A Chapter

Luckily, the tightly shut office door finally opened, and Lu Xiaohu came out with a little girl whose face was streaked with tears.

Holding an exercise book, he scolded her with the frustration of someone trying to hammer iron into steel. "How many times have I gone over these problems in class? How did you still get them wrong? Er Ya, your chance to study didn't come easily. Treasure it, and don't let your family down." His words carried a pointed warning.

The girl's quiet sobs stopped at once. Faced with an abuser whose standing in the village utterly eclipsed hers, she could hardly bring herself to tell the truth.

Lu Xiaohu had long since perfected his script for dealing with stubborn female students. Those few sentences were enough to make her bury what had happened and never speak of it.

Then he looked at the people outside and explained casually, "Graduation exams are coming up. As teachers, all we can do is give it our best. If more students get into middle school, they'll do us and our school proud."

Lu Tinglan chimed in with a couple of flattering remarks. Inside, she had already cursed him up one side and down the other.

The nerve of him, talking about how many students get in! Last year, only five boys from the whole village got into the county middle school. Not one girl did. How many girls have you two beasts ruined?

The atmosphere in the courtyard was too stifling for Er Ya. Unable to bear it, she covered her face and ran out. Lu Tinglan waited a while before following.

Perhaps because she felt so miserable, Er Ya wandered farther and farther from home until she reached the village stream. She stared blankly at the rushing water, crouched down, wrapped her arms around herself, and cried in silence.

Suddenly, a cool hand appeared before her, offering a clean handkerchief.

"Wipe your face. Your nose is running."

Er Ya did not take it. She swiped at her face twice with her ragged sleeve, then looked up and recognized Teacher Lu, who had arrived that day.

"I..."

Er Ya opened her mouth, but the words would not come. What good would telling anyone do? As Teacher Lu had said, people would only think she was shameless...

The more she wiped, the more tears came. Perhaps it was because someone was there beside her, but Er Ya suddenly broke down, crying so hard she nearly went into spasms.

Lu Tinglan stayed quietly at her side. The two sat by the cold stream in winter, saying nothing to each other for a long time.

Only after Er Ya had calmed down a little did Lu Tinglan gaze at the water and ask softly, "Do you want to strike back and ruin their reputations?"

Er Ya stared at her, mouth agape. It was a promise she could not resist.

Strike back? How? Could someone like me really do it?

Lu Tinglan leaned close to the girl's ear and quietly told her the plan.

The sun shed its last light as it slowly sank behind the mountains. A cold wind swept down from the summit, making Er Ya shiver where she hid among the bushes.

But no matter how cold it grew, she kept her eyes on the little temple halfway up the mountain, where a lamp was still burning. She waited so long that she nearly began to think Lu Tinglan had been toying with her when she spoke of revenge.

At last, a flash of light appeared before her. Er Ya sprang up and ran toward the village with all her might.

"Something's wrong! Something's wrong!" The little girl shouted at the top of her lungs, raising a commotion the moment she entered the village.

Doors creaked open one after another. Her cries brought out more than half the villagers.

An older woman who was hard of hearing caught hold of the frantic Er Ya. "What happened?"

"There's... there's a wolf on the hill!" It was probably Er Ya's first time lying, and neither her voice nor her expression was natural. Fortunately, the darkness hid it; otherwise, she would have given herself away.

An old man chuckled. "So there's a wolf. There's nobody on the hill anyway. Hurry home, girl. Your mother's been looking for you for ages."

"No, no!" Er Ya said anxiously. "There's a light up there. Principal Qin and Teacher Lu were still at school. They haven't left yet!"

"What?"

The crowd parted to let Lu Baoquan, the village chief, through. He had arrived at last with a torch in his hand, and he could tell at a glance that something was off about Er Ya.

The more he thought about it, the stranger tonight's events seemed. His daughter had not come home yet, either. Father Lu realized Lu Tinglan must have had a hand in this little performance.

As her father, he had to play along.

Without hesitating, Father Lu called out to the village, "Whatever's going on, two lives could be at stake. Grab what you can, men, and follow me up the mountain!"

At Father Lu's call, dozens of warmhearted villagers marched up the mountain in a great procession.

Ten minutes earlier, Lu Tinglan and Jiang Xingnian had still been crouched outside the same old window. The dismissal bell had rung long ago, and the last student had slung a small cloth bag over one shoulder and left the classroom.

Only Lu Xiaohu and Qin Shujie, that rotten pair of men, remained inside.

Bored out of her mind, Lu Tinglan crouched outside and counted the ants on the ground. At ant number 382, she finally heard Lu Xiaohu speak, jealousy thick in his voice. "Stay away from me. When you saw Educated Youth Jiang earlier, you couldn't take your eyes off him. Are you still hung up on him?"

Qin Shujie had none of the good temper he showed outsiders. He gave a derisive laugh. "Everything you have now came from me, Lu Xiaohu. What gives you the right to tell me what to do?"

Then came the rustle of clothes and a series of suggestive, wet sounds. Lu Tinglan pricked up her ears and suddenly heard Qin Shujie murmur, hoarse and strained, "Xingnian."

