"What are you talking about? What does Comrade Guan Ling have to do with our mudflats being occupied?"

"Exactly! Have you lost your conscience? Comrade Ling was visiting your village fields every day the other day, teaching you about soil improvement. You were eating rice from the pot, and now you're so ungrateful, saying she should atone for her sins?"

“You’re all ingrates! A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude, but you’re pushing everything onto Comrade Ling. Are you even human?”

The villagers of Stone Village all jumped out to speak up for Ling Huanwu, their eyes filled with righteous indignation.

The villagers from the surrounding villages were all red-faced from the rebuttal, but they still stubbornly retorted, "We don't care, one thing at a time. That woman surnamed Ling has now caused us to lose our generations-old aquaculture and fishing rights. She has to deal with the trouble she caused!"

"Exactly! Why should we bear the consequences when she offends someone? Whether she kneels down to apologize or whatever, she should go and beg the head of the Qin family to calm down. We shouldn't be dragged into this!"

The people opposite her were all talking at once, their harsh words making Ling Huanwu feel like she was being roasted over a fire.

Originally, Song Yaoyao, who had been taken back to breastfeed, heard in the family compound that Ling Huanwu had been surrounded by villagers from other villages and forced to admit her mistakes. She stopped breastfeeding and even stopped drinking the egg drop soup. She quickly wrapped her coat tighter, put on her hat, and braved the sea breeze to go out and watch the excitement.

Zhou Shuyao, who was receiving an IV drip at the clinic with a broken rib, heard that Ling Huanwu was being harassed and even pulled out the needle from his hand, wanting to get out of bed.

The next second, he fell to the ground with a "thud" and could never get up again.

Zhao Jingxiang, who was sitting on the edge of the bed trying to find out about Zhou Jiuzhen, pressed his temples and reluctantly picked up the immobile Zhou Shuyao and headed towards the breeding farm.

The mudflats were crowded with people.

The villagers from the other eight villages on Wantan Island all joined forces to besiege hundreds of villagers from Stone Village.

Ling Huanwu was surrounded by the villagers of Shitou Village, while the villagers from other villages formed a circle around them.

Each villager held a carrying pole and a hoe, their expressions tense, sparks flying, a major battle about to erupt.

Zhou Jiuzhen stood in the middle of the crowd, sent the guards away to find backup, and shouted at a group of villagers waving carrying poles to disperse.

"You're causing trouble. If you're so capable, go find that guy surnamed Qin and cause trouble for him. Find a woman and make her apologize. Do you have any backbone?"

His sharp gaze swept over everyone opposite him, startling them so much that they instinctively put away their carrying poles and fell silent.

But some people still stubbornly insisted, "Commander Zhou, you can't favor Comrade Ling just because she's your wife. As the commander's wife, she should set an example and think of the people. She should apologize to that Qin guy and pay compensation as needed. We can't let the people be implicated..."

"That's right, that's right..."

A chorus of agreement arose from those around him, who naturally assumed that this statement made perfect sense.

Zhou Jiuzhen was completely stunned. "What? My wife?"

He looked at Ling Huanwu behind him, and suddenly his eyes widened as he recalled what the villagers had just said about helping villagers in other villages improve their soil and grow crops.

The woman who improved the soil, isn't she the "ex" he insisted on breaking up with?

How could it be his Comrade Ling, or Ling the educated youth?

Zhou Jiuzhen's eyes widened like saucers. He swallowed nervously and asked Ling Huanwu, "So, you're that capitalist's daughter? My fickle ex-girlfriend who loved wearing cheongsams and had someone else in her heart?"

The entire venue was deathly silent, with hundreds of eyes scanning Zhou Jiuzhen and Ling Huanwu.

The villagers from other villages were puzzled. This week, the regimental commander's eyes were so big, yet he looked like he didn't recognize his own wife.

The villagers of Stone Village were all worried for Zhou Jiuzhen.

What kind of stupid and self-destructive talk is this? Isn't this just asking for trouble and a recipe for disaster?

Ling Huanwu's face darkened, her cheeks puffed out in anger. "Who are you calling fickle?"

"It was... what Shuyao said..."

Zhou Jiuzhen was shocked by this earth-shattering news. He was still dizzy and subconsciously replied to her in a daze.

Suddenly he took a deep breath, as if he had finally grasped the key point, "So... Comrade Ling, you and I were originally in a romantic relationship? Then I... I..."

A look of wild joy flashed across Zhou Jiuzhen's face. He turned around and, disregarding the occasion, scooped up the still sulking woman in front of him and hugged her tightly, stammering as he spoke.

until……

His gaze swept across the crowd and landed on Zhou Shuyao, who was clutching his chest and looking pale. The smile on his face instantly cracked, and he stared at Zhou Shuyao, who was lying to him, his back teeth grinding together.

As soon as Zhou Shuyao arrived at the battlefield, he overheard the conversation of several people.

When Zhou Jiuzhen had just woken up from his amnesia, he did have bad intentions. He tricked his older brother, Ling Huanwu, into believing that she already had someone she loved, all in order to take advantage of his amnesia and persuade his brother to abandon Ling Huanwu.

But who would have thought that while the older brother was saying he wanted a divorce, he turned around and took a fancy to Ling Huanwu.

Faced with the glare from Zhou Jiuzhen, Zhou Shuyao's lips twitched in fear.

If it weren't for Zhao Jingxiang's finger pointing at him from behind, he would have been shot to the ground and died countless times by Zhou Jiuzhen's sharp gaze.

Seeing Zhou Jiuzhen and Ling Huanwu putting on a show of brothers fighting over a wife, the villagers from other villages, who were already in a state of high spirits, could no longer contain their anger and began to push and shove the villagers of Stone Village.

"Can you two stop being so lovey-dovey? No matter how much you two brothers fight like roosters, all we want is for you to send this woman surnamed Ling to apologize and return the mudflats and the dock to us!"

"Yes, this woman is so capable; she can make the two brothers fight over her, she can definitely handle that Qin guy too..."

"Yes, if your village doesn't hand over that guy surnamed Ling, don't blame us for digging up your production team's land and making it impossible for you to farm!"

The villagers started shouting loudly again, brandishing various farm tools, bringing the current situation to the forefront, and pretending to turn around with hoes in hand, looking determined to destroy the crops.

Zhou Jiuzhen released Ling Huanwu and turned around, wanting to say something, but Ling Huanwu pressed him down with one hand.

Ling Huanwu stepped out from behind him, looked around at the villagers opposite, took a deep breath and made up her mind, "Fellow villagers, I can apologize, but not because I did anything wrong, but for the sake of unity among us!"

"If we can unite and jointly write a lawsuit, I am 60% confident that we can get the mudflats back!"

With a calm and composed expression, Ling Huanwu uttered each word with the utmost force and conviction.

Her only goal was to use the power of unity to drive out Qin Jinshen, this outsider force.

However, the villagers in the surrounding villages did not buy it.

Even though they were illiterate, they still knew that a lawsuit would take several years to reach a verdict, and they all complained and discussed it endlessly, but their emotions eventually calmed down.

Just as the atmosphere reached a stalemate, Song Yaoyao, who had also witnessed the whole thing, suddenly felt that the time was up and jumped out to loudly reveal, "That Qin girl was targeting Ling Huanwu! You all don't know, do you? That Qin girl's sister was pushed down the stairs by her and became a vegetable!"