Chapter 170

Captain Tang pulled at his wife's hand and continued to talk to Xia Juhua. The general meaning was that his family didn't treat Chang Chunya as badly as she said. His son and daughter-in-law actually had a good relationship and they usually lived in harmony. It was his wife who liked to act like a mother-in-law and kept her son from coming to pick up Chang Chunya...

Chang Chunya happened to be out getting some hot water for accountant Chang when she heard her father-in-law lying with his eyes closed. She gritted her teeth and said, "Captain, let them go back first. Otherwise, my father will be even angrier when he wakes up and sees you, and my elder and second brothers may also take action." He really beat them up, and even the one who was right became wrong.

Seeing Captain Tang's face showing joy after hearing what he said, Chang Chunya didn't want to look at the man named Tang any more. He turned his head and looked at the gate and said, "Captain Tang, you think I'm living a good life, but I feel I can't live like this anymore. When my father is well, I will divorce Tang Qijin. If you think any girl is willing to live a good life in your family, find a good one for Tang Qijin, so that his mother won't say I'm a hen that doesn't lay eggs every day."

"What did you say?" Tang Qijin's face turned pale: "I just said a few words to you and picked you up two days late, and you said you can't live with me anymore?" Whose daughter-in-law has such a bad temper? No wonder his mother always said that his daughter-in-law is not someone who can live a good life.

Chang Chunya looked at him with indifference in his eyes: "You've been up late these past two days. I have to get water for my father, please get out of the way." After saying that, he didn't even look at Tang Qijin again and went into the kitchen without looking back.

Captain Tang's wife pointed at Chang Chunya's back and panted: "It's okay, it's okay, who are you trying to scare? My son will find a rich lady right after leaving you, and will have a big fat boy next year. Your captain is right in front of us, Liu Zhishuang..."

Xia Juhua suddenly stood in front of her, with unprecedented anger in her eyes: "What can your son compare with my son? Chunya is not Sun Hongmei. Accountant Chang has been supporting Chunya for the past two years, but Chunya has not brought back a handful of food from her husband's family to her parents' home."

This bastard actually used Liu Zhishuang as an example in front of Chunya. Isn't that just throwing salt into people's mouths? Even if she didn't know that Accountant Chang had intentionally introduced Chunya to Liu Zhishuang, and simply wanted to use a successful second marriage case to suppress Chang Chunya, Xia Juhua still felt that it was unforgivable. The words he said were like a knife, leaving no mercy for the Tang family.

The Tang family members were very embarrassed to hear this, and all three of them blushed. Chang Chunya, who had just come out of the kitchen with hot water, heard this and felt a different feeling. However, she knew the importance of this and knew that now was not the time for her to feel sad. She walked past the Tang family members with hot water and went to wipe her father's hands and face.

The Tang family felt that Chang Chunya's action was to agree with Xia Juhua's words, and they were all so angry that their stomachs hurt. Captain Tang couldn't think of anything to say to save face without offending Xia Juhua, because Xia Juhua was the captain of Ping'an Village and what she said was true, so he could only remain silent. His wife, however, couldn't stand it anymore, and jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on, pointing her finger at Xia Juhua and saying:

"Don't think you're great because your two sons are workers in the city. If you hadn't been running around every day and flirting with several men, would your sons have been able to work in the city? You don't feel ashamed, and you even have the nerve to talk about it as a good thing. I feel ashamed for you."

"You're talking nonsense." With a slap, Captain Tang's wife was slapped in the face by Liu Zhifu, who drove a tractor to help. He was not satisfied after slapping her, and raised his hand to hit the woman in the face again: "When did my aunt get involved with anyone? She runs around every day to make the people of Ping'an Village live a good life. You are slandering me, I will beat you to death, you stinky bitch with a mouth full of shit."

