The night, like cotton wool soaked in ink, pressed heavily over the Hongqi Production Brigade. Lin Moli hid under the old locust tree outside Lin Wanqiu's courtyard wall, her nails digging deep into her palms, oblivious to the blood seeping through. Just now, through the gap in the wooden fence, she clearly saw Lin Wanqiu leaning against Shen Tingzhou, the two talking softly, while Shen Nian'an was doing her homework at the table. The dim light cast long shadows of the family of three, warm like the flickering flames in a stove—a scene she never dared to dream of in her life, yet Lin Wanqiu held it so easily in her grasp. How could she not be consumed by jealousy?
She recalled going to the commune three days ago on business. Passing the supply and marketing cooperative, she overheard Uncle Zhou telling someone that Lin Wanqiu's tomatoes had sold in the county, earning her nearly fifty yuan this month alone. The commune had even allocated funds for her to lead the promotion of tomato cultivation. Fifty yuan! That was more than half a year's work points for an ordinary commune member. Lin Wanqiu had only planted a few greenhouses of tomatoes and earned that much effortlessly. And what about her? Living with distant relatives, doing laundry, cooking, and taking care of the children every day, only receiving two yuan of pocket money at the end of the month—not even enough to buy a scrap of floral fabric. What infuriated her even more was seeing Shen Tingzhou helping Lin Wanqiu move wood when she went to the brigade headquarters to deliver documents yesterday. The way he looked at Lin Wanqiu was so tender it could melt hearts—that was the man who should have been hers. If Lin Wanqiu hadn't interfered, she would have been Shen Tingzhou's wife long ago, enjoying all this wealth and luxury!
"Why should I?" Lin Moli gritted her teeth, forcing out a suppressed growl from her throat. The evening breeze swirled withered grass clippings, ruffling her messy hair and revealing bloodshot eyes that looked like those of a starving wildcat. She remembered overhearing Sister-in-law Zhang Lan complaining to someone while washing clothes by the river earlier that day, saying that Lin Wanqiu had forgotten her roots after receiving benefits from the commune, and wouldn't even share a single tomato with her in-laws. These words were like a match, instantly igniting the malice in her heart—since Lin Wanqiu valued her tomatoes so much, then she would destroy them! She would make sure Lin Wanqiu couldn't earn any money, make the commune take back the benefits given to her, and make Shen Tingzhou see that she was nothing but a useless woman!
She quietly circled around to the woodshed on the west side of the courtyard, the most secluded corner in the entire yard. Only a dim kerosene lamp hung on the wall, its light barely reaching half a meter away. Lin Moli crouched down, carefully examining the gaps in the fence—Shen Tingzhou had just reinforced the fence during the day, and the gaps between the wood were narrower than a finger, impossible to squeeze through. Undeterred, she walked along the fence and finally found a loose wooden wedge near the greenhouse—probably accidentally loosened during the day's greenhouse construction; it could be easily removed with a gentle pull.
Lin Moli's heart pounded. She cautiously looked around, and after confirming no one was watching, carefully pulled out the wooden wedge and pried open a gap in the fence wide enough for one person to pass through. A scent mixed with the fragrance of earth and tomatoes wafted out from the gap, but to her now, that aroma was more pungent than poison. She took a deep breath, bent down, and squeezed through. As she landed, she accidentally kicked a pebble at her feet, making a soft "crack." Startled, she immediately held her breath and lay motionless on the ground.
After a while, seeing no movement inside, she slowly got up and crept towards the greenhouse. The plastic sheeting of the greenhouse shimmered faintly in the moonlight, and the shadows of tomato seedlings could be vaguely seen inside. Lin Moli took out what she had prepared beforehand from her bosom—quicklime she had stolen from her relative's chicken coop, and a sharpened little sickle. She had heard from an old farmer that quicklime would heat up when it came into contact with water, and if scattered in the vegetable garden, it could burn the roots; and if she used the sickle to make a cut in the stem of the tomato seedling, even if it wasn't visible at the time, it would wither in a couple of days.
She tiptoed and lifted the plastic sheeting in the corner of the greenhouse. A wave of humid heat wafted out, carrying the unique sweetness of tomatoes. On the wooden shelves inside, rows of tomato seedlings were thriving; some were just beginning to bear green fruit, while others were already turning pale red, like strings of agate hanging from the branches. Looking at this vibrant scene, Lin Moli's jealousy intensified. She gritted her teeth and first evenly sprinkled quicklime around the base of the tomato seedlings near the door—this was where the water would inevitably flow when watering. If Lin Wanqiu watered them tomorrow, the quicklime would heat up upon contact with the water, and these seedlings would surely die.
After spreading quicklime, she took out a small sickle, squatted down, and began to work on the best-growing tomato seedlings in the middle rows. The sharp sickle flashed in the night, and with a soft "swoosh," a thin cut appeared in the stem of each seedling, sap seeping out and glistening in the moonlight. Lin Moli sneered as she cut, silently thinking: Lin Wanqiu, you brought this on yourself! Who told you to steal my man? Who told you to live better than me! Once these seedlings are dead, let's see how you explain this to the commune, how you explain this to Shen Tingzhou!
Just as she reached the last row of tomato seedlings, she suddenly heard Shen Nian'an crying from inside the house, followed by Lin Wanqiu's gentle coaxing voice: "Nian'an, be good, did you have a nightmare? Mother is here." Lin Moli was so startled that her hand trembled, and the sickle clattered to the ground. Without bothering to pick it up, she hurriedly stood up and ran towards the gap in the fence, bumping into the wooden frame beside her in her haste. Several pots of tomato seedlings fell to the ground with a crashing sound.
"Who's there?" came Shen Tingzhou's wary voice from inside the house, followed by footsteps. Lin Moli was terrified. She scrambled through the gap in the fence and ran towards the edge of the village. After a few steps, she suddenly remembered the sickle she had left in the greenhouse—it had her fingerprints on it. If Lin Wanqiu found it, she would definitely suspect her! She wanted to go back to get it, but she could already hear the door opening behind her. She could only grit her teeth and quicken her pace to disappear into the night.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com