Chapter 3: Gua Gua Gua came through on the seventh day after birth.
Widow Zhang was questioned by her and stared at by so many pairs of eyes. Her eyes flashed, but she pursed her lips and refused to explain.
Someone immediately started complaining: "We're still eating vegetable leaf dumplings. It was only during the last few days of the double harvest that the team slaughtered a pig, and each of us only got a few pieces of meat. Where did she get all that food and meat?"
"Haha, I thought this widow was truly innocent. I was just speaking up for her. Turns out, repairing the roof beams was just a pretext to cover up a scandal!"
"This Yuan Dashan is such a piece of shit! He didn't give this delicious bacon to his wife and children, but gave it to his mistress!"
Yuan Dashan's face turned pale, and he slammed his big hand against the adobe wall. "Enough! What are you talking about?! This isn't a gift from me!"
Seeing that everyone was frightened by his action, he looked at Li Xianggui: "Don't you know how much food and meat we have at home? If I could take some out, wouldn't you notice? This is theirs, why are you making trouble here?"
Li Xianggui had just been overwhelmed by the rice and meat, but when she heard this, she immediately realized that it was true.
After several disturbances in the Yuan family, they are now dividing grain but not the family. The grain for her and Yuan Dashan's family is in her hands. If so much is missing, how could she not know?
But since she had discovered Widow Zhang's mistake, she was unwilling to compromise easily. So she said, "Humph, who says she can only steal you? This isn't mine, it's someone else's. It can't be hers anyway. Who knows how many men in our entire brigade have been involved with her?"
As soon as these words were spoken, it was like water dropped into hot oil, and the pot exploded instantly.
You know, Widow Zhang is a beautiful person.
As everyone knows, in this kind of rural area, beautiful widows are always involved in romantic scandals all year round, and many wives in the team are secretly wary of Widow Zhang.
Now, what was originally just a matter for Yuan Dashan’s family has become a matter for the entire brigade after Li Xianggui said this!
Immediately, many women began to recall whether there was something wrong with their own grain and rice, but some of them were still headed by their parents-in-law, and they had no idea what was going on.
Even worse, some people immediately pulled their husbands by the ears and took them to a corner outside to interrogate them: "Tell me, are you having an affair with Widow Zhang? Did you give her your food?"
Seeing that Widow Zhang didn't say anything, Li Xianggui's face became more and more proud.
Her goal now was no longer just to cause trouble for Widow Zhang, but to turn Widow Zhang's family upside down and let everyone in the production team know that Widow Zhang was a fickle slut!
Little Tiedan sensed the tense atmosphere among the adults, and he didn't dare to eat peanuts anymore. He stood up and kept getting closer to his mother.
The little person came to Widow Zhang from the gap between thighs, tugged at the corner of her clothes, and timidly called out, "Mom, I'm scared."
Widow Zhang couldn't bear so many questioning looks. Seeing her son's face full of fear, she finally said with tears in her eyes, "Don't guess anymore. Isn't it okay for me to say it?"
Her numb face showed a trace of sadness, and her voice choked up several times. "This food and meat were all carried over by my eldest brother from my mother's family at night five or six days ago. My mother's family is having a hard time, and they were afraid that my mother and I would starve to death, so they sent it over without telling my eldest sister-in-law."
When she said this, some people immediately understood.
A married daughter has to get food from her parents' home. It doesn't matter if she is better off, but Widow Zhang's family is also very poor. If Widow Zhang takes more, they will have less to eat. If her sister-in-law finds out, I'm afraid she will make a big fuss at home.
Once this matter is spoken out, it will definitely spread. Who wouldn't choose to keep it secret first?
Not to mention Widow Zhang, even among us, if someone's family got something to eat, they would close the door tightly, hide it again and again, and not say a word even if someone asked about it. How could they let others know?
But some people didn't believe it: "You said it was sent by your brother from your mother's side, so it was sent by your brother from your mother's side? Who can't come up with more than ten excuses like this?"
"That's right, what's called 'brother from my mother's family'? Maybe he's my lover's brother!"
Widow Zhang sneered and looked directly at the man: "I've already told the truth, how else do you want me to prove it? Why don't you go to my parents' house and ask?"
Anyway, the matter has been brought out, so whether her sister-in-law makes a fuss or not is no longer something she worries about.
The person who was trying to plead for her brother was choked by the retort and put on a sour face: "Oh, who knows if you are really telling the truth? Besides, this matter has nothing to do with my family. Why should I ask? This is Yuan Dashan's fault. If anyone should ask, it should be Li Xianggui!"
Li Xianggui was stung by this person's words, and her heart was once again filled with anger. She snorted and said, "Let her go. I know where her parents' home is anyway. I want to ask the Zhang family how they raised their daughter!"
"That's fine, that's fine. Our production team can just walk over there. It won't take long!" someone urged, "Go, go!"
Some speculated, "Although Xiang Jin's wife said her brother-in-law came at night, there are so many people in our team, it's not possible that no one was seen, right?"
Someone replied: "Who knows? It's dark at night, so how can anyone see clearly? Uncle Dalin's chickens were stolen a while ago, and no one saw it."
Yang Xiaohong heard this from outside the crowd and sighed, "Ah, it seems that Widow Zhang's family is also going to be in trouble. If her sister-in-law was easy to get along with, she wouldn't be staying alone with her child in our Xiangjiawan."
