Chapter 38
Ji Mingchen returned home drunk. The living room was pitch black and he couldn't see what was going on inside the room. He banged his head on the table with a loud bang.
Shi Fangfang heard the noise in the house, and quickly lit the oil lamp and went out to check. She saw him sitting at the table, reeking of alcohol and looking bleary-eyed. She quickly went over to help him up: "Have you been drinking? How did you get so drunk? Aren't you on night shift at the hospital? Where did you get so drunk? You never drank before, and you said that drinking was a mistake, but what happened today? Did those little bastards in your hospital drag you to drink? You are already married with children, why can't you stay away from those bastards!"
Ji Mingchen hit his left forehead and it hurt badly. Shi Fangfang didn't care how badly he was hit and asked him a lot of questions. Ji Mingchen covered his head and his disgust for Shi Fangfang reached its peak.
He said coldly, "Everyone else is a scumbag, but you are so noble? If you hadn't plotted against me, I would have married Yang Qiujin. You wouldn't have the right to say these things in front of me."
Shi Fangfang's hands trembled, she stared at him in disbelief and asked, "What did you say?"
Ji Mingchen said coldly: "What did I say? Didn't you hear me clearly?"
Shi Fangfang's face suddenly lost its color, and she said with trembling lips: "So, you are drunk because of Yang Qiujin."
For seven years, Shi Fangfang has been trying hard to be a gentle and virtuous woman. She believes that no matter how much Ji Mingchen dislikes her, as time goes by, Ji Mingchen will be moved by her gentleness and gradually like her.
This was indeed the case. Although Ji Mingchen had always been lukewarm towards her, they had the kind of relationship that they should have. In front of outsiders, he would give her every bit of face to let everyone know that she was his wife. After joining the army, he gave her most of his money and left the household to her to manage.
Although Ji Mingchen always said that he was busy in the hospital and rarely went home, he was very good to the children. Every time he went home, he would patiently teach the children, buy food and clothes for the children, and was quite kind to her and never said a harsh word to her.
Now he got drunk in front of her for the first time, and it was all for Yang Qiujin!
Shi Fangfang was so jealous that her face was almost distorted. She was obviously a thousand times better than Yang Qiujin and was even better to him with all her heart, but why was he always thinking about Yang Qiujin? Why did he always trample on her sincerity!
Everything was quiet, the children were asleep, and Shi Fangfang didn't want to argue with a drunk man. She tried to calm herself down, supported Ji Mingchen and said, "You are drunk, I will help you go to the house to rest."
"Don't touch me!" Ji Mingchen pushed her away, not hiding his disgust, "Every time you touch me, I feel disgusted!"
Shi Fangfang was struck by lightning, her body shook, and she screamed almost madly: "You think I'm disgusting, but you still sleep with me? And you still do that with me!"
"That's because I mistook you for Yang Qiujin." Seeing her almost crazy look, Ji Mingchen laughed neurotically, "This is the retribution for your plot to harm me! What goes around, remember, you will never be as good as Yang Qiujin, you are not even as good as one finger of Yang Qiujin! In my heart, you are, as you said yourself, the lowest bastard!"
After he finished speaking, he stood up and staggered towards the room where the children lived. "From today on, I will not touch you again. You can take care of yourself and live as a widow until you grow old."
Ji Mingchen's words were like sharp knives that pierced Shi Fangfang's heart. She was in so much pain that she couldn't breathe and collapsed to the ground.
Looking at his departing back, the hatred in Shi Fangfang's eyes almost burst out of her eyes.
Ji Mingchen, why do we have to do this? You forced me to do this!
If I don't have a good life, you and Yang Qiujin shouldn't have an easy life either!
**
Shi Fangfang did not sleep all night. Early the next morning, she sneaked to the outside of Chen's yard and looked around.
At that time, Yang Qiujin had already sent Chen Tianyou to school, and she herself rode a horse to work on the farm. The only one left at home was Chen Shengqing, who had just sobered up and was preparing to join the army.
