After the three of them went up the hill, they took out their lunch boxes and ate the rice balls, then continued walking forward. When they reached the hillside where stinking peony and several other herbs such as melons grew, they thought their backpacks were full, so they didn't start and went straight back.
When passing by the earthen kiln, I saw a few people cleaning the kiln entrance. It seemed that someone was going to burn the kiln and build a brick and tile house.
It was already past one o'clock when the three sisters-in-law got home. They saw Zhou Xiaoxi and Xiao Jiuer sleeping side by side on a mat, while Zhou's mother and Zhou Yumei were talking in a low voice beside them.
Seeing the three people coming back, Yang Chunyan hurried forward to help take the baskets. She smiled and said, "Everything is washed clean. Let's carry it upstairs to dry it."
Zhou Yumei saw that the three people's backpacks were full and asked, "How come you have dug so many herbs in half a day?"
"There are a lot of medicinal herbs on both sides of the ravine, and we also picked some bamboo fungi." Yang Chunyan walked upstairs with a smile.
"Let's go get a dustpan." Zhou's mother and Zhou Yumei hurriedly took the dustpan and followed.
The golden thread vine drying on the rooftop was already half dry. The three of them brought the winnowing basket to the side, cleaned out the golden thread vine from the basket, put it in the winnowing basket brought by Zhou's mother, and spread it out to dry.
Then the saxifrage, wupifeng, and stone olives were sorted and dried upstairs, and the tubers of octagonal lotus were dried separately.'
They were all efficient at their work and soon finished drying the clothes, then went downstairs to fetch water for washing.
After Yang Chunyan finished washing, she asked Zhou Yumei, who was doing needlework, "Has the silk banner been sent to the joint defense team?"
Zhou Yumei nodded. "We sent it over. We also bought some firecrackers and set them off. They said they would commend Fang Dongming."
Yang Chunyan: "Did Fang Dongming say what kind of responsibility He Jianjun and his brother-in-law should bear for what they did?"
"He said that He Jianjun and his brother-in-law had violated the law by releasing snakes into residents' houses. They also admitted that they were the ones who threw feces water at my door. He Jianjun said he wanted to force me to get back together with him. I never dreamed that the bastard would be such a shameless person."
Zhou Yumei was so angry that her face turned red. "When we went back, Sister Hai Li said that after I left, she carried the ice cream box and went out to sell ice cream in the village. When she came back from work, she heard from Mrs. Li that the He family had a quarrel at the door for two hours yesterday afternoon.
The couple begged for mercy and knelt at the door of the shop, asking me to spare them or they would kneel to death at the door of my house. When they were told we were not there, they still did not believe it and even wanted to take a ladder and climb over the wall to have a look.
Zhao Huifang advised: "Don't be angry, now everyone in your place knows what kind of people they are, and they will never dare to do bad things again."
"You still don't dare to do anything bad?" Zhou's mother said angrily, "Today, thanks to my eldest brother and Yumei going together, we ran into the old couple of the He family and their fourth child as soon as we got to the corner of the street..."
It turned out that as soon as they reached the street corner, they were blocked by three members of the He family. He Laosi pulled Zhou Yumei to plead, "Yumei, the police station said they didn't cause any adverse consequences. Please, for the sake of our relationship as sister-in-law, go to the police station and sign a letter of apology."
Zhou Yumei retorted, "Why don't you take into account our past friendship and ask them not to come to my house to throw manure and snakes?"
He Laosi: "Yumei, you have to understand this. Even if you and we are not a family anymore, Jianjun is still Xiaoxi's husband. If my Jianjun goes to jail, Xiaoxi's reputation will not be good when she grows up, and no good family will want her when she is looking for a husband..."
Mother Zhou stepped forward and pulled He Laosi away, "Let's get it clear, my Xiaoxi's surname is Zhou, and it has nothing to do with your surname He, so get as far away from me as possible.
What a heartless person! When he dumped the snake into the yard, why didn't he think about Xiaoxi, who is so young, and what if she gets bit by the snake?"
He Laosi knelt down in front of Zhou Yumei when he saw this. "Yumei, please, go to the police station and sign a letter of apology, so that your brother-in-law and Jianjun don't have to stay in jail."
"Bah!" Zhou's mother spat at her. "My Zhou family has nothing to do with you. How can you call me a brother-in-law?"
"Dream on!" Zhou Yumei also looked at her coldly, "You all have evil hearts. In the middle of the night, you carried two bags of old shuttlecock and climbed over the wall to dump them into my yard..."
"It didn't fall in!" Seeing that Zhou Yumei had no intention of negotiating, Mrs. He rushed forward and pointed at her and shouted, "Look, everyone, there is still such a black-hearted and rotten-lung bitch in the world. She insisted on divorcing my Jianjun and now wants to make my Jianjun stay in jail..."
After hearing this, Zhou's mother was so angry that she grabbed her hair and slapped her in the face, "Did my Yumei harm your Jianjun? You threw manure water at her door and carried two sacks of old sod to dump it in her yard. She was the one who asked you to go..."
Mother He was slapped in the face by her and saw stars. She sat on the ground, slapping her legs and crying, "This is so unfair. The daughter-in-law hit the mother-in-law..."
He Laosi also cried, "Zhou Yumei, you ran away with the child after giving birth. My brother asked you to remarry and take good care of the child for the sake of the child, but you didn't agree. He really had no choice but to..."
Zhou Yumei was so angry that she was shaking all over. "Even if I die, I will never live under the same roof with those beasts in your family again."
