Chapter 110
Yang Qiujin thought for a moment and said, "Sister-in-law Zhao, please accompany me to Political Commissar Zhao's home to see Director Fan. My mother-in-law is worried about those two girls. If we don't clarify those rumors, those two girls will be driven to death."
"Okay, I'll go with you." As they are all women, Zhao Erfeng knows how important reputation is to a girl.
If the Xu and Tao sisters had met parents like that, and no one had stood up for them and kept spreading rumors like that, the two girls might have really been forced to death. Their neighbors couldn't bear to see two good girls die like that.
The two of them went to Political Commissar Zhao's house. Political Commissar Zhao had gone to work, and Fan Qionghui was at home tending to the flowers and plants in the yard. After listening to Yang Qiujin's explanation of her purpose, she put down the watering can in her hand and said, "How do you want to prove the innocence of those two girls?"
"I would like to ask Director Fan to call a meeting of the military wives and their children in the family area. First, I would like to ask Director Fan to reprimand the gossipers who spread the rumors and let them realize how hateful spreading rumors is. Second, I would like to ask Director Fan to take them and Sister Xu Tao to the hospital and have Sister Xu Tao checked so that everyone can see whether they are innocent or not." Yang Qiujin said.
Fan Qionghui frowned, "Xiao Yang, I have also heard the rumors about the Xu Tao sisters. I also know that you have good intentions and want to help them, but have you ever thought about what would happen if they are unwilling to cooperate and the test results are not satisfactory? Wouldn't you be driving them to death?"
"Director Fan, if we sit back and do nothing and let those rumors spread, the whole family compound, the whole army, and even the whole town will know about it. Then the two girls will not be able to bear it and commit suicide to prove their integrity. Will you feel at ease with it? The best way to dispel rumors is to investigate his physical condition in public," said Yang Qiujin.
Sometimes rumors are like a sharp weapon that can kill people without leaving any trace. If the source of the rumor is not resolved in time, two innocent people may be killed by the knife of rumors.
Zhao Erfeng echoed, "Yes, Director Fan, as the saying goes, rumors can kill people. In our countryside, many wives and unmarried girls have been spread rumors about their dirty bodies. It is not uncommon for them to commit suicide by jumping into the river or hanging themselves. I heard from Sister Yang that the middle school students in the town are all spreading rumors about the Xu Tao sisters. If they don't want to be stopped, the rumors will continue to spread. The girl can't stand it and may really commit suicide to make her determination. The two girls are already pitiful enough. We have all watched them grow up, so we should help them if we can."
Fan Qiong was convinced by them, "Okay, but you two have to convince Sister Xu Tao to go for the checkup, otherwise it will be useless even if I gather the military wives together."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Yang Qiujin said, and hurriedly took Zhao Erfeng to Xu's house.
When we arrived at the courtyard where the Xu family lived, Xu Tao and her sister were washing clothes for her brother by the pond in the yard.
Seeing Yang Qiujin and the other person coming in, Xu Tao stood up and called out, "Hello, Aunt Yang, Aunt Zhao, are you here to look for my stepmother?"
"Xu Tao, I'm here to see you." Yang Qiujin walked up to her and saw two military wives in the same courtyard looking at them. She didn't think of avoiding them to talk, and said directly: "Xu Tao, I know that your classmates in high school have spread some false rumors about you. There are also many gossipers in our family courtyard who are spreading rumors about you and your sister. I am very angry. Your uncle Chen, Tianyou and I all know that you are innocent, but we can't stop those people from talking. During this period of time, you and your sister must have suffered a lot of grievances and have nowhere to tell. I am here to help you clarify the rumors. Are you willing to go to the hospital with me for a □□ examination to crush those rumors?"
Xu Tao was stunned at first, then her eyes turned red, and she cried, "Aunt Yang, is the examination useful? During this period of time, wherever my sister and I went, people would say that we sisters had been slept with by others, that we were no longer clean, that we were shameless, and that we didn't deserve to live. At school, those girls would look at our stomachs and say that we had been slept with and must be pregnant with a bastard. They also said that I was no longer a virgin, but I was still flirting with Chen Tianyou, and that I was a vixen..."
