It was unbearably hot. Zhou Pandi was wearing nothing but a floral camisole, not even a jacket over it, and beads of sweat trickled down her neck.
When she saw Qian Wanyin lift the curtain and walk in, she shuddered in fright. She snatched up the sheet from the bed and hurriedly threw it over herself.
“Qian Wanyin, you lecher! Get out of here right now!”
Qian Wanyin remained completely unfazed. In fact, he even took two more steps toward her, giving her an ingratiating smile.
“Pandi, I don’t mean any harm. I went out of town to haul fish fry and brought you a little present!”
As he spoke, he pulled a red hair flower from his pocket. Pinching it by the edge, he ambled slowly toward the bed.
Zhou Pandi’s gaze fell on the brand-new red hair flower, and a glint that no one else could detect flashed in her eyes.
She had only ever seen fashionable red hair flowers like this in movies. She had wanted one terribly.
But she knew Qian Wanyin had ulterior motives. No matter how much she liked it, she had to keep up a tough front.
“I don’t want it. I don’t accept gifts without giving something in return!”
“Secretary Zhou leased the pond to me, and I’m deeply grateful to him.”
Qian Wanyin changed his tone and spoke earnestly. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I brought you this hair flower purely out of gratitude to Secretary Zhou. It’s just a small token of appreciation.”
He added, “Although the pond has been leased to me, I’m not from Wangjiazhai Village. If I make money raising fish, there’ll inevitably be people who resent me. I’ll still have to rely on Secretary Zhou in the future. And I hope you’ll put in a few good words for me in front of him, Pandi!”
Zhou Pandi knew that only part of what he said was true, but she couldn’t be bothered to expose him. Pouting, she pretended not to understand.
“At least you’ve got a little conscience. If it weren’t for my pa, you wouldn’t have been able to lease this pond!”
Qian Wanyin gave a foolish chuckle and placed the hair flower on the bedside table. Then, emboldened, he said, “Pandi, if there’s anything you want in the future, just tell your big brother. I’ll buy it for you!”
He was the first man who had ever given her a gift, and the first man to say such comforting things to her.
Her heart instantly grew warm. Her nose stung, and her eyes reddened despite herself.
The thought that she would soon be marrying Liang Dashan filled her with unbearable misery. She quickly turned her face away and fiercely forced back the moisture in her eyes.
“Pandi, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” She turned her face aside and said coldly, “You should leave!”
“Pandi, has someone been bullying you? If anyone’s been giving you trouble, just tell me. I may not have many other abilities, but Qian Wanyin can definitely help you get even!”
“Just go. No one’s bullying me!”
“Then why do you look so unhappy?”
“I’m not unhappy!”
Qian Wanyin’s narrow eyes remained glued to Zhou Pandi. The more he looked at her, the more pleasing she seemed, and he simply couldn’t tear his gaze away.
“Pandi…”
Suddenly, Wang Jinzhi’s voice came from outside.
Qian Wanyin and Zhou Pandi froze at the same time.
His heart gave a violent thump!
He had only just secured the lease on the fish pond, and he needed the village secretary’s support right now. He absolutely could not leave behind even the slightest stain on his reputation, much less give anyone a chance to accuse him of being alone with an unmarried woman!
Qian Wanyin might be a scoundrel, but he was no fool!
He immediately retreated two large steps, moving as far from the bed as possible. Then he clasped his hands behind his back and straightened his spine.
The roguish, lecherous grin vanished from his face in an instant, replaced by the proper, honest look of a simple country man.
With a rustle, the curtain was lifted.
Wang Jinzhi stepped inside. When she saw Qian Wanyin standing ramrod straight in the room, she stopped short and stared at him in astonishment.
“You—you’re here? What are you doing here?!”
Qian Wanyin smiled openly, his voice bright and loud.
“Auntie! You’re back! I was just discussing the fish pond with Pandi. I was about to leave!”
Zhou Pandi’s heart leapt into her throat. Clutching the sheet, she pretended to be casual and called out, “Ma! We were talking about raising fish!”
“Auntie, I’ll leave you to it. I’m going to take a look by the pond!” Qian Wanyin said, and then he walked out of the inner room.
The moment Qian Wanyin left, Wang Jinzhi’s expression turned stern. Her brows knitted together.
“Pandi, Qian Wanyin has a criminal record. He’s no good! How could you let him into the inner room? If someone saw this, the gossip alone would drown you!”
“I didn’t let him in. He barged in himself!”
Zhou Pandi hurriedly defended herself. “So what if he has a criminal record? He’s leasing our village’s pond. Even if he had a hundred times the nerve, he wouldn’t dare do anything to me!”
“You…” Wang Jinzhi sighed.
