Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Shen Wenyi had originally come over purely out of curiosity—just wanting to see what all the fuss was about. He never expected Shen Guoqing would be involved in this mess. His face frozen in shock, he stared at Shen Banyue and silently mouthed, “Who is that woman?”

How could she have already hooked up with Shen Guoqing?

With her sharp eyes, Shen Banyue naturally understood what he meant. Yet, as an “ordinary child,” she kept a perfectly straight face, pretending she couldn’t decipher his lip movements—or didn’t understand them at all. She simply pointed to a broken water vat leaning against the wall ahead and darted silently behind it to hide.

Shen Wenyi watched the little girl vanish so neatly and thought, *This kid—why does she seem so practiced at this sort of thing?* But he had no time to dwell on it. He immediately tiptoed over and squeezed his tall frame into the narrow space on the other side of the vat.

The bad news? His body was too “bulky” to fit entirely. The good news? Weeds grew thickly nearby, vaguely concealing the small portion of him still exposed.

The night wind carried the voices of the two people. Zhu Juncai rambled on—this and that—his gist being: “I truly care for you deeply, but for your sake, I’d rather you marry someone with better prospects so you can live a good life. Still, deep down, I’m hurting—and reluctant to let you go…”

Had Nie Yuanbai been present, he’d have instantly recognized these words as nearly identical to what he himself had once told Hu Caidie.

The woman had remained mostly silent—until Zhu Juncai mentioned Shen Guoqing again, muttering bitterly about how the man must’ve stepped in dog shit to land a job quota. At that, the woman suddenly spoke up: “You said the girl he’s seeing works as a nurse at the health clinic?”

Zhu Juncai blinked in surprise. “Yeah—do you know her?”

“No,” she replied flatly. “I was set up on a blind date with that Dr. Ma from their clinic. That guy… really… I looked into him. His family’s burden is heavy, his conditions are just average—and he actually looked down on me for being a temporary worker. Talk about hypocrisy!”

Zhu Juncai chuckled. “That’s just him lacking taste—not recognizing your worth.”

She sighed gloomily. “I never imagined Shen Guoqing would become a county-town worker. But I’d already told the matchmaker I didn’t mind him farming in the village. Instead, he agreed to meet Liu Dandan from Yangliu Brigade—not me.”

She couldn’t help cursing under her breath: “You rotten men—none of you are any good!”

Zhu Juncai’s syrupy voice oozed: “Scold others if you like—but why drag me into it? Haven’t I treated you well? I’ve practically handed you my heart…” Intermixed with indescribable, muffled sounds.

Shen Wenyi’s eyes widened in shock. Flustered, he hurriedly covered Shen Banyue’s ears.

Shen Banyue didn’t move. Given her acute hearing, covering her ears made little difference—though, truthfully, she hadn’t wanted to listen anyway.

Yet their conversation allowed her to deduce the woman’s identity.

Before Shen Guoqing’s blind date with Liu Dandan from Yangliu Brigade, Shen Banyue had overheard Wang Guizhi discussing potential matches with him. Auntie Liu had mentioned—not only Liu Dandan—but also a temporary worker from a towel factory whom she considered quite suitable. Shen Guoqing, feeling he was “just a farmer,” feared the woman would look down on him, so he ultimately chose Liu Dandan instead.

After things soured with Liu Dandan, Auntie Liu brought up this girl again, saying she’d asked around once more. The girl had stated clearly she didn’t mind whether her future husband was a worker or not—as long as he was hardworking, capable, and eager to build a good life.

Shen Guoqing hadn’t responded then. Soon after, Liao Chengze raised the matter of buying a job quota. Shen Guoqing became single-mindedly focused on earning money to purchase it—and lost all interest in blind dates.

Later, he hit it off with Zhou Yaoyao—so naturally, he stopped attending any more.

All this circling revealed one thing: this girl was yet another of Zhu Juncai’s schemes!

Most likely, after the Shen family split, Zhu Juncai did the math—and realized profit could be squeezed from Shen Guoqing’s marriage, especially since Shen Guoqiang and his wife were childless. Whether it was this girl or Hu Caidie—if he could trick either into marrying Shen Guoqing successfully, he’d gain control over both brothers.

Moreover, Shen Guoqing was the brigade leader’s nephew. Matters like educated youths returning to the city—or quotas for Worker-Peasant-Soldier Universities—had to pass through him. That, too, was an intangible advantage.

