Chapter 30: Directly Eradicating the Root
Shen Yuzhu returned to her courtyard. Seeing that the room was still in a mess, she lay down in the small wooden house in the space and slept there all night, burning a kerosene lamp until the rooster crowed at dawn.
After washing up and having a simple breakfast in the space, she stretched and prepared to go to work. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Qiao Wangshu walking towards her from not far away.
"This is terrible, this is terrible, Yuzhu, I have to tell you, Zhang Li was beaten up last night with a sack over his head. I heard his testicles were crushed, and he won't be able to be a man anymore."
Shen Yuzhu: "!!!"
"......."
Dear maternal great-aunt, you're a little girl, how can you say such things to outsiders?!
"What? He got beaten up? How is he now?"
"I don't know. I heard it from two old ladies when I went out to do laundry this morning. Apparently, it was quite a tragedy. Two families who lived nearby helped take it to the commune clinic, but they couldn't treat it there, so they took it to the county hospital. The doctor examined it and said, 'Tsk tsk, it's no use.'"
"Shut up, don't tell everyone what you're saying, or people will laugh at you."
Qiao Wangshu chuckled twice, then quickly covered her mouth and glanced at Shen Yuzhu apologetically.
"I was also infected by those two old ladies who were gossiping. They said that Zhang Li must have offended someone. Last night, they saw him drunk and took the opportunity to beat him up. They just didn't expect him to be so ruthless and cut off his manhood."
Shen Yuzhu: "......"
The environment really affects people. Qiao Wangshu was originally a carefree person, but now when she goes to work, she often chats with several elderly women in the village. Now she speaks more and more like a tough northern woman.
"I've finished tidying up here, let's go to work. I'm busy today, I haven't tidied up the house yet."
"Okay, hey, I'll tell you..."
........
Qian Cuilian shoveled the cornmeal paste into her mouth and said impatiently, "Old man, I have to tell you, that Zhang Li is a menace. You have to be careful. Our Jianshe team was lucky this time because Shen Zhiqing was clever. Otherwise, not only would you lose your position as the brigade leader, but our Jianshe team would also be in jail."
"Hey, if you ask me, Zhang Li deserves it. It was bound to happen sooner or later. If he dares to drag the educated youth into this, you'd better side with her, okay!"
"I know, I know, how could I not know better than you? Besides, Zhang Li insisted on coming up here to freeload, it has nothing to do with Shen Zhiqing."
Qian Cuilian was far from at ease. If Zhang Li were a reasonable person, that would be fine. She knew that Shen Zhiqing was kind-hearted and wouldn't try to extort money from her.
No, she has to give Shen Zhiqing a heads-up before she goes to work today.
As soon as Shen Yuzhu and Qiao Wangshu arrived at the field, they saw groups of women and men whispering and laughing.
The discussion only stopped when Lü Guangzhi arrived. He divided up the assigned fields, and the team leaders led their men to the fields.
We've harvested cotton several times already, and the seedlings are so dry they can't be dried any more. We need to pull them up quickly. In another half month, we'll be able to harvest the corn cobs. Once we've paid our grain tax, we can start tilling the land together and plant the wheat. After that, there's basically nothing else to do. We can just wait for the winter to break up, and everyone will have time to prepare winter vegetables. Families with less grain can even go up the mountain to find some more food.
Shen Yuzhu put on her work gloves and vigorously pulled at the cotton stalks, pulling what she could manage and leaving the rest to the male laborers.
From the moment she was sent to the countryside, she never thought of escaping farm work. Having done some work in her previous life, she naturally had some experience, but she still couldn't compare to the native locals.
However, the members of Xiangyang Production Team knew perfectly well who was working diligently and who was just slacking off.
As Qian Cuilian worked, she moved closer to Shen Yuzhu.
“Shen Zhiqing, you can pick these thin ones and start from the roots. It won’t take much effort.”
"Thank you, Aunt Qian."
"Don't mention it. Well, a few old women from our village are planning to go to Zhang Li's house to take a look. Do you want to come with us? I was thinking you could go first so we can distance ourselves from him later and avoid him and his mother trying to extort money from us."
Qiao Wangshu: "???"
"Auntie, what are you saying? The food and drinks weren't given to him by Yuzhu, and the beating with the sack had nothing to do with Yuzhu. Why is she going to check on it? Don't let her be wronged later and get herself into trouble. That would be truly unjust."
Qian Cuilian: "...That makes sense, but you have to say it to someone who is reasonable!"
"......."
Ugh, what a disgusting thing!!!
"Sure, it's no big deal to go and take a look. But I'm not bringing anything. I didn't get my things for free. I invited him to dinner but didn't ask him to come. He came on his own. It's only because I'm kind that I'm going to take a look."
The three of them didn't hide their conversation, and everyone working nearby could hear them. When they heard that the brigade leader's wife was going to take Shen, the educated youth, to see Zhang Li, everyone felt that this was an undeserved disaster. Shen had kindly invited them, so they went home early.
What does it have to do with anyone else? Now, to avoid being scammed, I have to go see a doctor.
Many people exchanged glances, deciding to stay away from Zhang Li's family in the future, lest they be the ones to suffer if they got involved.
As dusk fell, Shen Yuzhu went to Zhang Li's house. She said she hadn't brought anything, but she still took five eggs.
Zhang Li was brought back around noon. The county hospital had done everything it could to treat him. The hospital fees for one day were quite high, but he couldn't bear to spend the money, so he was discharged as soon as possible.
Since returning home, many people have come to visit him. However, he shows no joy at the gifts brought by his fellow villagers. He feels that every visitor is there to make him look foolish.
He drank a bit too much last night and didn't hear any footsteps. After being put in a sack, his mind was all muddled. He reported it to the commune, but when the commune sent people to look around, they didn't find a single suspicious person. He was furious.
When Shen Yuzhu first visited the Zhang family, she saw several low thatched huts and a messy yard. The ground was covered in chicken droppings, and the clothes hanging on the rope were mostly children's clothes.
Yangyang and Qianqian were playing with Qiancheng at the entrance of the main room, Zhang Jie, a five-year-old child, was washing vegetables by the water vat, and Ma Daya was tending the fire in the kitchen, the bellows making a whooshing sound.
Qian Cuilian didn't let her into the house. It wasn't appropriate for an unmarried young woman to go in, and besides, she didn't want to go in anyway.
Looking at the children's thin and small appearance, Shen Yuzhu's eyes flickered slightly, but what tugged at her heartstrings even more was the person who was hunched over adding firewood to the stove.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