Xia Juhua finally recovered from her shock. She grabbed Liu Zhifu and put him behind her. She then faced Captain Tang's wife, who was also recovering from being hit. The coldness in her eyes frightened the woman so much that she just raised her paw and didn't dare to move.

Chang Qingshan saw the interaction between Liu Zhifu and the Tang family clearly. He stepped forward to block Xia Juhua and looked at Captain Tang: "Captain Tang, your aunt has gone insane. Why does her mouth stink as if she just ate shit?"

Seeing his mother being beaten by a stranger, Tang Qijin quickly stepped forward to support her. He opened his mouth to ask why the man hit her, but then he saw his brother-in-law appear and he quickly closed his mouth in fear.

He is such a coward who only bullies the weak and fears the strong. Otherwise, what grown man would not hit his mother back when he sees her being beaten, but instead ask why the mother is being beaten?

Captain Tang's face had never looked good, and now it was completely unbearable: "Captain Xia, why did the people in your team just come up and beat people up? No matter what, my wife is much older than him, and young people shouldn't hit her."

Xia Juhua was already being rude, so she was going to be rude to the end: "Don't you know why my nephew hit her?" Pointing at the woman who was covering her face, Xia Juhua said contemptuously: "She burned a lot of incense to say what she said in front of my nephew today. If she said it in front of my son, I wonder if my son would let the three of you leave Ping An Manor."

After saying this, she didn't even look at the Tang family's reaction. She said to Chang Qingshan, "Don't worry about what's going on here. Go into the house, lift your father into the car, cover him with the bed and blankets, and quickly take him to the hospital." She then said to Liu Zhifu, "Turn the tractor around first, take the man there, then go to the commune police station and tell the police that I want to report a case. Someone has slandered me and I want to sue her for defamation."

Liu Zhifu glared at the Tang family and turned to adjust the direction of the tractor. The Tang family was already dumbfounded. Captain Tang pleaded with Xia Juhua in a low voice: "Captain Xia, that woman is just too talkative. You can slap her twice and scold her a few times to vent your anger, but don't..."

Xia Juhua didn't even look at him, and said coldly, "You're a loose-lipped person, that's a light punishment. I've lived an upright life, raising two sons by myself, and no one has ever said a word about me. Now I have grandchildren, and your wife is pointing fingers at me and saying that I'm having affairs with others? Those people your wife said had affairs with me all have names, I want to ask them how they had affairs with me."

Having just been slapped in the face, she hoped that the man would vent her anger, but in the end the man got the blame instead. Captain Tang's wife was so angry that she dared not say a word when she heard that Xia Juhua was going to report the case. Now when she heard that Xia Juhua was going to ask those people who she said had been pulled, she sat down on the ground and couldn't get up.

She really just wanted to make herself feel good and use this matter to shut Xia Juhua up - rural people value reputation more, and it is the most shameful thing for a widow to be accused of having an affair. Most people would wish to die to prove their innocence after hearing this, so how could they have the face to talk back to others?

Xia Juhua was so good that she actually wanted to report the case and question those people. Not to mention that reporting the case would alert the police, even the few people she mentioned casually, the youngest of whom was a commune secretary, would not be able to get away with it if she really did?

The woman became more and more scared the more she thought about it. She looked up at the man with a sullen face and called out softly, "His father." What should she do?

In this woman's impression, her man has always been capable. Everyone in the brigade has to look up to him, and even their whole family walks with their chins held high in the brigade.

Captain Tang didn't expect that he would not listen to my wife's call. He took two steps forward and kicked her in the face of her hopeful gaze. He didn't stop there, but kicked her again and again, making her scream.

Tang Qijin felt sorry for his mother, but was even more afraid of his father. Even when his mother was kicked to the ground, he could only stand by and cry, "Dad, why are you kicking my mother? Stop it, stop it."

Watching the farce of the Tang family, Xia Juhua felt that Accountant Chang was right. He was really sorry to Chang Chunya for finding such a spineless and irresponsible man for his daughter.