Shen Banyue couldn’t help casting Shen Wenyi a long, meaningful glance. No wonder the brigade leader was so perceptive. After Shen Guoqing’s incident, he’d kept close watch on Shen Wenyi—even forbidding him from approaching the educated-youth settlement.

But Zhu Juncai? Truly a piece of work. Not only was he two-timing—he aimed to exploit them to the bone. Fortunately, Shen Guoqing hadn’t gotten entangled with them. Otherwise, wouldn’t he not only be cuckolded—but also manipulated and used?

Speaking of which—who *was* Shen Guoqing’s wife in the original novel?

Shen Banyue rarely recalled the original plot. Since her transmigration, the story had already been completely upended. At best, the original served as reference material—useful only when answering questions. And once most questions could be answered, even reference material became optional.

Yet now, she paused and remembered: Shen Guoqing’s wife in the original novel seemed to be named… Huang Xiuli.

Their relationship was unremarkable—and they later appeared to divorce. However, the original novel never explained *why*—by then, the female protagonist, Xiao Dizi, had already left Shanxi County for Beijing. Events here were mentioned only briefly, in passing letters.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Shen Banyue suddenly heard Zhu Juncai’s muffled whisper: “Xiuli… mmm… Xiuli…”

Her eyes narrowed. A cold glint flashed within them. Without hesitation, she crouched, stood, and gave Shen Wenyi a firm pat on the shoulder.

Shen Wenyi—a young man who’d never been in a relationship—was already blushing fiercely from eavesdropping. Startled by the pat, he nearly jumped. His facial features twisted as he tried to convey something—but Shen Banyue understood none of it.

What he meant, however, wasn’t important. Quietly, Shen Banyue picked up stones and rotting wood discarded near the base of the wall—and casually tossed them onto the center of the path.

As her hand brushed the rotting wood, the rusty nails embedded in it silently vanished. In moments, she held a palm-length blade. With it, she swiftly cut down all the weeds at the wall’s base—then waved, signaling Shen Wenyi to leave.

Shen Wenyi stood utterly bewildered—completely failing to grasp what Shen Banyue was doing.

Only after they’d walked some distance did he whisper, “What *are* you doing?”

Shen Banyue tilted her head up and countered, “Brother Wenyi—those two are bad people, right? Are they trying to harm Uncle and Sister Yaoyao?”

Shen Wenyi protested: “You call Shen Guoqing ‘Uncle’—but me ‘Brother’? I’m clearly his peer!”

Shen Banyue replied expressionlessly, “You’re also Wendong’s peer. And that’s irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant? Then what *is* relevant?” Shen Wenyi muttered—then quickly added, “Right, right—you’re right. Those two definitely don’t look trustworthy. I don’t know who that woman is, but judging by their talk, they clearly harbor ill intent.”

Shen Banyue spoke solemnly: “The teacher says good people should be rewarded—and bad people punished. So let’s punish them—just a little.”

Shen Wenyi muttered, “Your teacher talks about *that* too?”—then asked doubtfully, “How do we punish them?”

They couldn’t rush to the Revolutionary Committee or the Little Feet Inspection Team—not now. Forget that it was midnight—and they had no idea where to find anyone. Even if they *did* summon people, those two weren’t dead—they’d surely flee. If they escaped capture, Shen Wenyi and Shen Banyue might end up implicated themselves.

Shen Banyue said nothing. She turned, cut down all the weeds along the outer wall of the classroom, gathered several stones to form a circle beside the wall, dumped the cut weeds inside it—and handed Shen Wenyi a box of matches. “When you see light flare up over there, strike a match *immediately*, then find somewhere to hide.”

She pointed toward the wall opposite the entire row of classrooms—then, without waiting for Shen Wenyi’s reaction, spun and dashed off.

Shen Wenyi stood rooted, clutching the matchbox.

Shen Banyue moved far too fast. Before he could react, she’d already finished cutting the grass, built the circle—and vanished.

He glanced down at the circle—and couldn’t help twitching the corner of his mouth.

How to put it? This little girl’s courage was astonishing. She’d just ordered *him*, an adult, to start a fire. Yet if you called her unreliable—she was, in fact, remarkably dependable. Probably fearing something might go wrong once the fire ignited, she’d even thought to use stones to contain it.

Shen Wenyi wasn’t foolish, either. After standing there a moment, he grasped Shen Banyue’s plan.