Chen Shengqing's alcohol tolerance is neither good nor bad. He has received special training in drinking in the special forces. No matter how much he drinks or whether he is drunk or not, he can keep a clear mind, not get drunk, and not talk nonsense or reveal anything about the military that should not be said.
He and Deputy Head Li did drink quite a bit of wine last night. He, who seldom drank, had a severe headache. Yang Qiujin did not disturb his rest, and he got up much later than usual.
There was no morning training for the first camp today. After Chen Shengqing cleaned up the dishes, he walked out of the yard with the wind in his feet, and found a sneaky shadow at the gate of his yard.
At this time, people in the family compound should go to work or school, so no one should come to their house at this time.
Even if someone comes to their house, they will greet them immediately instead of sneaking around outside the yard.
Chen Shengqing didn't care who was causing trouble outside the yard. He walked out of the yard and kicked the figure.
He has been carrying out various dangerous missions for many years, and he will ruthlessly attack anyone or anything that makes him feel a little uncomfortable.
If you show mercy, you will put yourself in danger and play with your own life.
Knowing that there might be no one at home at this time, the person outside the yard was still wandering around his house stealthily. It was obvious that the person was not a good person.
The man was caught off guard by his sudden attack and fell to the ground with a kick. He cried out in pain and said in a coquettish voice, "Chen Shengqing, it's me, why did you kick me!"
Chen Shengqing looked coldly at Shi Fangfang, who was sitting on the ground, covering her buttocks, and said expressionlessly, "Shi Fangfang, what are you doing sneaking around my door?"
He was wearing a neat military uniform and standing with his legs straight. His handsome face had a pair of deep and charming eyes, but his expression was full of impatience.
This man is really good-looking. It's a pity that she was ignorant before and missed him.
Shi Fangfang looked dazed, but she did not forget to put on a weak look and said, "Shengqing, I came to find you. You kicked me and it hurt."
The woman's coquettish voice fell into Chen Shengqing's ears, making him frown and say in a bad tone: "I'll ask you again, what are you doing sneaking around my door?"
Shi Fangfang felt very uncomfortable with the man's coldness and indifference. "Shengqing, why are you so cold to me? We grew up together. You always cared for me when I was little. When I got hurt, you would ask me if it hurt. But now you are so distant to me, as if I were a stranger. I feel so sad."
Chen Shengqing looked at her coldly: "Why, don't you have any idea?"
"Are you still holding a grudge against me for scheming you and breaking off the engagement with you?" Shi Fangfang said with tears in her eyes, "You should know that I was in such a situation back then that I didn't mean to do that. My mother told me to do it, and I was forced to do it. Over the years, I have always felt guilty towards you and have always wanted to make it up to you, but Yang Qiujin has always been blocking me, beating and scolding me, hating me to the core, and not allowing me to get close to you. I didn't want to embarrass you, so I have been suppressing my feelings for you, and I haven't dared to talk to you all these years. I came to you today to tell you, Shengqing, that actually, the person I have always liked is you."
"What does your love have to do with me?" Chen Shengqing saw through her thoughts at a glance, "Do you think I still have feelings for you, and as long as you tell me that you like me, I will like you back? Shi Fangfang, after all these years, you haven't changed. You are still that self-indulgent, selfish, and cruel woman who can do anything and sell out anyone to achieve your own goals. You said so much to me, just to mediate the relationship between Qiu Jin and me. I tell you, I don't believe a word you say, I only believe Qiu Jin."
"How could you think of me like this?" Shi Fangfang burst into tears. "No matter what happened in the past, my feelings for you have always been true. I..."
"That's enough." Chen Shengqing was impatient to watch her performance. He stared at her fiercely and said, "I don't care what your purpose is in coming to my house today. Remember this, if you dare to touch Qiu Jin or my son again, I will kill you."
He was a soldier who had truly seen blood and had killed people. When he said this, a murderous look appeared on his handsome features, his deep eyes were full of cruelty, and the soldier's unique, inviolable, iron-blooded and majestic aura enveloped his entire body.
