Chapter 38 Divorce
Perhaps when people are in a daze, they lose all sense of reason; or perhaps they've told so many lies that they've even come to believe them themselves; or perhaps they're desperate to shift the blame. Yang Rucui now firmly believes that this Japanese encephalitis virus outbreak is related to Qin Suisui. Even if it's not directly related to Qin Suisui, it's related to her "aunt"—in short, it's all part of their family!
Yang Rucui was blinded by anger and didn't even care about Xue Ziming. After taking the child to the hospital, she endured the itching and stomach pain, and even though she had soiled her pants, she still rushed to the Pei family's gate, demanding that Qin Suisui give them an explanation!
But her fiery temper was extinguished by Pei Jiuyan's few words, and she slunk home, only to be met with a furious outburst from Old Xue. Old Xue was no threat; she knew his temperament inside and out after all these years. But what about Pei Jiuyan? Given his vengeful nature, and considering Qin Suisui's involvement, he was unlikely to let her off the hook.
While scratching her body, Yang Rucui kept moving her numb legs. Damn it, what did that bitch throw on them? Why are they so itchy and have diarrhea?
*
On the other side, in the Guangmingding Battalion, a group of people walked back to the village from the military compound, suppressing their anger.
One of the middle-aged men, named Li Xiang, asked the brigade leader, Mai Defu, "Brigade leader, are you really not going to hold the capitalist's daughter responsible? That's our child! Why should she be harmed by the capitalist's daughter!"
Over the past week, many children in their brigade have developed fever symptoms. Later, the town hospital, following instructions from the military hospital, took the children for blood tests and discovered that it was actually Japanese encephalitis virus.
Everyone panicked. They all knew about Japanese encephalitis! It seems that Madonna from the McDonald family became disabled and mentally challenged because of this disease!
As a result, while in the hospital, they heard that the virus was related to a person named Qin Suisui. Later, they heard that Qin Suisui was a capitalist's daughter. The people in the family compound started making a fuss, demanding an explanation from the capitalist's daughter. Their children had also been harmed, so they were definitely going to demand an explanation as well!
Another man echoed Li Xiang's words: "Yes, Brigade Leader! The children are the hope of the village. If they all turn into that silly boy Maida, what future will the village have!"
Madford took a puff of his pipe, tapped the stem, and raised his voice: "Alright! Shut up! Didn't you see that guy? Even if you don't recognize him, you should at least recognize the clothes he was wearing, right? He said the organization will give everyone an explanation in the next couple of days, so let's just wait patiently! If we don't trust others, can we not trust the comrades in the People's Liberation Army?"
Although Madford temporarily suppressed the group's protests, the village was in an uproar. Those who remained in the village were mostly elderly women. Upon hearing that their children had contracted Japanese encephalitis because of a capitalist's daughter, they were furious and gathered in small groups to curse and rant.
After finishing dinner, Grandma Mai took Ada for a walk in front of her house. Hearing a commotion in the distance, she thought there was some excitement to see and hurried over with Ada. However, she heard these old women cursing her little benefactor, using extremely vulgar language. She immediately became angry, put her hands on her hips, pointed at the old women's noses, and yelled, "Have you even figured out what happened before you curse him like this? Be careful, or the Sea Goddess will come and pull out his tongue in the middle of the night!"
"Qin Suisui is such a good girl! She's a lucky one favored by the Sea Goddess! She's the one who helped heal my Ada's injuries!"
"You're all bastards who gave birth to children without an anus! To curse a young girl like that is utterly shameless!"
"Besides, others may not know, but don't you know? Our daughter Ada's case is right here. Japanese encephalitis virus is caused by mosquito bites, what does it have to do with a little girl like her! This is spreading rumors and slander! Be careful someone reports you!"
Because of her high social standing and the fact that her son held a high-ranking position in the inland, no one dared to offend her, and they all scurried away dejectedly. Grandma Mai, hands on her hips, grumbled and cursed all the way home. So angry that she didn't notice her grandson, Ada, standing right behind her, mimicking her and pointing fingers at the gossipy women.
Before she even got home, a little boy bumped into her, and Grandma Mai almost fell. She cried out "Ouch!" and steadied herself, holding her back. Just as she was about to start cursing, she realized that the person who bumped into her was actually Tiger.
Tiger's eyes were red-rimmed, and snot was hanging from his nose. He had fallen to the ground with a thud after being bumped. Grandma Mai was startled and quickly helped him up: "Oh dear! Tiger, it's you! What happened? Why are you crying like this?"
Because the Mai family lived at the end of the village, close to the cowshed, Old Mrs. Mai noticed the child during the first year that Hu Zi and the others were sent down there. He looked somewhat like her youngest son when he was a child. If she didn't know that he was sent down from elsewhere, she would have suspected that he was her son's child from outside! Moreover, all the children in the village looked down on her son, Ada, for being mentally challenged, but Hu Zi did not. Therefore, she had a special fondness for this child and would sometimes secretly slip him some food.
When Ada saw that his younger brother Hu Zi was crying, he rushed over anxiously and clumsily tried to wipe his face. However, his hands were dirty, and as a result, Hu Zi's face became more and more smudged as he wiped it.
