The villagers, like madmen, pointed at Ling Huanwu and hurled insults at her, blaming her for all the natural and man-made disasters that had befallen the island over the past year, as if they wanted to tear her to pieces.
Ling's parents, who had been huddled in a corner watching the battle, had never seen anything like this before. They were both terrified and their faces turned deathly pale.
The villagers were indignant and demanded an explanation from them. Following Song Yaoyao's advice, they deliberately distanced themselves from the situation and claimed that Ling Huanwu had been a jinx since childhood, causing the death of her fiancé and even her grandfather.
The two originally intended to dampen Ling Huanwu's arrogance and then step in to help their daughter out of a predicament, but they never expected them to be so crazy.
Old Liu, who was at the forefront and had received Ling Huanwu's kindness in healing his leg, was even more furious, shouting, "My leg was ruined by you, you jinx!"
He swung his fist, about to smash it into Ling Huanwu's face, when at the critical moment, a commotion arose from the crowd blocking the entrance.
The villagers inside were packed together, their faces full of astonishment. "Didn't they say that all the villagers in Stone Village went to the office to line up for subsidies today? Who's going to save this jinx?"
"Never mind, let's confiscate all of this woman's assets today and kick her out of Wantan Island!"
"Yes, hand over the assets and drive them out of Wantan Island!"
One by one, the villagers stretched out their hands, demanding that she hand over her assets.
Ling Huanwu pulled her mother-in-law, who was protecting her, behind her and smashed a bottle of medicinal wine next to her.
With a loud bang, shards of glass shattered on the ground. Ling Huanwu held the sharp shards up, pointing them at the villagers who were baring their teeth and claws at her, and shouted hoarsely, "Calm down! Do you still believe these jinxes' ridiculous talk? I went to the city today and reached an agreement with the director of the city council. He agreed to let us expand our sewing team and establish a production cooperative, allowing us to do contract manufacturing. Good days are just around the corner, you..."
Her shout stunned the villagers who had been shouting moments before, as if they were shocked by her earth-shattering words.
The aunties at the front, who usually mocked the sewing team, exchanged glances and burst into laughter. "You half-baked sewing team from Stone Village, doing subcontracting for the supply and marketing cooperative that covers the entire city's livelihood? Ling Huanwu, you must be dreaming!"
"Yeah, with the shabby patterns your sewing team made for free for school uniforms, how could the finished clothes be displayed in the supply and marketing cooperative? Why don't you say you also want to display the clothes in the state-run department store?"
Hearing the mockery of the group, the villagers, who had initially hesitated before believing Ling Huanwu's words, became even more furious and irritable.
Ling Huanwu held the broken glass bottle in one hand and rummaged through her bag with the other to find the contract that the director had just signed for her.
Several bolder villagers rushed up to snatch the broken glass bottle from Ling Huanwu's hand, and some even grabbed her bag, searching it for money and other valuables.
Just as the situation was getting out of control, the villagers huddled around the narrow wooden door screamed in agony, and one by one, the people blocking the house fell down, crushing several people inside.
The villagers surrounding Ling Huanwu turned around in alarm, only to see the village chief of Stone Village leading a group of strong villagers, wielding carrying poles, charging in.
The aunties from the sewing team, each carrying a long ruler and various tools, followed closely behind and squeezed into the crowd.
The moment Ling Huanwu saw them, her eyes instantly turned red.
"Comrade Xiaozi, are you alright? I saw there were too many people collecting subsidies, so I went back to the sewing team to practice. I didn't expect to find our warehouse being vandalized, so I immediately called the villagers to come and take a look. Luckily, we weren't too late..."
Lin Xiaoqin ran to Ling Huanwu's side, her face filled with lingering fear.
The villagers of Stone Village spontaneously surrounded Ling Huanwu, each holding a weapon and confronting the villagers from other villages.
Seeing the confrontation escalating, Ling Huanwu patted her mother-in-law's anxious hand and bent down to pick up her small cloth bag from the ground.
She took out the contract from inside, stood on a chair, and then stepped onto the table. Looking at the villagers below, her eyes welled with tears. "Comrades," she said, "I rushed back to tell you this good news..."
"The municipal supply and marketing cooperative has approved a partnership with our Shitou Village sewing team. It's all in black and white. As long as we have the labor force, we'll have a steady stream of orders!"
Because it was so sudden, the villagers of Stone Village were stunned for a moment, and then burst into excited shouts.
The contract was passed around among the villagers, and their disbelief turned into cheers and jubilation upon seeing it.
The other villagers, squeezed into a corner behind them, all craned their necks, their faces ashen.
The aunties who had been mocking Ling Huanwu the loudest earlier blushed, and faced with the murderous glares from their men, they all hung their heads and stood by like quails, not daring to utter a sound.
At the entrance of the family compound.
A large group of villagers bowed and apologized to Ling Huanwu, then pulled their wives aside and begged to join the sewing team.
Ling Huanwu didn't say much.
She pointed at the aunties who often mocked their sewing team, as well as Song Yaoyao, and said coldly, "Apart from those few, as long as you are a villager from Wantan Island and want to join our sewing team, we welcome you!"
The aunties who had just mocked Ling Huanwu all looked as uncomfortable as if they had swallowed flies.
That means all the women on Wantan Island can come and work, except for them.
Their mocking words still echoed in their ears, and now they were slapped in the face. They felt utterly ashamed. Under the pressure from their husbands, they wanted to apologize but their mouths were stuck shut, so they covered their faces and ran away.
Song Yaoyao hid outside the crowd, so angry she almost ground her teeth to powder.
Ling's parents comforted her, saying, "Yaoyao, it's okay. You'll be going to Hong Kong with Shuyao later..."
Before the two finished speaking, several dark shadows loomed overhead.
Ling Huanwu and a group of aunts cornered the three of them against the wall.
Ling Huanwu originally wanted to say a few opening remarks before beating up a few more people.
Unexpectedly, Lin Xiaoqin couldn't hold back any longer. With a roar, she and several aunties rushed forward, surrounded the three of them, and gave them a severe beating.
"It was the Taoist priest you hired who spread these rumors. We don't know what a 'disaster star' is. We'll beat you until you see stars, believe it or not!"
"And you parents, weren't you the ones who almost pushed Commander Zhou off the bed, or did you beat them into a vegetative state so they could apologize to Commander Zhou..."
Everyone was filled with righteous indignation and started punching and kicking the three of them.
Soon, the screams of three people being brutally beaten and crying could be heard over the family compound.
Ling Huanwu wanted to go up and persuade the men to go easy on them, lest they report the incident to the police later.
Suddenly, a startled cry came from inside the house from Wang Guihua.
Hasty and chaotic.
"Huanwu, come quick, Jiuzhen, he..."
Ling Huan didn't hear what he said clearly, but her heart skipped a beat, and she turned around and ran back to the house to check the situation.
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