Shi Fangfang felt a chill run down her spine when she saw that look and subconsciously took two steps back.
This man was not at all the boy in her memory who was gentle as the wind, smiling and good-tempered to everyone. Now he was like a demon who could kill people at any time.
Seeing that she remained silent, Chen Shengqing said in a cold voice, "Four years ago, I killed a fool who harmed my subordinates and was sent to the Soviet Union by the army. At that time, I didn't think about hiding the fact of the murder. Now if I want to kill someone, I will use the fastest and most ruthless method, so that no one can find any trace of my action. I can kill a person without anyone knowing, and I won't be punished. You'd better not be lucky and think that I will only talk nonsense and won't kill you. If I want to deal with a person, I have hundreds of ways to make her life worse than death!"
Shi Fangfang's eyes widened when her thoughts were exposed, and she felt cold with fear all over her body. She couldn't believe that Chen Shengqing would threaten her like this!
The tears in her eyes at this moment were no longer acted.
Why did the two men she once liked protect Yang Qiujin so much!
What is so good about Yang Qiujin that makes them so obsessed with her!
Tears fell down her cheeks, and Shi Fangfang said unresignedly, "Chen Shengqing, you will regret this!"
She staggered, turned and ran away.
Chen Shengqing didn't even look at her, locked the gate, and walked towards the military barracks.
Yang Qiujin, who was considered extremely cruel by outsiders, raised his children and took care of his elderly parents when he was unable to return home for seven years, and she never complained to him. Such a woman was sensible, intelligent, and kind-hearted, how could she be compared to a vicious woman like Shi Fangfang.
He didn't believe a word Shi Fangfang said.
For Yang Qiujin, the biggest benefit of becoming a farm statistician was that she had plenty of free time. She no longer had to rush back and forth between the army farms like before.
After Chen Shengqing went to patrol the border, she could ride her Benying to pick up and drop off the children with peace of mind, and others could not find a reason to criticize her. Tianyou followed her back and forth every day and even thought it was fun.
Unfortunately, her peaceful life did not last long before she received some bad news.
Cao Jun was just as Ren Ying said. In order to protect their families and children and to let Cao Jun continue to take care of them, Liu Xiaoshan and his gang did not accuse Cao Jun of stealing food and bullying men and women.
Thanks to the care of his uncle who was a leader in the district revolutionary committee, Cao Jun was released after only one month in prison.
The first thing Cao Jun did when he returned to the farm was to contact the newly appointed deputy director.
After Feng Sheng was arrested and suspended for investigation, he was afraid that the deputy director position would fall into the hands of Secretary Zhai's people, making it impossible for him to do his own work on the farm in the future. So, while he was being arrested, he paid a large sum of money to hire someone to pass a message to his uncle, asking his uncle to get their people from the district government to take this position.
The new deputy director is named Ma Gaoyuan. He has only primary school education and is a small party secretary in the district government. He is good at organizing movements and telling lies. In the past two years, he relied on organizing movements to work his way up to the position of office director in the district government. Finally, he was transferred to Tianshan Farm as deputy director by Cao Jun's uncle.
At that time, it was useless for Secretary Zhai and a group of leaders of Tianshan Farm to oppose it. Cao Jun's uncle had great connections. If they did not allow Ma Gaoyuan to be the deputy director, they would have to thoroughly investigate the entire farm cadres.
Secretary Zhai thought he had a clear conscience, but the other cadres felt guilty. When Uncle Cao Jun put pressure on them again, they became vague in their words, and Ma Gaoyuan successfully became the new deputy director.
At this time, Ma Gaoyuan had been in office for almost a month. At first, he just pretended to be serious, going to the farms to inspect here and there, asking questions, and providing some benefits to the employees to win their hearts. Even though Secretary Zhai and others opposed it, he still did his own thing.
After a month of settling down, he felt that he had established himself firmly in Tianshan Farm and he stopped pretending. He spent his days either drinking tea and wine in the farm office, wandering around aimlessly, or hanging out with some bad friends, eating and drinking to his heart's content, and indulging in extravagance.
