua.

“You don’t know why I’m hitting you? I ought to beat you to death…” Zhang Guihua kept slapping her left and right.

“Stop hitting her, stop!” Some of the other female educated youths tried to step in and help, but there were simply too many village women around—the crowd was too dense for them to get through.

In the end, it was a few male educated youths who stepped in to break up the fight.

Seeing the young men intervene, Zhao Cuilan sat right down on the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing.

“The educated youth killed someone~ My poor second son, so young and already sacrificed, and people still dare use his death to their advantage…

She caused my second daughter-in-law to go into premature labor! If I hadn’t come home in time, it would’ve been three lives lost right then and there.”

“Lin Mengling, you made my sister-in-law give birth early, said you’d go call someone and then just ran off!

If it weren’t for my mother-in-law going home to fetch water and finding my sister-in-law lying on the ground, she’d be dead. And you—you’re still shamelessly eating and drinking well at the educated youth site…”

Zhang Guihua immediately launched a tirade, seizing the moral high ground before anyone else could.

Lin Mengling, with both cheeks red and swollen from the beating, shook her head stubbornly and refused to admit anything. “I… I didn’t… you’re framing me.”

“You didn’t? You don’t have the guts to admit what you did? Fine, let’s go find the brigade leader and face my sister-in-law together.”

Lin Mengling frantically shook her head. “I… I’m not going. I didn’t do anything. Why should I go just because you said so?”

At that moment, Educated Youth Weng and Educated Youth Wen, who were standing nearby, looked at Lin Mengling on the ground in shock.

“So, earlier you weren’t pacing because your stomach hurt? You were feeling guilty?”

“No, I wasn’t, I really wasn’t! My stomach did hurt. Besides, I did go to find the Lei family, it’s just that none of you were in the fields…”

“My mother-in-law and we got back home in less than ten minutes. It took you half an hour just to get from our place to the fields? You didn’t know Yueyue was lying on the ground waiting to be saved?”

“Exactly! There’s only one path from the Lei family to the fields. Where could you have gone? Probably just went back to the educated youth site and lay down.”

“My poor Yueyue… when I got back, she was lying on the ground in a pool of blood. If I’d come back any later, how can I dare live!”

The women in the brigade were all so frightened by the thought of what had happened to the child that it made their spines tingle. They all said that when a woman gives birth, it’s like walking into the gates of hell—and that’s no exaggeration.

“Also, why did you specifically go to my house and tell my sister-in-law that my second brother had sacrificed himself?

We had been careful to keep Little Sister-in-law calm so she wouldn’t be upset and have a premature birth, so why did you have to say it? You made her upset and caused the premature birth!”

“No, I didn’t mean to say it. I saw that Si Yueyue was home alone and bored, so I wanted to keep her company. I didn’t realize I’d accidentally let it slip.”

Lin Mengling put on a pitiful look, and with the few slaps from Zhang Guihua, it was almost unbearable to watch.

“Educated Youth Lin, you say it wasn’t on purpose? Then why didn’t you immediately inform the Lei family when Old Second Lei’s wife went into premature labor?”

“Yeah, if it were us in this situation, we’d be rushing to the fields as fast as we could, but you were just out for a walk?”

At that moment, the brigade leader, who had been listening from behind the crowd, walked into the group with a stern face.

“Brigade leader.”

“The brigade leader’s here…”

Zhao Cuilan, slapping her thighs again, began wailing: “Brigade leader, you have to take charge for my family!

This cold-blooded, vicious educated youth caused my second daughter-in-law’s premature labor, and then deliberately didn’t help her. She wanted to make my daughter-in-law lose three lives at once…”

At that moment, Lei Dashu, who had been standing behind everyone, spoke up: “Brigade leader, we should report this to the Public Security. This is premeditated murder.”

“No… no, don’t report it to the Public Security.” Lin Mengling was especially scared. If they reported it, her life would be ruined.

The brigade leader spoke up: “Our brigade cannot keep someone like you.”

“That’s right. We should send her back to the educated youth office. I’ve heard that Lei Family’s second daughter-in-law had a decent relationship with her when they were at the educated youth site. She helped her even after marrying into the Lei family.”

“I’ve even seen Si Yueyue helping Educated Youth Lin with work before. They treated her so well, and yet she wanted to harm them? If it were any of us, we’d be completely disillusioned by now.”

“No, no, such a person cannot stay in the brigade.”

“Should we report it to the Public Security, or send her back to the educated youth office? Educated Youth Wu, you were chosen as the team leader in the educated youth group, what do you think?” The brigade leader turned to Wu Chengyu and asked.