While washing dishes, Li Min drifted off again. She thought of how, yesterday in the east room, Brother Suozhu had held her hand, his concern for the calluses on her skin.
She also recalled this morning when she took wild vegetables to the Chen family. While Chen Suozhu was helping her unload, he had kissed her cheek. The tingling sensation had felt like an electric shock, startling her so much that she’d fled without even her carrying basket.
Ah, the carrying basket.
Li Min snapped back to reality. She quickly finished washing the pots and dishes, told her mother, and then headed to the Chen family’s house.
The Chen family lived near the village entrance, close to Accountant Li’s home.
...
After Li Min ran off, Chen Suozhu felt a pang of worry, fearing that Minmin was angry with him. Why couldn’t he have controlled himself?
He listlessly made lunch. Seeing Li Min’s dropped carrying basket, Chen Suozhu felt guilty and dared not return it immediately. He planned to wait until he went to help thatch the roof that afternoon, to return it then and apologize to Minmin. He never expected Minmin to come looking for him.
“Min, Minmin, you’re here? Quickly, come inside.”
“I… I came to get my carrying basket.” Seeing Brother Suozhu again, Li Min remembered that kiss. Her face flushed, and she felt too shy to go inside, lingering at the courtyard entrance.
Chen Suozhu stared at her shy demeanor, frozen like a fool.
Grandpa Chen, watching from the main room, grew anxious. He knew his grandson was destined to be a bachelor unless Zhengguo took an interest in him.
He called out loudly towards the courtyard gate, “Minmin, come in and sit for a while.”
“Grandpa Chen, I won’t come in. I’ll leave after I get my basket.”
Chen Suozhu truly handed her the carrying basket. “I, I’ll walk you out.”
“No need to walk me. I’m leaving.” Li Min turned and ran.
Grandpa Chen stamped his walking stick on the ground, “Go chase her!”
“I, she… forget it. I’ll be busy with work soon.”
Grandpa Chen stomped his walking stick and returned to his room, thinking he’d be angered to death.
Restlessly pacing a few times, Chen Suozhu decided to head to the Li family’s house early.
When he arrived at the Li family’s house, he discovered Li Min hadn’t returned.
“Impossible, she didn’t come into the courtyard. She came back with the basket.”
Chen Suozhu turned to leave, but was stopped by Tian Jing.
“Chen Suozhu, you stay here and don’t go anywhere. We’ll go look for her.”
“I…” Chen Suozhu’s anxious face turned pale. How could he just stay put?
It was all his fault. His grandfather told him to chase her, and he…
Li Zhengguo patted his shoulder, “Listen to them. Help me watch my mother.”
Li mother, who was also anxiously preparing to go out and search, stopped upon hearing her son’s words. “Suozhu, you and I will wait here at home.”
The incredibly anxious Chen Suozhu could only agree.
Tian Jing followed Li Zhengguo towards the Chen family’s house, not knowing its exact location.
As they passed Accountant Li’s house, Tian Jing tugged Li Zhengguo’s arm, “Wait, cover for me. I need to check the jujube tree on Li family’s courtyard wall.”
In the Koushan mountains, despite the poor soil, each household habitually planted one or two fruit trees in their courtyard, even if the fruit was small and astringent.
In winter, the jujube tree was bare. How could she operate? Li Zhengguo worried.
“Trust me.” Tian Jing patted his arm, lightly leaped, grabbed a branch, and stood steady against the outer wall of Accountant Li’s house.
She channeled her special ability specifically into the tree roots. The main taproot was where the tree stored its memories.
This jujube tree was quite old and communicated clearly with her. After receiving Tian Jing’s special ability input, it released its memories for her to examine as requested.
Tian Jing soon got what she wanted. That Zhang Fangcao was bold enough to use medicine. She must have had a helper; she wondered who it was.
It seemed she had been too lenient. Her actions to warn others hadn't worked. Well, it was time for something more drastic.
“Over there.” Tian Jing pointed towards the village entrance. “Zhang Fangcao was supporting Li Min as she walked that way. From here, it looks like it’s towards the village entrance. Let’s go to the big tree at the entrance.”
