Chapter 47

No one in the entire Qingzhu Village slept well that night.

Chu Jiujiu and Chu Shao were not to be mentioned. One of them tossed and turned in the first half of the night, baking pancakes, while the other woke up in the middle of the night and never closed his eyes again. As for the other villagers, they didn't have so many worries. They were simply too excited by the heavy gossip. They discussed it with their families all night long, and they were still shocked in their dreams.

…

For those who are not familiar with Zhou Xiaohe, their gossip is just pure gossip, but for those who have contact with Zhou Xiaohe, especially those mothers-in-law who like her particularly, each of them pulls their husbands and repeats the same thing over and over again.

How come I didn’t notice it at all?

What kind of character a person has, after years of getting along with her, even if she is the powerful White Snake, she will reveal her true colors. But everyone has known Zhou Xiaohe for more than ten years, but no one has noticed that she is so morally corrupt in private.

People’s hearts are really hidden.

After sighing, the women decided never to associate with people like Zhou Xiaohe again, and the men were pulled by the women's ears and warned not to get close to Zhou Xiaohe, otherwise they would not be allowed to sleep with them in the future.

Zhou Xiaohe was actually prepared to be treated like this by her former close neighbors. Besides, she didn't care about these incompetent and poor people at all. She used to greet them with a smile because she wanted to make a good impression in front of Zhao Qianjin. She started pretending to be so before she got married, and it has been fourteen years now.

Many people want to ask, aren’t you tired?

Zhou Xiaohe’s answer was, of course I’m tired! I’m almost dead tired!

So once her mask was torn off, she didn't feel as bad as others thought. She even felt very happy. How great it was! She could be herself and no longer had to please those rustic women. From now on, she could do whatever she wanted, and the first thing she had to do was to kill that damn girl named Chu Jiujiu!

Her thoughts were extremely malicious, but in reality, she didn't even know how to proceed. It had been three days since Zhao Qianjin left that night, and he hadn't set foot in her house again. Without him coming back, Zhou Xiaohe didn't dare go out. Her mental fortitude wasn't strong enough to stand up to the sun, oblivious to the nagging criticism.

In the past, if she had something she couldn't do, she would ask Chen Sanzhu to help her, but now, she can't contact Chen Sanzhu, and she doesn't even know where Chen Sanzhu is or how he is doing.

Zhou Xiaohe became angrier and angrier as she thought about it, and she smashed a lot of things. Her neighbors were all frightened when they heard the occasional sounds of smashing and smashing coming from next door.

Everyone knows that Captain Zhao now lives in the militia company and no longer goes home, so Zhou Xiaohe is the only one left at home. Is Zhou Xiaohe really that bad-tempered? It's terrible. How can she really pretend?

On the other side, at the Chu family's house, Chu Jiujiu and Han Shengyi were sitting together at the octagonal table. On the table was a red box and a newly opened box of ink. Han Shengyi was holding the gift pen that came with the newspaper subscription. He glanced at the account book on his left, and then wrote something on the notebook on his right.

At first, he wrote very slowly, but gradually became proficient. He wrote down "Miscellaneous expenses 1.83 yuan", then pushed the notebook in front of Chu Jiujiu and asked, "Does it look like it?"

Chu Jiujiu took a look and didn't need to take the account book for comparison. She just shook her head and said, "It's only 60% similar. No, Brother Shengyi, you need to practice more. It must be extremely similar. At least 90% similar."

When practicing calligraphy with Grandpa Han, Han Shengyi's imitation ability was the strongest. Although he was criticized by Grandpa Han for only being similar in form but not in spirit, he could still fool others.

Early in the morning, Han Shengyi was called by Chu Jiujiu to imitate Zhang Fengjuan's handwriting. He didn't know how many sheets of paper he had wasted, but he could never satisfy Chu Jiujiu. Even so, he did not complain, but started over and continued to practice seriously.

As Han Shengyi was writing, Chu Shao returned from outside, carrying a backpack filled with firewood. Winter was approaching, and Chu Shao would go out twice a day to collect firewood, piling it under the back porch. It was only a small pile now, but with Chu Shao's diligence, it wouldn't be long before he had a full wall.

