At this time, Xu Aimei hurried home from outside. In the dim light, she saw a man and her son squatting on the ground. She hurriedly asked, "What are you doing?"
Cheng Rushan picked up Jiang Xinglei and said with a smile, "It was dark and I couldn't see the road clearly, so I fell."
Jiang Xinglei nodded immediately, "Mom, you're back. I accidentally fell and my brother-in-law helped me up."
Xu Aimei scolded: "What kind of mess is it to call him brother-in-law?"
Cheng Rushan turned around and smiled at her, "Hello, Mom. My name is Cheng Rushan, and I'm Linlin's husband."
He was tall, and a ray of light from the street lamp at the entrance of the alley shone on his face, revealing a pair of bright and deep eyes, and an imposing presence.
Xu Aimei subconsciously shrank back and then quickly straightened her shoulders, "Linlin?"
Jiang Lin, who was hiding not far behind and watching Jiang Xinglei's excitement, immediately trotted over, stood beside Cheng Rushan, and said to Xu Aimei, "Mom, I brought Cheng Rushan and the child back to visit my relatives, so that you can see that I am innocent. I neither sold my son nor eloped."
Xu Aimei: “…”
Xu Aimei was so angry every day because of the rumors she heard, but she had to pretend that she heard nothing. She thought that she would beat her daughter without saying a word when she saw her, but when they really met face to face, she was speechless.
After a moment's silence, Xu Aimei said coldly: "Oh, you're back, come in." Although she was not very enthusiastic, she did not mention the fact that her daughter cried and shouted to break off relations.
Jiang Xinglei immediately went to open the door, and when Xu Aimei and Jiang Lin came in, he hugged Cheng Rushan's arm.
He was a bit of a rascal, and now he felt that Cheng Rushan was very powerful. He didn't find fault with his mother, who was so difficult to talk to, and let him in. He begged, "Brother-in-law, please save me. If my father knew that I stole the letter and went to the Meng family to ask for money, they would beat me to death."
Cheng Rushan said coldly: "Don't worry, I promise I won't kill you."
Jiang Xinglei was immediately frightened and begged repeatedly, "Brother-in-law, I know I'm a bastard. I was wrong. I shouldn't..."
"Shut up!" Cheng Rushan said coldly.
Jiang Xinglei was speechless.
After entering the yard, each family had already started eating, and the Jiang family in the main house were also waiting for Xu Aimei and Jiang Lin.
Jiang Dongjian has already told them that Jiang Lin is back to visit her family.
Brother Jiang and Jiang Lin are quite different in age and they had no chance to be close since childhood, so naturally they can’t say they miss each other now.
Second Brother Jiang was somewhat looking forward to it. He was three years older than Jiang Lin and they had spent more time together when they were young.
As soon as she entered the yard, Xu Aimei, who usually walked at a gust of wind, went home without looking around, ate, washed, and slept, suddenly changed her usual behavior and shouted, "Our Linlin has returned to the city with her husband to visit relatives. We are all neighbors in the same yard. Come out and say hello and let the young couple bow to you and say hello."
When Xu Aimei shouted like this, people of all ages from every room ran into the yard and looked at Cheng Rushan and Jiang Lin in the middle, each one more enthusiastic and familiar than the other.
Although they had conflicts with Xu Aimei and disliked each other and rarely spoke to each other, they always said behind her back that the other person's daughter sold her son to elope.
Now that the young couple has returned to the city to visit their relatives and are standing in front of them to say hello, they naturally have to act enthusiastic and must not arouse any suspicion.
Cheng Rushan and Jiang Lin didn't need to say anything, the neighbors could say everything themselves.
Not only the people in this yard, but also the neighbors came over to see the newcomers.
"Linlin from the Jiang family has found a handsome man. He is tall and handsome. He is truly a rare and good-looking guy!"
All the previous rumors suddenly disappeared because of Cheng Rushan's arrival.
Jiang Lin noticed that Meng Yiyi's parents and she were not there. She wanted to go to Meng's house to block Meng Yiyi, but Cheng Rushan shook her hand and signaled her to go home first.
