Chapter 20.2

Just as the standoff continued outside the Qin family door, Qin Zhenzhu also brought back the latest news.

After hearing Qin Zhenzhu’s report, Qin Xiang and Li Meina, along with the others, were stunned as they looked at Zhu Hongxia.

They had fled separately at the time and had no idea how Zhu Hongxia had been knocked over by the wild boar.

If it were true that Zhu Hongxia had pushed Qin Qingman to escape, then today, involving their maternal family in this mess would be a huge mistake.

As soon as the police got involved, any little tricks they had used against Qin Qingman might not stay hidden.

With a sense of unease, Li Meina was the first to question Zhu Hongxia. “Second sister-in-law, did you really push that girl Qingman?”

Everyone else turned to look at Zhu Hongxia.

Zhu Hongxia was at a loss for how to respond.

Seeing that Zhu Hongxia didn’t answer and was avoiding eye contact, Li Meina and the others immediately realized that the matter of Zhu Hongxia pushing Qin Qingman couldn’t be avoided.

Yao Chunying, who was relatively less injured, couldn’t stay lying down anymore.

She called for her daughter, Qin Huihui, to help her sit up.

They needed to come up with a thorough solution, or they would all end up in jail.

With a sorrowful face, Qin Xiang regretted her involvement.

She was originally from the Qin family, and naturally, she shared blood ties with Qin Qingman. If she hadn’t interfered, maybe Qin Qingman would have let her off because of their familial connection.

But instead, to take advantage, she had sent her daughter, Jiang Dongmei, to ask the Jiang family men to get involved in the matter.

Most of the Jiang men had gone up the mountain with the village party secretary, but a few of the younger ones were still around.

At this moment, those few boys were following behind Qin Lei and the others, shouting and causing trouble.

If this situation involved the families of her sisters-in-law, they would tear her apart.

Thinking about it this way, Qin Xiang couldn’t lie still any longer.

It was better to bow to Qin Qingman sooner rather than later.

Ever since Qin Qingman had used the village party secretary to pressure them and return the part of the grain and supplies they had borrowed, Qin Xiang had realized that this girl had changed. She had become cold-hearted, ruthless, and no longer feared trouble.

Such an orphan was the hardest to deal with.

“Qin Xiang, what are you doing?” Li Meina and Yao Chunying both asked at the same time when they saw Qin Xiang, with Jiang Dongmei’s help, sitting on the edge of the kang and putting on her shoes.

“What am I doing?” Qin Xiang sneered and said, “Of course, I’m going to apologize to Qingman. All three of us have been used by our second sister-in-law. If this thing blows up, none of us will end up with anything good. Before we end up with nothing, I’ll go and apologize to Qingman.”

She was perceptive enough to see through Qin Qingman’s intentions.

When Li Meina and Yao Chunying heard that Qin Xiang was going to apologize to Qin Qingman, they both struggled with the thought.

For an elder to apologize to a junior was a great humiliation.

But Qin Xiang couldn’t care about that anymore. She motioned for her daughter to bring her a cotton coat to wrap herself up, while also instructing her daughter to find a stick to use as a cane.

“Qin Xiang, are you serious?”

Li Meina’s mind was in turmoil. She found it hard to lower her head and apologize to Qin Qingman, but at the same time, she was unwilling to take no action. The only solution she saw was to stick with Qin Xiang—if they were going to suffer, they would all suffer together.

Qin Xiang immediately saw through Li Meina’s intentions.

Shaking her head, she didn’t try to persuade her.

As the saying goes, “a married daughter is like water that’s been poured out.” She shouldn’t get too involved with her natal family; it was better to focus on her husband’s family, especially since her current priority was the Jiang family.

When Qin Xiang’s foot finally touched the ground, Li Meina and Yao Chunying could no longer sit still.

Although they had both schemed against Qin Qingman, their schemes had been small and didn’t endanger anyone’s life.

There was no need to tie themselves to Zhu Hongxia’s actions. After all, if Zhu Hongxia ended up in prison, did they really want to go down with her?

“Xiang, wait. I’ll come with you.” Li Meina said after hesitating for a few seconds, before signaling for Qin Zhenzhu to help her up.

Seeing Li Meina give in, Yao Chunying, who had been wavering in the middle, immediately called for her daughter, Qin Huihui, to help her get up. She felt that following the crowd was the right thing to do.

Zhu Hongxia had initially been watching Qin Xiang coldly, with a growing sense of dread.