Chu Shao saw Han Shengyi from the yard. He threw his backpack on the ground, lifted his half-open coat, wiped the sweat from the edge of his sunglasses, and walked behind Han Shengyi. He looked at him for a while and suddenly frowned, "Are you imitating my mother's handwriting?"

After hearing this, Han Shengyi raised his head and glanced at Chu Jiujiu opposite him.

Chu Jiujiu also stood up. She looked at Chu Shao nervously and said to him, "I asked him to do this. Chu Shao, come in for a moment. I have something to tell you."

The three-day deadline had already arrived, and because he had promised Chu Jiujiu, Chu Shao hadn't asked even though he was curious. Now, looking at the account book spread out beside Han Shengyi and Chu Jiujiu's unusually anxious and heavy expression, Chu Shao's bad premonition grew stronger and stronger.

Following Chu Jiujiu into the bedroom, he closed the bedroom door behind him. Han Shengyi held the pen and looked at the closed bedroom door, his mood also sinking.

Looking at the beautiful handwriting on the account book again, Han Shengyi pursed his lips, leaned over the table again, and began to write stroke by stroke.

Chu Jiujiu quickly recounted what happened that day and the plans she had been thinking of these days. After she finished, she wanted to comfort Chu Shao a few more words, but she suddenly got stuck for a moment. Just like that, she didn't say a single word of comfort, and the silence between the two of them grew larger and larger.

Chu Shao sat on the bed and Chu Jiujiu stood opposite him. She opened her eyes wide in panic and looked at Chu Shao without blinking, wanting to hear what he said, but was afraid that he would scold her, scolding her for being ignorant, scolding her for acting on her own and not discussing such a big thing with him.

After a long silence, Chu Shao only asked her one question, "Did you go out today?"

Chu Jiujiu was stunned for a long while. She didn't quite understand, but she still answered, "No, I was the one who called Brother Shengyi over. You told me not to go out, so I stayed at home."

After returning that night, Chu Shao issued a ban to Chu Jiujiu, not allowing her to go anywhere unless he was with her. In the past few days, the farthest place Chu Jiujiu had been to was the Han family. She had something hidden in her heart and did not dare to cause trouble again, so she was naturally very obedient.

After hearing Chu Jiujiu's answer, Chu Shao's expression didn't change. He just lowered his eyes and whispered, "That's good."

Zhou Xiaohe has already caused him to lose a close relative. If he loses another one, he might want to kill more than just Zhou Xiaohe.

Raising his eyes again, he asked Chu Jiujiu, "Can Zhou Xiaohe be shot according to your method?"

Chu Jiujiu: "I don't know. I just want to expose everything she did, but I don't know how people will treat her or how the law will sentence her."

Chu Shao: "Let's do this first. If it doesn't achieve the expected results, we can talk about it later."

Chu Jiujiu blinked, took two steps forward, and sat next to Chu Shao. "Wait, Grandpa, I have something else I want to tell you. I've been thinking about it these past few days, and maybe... I'm right."

Chu Jiujiu and Chu Shao talked for too long, and no one knew what they were talking about. When they came out again, Han Shengyi had finished writing two more pieces of paper. He handed the latest line of words to Chu Jiujiu to read. Chu Jiujiu took it and felt that it was almost done.

"That's it, Brother Shengyi, you're amazing!"

Chu Shao also took it and took a look. It was indeed very similar to his mother's handwriting. Even Chu Shao couldn't tell which one was Zhang Fengjuan's handwriting.

As he was reading, Chu Shao suddenly reached out and tore off the last page of the account book. This page was blank. Chu Shao pressed the blank paper in front of Han Shengyi and said to him, "Write here, Mom and Captain Zhao's wife have gone up the mountain. They will be back in the afternoon. You can heat up your lunch yourself."

Chu Jiujiu asked Han Shengyi to practice Zhang Fengjuan's handwriting in order to forge evidence that Zhou Xiaohe cheated on Zhang Fengjuan. She originally wanted Han Shengyi to write a diary of Zhang Fengjuan, saying that she would go to the mountain with Zhou Xiaohe tomorrow, but Chu Shao remembered very clearly that his mother was at home the day before and had never gone out to see Zhou Xiaohe. Therefore, Zhou Xiaohe should have suddenly found Zhang Fengjuan on that day and invited her to go to the mountain with her, and it was just the two of them, so no one knew about it except themselves.