The more Xu Tao spoke, the more aggrieved she felt. Tears streamed down her face, and she couldn't stop crying.
Beside her, Xu Xia was also crying inconsolably.
Xu Tao was terribly frightened after the kidnapping experience and thought that the matter would just be forgotten. However, rumors spread everywhere. In the family compound, school, and even on the streets of town, everyone looked at them with strange and mocking eyes, as if they were some kind of dirty things that should not live in this world.
Before, the two sisters would argue with reason and loudly refute those who spread the rumors. Later, the more they argued, the less people believed them, and the rumors became more and more fierce. Some two or three-year-old children in the family compound called them vixens in front of them.
Xu Tao was in adolescence, a sensitive period of her life. After being bombarded with rumors for more than a month, she felt particularly helpless and sad.
She turned to her father for help, asking him to help dispel the rumors, but her father was too embarrassed to do anything about it, and her stepmother even ridiculed them for being shameless.
She was disheartened and didn't know what to do. She kept thinking that she might as well die. As long as she died, it would prove her and her sister's innocence. Then no one would say bad things about her and her sister anymore, and her sister would be able to live a good life in the future.
At this time, Yang Qiujin suddenly appeared and said that she would take her for a check-up to dispel the rumors. She was half-believing and half-doubting.
Seeing the two girls crying, Yang Qiujin felt very upset. She comforted them, saying, "Don't cry. Trust Aunt Yang for once. Aunt Yang won't hurt you. Aunt Yang is here to support you. Come on, girls. For your own reputation, hold your chest high and crush the rumors!"
Around nine in the morning, dozens of military wives gathered in the Women's Association office of the family compound. Each of them brought their children, some in their arms and some on their backs. They stood in the office in various postures and asked, "Director Fan, why did you gather all of us military wives and ask us to bring our children with us? Why?"
Fan Qionghui sat at the desk and said seriously, "I called everyone here because of something. Recently, there have been rumors in our family compound that Captain Xu's two daughters have been slept with by men and are no longer virgins. They spread all kinds of gossip behind the two girls. Some of the family's children even spread rumors at school and bullied the Xu Tao sisters. The two girls have been forced to cry every day because of these rumors, and no matter how they explain, it's useless."
She paused and continued, "As the women's director of the army, I have the responsibility to ask about this matter. I have already found out what happened. The Xu Tao sisters were indeed abducted by the hooligans in the town and sold to the mountainous area, but they did not lose their innocence because Deputy Regiment Commander Chen and Company Commander Xu worked with the public security to rescue them in time. Apart from their courage to resist and minor injuries from being beaten by the herdsmen, they did not have any sexual relations."
As soon as she finished speaking, a military wife pouted and said, "Director Fan, who are you kidding? Two virgin girls were bought to the mountain area by those nomadic people with the same beards. How could they just beat them and not touch them?"
"Yes, those two girls have always been restless. The older one went to town every day before the Chinese New Year and hung out with those little hooligans. The younger one used to often go to the home of Deputy Head Chen to flirt with the girls from the Chen family. I think those are either rumors or facts."
Yang Qiujin stood behind Fan Qionghui and had no intention of speaking out at this moment to steal Fan Qionghui's responsibility and limelight. However, after hearing these words, she could not help but say, "You speak as if you have seen it with your own eyes. Come on, Jin Xiaohua, tell me, which gangster did you see Xu Xia hanging out with? Shi Daigui, Xu Tao came to my house to help me and my mother-in-law with housework out of gratitude, and she didn't come again after a while to avoid suspicion. How come it becomes so dirty in your mouth?"
The thin lady named Jin Xiaohua and the rough-looking and masculine Shi Daigui both choked at the same time and were speechless.
Yang Qiujin smiled wryly and said, "Since you didn't see it with your own eyes, why are you spreading rumors? Are you too full to do anything, or are you jealous?"