Ma Gaoyuan is short and ugly, looking like a Tu Xingsun, but he has a hobby, which is to mess with beautiful women.
His first wife was a big and strong woman who gave him three sons and one daughter. She had a bad temper and often quarreled and fought with him. The two of them had always been at odds over that matter, which made him feel angry and had no place to vent.
By chance, he took advantage of his position to bully an ordinary worker and hinted to the worker's beautiful wife to offer herself to him. After tasting the sweetness, he couldn't stop and began to specialize in officialdom, saying different things to different people, climbing up step by step and tasting more sweetness.
He came to Tianshan Farm, pretending to inspect the crop planting situation in the fields, but in fact he was looking for beautiful female educated youth working in the fields.
Now that he has been behaving himself on the farm for a month, he can no longer contain his desire and is eager to make some moves.
Cao Junfang came to see him. He was shaving his teeth with a toothpick and said, "Our farm is too boring. All we do is work in the fields and produce. We don't even have any cultural activities. The farm doesn't accept cultural guidance from the higher-ups. We can't keep going on like this."
Cao Jun placed the fine wine and cigarettes he had bought from the district department store on his desk and said with a flattering smile: "Deputy Director Ma is right. We can't just focus on production and ignore the issue of combining work and rest. The Dragon Boat Festival is just a few days away. Our farm will hold a Dragon Boat Festival gala. Notify the female comrades in the company in advance to rehearse at the cultural center. It will be lively during the Dragon Boat Festival."
This was exactly what Ma Gaoyuan wanted. He stopped eating and drinking, put on his coat, and waved his hand, "Let's go talk to those female comrades."
There were about six people in their group. Apart from Ma Gaoyuan and Cao Jun, the other four were clerks of the farm's finance department, the factory committee office, the workers' union, and the women's association. They were somewhat related to Feng Sheng, Liu Xiaoshan, and Liu Fugui.
It was already ten o'clock in the evening and it was just getting dark. All the companies had finished their work and returned to their respective residences to wash up and go to bed.
They sat on the company's tractor and rumbled toward the company's various educated youth sites.
Whenever he arrived at a youth educated in Tibet, Ma Gaoyuan would cheerfully talk to the male comrades there about strangers and ideals. As for the female comrades, he would praise them for their hard work in building the frontier, and also talk about his own interesting life stories to highlight his charm. He would then take out some benefits he had privately obtained from the farm, such as a few bags of rice and flour and some daily necessities, and give them to the youth educated in Tibet.
After his actions, the young educated youth who were not very worldly-wise really thought that he was a good leader and respected him very much. Some enthusiastic educated youth even wanted to invite him to have dinner at the educated youth center, but he politely declined.
When they arrived at the second company of educated youth, Ma Gaoyuan saw the particularly bright and beautiful Long Yanli. His eyes lit up and he spoke with irrepressible excitement.
Long Yanli felt uncomfortable with his malicious eyes and declined, "Master Cao, I am already tired enough from working in the fields every day. I really don't have the energy to perform at the Dragon Boat Festival party."
"You can't say that, Comrade Long. Now is not the busy farming season. Our Deputy Farm Director Ma wants to hold a social gathering during the Dragon Boat Festival so that all the workers can combine work and rest and increase the revolutionary friendship among each other. How can we not participate?"
Cao Jun persuaded earnestly: "Besides, our factory committee has prepared generous gifts for this social evening party. In addition to rewards for daily food and drink, some cash rewards, the top three will also receive an additional secretary position. If anyone performs well and wins first place, our deputy director will consider promoting the young comrade who wins the title to be his office secretary. This is a good thing for you female comrades who do hard labor all day long!"
Long Yanli was moved by what she heard, but when she thought of Cao Jun's reputation on the farm, she hesitated and finally refused: "I'm not very good at singing or dancing..."
