TVCN 13

Chapter 13

After Lu Debang and Zhang Hongfa finished dividing the grain compensation for Shen Meng, they told her family to wait inside for a while. They still needed to go to the production team to collect some things and find a wooden board to carry her home on. Shen Meng readily agreed.

When they stepped outside and saw so many villagers gathered around the Lu family home, Zhang Hongfa immediately waved his hand to drive them away.

“Go do your work already! Don’t you need to earn work points? Hanging around here watching the excitement won’t help you when it’s time to divide grain and meat at the end of the year!”

Some of the villagers tactfully left at once, but others lingered, shuffling their feet while still peeking toward the Lu house.

On the way back to the production team, Lu Debang frowned and said,

“You really shouldn’t have made the decision on your own to compensate Zhenping’s wife with ten yuan and thirty jin of fine grain. What if the others hear about it and complain?”

“Hmph, so what if they complain?” Zhang Hongfa snorted. “The production team’s ox gored someone and nearly killed her. If we still refuse to hire a doctor, our Lu Village Production Team will become the laughingstock of the commune. And when Zhenping comes back, do you think he’ll just let it go? Don’t forget, he knows people in the county government. If he decides to pursue the matter, who’s going to take responsibility?”

Lu Debang looked unconvinced and curled his lip.

“I think you’re overthinking it. Zhenping is a reasonable man.”

“No matter how reasonable he is, the one injured is still his wife—the mother of his children. He’s out there protecting the country while the people in his hometown, his own neighbors, the people he grew up with, stand by and watch his family suffer without helping. Do you think he’d be happy about that? Think about it carefully yourself.”

Lu Debang fell silent. He knew Lu Zhenping’s temper well enough. When the man got ruthless, he could truly be frightening.

Seeing him quiet down, Zhang Hongfa sighed and patted him on the shoulder.

“Debang, even if not for the monk’s sake, then for the Buddha’s. No matter what, Shen Meng is still Zhenping’s wife. She was injured by the production team’s ox, and nobody even knows whether she’ll survive. If the village cadres don’t stand up for her now, what will the villagers think? Her parents are honest people and didn’t make a scene at the commune office. Try replacing them with someone else—they’d already be demanding compensation from the production team. Besides, doesn’t your nephew want to join the army? He’s already fifteen this year. If he enlists later…”

He left the rest unsaid, but he gave Lu Debang’s shoulder two heavy pats.

All of them were young village cadres. Many relationships still needed to be built, and matters had to be handled fairly, otherwise they would never earn the villagers’ trust.

Only then did Lu Debang feel his heart skip a beat.

Lu Mingyang and the other children were growing up. If Shen Meng failed to survive this ordeal, she would certainly leave words behind for Lu Zhenping. Whether those words were good or bad would depend entirely on how they behaved now.

Thinking of this, and then remembering his own earlier attitude, cold sweat immediately broke out across his back.

These days, if one person joined the army, the entire family gained honor. If someone performed well in the military, their future could become limitless. But sometimes, no matter how hard you worked, you still needed connections.

“Yes, yes, I was thinking too narrowly. Hongfa, you’re right. Let’s hurry back and get money and grain for Zhenping’s wife. Oh, and see if the production team has any ration coupons we can spare—bring some of those too. I also heard Uncle Shen and the others aren’t planning to return tonight, so let’s send someone to Shen Family Village to inform their family.”

“Hahaha, alright, we’ll do it your way.” Zhang Hongfa laughed and pointed at him.

The two men discussed how to move Shen Meng, what supplies to send over, and privately planned to have the women in their households bring some gifts later to visit Shen Meng and build goodwill.

Half an hour later, Shen Meng was carried back to her own home on a battered old door plank.

The villagers lingering outside the Lu family house saw her pale, half-dead appearance and finally started believing Wang Guizhi’s earlier words.

Several loose-tongued people even began pointing and gossiping toward the old Lu family courtyard.

Meanwhile, Zhou Jiaojiao had suddenly gone from living in a spacious brick house to Shen Meng’s dilapidated little shack. The sense of loss in her heart was enormous.

She had painstakingly saved money bit by bit to buy many household items before marriage. Now everything was piled onto the kang bed, and there wasn’t even enough space to organize it. Her eyes reddened with grievance.

Seeing this, Lu Jiaxuan felt heartbroken.

“Jiaojiao, don’t be upset. Later I’ll build a few cabinets for you. The room Mother prepared for us when we got married is also pretty spacious. How about we move there instead?”

Zhou Jiaojiao frowned slightly and gently shook her head.

“No. Autumn is coming soon, and Father and Mother are getting old. That room should stay for them. We’re young and strong, so we can live here instead. Later we’ll paste newspapers over the windows, clean the place up, and it’ll still be livable.”

Looking at such a sensible wife, Lu Jiaxuan’s heart softened completely.

“Jiaojiao, you’ve suffered.”

“I haven’t. As long as I’m with you, and the two of us work together to live a good life, then I don’t feel wronged at all.”

In truth, Zhou Jiaojiao simply didn’t want to move into Liu Sanjin’s side of the house.

The married life between her and Lu Jiaxuan was sweet and intimate. Usually they only came to the main house during mealtimes. They could fool around freely in their own place, but if they lived in the old house, even the slightest noise could be overheard.

She was already planning to persuade her in-laws later to build a separate courtyard for their fourth branch of the family. Even a mud-brick house would do. Closing the door and living their own private life—that was what truly felt satisfying.

Liu Sanjin herself had been living comfortably in the large room. Though she did feel some pity seeing her youngest son and daughter-in-law move back, she absolutely did not want to move into the old house herself. In her eyes, the roof looked ready to collapse if it wasn’t repaired soon.

Just then, Lu Jiaxuan told her that Zhou Jiaojiao refused to move over because she thought her elderly parents should live more comfortably.

Liu Sanjin was deeply touched and once again felt that Zhou Jiaojiao was thoughtful and considerate. As for that little bitch Shen Meng, she was nothing but trouble. When her eldest son Lu Zhenping returned, she would definitely make him divorce Shen Meng.

Shen Meng knew nothing about what was happening on that side.

At the moment, she was speaking with Tian Guihua—the village chief’s sister-in-law—and Chen Jinling, the party secretary’s elderly mother. The two women had come together carrying eggs, brown sugar, and some dried vegetables.

“Good child, focus on recovering properly. You’ll get better. Mingkai is still so young—you absolutely can’t leave him without a mother. If anything happens in the future, come find Auntie. Auntie will stand up for you.”

“That’s right, sister. We never realized your life had been this hard before. Everyone’s busy earning work points, and some people are just black-hearted. They have no ability themselves, so they only know how to take advantage of others. Don’t worry—my brother-in-law is the village chief. He may be young, but he handles matters fairly. He won’t let us villagers suffer losses.”

Both women had their own motives and deliberately tried to curry favor with Shen Meng. But beyond that, they genuinely wanted to build a good relationship with her as well.

After all, surviving such a near-death experience and still managing to reclaim her own house showed that Shen Meng was no fool.

Shen Meng sighed softly.

“Auntie, Sister-in-law, you must be laughing at me. The only reason I could get the children’s house back this time was thanks to the help of the two leaders. When my Zhenping returns, I’ll definitely ask him to personally thank the village chief and the party secretary.”

Hearing this, Tian Guihua and Chen Jinling exchanged a glance and both quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Forget gratitude—they would already be satisfied as long as Shen Meng didn’t hold a grudge over the earlier refusal to hire a doctor for her.