Writing a diary is too deliberate, it is better to write a note. Chu Shao is most familiar with Zhang Fengjuan's tone. After he finished speaking, Han Shengyi practiced it several times on the notebook next to him. When he felt it was almost right, he started to write on a blank piece of paper.

After he finished writing, he pushed it in front of Chu Shao. Chu Jiujiu leaned over to take a look and asked, "Don't you want to write the date? If there is no date, what if Zhou Xiaohe says it's not the same day?"

"No one left a note with a date on it," Chu Shao picked up the note and put it back into the account book. "A forged piece of paper like this isn't very important evidence. It can only serve as a supplement. The most important thing is to let everyone know what she did on the mountain."

Feeling that Chu Shao was right, Chu Jiujiu nodded and said nothing more.

After lunch, Chu Jiujiu was ready to implement her plan. She originally wanted to go alone, but Chu Shao was worried and insisted on following her. Although Han Shengyi had nothing to do with it, since Chu Shao followed her, he had to follow too. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, at least it could help to increase the momentum.

The place they were going to was not Zhou Xiaohe's house, but Chen Dahong's. Chu Shao led the way. When they were almost at Chen Dahong's door, Chu Jiujiu suddenly remembered that she had been injured a few days ago. She thought for a moment and decided to make herself look a little miserable. She imitated the way she limped a few days ago and asked the two people beside her, "How is it? Does it look like it?"

Han Shengyi pointed to her less flexible left foot and said, "You injured your right foot before."

Chu Jiujiu: “…”

Chu Jiujiu silently shifted her focus to the other side, holding Chu Shao's hand and walking towards Chen Dahong's house. Coincidentally, Chen Dahong was sitting in the yard.

There was a basin of bran in front of her. Chen Dahong placed her hands in the bran, but her eyes were wandering in the air. No one knew what she was thinking about. She looked like she was in deep thought. Chu Jiujiu was standing outside her yard. When she saw her, she called out, "Auntie."

It took a second for Chen Dahong to react. She looked up and saw three children standing in front of her house. She didn't recognize Han Shengyi, but she knew Chu Shao, and there was also that little girl. Wasn't this the girl who reminded her on the day of grain distribution?

Chen Dahong quickly stood up and opened the courtyard door. She asked, "Are you Chu Jiujiu?"

Chu Jiujiu walked in, her legs still a little inconvenient. She smiled and said, "It's me, Auntie, you have a really good memory."

Chen Dahong: "There's only one girl as beautiful as you in the village. It's hard for me to forget you even if I wanted to. Oh, and your foot. Oh, by the way, I heard you fell in a ravine a few days ago, right? Your injury hasn't healed yet, so why are you out and about? Aren't you afraid of something happening again?"

Chu Jiujiu sighed softly, looking embarrassed. "Chu Shao said the same thing, but, Auntie, I always feel uneasy if I don't come. Auntie, do you know about the relationship between Captain Zhao's wife and Chen Sanzhu?"

How could she not know? Not only Qingzhu Village, but the entire Qingshi Town, this matter has spread. Chen Dahong was just in a daze, thinking about this matter. Her reaction was the same as everyone else's. She would never have thought that Zhou Xiaohe and Chen Sanzhu were having an affair, and she had an extra layer than others thought.

She had just had a conflict with Zhou Xiaohe that day, and not long after, Chen Erzhu, the lazy man who had lived in the same village with her for more than 30 years without any problems, suddenly broke into her house. She didn't know the relationship between Zhou Xiaohe and Chen Sanzhu before, so she didn't think much about it, but now, she had to think more about it.

But, no matter how much she talked about this matter, she was just suspicious. Even now, she already knew that Zhou Xiaohe was two-faced, but she still felt that she was thinking too much. No matter how bad Zhou Xiaohe was, she couldn't be so bad. They were all women, it was impossible.

However, Chu Jiujiu came here today to tell her that this was possible, and especially possible.

