Chapter 22 Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder

Qian Xiaolan listened to Hu Guifen’s words and had an idea. When the village chief returned with a group of people, panting, Qian Xiaolan stated her plan. “Village Chief, because of the money I have, I’m constantly being targeted, and everyone can’t sleep well. I’ve decided to keep some money to buy a bicycle for myself and donate the rest to the village school to replace the desks and buy books and stationery.” The village chief and the other village officials were overjoyed. Their annoyance at being woken up from their sleep vanished.

Seeing their expressions brighten, Qian Xiaolan continued, “Village Chief, I helped someone in the commune before. She works at the supply and marketing cooperative. If you trust me, I can buy the books and stationery. I can guarantee that I’ll get the most for the lowest price.” Before Gu Shengli could say anything, the other village officials were already tempted. They quickly agreed, “That would be great. Xiaolan, don’t worry about buying too much.

 You live alone, so you need to keep some money for yourself. The village can’t take advantage of you.” Qian Xiaolan just smiled and said nothing. Gu Shengli felt guilty. He hadn’t handled things well at the time. Otherwise, everyone wouldn’t have known that Xiaolan had so much money, causing so much trouble. As a result, Xiaolan had to donate the money to the village to ensure safety.

Thinking about this, Gu Shengli glared fiercely at Lian Erlai and said to the Gu brothers, “Take Erlai to the clinic first. Everyone go back to rest early. We’ll have a meeting at the drying yard before work tomorrow!” The crowd dispersed. Hu Guifen sighed and comforted Qian Xiaolan before returning to her room to sleep. She had noticed that her two neighbors and the two village officials were unhappy that something always happened at Xiaolan’s house.

Thankfully, Xiaolan had offered to donate money today, so they swallowed their dissatisfaction. Oh, what a mess this had become. Xiaolan was the victim, but instead of blaming the bad guys who came to climb her wall in the middle of the night, everyone blamed the victim for causing trouble. The world was truly unfair to women. Qian Xiaolan didn’t feel anything.

 The moment she suggested that Sun Honghua and her husband repay the money, she had anticipated all the trouble she would encounter. The villagers were calmer than she thought. It had been several days, and only two groups of people had come. Actually, she didn’t know that it wasn’t that the villagers were calm, but that the village chief had secretly warned those who were secretly plotting. There were many people who had their eyes on her money and her courtyard, but they were intimidated by the village chief’s warnings and the presence of Hu Guifen and her four sons. Only people like Qian Changcai, who took advantage of their relationship, and Lian Erlai, who was fearless and had only a widowed mother, would dare to act recklessly.

After returning to her room, Qian Xiaolan locked the door, entered the space, and contacted Wenxuan, “Wenxuan, prepare some pencils, erasers, notebooks, and extracurricular books that were common in the 1970s.” Wenxuan ran a physical store and a Pinduoduo store. He had everything you could think of. As soon as Qian Xiaolan made her request, he immediately replied that he had them in stock and asked her how many she wanted. Qian Xiaolan first ordered one hundred yuan worth. After looking at the quantity, she fell silent. She had forgotten to use her brain.

At this time, a pencil with an eraser cost 0.05 yuan, a pencil cost 0.04 yuan, a pencil sharpener cost 0.05 yuan, a notebook cost 0.05 yuan, and an eraser cost 0.02 yuan. Her one hundred yuan could only buy one-tenth of the things in Wenxuan’s time. It was a terrible deal! Qian Xiaolan silently put the items back on the shelf and listed an eight-pound wild mountain goat hind leg for Wenxuan. “My money can’t even buy much from you. Let’s trade with this.

 I don’t need notebooks or pens. Just give me sanitary pads.” Wenxuan coughed a few times and immediately went to prepare the items for Qian Xiaolan. Since he started trading with Qian Xiaolan, he had moved to the warehouse to be able to complete transactions as quickly as possible. Qian Xiaolan put away the sanitary pads, thinking that she wouldn’t have to use cloth strips with wood ash like the people here, and happily went to sleep. The next morning, Qian Xiaolan was woken up by the village loudspeaker. She quickly washed up and ran to the drying yard to assemble. Gu Shengli and the other cadres in the brigade were standing on the platform.

 Even Qian Changcai, Sun Honghua, and Lian Erlai were carried up. Gu Shengli held up the loudspeaker, read a passage from a quotation, and pointed at the three half-disabled people, “Comrades! Society is progressing, civilization is developing, and we should all work together to build the countryside and make our country even more prosperous and strong. But some people are regressing. They not only steal and cheat, but they also dare to climb other people’s walls in the middle of the night to harass women! We must have zero tolerance for such people!

Otherwise, everyone will be like him, how can women’s safety be guaranteed? What will happen to the atmosphere in the brigade?” As soon as Gu Shengli finished speaking, the crowd below agreed, “The village chief is right! This can’t be left alone.”

 Someone also shouted, “It’s not like all the women in the brigade have a lot of money and a house like Qian Xiaolan, is it?” As soon as this person spoke, several others agreed. In this era, a whole family couldn’t save up even a few dozen yuan in a year, and housing was also scarce. Who would have anything worth stealing? Qian Xiaolan stood behind these people, silently remembering their faces.

Gu Shengli also heard those women’s words. He was so angry that he slapped the loudspeaker with his hand. The piercing sound echoed through the crowd, silencing them. Gu Shengli held the loudspeaker and said rudely, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. I’m telling you, don’t even think about it. Don’t even dream about it!” The faces of the old women instantly flushed red, whether from anger or embarrassment. Gu Shengli glanced at them and continued, “After our brigade office investigation, Qian Changcai and Sun Honghua attempted to climb the wall to steal, although they failed, the impact was very bad. After the brigade office meeting, it was decided to deduct thirty work points from each of them. Lian Erlai also confessed last night.

He wanted to climb the wall to ruin Xiaolan’s reputation. If he had succeeded, that would have been a hooligan offense, and he would have been sent to prison. Although he didn’t succeed and even broke his leg, he still needs to be punished. The brigade office has decided to deduct fifty work points from his mother.” Lian Erlai, who had been silent, suddenly shouted, “Village Chief, I disagree. Why deduct my mother’s work points? Xiaolan and I like each other. Last night, she invited me over. Why are you only punishing me?” “Bah! Don’t even think about it! Look at yourself. With your looks, Xiaolan would like you?” Hu Guifen couldn’t wait for Gu Shengli to speak.

She was so angry that she threw rotten vegetable leaves at the platform. Gu Yu Jiao also grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Lian Erlai, “You shameless jerk! You’re so ugly, my sister Xiaolan wouldn’t like you!” Hu Guifen and her daughter were both fierce, scolding Lian Erlai until he shrunk his neck and didn’t dare to speak anymore.

Gu Shengli kept his head down, looking at the loudspeaker, as if he hadn’t seen his sister-in-law and niece’s actions. Some people couldn’t sit still anymore. “Aunt Hu, Yu Jiao, there’s a saying, ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’ Maybe Qian Xiaolan does like Lian Erlai.”