Xu Ning had sat there for more than an hour, and neither of the two had moved an inch. They hadn’t even gone to the restroom, and she couldn’t just randomly beat someone up without a reason.

Should she find an excuse to provoke them a bit?

While she was pondering how to find an excuse to hit someone, Liu Fang stood up. However, instead of leaving, she just twisted her waist a bit, perhaps because she had been sitting for too long and needed to stretch.

Little did she know that luck was not on her side. There was a small piece of corn hidden beneath the corn husks, and as she stepped on it, she slipped and fell straight toward Wei Lanlan.

Xu Ning and Wei Lanlan were sitting together, and before Liu Fang could land on Wei Lanlan, Xu Ning quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. Liu Fang ended up falling flat on the ground.

Before anyone could react, Xu Ning rushed over to pretend to help her, but as she got closer, she slipped and crashed right into Liu Fang, accidentally grabbing her chest in the process.

Liu Fang was already lying on several peeled ears of corn, and after being hit like that, the pain felt like it was grabbing her heart, making her chest ache intensely.

She was not a kind-hearted person to begin with, and after Xu Ning had pulled her earlier, she was filled with resentment. If she had simply fallen onto Wei Lanlan, it wouldn’t have hurt so much, but Xu Ning had to meddle.

Thinking of this, she picked up a piece of corn from beneath her and threw it at Xu Ning’s head.

After hearing Wei Lanlan talk about Liu Fang, Xu Ning knew that this person had a dark heart, so she had been on guard against her all along, especially now that Liu Fang was throwing corn at her.

She shouted loudly, “You really don’t know what’s good for you! I came over to help you, and you want to hit me with corn? How can your heart be so black?”

After saying this, she climbed off Liu Fang, but accidentally brushed against the flesh at Liu Fang’s waist, causing Liu Fang to grimace in pain.

As soon as Xu Ning got off her, Liu Fang immediately scrambled to her feet and started fighting with Xu Ning.

Xu Ning shouted, “Hey, hey, why are you like this? I came over to help you, and it wasn’t intentional to hit you!”

With her back turned to everyone, it looked like Xu Ning was blocking Liu Fang’s attacks, but in reality, she was pinching and twisting Liu Fang.

Liu Fang was furious from the pinches and let out a cry as she prepared to pull Xu Ning’s hair.

Xu Ning pretended to be forced to retaliate and started fighting with Liu Fang. In no time, she had pinned Liu Fang down and began hitting her.

While striking down on Liu Fang, she angrily exclaimed, “You’re driving me crazy! I’ve never met someone like you. I tried to help you with good intentions, and instead, you chase after me to hit me! Do you think I’m easy to bully? Ah! Ah! Ah!”

While speaking, she slapped Liu Fang across the face, thinking to herself that since she had already offended this insidious person, she might as well vent her frustration now.

Today, there were no older women to help with peeling corn; only young people were around. Although several young wives in the village were married, they were still quite young. They had seen older women fight before, but it was their first time witnessing two young women tearing at each other like this.

Everyone was stunned, but Wei Lanlan was the first to react. She pointed an accusing finger at Liu Fang and said, “Liu Fang, how can you have such a wicked heart? Xu Ning was afraid you would hit me, so she pulled you away, yet you throw something at her head!”

After saying this, she didn’t try to break up the fight and just stood there watching Xu Ning beat Liu Fang.

Xu Ning looked at Liu Fang’s pig-like face and felt a bit hesitant to continue. She thought to herself, Why isn’t Lin Qiuhua here today to help out? If she were here, we could take care of Liu Fang together and save ourselves the trouble of making excuses later.

The young wives in the village and the people from the youth commune reacted to the sound of slaps and quickly pulled the two apart.

Liu Fang, with her eyes red from anger, shouted, “You did it on purpose! You pushed me down, intentionally fell on me, and even pinched me!”

Xu Ning, equally furious, replied, “I was so far away from you! You slipped and fell by yourself. I was just trying to help, but you turn it around on me. There are so many witnesses here; do you really think you can frame me? Not a chance!”

Wei Lanlan chimed in from the side, “Xu Ning and I were just sitting there and didn’t move at all. You were the one who lunged at us, and yet you say others did it on purpose. You’re really like a dog biting Lü Dongbin—unable to recognize kindness! From now on, I’m keeping my distance from you to avoid being falsely accused.”