…
At this time, Meng Yiyi was hiding in the room gritting her teeth. She didn't expect that when she came home from a trip, she would hear the news that Jiang Lin and Cheng Rushan had returned to her parents' home.
Meng Kaiping knocked on the door: "Yiyi, it's time to eat."
Meng Yiyi was packing her things, a few pieces of clothes, stuffed into a bag, and put on her schoolbag. She opened the door and said to Meng Kaiping, "Dad, I'm going to be out for a few days. No matter what Jiang Lin and the others say, don't pay attention to them."
Her mother Huang Meini also said: "We did nothing wrong, she is the ungrateful one, what are we afraid of? Her brother even came to extort fifteen dollars from us, we can sue him too."
Meng Yiyi said, "Mom, he said he was collecting debts for his sister, you can't sue him. Don't worry, it's right to listen to me. I will definitely make our family live a good life."
Meng Kaiping thought of what his daughter had told him and believed it without a doubt. Although he had not been very kind to his daughter before, he now protected her wholeheartedly, "My daughter, go hide quickly, or she will come to cause trouble."
Just as Meng Yiyi walked into the yard, she saw the factory's women's director Fan Huiyuan striding in with two women.
She smiled and said, "Sister Fan, you are here."
Fan Huiyuan sneered: "Oh, Meng Yiyi, where are you going so late? Are you eloping?"
It was created by you bastards. Even children can casually say the word "elopement". How can they have any shame at all?
Meng Yiyi's face changed, "Sister Fan, are you kidding me?"
Meng Kaiping and Huang Meini also ran out quickly, and other families also came out to ask what was going on.
Fan Huiyuan looked at Meng Yiyi and said, "Meng Yiyi, someone reported that you used someone else's name to defraud money, and then came back to spread rumors that someone else sold their son to elope. Our factory's Revolutionary Committee is very strict and cannot tolerate people who kill people with their mouths, so I want you to go and ask."
Meng Yiyi's face changed: "What did you say? I have never done such a thing."
At first, the educated youth threatened to write to the street and factory revolutionary committees, but after her pleading and Jin Lei's intercession, they felt that she was repentant and actively repaying the money, so they did not make things too difficult for her. After all, everyone knew the importance of returning to the city, so they did not want to ruin others' reputation. They just wrote to her parents, explained the situation, and asked them to pay back the money quickly.
Fan Huiyuan: "We have the evidence you need, but you should come with us first. If we go to the police station, it will be more serious than this." @无限好文，全部在Jinjiang文学城
Meng Kaiping and Huang Meini came to plead for their daughter, but were coldly rejected by Fan Huiyuan.
Meng Yiyi looked at Fan Huiyuan's aggressive look and said bitterly, "Fan Huiyuan, don't be so arrogant. If you offend me, you will suffer the consequences!"
Seeing that she dared to challenge her like this, Fan Huiyuan immediately had someone take her away.
Meng Yiyi turned around and said to Meng Kaiping: "Dad, go find my classmate. I told you about it."
Fan Huiyuan didn't let her say more and had her dragged out, leaving her schoolbag and handbag on the ground.
As soon as they left, Huang Meini panicked, "How could the daughter of the Jiang family be so cruel? Our Yiyi treated her so well..."
The neighbors didn't know what was going on and asked questions.
Huang Meini had to talk about the grudges, but she refused to say anything wrong about her daughter, and only said that Jiang Linen was retaliating.
"Jiang Lin came with a man, didn't you go to see him? He's tall and handsome, and looks smiling, but his eyes are actually cold and scary." One person quickly reminded the other family not to interfere in the Meng family's affairs, in case they offend that man.
Although they didn't know Cheng Rushan, he had a unique temperament that made people know at a glance that he was not easy to bully.
Meng Kaiping hurried to find the address his daughter had given him, which had a phone number. Meng Yiyi's younger brother Meng Ruirui was hiding and secretly watching the show, and when he saw his father coming in, he hurriedly hid. Meng Kaiping didn't want to pay any attention to this, and hurried out to find a place to make a phone call.