Most of the women in the team felt a little sympathy for Widow Zhang. She was so young, and her husband died before she even finished her confinement. She had no elders to help her, and she survived alone with a child. Anyone who saw this would feel sad.
Xiang Yao was not in the mood to eat melons from Widow Zhang's family at the moment. She frowned slightly, staring at the ground with empty eyes, her mind wandering.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she finally remembered some scenes, so she raised her hands high - "Dear uncles and aunts, I have something to say!"
A clear voice suddenly rang out, attracting everyone's attention.
Seeing such a little girl butting in on what the adults were saying, some older people tapped their pipes against the soles of their shoes in displeasure: "What's a little girl saying when the adults are talking? Why don't you go home?"
Someone immediately bumped into the man, signaling him not to speak harshly: "Liang Sheng just left not long ago, don't be so rude!"
Zhang Laidi took the peanuts from Xiang Yao and talked to her for a long time along the way. He felt that he was on the same side as this girl and said dissatisfiedly: "What's wrong with the little girl? Can't the little girl speak?"
She looked at Xiang Yao and said, "It's okay, Yao girl, just say whatever you want to say. There are so many uncles and aunts here, they're all listening!"
Thinking of what had happened recently in Xiang Yao's family, her eyes were filled with pity.
This girl is so pitiful. Her father passed away all of a sudden, and her mother had to leave too. She is the only one left in the family of three. I heard that the Xiang family doesn't even let her go to school. Alas.
Xiang Yao nodded, her eyes shining. Facing so many people, she was not at all nervous: "I can prove that Aunt Zhang's brother was here!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the person who was originally very dissatisfied with the little girl for insisting on speaking regardless of the occasion, suddenly stared at her with a sharp gaze.
"What can you, a little girl, see? Go away, stop talking nonsense!"
The nights in the countryside were so dark that you couldn't even see the roads. Even women didn't dare to go out without a companion. How could a little girl like her be so brave as to go out alone?
Xiang Yao didn't mind being looked down upon and said lightly, "Just five days ago, on the seventh night after my father passed away, I couldn't sleep so I went out for a walk."
When everyone heard that that day was the seventh day after Xiang Liangsheng's death, they fell silent.
If a girl encounters such a thing at home, it is possible that she would go out for a walk in the middle of the night to relax.
Then I thought of the little girl from the Xiang family. She had always been quiet before, and she didn't dare to raise her head when she saw people. Her voice was as buzzing as a mosquito. It seemed that after the seventh day after Xiang Liang's death, this person suddenly changed!
Look at her now, her voice is so loud and her smile is so bright. She has changed a lot compared to before!
Country people have always liked to attribute things to ghosts and gods. Even though many land temples were destroyed during the "Four Olds" campaign in recent years, people don't say it on the surface, but they still have a sense of awe for these things in their hearts.
Thinking of this, they believed Xiang Yao's words even more.
He must have gone out in the middle of the night. If he hadn't gone out in the middle of the night, how could... his temperament change so drastically?
Xiang Yao continued, "When I reached the ridge of the field on the other side of the pond, I saw Aunt Zhang's brother walking towards me, carrying a bag of things on his back."
Someone else questioned: "Nonsense, how could you see clearly in the dark at night? Maybe it was another wild man!"
Xiang Yao glanced at the man and said, "Why can't I see clearly? I'm holding the flashlight my father left me!"
Flashlights were still a rare thing at that time. The Xiang family had one, and Xiang Liangsheng often used a flashlight to do things during his lifetime. Everyone knew this.
"I saw it clearly. That man came here once when we were planting crops in the first half of the year. He is Aunt Zhang's brother. I recognize him." She made the final decision.
After someone testified, Li Xianggui and the others' faces finally fell completely. They no longer had the confidence to question the source of food for Zhang Guafu's family, and naturally they no longer mentioned going to Zhang Guafu's parents' home to confront her.
Widow Zhang said nothing, but looked around at everyone with a stubborn expression. When her eyes fell on Xiang Yao, a hint of gratitude appeared in her eyes.
Her tone returned to its previous calmness: "Everyone should believe it now, Li Xianggui, apologize quickly and leave. Don't delay me from making dinner for the baby."
Her words were so rude that Li Xianggui opened and closed her mouth in anger, about to curse, but Yuan Dashan glared at her fiercely: "You think this isn't embarrassing enough, right? What else do you want after such a mess?"
Li Xianggui knew that she was in trouble this time, so she didn't dare to say anything else. She could only smile stiffly with a shameless face: "Xiang Jin's wife, it's my fault. I have wronged you. I'm sorry. We are from the same village. I hope you won't make a fuss with me."
Widow Zhang curled her lips, not reacting to the reluctant "I'm sorry." She simply said, "Alright, go away. Don't come to my house if you have nothing to do. I'm poor and can't afford to entertain you. I'm a widow, and I don't want to have much contact with you."
Everyone felt uncomfortable after hearing her blunt words, but since they were the ones who instigated the crowd to come and watch the fun, they were in the wrong and could only file out with embarrassment on their faces.
As if they finally remembered that it was noon and they had not eaten lunch yet, they all walked towards their homes in twos and threes.
Xiang Yaoluo walked slowly behind, not in a hurry to go back.
She lowered her head and looked at the dirt road that was bleached white by the sun, feeling very complicated.
The night she saw Widow Zhang's brother was indeed the seventh day after her original father's death, and her soul in this later life came through on the seventh day after Xiang Liangsheng's death.
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