But when she saw Li Meina and Yao Chunying also starting to follow, she panicked—really panicked.

“You all better think carefully. You all were behind me doing a lot of things. That girl Qingman may not forgive you.” Zhu Hongxia said, her voice laced with threat. She was out of options at this point.

The three pairs of feet, which had been carefully stepping down, froze in midair.

Qin Xiang and the others looked at Zhu Hongxia with icy glares.

“Second sister-in-law, we did follow you to try and take advantage of Qingman, but it was just for the gain, we never meant to harm her. No matter how you look at it, we weren’t the masterminds. If anyone goes to jail or gets executed, it’ll definitely be you before us.” Qin Xiang replied, not backing down.

She respected Zhu Hongxia as her Second Brother’s wife, but she didn’t respect her as a person.

“That’s right, Second Sister-in-law, all the ideas for dealing with Qingman came from you. We were just aware and didn’t report it. Even if the police charge us, our crime won’t be as big as yours. Don’t try to scare us—we’re not easily intimidated.” Li Meina added, her eyes now just as unfriendly.

Anyone would be upset when threatened.

Yao Chunying looked between Qin Xiang and Li Meina, then glanced at Zhu Hongxia, who was lying on the kang and could barely move. Yao Chunying got off the kang and stood beside her sister-in-law.

She had made her choice.

Zhu Hongxia, who was now isolated, was so furious that she nearly had a heart attack. She wanted to get up, but because Qin Caiyun was still confined to her room, she had no one around to help her. Now, after falling out with her sisters-in-law, she found herself utterly alone.

“You… you’re trying to kill me!” Zhu Hongxia trembled as she pointed her fingers at each person in turn.

Qin Zhenzhu and the other girls were younger and couldn’t intervene. They could only lower their heads and stand quietly by their mother’s side.

“Second Sister-in-law, we don’t want to kill you. If you really die from anger, we won’t gain anything.” Qin Xiang said, seeing Zhu Hongxia’s face turn red and her breathing become rapid. She quickly reached out to help soothe her.

She also tried to persuade her, “Second Sister-in-law, it’s not that we don’t want to stand by you. But now it’s clear that that girl Qingman isn’t going to let this go. If we don’t give in, she might actually do something drastic. If the police come and investigate, we’ll definitely be the ones who suffer.”

They all knew what they had done, and their bad deeds wouldn’t stand up to an investigation.

Zhu Hongxia was painfully aware of that.

As Qin Xiang gently helped her regulate her breathing, Zhu Hongxia’s breath finally steadied. “Qin Xiang, is there really no way out for us?” she asked, her voice tinged with a nervous edge.

As she asked this, a sense of dread crept up on her.

She had dealt with Qin Qingman more than once and had suddenly come to a realization. If she lowered her head to Qin Qingman today, she wouldn’t just lose face—she might lose money as well.

Did Qin Xiang know this?

Zhu Hongxia looked into Qin Xiang’s eyes and saw a sense of resignation and helplessness. In other words, Qin Xiang was fully aware of the consequences of yielding.

“I give up!” In the end, Zhu Hongxia lowered her head.

She couldn’t deny pushing Qin Qingman.

—o—o—o—

At the Qin family’s house, the village Security Chief hadn’t been called by Liu Sangunzi, but rather by the Women Association’s Director, Zheng Guihua.

Worried that Qin Qingman might misunderstand that she hadn’t done her job properly, Liu Sangunzi explained loudly from a distance, “The Security Chief is up in the mountains, not at home, but he left word. Anyone who causes trouble at the Qin family’s door is going against him. He’ll take care of it.”

When Liu Sangunzi’s words were heard, Zhu Hongxia and the others, who had come to stir up trouble, suddenly looked pale.

Though they weren’t from Kaoshan Village, their village was part of the same large farming team, which meant the Security Chief wasn’t only responsible for Kaoshan Village but also for their villages.

The color drained from their faces in an instant.

At the same time, the group began to back off.

“Well, there’s something at home. I’ll head back now.” Zhu Laoda said, turning to leave.

Second Brother Yao, who was quick on his feet, immediately followed behind Zhu Laoda and said, “Zhu Laoda, last time when I came to your house, you weren’t there. Now I just happen to catch you. Let’s go, let’s go together.”

As he spoke, his hand subtly moved behind his back, signaling the people he had brought along to quickly leave.

Liu Rong was confused.

The battle hadn’t even begun, and they were already trying to escape. This was way too unmanly.