Zhou Huairong was so angry that his face turned blue. He stepped forward and said, "My sister gave birth to Xiaoxi last year, and you thought she was just a girl..."
Among the crowd there were people from the He family village, and everyone started whispering to each other.
"Brother, don't bother with this kind of people, let's go!" Zhou Yumei held Zhou Huairong, "Let them say whatever they want, every household knows where Xueqian Road is, we can just ask anyone and find out."
"You dumped a snake into the yard in the middle of the night. There is no one as vicious as you in the whole Baima Town." Zhou's mother spat at the He family's mother and daughter, and the three of them left.
After arriving in the town, Zhou Huairong went to talk about leasing the barren mountain. When Zhou Yumei and her daughter went to the tailor shop to make banners, he came and told them that the town agreed to go and see the barren mountain in a few days, and that the town had regulations on the contract fee and contract period.
The mother and her two sons went to the joint defense team next to the police station to present a banner, and they met the three members of the He family who were coming out of the police station.
Mother He looked at Fang Dongming, rushed forward and pointed at the two of them, "You two bastards, you teamed up to harm my Jianjun." Then she said to Father He, "This man often eats at Zhou Yumei's place, the two of them must have hooked up a long time ago, that's why..."
"Old comrade!" Fang Dongming shouted angrily, "Watch your words. It's against the law to slander someone."
Mrs. He felt that she had uncovered the truth, and said confidently, "How dare you say that you didn't go to Zhou Yumei's house to eat? I saw you there yesterday with my own eyes. Otherwise, how could you catch my Jianjun and son-in-law in the alley in the middle of the night?"
Seeing that she was throwing dirty water on herself and Fang Dongming like this, Zhou Yumei was so angry that her face turned pale. She stepped forward and grabbed He Pozi, "Let's go to the police station and explain clearly. Which eye of yours saw me and Fang Dongming hooking up?"
"You old bitch who's always spewing shit, if you don't explain things to me today, I'm going to tear your mouth apart." Zhou's mother also stepped forward, grabbed her and dragged her towards the police station.
Hearing the noise, people from the police station came out and called in Zhou Yumei and her two companions, the He family's three members, Fang Dongming, and another member of the joint defense team.
After finding out the cause of the incident, they produced the records of Zhou Yumei reporting the case to the police station and the joint defense team, and even the records of Fang Dongming's attendance that night.
The police station warned Mrs. He that if she dared to slander others again, she would be arrested and detained. If Zhou Yumei and Fang Dongming sued her, she would also go to jail.
Only then did Mrs. He become scared and was willing to apologize to the two of them. She also asked Zhou Yumei to sign a letter of apology. If she didn't sign, He Jianjun and his brother-in-law would have to stay in detention for at least a year.
Zhou Yumei flatly refused and took Zhou's mother and Zhou Huairong home.
…
After listening to this, Yang Chunyan asked, "What did the police station say about signing the letter of apology?"
Zhou Yumei said angrily, "They said that He Jianjun and his partner were extremely bad, but the good thing was that no accident occurred. Their implicit meaning was that I should give him a chance to start a new life. Give him a warning and education, let them apologize and pay some money, and then release him after detaining him for ten days or half a month!
I asked Fang Dongming that if I didn't sign the letter of apology, He Jianjun and his brother-in-law would have to follow the procedures and would have to stay in prison for at least a year. If I signed the letter of apology, they would have to compensate me for my losses and apologize.
"We will never forgive that beastly family." Zhou's mother gnashed her teeth and said, "Didn't you hear Mrs. He at the police station, saying that Yumei and Fang Dongming had been having an affair for a long time, and that's why she divorced He Jianjun from his family. She also said that our family is so poor, where did we get the money to buy the yard and do business? It was clearly Fang Dongming who gave us the money."
Zhao Huifang hurriedly grabbed her and said, "Mom, don't be angry. We are determined not to sign. They can't do anything to us."
Zhao Huifang also said: "Yes, Mom, if we don't sign, they won't dare to force us to sign."
Yang Chunyan looked at them and said, "I think the He family will not let this go. They will definitely talk to the village's brigade secretary or someone who is close to Sister Yumei about the letter of understanding."
Zhou Yumei nodded and said, "Chunyan's worry is not unreasonable. Those people in the upper echelons are always like that. As long as nothing goes wrong, they will try to smooth things over and try to keep things peaceful.
I don't care whether He Jianjun lives or dies. I am just worried that he and Zhou Xiaoxi are father and daughter after all. If he goes to jail, will it affect Xiaoxi's future if she has an old man in jail? I am worried that when Zhou Xiaoxi grows up, her classmates will scold her as the daughter of a prisoner.
Yang Chunyan and the others were stunned after hearing this. They knew in their hearts that Zhou Yumei's worry was not unreasonable, because there was such a person in the village. After Xiong Laoer was sentenced to prison, his children pointed at him and called him the son and daughter of a labor camp prisoner or a robber!
The more Zhou's mother thought about it, the more worried she became. "What should we do? Should we just let it go? Then they would have thrown so much manure on us for nothing, and scared us half to death for nothing."
Zhou Yumei held her back and comforted her, "Mom, don't worry too much. The ones who are worried now are the He family. We just need to wait for the people over there to come and see how they are willing to compensate for the losses!"
Zhou's mother nodded and said, "You are right. It doesn't make sense that people who have done bad things don't worry, but we are worried instead." (End of this chapter)
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