Hearing them talk like this, Song Wei felt a certain vindication in her heart.
How could this not be considered reaping what they sowed?
And why should man-made retribution not count as retribution?
But it still wasn’t enough. The suffering Heidan endured back then, and what Lin Zhen’s family went through, was far worse than what these people are experiencing now.
Especially Lin Zhen.
Song Wei had seen Lin Zhen’s body. His chest and back were covered with scars big and small, and near his heart, there was even a bullet wound.
Lin Zhen had never told anyone what his specific role was in the military, but just from the numerous scars on his body, one could make an educated guess.
After discussing Lin Dahai, they moved on to other topics.
This brought them to the Wang Shu family.
“It’s been so long, and Wang Shu and his father still haven’t returned. You don’t think they’ve also…”
They didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone knew what they meant.
“They were taken because of their involvement with Widow Hu. Not just Wang Shu and Old Man Wang—anyone who had been close with Widow Hu was arrested. You have no idea how many families have been thrown into chaos because of this.”
After all, once these men were arrested, their affairs with Widow Hu could no longer be hidden.
For unmarried men, it was one thing, but for those who already had wives—since their husbands were taken, their wives had been making a scene, threatening to kill themselves or return to their parents’ homes. Some were even planning to take their children and leave.
“What were those men thinking? I can understand if they didn’t have wives at home, but how could they not control themselves and fool around outside when they already had families? Now they’ve ruined their homes.”
“What else? They’re just cheap and restless. The wife is never as good as the mistress, and the mistress is never as good as the illicit affair. To them, even something as foul as dirt smells sweet if it’s stolen.”
“Widow Hu has no shame either. Among all the widows in our brigade, she’s the most unscrupulous. Now it seems she had an agenda all along. She really had no shame.”
Song Wei thought to herself, If only you knew the even more shocking truth—Widow Hu wasn’t just involved with Wang Shu but also with his father.
After hesitating for a moment, Song Wei decided to drop a small hint.
After all, these gossip buddies had shared so much tea with her, and she felt she’d been mostly listening without contributing much.
Of course, she phrased it subtly, leaving it to their imaginations.
Song Wei said quietly, “I don’t know if it’s just me, but I always felt there was something off about Widow Hu’s relationship with Wang Shu’s father.”
The little old ladies’ gossip radars immediately perked up.
One of them slapped her thigh. “Oh my, so I’m not the only one who thought that!”
“Let me tell you, one time Widow Hu seemed to have hurt her foot somehow, and Old Man Wang helped her home. But guess what? He had his arm around her waist. I almost thought my old eyes were playing tricks on me.”
“Now that you mention it, I remember too. I saw Widow Hu and Old Man Wang together several times. The vibe between them was… tsk tsk. I thought I was overthinking it.”
“It’s not like us to gossip without proof. We didn’t spread rumors because we didn’t see anything concrete, even though we found it strange.”
In truth, anyone with eyes could sense something was off, but it was just too scandalous to believe.
But now that everyone was putting their heads together, the more they talked, the more they felt there was something improper between Widow Hu and Old Man Wang.
“Yikes… no way. Was Widow Hu so desperate that she’d sink that low? How could she even stomach Old Man Wang, that withered old cabbage?”
Song Wei knew the reason—it was because she thought the old man might know about the royal tomb and wanted to pry information from him.
Probably no matter how hard those spies racked their brains, they’d never guess that only two or three people knew about the royal tomb.
But this was all just speculation. As much as they enjoyed gossiping, they still had their limits and wouldn’t spread such rumors far and wide.
This was also why Song Wei felt comfortable sharing gossip with them.
After chatting for a while, the little old ladies got up, patted their bottoms, and said they needed to go home to cook. Song Wei didn’t try to keep them.
She also had to take Hei Dan to the educated youth point to mooch a meal.
“Let’s go, Hei Dan. Time to eat.”
Carrying a piece of cured meat, Song Wei knew whoever she visited would be happy to let the two of them join for a meal.
Day N of Lin Zhen being away—she missed him!
After gossiping with the little old ladies, the next day it didn’t snow, and everyone began preparing to plant vegetables in the greenhouses.
The vegetable seedlings had been cultivated by everyone in warm kàng cabinet using seeds distributed by the production team leader.
Once the seedlings had grown enough, they were ready to be transplanted.
Song Wei had been given tomato seeds and had successfully grown over two hundred seedlings.
Carefully digging up the tomato seedlings along with the soil, she placed them in baskets and made trip after trip to the greenhouse using this laborious method.
With last year’s experience under their belts, everyone was now bustling with energy and working enthusiastically. No one complained.
After all, this was all money.
Song Wei even spotted Lin Dahai among the crowd.
Just as the aunties had said, he had become very thin.
Since he had returned, he still had to make a living, so the production team leader assigned him work points as usual.
But no one was around Lin Dahai.
People who had been released from reform-through-labor camps weren’t exactly popular, and no decent person wanted to interact with him.
Lin Dahai had once been a worker, the object of envy.
But now, not only was his family in shambles, he had become someone the entire production team looked down on.
What people fear most is having once had something good, only to end up hitting rock bottom.
Not everyone has the mental fortitude to handle such a drastic fall from grace.
Although Lin Dahai didn’t say anything, his clenched fists and the resentful, unwilling expression on his face when he lowered his head made it clear that he couldn’t stand this disparity.
Song Wei smiled slightly. Good that he couldn’t take it—she was looking forward to seeing what this version of Lin Dahai would do next.
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