Lu's father said with a look of affection: "Mandong, we don't have any such intentions. As old folks, all we want is for you two to live well together. In a family, bumps and bruises are normal; there's no need to take things so seriously."
Hearing Lu's father's words, Xiao Mandong couldn't help but sneer: "You lot sure know how to play your cards right. Your abacus beads are practically flying in my face."
Ma Lanying was choked with fury, unable to get through to her no matter how she tried.
"Xiao Mandong, you'd better not be so ungrateful. You're a used-up piece of goods who's been married before. Our family taking you back is us being charitable. Do you know what they call a divorced woman? They call her a pair of worn-out shoes. Who would ever want you in the future?"
"Slap!" Xiao Manxue, who had been standing in the crowd, rushed out and delivered a vicious slap across Ma Lanying's face.
She had wanted to charge out long ago, but Zhou Qichuan had held her back, telling her not to act impulsively. They had already reported the matter to the police and would let them handle it according to the law.
That's how soldiers were—they always wanted to reason with people. But that only worked on human beings. If you tried it on beasts, you were just playing music to a cow.
Ma Lanying, seeing that the woman who hit her had a face exactly like Xiao Mandong's—a face she loathed—reached out to claw at her, but her wrist was seized by Zhou Qichuan.
"Ah... let go... it hurts, it hurts!" Zhou Qichuan released Ma Lanying's wrist, and she stumbled back in fright.
"You're a soldier, and you're being completely unreasonable! Didn't you see that little hussy hit me? Why is it that when she hits me you do nothing, but when I try to hit back you grab my hand? You must have taken a fancy to that fox-faced look of hers!"
"Slap!" Another slap landed on Ma Lanying's other cheek, looking quite symmetrical. "Ma Lanying, you'd better watch that filthy mouth of yours. If you dare slander my sister again, I'll tear your lips apart." Xiao Mandong had hit her so hard that her own palm was tingling.
Ma Lanying plopped down on the ground and started throwing a tantrum: "Everyone come and see! I'm her former mother-in-law, her elder! How can someone like her be fit to be a doctor? Where's your village chief? I want to find your village chief and get him to judge this! Is there no one to stop a sent-down youth from hitting people?"
"Mandong, this auntie was once your mother-in-law, after all. You really shouldn't treat your elder like this." Yuanyuan said, stepping forward as if to help Ma Lanying up. "Auntie, don't be angry with my sister. She just has a quick temper, but her heart isn't bad."
"Wang Yuanyuan, can't your mother keep her belt fastened? Always letting you pop out where you're not wanted," Xiao Mandong said with biting sarcasm.
Wang Yuanyuan didn't catch the meaning at first, but when laughter broke out around her, she instantly flushed red. Just as she was about to argue back, Chen Yulan pulled her aside. "Are you stupid? Why would you go out there now? Looking for a scolding?"
Wang Yuanyuan glared at Xiao Mandong resentfully but didn't dare step forward again.
The woman who had come looking for pork earlier had watched the whole spectacle and nearly forgotten her own business. But she could already tell that this trip would likely be a wasted one.
Just then, a military Jeep drove into the village—it was the police car. The Lu family exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of who had called the authorities. Wasn't this just a quarrel? How had it escalated to involving the police?
Zhou Qichuan hurried forward to greet the men getting out of the vehicle.
Wang Xiumei scrambled up from the ground and immediately spotted Zhou Qichuan. He and her husband had enlisted in the same batch, and the two of them were on good terms.
The moment Zhou Qichuan's eyes met Wang Xiumei's, Wang Xiumei seemed to catch a glint of contempt in his gaze and quickly lowered her head.
"What's going on? Who's causing a disturbance?"
Lu's father's face changed and he hurried forward with a fawning smile. "Misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. These are all relatives of ours, just a few words exchanged."
Xiao Mandong stepped forward and explained the whole affair to the police officer. The more he listened, the darker his face became. "Divorced and still coming to smear a decent woman's reputation, losing your own job and still demanding she pay for it, a widow seducing her brother-in-law — your whole family really ought to be locked up for some education."
The crowd couldn't help but feel more sympathy for Xiao Mandong. Yes, even if her family background wasn't ideal, she didn't deserve to be schemed against like this.
Lu's father's palms were sweating with fear at the officer's words. If the whole family got hauled off, how could they ever show their faces in the village again?
