Su Rui saw that Old Lady Ah Xi was about to follow along and join the commotion, so she reached out to support her.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past the back of her head. Su Rui turned around swiftly and caught sight of a black-clad figure dashing past the front of her courtyard.

Her instincts told her that this person had something to do with Guo Jiarong getting beaten up.

She was small in stature but incredibly fast. Without stopping to think, she sprinted from her house and chased the figure all the way to the earthen embankment at the northern edge of the village.

Panting, Su Rui stood with her hands on her hips, blocking the person’s way.

The man before her looked about thirty years old. He held a wrench in his hand and waved it at Su Rui, though he hesitated, seemingly afraid of actually hurting her. He flicked the wrench a few more times in the air in a nervous manner before hiding it behind his back. Then, he grinned foolishly at her and muttered, “Xiao Rui… Xiao Rui…”

His clothes were stained with mud, likely from the fight with Guo Jiarong. But upon closer inspection, Su Rui noticed that they fit him well and had no patches, which was unusual in the village.

The man had wide-set eyes, thick hair that was longer than most men’s, and a large, shiny forehead. His thick lips also stood out, competing for Su Rui’s attention.

Su Rui often patrolled the village with the militia team, but she had never seen this man before. Her first thought was that he was a wandering outsider.

In the past two years, the “Up to the Mountains, Down to the Countryside” movement had been in full swing. A small number of people couldn’t bear the hardships of rural life and resorted to jumping on moving trains or stealing in their desperate attempts to return to the city. Their village had already encountered two such cases this year.

Standing face-to-face with the man, Su Rui quickly realized something was off. His eyes were unfocused, and his silly grin carried a hint of childlike foolishness.

It dawned on her—this must be someone’s mentally impaired son who had wandered out of his home.

Xiaoba Village was only five miles from the county town, making it believable if someone claimed he had escaped from a respectable family in town.

Su Rui asked, “Do you know me? Were you the one who beat him up?”

The foolish-looking man, with his limited intelligence, thought Su Rui was pleased. He clapped his hands excitedly and shouted, “Beat him up! Beat him up!”

“Don’t beat him to death, but a daily beating wouldn’t hurt,” Su Rui muttered, finding amusement in Guo Jiarong getting a taste of his own medicine. She turned her head and noticed that some villagers had already seen the commotion and were hurrying over. Thinking quickly, she asked, “Why did you hit him?”

The man wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth with his arm, stammering, “He can’t be with you! You’re my wife!”

Su Rui’s heart sank. Great. Another unwanted admirer.

Just as they were talking, Guo Qingwang arrived with a group of men. When Guo Jiarong had told him that a foolish outsider had attacked him, Guo Qingwang hadn’t believed it. After all, how could his son lose to a simpleton?

But upon seeing the burly, broad-waisted man before him, he hesitated. He signaled for the men behind him to step forward and subdue the fool.

Spotting Su Rui among the bystanders, Guo Qingwang’s anger flared. “Isn’t it enough that you boss around the fools in the village? Now you’ve gone and recruited another one?”

Smack!

A loud slap landed on Guo Qingwang’s face. Though his dark, ruddy complexion didn’t show a clear handprint, the crisp sound echoed through the air.

Not only was Su Rui stunned, but the nearby villagers helping to restrain the fool were also momentarily frozen.

“I’m not a fool!” The foolish-looking man withdrew his hand and stomped his foot like a child. “Don’t say bad things about her! I’ll kill you! Kill you!”

“Hey! What are you all standing there for? Tie him up and take him to the police station!” Guo Qingwang roared.

He didn’t take the fool’s words seriously, but his face burned with humiliation. Gritting his loose teeth, he covered his swollen cheek and declared angrily, “I don’t care if he’s a fool or not—I will get justice for my son and me!”

Su Rui was more than happy to dampen his enthusiasm and said indifferently, “Fools hitting people isn’t illegal. I doubt you’ll get the justice you’re looking for.”

She noticed that the foolish man didn’t resist at all, as if he was used to being tied up and taken away. It seemed this wasn’t his first time causing trouble.