In Xia Juhua's heart, she has always disapproved of men beating women, but today when Captain Tang kicked his stupid wife, Xia Juhua did not stop him - wasn't he just playing a trick in front of her so that she could persuade him to stop?

Shouldn't a bad-mouthed person be beaten just because she's a woman?

Xia Juhua coldly watched Captain Tang kicking slower and slower each time, thinking that he was just tired, and had no intention of trying to persuade him - in her two lifetimes, she had always been very careful to keep a distance from men, just in case any gossip was directed at her.

It's not that she is feudal, it's just that her tongue can kill people. She has so many things to do. Does she want people to look at her with tinted glasses every day and say that no matter what she accomplishes, she was only accomplished because she was not clear about the situation?

Is she just not using her brains or not putting in any effort? Does a woman have to rely on men for everything she does?

So Xia Juhua just watched Captain Tang kicking his wife one foot after another. She knew that she couldn't be soft-hearted at this moment, just like she couldn't let go when talking to Secretary Tang: everything has to start first, and if she didn't kill the woman right away, there would be countless slanders against her in the future.

The Chang family had already lifted Accountant Chang into the tractor and covered him with a blanket to keep him warm. In fact, Accountant Chang had already woken up early, but he had no strength at all and couldn't even open his eyes. He had heard everything his mother-in-law said about Xia Juhua, and he wanted to get up and slap her, but he was powerless.

Li Xingfang and a few others also saw Captain Tang kicking someone, and no one tried to dissuade him - Accountant Chang was mad at their family, and this woman had done the most work, but she was beaten by her own man, she deserved it!

Tang Qijin couldn't persuade his own father, so when he saw Chang Chunya walking by, he had the nerve to hold her back and said, "Chunya, please persuade daddy. Mom is so old now. What if daddy beats her so hard that she gets hurt?"

常春芽真想不通，自己咋跟這樣的人過了兩年——真不想讓你娘挨打，上去把你爹抱住就行了，沒看你爹現在就是做樣子嗎，你一抱他還不就着臺階住腳？

結果挺高的大老爺門，光張嘴不幹事，求了這個叫那個，要讓常春芽說，唐隊長最該給兩腳的反而是唐七斤。

她冷冷揮開唐七斤的手：“放手，咱們都要離婚了，少拉拉扯扯的。要不到你娘嘴裏，又成了我纏着你不放。”

劉志福已經搖着了拖拉機，見常家人坐好了，大聲對夏菊花說：“大娘，一會兒我路過大隊的時候，叫幾個人過來把姓唐的看住了，公安不來他們一家子誰也別想跑。”

夏菊花沖他擺手：“好好開你的拖拉機就行。他們一家子住哪我知道，就算是跑了，去唐家莊一樣能找着人。”

拖拉機開走了，常家只留下兩個兒媳婦看家，都站到夏菊花身側，提防的看着已經停住腳的唐隊長，以及人高馬大的唐七斤。

唐七斤還委屈呢，沖着唐隊長抱怨：“爹，你聽春芽的話了沒，她還說要跟我離婚呢。”

唐隊長恨不得自己也跟常會計一樣昏過去。他想不明白自己豪橫了一輩子，兒子咋被養成這樣，不由怨恨的看着躺在地上起不來的媳婦。

一定是這老娘們沒教兒子好，更是因為她把常春芽逼急眼了，才咬死都要離婚。不行，兒子立不起來已經定形了，常春芽看起來卻是個能幹的，還能在平安莊大隊上班掙錢，說啥也不能讓他們兩個離婚。

“夏大隊長，這娘們你愛咋處理咋處理，我肯定沒二話。不過春芽和七斤，小兩口感情好，都是這娘們在裏頭瞎攪和才生了點氣。以後我一定管住這娘們，不讓她插手他們小兩口的事兒。”