She thought it would be best to marry Zhou Pandi off to Liang Dashan as soon as possible and put this matter to rest. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.
Meanwhile, Zhou Zhijun returned home with a faint, knowing smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Brother Zhijun!”
Chuntao was doing needlework inside while her two children played on a straw mat. When she saw Zhou Zhijun return, she called softly to him.
“An outsider has leased the pond, so we can work on something else. There’s no need to compete with him,” Chuntao gently advised.
She knew he was unwilling to give up, but Qian Wanyin had served time in prison and was the sort of man who didn’t fear death. Chuntao only wanted to protect their peaceful life.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to compete with him.” Zhou Zhijun glanced at her indifferently. “When the time comes, Zhou Dana will come begging me to lease the pond.”
“Why?” Chuntao cried in surprise. “The pond has already been given to Qian Wanyin. How could Zhou Dana possibly come begging you?”
She knew how capable this man was, but the matter had already been settled. How could it possibly turn around?
“Hmm.” Zhou Zhijun said no more. Instead, he squatted down and played with the children for a while. Then he hoisted his hoe over his shoulder and went outside.
He had just stepped through the gate when he ran into Zhou Dana, who was returning from the brigade office.
“Secretary,” Zhou Zhijun greeted him neither obsequiously nor arrogantly.
Zhou Dana straightened his back and put on a fake smile.
“Zhijun, when did you get back?”
“I’ve been back for two days.”
“You’ve heard, I suppose. Qian Wanyin has leased the pond.”
Zhou Dana sighed. “That pond is nothing but a hot potato. If things go wrong, you could lose everything. It’s better that you didn’t lease it. Just keep your feet on the ground and farm. That’s the safer choice!”
“The secretary is right.” Zhou Zhijun nodded and tightened his grip on the hoe. “I’m off to weed the fields.”
Zhou Zhijun hadn’t confronted him over the pond, which struck Zhou Dana as far too strange. Instead, it made him even more uneasy.
He watched Zhou Zhijun’s retreating figure, his brows tightly furrowed and his heart in turmoil.
“Secretary… Secretary… something terrible has happened!”
At that moment, Zhang Dongsheng came running over in a panic, his face deathly pale.
“The fish fry in the pond… the fish fry are floating belly-up!”
He panted heavily, his voice trembling. “Someone must have been jealous that they didn’t get the lease and secretly poisoned the water!”
The implication was unmistakable: he was pointing straight at Zhou Zhijun!
Zhou Dana’s brows drew together even more tightly.
The lease payment had not even reached his hands yet, and the fish fry had already died. If things went badly, all his excitement would come to nothing.
“Come on. Let’s go take a look!”
Zhou Dana strode off toward the pond to the south.
By the time they arrived, quite a few villagers had already gathered along the bank, buzzing with speculation as they tried to guess who had done it.
After all, the fish fry had only been put in a few hours ago. The water had barely had time to settle, so how could they possibly have died? Clearly, someone had poisoned them!
Qian Wanyin stood at the edge of the pond, both fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked. His eyes were wide with fury as he glared at the water, where a vast expanse of dead fish fry floated belly-up.
“Zhou Zhijun! It’s definitely Zhou Zhijun’s doing!”
When Qian Wanyin saw Zhou Dana approaching, it was as if he’d grabbed a lifeline. His eyes were bloodshot as he rushed over and seized Zhou Dana by the arm.
“Secretary Zhou! I just put those fish fry in, and someone poisoned them! This is a slap in the face to you, our village secretary! I can’t swallow this insult—you’ve got to handle this!”
Zhou Dana swept his gaze over Qian Wanyin’s face and said in a deep voice, “How do you know someone poisoned them?”
“What else could it be?” Qian Wanyin said excitedly, pointing at the water. “This was Zhou Zhijun’s doing! When I was putting the fish fry in, he tried to stop me. I went ahead and put them in anyway, so he must’ve held a grudge and resorted to this dirty trick!”
“Zhou Zhijun does have a bad temper,” Zhou Dana said, then shifted his tone, speaking with certainty. “But he’s an upright man. He would never do something so underhanded!”
Everyone in the village knew that Zhou Dana and Zhou Zhijun were at odds. No one had expected Zhou Dana to openly defend Zhou Zhijun at a time like this, and they all looked at him with admiration.
“Secretary Zhou, you may be afraid of Zhou Zhijun, but I’m not!” Qian Wanyin was beside himself with rage. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to charge back. “I’m going to report him to the township right now and have him thrown in jail!”
Zhou Dana watched the agitated Qian Wanyin, then looked at the patch of water dotted with fish floating belly-up. His brow furrowed deeply.
What he was thinking about wasn’t what had killed the fish fry, but whether he could still collect the lease payment…
