Free Web NovelChapter 149: Chapter 139: A Despicable Man
While Gu Shaojun and Zheng Shaolian were talking, Xiao Man walked over to a distant window to look outside, not paying attention to their conversation.
Gu Shaojun left soon after, telling Xiao Man not to see him out. He said someone was waiting and he was in a hurry.
When Xiao Man returned to the hospital room, Zheng Shaolian grinned slyly at her. "You’re really something else. You go out for a bit and cause all sorts of chaos—beating someone up and then extorting them. Seriously, how did I end up with a ’sister’ like you?"
"You don’t even have a sister!" Xiao Man shot back, rolling her eyes at him.
"Talking back, are we? Come here and let your big brother teach you a lesson!" Zheng Shaolian put on a parental air. "Do you even know who you hit? My cousin’s future bride! He said he’s too busy to press the issue and told me to go explain things to Uncle Tang... Holy crap! I can’t believe it’s come to this—me having to clean up your mess!"
Xiao Man scoffed. "If you actually go explain things to that Uncle Tang, you’ll just make her hate you. That girl will hate your guts!"
"Why?"
"Let me ask you first, where’s Xiao Zhao?"
"’Xiao Zhao, Xiao Zhao,’ is everyone your big brother? Call him Squad Leader! He’s such a meddler. If he was going to give you a gift, couldn’t he have picked something better than a clay cat that breaks at the slightest touch? I sent him with Hao Hao to deal with that mess of yours. And I still haven’t asked how you ended up here with my cousin."
"I hit someone, so of course I had to run, right? He caught me."
"He didn’t give you a hard time, did he?"
"He didn’t have time."
"That’s good. Otherwise, I would’ve had to go to his house and demand justice. So what if he’s a secretary? He should watch who he’s messing with! If someone breaks your stuff and won’t pay, they deserve to get hit!"
Only then did Xiao Man walk up to his bed, patting his arm with a smile. "You’re a good bro!"
Zheng Shaolian: ...
Grandpa said he was too busy with farm work to stay, so the soldiers offered to drive them home. But they already had two oxcarts, and Grandpa insisted they didn’t need a ride. In the end, the soldiers had to relent. Instead, they loaded the oxcarts with gifts. Grandpa couldn’t refuse them all, so he accepted with thanks, feeling rather sheepish. He kept murmuring about how overly polite the PLA soldiers were.
As a patient, Zheng Shaolian couldn’t hang out with Xiao Man, so he didn’t press her to stay. He just told her to visit again in a few days. ’Once I’m healed,’ he thought to himself, ’I’ve got to pay the Tang family a visit and set things straight. Whether they press charges is their business, but there’s no way my sister is going to be wronged like this!’
Before she left, Xiao Man tied a peach wood bead to Zheng Shaolian’s keychain. Soldiers weren’t allowed to wear personal ornaments, so his keychain was the only option.
Just as she was tying it, Xiao Zhao walked in and watched. Xiao Man gave him a bead too, one identical to Lin Liuping’s. Zheng Shaolian snatched it away and inspected it from all angles before calmly handing it back to Xiao Zhao.
His peach wood bead had a little jade gourd embedded inside. Xiao Zhao’s didn’t.
Xiao Man shot Zheng Shaolian a glare, completely speechless at her idiotic ’brother’.
Back in Gongdao Village, her friends ran over to see what goodies Xiao Man had brought back and filled her in on the latest village gossip from the past couple of days.
It turned out that Huang Hongliang, the man Lin Liuping was trying to break up with, had shown up again on Sunday. He came by car, bringing a load of gifts. He declared that since the Lin Family had kicked Lin Liuping out, he would take care of her from now on. He said they could register their marriage immediately and asked her maternal uncle’s family to host the wedding.
Of course, Lin Liuping refused. But Huang Hongliang wouldn’t take no for an answer and just hung around the co-op store, refusing to leave. Before half the day was over, Lu Meiye showed up too, and somehow, the three of them started arguing. The store was soon packed wall-to-wall with villagers. When the village officials arrived to mediate and break up the crowd, Lu Meiye grabbed one of them. She tearfully accused Lin Liuping of stealing her boyfriend, claiming that she and Huang Hongliang were already a settled couple—practically fiancés about to register their marriage—yet Lin Liuping was still trying to seduce him.