Chu Jiujiu looked as if her conscience was condemning her. She sat down next to Chen Dahong, struggling with herself. Finally, she opened her mouth and said, "Auntie, I don't know if I heard it wrong. You know, I got lost in the mountains and happened to come across that hut. At first, no one else was there yet. I saw the hut and was so scared that I didn't dare to get close. I wanted to go around it, but then I heard someone talking inside. I wanted to go over and ask who was inside and if they could take me down the mountain, but guess what I heard, Auntie."

Chen Dahong's appetite was piqued by her. She leaned forward and asked curiously, "What did you hear?"

Chu Jiujiu frowned and stamped her foot, acting like a village old lady sharing gossip. "I heard a man inside say, 'How can you be so heartless? I sent my second brother to you to do something, and you're still threatening me! I'm so sad.' Then, Captain Zhao's wife scolded him, saying they messed up the job and how could they be so stupid. Then, the man said, 'You owe my second brother for this. Even if you gave him twenty yuan, he wouldn't care because our eldest brother is the director of the Revolutionary Committee, and the last thing our family needs is money.'"

The more Chen Dahong listened, the wider her eyes opened. At the end, she stood up and even knocked over the bench.

"What you said is true?!"

She widened her eyes and looked down at Chu Jiujiu, looking extremely scary, as if she wanted to eat someone.

Chu Jiujiu was startled by her and quickly hid behind Chu Shao. "Yes, yes, Auntie, why would I tell such a lie? It's not good for me. If you don't believe me, go ask Captain Zhao's wife, and then ask Chen Sanzhu. I was actually afraid that I heard it wrong, so I pondered it at home for several days. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I heard it correctly. Even if I did, I couldn't have misheard such a long string of things."

Chen Dahong did not doubt Chu Jiujiu's meaning, she was just too shocked. This matter was of great importance and she had to confirm that it was true.

After hearing what Chu Jiujiu said, Chen Dahong was so angry that she was shaking all over. Chu Jiujiu was afraid that she would get too excited and hurt herself, so she only dared to poke her head out from behind Chu Shao and continue, "Auntie, do you still remember when the grain was distributed? Captain Zhao's wife said she was sick and didn't mean to remove your work points. But, but if she really did it, then the work points issue would be in jeopardy. God knows what else she did behind your back..."

As she spoke, she looked up at Chu Shao, "She's been helping keep score in the village for four years. You see how skilled she is. She knows exactly what to explain when asked. Chu Shao, do you think she's done this before?"

With a bang, Chen Dahong kicked over the bench that had already fallen to the ground. She was so angry, but she didn't know how to vent. She could only shout out: "I'm so angry! I'm so angry!!!"

"Zhou Xiaohe, you bastard, you bullied me because I'm a widow. I'm not done with you!!!"

After saying that, she rushed out the door. A neighbor nearby heard her shouting and came out to ask what was going on. Chen Dahong was stopped by someone. Her eyes were red, as if she was about to kill someone.

A mother-in-law tugged at her sleeve and said, "Dahong! What happened? You must not break the law!"

Chen Dahong: "Second Aunt, Zhou Xiaohe... Zhou Xiaohe wants to kill me! She erased my work points before, you all know it, but she actually gave money to Chen Erzhu to ruin my reputation! God damn it, Second Aunt, she did it on purpose! She wants me dead, I'm going to find her right now. Second Aunt, go find my parents and ask them to go to the brigade headquarters. If the brigade leader doesn't give me justice, I will kill Zhou Xiaohe today!"

Second aunt was shocked, and the people who were listening were also shocked. After Chen Dahong said this, she ran towards Zhou Xiaohe's house with murderous intent. When the others saw this, they hurriedly followed her. Second aunt's legs and feet were not very good, but she had sharp ears and remembered what Chen Dahong had just said. Second aunt took a pair of small feet and rushed to Chen Dahong's parents' house.

This is terrible, this is terrible, something big has happened!

…

In the blink of an eye, everyone had left. Chu Jiujiu stared at the empty street in amazement. She couldn't help but sigh, "Chen Dahong's ability to act is too strong."

I thought I'd have to persuade her for a while before she'd report it to the team leader. It seems there are benefits to being around people with bad tempers.

Han Shengyi was the first to walk out of the yard. He waved to Chu Shao and Chu Jiujiu, "Don't stay here, let's go and take a look."

Of course you have to go and see it, the fun has just begun.