Early the next morning, Yang Liying told Zhao Dehai where she was going and headed to Lin Lan’s house.
When she reached the courtyard gate, she saw it was ajar. Pushing it open, she found Lin Lan hanging up laundry and smiled. "You’ve already finished the washing so early!"
"Third Sister-in-law, co in and sit for a bit." Lin Lan smiled, hung a bag of roasted broad beans on a bamboo pole, and went to get a stool for her to sit on.
Wu Shufen walked to the kitchen doorway and bead at the visitor. "Liying, you’re here!"
Yang Liying stood up and smiled politely. "It’s a rare pleasure to see you, Auntie! You don’t often co by."
Wu Shufen chuckled. "Not at all. I’m running around every other day."
The two exchanged a few pleasantries. By the ti Lin Lan had finished hanging her laundry, the two sisters-in-law were heading toward Niu Bei Mountain together.
Seeing them leave, Wu Shufen felt a little uneasy. She went inside and saw Little Douzi was still asleep, so she closed the courtyard gate and hurried toward the old matriarch’s house.
After walking for a while, Yang Liying glanced at her with a smile. "So you brought a piglet ho!"
Lin Lan shook her head, smiling. "No, my mom and brother brought it over. They even prepared the rice bran for it."
Yang Liying was a little envious. "Lin Lan, your family is so good to you."
She believed that when a woman’s own family supported her after marriage, it gave her standing with her in-laws. Take herself and her two sisters, for example. Their brothers were not good n, which not only earned them complaints from their husbands but also subjected them to gossip from their sisters-in-law and mother-in-law.
As they talked, they soon reached the edge of the fishpond. In the distance, they saw a man bent over at the foot of the mountain, cutting grass. He had already gathered a large pile.
Lin Lan cursed under her breath, "That son of a bitch. I’m going to chop him to pieces!"
Yang Liying quickly pulled her back. "Don’t go over there yet. Let go ask what he’s doing first. When I wave, you co over."
"Okay!" Lin Lan agreed.
Suppressing her anger, Yang Liying walked to the foot of the mountain. "Hey! Which team are you from? Why are you here in Team One stealing grass?"
Zou Zhonggui looked up, putting on the air of an honest simpleton. "Ma’am, I’m from the Construction Team, but I’m not stealing grass. My girlfriend cos here every day to cut fodder. It’s not easy for her to work all alone with a child, so I ca to help her out and make things a little easier."
As he spoke, he put on a show of being an earnest worker, briskly cutting the grass with a SWISH, SWISH.
Yang Liying eyed him askance. "A woman from Team One with a child? Are you talking about Lin Lan, whose husband just passed away?"
Zou Zhonggui gave an embarrassed smile. "That’s right! I’m friends with Yang Laoyao, and I’ve known her for a long ti." The implication was that he and Lin Lan had gotten together before her husband, Yang Laoyao, had even died.
Yang Liying fought back the fury that was surging up inside her. She put a hand behind her back and waved for Lin Lan.
Lin Lan, who was standing in front of the grass shack, grabbed Old Chen’s fire poker and charged toward the foot of the mountain. She swung the poker hard against Zou Zhonggui’s back, then followed up with a kick to his ass.
With a THUD, Zou Zhonggui fell face-first to the ground, and the sickle flew from his hand.
Yang Liying pounced, grabbing him by the collar. Unleashing her Nine Yin White Bone Claw, she carved five bloody gouges into his face. "You block-headed, short-lived bastard! Slandering people’s reputations! I’ll rip your mouth off!"
Zou Zhonggui looked decent enough on the outside. If Lin Lan hadn’t co to her, and she had heard the gossip from those busybodies, even she might have believed that Lin Lan had been having an affair with him for a while.
Lin Lan raised the fire poker and rained blows down on him. "You bastard! I don’t even know who the hell you are, and you call yourself my boyfriend?! You’re ruining my reputation! I’ll beat you to death!"
Seeing the fight break out, Old Chen started yelling at the top of his lungs, "Help! Soone’s stealing fodder...!" As he shouted, he grabbed a stick and rushed toward the foot of the mountain.
"You rotten bitch, let go!"
