The summer thunderstorm came and went in a hurry.
Not long after Feng Kangping and his gang left, the dark clouds began to disperse, and sunlight spilled back onto the threshing ground.
Shen Nanchu narrowed her eyes as she watched the direction they had fled.
Next time they came, it wouldn’t be so easy for them to leave.
This was already the third time it had happened.
She walked over, yanked the tall hat off Father Pei’s head, then removed the placard and untied the ropes binding him.
"Dad, it’s alright now," she said softly.
Father Pei looked at her with a complicated expression. "Nanchu, you..."
Shen Nanchu smiled. "Don’t worry, lightning knows who to strike. It’ll hit them, not us."
Liu Huaiyi and Zhang Qingfeng also approached, their eyes filled with gratitude. "Girl, we owe you today."
As for the Zheng family, only Zheng Tongwei stepped forward as their representative.
"Comrade Shen, thank you so much for today."
Shen Nanchu looked at Zheng Tongwei’s earnest smile and mirrored it with one of her own.
"Then how about a generous reward?"
Zheng Tongwei’s smile stiffened for a split second before quickly recovering.
"Of course, I’ll bring it to you shortly."
Oh? That easy?
Shen Nanchu didn’t buy it.
Sure enough—
[Displeasure +30]
She grinned, utterly delighted.
"By the way, how much are you planning to give me?"
[Displeasure +10]
"T-ten yuan?" Zheng Tongwei suggested, deeming it an acceptable amount.
Shen Nanchu nodded.
That was acceptable to her too.
Just as Zheng Tongwei was about to relax, she added,
"Ten yuan per person. Your family has four members, so forty yuan in gratitude fees."
"Daily payment, thanks."
A vein throbbed at Zheng Tongwei’s temple.
[Displeasure +40]
Shen Nanchu’s eyes curved with joy.
"Oh, and a friendly reminder—late payments incur interest. Fifty cents for one day, one yuan for two."
[Displeasure +74]
Zhang Qingfeng, who had witnessed the entire exchange, looked at Shen Nanchu with an awkward expression.
"Comrade Shen, my teacher and I don’t have that much money right now. Could we... owe you for now?"
Shen Nanchu shook her head.
Zhang Qingfeng’s face instantly turned ashen.
"But since we’re old acquaintances, that’s a different price."
She deliberately raised her voice.
"Today’s free."
Zheng Tongwei’s hands clenched inside his pockets.
[Displeasure +100]
Just this, and he’s already cracking?
Wait till he really loses it.
Shen Nanchu turned to Village Chief Wang Jianguo.
"Uncle, did anyone ask for leave to go to town yesterday or today?"
She glanced meaningfully at Zheng Tongwei, then at Jiang Shuyi, who was hiding in the crowd.
"Or did anyone borrow the village’s telephone?"
Zheng Tongwei remained perfectly composed, showing no reaction.
Jiang Shuyi, however, met Shen Nanchu’s gaze with a challenging look.
Sure enough, the next moment—
Wang Jianguo shook his head. "No one from the village went to town these past two days."
Even he found it strange.
If no one had gone to town, how had anyone known Shen Nanchu had gone to visit her husband in the military?
Weird.
Ohoho~
Raising the difficulty, are we?
Interesting.
Shen Nanchu’s fighting spirit flared.
Whoever was behind it, these two troublemakers were definitely involved.
Considering how much displeasure they’d contributed, she decided to play along and let them squirm a little longer.
"Uh, Nanchu, what about that thing up the tree?" Wang Jianguo asked awkwardly, staring at the shovel pointing skyward from the treetop.
"Just have someone climb up and get it down," Shen Nanchu said dismissively.
The villagers who had been gathered around her and Wang Jianguo immediately backed away several steps.
"Chief, I forgot to bring in my laundry—gotta go!"
"Chief, my windows are still open—I’ll be right back!"
"Chief, I—I gotta pee!"
The mere mention of retrieving the lightning-attracting shovel had them terrified.
Wang Jianguo was so frustrated he nearly choked.
Meanwhile, the educated youths from the village crowded around Shen Nanchu, their eyes shining.
Earlier, the villagers had been too packed for them to squeeze in.
Su Jianzhou, in particular, gazed at Shen Nanchu like she was a constellation.
"Comrade Shen, what method did you use to summon the lightning just now?"
"That’s called the principle of conduction," Shen Nanchu mused. "Probably around page 38 in middle school physics."
The educated youths gaped.
They didn’t remember that.
Li Xiaocao suddenly whispered, "C-Comrade Shen..."
"Hmm?" Shen Nanchu arched a brow.
"Can you teach me?" Li Xiaocao’s eyes sparkled. "That... conduction principle."
"I’ll pay."
Shen Nanchu paused.
She looked at these dusty, exhausted young people—their pants still splattered with manure, yet their eyes so bright.
One bespectacled male youth even pulled out a crumpled notebook.
"...Fine."
Consider it a good deed for the day.
That night, Feng Kangping and his crew fled back to the county in a panic, telling everyone that Wang Family Village had a witch who could summon lightning.
His superior, Yu Zhen, frowned. "Nonsense! That’s feudal superstition!"
Feng Kangping wailed, "Boss, it’s true! The lightning chased me!"
Yu Zhen slammed the table. "Feng Kangping! You’re shirking your revolutionary duties!"
Feng Kangping: "..."
Meanwhile, whispers spread quietly through Wang Family Village—
"Shen Nanchu can summon lightning! She must be a celestial maiden descended from the heavens!"
"No wonder the Pei boy became a soldier—he married an immortal wife!"
"Better not mess with the Pei family from now on, unless you want to be struck by lightning!"
