Chapter 22

“Mingyue, please don’t cry anymore… sob… I’m scared too… sob…”

Sensing that a group of people was almost at the gate, Yun Angge pretended to be deeply frightened and finally “couldn’t hold it in” and started crying too. She even deliberately made her body shake dramatically.

She was dressed lightly, so the cold wind made her shiver for real—but she exaggerated her trembling, making it look more like she was shivering from fear than from the cold.

“Sob… Sister-in-law, don’t cry… I won’t cry either…” Qin Mingyue was no longer acting. She thought Yun Angge was truly frightened and quickly tried to comfort her.

“Angé, Mingyue, my poor darlings, don’t cry, don’t cry. I’ve called your third and fourth uncles to come over…”

Qin Mother’s heart shattered at the sound of her daughter and daughter-in-law crying. She rushed into the courtyard, carrying a lantern. She had run so fast that the lantern almost got blown out.

On this silent, freezing night, beside a pile of rubble, the two young women sat huddled together on the ground, trembling and crying. Even people who didn’t like them couldn’t help but feel sympathy.

“Damn it! I want to see which bastard had the guts to sneak into our Qin house to steal!”

“That damn animal! Look how badly he scared these two girls!”

Fifth Uncle Qin Wanfang and his wife Zhang Xianglan followed Qin Mother into the courtyard. One rushed to the rubble to catch the thief, the other hurried over to help Yun Angge up.

Ever since Qin Lingnian had been promoted to officer in the army, Qin Wanfang had tried harder than ever to curry favor with his eldest nephew. He was racking his brain for ways to get closer.

His eldest son, Qin Dongming, would turn sixteen in two years—if he could get Lingnian’s help to join the army, that’d be great. If not, maybe he could pull some strings and find a county job for him.

Just days ago, he had told Zhang Xianglan to frequently visit Qin Lingnian’s house, get close to Qin Mother—and especially to Yun Angge.

Now, seeing Qin Mother choose to ask him for help instead of the second brother Qin Wanliang, Wanfang assumed she had a falling-out with that side of the family because of Luan Yingjie’s affair. He figured that since he spoke up for Angé and Lingnian back then, Qin Mother wanted to draw closer to his family.

So, Qin Wanfang immediately took charge to stand up for Qin Mother and the girls.

He shrugged off the coat on his shoulders, handed it to his younger son Qin Donghai, and turned to his two adult nephews from the Fourth Uncle’s family. “Weiguo, Weimin, you two have sharp eyes—go see where that bastard got buried. Damn him! I hope he got crushed. And if not, I’ll break his arms and legs myself!”

With that, Qin Wanfang and his two sons, along with Qin Wanku and his four sons, charged into the rubble to dig the thief out. Zhang Xianglan and her two daughters, plus Third Aunt Liu Ying and her daughters, gathered around Yun Angge and Qin Mingyue to comfort the frightened girls.

All the noise alarmed the neighboring household to the east—Qin Wanquan’s family.

Qin Wanquan’s father and Qin Wanfang’s father were cousins, so the two families were still close kin. Hearing all the ruckus, Wanquan and his sons came out to check.

“Whoa, what happened? Why did the wall suddenly collapse?”

Qin Wanquan and his sons, cloaked in outerwear, walked outside and were shocked by the scene.

He vaguely remembered hearing a loud noise in his sleep and thought it was thunder. He hadn’t realized the wall at Qin Lingnian’s house had collapsed.

“Some arrogant bastard climbed over the wall to steal chickens from my sister-in-law’s place…”

Before Qin Wanfang could finish, his eldest son Qin Dongming pointed and shouted excitedly: “Over here… the thief is here… I can see his head!”

“Who the hell is it… ah—” Qin Wanfang turned too quickly, slipped on a loose brick, and fell onto his rear in the rubble. But he ignored the pain, scrambled up, and rushed to where the “thief” was buried.

“Damn it! Let me see who this bastard is!”

“His face is covered in dirt—can’t tell yet, but it’s definitely a man.” Qin Weiguo had already run over and was clearing the clumps of dirt off Luan Yingjie’s head, grabbing him by the collar to expose his face.

But his face was caked in thick soil, and with dim lantern light, they couldn’t immediately recognize him.

“Dongming’s mom, bring a basin of water!” Qin Wanfang yelled to Zhang Xianglan, then lifted his foot and kicked Luan Yingjie in the head.

“Ugh…” Luan Yingjie, already tormented by pain, let out a groan and passed out again.

“Still making noise—he’s not dead.” Qin Weiguo squatted beside him and heard the faint moan.

Qin Wanfang couldn’t resist giving him another kick. “Damn it, tough bastard.”

“Water’s here!” Zhang Xianglan brought a basin of water. Qin Dongming quickly took it and rushed over, splashing it onto Luan Yingjie’s head.

With the splash, the thick dirt washed off, revealing a pale face.

“Ah…”

Everyone froze in shock.

