Hu Guizhen had no idea how things had come to this. She suspected that Cripple Liu hadn't dared to lay a hand on Xiao Manxue, so he'd turned to her instead. She was ruined. What was she supposed to do now? All she could do was cry and hope to win some sympathy—she was powerless to do anything else.
Brother Wenhai would never want her now. But then it suddenly occurred to her—Fan Wenhai had been with other women too. So didn't that make them even? A flicker of hope returned.
The brigade leader ordered the curious villagers out of the house and told the two of them to get dressed and come out at once.
By then, Dong Huimin and the others had also arrived at Cripple Liu's place.
When Dong Huimin met Xiao Mandong's icy stare, an inexplicable chill ran down her spine. Xiao Mandong knew that plenty of people were jealous of the job she and her sister had landed, but she never in a million years expected Dong Huimin to scheme against her in a situation like this. It was simply inhuman.
Fan Wenhai hid among the crowd. Seeing the state Hu Guizhen was in, he thought to himself—if Hu Guizhen ended up marrying Cripple Liu, wouldn't that finally free him from her pestering?
Hu Guizhen stood at the doorway, head bowed, sobbing softly.
The brigade leader knew the most sensible solution was to have the two of them marry.
"Alright, tell me—how do you two want to settle this?"
Cripple Liu had heard that Hu Guizhen's family wasn't badly off. Since no one was willing to marry him anyway, and although Hu Guizhen wasn't as pretty as Xiao Manxue, she had a good class background and was a city girl—marrying her would be more than he could ask for.
"Brigade leader, we'll get married."
Hu Guizhen, biting her lower lip hard, jerked her head up at Cripple Liu's words. She had no intention of marrying him—the Liu family was dirt poor. She knew that if she insisted he had forced her, he'd be arrested, and that would be the only way to be rid of him for good.
"Brigade leader, you must do right by me—I was forced by this man! He dragged me into the house, I didn't know anything, wuu wuu..."
Cripple Liu's face darkened. He hadn't expected the woman to be so vicious. Saying that was as good as trying to send him to his death—that was a hooliganism charge, and if it went badly, he could end up facing a firing squad.
"You're lying! It was you who seduced me, damn it—how dare you say I forced you?"
Cripple Liu's mother heard Hu Guizhen's words and pointed at her, cursing: "You little slut! Just now, everyone heard those sounds you made—who screams like that when they're being forced? You've got some nerve, you shameless thing. I'll tear that lying mouth of yours apart!"
The villagers had little respect for Cripple Liu, but they didn't want someone in the village facing execution either—that would drag down the whole brigade's reputation.
"That's right—judging by those sounds, it's clear Hu Guizhen was willing. She just won't admit it now that she's been caught."
"What a tramp. A few days ago she was going around saying Fan Zhiqing was her man, and today she's already in Cripple Liu's bed."
Everyone chimed in one after another, leaving Hu Guizhen mortified beyond words.
The brigade leader cleared his throat. "Now, here are your two options: get married, or we send you to the police."
At the mention of the police, Cripple Liu's legs almost gave out. "Brigade leader, we'll marry!"
"You're dreaming! I'm not marrying you—you're a rapist, you forced me! I'll turn you in!"
If she hadn't been held back, Liu's mother would have torn that woman's mouth apart. Her son was no good, sure, but this was the first time he'd brought a woman home—it had to be this woman who seduced him.
Cripple Liu clenched his jaw, his gaze turning vicious. If this damned woman wanted him dead, then she wouldn't get off easy either.
"Brigade leader, I'll tell the truth."
The moment she heard that, Hu Guizhen felt a terrible premonition. She just didn't want to marry him—but she absolutely did not want Cripple Liu to spill the beans about them kidnapping Xiao Manxue. If the kidnapping charge stuck, she'd definitely be sent to a labor camp for reformation.
Xiao Mandong was also worried that Cripple Liu might bring up her sister and ruin her reputation. She spoke up first:
"Cripple Liu, if you two get married, everything will be fine. But if it turns into a charge of assault, or something worse, that won't be something a simple marriage can fix. You'd better think it through carefully."
Cripple Liu caught the threat in Xiao Mandong's words. He realized that if he dragged Xiao Manxue into this, that woman would never let him off. And he also knew that bringing up Xiao Manxue would only add more charges against him. He wasn't stupid.
Oddly enough—he'd dealt with all sorts of people in his life, but when he met that woman's eyes, he felt like she could see right through him.
Finally, grinding his molars, he said: "Brigade leader, I was drugged by Hu Guizhen. That's why I did what I did. I didn't say anything before because I was trying to spare a woman some dignity."
"I didn't! Cripple Liu, you're framing me! Brigade leader, you have to do right by me—it was Cripple Liu who drugged me... wuu wuu..."
Hu Guizhen was practically fuming. How dare Cripple Liu bring up the drug! She'd bought that livestock breeding drug from the stablehand because she'd been afraid Xiao Manxue would resist. She'd been trying to help him, and now he was throwing her under the bus.
Cripple Liu could see that if he didn't pin the blame on her, there was no way out for himself. All she had to do was agree to marry him and everything would've been resolved—but she had to bite and claw instead. Fine, then. Don't blame him.
"Framing you? Brigade leader—that kind of drug isn't something you can just get your hands on. Why don't you look into it?"
The stablehand, who was watching the commotion, was kicking himself. He'd only sold a packet of the drug on the sly, and now it had blown up into something this huge.
Under the sharp pressure of the secretary's piercing gaze, the stablehand stepped out of the crowd and pointed at Hu Guizhen. "It was her. Yesterday she gave me a yuan and bought a packet of breeding drug."
Hearing the stablehand's testimony, Hu Guizhen could barely stay on her feet.
"Are city girls really this shameless? A few days ago there was a female zhiqing messing around in the mountains, and now there's another one drugging a man. City folks really do play dirty."
The people from the zhiqing point couldn't just let the villagers slander them either, and began to push back: "Villagers aren't much better—I mean, we've never heard of a widow getting pregnant until now."
Everyone was arguing back and forth, and Hu Guizhen listened to all the ugly talk swirling around her, feeling like the world was spinning.
When Liu's mother heard that it was Hu Guizhen who had drugged her son, she broke free from those holding her back, charged through the crowd, and slapped Hu Guizhen right across the face. "You shameless whore! You drugged my son! I'll report you—you're nothing but a female hooligan!"
Hu Guizhen was never one to take a beating lying down, and she immediately started grappling with Liu's mother. Though the older woman was well along in years, she was used to farm work and quickly gained the upper hand. With the villagers subtly pulling against Hu Guizhen, she was pinned to the ground within a few exchanges.
As they fought, people suddenly noticed that Hu Guizhen had gone still—lying there motionless. The crowd backed away in alarm. Hu Guizhen looked as good as dead.
Xiao Mandong hurried forward and pressed two fingers to her wrist. A moment later, she smiled. Xiao Mandong never would have guessed it—Hu Guizhen was pregnant.
"Brigade leader, Hu Guizhen is pregnant. Less than two months along."