還真是能屈能伸呀，就是這話說的真不是時侯。畢竟剛才夏菊花已經明打明要向派出所報案了，此時的唐隊長最應該的不是向夏菊花求情，別追究他媳婦誣蔑的事兒嘛，咋說起春芽和他兒子是不是離婚來了？

跟夏菊花說得着嗎？

夏菊花被氣得冷笑：“唐隊長，你這話說錯了吧？春芽和你兒子是不是離婚，往小了說是他們兩人的事兒，往大了說是你們兩家子的事兒，跟我有啥關系？你不會覺得今天跟我說了，将來他們兩個真離了婚，就可以賴到我頭上，說是我指使的吧？”

“春芽兩個嫂子都在呢，這事哪怕你跟她們說，都比跟我這個外人強。你說是不是，唐隊長？”

唐隊長心裏的算盤再次被夏菊花打破，心裏氣惱的讓他再不顧是不是會得罪她：“咋跟你沒關系，要不是你讓常春芽在平安莊上班，她娘家能容得下她呆這麽長時間？早把她攆回我們家去了，他們小兩口還離啥婚。”

你說得真對。

夏菊花看着一臉理所當然的唐隊長，竟一時不知道咋說好。常春芽的大嫂杜玉蘭不幹了：“唐隊長，你說的這話我就不愛聽了。春芽不管嫁人多長時間，還是姓常。難道我們常家是眼睜睜看着自家人受欺負，不管她死活的人家？”

唐隊長真想點頭，偏常家不管是常春芽的嫁妝也好、每年的年禮也好，都比一般人家出的強不少，可人家嫂子現在還能站出來替她出頭，說明真不介意小姑子在娘家住多長時間，唐隊長的頭就點不下去。

僵持之間，外頭傳來人跑動的聲音，不一會兒好幾個四隊的人到了常會計家門口，探着頭往院裏看到夏菊花，立刻回身說：“大隊長在呢，沒出啥事兒。”

很快十來個人都進了常家院子，自覺的站到夏菊花身邊，把她圍在當中後，虎視眈眈的看着唐家三人。夏菊花認出這些人都是留在四隊幹活的社員，不由問：“你們咋來了？”

“一開始姓唐的來老常家鬧事兒，我們只當是兩親家沒說到一塊，尋思着老常是講道理的人，用不着我們勸也出不了啥事，他讓我們去幹活我們就走了。”

“誰成想這姓唐的能耐不小，能把老常給氣昏過去。等我們聽着信的時候，拖拉機都開走了，也沒幫上忙。聽說家裏就剩下你們三女的，我們就過來看看。”

帶頭進來的男人夏菊花也認識，是四隊長的叔伯兄弟，叫張敬德，四隊長帶四隊人在方便面廠建設收尾，隊裏的活計就由他負責。

看得出他在生産隊也有些威信，說完自己這些人的來意之後，社員們只是跟着點頭，沒人再出聲補充，一雙雙眼睛都警惕的看着唐家三人。

唐隊長至此才明白，平安莊人心齊、對夏菊花十分擁護并不只是傳言，也沒有誇大，是鐵一般的事實，不由面色灰敗的往地下一蹲，不出聲了。

他媳婦與唐七斤更是慫貨，同樣不敢吭聲，眼巴巴一會看看夏菊花、一會兒看看圍着夏菊花和常家兩兒媳婦的社員——他們當然不敢如只有夏菊花三人時一樣，想啥說啥，很怕社員們一生氣再揍人。