“How is it not illegal? He hit me and my son; he has to take responsibility!” Guo Qingwang clutched one side of his swollen face and waved his hand, signaling everyone to escort the man to the county public security bureau.

Su Rui turned to the foolish man and instructed, “Don’t come back again.” As she watched them walk away, she couldn’t help but wonder how badly Guo Jiarong had been beaten. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to see it for herself.

Once the crowd dispersed, Old Lady Ah Xi hobbled over with her cane. “Did I come too late again?”

“Take care of yourself these days. Next week, our militia team has training. Don’t let us down.”

Old Lady Ah Xi trembled as she pulled out a small handkerchief, wiping the sweat from her forehead and the corners of her lips. “Don’t worry. Even if I have to risk my life, I’ll make it to that day. I won’t let your team get disbanded.”

“Thank you! You should head home now. May you live a long and healthy life.”

Su Rui said those words every single day.

A militia team needed a minimum of four members—one leader and three team members. Su Rui’s Third Team barely met the requirement. If they lost just one person, their team would be dissolved.

Old Lady Ah Xi made up a crucial one-fourth of the team!

Watching the old lady slowly make her way home, Su Rui turned toward the women’s office.

Calling it an “office” was a bit of an exaggeration—it was actually a whole building.

The longest-standing and most historic building in Xiaoba Village was this old, half-Chinese, half-Western-style two-story structure.

It was originally the Xiaoba Village committee office. After three villages merged, this area, which had a high number of women, was designated as the Women’s Office, where Sister Zhao managed women’s affairs.

On the walls, bold slogans were printed on both sides: “Women’s Liberation, Social Progress” and “Strive for Independence, Persevere with Strength.”

This building, built in 1958, was originally intended for Soviet aid experts and followed a Stalinist architectural style.

After the Soviet experts withdrew, this grand and revolutionary building fell into disrepair. It was hastily modified into a two-story structure, though the soaring doves on the dome still symbolized the ideology of that era.

The cemented ground in front of the building originally had two flagpoles—one for the motherland and one for the Soviet Union.

Even now, traces of Soviet words remained on the ground. Su Rui couldn’t understand them, but just like when she was a child, she stepped on them and stomped twice.

If the Soviet experts hadn’t been withdrawn, if the dam had been completed, the women of Xiaoba Village wouldn’t have become widows.

Later, in their fury, the village women toppled the Soviet flagpole, leaving only the cement platform, which was now used to dry green radish strips and pickled mustard roots. The iron pole was melted down into a communal iron pot, scraped and stirred daily by the widowed cooks of Xiaoba Village.

Su Rui shook her head. No point in dwelling on past grievances—happiness had to be fought for!

She had two wishes:

First: To marry a live-in son-in-law.

This was beginner-level difficulty since Xiaoba Village had plenty of experience in bringing husbands into their households.

Second: To become the most capable woman in Xiaoba Village.

This was hell-level difficulty.

After all, standing out among over four hundred widows was no easy feat. Not to mention that over a hundred and twenty of them had already married capable husbands, making the competition even tougher.

“Sister Zhao!”

Regardless of age, everyone in Xiaoba Village, young and old, liked to call Director Zhao “Sister Zhao.” It made things feel more friendly.

“The newspapers are over there.” Director Zhao, her hair neatly combed, tucked a loose strand behind her ear and put down her pen. “But you’ve probably read them all already. Are you here to share some insights?”

Su Rui was a new and promising member under her leadership—motivated, passionate, and, most importantly, eager to learn despite having no formal guidance. This made Director Zhao quite fond of her.

“I’m not here to give a report.”

Every Sunday, Su Rui would spend half the day here, studying newspapers and learning about advanced ideas and policies.

Her main goal? To have solid arguments to refute that old scoundrel Guo Qingwang.

She was good at keeping up appearances, and Director Zhao had no idea. Even if she did, there wasn’t much she could do about it.

Su Rui sat across from her, fidgeting slightly. “Sister Zhao, I want to apply to organize a labor competition.”

Director Zhao capped her pen and carefully placed her precious Hero fountain pen back into its holder. “We hold labor competitions every harvest season. You can wait until next month.”

