Hearing Yang Haoran's complaints, Yang's mother, though loving her son dearly, also longed to have a grandson, and couldn't help but advise, "Son, why don't you go to the town hospital for a check-up..."
"After all, Xiang Min has been to the hospital for check-ups several times, and even Dr. Ye said so. Who knows, there might really be such a 'what if'?"
"Mom, are you getting senile? You'd rather believe outsiders than your son? Look at your son, does he seem like someone with problems?"
“You can go if you want, I’m not going. If other people find out, I’ll be so embarrassed! Even if I’m not sick, people will say I am! Because of my second sister’s situation, our family is being talked about in the village, we can’t hold our heads up anymore…”
As Yang Haoran was talking, Xiang Min happened to return from outside.
Upon seeing Xiang Min, Yang Haoran was furious: "Where did you run off to? Why did you look at me like that when Ye Nian'an asked me to get checked out?"
"Do you also suspect there's something wrong with your man? Huh? Do you even know how to be a wife?!"
If it were before, Xiang Min would have been afraid that it was her fault for getting angry so inexplicably, and wouldn't have dared to argue back.
After all, everyone around her believed that if a woman couldn't have children, it was because her womb was unproductive.
For a long time, Xiang Min believed this.
But after going to the hospital several times and undergoing so many tests, nothing was found.
Xiang Min's perception is flawed. Perhaps her inability to have children is not her problem, but Yang Haoran's.
But everyone around her only told Xiang Min to take folk remedies and undergo examinations, and even if it made her feel unwell, they still insisted on continuing.
Now, with Ye Nian'an's affirmation, Xiang Min finally dared to refute Yang Haoran on the issue of "the child" for the first time: "The doctor said I have no problem! Maybe it's you who has the problem!"
Yang Haoran was completely taken aback when Xiang Min said those words, and was momentarily stunned: "Ah, no... Xiang Min, you've gone too far!"
“Yang Haoran, I’m warning you, I’m not afraid of you. I used to genuinely believe it was my problem. I wanted a child, and I was anxious because I couldn’t get pregnant. I went to the hospital for tests and tried folk remedies. I had no complaints about that.”
"But I don't think so now. You go to the hospital for a checkup. If neither of us is sick, then we should try harder! If your Yang family still wants to carry on the family line, then you should listen to the doctor's advice!"
"You...you..."
Although Yang Haoran is not afraid of his wife, he is not the kind of person who is unreasonable in front of her.
Especially Xiang Min, if she feels guilty, she might be a bit weaker in front of Yang Haoran, but if she is open-minded and has no guilt, she won't care about anything else! She won't listen to anyone!
"Alright, Haoran, let's do as Dr. Ye says and go to the town hospital for a checkup. Do you still want the child?"
In the end, it was Yang's father who made the final decision to put an end to the matter.
"Dad, aren't you making me lose face?"
Yang Haoran wanted to say something more.
"Yang Haoran, if your tests show there's really nothing wrong, I'll do whatever you say! That will prove neither of us is wrong! Is that alright?"
"..."
A week has passed in the blink of an eye.
The punishment for Yang Qiaoqiao has been announced.
The sun was blazing, making the rammed earth in the commune square gleam with an oily sheen.
Shi Minghui stood on the platform, clutching his sweat-soaked speech manuscript in his hand, while a banner behind him that read "Grasp Revolution and Promote Production" drooped in the heat.
"At this crucial period of socialist construction, you are indulging in individualism! You wrote a letter of denunciation to slander our village's barefoot doctor. This is undermining socialism! It is a blatant trampling on revolutionary discipline!"
Yang Qiaoqiao huddled by the edge of the stage, her blue cloth shirt clinging to her back with sweat, her two braids hanging limply in front of her chest.
The sun was so bright that she saw stars, and her ears were ringing with the slogans "Down with individualism!" and "Accept re-education from the poor and lower-middle peasants!"
Tiny specks of saliva splashed onto her burning cheeks, more scorching than the midday sun.
Ye Nian'an just watched, her heart completely unmoved.
Others might have thought she was just there to watch the show, and that was indeed the case.
She wanted to see the fate of her enemies, those who framed her for the sake of Xiao Li!
Yang Qiaoqiao, who did such a thing, deserves to be punished!
"This bourgeois ideology must be thoroughly criticized!"
Shi Minghui slammed his hand on his speech, making a deafening thud: "All educated youth must take this as a warning and never let sugar-coated bullets corrupt their revolutionary will!"
A burst of unified applause erupted from the crowd, making Yang Qiaoqiao's knees go weak.
She could vaguely hear her dignity shattering like glass being trampled underfoot, a clear and crisp sound!
When the whistle signaling the end of the meeting pierced the sky, she could no longer hold on and stumbled out of the crowd.
Wild wormwood by the roadside hooked onto her trouser leg, like countless pointing fingers, and salty tears mixed with sweat flowed into her mouth.
Now, she has only one thought in her mind—to escape home as quickly as possible, close the door, and not look at other people's eyes!
At least you don't have to stand under the sun and let people crush your last bit of self-respect into dust.
Zhang Aihua couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, I didn't follow Yang Qiaoqiao and continue to court disaster.
Otherwise, it wouldn't just be one person being criticized in front of so many people today.
I'm afraid Yang Qiaoqiao will never be able to hold her head up high in the brigade again.
Bai Tieshu pinched Zhang Aihua's waist: "See that? I told you to stop messing around with your second sister-in-law! Women always cause trouble!"
In the past, if Bai Tieshu had dared to do this, Zhang Aihua would have made a huge uproar.
This time, she deeply felt that Bai Tieshu was right, and could only nod: "Tieshu, I understand, I won't gossip with my second sister-in-law anymore."
Bai Chengshi sighed helplessly and said to Bai Tianyou, "You should go back and check on your wife."
Bai Tianyou pouted: "I'm not going back. She deserved it!"
Ever since Ye Nian'an caught her out and beat her up, ruining her reputation, Yang Qiaoqiao couldn't even stay at her parents' home anymore. Fearing that Bai Tianyou was planning to divorce her, she slunk back to her own home.
These days he stays indoors and doesn't dare to oppose Bai Tianyou, completely losing his former arrogance and working hard without complaint.
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