In the afternoon, a loudspeaker on a utility pole in the village broadcast an announcement:
“Cai Xia, Aunt Pang, and Wu Ying, come to the village committee to take your children away. You’re always talking nonsense all day long. You’ve ruined all the good fortune of your children.”
The three were working in the fields when they heard the noise and rushed to the village committee. Wu Ying, unaware of the situation, looked at Wen Yang with regret and said:
"Son, why did you come back? You're going to lose a lot of money this day."
Wen Yang tossed aside the washbasin and toiletries wrapped in the net bag and said irritably:
"It's all your fault. You've been doing nothing but causing trouble in the village all day. Last night, Brother Zhaoye called the factory and got fired today. My position was even taken by someone else."
Wen Damei's eyes were brimming with tears as she angrily said:
"Mom, look what you've done! The only reason Dongzi and I got his mother's approval is because I have this high-paying, good job."
Now I don't know what to do. If he doesn't want me, where can I find such a good family?
Aunt Pang was seething with resentment. She had just been beaten, and now her daughter had lost her job, unable to bring money home every month, and her promising marriage might even be ruined.
She said with a worried look, "Daughter, don't be afraid, Mom will go find Zhaoye right away and will definitely arrange for you to go back."
Wen Xiaojie couldn't be happier than to stay home and lie around all day, so he stood to the side without saying a word.
But Cai Xia knew that her family was poor and her son was getting older. If he didn't have a job, it would definitely be difficult for him to find a partner in the future.
She grabbed Wen Xiaojie and hurriedly followed the others to the field to find Wen Zhaoye.
Aunt Pang, catching her breath, spoke first in a flustered manner:
"Zhaoye, look at my Damei, she's getting married soon! If she loses her job, the wedding will definitely fall through."
"Can you please stop arguing with your aunt? She's never said a bad word about you, and she's even helped you teach Xu Cuifen a lesson."
"And then there's my Xiao Jie, he's a cousin from the same village, you certainly don't want to see him unable to find a partner in the future, right?"
"My Yangzi is the same. He just met a girl last year, and they were about to get married. What if something goes wrong at this crucial moment?"
The busy people around them couldn't help but strain their ears to listen. The three of them kept complaining about their various hardships, not giving Wen Zhaoye a chance to speak at all. Finally, they all gave a unified guarantee:
"Zhaoye, you arrange for them to go back, and we won't say anything more. We promise to teach others a lesson if we see them gossiping about it, how about that?"
Wen Zhaoye continued harvesting wheat, listening to their words that would directly cause hardship for their children's future lives.
He was extremely disgusted by their moral blackmailing behavior, threw the sickle on the ground, his eyes flashing with coldness, and said in a harsh tone:
"I warned you all to watch your mouths, because you've caused this situation. If I take you all back, won't you be able to bully me and my family at will?"
Aunt Pang sensed the unquestionable tone in his voice and, fearing that Da Mei's marriage would be ruined by her, pleaded earnestly:
"Zhaoye, I'm begging you, if you don't agree, I'll go and beg Jiaojiao, okay? If she forgives me, can Damei go back to work?"
The other two echoed this sentiment, and Wen Zhaoye also felt it wasn't entirely out of the question.
After all, Wen Jiaojiao has always been the one taking the blame, so it's good that the few of them went there to let her vent her anger.
Thinking of this, he nodded and said, "She has a foot injury. If she's asleep, don't bother her. If she agrees, I have no other opinion."
Aunt Pang disregarded her concern about losing face by going again after being beaten by Xu Cuifen.
He walked into the village without stopping, and when he saw Xu Cuifen, he greeted her very warmly:
"Cuifen, is Jiaojiao asleep? If not, we need to talk to her about something."
Xu Cuifen rolled her eyes at the three of them, sensing something fishy was going on and they were trying to bully her daughter. She said in a harsh voice:
"What are you doing here? Haven't you had enough of being beaten yet?"
Cai Xia considered her relationship with the most harmonious among the three, and she swallowed her pride, saying in annoyance:
"No, we've come to ask Jiaojiao for help."
Wen Jiaojiao was flipping through the newspaper when she heard a noise outside and called out:
"Mom, who's here?"
Xu Cuifen, in front of the three of them, showed no mercy and said:
"Three jinxes who spend all day swaggering around the village."
The three of them looked embarrassed, but they didn't have time to dwell on it and hurried to Wen Jiaojiao's side.
Aunt Pang never imagined that one day she would be asking a junior she had always looked down upon for help. She nervously rubbed her hands together and said:
"Jiaojiao, I want to apologize to you first. What happened before was all my fault for looking down on people. Can you please not take it to heart?"
"We're just a bunch of illiterate women. We might have a sharp tongue, but we're really not bad at heart."
"Exactly, if you're unhappy, you can hit us or yell at us."
"And we will never say another bad word about you in the future, so please calm down."
The three apologized one after another. Although Wen Jiaojiao didn't understand why, she never put herself in their shoes and faced their insults and slander.
I've always maintained an indifferent attitude, remaining an outsider, and naturally, I haven't taken anyone's words to heart.
One can only imagine that if other girls were constantly plagued by gossip and rumors, most would likely become depressed and die young.
With a stern face, she said in a harsh voice, "Every word someone says is like a thorn stuck in your skin."
You think you can just brush this thorn away with a perfunctory "sorry"? It won't be that easy.
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