Beyond this row of classrooms lay the school’s perimeter wall. Due to its layout, the wall formed an irregular “冖” shape. Right now, Zhu Juncai and the woman stood along the horizontal stroke of the “冖”—while Shen Wenyi and Shen Banyue were positioned along the vertical stroke, setting the fire. It would be difficult for the two lovers to notice immediately—but moviegoers across the playground would spot it easily.

With so many people in the open field, someone was bound to see it—someone would run over to investigate—and there was a real chance they’d discover Zhu Juncai and the woman.

Shen Wenyi rubbed his chin, thinking: *Not a bad idea.* Even if it failed, scaring that venomous Zhu Juncai a little would still be worthwhile.

He chuckled darkly to himself—only to break off mid-laugh as flames suddenly leapt up across the way. Hastily, he struck a match with a sharp *scratch*—and lit the pile of weeds.

The grass was bone-dry this season—and flared up with a loud *whoosh*.

Shen Wenyi bolted far away—and ducked beneath a tree beside the wall.

People arrived faster than he’d imagined. He’d barely hidden himself when footsteps pounded toward the fire. The night wind carried a startled cry: “Fire! It’s *really* on fire!”

Shen Wenyi: “…”

That was unmistakably the girl's voice.

However, it seemed like the first time he had heard that little girl make such a panicked sound. Usually, she was aloof and indifferent, and when she was steady, she could match her father, the brigade leader, in composure.

The sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps grew louder. Someone shouted, "Oh no, we can't let the classroom catch fire! It'll delay the children's classes. Put it out, quick!"

At the same time, a heavy thud and a faint cry suddenly came from behind the classroom, as if someone had fallen in a panic.

The people who had run over to put out the fire paused, startled. "Is someone back there?"

"Could it be a troublemaker?"

Shen Wenyi distinctly heard the little girl's voice again.

Muddying the waters and fanning the flames—she did a great job!

By now, quite a few people had run over. Someone exclaimed in surprise, "There are stones outside, it probably won't catch."

Another said, "Let's put it out anyway, just in case. What if the wind spreads the embers? Oh, there's sand here. Let's smother it with sand."

Some were busy putting out the fire, while others curiously ran toward the back. With so many people, things quickly got chaotic. Shen Wenyi took advantage of the confusion to emerge from hiding and blend into the crowd. Turning the corner, he happened to see someone climbing the wall. He yelled, "Someone's over there!"

At the same time, a bright flashlight beam shone on the person climbing the wall. The climber froze, then used all his strength to push himself up—

He failed to pull himself over. Someone grabbed his foot and pulled, causing him to fall to the ground.

The flashlight beam instantly lit up his face. He hurriedly raised an arm to cover it. Shen Wenyi deliberately pitched his voice strangely and shouted, "Tries to climb the wall and run the second he sees people—this definitely isn't a good person."

Another flashlight beam lit up in the crowd, then another. Two beams, like spotlights, shone on Zhu Juncai on the ground.

Zhu Juncai covered his face with his arm and argued, "No, I'm not a bad person. I saw a dark figure dart over the wall and was just about to give chase."

Shen Wenyi again used his strange voice. "If you're not a bad person, what were you doing hiding back here?"

Someone in the crowd also said, "Exactly. Everyone's watching the movie. What were you doing hiding here?"

Zhu Juncai dug in his heels, refusing to admit anything. "I just ran a bit faster than you all. You've got the wrong idea."

As soon as he finished speaking, one of the flashlight beams suddenly *whooshed* and changed direction, landing on the broken water vat in the corner.

The weeds there had already been cut away. The bare, broken water vat couldn't hide an adult's body well. As the light fell on it, everyone saw the person hiding behind the vat.

"There's another person here!"

The woman imitated Zhu Juncai by covering her face. She didn't say anything else, just repeated softly and weakly, "I'm not a bad person, I'm not a bad person, I'm not a bad person."

By now, more and more people had come over to watch the commotion. Someone said, "A young man and a young woman... maybe they're a couple? Is it right for us to corner them here like this?"

Another person said, "How do you know they're a couple and not having an illicit affair or up to no good?"

The first person hesitated. "They look quite young..."

Someone else said, "We can't even see their faces. How can you tell if they're young or not? Maybe they're just dressed young?"

Then someone said, "Hey, comrade, don't cover your face. What's the use? If you keep covering it, we'll have to send you to the Revolutionary Committee. If you haven't done anything wrong, then don't cover up. Tell us, are you two seeing each other?"

Zhu Juncai hesitated for a moment but didn't move.