Liu Fang was berated by the two, and with pain coursing through her body and no one to support her, she glanced at Lin Qiuhua, who was usually her closest friend.

To her surprise, Lin Qiuhua met her gaze for just a second before quickly turning her face away, not wanting to look at her. She didn’t dare provoke Xu Ning, that fierce one.

Liu Fang felt a pang of hurt in her chest from the anger and, seeing that no one was willing to help her, declared that she would go find the village chief.

Xu Ning couldn’t care less who she went to see. So many people had witnessed the incident, and it wasn’t her who had thrown the first punch. Even if the King of Heaven came, she would still be in the right.

As Liu Fang ran off, Xu Ning casually sat down and resumed peeling the corn husks as if nothing had happened.

Wei Lanlan comforted her, saying, “Don’t worry, when the village chief comes, I’ll testify that she was the one who acted unreasonably and hit you first.”

Xu Ning smiled gratefully at her, thinking that she was worried about hitting Wei Lanlan, but in reality, she was just looking for an excuse to fight.

Chunhua, who was sitting nearby, remained silent. She had been positioned to the side of Xu Ning and Liu Fang and had witnessed their altercation. She saw that Liu Fang hadn’t hit Xu Ning at all; instead, it was Xu Ning who had been pinching and hitting her.

The other young wives peeling corn were secretly watching Xu Ning. This young girl looked cheerful and hardly spoke, but when it came to slapping someone, she really knew how to do it!

However, Liu Fang was indeed asking for a beating. When someone came to help her, she swung her corn cob at their head. Thankfully, this girl had quick reflexes; otherwise, she might have ended up with a split head.

Most of the grain had been collected, and the village chief along with several team leaders were busy organizing people to process the beans and dry the grain when Liu Fang came crying over with a swollen, pig-like face.

Before anyone could recognize who she was, they heard Liu Fang sobbing and saying that Xu Ning had hit her.

One of the team leaders asked, “Liu Fang, the youth from the village?”

Liu Fang, who was currently accusing Xu Ning of her misdeeds, was taken aback by the question. She touched her face and then burst into loud tears.

The commotion gave several people a headache, prompting the village chief to bring along the team leader in charge of the youth to find out what was going on.

Xu Ning was known for working hard on her plot of land and never stirring up trouble; it was hard to believe that she would hit Liu Fang for no reason.

The village chief recalled the rumors circulating in the village over the past few days and glanced at Liu Fang, realizing she was not a peaceful character.

Wei Lanlan noticed that Liu Fang was bringing the village chief and the team leader over and quickly stood up, saying, “Liu Fang, do you still have the face to find the village chief? Are you hoping he’ll announce your act of betrayal on the loudspeaker? I’m honestly embarrassed for you.”

After saying this, she recounted the incident to the village chief and the team leader, saying, “…Village Chief, Team Leader, this is what happened. Xu Ning only retaliated because she was being hit by Liu Fang. We all saw it.”

The village chief did not call the youth out to testify; they were all from the youth camp, and it wouldn’t be fair to side with anyone. Instead, he asked a few young wives in the village what had happened.

The young wives recounted what they had seen without bias, and their accounts were similar to Wei Lanlan’s.

The village chief sighed and said, “Liu Fang, if you continue to act like this, who will dare to help you in the future?”

Looking at her face, which was hard to bear, he cleared his throat and said, “This time, I won’t punish you. But you must not act like this again.”

He then turned to Xu Ning with a gentle tone, saying, “Xu Ning, you are a good comrade. The village will write up your helpful deeds and post them at the village committee. Try not to hold this incident against Liu Fang; let it go this time.”

Xu Ning replied seriously, “Thank you, Village Chief. This is what I should do. Even though I’ve been wronged this time, I will still lend a helping hand in similar situations in the future.”

Liu Fang, with red eyes and filled with anger, exclaimed, “She really hit me! You can see the marks where she pinched me!” After saying this, she intended to lift her clothes to show everyone but quickly remembered that the village chief and team leader were men, so she put her clothes back down.

The village chief looked at her sternly and criticized, “Liu Fang, what are you doing? Do you think so many people are wronging you? If you keep causing trouble like this, I will have no choice but to send you to the township.” After saying this, he left with the team leader.