Chapter 6 Zhang Pandi's Fate
Zhang Tiezhu almost knelt down before Gu Dahe with a thud, and Zhao Jinlan forgot about hitting her daughter and joined in the crying and begging.
Li Guoqiang looked at Gu Dahe and Gu Jianqiang.
Gu Dahe remained silent, his face grim. Gu Jianqiang gritted his teeth:
"Compensate? What are you going to use to compensate me? My daughter almost lost her life!"
At that opportune moment, Gu Baobao let out a very weak, tearful groan in Wu Guixiang's arms:
"Grandma... I have a headache... I feel dizzy... I feel nauseous..."
As she spoke, she gagged twice, her little face scrunched up, looking extremely pitiful.
[Host, that's amazing! This teamwork is incredible! This system calls you the epitome of a drama queen!]
Defu mentally gave it a huge thumbs up.
Wu Guixiang immediately felt heartbroken and burst into tears, patting her granddaughter's back:
"Don't be afraid, baby, Grandma's here... It's all that heartless bastard's fault!"
Now, public opinion is completely one-sided.
Even the employees who initially thought the Gu family might be a bit unreasonable, after seeing Gu Baobao's miserable state, all felt that the Zhang family was utterly despicable and should pay compensation!
We must pay a hefty compensation!
Finally, under the guidance of Li Jiaguo and witnessed by all the commune members, the Zhang family paid a heavy price:
All the work points that the Zhang family will have settled at the end of this year, after deducting the portion needed for basic food rations, will be converted into compensation for the Gu family.
Immediately compensate Gu Baobao for medical expenses of 2.5 yuan, plus 5 yuan for nutritional expenses.
The Zhang family must apologize to the Gu family in front of all the commune members, and Zhang Pandi must kowtow and admit his mistake.
Zhang Pandi was supervised by the village to perform a month-long voluntary labor task, cleaning the village's public toilets and cowsheds.
Zhang Tiezhu and Zhao Jinlan agreed with ashen faces, but their hearts were bleeding.
Once the work points are gone, forget about any extra money or food at the end of the year!
Seven yuan and fifty cents was almost all of their family's savings!
Forced by the watchful eyes of many, Zhang Pandi kowtowed three times to the Gu family.
His forehead struck the hard earth of the threshing ground with a dull thud.
She was sobbing uncontrollably, mumbling "I was wrong," but in her lowered eyes, besides fear and shame, there was also a hint of resentment that she couldn't completely hide.
Supported by Wu Guixiang, Gu Baobao weakly "accepted" the apology.
She didn't miss Zhang Pandi's fleeting glance, her heart skipped a beat, but she quickly felt relieved.
She knew that for a girl like Zhang Pandi, who grew up in a distorted environment and whose psychology was already somewhat deformed, it would be difficult to correct her fundamental ways in one go.
Such punishment might cause her more pain and embarrassment than a beating, but whether it can truly make her repent is unknown.
The Zhang family's losses are enough to make them unable to hold their heads high in the village in the future.
The matter seemed to be resolved, and the crowd gradually dispersed.
However, Zhang Pandi's bad reputation was spreading in every corner of Qinghetun and was spreading to the surrounding villages at an alarming rate.
The marriage proposal, which already had two families considering it, immediately fell through.
In the village, Zhang Pandi was like a plague god. Wherever she went, people pointed and whispered about her. Even her parents felt inferior when they went out.
Punitive labor reform was even more unbearable.
Cleaning toilets and cowsheds is the dirtiest and most tiring work. Zhang Pandi kept his head down and worked silently, enduring the undisguised contemptuous looks and occasional sarcasm from others.
She became increasingly silent, her eyes growing increasingly dark. Only when she was in a corner where no one could see her, staring in the direction of the Gu family, would she reveal a complex expression mixed with resentment, jealousy, and hatred.
A few days later, late at night.
In the Zhang family's low-lying mud-brick house, the oil lamp flickered dimly.
Zhang Tiezhu squatted on the threshold, silently smoking his pipe, while Zhao Jinlan sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), her eyes red and swollen.
"Dad, this can't go on."
Zhao Jinlan lowered her voice, her tone trembling with tears.
“Pan Di’s reputation is completely ruined. If he stays at home, how will Bao Gen find a wife in the future?”
Which family would be willing to marry into a family with a sister-in-law who attempted murder?
Besides... that girl's eyes have been acting strange lately, I'm afraid she might cause trouble again someday..."
Zhang Tiezhu sighed heavily, and in the swirling smoke, the wrinkles on his face deepened.
"What can we do? She's our daughter after all..."
"Daughter? A money-loser!"
Zhao Jinlan interrupted with a shrill voice, then quickly suppressed it.
“She’s a jinx to our family now! A distant relative just sent word the other day that someone in the old mountain village up north is willing to pay a dowry to marry a woman, not caring about reputation, as long as she can work and have children… This is the amount of the dowry.”
She gestured.
Zhang Tiezhu's hand trembled, and he almost dropped his pipe.
"That...that's like pushing your daughter into a fire pit! I heard that place is so poor it's like a godforsaken place, and the men there are all..."
"That's still better than keeping Baogen at home and harming him!"
Zhao Jinlan's tone turned harsh.
"A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup; whether she lives or dies is none of our business anymore! At least the dowry will help Baogen save something."
Otherwise, our family will have given all our work points to the Gu family this year, and we'll be starving at the end of the year! How will Baogen get married in the future?
In the darkness, behind the crack in the door of another small house, Zhang Pandi covered her mouth tightly, tears silently streaming down her face.
She heard every word her parents said, and every single word felt like an icicle piercing her heart.
It turns out that in her parents' eyes, she was ultimately just a commodity that could be exchanged for money, a sacrifice that could be abandoned at any time to protect her younger brother.
Hatred for Gu Baobao, resentment at the injustice of fate, and despair for her family grew wildly and entangled in her heart, eventually settling into a dark swamp.
A few days later, late one night, a dilapidated donkey cart quietly drove out of Qinghetun.
A young woman with a rag stuffed in her mouth and a lifeless look in her eyes was tied up in the car; it was Zhang Pandi.
She didn't struggle; she just stared with empty eyes at the dark, moonless sky.
The driver was a 40-something bachelor with a wrinkled face and cloudy eyes. He grinned, revealing yellow and black teeth, and occasionally glanced at the people on the bus with a sticky look.
The donkey cart rolled over the dirt road and disappeared into the thick darkness of the night.
Zhang Pandi's fate seemed to have been brutally rewritten at this moment.
But deep within those lifeless eyes, a faint yet stubborn light flickered one last time:
This matter is not over yet.
But that's a story for another time; Gu Baobao is unaware of it for now.
She is not a saint, and she will not abuse her sympathy for the murderer who killed the original owner.
Only when she occasionally heard people discussing the news that the Zhang family had hastily married off their third daughter to a distant place would she frown slightly, a strange sense of vigilance flashing through her mind.
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