Chapter 34

The sky was already dark; they could only make each other out under a faint wash of moonlight.
To Wang Shuisheng, his little sister’s expression looked… off. Weirdly off.
“She’s the one who took me to the hospital today. What’s wrong? You know Bai… her?”
Bai Xinmei blinked. This person knows me? And she clearly didn’t like her. From the look in her eyes there was nothing but disgust and hostility. Normally, only she despised others. When had it ever been someone else’s turn to look down on her?
She couldn’t help sneaking a little eye-roll behind their backs.
Still, remembering that Wang Shuisheng had just saved her life, she decided not to bother arguing.
Wang Lanhua realized she’d slipped up and quickly shook her head. “No. Brother, your arm’s so bad, let’s just go home. Niang’s worried sick…”
At first, it had been Bai Xinmei supporting Wang Shuisheng. Wang Lanhua hurried up, wedged herself in between them, and broke their grip.
Like hell I’m letting this shameless widow get tangled up with my brother.
Her brother was the most upstanding young man for ten li around, tall, sturdy, a worker at the meat plant, and a high school graduate to boot. There were plenty of girls lining up hoping to marry into their family. What if this widow set her sights on him?
When their arms slid apart, Wang Shuisheng felt… inexplicably disappointed.
Bai Xinmei pursed her lips. This woman clearly had it in for her.
If she’d known what was going through Wang Lanhua’s mind, she’d probably have jabbed a finger at her nose and yelled: What are you, blind? You think I pounce on every man I see? I have standards and principles, thank you very much. I’ve known your brother for all of one day, I’m not some desperate, industrial-strength vacuum cleaner! Are you sick in the head?!
Sensing the tension crackling between them, Wang Shuisheng shifted his shoulders and gestured that they should head home.
“We’ll go first. You be careful on your way back. You’re a… girl, walking by yourself…”
Before he could finish fussing, his sister cut him off. “What girl? She’s a widow. What could possibly happen to her?”
“What do you mean by that! If it wasn’t for the fact your brother just saved my life, I’d have taught you a lesson already. I felt something was off with you earlier, do we even know each other? Why are you acting like you’ve got some kind of grudge against me?”
Bai Xinmei had already been planning to leave, but when she heard Wang Lanhua’s random sniping again, she couldn’t hold it in. Enough was enough.
She could grit her teeth and swallow it when it was Li Zhaodi mouthing off, after all, they saw each other every day, and she was used to it. But now a woman she’d barely met twice was jeering at her for no reason? It was infuriating.
“Lanhua, what’s wrong with you? You’re not usually like this…”
To Wang Shuisheng, what Bai Xinmei said made sense. Lanhua did seem like she knew her from somewhere. But he doted on his little sister, and he was hurt and woozy, so his voice came out softer than it might have otherwise.
“I…”
It was like a bolt from the blue. Wang Lanhua suddenly realized she was losing her mind. This was Shizi Gou, it was 1973, and she was nineteen years old.
This wasn’t the time after she’d married Song Jinping, when Bai Xinmei had started showing up to stir up trouble.
“I, I’m sorry, brother. I was too anxious. When Little Uncle ran over, I thought something terrible had happened.”
The more she spoke, the more her tears welled up. She was crying for herself, and for her brother. In her last life, when she’d heard that Hao Jianguo had beaten her and called her a whore, her brother had beaten Hao Jianguo half to death. Hao Jianguo then grabbed his chance, refused to let go, and got him thrown in jail.
By the time she had the power and means to go pull strings and get him out, her brother was already dead. They said he’d died of illness in prison.
What a joke. Her brother had always been in excellent health. How could he “suddenly get sick”? Obviously that bastard Hao Jianguo had made sure he suffered inside.
Using his uninjured arm, Wang Shuisheng wiped his sister’s tears. “Silly girl. It’s early spring and I’m bundled up. Even taking a hit like that, I was never in real danger. Look at you, crying like this. I stood up for someone else, that’s a good thing, it’s something to be proud of.”
“It’s not her fault. I was the one who rushed in. Think about it, better for that hoe to smash into my arm than into someone else’s head.”
The whole scene was so touching that Bai Xinmei’s own eyes stung. She’d never had any real siblings. The few cousins she had were scattered overseas, and whether they were doing well or badly, she had no idea.