If they weren’t going to fight like men, she, as a woman, might as well not stick her neck out. Taking advantage of the moment, she, too, prepared to leave with her people.

“Stop!”

Wei Ling’s voice sounded like thunder, shaking everyone’s steps as it echoed through the air. “The Qin family is not a place where you can come to cause trouble whenever you want and leave whenever you feel like it. If you’ve wronged someone, you can’t just walk away.” he declared, his tone firm and resolute.

Zhu Laoda looked at Wei Ling with a mixture of fear and respect. “This… this comrade, what do you want from us?” he stammered, his voice hesitant.

Wei Ling didn’t answer Zhu Laoda. Instead, he turned his gaze to Qin Qingman. “You have offended my fiancée. How this is resolved depends entirely on my fiancée.” he said, publicly declaring his relationship with Qin Qingman.

This was also Wei Ling’s way of confirming their engagement, solidifying the arrangement the two had made the night before.

Qin Qingman hadn’t expected Wei Ling to take such a bold step, but she couldn’t deny that being protected and respected felt incredibly good.

It was so comforting that she decided not to dwell on the little tricks Wei Ling had been playing.

“We apologize.” Zhu Laoda finally said, realizing that Wei Ling had shown respect to Qin Qingman, and not wanting to stay out in the cold any longer. He lowered his head in surrender.

However, Qin Qingman wasn’t ready to let the group of troublemakers off that easily. Her tone remained light, but there was a firm edge to it. “This is not just about apologies anymore. I need both an apology and a compensation for the mental distress you caused.”

The moment the word “compensation” was mentioned, Liu Rong couldn’t hold back and immediately exploded.

“Why should we pay compensation? We didn’t push you, nor did we wrongfully accuse you! We came here today because our people were hurt. We are the victims who’ve been kept in the dark. We have no money, no grain—nothing!”

In these times, resources were scarce, and Liu Rong and the others wouldn’t have come to stir up trouble at the Qin family’s door in the freezing cold if they hadn’t hoped to gain something in return.

Ultimately, it came down to one thing: poverty.

For Liu Rong and the others, money and grain were as important as life itself.

“That’s right, we don’t have any money, and we don’t have any grain.” Zhu Laoda chimed in, immediately backing Liu Rong’s words. “If you want us to kneel and apologize, that’s fine, but there’s no way we can offer money or grain. Everyone’s just barely getting by these days. Who has extra to give?”

“Qingman, you should ask for something else. We really can’t pay money or give grain.” Zhu Laoda added, his voice tinged with desperation.

The deep wrinkles on Second Brother Yao’s face deepened even further, his gaze toward Qin Lei filled with resentment.

If it weren’t for Qin Lei’s wife hiding the fact that someone had pushed Qin Qingman, they wouldn’t be suffering such humiliation now.

Qin Lei, whose relatives were now blaming him, wished he could just sink into the ground.

“No money? No grain?” Qin Qingman looked at Zhu Laoda and the others.

“Truly, we have nothing!” All the people who had come to cause trouble at the Qin family’s door nodded in unison. Their gazes toward Qin Qingman now had a tinge of pleading.

Qin Qingman didn’t actually intend to extort money or grain from them. Even if they offered it, she wouldn’t dare accept. If this matter were reported and Wei Ling got involved, he could be implicated, and that would cause him significant trouble. But she had her own reasons for asking for these “compensations.”

Seeing the right moment had come, she announced, “Next year, I’ll take your labor credits…”

In an era where work points were the primary means of survival, even Qin Qingman, living in the countryside, needed to work. But she didn’t want to, and she wouldn’t.

“We’ll work for you!”

Zhu Laoda and the others, fearing that Qin Qingman might change her mind, exchanged looks and said in unison. There were over twenty people who had come to stir trouble at the Qin family’s door, and at most, they would work half a month for Qin Qingman next year. It wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Words alone won’t do.”

Qin Qingman was secretly pleased with how things were going but kept her exterior calm.

“Let’s write it down as a contract!” Zhu Laoda and his group were fond of watching operas, so without thinking much about it, one of them casually suggested.

“Fine, we’ll write it down.” Qin Qingman firmly made her decision, sealing the agreement.

Zhu Laoda and the others were delighted with the outcome.

However, just as things seemed to be going smoothly, the local Security Chief, Qian Xiangyang, arrived at the scene. His expression was a mixture of surprise and confusion as he witnessed the unfolding situation.