Shen Wenyi took advantage of the chaos and said in his strange voice, "He's afraid to! He's definitely a bad person. Let's send them to the Revolutionary Committee!"

Goaded, Zhu Juncai immediately dropped his hands and said, "I'm really not a bad person. We are indeed seeing each other. We haven't done anything bad. We just wanted to find a quiet place to talk."

He put on a sincere expression. "Everyone, you've all been in love before, right? Sometimes you just want a little privacy to talk. Is that too much? Suddenly seeing so many people, it's normal to want to hide, right? Everyone, the movie is still playing outside. Let's all go back to watch it. We'll go back too. We won't talk anymore, okay?"

This guy, who could fool Hu Caidie so completely, truly had a silver tongue. Coupled with his fair, clean, and scholarly appearance, several aunties who had come to watch the commotion were somewhat swayed. "Oh, that makes sense too. We're not some 'Lotus Feet Patrol.' We can't control everything under heaven and earth, can we? Are we supposed to police people's courtship too?"

Shen Wenyi, hiding at the back of the crowd, thought, *This isn't right. He's going to slip away again.* He was just about to speak up and continue stirring the pot when someone suddenly said, "Wait, isn't this Educated Youth Zhu from our brigade? And this... this person isn't Educated Youth Hu. Educated Youth Zhu, aren't you supposed to marry Educated Youth Hu? This... this isn't right, is it?"

In a sudden turn of events, among those who had come to watch the commotion was someone from Xiaodun Brigade.

Shen Wenyi quickly ducked to the side again, trying not to draw attention. At the same time, he glanced ahead and noticed that Shen Banyue, who had earlier been shining a flashlight on the woman by the water vat, had disappeared without a trace. Now, the person shining the light on the vat was someone he didn't recognize.

There were many people, and many had flashlights. After stirring up trouble, the little girl had cleverly hidden herself.

Shen Wenyi's heart skipped a beat. He quickly looked around. If he lost her, his own father would beat him to death before Shen Guoqiang or Shen Guoqing even got the chance.

Just as he was panicking, he felt someone tug his sleeve. He turned his head and saw—well, well—the girl was already standing behind him, grinning at him triumphantly.

Shen Wenyi wanted to glare at her—she had some nerve—but he couldn't help it and silently grinned back.

Today's events would be enough to give Zhu Juncai a real headache.

Perhaps all two-timers possessed extraordinary psychological resilience. Even after being recognized, Zhu Juncai should have been very flustered, but he actually held his ground. He let out a sigh and said, "Auntie, Educated Youth Hu and I were framed. We just happened to run into each other. For Educated Youth Hu's reputation, I had no choice but to agree. It's been torture during this time, that's why I couldn't help but want to talk to someone. Who would have thought..."

Before he could finish, a piercing scream erupted from the back of the crowd. "Ahhhhh! Zhu Juncai, you son of a bitch! That's bullshit! You said you weren't feeling well and couldn't come watch the movie, but you came with this vixen instead, didn't you? You dare lie to me! You dare lie to me! I'll fight you!"

Hu Caidie screamed as she lunged at Zhu Juncai. Zhu Juncai, who had barely been holding it together, instantly turned pale. He tried to get up and run, but it was too late. Hu Caidie pounced on him and scratched three bloody streaks across his face.

"Don't talk nonsense. Can't we discuss this later in private?" Zhu Juncai lowered his voice, hinting at Hu Caidie. "There are so many people here. Let's talk about this privately!"

Hu Caidie was in no mood to listen to his sweet talk anymore. Remembering how every time she brought up marriage recently, Zhu Juncai would hem and haw, change the subject, and use excuses like "we don't even have a place to live if we get married now, let's wait a bit longer" to brush her off—and now he had the nerve to say he'd been suffering! Hu Caidie flew into a rage. She didn't care anymore and scratched Zhu Juncai's neck three more times.

Zhu Juncai, who had initially been restraining himself, wanting to leave a good impression on the people present, finally lost his temper after being scratched repeatedly by Hu Caidie. He cursed, "You crazy bitch! What's wrong with you? Everyone, look, just look! A shrew like this—isn't it perfectly normal that I don't want to marry her?"

Hu Caidie became even angrier. "You call me a shrew? You're the bastard full of evil schemes! All you do all day is egg me on to plot against Shen Guoqing. Damn it, I understand now! It was all for yourself! You just wanted to use me! I'll let you use me! I'll beat you to death! I'll fight you!"

Zhu Juncai started fighting back too, slapping Hu Caidie across the face. "Stop being so unreasonable!"

