At this point, some villagers had already begun to volunteer. "Comrade Hu, you can stay at my place. It's not a new house, but it's clean and bright."
"Mine can work too. You can come take a look. The walls were just pasted with fresh newspaper, very clean."
Everyone was eagerly vying for this chance to earn some money.
Hu Liang knew that since they had just arrived today, there were many matters that still needed resolving. For the time being, he couldn't afford to get into conflict with anyone. Besides, if these people refused, he couldn't force his way in.
So he swallowed his anger, supported his mother, cast a glance at Xiao Mandong, and followed the villagers to look at the housing options.
Xiao Manxue had been busy that day, tallying farm tools at the production brigade. On her way back, she saw a group of people coming out of her own family's new house, and she also spotted Hu Guizhen helping a woman walk along.
When Hu Guizhen saw Xiao Manxue, the hatred in her eyes was impossible to conceal.
She whispered a few things into Hu Liang's ear. Hu Liang turned his head and caught a glimpse of Xiao Manxue running past—though in reality, his gaze ended up locking with Xiao Mandong's.
Xiao Mandong had lived a whole lifetime before; she'd seen all kinds of people. Her instinct told her that Hu Liang was not a good man. She told her sister to wait for her after work, that she would come pick her up, and that before Hu Liang left the village, her sister should not go out alone.
Xiao Manxue understood her sister's concern and told herself she absolutely had to be more careful and not cause more trouble for her sister.
Xiao Mandong decided that from now on, she would cook for her sister using spiritual spring water, so that her sister could grow stronger and better able to protect herself.
Xiao Mandong had her sister tidy up the wardrobe while she took care of the kitchen and made lunch at the same time.
In truth, she wanted to take out some grain and vegetables from her space, and to fill the water vat with spiritual spring water.
She steamed a pot of rice, stir-fried tomatoes with eggs, and thought to herself that when they went into town the next day, she absolutely had to buy some meat.
Just then, there came a knock at the door. When she opened it, it was the men who had built her house.
Each of them was carrying a bundle of firewood on his shoulders:
"Educated Youth Xiao, since you're moving into your new house today, we didn't have anything else to give you. We knew you'd need firewood for cooking, so each of us chopped a bundle. Hope you make a fortune."
"Educated Youth Xiao, don't worry. We all told our families beforehand that we went to chop wood together. No one will gossip."
"Thank you for buying treats for the kids. My daughter had egg cake for the first time."
Xiao Mandong felt a warmth in her heart. Having her efforts recognized was truly something worth being happy about.
After seeing those men off, the sisters finally sat down to eat. Xiao Manxue felt that the food that day was especially delicious and couldn't help but eat an extra bowl.
In the afternoon, Xiao Manxue went to work in the fields, while Xiao Mandong went to the clinic. The old village doctor had returned that day, and she needed to check the inventory of medicines with him. Tomorrow was Monday, and she would start her internship at the hospital. The old doctor's injury had mostly healed, but due to his age, he wanted to retire to his son's home in the city. His son was the head of surgery at the city hospital. The old man was kind-hearted and warm, and he even wrote down his son's name, telling Xiao Mandong she could seek his help if she ever needed anything.
The moment Xiao Mandong saw the old man, she felt an instant connection. Perhaps it was because he was around the same age as her own grandfather, which gave her an inexplicable sense of closeness.
After finishing the medicine inventory, her mind began to wander. The thought of leaving her sister alone in the village made her uneasy.
Before meeting Hu Liang, she hadn't felt particularly worried. But ever since seeing him, she had a nagging bad feeling.
She thought about asking someone to help look after her sister, but in the whole village, besides Zhou Qichuan, there was no one she felt she could trust.
After finishing up at the clinic, Xiao Mandong finally decided she had to go ask Zhou Qichuan for help. No matter what—face, reputation, none of it mattered more than her sister.
On the way, she happened to run into the Hu family—mother and two children. Xiao Mandong had no intention of acknowledging them. But just as she walked past, Mother Hu called out to her.
"Educated Youth Xiao, we were just about to look for you. Can we have a word?"
Xiao Mandong couldn't see what there was to talk about with them. She had already witnessed this family's shamelessness and had no desire to get entangled with them any further.
"I have nothing to talk about with you. If you need to see a doctor, the clinic is up ahead. If you have business, go see the production team leader."
With that, she turned to leave, but Mother Hu chased after her. Xiao Mandong took a few wary steps back.
Just then, Zhou Qichuan was riding back into the village on his bicycle. He wasn't wearing his military uniform.
Xiao Mandong noticed that lately, Zhou Qichuan rarely wore his uniform. Didn't soldiers love wearing their uniforms?
In an instant, Zhou Qichuan had pulled up beside Xiao Mandong. He had already seen how distant she was being with these people.
"Educated Youth Xiao, do you need any help?"
Xiao Mandong nodded. Her strength was much greater than before, but what if they resorted to dirty tricks? Hu Guizhen had even dared to buy that kind of drug, which meant she was rotten to the core. And rottenness really did run in the blood.
It was only then that Zhou Qichuan noticed Hu Guizhen. Looking at the faces of the others, he quickly pieced together the family relation.
With Zhou Qichuan present, Xiao Mandong finally asked outright: "Alright, you said you wanted to talk to me. What do you want to say?"
Mother Hu smiled with an appearance of warmth and amiability—a complete change from how she'd been in the morning.
"It's like this," she said. "Guizhen is pregnant now. And you know very well what Cripple Liu's family conditions are like. We parents—"
Xiao Mandong was getting annoyed. "I have no relation to you. If you have something to say, say it directly. Why all the lengthy preamble? I don't have time for idle chatter."
Mother Hu choked on her words, her face darkening. In the factory, she was a minor supervisor who managed more than twenty people, and she was used to speaking with bureaucratic flair. Being cut off like this instantly stoked her temper. But she remembered that she needed something from this little wretch, so she swallowed her anger in the end.
Hu Guizhen, however, wasn't about to hold back: "Xiao Mandong, don't you have any manners? My mother is your elder. How can you speak to an elder so impatiently?"
Xiao Mandong was tired of bickering, so she turned around and started walking away. For them to put on an elder act in front of her—were they insane? Who did they think they were?
But the moment she turned, Hu Jun reached out and grabbed her arm. Zhou Qichuan was just about to intervene when Xiao Mandong raised her other hand and slapped Hu Jun right across the face.
Xiao Mandong put real force into it. Hu Jun nearly toppled over from the blow, stumbling several steps before he could steady himself. His cheek immediately swelled red, his ears were ringing, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Before they could even react, Xiao Mandong sat down on the ground and started shouting "Catch the hooligan!"
Hu Jun instinctively tried to cover her mouth. Zhou Qichuan tossed his bicycle aside, stepped forward, grabbed Hu Jun's arm, twisted it with force, and slammed him face-down onto the ground.
"What do you think you're doing? Let go of my son!"
Mother Hu lunged forward to claw at Zhou Qichuan, but Hu Guizhen held her back. Her mother didn't know, but she did—Zhou Qichuan was a soldier, and if he got violent, things would really get out of hand.
"Mom, he's in the army."
Mother Hu was also losing her temper, having had nothing but a miserable day: "So what if he's in the army? Does being in the army mean he can just hit people? Is there no law anymore?"