Su Rui was much more well-behaved in front of her and obediently shared her thoughts. “That old man Guo insists that women don’t work as much as men, so he gives male workers four extra work points per day. Over a year, that adds up to the equivalent of an entire extra laborer’s earnings. Take Chen Xianglan, for example—she can carry two sacks of corn at once, each weighing a hundred and sixty pounds, and she works harder than most men. She easily surpasses the daily quota of eight hundred pounds. And yet, she only gets six work points. That’s just not fair.”

Su Rui had been observing the difference in labor output between men and women. In the end, the difference was nonexistent! While the men from Qingnan Village often slacked off, the women of Xiaoba Village worked diligently, and some even outperformed hardworking men.

Chairman Mao was right—women could be strong too. Women truly held up half the sky.

She continued, “I want to organize a labor competition between men and women. From picking corn to carrying and shelling it, we’ll compare the entire process and see who does more and who does it better!”

If they lost, she would accept it—six work points were six work points. But if they won, then from now on, they deserved ten.

“You’re putting Village Head Guo on the spot,” Director Zhao said as she stood up and paced the office.

She wanted to fight for the women’s rights, too, but Guo Qingwang was her direct superior. Every time she proposed something, it was immediately shut down. She had been racking her brain over this for months.

Some things weren’t convenient to say right now. After some thought, she said, “Go back first. I’ll hold a meeting with the other officials to discuss it.”

Standing at the door, she turned back and asked, “Are you sure we can win?”

Su Rui answered seriously, “I’ve observed this for more than half a month. I’m absolutely sure. There’s no way the aunties will lose in picking or shelling corn. As for carrying the loads, there’s Chen Xianglan, Wanzi’s mother, and her eldest aunt. Those three are women of great strength. Today, when delivering corn to the granary, I counted—they carried three-fifths of the total load. They have the strength and the endurance, and they even help the other women.”

Unlike Qingnan Village, which was the complete opposite, they couldn’t push the responsibility onto each other, so they went to Guo Qingwang to borrow two ox carts. However, they refused to let the women of Xiaoba Village use them, and in the end, the carts broke down.

As for Chen Xianglan, she was the village butcher. She could pin down a large boar with just her elbow, and no matter how hard the boar struggled, it couldn’t get up.

Wanzi’s mother and her eldest aunt took care of the collective’s cattle. Once, a mad cow broke loose, and the two of them each grabbed one of its horns and forcefully flipped the seven-hundred-pound cow onto the ground. You could say they had brute strength in their bones.

Su Rui, full of mischief, said, “Even if we lose, it doesn’t matter. We still get six work points. It’s not like they’ll deduct any from us.”

She had nothing to lose.

Her words played a key role, making Director Zhao chuckle, “Alright, I’ll let you know later.”

Having achieved her goal, Su Rui got up, patted the dust off her clothes, and left.

When she returned home, her father was still away and wouldn’t be back for another half a month. The main house was locked up tightly, and Su Yuqin and Su Chang’e were sleeping inside. Occasionally, laughter could be heard from within.

Pushing the door open, Su Hongpei was sitting under the kerosene lamp, mending a shoe. When she saw Su Rui return, she pointed to the thermos and said, “There’s hot water inside. Use it to wash up.”

By the end of August, the mornings and evenings in the north were already getting chilly.

Su Rui, who had run back wearing only a short-sleeved shirt, shivered and thought about digging out her autumn clothes.

“Here, take this.” Su Hongpei handed her five or six glutinous rice sticks wrapped in straw paper. “That’s all that’s left. My mother said Guo Jiarong was shameless—he ate most of what he brought.”

Hearing this, Su Rui immediately perked up and excitedly told her about how Guo Jiarong and his father had been beaten up by the foolish man.

“Ugh, then maybe you shouldn’t eat these. Who knows where they came from.” Su Hongpei took the glutinous rice sticks back and placed them on the small table by the window, planning to throw them away. No matter how delicious something was, if it wasn’t obtained through proper means, she would rather not have it.

She climbed onto the small kang bed and turned to Su Rui, saying, “These days, my mother has been going crazy trying to find a husband for second sister. They were chatting so happily just now that you’d think she was about to get married.”