The two of them—one scratching, the other slapping; one pulling hair, the other biting arms—for a moment, were locked in a fierce, inextricable brawl.

The spectators were speechless.

It must be said, coming to this movie today was really worth it. This was even more exciting than the film!

In the midst of the chaos, another group of people surged in. Leading them was a short, thin old woman, followed by several other old women. These old women all wore red armbands. As they stood in the crowd, *whoosh*—the people nearby automatically stepped aside.

"Someone's engaging in illicit affairs here? Who is it? Hey, hey, is it these two fighting?" the short, thin old woman asked.

These old women were the "Revolutionary Activists" of the commune. Usually, they wandered the streets in groups, vigilantly guarding against class enemy sabotage. People jokingly called them the "Bound Feet Investigation Team."

Someone pointed at the woman crouching by the water vat and said, "No, it's this woman and that male comrade." Since the man was planning to marry the woman who arrived later, the earlier woman and this man were indeed engaging in an illicit affair.

The short, thin old woman raised her hand solemnly. "Comrade, you are mistaken. Those engaging in illicit affairs are not our comrades." She then directed the old women behind her. "Take this woman away."

Ever since the focus shifted, the woman by the water vat had kept her head buried, as if the surrounding events had nothing to do with her. Suddenly hearing that these old women from the Bound Feet Investigation Team were going to take her away, her whole body shook and she suddenly burst into tears.

"I didn't engage in any illicit affair! I didn't! This man forced me! He dragged me into this alley, he wanted to... sob sob sob... I was so scared, I was really so scared! I don't know him. He forced me. Luckily... luckily you came to save me... sob sob sob... I was so afraid!"

Everyone was stunned.

Some people wanted to ask, if you were forced, why didn't you say so earlier? But many who had arrived earlier recalled that the woman had only kept repeating, "I'm not a bad person," without saying anything else... It was possible she was too frightened to speak further.

What they had initially thought was a young man two-timing and having an affair had now turned into him forcing himself on a woman, and they had coincidentally rescued her?!

Many had a gut feeling things weren't adding up, yet they couldn't figure out what exactly was going on with these three.

Zhu Juncai and Hu Caidie, who had been fighting, instinctively stopped.

Zhu Juncai stared at the woman with disbelief and roared, "Huang Xiuli, what the hell are you talking about? If you don't know me, how would I know your name is Huang Xiuli? If you don't know me, why would you follow me to this out-of-the-way corner by the wall?"

Huang Xiuli continued to sob, "How should I know? You... you must have asked around about me... Wuwuwu, I'm so scared, I didn't engage in any illicit affairs..."

Zhu Juncai's face turned ashen, his eyes nearly bulging with rage. He never imagined that after all his scheming, he would be outsmarted today. Huang Xiuli, afraid of being labeled as someone engaging in illicit affairs, would rather accuse him of rape?

Despite the cold weather, a cold sweat broke out on him instantly. Rape was no minor charge—it could even lead to a bullet in the head if things went badly.

This woman, this woman was truly vicious!

Zhu Juncai's mind raced, and he quickly retorted, "Not only do I know you're Huang Xiuli from the towel factory, but I also know your temporary job was arranged by your aunt because she's shacking up with a deputy factory director named Fu at the towel factory. You told me this yourself. Why would you tell me something like that if we weren't involved?"

The onlookers: "………………"

Well, this drama was thrilling, but wasn't it a bit too thrilling?

Was this... the kind of thing they could hear without paying?

Many thought to themselves that these people's relationships were far too messy.

Huang Xiuli's sobs abruptly stopped, and she looked up sharply at Zhu Juncai. This man was too smooth-talking; she couldn't even remember when she had told him these things.

A chill crept up from the depths of her heart. If this got out, her aunt and Deputy Director Fu... it was over, all over!

This turn of events left the few elderly women from the "Little Feet Investigation Team" (a neighborhood watch group) completely out of their depth.

This matter... seemed beyond their jurisdiction!

These elderly women, with their red armbands, mostly just paraded around for show, patrolling the streets at most, catching young couples to tell them to mind their manners.

They had thought catching two people engaging in illicit affairs today would be a milestone in their "career." Little did they expect that this milestone would turn out to be such a bombshell.

Not only were these elderly women caught off guard, but even Shen Banyue and Shen Wenyi hadn't anticipated the situation unfolding this way.

Shen Banyue: All I can say is, your crowd is just too messy, far too messy!