Learning It from You, Aren't I?

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Wasn't I Learning It from You?

Wang Xiaomei had come back to life now. The first thing she said was, "Why didn't you bring Su Ting along?"

Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes. "Go get a flashlight from Auntie Chen's. Are you afraid she won't know we're giving away the eggs we traded? Could she possibly be that clever?"

Wang Xiaomei looked disdainful. In her opinion, there was no way someone could be that clever. "Better be careful. Let's go."

"That's right. Your tongue was really sharp today. Not bad, not bad."

"So Sun Xia's matter is over now, right?"

"Mm, it should be over, as long as the village chief doesn't lose his mind."

"Two eggs... We really shouldn't have said so much. Look at Li Xiaowei—that was smart. He never went against the village from start to finish."

Lin Yuzhu felt a pang of frustration. She had been too impulsive. She should have let Wang Xiaomei charge in alone back then. Maybe her firepower would still have been just as fierce.

She had been careless. Wang Xiaomei was still chattering away.

The autumn wind rustled, and Lin Yuzhu shivered. She muttered, "Oh dear, why does it suddenly feel a little chilly?"

"Oh, you're mad now. Hurry up, let's go. The wind's blowing too—it's creepy."

The two of them quickened their pace. When they passed a cornfield, they heard something. Instantly, they both lowered their footsteps. Some indescribable sounds grew clearer and clearer. Wang Xiaomei jolted and nearly slipped, but Lin Yuzhu caught her. They acted like the thieves instead.

They hunched over and quietly passed by, not daring to linger for even a moment.

They were two girls with no family backing. If something really happened, could they count on their families to seek justice for them?

The emperor was far away. Their families might not even know if they died.

Only after they returned to the Educated Youth Dormitory did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Wang Xiaomei whispered, "Were there people... doing that in the field just now?"

Lin Yuzhu froze, then suddenly wanted to laugh. Only then did she remember how innocent girls of this era were about men and women. Pretending not to understand, she said, "Doing what? Oh, come on, you know what I mean. What were they doing in that bird nest?"

Lin Yuzhu giggled. "Wasn't I learning it from you?"

Wang Xiaomei snorted. "Hmph, don't go running into an electric punch!"

"Then how could they be so bold? If someone caught them, they'd be in deep trouble."

Lin Yuzhu shrugged. They had worked all day. Who would wander around for no reason? As for the village kids, it was pitch-black in the fields at night, and they did not like playing there. Even if one or two people discovered them, they might not meddle in it.

However, Lin Yuzhu had never expected that someone really would meddle.

And who was it? An old acquaintance—Auntie Li Si.

It was quite a coincidence. At this hour, everyone in the village was either cooking or already eating. Who else would wander all over the village like Auntie Li Si?

Auntie Li Si looked here and there and happened to spot Lin Yuzhu and Wang Xiaomei carrying cloth bags. His eyes darkened. He remembered how he had suffered at the hands of that little girl last time. How could he not avenge such humiliation?

Seeing the things in their hands, he knew they must be delivering gifts to the village chief's family. Could they have possibly gotten things from the village chief's family instead?

Auntie Li Si ground his teeth in hatred.

Good!

So that was why the village chief had defended that girl so much that day.

There really was something fishy going on. Instead of speaking up for people from his own village, he helped outsiders. So they had been supplying him with things! That rotten old man was truly wicked!

Auntie Li Si stared gloomily at Lin Yuzhu, spat on the ground, and decided to follow the two of them. Once they reached the Educated Youth Dormitory, he would catch that little slut with the goods and expose them for bribing the village chief's family.

He knew what the Educated Youths at the Educated Youth Dormitory were like. They might seem friendly on the surface, but behind the scenes, they schemed against one another.

If they found out Lin Yuzhu had bribed the village chief, they would surely make a scene. There would be plenty to watch afterward. The thought alone excited him.

Auntie Li Si followed them all the way to the cornfield, but his attention was suddenly drawn elsewhere. From the sounds alone, he knew what the two people in the field were doing. He was instantly captivated. In the pitch-black night, his eyes were nearly as sharp as a cat's.

Well now, this was a major matter. He forgot all about revenge, turned around, and ran to the village chief's house. He was afraid that if he was too slow, it would be over by the time he got back.

Before he even entered the village chief's yard, he was already shouting in his broken-gong voice.

That got everyone going. The neighbors all knew there was a spectacle to see, and more and more people gathered. A whole group hurried toward the cornfield. The village chief, caught in the middle, wore a stern expression. If someone had really committed a moral offense, it was no small matter.

By the time the group rushed in to catch them, the pair had just finished and were scrambling to get dressed. They were caught red-handed. Things immediately became lively. The villagers rushed forward and pinned them down. Some with wandering hands even groped them a few times, sparing neither man nor woman. They shone their flashlights over them, all wanting to see exactly who was with whom.

Once the light hit them, their true faces were revealed. It was Zhang the Widow from the village and Li Erhe. Zhang the Widow's husband had died just the year before last. Since she was called a widow, that meant she had not remarried.