...!!!

Lu Tinglan would rather believe she had lost her mind than accept that she had really heard him say that.

Wow—how thrilling. So this whole world is one enormous stand-in romance. You city folk really know how to have fun...

Lu Tinglan's eyes shone as she looked at Jiang Xingnian, like a badger that had stumbled into a melon patch. I'd love to interview the man beside me. How does it feel to be part of those two rotten men's little game?

Jiang Xingnian: "..."

If silence was golden, he would surely have been the richest man in the world today.

Lu Tinglan sneaked a peek through the gap in the window—

Wow—they're all over each other!

She took a closer look—

Ahhhhhhhhh—stop, stop, stop! What are you doing? What are you two doing? Stop taking your clothes off! And your hands—your hands! Watch where you're putting them—

Inside, Lu Tinglan had become a weeping cartoon cat. Mom, I saw something I shouldn't have. I'm not innocent anymore! Waaaaah...

A vein throbbed on Jiang Xingnian's forehead as he listened. The goose bumps he had gotten from being desired by another man vanished quickly beneath Lu Tinglan's piercing inner screams.

"Stop looking. You'll get a sty!"

He reached out and covered Lu Tinglan's eyes. Her face was scarlet with excitement, and she squirmed beneath his hand—

Don't block me! Let me see, let me see! Just one more look!

One covered her eyes while the other tried to pry his hand away. Though they tried to keep their movements small, Lu Tinglan accidentally stepped on a dry twig. It snapped with a crack.

"Who's there?"

Qin Shujie called out warily from inside. Always on his guard, he pulled himself out of the heat of the moment at once and began throwing on his clothes.

Meanwhile, the large group of villagers had reached the little temple.

Father Lu lowered his voice. "Er Ya, are you sure you saw a wolf here?"

Er Ya swallowed hard. "Grandpa Lu, I saw its glowing green eyes clearly. It was definitely a wolf. Maybe it ran off when it saw how many of us there were."

"It's too late to be up here. Let's get the principal and Teacher Lu and go down together!"

With that, Er Ya trotted over and opened the door behind which a lamp was still burning.

Bang— She pushed so hard that the door nearly burst open. The two naked men inside were exposed, with nothing concealed, before the whole crowd of villagers.

"Ah—" The little girl had never seen anything like it. She stood frozen in the doorway, unable to react for a long moment.

Father Lu was the one who finally pulled her aside and covered her eyes.

The little girl's shriek cut through the air. Under so many staring eyes, the two men inside went soft, as anyone might have expected.

The sight was so shocking that, apart from that scream, an uncanny silence settled over the crowd. Only the torches crackled in their hands. Orange-red firelight played across the men's pale faces and stark-naked bodies, making them look especially ridiculous.

Qin Shujie shoved Lu Xiaohu away from beneath him, then hastily snatched up his clothes to cover himself.

"What is..." It took Father Lu a long time to force out even those words.

Everyone at the door was a villager who had watched Lu Xiaohu grow up. Their many gazes, each bearing a different judgment, raked over him without mercy. His voice shook. "Let me explain..."

Before he could finish, Liu Cuilan came charging in from who knew where, straight at Qin Shujie like a maddened bull. "You shameless wretch! You seduced my son!"

When Liu Cuilan heard that wretched Er Ya sound the alarm, she had feared something had happened to her precious son and rushed up the mountain. She had never expected to see a scene that made her eyes nearly bulge from their sockets.

Shift the blame. She had to shift the blame!

Qin Shujie stood nearly six feet tall, but Liu Cuilan pinned him down by sheer force. Her palm, broad as a fan, struck him from both sides, landing more than a dozen slaps in minutes.

Lu Tinglan had quietly led Jiang Xingnian around the corner and in through the front door. She arrived just in time for this thrilling round of slaps. Watching these two dogs tear into each other is so satisfying!

Qin Shujie was a grown man, after all. Liu Cuilan had only managed to hold him down because she had caught him off guard. Now he gritted his teeth, heaved, and broke free of the madwoman.

Caught unprepared, Liu Cuilan stumbled and nearly fell. She glared and moved to hit him again, but Qin Shujie was not about to give her the chance.

He was no soft persimmon to be squeezed at will. He spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. "Auntie, what you just said is utter nonsense. I didn't seduce Lu Xiaohu. He came to me on his own, offering to be my whore!"

"Fuck!" Lu Xiaohu's eyes reddened. He wanted nothing more than to devour this bastard who had turned black into white. Qin Shujie had been the one who used his job and that sordid business with the students to threaten him. How had Lu Xiaohu become the whore?

Lu Xiaohu drew a breath, ready to throw the blame back, but Qin Shujie stopped him with words he had clearly prepared.

Qin Shujie gave him a smile that was not quite a smile. "Teacher Lu, this has already become ugly enough. It wouldn't be good if the students found out..."

With that one sentence, Lu Xiaohu's face went white—whiter even than when the two of them had been caught.

Qin Shujie was threatening him. If Lu Xiaohu refused to take the blame, Qin Shujie would expose how he had molested female students.