Cao Jun immediately said, "It's nothing. If you can't sing, you can sing. You can recite poetry. At least you can make up the numbers and boost popularity. You are not the only one participating in the Dragon Boat Festival party. There are also female educated youth from other companies. You can go to rehearse together. There will be a rehearsal meal subsidy in the evening. The most important thing about participating in the party is participation, not winning the championship."
Long Yanli was already feeling depressed because of the heavy workload and dreamed of going back to the city to do an easier job. When she heard that there were other female educated youth going to the farm cultural center to rehearse together, she thought that there was strength in numbers and if they all walked together, no matter how lustful Cao Jun was, he would not dare to attack her in public, so she agreed.
Cao Jun used other excuses and named several other female educated youth in the Second Company who were somewhat pretty. He even went to the Second Company's livestock shed and lobbied Ren Ying with the same reason.
By the time Yang Qiujin learned about these things, it was the second day of rehearsal when the beautiful female educated youth were arranged to go to the farm cultural center.
Ren Ying lived in a small office in the warehouse, and couldn't help but tell her about this.
After hearing this, Yang Qiujin frowned and said, "That Cao Jun is not a good person. I heard that Deputy Farm Director Ma was sent to our farm by the Revolutionary Committee. These two people are so enthusiastic about inviting young and beautiful female educated youth like you to rehearse. They must have bad intentions. I think you'd better not go again."
"It's okay. We have more than 20 female educated youth rehearsing together." Ren Ying helped her turn over the lush sweet potato vines in the field. "The Cultural Center and other comrades from the farm who are participating in the Cultural Reunion Social Meeting are rehearsing together. It's just that they rehearse earlier and we rehearse later. Every time we rehearse, Deputy Director Ma and Secretary Cao always watch us rehearse and correct any mistakes in our rehearsal in time."
Yang Qiujin felt that there was no problem after hearing this, but she still felt something was wrong. She warned Ren Ying, "Be careful and don't go alone."
"I know, don't worry, Sister Yang, I understand everything in my heart."
As soon as Ren Ying left, Yang Qiujin saw that it was getting late, so she went to the least conspicuous cave in a row of caves about 500 meters away from the warehouse, found Han Yongxin, handed over the key to the warehouse, and told him what Ren Ying had said, "Captain Han, do you know about this?"
Since the grain theft incident occurred and Liu Xiaoshan and his gang were arrested, the Ava Corps has attached great importance to this matter and required Tianshan Farm to strictly review the behavior of its cadres and strengthen warehouse management.
The farm regiment headquarters added two warehouse management quotas and implemented shifts to guard the warehouses. The company's small warehouse did not add many staff, but only asked the militia to patrol around the warehouse in batches at night.
Yang Qiujin felt it was pitiful for Ren Ying, an unmarried girl, to live with those relegated elements, so she asked Han Yongxin to let Ren Ying stay in a small office next to the warehouse at night.
This not only solved Ren Ying's accommodation problem, but also helped Yang Qiujin look after the warehouse and prevent the fruits and vegetables grown by Yang Qiujin from being stolen by others.
Of course, in order to avoid gossip, Ren Ying always left early and returned late, and rarely appeared in the warehouse during the day.
Every time Yang Qiujin got off work, she would give the warehouse key to Han Yongxin for safekeeping, so that no one would accuse her of abusing her power for personal gain.
Han Yongxin casually put the key into the hole he dug on the side of the earthen kang, blocked the hole with a bunch of weeds, and turned around and said, "So what if you know? Cao Jun's uncle is the vice chairman of the district revolutionary committee. He has great power. Even our local corps troops dare not provoke him, for fear that if he is unhappy, he will bring people from the revolutionary committee and the little red soldiers to overthrow our corps. If Cao Jun wants to cause trouble with Deputy Director Ma, we can't do anything about it."
"Are you going to sit back and watch those young, unmarried educated youth jump into the fire pit?" Yang Qiujin asked angrily.
Han Yongxin's eyes flickered: "Comrade Yang, I know you are a good person, but those two people are not something a small company commander like me can offend. You have already offended Cao Jun before, I advise you not to provoke him again, if this guy gets crazy, he can do anything."
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