Ma Lanying tried to kick up a fuss but Lu's father held her down firmly. Lu Jianguo's face was pale as death, and when he tried to speak, he was silenced by the officer's stern glare.
"Since this is a civil dispute, and since it's a first offense with no serious consequences, I'll let you off with a warning this time." The officer fixed his eyes on Lu's father. "If you dare stir up trouble or slander others again, I'll take you straight to the commune for processing!"
Lu's father nodded repeatedly, grabbed Lu Hong, who was still trying to argue, and Ma Lanying, and squeezed his way out of the crowd in embarrassment. Wang Xiumei stumbled along after Lu Jianguo as they fled, and the woman who had caused trouble over the pork quietly slipped away from the crowd.
After the Lu family left, Zhou Qichuan led the police officers back to his own house.
Xiao Mandong's divorce was now the talk of the village for certain. Everyone thought a divorced woman was bad luck, but Xiao Mandong didn't care. What she did care about was checking on the progress of the house so she could move out of the youth cadre dormitory as soon as possible.
She called out to Wang Yuanyuan, pulled two letters from her pocket, and handed them over. As she turned to leave, Wang Yuanyuan took the letters warily and said, "You didn't peek at them, did you?"
Hearing that, Xiao Mandong whipped her head around, and Wang Yuanyuan took a startled step back.
Xiao Mandong shot her a glare, and then the two sisters walked off hand in hand toward the stone house.
Once they were out of sight, Wang Yuanyuan examined the letters, saw nothing unusual, then tore them open eagerly. After reading them, she asked Chen Yulan to cover for her leave, saying she needed to send a telegram to her aunt. Xiao Mandong had sold her job for so much money — she absolutely had to tell her little aunt. If her aunt was pleased, she'd surely give Wang Yuanyuan a nice reward.
Little did Xiao Mandong know, her money had already caught someone's greedy eye again.
"Xiao Mandong, could we come see your new house?" a voice called out.
She turned to see Jian Qiuyue and Fang Yuanyuan. "Come on, let me show you my new home."
Xiao Mandong felt grateful to Jian Qiuyue — if not for her, they never would have found Xiao Manxue so quickly.
Jian Qiuyue was also thinking of moving out of the dormitory, but she didn't dare live alone. So she and Fang Yuanyuan had put their heads together and decided to rent a place together — it would save money and give them company.
On the way, Jian Qiuyue brought up the goings-on at the Zhou family's place.
When Zhou Xiaomei's husband showed up, he'd brought a fair amount of gifts. Mother Zhou kept urging her daughter to go back with him and live properly, saying that getting beaten was normal — what did a couple of bruises matter? She herself had been beaten often in her youth, and look at her now, still living well.
She also blamed Granny Zhou, claiming that the reason Zhou Xiaomei could get a divorce was because Granny Zhou had stirred things up, bringing her daughter back from the in-laws' house and making the whole family the laughingstock of the village.
When Zhou Qichuan returned, his parents were forcing Zhou Xiaomei to go back with her husband's family. To stop Granny Zhou from intervening, they had locked her inside her room.
Granny Zhou's leg was still injured, leaving her frantic and helpless, pounding on the door from within.
The Zhou family had always favored sons over daughters. They had married Zhou Xiaomei off to a man ten years her senior for the bride price.
After her divorce, she was treated even worse at home. She did all the chores, and her eldest sister-in-law wore a sour face every single day.
Her eldest brother had three children, and Granny Zhou, even while injured, still had to help look after them. Rumor had it that Zhou Qichuan handed over his entire salary to the family, yet his parents constantly complained that he was unfilial for not staying by their side.
Zhou Xiaomei had said to the production brigade leader, "I've been beaten enough to be scared. I don't want to marry again. I'd rather live alone with Granny, and I'll take care of her. I can work harder—I'm sure we can scrape by with just the two of us."
When Zhou Qichuan returned, he immediately called for a division of the family, intending to move out with Granny and his little sister. But his eldest brother, thinking Zhou Xiaomei had stirred up trouble, hit her. Zhou Qichuan then beat up his eldest brother in return. As the brigade leader was trying to break up the fight, Manxue came running up, asking the brigade leader to call the police. Zhou Qichuan also said to call the police, declaring that they would settle all the family matters that very day in one go.