Su Rui dismissed it casually, “Well, she is almost twenty-two.”

After speaking, she glanced at Su Hongpei, wondering when her suitor would finally propose. It had been dragging on for four or five years now. In an ordinary family, they would have had two kids by now.

Su Hongpei, simple-minded as ever, sighed, “She always likes to compare herself to you. If you two could get along, I wouldn’t have to be caught in the middle. You should think things through as well.”

Su Rui, after washing up, climbed onto the kang bed and took out a small cloth bundle from the kang cabinet. As she admired the scraps of fabric she had collected, she joked, “That’s a funny thing to say. Out of everyone in this family, you’re the one who thinks things through the least.”

Su Hongpei didn’t get angry. She simply shook her head and said no more.

The next morning, the village loudspeakers played Our Life is Full of Sunshine, filling the early morning with a sense of anticipation and energy.

Su Rui rarely woke up so early. She grabbed a sorghum flour bun, picked up an egg, placed it on the windowsill, and headed out with a spring in her step.

She wanted to see how the incident with Guo Jiarong being beaten up had been dealt with. The book only mentioned it briefly.

She wasn’t disappointed—early risers always got the best gossip.

At the village entrance, six or seven women had already gathered, vividly describing the scene.

“Oh my, his head swelled up like a pig’s, all bruised in shades of purple and red. Just looking at it—”

“It must be quite a sight!” Su Rui chimed in cheerfully.

Her words made the women burst into laughter. The people of Xiaoba Village had nothing but contempt for those from Qingnan Village.

Before long, they had painted a picture of Guo Jiarong’s sorry state with exquisite detail.

Su Rui had wanted to beat him up herself. She had even stashed away one of her father’s animal traps under her bed, planning to lure Guo Jiarong into the mountains one day, string him up, and give him a good beating to make him give up on pursuing her.

She wasn’t afraid of the Guo family. Guo Qingwang would fall sooner or later, and Guo Jiarong, desperate for a warm meal, would end up as a live-in son-in-law for some older woman and be disciplined daily. Hehe.

But she hadn’t even needed to make a move. Guo Jiarong had brought this upon himself. He had greedily eaten most of the glutinous rice sticks that belonged to the foolish man, and it was only natural he got beaten for it.

As they chatted, it was time for work. Right on cue, Guo Qingwang appeared with a swollen cheek. His aging, murky eyes drooped with exhaustion, and dark bags hung beneath them. His clothes reeked of smoke.

Behind him, at a distance, stood the foolish man. This time, someone was with him, which surprised Su Rui. She had thought he would be locked up for a while after getting into a fight. It seemed his family was quite influential and protective of him.

During work, Su Rui noticed something strange.

The people accompanying the foolish man kept glancing at her. Among them was a middle-aged couple who bore a resemblance to him—probably his parents.

Su Rui recalled the events in the book. At this point in time, the original host should have been married off to the mountains. There was no mention of the foolish man appearing.

She couldn’t figure it out, so she simply let it be. Whatever came her way, she would deal with it. She wasn’t going anywhere—Xiaoba Village was safe, free from the preference for boys over girls, and had a promising future.

By noon, it was time to eat.

In her family, neither Su Yuqin nor Su Chang’e worked. Su Yuqin claimed to be the head of the household and refused to do labor, while Su Chang’e said she had asthma and couldn’t do physical work. They spent their days gossiping about which family’s son was a good match, yet they never cooked. At least not for Su Rui and Su Hongpei.

Su Hongpei handed a bowl of corn grits porridge to Su Rui and whispered, “Why does it feel like someone’s been lurking outside?”

Su Rui put down her bowl, grabbed the hoe leaning against the wall, and walked around the yard. She didn’t see anyone.

It felt just like the time when the foolish man had been secretly watching her. Su Rui wasn’t afraid. She raised her voice and called out, “Who’s there?”

Of all the possibilities, she never expected it to be Guo Jiarong.

Guo Jiarong straightened up from behind the wooden fence. His felt hat was pulled low over his face, and he was wearing a mask. His voice was muffled as he said, “It’s me, it’s me. Keep your voice down.”