十來個大老爺們一人一拳頭，就不是劉志福一耳光那麽簡單了。

可惜他們明白得太晚了，等公社派出所真來了兩公安，要帶他們回派出所調查的時候，三個人才知道從夏菊花嘴裏說出來的話，都将變成現實。

平安莊的社員們也都知道了唐隊長媳婦是咋誣蔑夏菊花的，在唐家莊大隊長來平安莊找夏菊花的時候，求情的話還沒出口，就被平安莊的社員攔住了，一句話也不讓他跟夏菊花說。

理由都是現成的：你唐家莊大隊長也是男的，要是夏菊花跟你說了話，唐隊長媳婦再說夏菊花跟你也有拉扯，夏菊花不是有嘴也說不清嗎。

唐家莊大隊長真是有苦說不出。這兩天他過得是焦頭爛額：唐隊長的老爹老娘帶着一大家子要給他下跪，說啥他跟唐隊長共事多年，不能見死不救。公社卻命令他配合調查唐隊長這些年當民兵隊長，幹沒幹過啥違法亂紀的事筆，有沒有利用職權侵占過集體與社員的利益。

大隊長有心想對所有人說，唐隊長的行事，關他啥事。可惜只能想想，對哪頭都不能說。思來想去，覺得還得從夏菊花入手，畢竟唐家三口被派出所帶走，最根本的原因是誣蔑了夏菊花。

結果連句話都來不及跟夏菊花說，就讓平安莊社員堵得啞口無言，唐家莊大隊長不是不氣。不過他氣的不是平安莊社員或是夏菊花一點面子不給他留，而是唐隊長媳婦太口無遮攔：

夏菊花多大歲數了？四十好幾的人了！哪怕這兩年不再下地風吹日曬，可那臉底子就是一般人，身材更是連腰都找不着。唐隊長媳婦以為領導都瞎眼了嗎，要跟這樣的夏菊花有拉扯？

這話他也就敢在心裏想想，一句都不敢往出說，同樣是怕氣憤的平安莊社員給他兩下子。不過這一趟也不算白跑，至少知道夏菊花的決心，唐家莊大隊長知道自己該咋辦了。

回到大隊後，他無比配合公社調查此事的辦事員與派出所公安，很快就得到了唐隊長當民兵隊長期間，有吃拿卡要的行為的證據，他媳婦與唐七斤，更是幹着最輕省的活記着全生産隊最高的工分。

這下子唐家莊大隊的人不幹了，覺得唐隊長辜負了全大隊人的信任，連帶着連別的大隊幹部也不相信起來，要求公社辦事員把別的大隊幹部也查一查。

別的大隊幹部就經得住查嗎？顯然不可能，多吃多占的事兒每個人身上多少都有點，最清白的反而是大隊長。可惜大隊長完全高興不起來，哪怕全大隊的人對他的信任提高了一個臺階，還是在全體社員大會上進行了檢讨。

誰讓他是大隊最高領導，手下人犯了錯，說是他領導不力一點也不委屈。

至此唐隊長的大隊民兵隊長肯定是做不成了，還要把這些年多吃多占的吐出來。因此他與唐七斤被放回了家，卻覺得還不如被關在派出所的日子好過——全大隊尤其是他所在生産隊的社員，天天有人隔着院牆往家裏扔石頭，告到別的大隊幹部那裏還沒有一個人為他做主，這日子了還咋過？

要命的是他媳婦還被關在派出所，聽那意思誣蔑夏菊花的罪名要成立的話，還得坐牢呢。

這年頭家裏哪敢出個坐牢的？

前唐隊長不得不在一個月高風黑的夜晚，帶着唐七斤再次出現在常家——不管咋說兩家都是兒女親家，自己家出了個犯罪分子的話，常家臉上也光彩不了，常會計難道不應該找夏菊花說說情，別追究他媳婦的罪名了？

Accountant Chang fainted that day due to anger, and was observed in the hospital for two days before returning home to recuperate. After returning home, the whole family discussed and discussed, and the conclusion they reached was that Chang Chunya really couldn't live with Tang Qijin anymore, otherwise, with such a troublesome mother-in-law who didn't know how to love her husband, she would have to soak in coptis water for the rest of her life.

The Chang family expected the Tang family and their son to come, but it was also beyond their expectations. The Chang family could not have a good attitude towards them, and after hearing their intentions, the whole room was filled with sneers.