As one of the people involved in the cornfield incident, Zhang the Widow's improper conduct went without saying. But Li Erhe's children were already married, and his wife happened to be among the onlookers. Seeing her own husband disheveled and panicked, she was instantly provoked. With a howl, she lunged forward and clawed at him. "Li Erhe! Didn't you say you were going to Sanhe's house?"

The people around them did not pull them apart. Instead, they watched the excitement from the side. After Auntie Erhe scratched up her own man, she went to yank Zhang the Widow's hair. The scene was vicious.

Only after Auntie Erhe had vented her anger and calmed down did she realize she should be afraid. By then, there was no way to smooth things over.

So the villagers tied up Zhang the Widow and Li Erhe, shoved them all the way to the threshing ground, then beat gongs and drums to gather the villagers for a meeting. Why not use the loudspeaker? The village chief thought it was too shameful.

And so Lin Yuzhu and Wang Xiaomei stood in the middle of the threshing ground with bewildered expressions.

The reason was naturally Auntie Li Si. Since he had discovered the matter, he had to explain the whole story to everyone. Thus, Lin Yuzhu and Wang Xiaomei got dragged into it.

Afraid of offending the village chief, Auntie Li Si did not dare expose the village chief for accepting gifts in public. He could only say that he had seen Educated Youth Lin and Educated Youth Wang walking at night, feared they might be in danger, and kindly followed behind to protect them. Since the three of them had had an unpleasant dispute before, he had been too embarrassed to go up and speak to them.

Naturally, the villagers did not believe that nonsense. They thought, You were probably looking to get revenge on those two girls, which was why you followed them all the way. You must have been plotting something bad.

That was no longer important. What mattered was that the villagers at the cornfield, in a rare display of unity, did not interrupt him and let him continue.

Auntie Li Si felt that he had rendered great service today. With his head high and chest out, he spoke vividly. "I followed them all the way. When we reached the cornfield, I thought those two girls were acting strange. When I went over and listened, good heavens, the sounds coming from inside made even me blush! It was Zhang the Widow, that shameless slut!"

Auntie Li Si rambled on for a long while. The village chief could not bear to listen anymore and interrupted him, asking Lin Yuzhu and Wang Xiaomei, "You two girls... did you hear it too?"

Lin Yuzhu was somewhat baffled. They had already tied up two half-dressed people and brought them here. Did they really need her confirmation?

With a red face, Lin Yuzhu said, "The wind was pretty strong then. We thought it was cats yowling. It was creepy, so we got scared and ran away."

"We don't really understand what Auntie Li Si is talking about. Anyway, we don't know anything."

"Oh, what could two young girls possibly understand?"

The villagers had long been eager to draw their conclusion.

Auntie Erhe wanted to say something, but her voice was drowned out by the surrounding clamor. The entire threshing ground had become chaotic. People shouted that Zhang the Widow and Li Erhe had been fooling around, that their conduct was immoral, and that they had to be severely punished.

No one knew who started it, but someone threw a pebble that struck Zhang the Widow. Then the crowd swarmed forward, hurling stones at Zhang the Widow and Li Erhe as they knelt on the ground, cursing them furiously.

Wang Xiaomei quickly pulled Lin Yuzhu away, afraid they would get dragged into it.

Standing far away, Lin Yuzhu watched the scene before her and found it absurd.

As for Zhang the Widow and Li Erhe, they went from cowering and dodging at first to gradually wearing blank, numb expressions.

The villagers around them were still fired up, cursing them for being shameless and corrupting morals, continuing to throw things and beat them. Even after they had beaten them bloody, there was no sign of stopping.

Someone even brought over a razor and shaved half of Zhang the Widow's hair off.

By then, Zhang the Widow's face was covered in blood, and her features could barely be made out.

The sight made Lin Yuzhu shudder from head to toe, her hair standing on end.

Just that morning, some of the people now attacking them had cheerfully greeted Zhang the Widow or Li Erhe and exchanged a few words with them. Yet now, not one person showed even the slightest regard for their past ties as fellow villagers. Every one of them looked so crazed.

Even after she returned home, Lin Yuzhu's hands were still icy. She lay on the kang for a long time, unable to sleep. It felt as if she had woken from a nightmare, her heart hollow after the shock, unable to make sense of the nightmare that had suddenly descended.

Human joys and sorrows meant nothing to the sun. It would still rise slowly at dawn and bring humanity a new day.

Everything from yesterday had become the past. Shanshui Village, nestled at the foot of the mountains, remained as it always had. Smoke curled from chimneys in the morning, mist veiled the mountains and waters, and the village was peaceful and secluded, looking entirely untouched by worldly strife.

When peace returned the next morning, the women working in the fields were still excited about yesterday's events. Each of them talked like a seasoned driver, nearly driving the conversation straight into the sky. The unmarried girls and boys blushed furiously. Some loose-lipped people even teased them, only to be scolded back by their elders, sparking several arguments.

The whole morning was lively and chaotic. Some women even came over to tease Wang Xiaomei and Lin Yuzhu, apparently wanting to pry some details from them, as if the two of them could open their mouths and tell a vivid story.

No matter how bold Wang Xiaomei was, she was still an unmarried young woman. With her face red, she lowered her head and worked.