Su Rui grinned, “Well, well, the great Marshal Tianpeng himself has come to visit!”

“Please, don’t joke around,” Guo Jiarong muttered, glancing around nervously. Then he quickly said, “I’m warning you—look at the situation clearly. You’d better agree to be with me. I can take you to my relatives in the county for a while! Otherwise, you’re as good as dead!”

Hearing such ominous words, Su Rui’s small hand had already swung up. “Ptui! Do you believe I won’t slap you?!”

Guo Jiarong said anxiously, “That fool is obsessed with you! He even said that if anyone dares to get close to you, he’ll stab them!”

Su Rui was about to speak when suddenly, someone flipped over the yellow mud wall diagonally across from her. It wasn’t anyone else—it was that foolish man.

He waved his fists in the air, chanting, “She’s my wife! My wife! Anyone who tries to steal my wife must die! Must die!” As he spoke, he pulled out a sugarcane-cutting knife from behind him and charged straight at Guo Jiarong.

Guo Jiarong shivered, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed on the spot. He let out a terrified cry and immediately ran for his life.

Last night, he and his father came to a painful realization—if a fool beats someone up, it’s not considered a crime. No matter how angry they were, the fool’s parents only paid two yuan for medical expenses, and the matter was settled.

But now, the fool had escalated things by wielding a knife. Guo Jiarong didn’t dare test whether a fool committing murder would be punished by the law. By the time he was lying cold in the ground, whether it was a crime or not wouldn’t make any difference.

He sprinted toward the fields. When he reached the riverbank, he saw three or four live-in sons-in-law washing clothes. None of them offered to help.

Guo Jiarong had always looked down on men who married into their wives’ families. While running, he cursed, “Marry a woman, and you turn into one yourself!”

The foolish man chased after him fiercely, shouting, “Whoever tries to steal my wife, I’ll kill them!” Compared to Guo Jiarong, who was limping, the fool ran even faster.

Fortunately, his family had heard the news. Two strong brothers rushed over to restrain him.

Su Rui hurried home to grab a rope, hoping to help tie him up. But by the time she arrived, the fool had already been subdued by his family. Meanwhile, the useless Guo Jiarong hadn’t even been hurt by the fool—he had twisted his ankle while running and had to be carried to the county hospital for a checkup.

Su Rui thought for a moment, then returned to the fields to continue harvesting corn.

“He’s such a pampered thing, insisting on going to the hospital. Normally, people just go to Yi Wang Village and have someone set it back in place,” an aunt working alongside her scoffed. “Even the mules in our village, when they get a twisted neck, aren’t they fixed the same way?”

Su Rui chuckled softly. But when she recalled how the foolish man had called her “wife,” her heart suddenly felt uneasy.

She suddenly remembered a scene from the book—after a foolish man married his wife, he had a violent episode and ended up slaughtering both his wife and her entire family.

In broad daylight, Su Rui shuddered.

Unexpectedly, her eldest sister came running over in a panic. “That fool’s whole family is at our house!”

“What? They didn’t leave?”

“Leave? They came specifically for you.”

Su Rui held a handful of corn cobs and instantly understood—what she had been dreading had finally arrived.

She had thought that avoiding marriage into a remote mountain village meant she was safe, but it turned out another calamity was waiting for her.

A sister-in-law working nearby was a sharp woman. She had heard the fool shouting “stealing my wife” all afternoon but hadn’t asked Su Rui about it. Now, upon hearing this, she quickly inquired, “What are they doing at your house?”

Su Hongpei foolishly said, “They came to propose marriage for my little sister!”

The sister-in-law exclaimed, “Oh my! A family like that… must be offering a hefty bride price, right?”

Su Hongpei held up three fingers and said, “Big money!”

“Whoa! Three hundred yuan! That’s even more than what families in town offer.” The sister-in-law then asked, “When are they finalizing the engagement?”

Su Hongpei was about to speak again when Su Rui covered her mouth.

Su Rui closed her eyes briefly and pleaded, “Big Sister, I’m begging you, please say less.”

If this continued, rumors would spread that she was about to have children with the fool.