When Hu Zi saw that it was Brother Ada and Grandma Mai, he was no longer afraid. He wiped his tears and cried,
"Many children in the cowshed have contracted Japanese encephalitis. When the uncles and aunties heard that it was Sister Sui Sui who caused it, they all cursed her, saying she should have gone to the cowshed with us! But I don't believe it. Sister Sui Sui isn't such a bad person. If it weren't for her giving me the medicine, Lele wouldn't have gotten better so quickly, and I would have contracted Japanese encephalitis like them... Waaah... I'm going to find Sister Sui Sui, I'm going to tell her about this..."
Grandma Mai quickly covered his mouth, then glanced around to make sure no one was watching before whispering, "Tiger, be good. This has blown up. Sui Sui must already know. Don't go and cause her any trouble. Her husband is a People's Liberation Army soldier; he'll definitely be able to handle this. We just need to wait!"
When Hu Zi heard Grandma Mai say that rushing over there would cause trouble for Sister Sui Sui, he realized his own identity and quickly nodded, "Okay, then I won't go and cause trouble!"
At the other educated youth settlement, several educated youths who had previously been close to Su Yunyi began to intentionally distance themselves from her. One of the older educated youths, named Zhang Ming, even directly mocked her: "So that's a capitalist's daughter! You dare to eat seafood brought by a capitalist's daughter! Aren't you afraid it's poison from capitalism?"
Su Yunyi was gentle and kind, but not a pushover: "I know you've been upset about not getting to eat the seafood Sui Sui brought that time. You took leave yourself, what business is it of ours? Besides, regardless of Sui Sui's identity, her current husband is a member of the People's Liberation Army, which means her background is legitimate. How dare you say such things about her?! You are maliciously insulting military families!"
Zhang Ming persisted: "Looking at her seductive appearance, who knows what methods she used to fool the PLA comrades? Now that the truth is out, the PLA comrades might want to divorce her, since she's a military dependent!"
"you……"
"Yunyi! Stop talking!"
Su Yunyi was about to argue with Zhang Ming again when Zhou Zecheng, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly interrupted her and pulled her aside. Su Yunyi shook off his hand and said, "What are you doing?"
Zhou Zecheng whispered, "Yunyi, what Zhang Zhiqing said is right! Regardless of whether this Japanese encephalitis outbreak is related to Qin Suisui or not, Qin Suisui's identity as a capitalist's daughter is undeniable. We, the proletariat, have always been irreconcilable enemies with the bourgeoisie. Moreover, she concealed her identity when interacting with us. I think she did it on purpose. She's cunning and might be planning to infiltrate us! I advise you not to associate with her anymore, lest you get implicated by her!"
Su Yunyi stared at Zhou Zecheng in disbelief for a long while, then suddenly laughed. Zhou Zecheng thought his advice had worked, so he became smug and leaned down to whisper something in Su Yunyi's ear.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Su Yunyi slapped Zhou Zecheng across the face.
Zhou Zecheng covered his face, his eyes filled with astonishment. Su Yunyi actually hit him?
Su Yunyi sneered several times before speaking in a cold voice: "I used to think that Sui Sui said those things because she had some prejudice against you. Now I know that you are a complete scoundrel! Every time you meet Sui Sui, it's because you provoke her and hurt her. She hasn't said anything bad about you, but you turn around and say bad things about her. I think you are the one who is a scheming scoundrel!"
After slapping her, Su Yunyi immediately got on her bicycle and rode straight to the military compound under the cover of night.
The gatekeeper was exasperated when he heard that it was someone looking for Qin Suisui again. A group of people had just left, and now this little girl had arrived. Seeing that he wouldn't let her in, Su Yunyi hurriedly explained, "Really! I'm her older sister. If you don't believe me, go ask her. Just say my surname is Su, and she'll know!"
The security guard had no choice but to let her wait there while he went to report.
Qin Suisui had just finished showering and was downstairs checking on Liangliang and Xiaohua when she heard the security guard say that someone surnamed Su was looking for her. She immediately recognized the name as Su Yunyi and quickly followed the security guard out.
Upon seeing Qin Suisui, Su Yunyi didn't waste any words. She pulled Qin Suisui aside and examined her closely, frowning as she asked, "How did you get injured?"
Seeing the concern in her eyes, Qin Suisui smiled and shook her head: "It's nothing, Sister Su. It's just a minor injury, nothing serious. But you, why are you here so late? It's all dark outside."
Su Yunyi looked around, then pulled Qin Suisui to the corner and lowered her voice: "I just heard Zhou Zecheng say that someone is planning to target your husband because of what happened to you. I don't know if it's true or not, but I think you should tell him and take precautions." After all, if something happens to Suisui's husband, then Suisui will have no one to protect her.
After hearing this, Qin Suisui felt all the fatigue and helplessness from not having rested for several days rush over her at once. Although Su Yunyi hadn't told her, she knew that this matter had caused a big stir, and that several surrounding villages had probably been affected.
If it were simply because of her identity, she wouldn't be afraid. But the main issue is that her identity came to light along with the recent outbreak of Japanese encephalitis, affecting only the children. Even if the organization believes her, the villagers might not. It might really affect Pei Jiuyan's future.
She's been keeping a low profile ever since she came here, afraid of upsetting him, but this time she's made such a scene that she doesn't know how to handle it...
When Pei Jiuyan returned, it was already past nine o'clock at night. He saw Qin Suisui staring blankly at the ceiling with her big eyes wide open, so he quickly strode over and touched her forehead.
"It's not hot, are you feeling unwell..." Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt a dampness in her hand, accompanied by Qin Suisui's emotionless voice:
"Pei Jiuyan, let's get a divorce!"
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