Zou Zhonggui was stunned by the sudden, fierce attack from Lin Lan and Yang Liying. After a mont, he ca to his senses. Tall and strong, he endured the pain and forcefully threw Yang Liying to the ground.
He rolled over, grabbed the stick Lin Lan was swinging at him, and scrambled up to kick her. But Old Chen, who had just rushed over, struck him on the leg with his own stick. With a CRACK, the stick broke in two.
"You damn hooligan! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!"
"You old fool, you’re asking for it!" Zou Zhonggui limped as he threw a punch at Old Chen.
"Damn hooligan! You bastard!" Lin Lan leaped on him, grabbing the back of his collar and yanking with all her might. Old Chen jerked his head aside, and the fist grazed his cheek. He raised the remaining half of the stick and brought it down on Zou Zhonggui’s wrist.
Zou Zhonggui grimaced in pain, the collar choking him so tightly he could barely breathe.
Just then, Yang Liying scrambled back up to help. The two sisters-in-law dragged Zou Zhonggui to the ground. Old Chen threw himself on top of him, and the three of them worked together to pin him down.
Lin Lan got up and kicked him in the crotch. "Talk! Who sent you?"
Old Chen couldn’t help but flinch at the sight. Zou Zhonggui clutched his crotch, curled into a ball, and let out a pained scream.
Yang Liying’s mouth was like a machine gun, cursing out eighteen generations of Zou Zhonggui’s ancestors. Her hands were even faster than her mouth. With a flurry of scratches, a vivid, five-fingered mark instantly blood on Zou Zhonggui’s face.
’I might as well be dead,’ he thought. ’It’s over. I’m screwed. That little widow definitely kicked away my ability to carry on the family line, and now my only asset, my face, is ruined.’
’Liu Jinbao, you son of a bitch, you’ve been the death of ! You’re going to pay for this!’
Zou Zhonggui and Liu Jinbao had originally planned it all out perfectly. He would co and "help" Lin Lan with her work to seduce her, while Liu Jinbao would have Sun Xiuhua spread rumors that he and Lin Lan had been having an affair for a long ti.
Even if Lin Lan didn’t take the bait, he would just keep "helping" for a while. The more people who saw them, the more the rumors would spread. With enough people saying the sa thing, a lie could beco the truth.
At that point, he would pester her relentlessly until she gave in. Sooner or later, Lin Lan would be his. Their plan was perfect, but reality was cruel.
He wouldn’t dare tell the truth, so he tried to argue his case. "I swear on my ancestors, ma’am! Nobody sent ! I heard that Laoyao had passed, and since he and I were friends, I just wanted to help you, I swear!"
"You son of a bitch, still spewing bullshit." Lin Lan stomped on his hand, grinding her foot on his fingers.
"AHHH..." Zou Zhonggui let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
Just then, He Xianghua and Yang ihua arrived, along with an uneasy Zhao Dehai. The two burly n rushed over and restrained Zou Zhonggui, telling Lin Lan and the others to step aside.
"Son of a bitch! I’ll kill you!" Zhao Dehai punched Zou Zhonggui in the face, and another brutal mark blossod there.
Yang Liying shouted, "Captain He, this son of a bitch was stealing fodder! We caught him, and then he started hitting people."
She omitted the part where Zou Zhonggui claid to know Lin Lan and called her his girlfriend. She was worried that if that got out, people would gossip—so good, so bad—and it would be bad for Lin Lan’s reputation.
Lin Lan heard this and understood Yang Liying’s intention. In those days, a good reputation was more important than anything. If a woman was truly involved in a "lifestyle issue," or even if it was just baseless hearsay, society would always scorn the woman first, not the man.
Centuries of prejudice and discrimination were already deeply ingrained. In society, a man who was with several won was considered a charr, while a woman who was with several n was considered cheap and promiscuous.
When Zou Zhonggui heard Yang Liying accuse him only of stealing grass and assault, he didn’t say a word. After all, compared to the cri of being a hooligan, stealing grass was a much lighter offense.
Old Chen pointed and testified from the side, "Captain He, I was coming back from cutting fish feed when I saw him stealing fodder. These two won caught him, and he started cursing and hitting them, so I ca to help."
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