When he passed the gate of the Meng family's courtyard, he heard the lively laughter inside and the compliments from the neighbors. He was so angry that he spat, "What are you so proud of? You are a bunch of ungrateful people!"
…
Jiang Lin, who was called an ungrateful person, was in a much better mood. She had been worried about Cheng Rushan and the children, and was afraid that they would be treated coldly, so she came to find out first. But she didn't expect that there would be such a lowly rumor, which was refuted as soon as he appeared.
Cheng Rushan seemed to know what she was thinking. He lowered his eyes to look at her and held her hand.
Those with sharp eyes immediately noticed that the couple had a really good relationship.
Cheng Rushan said, "It's getting late, so we won't disturb you neighbors. My parents will bring the children to visit us in a couple of days, and we'll treat you to some candy then." He then said to Xu Aimei and Jiang Dongjian, "Mom and Dad, we didn't come to propose marriage before because of many things, so we'll make up for it this time."
Xu Aimei just thought it was just a polite remark. After all, at that time, people in the city were all about modern weddings, where they would go on a blind date, register, and have a meal together.
The neighbors all hurried to congratulate, then dispersed and went home, chatting and laughing.
Jiang Lin and Cheng Rushan came into the house, and the family sat down to eat.
Song Lijuan was afraid that the child would be hungry, so she took the child to eat first. Although Jiang Dongjian cooked more food for Jiang Lin, they didn't expect Cheng Rushan to be added, so the food was not enough.
Jiang Dongjian said hurriedly: "I'll go get some noodles."
Xu Aimei: "Put two eggs on it."
Song Lijuan quickly said, "Dad, let me do it. I saw the kids were hungry just now, so I just had a couple of bites while feeding them."
Cheng Rushan took out five kilograms of meal tickets and placed them on the table. "Mom and Dad, this is Linlin's food for the next two days."
At that time, when cadres were on duty or relatives came to visit for meals, the unwritten rule was to bring their own ration coupons and not have to pay.
If you don't have food coupons, you can't buy food. When you resell food coupons, it costs about 20 cents per pound, which is more expensive than the food itself, so if you can get food coupons, it's very good.
"No need!" Jiang Dongjian quickly pushed it to him, "It's not easy for you to earn work points."
Song Lijuan was extremely anxious. How could he be so stupid? The family had a ration of food, one pound a day. If they only had a few meals, someone would go hungry this month. It was so expensive to buy food on the black market, five or six times the price.
She smiled and said, "Dad, why don't we give money to my brother-in-law?"
Jiang Lin glanced at Cheng Rushan, not knowing when he got the food coupons. She took them and placed them in front of Xu Aimei, "Mom, everyone eats according to the rations, so we don't eat for free."
Xu Aimei handed it to Song Lijuan and said, "Take it. Go buy a few pounds of fine noodles tomorrow."
Song Lijuan took it immediately.
Jiang Lin greeted her elder and second brothers again.
Brother Jiang was handsome and used to be a famous figure in the provincial university. But now he was too silent. He only said hello to Jiang Lin and Cheng Rushan and stopped talking. He was not enthusiastic but not deliberately cold, because he was the same to others.
When he was a junior in college, the Cultural Movement happened. During the fighting, he beat people and was beaten up. After that, he was demoted and got married. The next year, he was transferred back to the city to work in a radio factory. His life was uneventful. All his ideals and passions seemed to have burned out quickly in that year, and now he is like an empty shell, without any vitality.
Jiang Erge was quite friendly to her and Cheng Rushan, and talked to them about things in the countryside. Jiang Lin saw that he seemed to be in poor health. Although he was tall, he was so thin that he looked like he would fall down in the wind. His originally handsome face was so thin that his cheeks were sunken, making his eyes look particularly large and his nose particularly high.
He was like this because he was sick. He was in junior high school when the movement started, and his three views were just beginning to be formed. At that time, he was determined to go to the frontier to contribute his youth and blood like a chicken with blood injected.
He took the initiative to go to Xinjiang to build the Corps. He was young and ignorant, and followed the group with all his passion.
