Chapter 36: Tightening the Skin

Ding Guihua felt as if she were being clawed by a cat; her eyes darted around the onlookers like a frightened rabbit, anxiously searching for help.

Seeing the strangeness and disdain in Liu Sanmu’s eyes, she froze. A heavy stone seemed to press on her chest, making her feel suffocated and stifled.

Unbeknownst to her, Liu Sanmu had just witnessed her scuffle with Cui Yulan. It was as if a bucket of cold water had washed over his brain, bringing him to his senses.

“Ding Guihua, don’t pretend to be innocent. Every time something happens, you cry and make excuses,” Cui Yulan stated directly. “You must apologize to us in front of everyone today.”

She intended to give Ding Guihua a good dressing-down today, to stop her from always causing trouble and targeting their family.

Ding Guihua had only shed a few tears, but seeing everyone staring at her, she quickly wiped them away.

Feigning strength, she said, “Cui Yulan, I’m scared of you. I’m sorry. From now on, if I can’t fight it, I’ll avoid it.”

Cui Yulan dug her ears with her finger and raised her hand. “Ding Guihua, say your apology properly, don’t make me teach you.” (She thought to herself, this hussy, if she doesn’t behave, I’ll keep hitting her.)

“I’m sorry,” Ding Guihua mumbled, her face flushed, her neck raised. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

“Village Chief, did you hear that? What she just said? I’m not letting her get away with deducting my work points today,” Cui Yulan changed her tack. She wouldn’t let them take her work points.

Liu Qingliang hardened his heart. “Fine, deduct Ding Guihua’s work points for two days.” He was also fed up with Ding Guihua constantly causing trouble.

“Why?” Before Ding Guihua could speak, Liu Laopozi (Liu’s mother-in-law) jumped out impatiently.

They had arrived during the fight but hadn’t intervened, waiting for Ding Guihua to be beaten by Cui Yulan.

Now that work points were being deducted, they couldn’t stand for it. This was related to the entire family’s food rations.

Liu Qingliang’s face darkened. He said impatiently, “Liu family, your third daughter-in-law caused this. She delayed everyone’s work. Deducting her work points for two days is lenient. If you keep complaining, I’ll add another day.”

Seeing Liu Qingliang’s serious attitude, Liu Laopozi swallowed her words. She secretly hated Ding Guihua and her daughter, deciding not to let Liu Xiaoling come home anymore. She thought they were a family of troublemakers.

“Get back to work, don’t just stand there dumbfounded. The harvest doesn’t come from staring at it,” Liu Qingliang waved his hand, urging everyone to get back to work.

The onlookers dispersed, returning to their work, but not before gossiping about the incident, pointing towards the Liu family as they worked.

Liu Laoyezi (Liu’s father) was furious, glaring at his third son who was bending over to work. He couldn’t stand looking at anything about him.

“Third Brother make it clear to Ding Guihua to stay away from Liu Xiaoling, that jinx. Our Liu family can’t afford the trouble.”

Liu Sanmu stiffened, looked up at his father’s angry face, hesitated for a few seconds, and nodded. “Yes, I understand.”

He didn’t understand what had happened to his usually well-behaved daughter. After her illness and fever, she had changed, even resorting to tricks to compete for Wen Wan’s fiancé.

As soon as the commotion ended, Wen Jianguo scurried behind his mother.

“Mom, this is the steamed bun Grandma Guo gave us. We’ll just cook some porridge for lunch.”

Cui Yulan opened the bag, seeing five or six large white steamed buns, her face darkened. “Wen Jianguo, who told you to bring these back?”

Every household was short on food. Five or six coarse grain buns would be acceptable, but these were all white flour buns from their future in-laws, which was inappropriate.

“Grandma Guo packed them,” Wen Jianguo replied frankly.

“You idiot! You’re so embarrassing! Are you short of food or drink at home?” Cui Yulan scolded angrily.

Wen Jianguo explained aggrievedly, “Mom, I didn’t want to take them, Grandma Guo forced me. If I didn’t take them, she would have sent them over anyway.” He felt he was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.

Seeing the disbelief on Cui Yulan’s face, Wen Jianguo got a little angry. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll take you to Grandma Guo’s house after work tonight.”

He turned and started digging with his hoe.

“We’ll have buns for lunch. Tell Xiaochao later,” Cui Yulan felt uneasy. She knew she was wrong, but as a mother, she couldn’t apologize.

Wen Wan, who was helping Li Yumei wind yarn balls at the supply and marketing cooperative, didn’t know that Liu Xiaoling had been so angry upon hearing her latest news that she had almost vomited blood.

Otherwise, she would have definitely confronted Liu Xiaoling and told her off.

“Xiaowan, you wind the yarn balls so neatly,” Li Yumei took the yarn ball Wen Wan had wound.

Wen Wan asked in a low voice, “Sister Yumei, I heard the supply and marketing cooperative is very busy, but it’s almost noon, and there haven’t been many people coming to buy things.”

She had been watching all morning, except for a few people buying glutinous rice sticks and sugar at the beginning, no one had come to look at the fabrics.

“Xiaowan, think about it, everyone is short of money. Who goes to the supply and marketing cooperative every day to buy things? Only during festivals or when people get paid,” Li Yumei said casually.

She pulled out two knitting needles from the bottom cabinet, knitting a sweater while chatting.

Wen Wan smiled, glancing at the various counters. The best-selling items were food, as everyone was short of it.

In the blink of an eye, it was lunchtime.

“Xiaowan, did you bring lunch?” Li Yumei got up and stretched.

Wen Wan hesitated. “Sister Yumei, I was in such a hurry this morning that I forgot.” She glanced around and saw everyone taking out their lunch boxes.

“Xiaowan, I brought fried noodles, I can share some with you,” Li Yumei hesitated for a few seconds, tentatively offering.

Wen Wan shook her head without hesitation. “Sister Yumei, I’ll just buy something outside.” She wasn’t stupid.

“Okay, there’s an alleyway to the right of our supply and marketing cooperative where many things are sold,” Li Yumei breathed a sigh of relief, her face slightly flushed as she pointed to a place.

Wen Wan asked for confirmation, “Sister Yumei, during the one-hour lunch break, we can leave the counter except for those on duty, right?”

“Yes, the hour is flexible. We bring lunch so we can rest more,” Li Yumei admitted.

Wen Wan nodded to show she understood, looked at her watch, it was two minutes to twelve, and then got up and went to the back office.

As a mature worker, she still needed to greet Wu Sen.

“Xiaowan, how is it? Are you adapting well?” Wu Sen politely asked Wen Wan, after all, she was his brother’s future girlfriend, almost family, and as the older brother, he should care more.

Wen Wan smiled and nodded calmly. “It’s pretty good, Sister Yumei is very helpful, and I’m almost familiar with the work.”