Chapter 44 There are always people deliberately making things difficult for you.
In those days, such a label was enough to ruin a person's reputation and prevent them from ever recovering.
The supply and marketing cooperative fell into a deathly silence; you could hear a pin drop.
The people who were just scrambling and making noise were now frozen in place, holding their breath, their faces drained of color, staring in astonishment and uncertainty at the eye of the storm.
Those women who might have initially felt some sympathy for Zhuangzhuang's mother now looked at her with undisguised fear and distance, instinctively taking a half-step back as if afraid of getting a single spark on her.
Undermining revolutionary unity?
Good heavens! This is outrageous!
This is a deadly crime!
Who would dare get involved?!
The air seemed to freeze, leaving only suppressed breathing and the pounding of hearts.
Xu Zhili's icy gaze swept over the silent, ashen-faced crowd, finally landing like a sharp, icy sword on Zhuangzhuang's mother, whose face was ashen, cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and whose lips trembled, unable to utter a single word.
Her voice was cold and hard, carrying an unquestionable sense of judgment.
"In this fiery era, the unity of the revolutionary ranks is an indestructible Great Wall of steel. Any act that undermines unity is an act of resisting the dictatorship of the proletariat and making an enemy of the broad masses of revolutionary people. Such acts will be thoroughly overthrown and nailed to the pillar of historical shame. Zhuangzhuang's mother, what were your intentions in saying those words just now? You should think about them carefully!"
Zhuangzhuang's mother was completely stunned; her legs were trembling.
She just wanted to throw a tantrum, gain some advantage, and vent her anger, so how did she get labeled with such a huge accusation as "undermining unity"?
Seeing the wary looks in the eyes of those around her, as if they were looking at a class enemy, a huge fear instantly overwhelmed her.
Her lips twitched a few times, but in the end she didn't dare to say another word. As if she had seen a ghost, she suddenly grabbed Zhuangzhuang and scrambled out of the crowd, fleeing the supply and marketing cooperative without looking back, as if a raging flood was chasing her.
Xu Zhili ignored Zhuangzhuang's mother and turned to look at the saleswoman, her voice cold: "Sister! I want to buy something."
Before the sales clerk could even look up, her small mouth rattled off a string of items like a machine gun, speaking so fast she barely paused for breath: "Iron kettle, enamel basin, enamel mug, iron thermos, four toothbrushes! Toothpaste, soap, facial cream, toilet paper... two pounds of peach shortbread, and four pounds of fruit candy."
After reciting the list, she leaned forward, placing her hands on the counter. Her once clear almond-shaped eyes instantly filled with an almost innocent eagerness. "Sister, the big iron pot! Do you still have big iron pots?"
Deep within that fervent passion lies an undeniable stubbornness.
The saleswoman in her thirties behind the counter was spinning around busily, her collar soaked with sweat.
Hearing that crisp "sister" and seeing Xu Zhili's overly beautiful face, he felt inexplicably awkward, and even paused for a moment while fiddling with the abacus beads.
"Ouch, the pot..."
She wiped her brow and shook her head regretfully, "They're all gone, they were in high demand, just sold out. When will the next batch arrive? Who knows? And those things you just mentioned..."
Her fingers flew across the keyboard. "Sixty-five yuan in total, plus four industrial coupons!"
Before the words were finished, a sharp, piercing female voice suddenly rang out from the side, like sandpaper scraping against sheet metal.
"Oh my god, please open your eyes!"
A gaunt old woman with a dark complexion, high cheekbones, and wearing a faded, patched, diagonally-fastened jacket, stood with her hands on her hips, squeezing through the crowd to the front row, her cloudy eyes fixed on Xu Zhili.
"How many coins do city workers earn in a month? Twenty yuan at most, right? Look at this young woman, wow! She's wasted more than three months' wages in one go."
Her spittle flew everywhere, and her withered, twig-like fingers almost poked Xu Zhili's nose.
"Tsk tsk tsk, what a spendthrift! He's like reaching into his coffin—a money-grubber. With a character like that, who would dare marry him? It'd be like marrying a living Buddha, requiring daily incense offerings. Don't you all agree?"
She looked around smugly, deliberately drawing out her voice, trying to ignite the emotions of those around her—whether they were curious, jealous, or simply looking for a good show.
Sure enough, a few malicious sneers and whispers of agreement rang out from the crowd.
"Exactly, the airs of a city girl..."
"Wow, they really dare to spend money like that..."
"Who can afford to raise..."
A barrage of gazes, like needles, pierced Xu Zhili's back, filled with malicious anticipation, waiting to see her blush and become flustered.
Xu Zhili was already annoyed by the crowd and the smell of sweat. She had already driven away Zhuangzhuang's mother, but then this old woman's sharp, malicious, and deliberately exaggerated slander was like a bucket of boiling oil being poured on her long-suppressed anger.
Xu Zhili took a deep breath, her chest heaving violently. There were always people deliberately making things difficult for her. When she looked up again, the forced politeness on her face completely crumbled, and the corners of her mouth slowly turned upwards into an arc—not a smile, but a cold blade cracking open on the frozen lake surface.
Deep within his eyes, a kind of obsessive, reckless rage surged up.
"aunt--"
She spoke, her voice not loud, even carrying a strange sweetness, yet like a needle chilled to ice, it precisely pierced through all the noise, instantly quieting the surroundings.
Instead of retreating, she took a half-step forward, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes shining brightly and chillingly coldly, fixed on the old woman's mean face.
"You're really good at using your abacus."
She deliberately emphasized the word "loud," her voice dripping with sarcasm. "What? Are you just blaming me for being a spendthrift? Don't you remember that we, the educated youth, bought this thing together?"
She suddenly raised her hand and pointed to the group of educated youth outside the door.
"We responded to the call and came from the city to this poor mountain village, sleeping on earthen beds, eating cornbread, and using kerosene lamps. We didn't bring many of our daily necessities. Is that considered 'extravagant and wasteful'?"
Xu Zhili scoffed, her gaze like a poisoned knife scraping across the old woman's patched-up old jacket.
"You've lived in the village for most of your life, and you probably haven't even touched a decent enamel basin, have you? You really know how to live 'well'."
The old woman's face turned from black to purple from being choked by her, and her lips trembled as she was about to scream, but Xu Zhili didn't give her a chance at all.
She turned abruptly, her gaze sweeping over every face that had just sneered and echoed her, her question leaving no room for argument.
"And you all..."
She pointed sharply at the guilty faces in the air, "I used my own resettlement allowance from my time as a sent-down youth to buy things I urgently needed. I didn't steal or rob, I did it all honestly. What's wrong with that, huh?"
"You guys keep using the word 'spendthrift,' you seem to enjoy using your words to kill people, don't you? Well, let me ask you something!"
What have you done for the village collective? Repaired roads? Donated grain? Helped the elderly and widowed? You have time to criticize and judge us, the educated youth who came to help with construction. Why don't you help this old lady? Her clothes are patched; who among you will buy her a new outfit?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com