Xu Yinhua was utterly humiliated and filled with shame, but what she feared more was being exposed as an adulteress and reported to the authorities.
When she saw Lin Dashun, she quickly crawled over on her knees. “Dashun, I was wrong. Please talk to everyone for me. I promise I’ll never do it again and will live a good life with you.”
Dashun was afraid of her, and even the little girl, Niu Niu, in his arms was terrified, frantically trying to hide from her.
“You little tramp! How dare you try to manipulate Dashun at a time like this!”
“Brigade Leader, we can’t keep someone like her in our village.”
The Brigade Leader took a drag of his cigarette. Day after day, there was nothing but trouble.
“Send her to a labor reform camp. Let her be reformed through labor.”
Nowadays, being caught as an adulteress wasn’t as severe as before—just a few months of labor reform. At most, it was a loss of face.
“Lin Dashun and Xu Yinhua, go get a divorce. Once she’s out of the labor reform camp, she doesn’t need to return to our Ping’an Brigade.”
“Dashun, do you want to keep raising Niu Niu?”
Dashun hurriedly nodded. “Yes, yes. Niu Niu… Dashun will raise her…”
The Brigade Leader nodded. “In that case, when you divorce, Niu Niu will stay with Dashun.”
Xu Yinhua still wanted to beg for mercy, but several women grabbed her and dragged her away.
Song Wei didn’t follow to see what happened next.
Actually, she really wanted to, but Lin Zhen wouldn’t allow it.
“We’ve got pork offal cooking at home.”
With just that one sentence, Song Wei chose eating over gossip.
Still, she soon found out what happened afterward.
Auntie Wang and the other elderly women made a special trip to tell her.
“On the way to get the divorce, Xu Yinhua cried and made a scene. She even tried to run, but the folks from our brigade held her down so she couldn’t escape. She even claimed that those men had forced themselves on her and dragged several married men into the mess. Their wives were so furious they started beating her up.”
“Probably out of guilt, none of the men Xu Yinhua named were in the group. Otherwise, their faces would’ve been scratched to shreds by their wives.”
“Heh, just wait. There’s more drama to come.”
In the end, both Xu Yinhua and Old Ma were sent to the labor reform camp.
From then on, only Dashun and his daughter were left in the Lin family.
Dashun didn’t seem troubled at all. In fact, he seemed happier now that his wife was gone. He went about his days with a cheerful smile in front of everyone.
Though he was simple-minded, he took very good care of Niu Niu. The little girl’s clothes were patched in many places, but they were always clean, and her hair was neatly combed every time she went out.
“But why has your Lin Zhen been staying home every day lately instead of going to the transport station?”
Everyone envied Lin Zhen’s job.
“Because of this, lots of people are saying he was kicked out of the transport station.”
The aunties shifted the topic to Song Wei’s family matters.
Song Wei replied vaguely, “There hasn’t been much going on there lately.”
If she said it was because of her, it might give the impression that she was some kind of temptress leading him astray.
Although having her husband care so much about her did make many people envious, in this era, a job was the ultimate sign of respectability—nothing was more important than that.
“Song Wei, you really need to talk some sense into him. He can’t afford to lose that job.”
Song Wei nodded. “Alright, alright. I understand.”
She quickly changed the subject.
…………
Xu Yinhua was gone, but the repercussions of her actions were far from over.
For instance, one day when Song Wei was out walking the family’s animals, she passed by a house and suddenly heard shouting and the sound of a beating.
“You good-for-nothing Wang Ergou! You’re worse than a pig or a dog! How dare you go out looking for women with that toothpick-sized thing between your legs? Aren’t you afraid of catching some filthy disease from Xu Yinhua? What, is the grass always greener on the other side? At home, you drag your feet like you’re not even a man, but outside, you’re all high and mighty!”
Amid the woman’s scolding, a man’s agonized cries could be heard.
“I told you I didn’t do it! Xu Yinhua framed me!”
“Do you think I don’t know what kind of scum you are? Last month, on X day, I wondered why you smelled so sleazy. Get over here now! Today, I’m cutting off that little piece of meat so you can’t cause any more trouble!”
“You crazy woman, stay away from me! Aaaah!!!”
Suddenly, Song Wei saw a man scrambling out in a panic, followed by a woman brandishing a pair of scissors.
“Wang Ergou, stop right there!”
Song Wei: ⊙▽⊙
She quickly hurried after them.
What a fierce auntie! Time to take notes…
That day, Wang Ergou was chased halfway around the village by his wife.
Soon, the entire brigade knew about it. When everyone went out to work in the fields, many men mocked Wang Ergou for not being able to stand up to his wife.
A group of aunties gathered and gossiped: “Hmph, my man was so scared I’d chase him around the village too that he dropped to his knees and apologized right away.”
“What a bunch of trash! These men just can’t control that little thing between their legs!”
“Well, not all men are bad. It’s just that we ended up with the rotten ones.”
Of course, there were also wives who were too timid to confront their husbands. Even if they found out, they could only cry in secret, too afraid to make a scene.
Song Wei spent a few days happily indulging in the gossip.
The weather was getting hotter.
One day, Lin Zhen returned home and brought Song Wei a delightful surprise.
He had brought back over ten pounds of beef!
Song Wei: (?’?’?)
“Where did you get this?!”
Lin Zhen closed the door behind him. “From the black market.”
“I’ve had people keeping an eye out for a while. I used some of my previous goods to establish a connection with the black market boss. I asked him to set aside any beef that showed up.”
“Didn’t you say you wanted beef jerky? I’ll make it for you.”
At that moment, Song Wei was filled with complex emotions—warmth, gratitude, and a sense of being cherished that left her almost overwhelmed.
She had only mentioned it in passing, yet Lin Zhen had remembered.
Song Wei’s eyes glistened with tears. “You’re going to make me cry. I’m so touched.”
How did she get so lucky?
She had transmigrated from an era where food and resources were scarce to one where she never had to worry about hunger or thirst. And she had met such a wonderful person.
She had found a home.
“Don’t cry. This is what I should do.”
Lin Zhen held Song Wei in his arms, and she hugged him back tightly.
Lin Zhen: “It’s getting hot. I wanted to bring back an electric fan, but our village doesn’t have electricity yet.”
At that time, only major cities and factories had access to electricity. Many villages still relied on candles and kerosene lamps at night.
The Ping’an Brigade was no exception.
“Once the village gets electricity, I’ll buy an electric fan and even a television so we won’t be bored.”
Song Wei, however, was quite content.
“We have a radio at home. I’m perfectly happy with that.”
At that time, their household was the only one in the Ping’an Brigade with a radio. In the beginning, many people had come over out of curiosity.
But with so many visitors, the floor kept getting dirty, some people were overly loud, and mischievous children ran around causing chaos.
Eventually, Lin Zhen started tuning the radio to English channels whenever he played it.
No one else could understand it, and they found it boring.
When asked, he simply said that Lin Ping’an was learning English. If anyone disturbed the child’s studies or tried to listen to something else, Song Wei would not hesitate to put them in their place.
Gradually, people stopped coming.
Now, only in the evenings would the family close their door, sit in the living room, and listen to the news, novel readings, and other programs on the radio.
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