Jin Xiaohua, who has a hot temper, was unhappy. "Who is full and has nothing to do? Who is jealous? Yang Qiujin, don't think that you can criticize us just because you are the wife of Deputy Head Chen. I have the mouth, I can say whatever I want, you have no right to interfere!"
"Okay, then starting from today, I will tell everyone that you are having an affair with another man and cuckolding your husband. Let's see how you explain it then!" Yang Qiujin sneered.
"You, you are simply unreasonable!" Jin Xiaohua was so angry that her face turned red.
She was originally married to her own man without a clean genitals. Her husband's previous wife, Jin Dahua, was her biological sister. She was shot for being a Soviet spy. There was a bunch of children at home with no one to take care of them, so they wanted to marry a woman as a concubine. When her mother heard about it, she wrote to her husband, saying that she could let her younger sister-in-law marry into the family, so that the relationship would be closer and she would not abuse the children. Her husband agreed.
At that time, she was dating a young man, but her mother broke up with him after she cried, made a fuss, and even threatened to commit suicide. She then married the man she is with now.
There was no bleeding on the wedding night, and she lied that it was because she ran too fast when she was a child and bumped into a tree branch, which punctured the membrane. The man was half-believing and half-doubting.
If Yang Qiujin really spread rumors, she would never be able to clear herself from the blame even if she jumped into the Yellow River.
Seeing her angry and anxious look, Yang Qiujin put on a mocking smile on her pretty face and said, "Jin Xiaohua, now you know how it feels to be wronged and have rumors spread about you. Let me ask you, who told you to spread rumors about Sister Xu Tao?!"
Jin Xiaohua took a breath and said, "Shi Daigui told me that."
Shi Daigui knew how fierce and powerful Yang Qiujin was, and fearing that she would target him, he quickly distanced himself from the matter, saying, "When did I say that? It was obviously you who told me that, okay?"
Jin Xiaohua then remembered something and said, "Oh, I remembered it wrongly. It was Fan Yinliu who told me that her two stepdaughters came home last month, covered in bruises. I don't know how many men had raped them..."
The Xu and Tao sisters, Yang Qiujin, Zhao Erfeng, and everyone present looked in disbelief at Fan Yinliu, who was huddled in the crowd holding her baby fat boy. They had never expected that these rumors would come from her mouth.
Yang Qiujin said fiercely, "As military wives, even if we are not well-educated and become stepmothers, we know that family shame should not be made public. But you, Fan Yinliu, are so bad that you treat your two stepdaughters harshly. When they got into trouble, you didn't care, didn't feel sorry for them, didn't help them, and even spread rumors everywhere. You want to force your two stepdaughters to death so that your son can inherit Captain Xu's property alone, right? It's a shame for our army to have a military wife like you. If I were Captain Xu, I would divorce you to prevent you from affecting his future!"
"No, no, it's not like that. I didn't spread rumors, Yang Qiujin, don't talk nonsense!" Fan Yinliu's face turned pale when her thoughts were exposed, and she hurriedly defended herself.
Yang Qiujin didn't want to listen to her nonsense at all. She looked at the four little girls between the ages of twelve and fifteen standing at the door and said, "What do you think of our son Tianyou?"
The four little girls looked at each other and said nothing.
Yang Qiujin guided her, "Do you feel that he is a good student, handsome, and surrounded by so many girls? Every time you see him, you feel happy and jealous?"
The four girls blushed, and a girl with long hair nodded and said, "It does feel like that."
"So do you think that my Tianyou is close to Xu Tao because he likes her?" Yang Qiujin asked again.
Now the four little girls bit their lips and did not answer.
Yang Qiujin saw it all and said in a slow voice, "I was young once too, and I also experienced the love of a young girl. When I saw a handsome boy, I would always feel a liking for him for some reason. When I saw good-looking girls around him, I would also feel jealous and wish I could get rid of them. However, I knew in my heart that I was still young, and so was he. A temporary liking for someone is not a lifelong one. He likes this girl now, but in a few years, he might like another girl. When he grows up, he might like another girl. And who knows who will end up spending the rest of his life with him. Why should I target those girls who like him like me? Aren't we all just one of them who likes him?"