He didn't know how to take care of himself when he went there, so he was either injured or sick. His body couldn't adapt to such an extreme climate, so he became very sick within two years. The handsome and strong young man became thinner and thinner.
The year Jiang Lin went to the countryside, as soon as she left, her family used all their connections to get him back. But he was in poor health, and no factory would accept him even though he had to rely on connections to recover. He had no job for two years after he came back, and his food rations were ten kilograms less than normal, so he couldn't eat enough.
In 1973, the food rations were finally met, and Brother Jiang helped to get a temporary job in the radio factory. The salary was low and unstable, and no matter how many years he worked, he would be fired if he was asked to leave. There was no guarantee at all. But the food rations were guaranteed, so he worked as a temporary worker in the radio factory until now.
Because of poor health, I don’t have a formal job and I still don’t have a partner.
He wanted to say a few more words to Jiang Lin, but unfortunately he started to pant as soon as he spoke too much. He had to shut up quickly for fear of embarrassment.
Jiang Lin looked at the elder and second brothers Jiang and felt very upset. They were young men but seemed to be in their twilight years.
She also understood why her parents didn't let Jiang Xinglei go to the countryside, as he was the only healthy boy in the family.
Thinking of this, she was more than half relieved of her anger towards Jiang Xinglei. Thinking about it again, the family situation was so bad, the house was so crowded, and her second brother was in poor health and had no girlfriend. It was not easy for the family to scrape together some money to send to the countryside.
Meng Yiyi used the fact that Jiang's parents sent her second brother back to the city and her younger brother to the suburbs instead of going to the countryside, but forced Jiang Lin to go to the countryside to complain countless times. This made her feel that her parents were biased, favoring boys over girls, and that they had no place for their daughters, only their three sons.
After dinner, Song Lijuan cleared the table and said to Jiang Xinglei, "Xiaolei, take out the letter and show it to your parents. Stop being naughty."
Cheng Rushan took it out and handed it to Xu Aimei, "My brother put it away and forgot to give it to you, so he just gave it to me."
Jiang Dongjian glared at Jiang Xinglei and said, "You little rascal, why did you hide your sister's letter?" He turned around, picked up a broom and was about to hit his son.
Xu Aimei frowned: "Okay, stop dancing around in front of your son-in-law." She would wait until he leaves before beating him.
Jiang Dongjian finally took his son to the bedroom and spanked him. Jiang Xinglei screamed in pain, "Second sister, help me! I won't dare to do it again."
Jiang Lin heard his miserable appearance, which was like a pig being slaughtered, and it was really unpleasant to listen to. "Dad, that's enough. Let him learn his lesson."
Jiang Dongjian then let Jiang Xinglei go and came out to sit down and continue talking.
Jiang Xinglei got excited and sat down next to Cheng Rushan, holding his buttocks with fear and anticipation. He didn't know what he was looking forward to when he was obviously afraid, and he endured the pain in his buttocks.
Previously, the thing that the Jiang family's parents were most concerned about was that their daughter might sell their son and elope with another man, which made them feel restrained and afraid to write letters to ask about it. They were worried day and night that the rural brigade would come here to make trouble and lose their jobs. Now that their son-in-law came to visit, everything was self-evident, so they were no longer worried.
Knowing that her daughter was deceived by Meng Yiyi, Xu Aimei's first reaction was to scold her daughter for being so stupid. However, because Cheng Rushan had to save face, she forced herself to hold back and only scolded Meng Yiyi, "This Meng Yiyi, I have always thought she is cunning, and it turns out she is right."
Every time I wrote a letter, Huang Meini and Meng Kaiping would come here to complain. They said how pitiful their daughters were in the countryside, and that as parents, we should love both sons and daughters equally, and we are all flesh and blood. Parents should tighten their belts to help out. Aimei, let's collect some money and send it to Yiyi, why don't you send it to your Linlin? Look, Linlin broke off relations with you and refused to write letters, but Yiyi couldn't bear to write. Xu Aimei received the letter written by Meng Yiyi, and her parents still squeezed her like this, so how could she not show her appreciation and send money?