“That… that looks like Luan Yingjie?!” After a long pause, Qin Dongming finally broke the silence.

No one responded. They all stared at the familiar, pale face. They had already recognized him but were reluctant to believe it.

“Oh, I get it now…” Qin Dongming suddenly came to a conclusion and muttered, “A few days ago, cousin-in-law publicly demanded repayment from Luan Yingjie. He must’ve held a grudge and came to steal chickens to vent his anger.”

Hidden at the back of the crowd, Yun Angge quietly let out a breath of relief and cast Qin Dongming a look of gratitude and admiration.

This young man had unknowingly become her perfect ally.

Her original plan was to step forward and say those very words once Luan Yingjie was dug out and revealed as the thief—but Qin Dongming had beaten her to it.

And frankly, it was even more convincing coming from him.

Yun Angge gently tugged Qin Mingyue’s sleeve and whispered in her ear.

The young girl nodded firmly, then rasped loudly, “Dongming’s right! Luan Yingjie has been to our house several times—he knows where our chicken coop is and that we keep the hens locked in cages…”

In the freezing winter months, when it was too cold to meet in secret, Luan Yingjie would sometimes use the excuse of delivering letters to get food or money from Yun Angge—something many villagers were aware of.

With both Qin Dongming and Qin Mingyue supporting the story, plus Luan Yingjie caught red-handed, the villagers didn’t say much aloud—but they all believed it: he’d come to steal chickens out of spite for Yun Angge.

“Sister-in-law, what should we do? Should we take him to the commune?” Qin Wanfang asked, staring at the unconscious Luan Yingjie, then suddenly turned to Qin Mother, who was standing on the rubble, teeth clenched.

Truth be told, Qin Wanfang hoped Luan Yingjie would be taken to the commune and jailed.

Even though Luan Yingjie and Qin Feng weren’t married yet, everyone knew he was essentially the live-in son-in-law of Qin Wanliang.

So if Luan Yingjie went to jail, it’d humiliate Qin Wanliang.

Wanfang and Wanliang were brothers, but had fallen out years ago over funeral arrangements and other household disputes—their relationship had grown more strained over time.

In recent years, Wanliang, as brigade leader, often used his power to suppress Wanfang. So now, Wanfang would love nothing more than to see him disgraced.

But Wanfang was smart—he couldn’t be the one to suggest sending Luan to the commune. Otherwise, Wanliang would hold a lifelong grudge.

So he threw the problem to Qin Mother.

She frowned, hesitated, and then looked at Yun Angge, silently asking for her opinion.

Yun Angge was just about to speak when Qin Wanquan suddenly jumped in.

“Oh come on, Luan Yingjie must’ve just been temporarily blinded by anger. It’s not worth sending him to the commune…”

Wanquan’s late wife had been the cousin of Wanliang’s wife, so their families were very close. And as the brigade leader, Wanliang held influence—so Wanquan was eager to please him and tried to mediate.

But Yun Angge already knew all about the village gossip from recent chats with Qin Mother and Qin Mingyue. She could see right through Wanquan’s sycophantic ploy.

She narrowed her eyes at him and let out a cold, mocking smile. Then she spoke with righteousness:

**”Luan Yingjie didn’t just make a mistake—he

committed a crime. He broke into our home to steal. No matter what his reasons were, crime is crime. He should be punished according to the law!”**

Wanquan was publicly slapped down by Yun Angge but wasn’t even embarrassed—he felt she was blowing things out of proportion and tried to argue, but she didn’t give him the chance.

“Still, even if he was cruel, we can’t be heartless. As the saying goes, even when beating a dog, you have to consider its owner. Since he’s Qin Feng’s fiancé, and this was his first offense driven by anger, I won’t send him to the commune. But—he must pay to rebuild the wall and compensate us for two hens.”

Of course, Yun Angge wasn’t sparing Luan out of kindness—or consideration for Qin Wanliang or Qin Feng.

She was protecting herself.

If this got reported to the commune, Luan would surely deny everything. The police would investigate, and though she had covered her tracks well, there was always a chance something might slip.

She never wanted the law to punish him anyway—she wanted to ruin him her way.

The wall at Qin Lingnian’s home was the tallest in the village, partially made of bricks. When it collapsed, it must’ve at least cracked a few bones and given Luan plenty of bruises. That pain alone would last him days.

“Angé, you did the right thing! We’re all family—you can’t take it too far.” Wanquan thickened his skin and jumped in again. “Now let’s dig the comrade out quickly. Leaving him under there like that could be dangerous. I’ll go get Wanliang…”

Wanquan climbed down the rubble, glanced toward Qin Wanliang’s house, and muttered under his breath, “Damn, that family sleeps like the dead.”

Yun Angge didn’t stop him. It was time for Qin Feng to see Luan Yingjie’s disgrace with her own eyes.

And her grand performance of revenge? It still wasn’t over.

Taking a deep breath, she bit her inner cheek so hard her eyes turned red with pain—then stepped forward and fell to her knees with a loud thud…