She said this with a smile on her face, "Besides, Tianyou told me a long time ago that he only regarded Xu Tao as a neighbor girl, and he helped her because he felt sorry for her. Xu Tao returned the favor by doing housework in our house for a while. He was afraid that others would gossip and ruin Xu Tao's reputation, so he asked her not to come again. Xu Tao also understood what he meant and did not come again. If these things make you think that Chen Tianyou likes Xu Tao and is making up stories and rumors about Xu Tao, then I think you are not qualified to be friends with my son. Girls are too jealous and too talkative. I don't like such girls to be my daughter-in-law."
When the four girls heard her words, they blushed even more. The long-haired girl who spoke earlier whispered, "I'm sorry, Aunt Yang, I didn't mean to say bad things about Xu Tao, I just..."
"You shouldn't apologize to me, you should apologize to Xu Tao." Yang Qiujin interrupted her and said, "Also, I have to remind you that maliciously spreading rumors, causing harm or even death to the owner of the rumors, is equivalent to indirect murder. If Xu Tao is unable to bear the consequences and commits suicide, you will be arrested by the police from the Public Security Bureau and sentenced to prison. By then, not only will you not be able to continue your studies, but your entire life will be ruined."
Several little girls were frightened by her and almost cried. They hurriedly apologized to Xu Tao: "I'm sorry, Xu Tao, I shouldn't have said bad things about you. Please forgive me."
"Xu Tao, I didn't say that on purpose. It was Chunfang and the others who were jealous of you. They started it and I followed suit. I will never say anything bad about you again."
"Xu Tao, I was possessed by a ghost for a moment. I'm sorry. Don't take it to heart and don't do anything stupid. I don't want to go to jail."
.....
A woman stood up and said, "Comrade Yang, what you said is too serious. It's just a few little girls talking nonsense. Even if Xu Tao committed suicide, it's her own business. Why should I blame Chunfang for it? Why are you scaring them like this?"
Another woman said, "Yes, this is the Xu family's family affair. Even the father doesn't care. What are you, an outsider, doing here, mixing things up and scaring my child?"
Yang Qiujin strode up to them, faced them, stared at them straight in the eyes and said, "I am educated, but I am not like you who are ignorant and have no legal awareness. If you don't believe what I say, you can ask Director Fan or go to the Public Security Bureau. Don't you know what kind of people Captain Xu and his wife are?
It's true that I'm an outsider, but Xu Tao was raised under my care. If something happened to them today and I don't help, then if something happens to my child or your child tomorrow, will others just watch coldly and watch them die?
Don't argue with me. Life is still long, and no one can guarantee that everyone will live in peace and security until old age. It is said that a neighbor is worse than a distant relative. If you think that I am meddling in other people's business, and you think that others are meddling in other people's business, then when you encounter problems in the future, don't ask your neighbors for help. After all, you have to be cold-hearted and indifferent to the problems that do not concern you. "
The two women were speechless after hearing her words. They finally understood why Yang Qiujin's reputation as a shrew had lasted for so long in the army. With her ability to talk back, who could withstand her?
Fan Qionghui saw that the time was almost up, so she stood up and said, "Okay, let's stop talking. To dispel everyone's doubts, please all follow me to the military hospital and let the obstetrician and gynecologist examine Sister Xu Tao. Even if you don't believe what we say, you should at least believe what the doctor says."
The wives of soldiers and children present were indeed skeptical, but since they had nothing to do at the moment, they had to give face to Fan Qionghui, the director of the Women's Hospital, and so they all swarmed towards the military hospital, which actually scared the director.
Fan Qionghui explained the whole story, and the dean immediately arranged for three of the hospital's most authoritative experts and director-level gynecologists to conduct an examination.
