Chapter 19

Old Madam Cheng came out of the house holding the baby. When she saw Shu Yue carrying and dragging a heavy load of firewood, her heart ached. Shu Yue had given birth only a few days ago, yet she was already doing such exhausting labor. It felt unfair to her. People in the village often said that a capitalist’s daughter couldn’t endure hardship or do heavy work, but after living with her, they realized those rumors were completely untrue.

“Didn’t I tell you to carry less? You just gave birth—how can you wear yourself out like this?”

Though they lived in a rural village where life was hard, Old Madam Cheng still wanted to take care of her granddaughter-in-law from the city as much as possible.

“I’m fine. While everyone’s away working, there’s plenty of firewood on the mountain. I can gather more while I have the chance.”

Shu Yue put down the firewood, ready to head out again. She glanced at her son in Old Madam Cheng’s arms. The baby looked at her with wide, quiet eyes, not crying or fussing at all. Thinking of her previous life, Shu Yue remembered how much effort it took to raise Cheng Hui. During her confinement period, she had no breast milk. She had to beg and scrape together a little rice to make thin porridge just to feed the child. The baby still cried constantly, probably because it wasn’t filling. Shu Yue had to work every day, and Mother Cheng never helped take care of the child. She carried the baby on her back while working, exhausted in both body and spirit.

And in the end, the daughter she painstakingly raised turned out to be an ungrateful wretch.

This son was different—her own flesh and blood, so well-behaved. Apart from a few soft grunts when hungry or wet, he hardly ever cried—a little angel of a baby.

“If you’re going to collect firewood, I’ll come too.”

Cheng Xiaoying came in from outside with a bamboo basket on her back, ready to join Shu Yue.

“Everyone in the village went to watch the commotion about someone being ‘loose.’ They quit work early. The village chief and the others are handling it now. I didn’t feel like joining the crowd, so I came back.”

Before Old Madam Cheng could even ask why she was home so soon, Cheng Xiaoying explained on her own. Villagers had little entertainment, so when someone shouted about immoral behavior, people dropped what they were doing to watch. Cheng Xiaoying wasn’t interested and didn’t want to appear in front of a big crowd, so she slipped away early.

“Who’s causing the scandal?”

Old Madam Cheng had heard a villager shout something earlier, but since she was babysitting, she couldn’t go out to see for herself. After decades in the village, she naturally had a curious streak.

“We’ll collect firewood and take a look on the way back. Won’t be long.”

Shu Yue slung the empty basket over her back, grabbed Cheng Xiaoying’s hand, and headed out. She also wanted to see how the three people involved in this mess would face such a complicated situation.

“Be careful,” Old Madam Cheng said, shaking her head helplessly. When had Shu Yue become so eager to watch the excitement?

They walked quickly to the foot of the mountain, where a crowd had gathered.

“These two are shameless—carrying on right up here on the mountain. And they’re supposed to be educated youth! No sense of decency at all. They even lost their clothes—what a joke!”

“You don’t understand. Educated youth know more about that stuff—they’re wilder…”

“Stop gossiping. Where’s the person bringing them clothes? What’s taking so long?”

The villagers chattered in disgust. The village chief shouted angrily. It had been years since such disgraceful behavior happened here. What made it worse was that the culprits weren’t even villagers—they were educated youth. Everyone already knew they were poor workers, but this level of shamelessness? Word would spread like wildfire. By sundown, every nearby village would know, and nobody would care whether it was villagers or outsiders—they’d just say this village had a scandal.

The chief felt his head ache just looking at them.

Chen Guo’an’s paperwork for returning to the city was already complete—he was just waiting for approval. Now, with this mess, if word reached the commune, his transfer would definitely be affected. Couldn’t he control himself? Why cause trouble at such a critical time?

And Wang Aihua was outrageous too. Wasn’t she supposed to be engaged to Xu Yongwang, the chief’s own nephew? Yet here she was with another man. Such shameless behavior! Xu Yongwang had been bragging about how great it was to have an educated youth fiancée—now, instead of gaining face, he’d been handed a bright green hat.

“Here they come! Clothes are here!”

The head of the educated youth program arrived, tossing clothes toward the pair hiding in the haystack. He was frustrated too—he’d have to take responsibility for this disgrace. Everyone else was busy working; how could he know these two would sneak off to do something so indecent? And they weren’t even discreet about it—getting caught by villagers, clothes missing, utterly humiliating.

“Get dressed and come out. Where was your shame a moment ago? You’ve had your fun—now our whole village’s reputation is ruined. What do you two have to say for yourselves?”

The chief glared as the pair emerged from the haystack, making his blood boil.

“We… we’re courting,” Wang Aihua blurted out. “We’re already planning to marry, that’s why… we just couldn’t hold back…”

With nothing left to lose, she decided to push Chen Guo’an into commitment right here—marriage would secure his return to the city.

But her words drew two deadly stares. If looks could kill, Wang Aihua would’ve been dead eight times over.

“Wang Aihua! You’re courting him? Then what am I to you? You… we…”

Xu Yongwang clenched his fists, refusing to believe that the girl he admired could do something so shameless. Just that morning, they’d worked side by side, and he’d even helped her… and now this?

Equally stunned was Sun Qing. Barely an hour ago, Chen Guo’an had held her, called her his wife, and shared the most intimate promises. Yet now, the woman in his arms was Wang Aihua. She dug her nails deep into her palms just to keep from breaking down in front of everyone.

Her best friend.
The man who had just taken her innocence.
Both betraying her at once.

It felt like her heart had been pierced through, the pain sharp and raw.