Zhou Cuiling rummaged through the box and found a light blue short-sleeved shirt with small floral patterns and a pair of gray-blue straight pants, and gave them to Meng Tao: "I made this outfit last summer and only wore it twice. Later, I gained weight and couldn't wear it anymore. You can wear it."

It was the 1970s, and there was a shortage of materials. Cloth coupons were distributed per capita according to plans, and the number was not large, especially in rural areas. If a family wanted to make a new set of clothes, they had to save up cloth coupons for a year. Even if Zhou Cuiling's family was relatively well-off and could exchange money for cloth coupons privately, Meng Tao couldn't take it for granted, but she didn't want to reject her enthusiasm, so she took it and said, "I'll return it to you when I have money."

Zhou Cuiling smiled, "No need to return it. This is something I can no longer wear. I have younger brothers and no sisters. My mother is stronger than me and she can't wear it either. This is the most suitable for you. Don't worry about it. I have a salary now and my parents let me save it. I have money and tickets, so I like to make new clothes. It's no problem for me to make two or three sets of clothes a year."

When Meng Tao heard her say that she had no sisters, she suddenly thought of Zhou Cuilian and thought it would be better to give some warnings as soon as possible, so she said, "Zhou Cuilian is your cousin. I saw her going to the Tian family with Tian Yalan today. The two of them got together and said a lot of bad things about you. Later, I heard Tian Yalan wanted to keep Zhou Cuilian for dinner."

Zhou Cuiling's face darkened when she heard Zhou Cuilian's words: "How can Zhou Cuilian stop saying bad things about me? I already knew that she and Tian Yalan were having an affair and that something bad must be wrong. She and I share the same great grandfather, but she is so ungrateful and has helped others to scheme against me time and again. I don't recognize such a sister!"

Meng Tao said: "I heard everything. They are indeed plotting against you. Tian Yalan hated you for taking Zhang Guoqing away from her, so she asked Zhou Cuilian to monitor you and secretly went to the brigade headquarters to intercept the letter Zhang Guoqing wrote to you."

Zhou Cuiling laughed angrily: "I robbed Zhang Guoqing? What a joke! Guoqing and I were childhood sweethearts. We knew each other when we were three or four years old. Zhang Guoqing always came to my house to give gifts during festivals. He would come to our village so many times every year. How could Zhou Cuilian and Tian Yalan not know?"

"Tian Yalan said she likes Zhang Guoqing, and she swore that she would never let you marry Zhang Guoqing in this life. They want to harm you together. Anyway, they want you to never get married. And... you must remember that the Linshui River in front of our village, when it floods every summer, you absolutely cannot go near that river, it will cost you your life!"

Under the lights, Zhou Cuiling's face turned red with anger: "Did they say that?"

Meng Tao nodded readily. Since she couldn't find an excuse, she just pushed it to the two of them. "You can say I'm superstitious. Sometimes the good things don't work but the bad things do. You have to be careful of them. In the next three years, be careful when crossing the river. The wooden bridge is not very solid. It's best not to cross the river when it floods in summer. If you must cross, you have to find a strong person to take you there."

Zhou Cuiling: “…”

She was almost fainted with anger. How could there be so many despicable and shameless people? The next morning, Zhou Cuiling went to work at the grain station, and Meng Tao was supposed to go back to Tian's house by herself.

Although nothing would happen in broad daylight, Meng Tao still had to be careful. That was a den of snakes and scorpions. What's more, she was the one who orchestrated what happened at the Tian family last night. Others might not know, but Tian Shuifeng and Tian Yalan must have figured it out long ago and were eager to skin her alive.

Zhou Shi'an was going to the brigade headquarters and then to the Tian family. Since Meng Tao had decided not to live in the Tian family, he had to make an explanation.

Meng Tao followed the original owner's memory and went back to the Meng family yard for a walk.

Linshui Village is large and the villagers' houses are relatively scattered. The Tian family is in the center of the village and the Meng family is at the east end. The distance between them is not close and it takes more than ten minutes to walk.

Meng Tao found it quickly. From the outside, the small courtyard built by Grandpa Meng himself was not big, but it was sturdy. The lower half of the wall, which was about 1.5 meters high, was made of stone, and the upper half was made of large earth bricks made of straw and mud.

There was no one in the yard, but the doors of all the rooms were locked. The educated youth went there to work and earn work points, but it was unclear where Tian Xianglan's family was.

There is a persimmon tree in the yard. The three main houses and a row of four low side rooms are all made of bricks and tiles. Now the yard is divided into two halves by a bamboo fence. The main house is for the educated youth to live in, and the side rooms are occupied by Tian Xianglan's family. The vegetable garden in the backyard is also divided into two halves, with each type having its own side.

It was obvious that the place where the educated youth lived was more tidy, even the toilets had been rebuilt.

The Tian family yard was not silent as one would have imagined, but rather lively with the sound of chickens crowing, dogs barking, pigs howling, and children crying sharply. It seemed that Tian Baoshan's two daughters were hungry and were crying because they had neither food nor water.

Meng Tao walked to the door and heard Zhou Shi'an's voice and the loud voice of the current team leader Bao Shunfeng, so she quickened her pace.

When we entered the yard, we saw Zhou Shi'an and the team leader, as well as the women's director, and three other young men rummaging through something in the pile of firewood that had been mostly burned last night. They seemed to be militiamen from the team.

Meng Tao felt that the cloth ball she threw had been soaked in kerosene and should have burned cleanly, otherwise it would be terrible if they found it.

The yard was relatively clean, and even the main room did not look too messy. Someone had been asked to clean it up last night. All the cooked food that could be found in the kitchen stove and other places was collected and buried deep. After all, there were "poisonous" things in it, and one must not be careless.

Tian Agui and Tian Xianglan were sent to the commune clinic overnight. No other members of the Tian family were seen at this time. The two girls were sitting on a wooden bench crying loudly. A man was squatting next to them, with half of his head and face wrapped in a black cloth. He was holding a bowl of rice porridge in his trembling hands and trying to feed them with a small spoon, but the children refused to eat.

It took Meng Tao two glances before she realized that the woman who wrapped herself up like a witch was Wang Shuifeng.

As if sensing something, Wang Shuifeng turned her head. The gloomy eyes under the cloth immediately doubled in size, emitting endless hatred. She suddenly straightened up, grabbed a piece of firewood from the ground and threw it at Meng Tao, gritting her teeth and cursing: "I will kill you! You deserve to be cut into pieces..."

Team leader Bao Shunfeng pulled Meng Tao away and the firewood fell into the air.

Bao Shunfeng shouted: "Wang Shuifeng! We caught you today. You really abused Taohua. There are so many of us here, and you dare to do this. I don't know what kind of people you would beat to death in the past!"

Wang Shuifeng was panting heavily, with a cloth covering half of her face. She lowered her head deliberately so that her expression could not be seen clearly. After a while, she said, "I didn't abuse anyone."

"Then what about this firewood? You saw it with your own eyes and you are still trying to make excuses."

"I was mad at her. Such a big thing happened at home, but she didn't come home at night. I don't know what kind of strange man she went out with."

Bao Shunfeng: “…”

I was so angry that I couldn't speak for a moment: It is obviously you, the Tian family, who are causing trouble, but you are trying to blame others.

The director of women's affairs came over and said, "Wang Shuifeng, stop talking nonsense. Taohua went to a literacy class last night. Something happened at your house, so she came back. I didn't let her in. You know why. The situation at your house was unsafe last night, so I arranged for Taohua to live with Zhou Cuiling."

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(End of this chapter)