Other than Niuniu, the posthumous child Qin Yuanzheng had left behind, she essentially had nothing.
Her slim figure slipped quietly into the dense night, cloaked in a faint melancholy as she lowered her head and walked back toward the Qin house in Lotus Village.
After the Wang siblings had comforted each other, they realized the other person was long gone.
“She’s gone, brother.”
Wang Shuisheng gazed after the direction where that delicate figure had disappeared, reluctant to look away.
“Mm. Brother knows.”
On the way home, he remembered what his sister had said earlier and couldn’t help asking, “That widow from before… no, Lanhua, what did you mean, calling her a widow?”
“She used to be from a capitalist family. Later, no one knows what tricks she pulled, but she managed to marry the Qin family’s third son, the one who was an army officer. I heard she was only thirteen or fourteen at the time? Or maybe a bit older. Anyway, they said putting on a banquet together counted as a real marriage, so she dodged a purge that way.”
“Then after a few years, Qin Yuanzheng became a martyr. And that kid of hers, people say he’s not even Qin Laosan’s…”
Wang Lanhua’s expression turned sly. She herself didn’t really believe the child was Qin Yuanzheng’s. There’d never been a baby before, and then the instant he died, she was suddenly pregnant.
“Lanhua! You don’t have a shred of proof. How can you stoop to repeating that filthy gossip like the rest, smearing her name? Those other women never went to school, they can’t even write their own names. But you, didn’t you at least finish junior high?”
Her brother’s scolding made her cheeks burn. He was right… how had she started sounding like some village shrew?
In her last life, she’d at least gone to university in the end and become a famous businesswoman.
Did coming back in time once really mean her mind and temper had regressed to match her young body?
As Bai Xinmei walked, the earlier ache in her chest slowly twisted into white-hot rage.
How had she ended up this unlucky? She hated those people; she hated Qin Yuanzheng; she hated Wu Genzi.
Soon enough, she’d marry into a household with real means, and when she did, she’d drive a car back here just to show them that no matter what, Bai Xinmei would live comfortably.
Thinking that, she let out a haughty little “hmph.” Her life might be a mess, but she was still going to crush it under her heel.
The shrubs rustled beside the path, probably a roe deer, she thought, still not sensing the danger.
The river gurgled nearby, and the night wind howled. She hugged herself against the cold and quickened her pace.
Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed her, one clamping over her mouth. With brutal force, they dragged her straight into the shrubs. Her eyes went round with terror as her legs kicked wildly, struggling.
Help! Help!
She tried to scream, but no sound came out.
Once they were in the thicket, an oily voice whispered in her ear, “Xinmei, I’ve missed you to death. Finally caught you alone. Saw how worried you were over that kid from Shizi Gou just now. Are you craving a man?”
As he spoke, the man let out a string of disgusting chuckles. His breath slid along the shell of her ear like a snake flicking out a forked tongue.
It was Liu Mazi. That mangy bastard had been tailing her.
Forcing herself to keep her head, Bai Xinmei snapped, “Liu Tiangui, if you dare touch me, I’ll report you to the team leader and have you thrown in jail.”
The mention of that set Liu Mazi off. He slapped her hard across the face. “You rotten woman! If you hadn’t run your mouth to the team leader that day, saying I was harassing you, would I have missed out on those two fish and that bit of meat? I was just taking advantage of you with my mouth. You’re a broken piece of trash anyway. It’s pitch-black out, once I’m done with you and toss your body in the river, who’s going to know?”
[Holy crap, classic ‘rape then kill.’ Textbook villain side-character move. Liu Mazi’s got “infamous cannon fodder” potential.]
[Rocket shower if the streamer actually gets forced. If she lets that happen she’s so lame, I’m giving the lowest score.]
[Dark night, high winds… time for arson and murder…]
In Bai Xinmei’s heart, ten thousand wild horses stampeded by, each one cursing.
All this over two fish and a scrap of meat? Are you kidding me?!
Her body had always been frail; there was no way she could match a peddler like Liu Mazi in brute strength. She couldn’t fight head-on, she had to fight soft.
So she covered the cheek he’d slapped, instantly looking pitiful and fragile. “Brother Tiangui? It’s just some fish and meat you missed out on. I’ll get you some, just… let me go, please…”
Liu Mazi wasn’t stupid. If he really let her go, there was no way this would end cleanly.