At the same time, Yang Qiujin asked two well-known gossipers in the family compound to go into the clinic with the Xu Tao sisters to watch.
Although Sister Xu Tao was very nervous and embarrassed, since it concerned their own reputation, they gritted their teeth and cooperated with the doctors' examination.
Ten minutes later, the two gossipers, the Xu Tao sisters, and three doctors all came out of the consulting room. Jin Xiaohua was the first to rush over and ask, "How is it?"
"Yes, the baby is fine. I used to be a midwife in the countryside, and I saw it clearly." said a gossipy woman.
Another gossipy woman replied, "I don't understand, but the doctors all say it's still a baby."
One of the three doctors took off his mask and said, "You are such a fool. You spread rumors about two innocent girls. You forced them to come to the hospital for a checkup. Now the results are out and they are innocent. Aren't you adults ashamed?"
Someone recognized who she was and questioned, "Doctor Bao, are you afraid of hurting the child's self-esteem and are talking nonsense?"
"Do you think I am you, opening my mouth and talking nonsense without caring about other people's lives?" Doctor Bao's eyes widened with anger and said, "This is a hospital, where I work. If you question me, you are questioning the medical skills of me and other doctors. If you think what I said is false, come and get checked!"
"Hey, Dr. Bao, I was just joking. Don't be angry, don't be angry." The man said embarrassedly.
Doctor Bao said, "Good words warm you in the winter, but bad words hurt you in the summer. You are all old now, so you should know what to say and what not to say. The two girls held on this time and didn't do anything stupid. If something like this happens again next time, people won't be so easy to talk to and will force you to compensate for the losses."
Thanks to Dr. Bao's words, everyone believed that the Xu and Tao sisters were innocent. Some of the shameless ones apologized to the two sisters on the spot, while those who were thin-skinned slipped away in shame.
The rumors were dispelled at this moment, and the Xu Tao sisters hugged each other and cried excitedly.
After everyone left, Xu Xia knelt down in front of Yang Qiujin, kowtowed solemnly to her, and cried, "Aunt Yang, thank you for standing up for us sisters and dispelling the rumors for us. I will never forget your kindness. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely repay you."
"Oh, don't be like this, I can't stand it." Yang Qiujin hurriedly helped her up and said, "It's just a small effort. Study hard in the future and don't work illegally anymore. If you really encounter any difficulties, tell me directly and I will help you if I can."
"Thank you, Aunt Yang." Xu Xia said sincerely, "To be honest, I am not a good student. My grades are not as good as my sister's. I may not be able to get into high school. Even if I do, I will not go to school. I just want to work in a factory after graduating from junior high school and earn money to support my sister's high school. Aunt Yang, if you have any good jobs, can you leave one for me? You know, my father is unreliable. If I don't stand on my own feet, my sisters and I will have no future."
Yang Qiujin thought of Xu Tai and Fan Yinliu and sighed, "In a few months, the textile factory of Tianshan Farm will be built. They will recruit a group of female workers. The work will be very hard. If you are not afraid of hard work, I can reserve a position for you, but then you can no longer study in the second grade of junior high school and you will not be able to get your junior high school diploma."
Nowadays, jobs, even in factories, are very competitive. Although Yang Qiujin wanted to persuade Xu Xia to continue her studies, when she thought about her family situation, she felt that it would be better to let her go to work in the factory directly.
It just so happened that the textile factory was recruiting, and even though Xu Xia had only studied in junior high school for one year, that was considered a junior high school diploma in those days, and she would be more suitable for the job than other illiterate farm family members.
Moreover, the path of life does not necessarily have to be limited to studying. In the case of the Xu Xia sisters, it is already good enough that they can support themselves with their own abilities.
Xu Xia was overjoyed and thanked her repeatedly: "Thank you, Aunt Yang. It doesn't matter if I can't get a diploma. Anyway, when I become a worker and can earn money, my life will be the same."
Xu Tao was filled with sorrow, as she knew her sister was in such a hurry to go to work just for her. She had no other choice but to study harder and repay her after getting into university.
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