So it wasn't all Xu Aimei's willingness to send it. Instead, half of it was forced to do so by Meng Yiyi's parents.
I didn't expect it to be like this.
Jiang Dongjian: "I'll go talk to the couple and we'll talk about this."
Xu Aimei said angrily, "What are we still talking about? I'm going to settle accounts with them right now! I've never seen such a deception before. Do they think we are fools or something? They are shameless in deceiving people. Is it wrong for us to settle accounts with them?"
Jiang Lin: "Mom and Dad, I've asked Meng Yiyi to pay me back." She took out the money and put it on the table, "It's all here."
Jiang Dongjian: "It's sent to you, take it."
Song Lijuan was extremely anxious. The family was short of money. Second Brother Jiang was in poor health and always needed to buy medicine. Jiang Xinglei went to the countryside and was not doing his job. He only came home every few days to eat. This money could solve a big problem.
Xu Aimei hesitated for a moment and pushed the money to Jiang Lin, "You can take it back. The whole family needs money too."
However, Jiang Lin didn't want to take the money. This money was squeezed out of the Jiang family's teeth, so she naturally had to return it to them.
Xu Aimei was still hesitating, and Cheng Rushan said, "Mom, you guys keep it. Our expenses are lower in the country."
Xu Aimei breathed a sigh of relief and said to Jiang Dongjian, "Then... let's keep it first, and we can use it to subsidize the children when we have more financial resources in the future." She put the money away.
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"She is definitely responsible for spreading the rumors. It started when their family received the letter two months ago. I'll take her to see Director Fan and explain everything." Xu Aimei stood up, "Old Jiang, let's go!"
Song Lijuan immediately rushed to open the door, only to see Huang Meini rushing in from outside.
…
She started crying as soon as she entered the room, "Linlin, our Yiyi has been very kind to you, why are you so cruel? You asked Director Fan to take our Yiyi away as soon as you came back!"
Her voice was so loud that the other neighbors in the yard could hear it and they all leaned over to see what was going on.
Jiang Dongjian suddenly felt uncomfortable all over and told her to speak nicely if she had something to say, instead of crying so loudly and making people laugh at her.
Huang Meini came here because she was sure of the couple's character. They were thin-skinned and very concerned about their reputation. No matter how big the matter was, they were afraid of people talking about it and couldn't save face.
Seeing that Jiang Dongjian was very moved, she cried even more sadly, "Brother Jiang, Aimei, we have been good neighbors for many years. Please don't do anything too extreme. Our Yiyi is going back to the factory to work. Aren't you deliberately ruining Yiyi's job by doing this? This is going to kill her!"
Xu Aimei was going to settle the score with her anyway, but now she came and put the blame on her first, making her so angry that she felt cold all over.
Meng Yiyi was arrested by Director Fan? Well done!
Xu Aimei was originally afraid of being laughed at, but now she was furious, thinking that the whole family had conspired to play tricks on her daughter, cheat her of her money, and spread rumors that her daughter had sold her son and eloped.
She rushed forward and slapped Huang Meini out of the door. Although she was furious, her voice was relatively calm. "Just explain it clearly in front of the neighbors. You are really good to our Linlin. You tricked her into doing stupid things, and you got the benefits. You coaxed us to send money to our daughter, but Meng Yiyi took a penny and didn't give it to our child. She even sent it back to subsidize you! How many years of being good neighbors don't do things to the extreme?"
Huang Meini covered her face and cried in defense, "Even if the child is wrong, we should educate him behind closed doors. Why should we report it to others? Flies don't bite eggs without cracks, and one hand can't clap. If this gets out, who will be able to look good?"
Xu Aimei was extremely angry. "We are stupid, but not stupid enough to deserve death. We let you be leeches! You said we ruined your work, and you spread rumors about our daughter. Aren't you trying to force her to death? How come you don't mind doing disgusting things? You still have the nerve to come and call me to task. Why are you so irritating!"
Xu Aimei was so angry that she slapped Huang Meini again. She was really angry to death.