Lin Liuping was so furious she looked ready to tear Lu Meiye apart, but the older women in the crowd held her back.
Huang Hongliang unequivocally sided with Lin Liuping. He sternly rebuked Lu Meiye for spreading rumors, declaring he had come to Gongdao Village to court Lin Liuping. He insisted the only reason he even spoke to Lu Meiye or gave her the time of day was because she was Lin Liuping’s best friend and cousin!
But Lu Meiye was no pushover. She burst into loud sobs, proclaiming that *she* was Huang Hongliang’s girlfriend and that his coworkers could testify to it! She shrieked that she had been to his workplace many times and was already pregnant with his child!
The crowd was gobsmacked. Even the village officials were stunned. The impact of one of the parties involved announcing something like that so abruptly and shamelessly was staggering.
Lin Liuping grabbed a broom and drove them both out of the co-op store. Huang Hongliang’s face turned vicious. He gave Lu Meiye a hard slap across the face and, completely ignoring her hysterical sobs, got in his car and drove away.
That evening, Lin Liuping came to Xiao Man’s house to bathe and do her laundry. She briefly recounted the incident, sighing that she had to thank Teacher Yu profusely. If not for Teacher Yu’s sharp eyes, she’d still be in the dark, with no idea how long that shameless pair planned on toying with her!
"He gave me a very nice watch, offered to let me manage his entire salary... His mother works at the Commerce Bureau and said she could get me promoted after we married, that I could become a permanent employee in a year or two... I don’t care about any of that! What I want is a true heart, someone who will be completely devoted to me. Even if he were so poor he had to beg on the streets, I would gladly be with him!"
Lin Liuping’s expression was firm and resolute.
Grandma comforted her, "Don’t you worry. A good girl like our Liu Ping will have suitors lining up. The countryside is perfectly fine if you don’t go to the city. Our young men here are hardworking, so they’ll always make a good life for themselves. Take Chengfu, for example. Even if he can’t do farm labor, as long as he’s willing to use his brain, he won’t end up a beggar."
’Mo Chengfu, dragged into the conversation for no reason, was utterly speechless. ’Second Aunt, why are you using me as an example? Do I look that useless? Begging for food... my ass! Besides, all these girls are sharp as tacks. You can listen to what they say, but don’t ever take it seriously. I just broke my hand, and my girlfriend took off. You think Lin Cunhua would really follow a man who had to beg for a living? You could beat me to death and I still wouldn’t believe it!’’
Even after Lin Liuping dumped him, Huang Hongliang wouldn’t give up. He harassed her with nonstop letters and phone calls and even came in person every Sunday to try and win her over. Whenever he showed up, Lu Meiye would arrive soon after. Lin Liuping was annoyed to death. A man that shameless was just asking for a slap.
Squad Leader Xiao Zhao, who used to call and check in on Lin Cunhua, had completely vanished during this time.
Xiao Man received her acceptance notice. She had really gotten into the county middle school.
Teacher Yu’s intensive tutoring during the final semester had paid off. Guan Ailan and Mo Linghui also got into the county middle school, while Mo Shuixia was accepted to the commune middle school.
With encouragement from her friends and another talk from Teacher Yu, Mo Shuixia, despite not getting into the same school as them, strengthened her resolve. She was determined to finish junior high, no matter what.
A few days before school started, Xiao Man and Lin Liuping took a trip to Wancheng. Guan Ailan, Mo Linghui, and Mo Shuixia, who had scraped together about ten yuan over a long period, tagged along to see the city. They didn’t go to the military base; they just made a call, and Zheng Shaolian came out to meet them.
They must have entered a period of high alert, because Zheng Shaolian could only get two hours of leave. He hurriedly took them to a guest house to arrange their accommodations and a place to eat. After a brief chat, he had to head back.
Xiao Man pulled him aside and asked where the squad leader was. Zheng Shaolian glanced at Lin Cunhua, then leaned in and whispered to Xiao Man, "Xiao Zhao was transferred out for intensive training. He’s not in the region anymore. This is top secret!"
’Xiao Zhao is probably being sent to the front lines,’ Xiao Man thought.