Tian Jing walked swiftly towards the village entrance. Li Min had been taken away by Zhang Fangcao twenty minutes ago. She needed to hurry.
Meanwhile, Li Min, after running away from the Chen family’s house, was stopped by Zhang Fangcao as she passed Accountant Li’s house.
“Minmin, why haven’t you come to see me in so long?”
Looking at Zhang Fangcao, who acted as if nothing had happened, Li Min began to understand why her mother and elder sister-in-law always told her to think carefully about how Zhang Fangcao spoke and acted. There was only one theme: shamelessness.
“Move aside.”
Li Min reached out to push aside the person blocking her path, but Zhang Fangcao grabbed her hand. Then, a fine powder appeared before her nose, and her body no longer felt like her own.
She opened her mouth to cry out, but couldn't even do so. Fear flickered in Li Min’s eyes. What did this Zhang Fangcao want?
Zhang Fangcao watched with satisfaction as the terror bloomed in Li Min’s eyes. Didn’t she rely on Tian Jing’s feistiness to dare talk back to her and touch her sore spots?
Today, she would make these people taste suffering.
When Zhang Fangcao placed her in the male educated youth’s room at the educated youth point, Li Min understood Zhang Fangcao’s intentions.
She wasn't scared anymore. Her sister-in-law wouldn't abandon her. As long as her life was intact, all problems could be resolved.
Seeing that Li Min wasn’t afraid, Zhang Fangcao looked surprised. “You’re not scared?”
Li Min closed her eyes, not looking at her. She had trusted Zhang Fangcao with all her heart for three years, no, even longer. Before, when she was her eldest brother’s fiancée, she had trusted Zhang Fangcao more.
But back then, her eldest brother wasn’t home. Zhang Fangcao rarely visited her. When her eldest brother was home, Zhang Fangcao would come to their house claiming to visit her, but she would always linger around her eldest brother.
“Not scared? That’s good. Congratulations, you are about to become a real woman.”
Zhang Fangcao withdrew from the educated youth’s room.
While Li Min appeared unafraid, how could she not be terrified inside? How could a woman not be afraid when facing such a situation?
When she saw who had entered, her fear reached its peak.
Lin Sanlai?
Lin Sanlai was Lin Er’lai’s cousin. He was the most slovenly and disgusting man in all of Koushan.
His mother was simple-minded. His father had brought her back from elsewhere, and she had given birth to him, another simpleton. By the age of seven or eight, he already liked to cling to women, and he was incredibly strong. Even most adult women might not have been able to fend off his coarse hands.
As he grew older, he started forcibly embracing women. The village head and party secretary then ordered his father to keep him confined at home.
Over the years, people had slowly forgotten about Lin Sanlai. Who knew that Zhang Fangcao would be so ruthless? She was trying to drive her to her death!
Anyone who insulted her, she could seek her eldest brother and sister-in-law’s protection. But not Lin Sanlai.
Because Lin Sanlai’s father, Lin Guangde, was an utterly wicked scoundrel. After discovering Lin Sanlai was simple-minded, Lin Sanlai’s mother had been pregnant continuously. Every year, the cries of infants could be heard from the Lin household.
Then, every two or three years, a child from the Lin family would die in an accident, falling into water or tumbling down a cliff.
But everyone noticed that the children who died in accidents were precisely the boys with intellectual disabilities, never a girl.
What did this imply?
Those who understood felt a chill down their spines.
Except for his elder brother, everyone else refused to associate with Lin Guangde.
Neighbors moved their homesteads and spent money to build new houses, unwilling to live next door to Lin Guangde.
Through Lin Guangde’s survival-of-the-fittest plan, it was said that over the past twenty years, he had produced two sons with normal intelligence, and three foolish daughters and one normal daughter.
Lin Sanlai hadn’t appeared for so many years. Everyone thought he was gone too. Unexpectedly, he was not only alive but also so robust, his fat body wobbling in his dirty clothes. A single glance made one want to vomit.
If she were touched by Lin Sanlai, Lin Guangde would definitely not let her go. He would surely force her to go to the Lin family.
In the Lin family’s environment, the normal sons of the Lin family couldn't find wives.
Zhang Fangcao, you are truly ruthless!