“You rotten woman, trying to trick your grandpa again.”
“No, no, how could I ever lie to Brother Gui? It’s just… just…” She lowered her lashes. “Brother Tiangui, you know I’m living at the Qin house, and I’m a widow on top of that. If there’s any scandal between us, people are going to talk.”
“I’m really thinking for your sake, Brother Tiangui. Think about it, that short-lived man was a martyr. If you get tangled up with me and the leaders in town decide to come after you, what then? Actually, I… have liked Brother Tiangui for a long time. Brother Tiangui is funny and charming, you know how to enjoy life, you’ve seen the world… In my heart, you’re the most special one.”
She bit her lip and pretended to be shy. Her stunning little face, eyes full of worry and softness, wouldn’t make anyone doubt the sincerity of her “feelings.”
Ugh. She could almost retch. It took everything she had not to throw up as she said all that to Liu Tiangui’s pockmarked face.
“Really? Then that little brat of yours…”
A beautiful woman pouring her heart out, a fresh handprint on her face, looking heartbreakingly aggrieved, Liu Mazi was wavering.
“Really. Every word from the bottom of my heart. As for Niuniu… she’s just a girl, nothing to fuss over. I am not that kind of bad woman who sweet-talks men to cheat them. Think about it, these past three years, have I ever given any other man in the village a kind look?”
Liu Tiangui thought it over. That much was true.
“Then you can give yourself to me now.”
Fuck this dog of a man, Bai Xinmei cursed inwardly, keeping her face hesitant yet composed.
“How could we do that now? I want to be with Brother Tiangui for the long run, as husband and wife. Let’s elope.”
Elope! She actually said the word out loud. Liu Tiangui was completely sold now, moved to his core, practically on the verge of tears. Who would’ve thought there was a woman in this world who could understand his heart and would willingly wander the earth with him?
Those other women, always asking for big unity notes, grain tickets, meat tickets, and “three rounds and one sound,” they were all trash.
Love was about giving. Those women refused to give anything of themselves and still wanted to dig things out of him.
If Bai Xinmei could have seen into his heart, she would have tossed him two frosty syllables: Cheap. Man.
“Then let’s go.”
Liu Tiangui hauled her up, and the two of them walked along the riverbank again.
“Brother Tiangui, I just remembered, I’ve got ten big unity notes hidden in the stove at home.”
“Qin family’s money?”
“Mm-hmm.”
She blinked up at him, full of loyalty and adoration.
Ten big unity notes, that was enough to let him live it up for quite a while. Liu Mazi hesitated, his grip on her wrist loosening.
The moment she felt his attention slip, Bai Xinmei finally saw her opening.
She drove her foot straight up between his legs, almost crippling him.
Liu Mazi sucked in a harsh breath, clutching his crotch and collapsing into a squat.
Bai Xinmei bolted. “Help! Help! He’s molesting me! He’s trying to rape and kill a woman!”
By the time Liu Mazi realized what was happening, it was almost too late. If she got away, he was finished. Enduring the pain, he staggered up and chased after her.
But this time he was injured and couldn’t run at his usual speed. For once, he couldn’t catch up to Bai Xinmei.
Just as he was about to overtake her near the village entrance, she crashed into someone.
It was Song Jinping, who had come out to look for her. After dark, when he realized she still hadn’t returned, he’d found himself unaccountably uneasy, tossing and turning in bed until he finally got up to search.
When she saw it was Comrade Song, the taut string inside her finally snapped. She threw herself into his arms, crying in frightened indignation.
“Song Jinping, he tried to molest me! And he hit me!”
The moment he saw the handprint on her face, Song Jinping’s vision went black for a second. A searing rage roared up inside him. Molesting her…
He was going to kill this animal.
His maternal grandfather had been a high-ranking officer in the army, and he’d grown up in a military compound. He knew a thing or two with his fists as well. He charged forward and, with just a few clean moves, sent Liu Mazi sprawling.
Then he began pounding him, fist after fist slamming into his head. The dull thuds of knuckles against flesh and bone sounded again and again.
“Beat him to death! Beat him to death! Yes, like that!”
Bai Xinmei muttered under her breath.