Huang Meini wanted to win the sympathy and support of the neighbors. "It's just a fight between kids, why do you have to report it to the police? Isn't this ruining the child's reputation? Our Yiyi still has to behave herself. Can you all give us some advice?"
Jiang Lin said coldly: "Your daughter's evil deeds have been exposed, and now she wants to use her personal connections to pressure us. Why didn't you say this before it was exposed? Why didn't you say it when she sent money back to subsidize you? Don't you think it's too hypocritical and shameless to ask me like this now! How can a person with such a bad character like her be qualified to work in the factory with everyone else? It will lower everyone's standards and make people think that our auto parts factory is full of bad people like her who play with people!"
After Jiang Lin said this, the neighbors immediately felt that they could not be lowered by bad people and expressed their unwillingness to associate with them.
Huang Meini didn't expect that when she came to bully Jiang Dongjian and his wife, she was humiliated by Jiang Lin and Xu Aimei instead. The neighbors also talked about it and blamed Meng Yiyi.
"Ah - you guys are trying to force us to death. We all live in the same courtyard, why are you so intolerant?"
Cheng Rushan interrupted her crying and asked in a very calm tone: "Auntie, the rumor that my wife sold her son and eloped, did it come from your family?"
Huang Meini jumped up in shock and denied it flatly: "Of course not! Are we such talkative people? Our Yiyi cares about Linlin and spends money on her. Isn't the child hungry? She just wants to fill her stomach! How can we casually say something as immoral as spreading rumors? Absolutely not!"
Cheng Rushan did not ask any more questions, but just smiled and said, "I will believe what Auntie said for now. If I find out, I will be sorry."
Huang Meini was frightened when she saw that he had the attitude of an honest man who would not do anything shady.
Of course, the rumor came from her. At that time, Yiyi wrote back that Jiang Lin wanted to sell her son and elope back to the city, and she also told them not to tell anyone. But how could she hold it in? She just kept it to herself and didn't tell anyone immediately. After dinner, she couldn't help but tell a girl in the courtyard and told them not to tell anyone. In the end, no one knew who told it, and the whole factory was talking about it. In addition to selling her son and eloping, other rumors such as sleeping with people all over the village also popped up.
She didn't mean it.
Xu Aimei: "It started about two months ago, after you received the letter from the countryside."
Huang Meini refused to admit it. There was no evidence, so it couldn't be blamed on her. No matter how she argued, she was right.
"We admit that we spent the money, but don't try to put the blame on Yiyi! Produce evidence!"
She was certain that the Jiang family could not produce any evidence, because no one would admit to listening to her words and then spreading them around, which would mean that they had also spread rumors.
She was frightened by Cheng Rushan's piercing gaze and ran away.
Xu Aimei still wanted to pursue her, but Cheng Rushan said, "Mom, don't pursue her anymore. Wait until you get evidence that she is spreading rumors."
Xu Aimei was still very angry, "What kind of people are these? We have been neighbors for so many years, and they just cheated us like this." Neighbors in the yard who had a bad relationship with her also came to express their sympathy and condemn Huang Meini's family.
Song Lijuan was responsible for explaining to the neighbors in a vivid and emotional manner how Meng Yiyi had harmed Jiang Lin.
Apart from the people in his yard, the neighbors around him who heard the noise came to ask what was going on. After hearing the noise, the neighbors expressed their shock and disbelief.
"She usually says nice things, but we were all fooled by her."
"That's right. They always say how nice Yiyi is to others, but I didn't know there was such a thing."
"In fact, I felt that Yi Yi was a bad person a few years ago. I noticed it when she was a child. When she played with a group of kids, she would always coax them to eat and trick them into giving her new shoes. I told our children not to play with her. Only your Linlin still played with her."
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"You can't judge a person by his appearance! We should know this from now on and stay away from their house."
"Let's go to their yard and talk." They immediately went to the Meng family's yard to continue the discussion.
After they spread the news like this, everyone in the area soon knew what was going on, and the Meng family’s reputation was completely ruined.
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