Lu Tinglan could plainly see Lu Xiaohu's dilemma and watched with interest. Well, well. What will he do? Admit he's a whore who seduces men, or admit he's scum who preys on students? Of two evils, which is the lesser?

Just then, Er Ya led another large group of people up the mountain. Lu Ting, who had clashed with Lu Tinglan that afternoon, charged at the front, worried about Teacher Lu.

The girl, barely in her teens, threw herself against her teacher.

She raised a hand and pointed at Qin Shujie, disbelief filling her eyes. "Principal Qin, I never thought you were that kind of man! Teacher Lu is such a good person, and you've been threatening and humiliating him all this time. You, you..."

Qin Shujie was so furious with this female student, whose head was still full of fog, that he nearly laughed. Everyone was about to heap all the blame on him. He could not let his old lover slip away so easily.

"Fine, fine, fine." Bloodshot veins spread through Qin Shujie's eyes, and he looked half-crazed. "I'll admit I'm no good man, but Lu Xiaohu and I both wanted it. Neither of us can compare to what he's done..."

He was preparing to bring out everything he had, even if it meant they both went down together.

Lu Tinglan's eyes gleamed. Yes, fight! Hurry up and tear into each other. Whoever digs up the juiciest secrets wins two more days to live!

Lu Xiaohu's face grew more ashen with every word Qin Shujie spoke. Then, from somewhere, Lu Ting found the courage to stand and make a confession to the villagers outside.

Lu Ting said, "Principal Qin, I know what you're trying to threaten him with. You don't need to say it. I'll say it myself. I, Lu Ting, am together with Lu Xiaohu—with Teacher Lu! Nobody forced or bribed me. We're truly in love!"

"Teacher Lu, I won't be your weakness. Whatever you face, I'll face it with you!"

Her declaration rang out with conviction and left everyone there thunderstruck.

Holy shit. A born love-struck fool. Utterly brainless.

Lu Tinglan did not consider herself a good person, but she truly wanted to do her best to protect these girls. She had never intended to use them as weapons against Lu Xiaohu and Qin Shujie. Even Er Ya had only been given the job of going down the mountain to call for help and stir everyone up.

She had never imagined that Lu Ting would turn out to be such an oddity.

You can save someone who courts disaster once. You can't save someone who does it over and over.

Lu Tinglan was dumbstruck. A glance around showed that everyone else looked much the same. Tonight's revelations were explosive: two men involved with each other, then a teacher involved with a student. When had Lu Family Village ever had so many scandals at once?

Before Lu Ting could finish basking in her declaration of true love, her father, who had arrived late, burst from the crowd, drew back his arm, and slapped his love-struck daughter hard.

Smack—

"I'll beat you to death, you shameless little wretch!"

Next came Lu Xiaohu, who had stayed out of it while his mother and student charged into battle for him.

Smack—

"She's your student, a girl that young, and you still laid hands on her. Are you even human?"

He did not spare Qin Shujie or Liu Cuilan, either.

"A mother who fails to raise her son properly bears the blame. You raised a bastard like this, so you deserve a slap too!"

"You made a bargain with a tiger. You deserve one too!"

A man who worked the fields year-round had strength in his hands that was no joke. One slap apiece left four swollen faces in the room.

Lu Ting clutched her cheek, incredulous. "Dad, you actually hit me!"

Her father looked at her, his eyes brimming with disappointment. "Don't call me Dad. I never had a daughter as rotten as you!"

Once word of this spread, how was their family supposed to hold its head up in the village again?

The villagers watching began to mutter among themselves.

"The way she's defending him, I bet they've already turned the raw rice into cooked rice."

"That's what happens to a child without a mother to teach her. It's bad enough she hooked up with her teacher, but he's a man who lets another man have his way with him. Tsk, tsk."

"She's already chasing men at fourteen. Imagine what she'll be like when she's grown..."

Each remark struck Lu Ting where it hurt.

"Ahhhhh..." She suddenly broke down screaming.

Lu Tinglan hurriedly took two steps back.

Is she about to go berserk? I'd better keep my distance.

Jiang Xingnian took a long step back with her.

Cherish life. Stay away from madwomen!

The scene was in chaos. Er Ya watched quietly from the crowd, then resolved to add fuel to the fire.

She gave Lu Ting a complicated look and spoke without warning. "I'll say what that beast Qin Shujie didn't dare say. Lu Xiaohu wasn't just involved with Lu Ting."

It took great courage to say what came next. Er Ya drew a deep breath. "That scum has been harassing me for a long time too—"

Until then, the adults could have treated it as someone else's scandal. Er Ya's words made every parent with a daughter grow quietly anxious.

The female students in the crowd stirred. Someone had finally dragged the festering wound they had kept hidden inside into the sunlight. They did not have the courage to step forward, so they silently cheered on their brave fellow student.

As Er Ya recalled what had happened, her voice choked again. "I refused, so Lu Xiaohu kept picking on me. I don't know how many girls he's used that trick on. He's scum! He doesn't deserve to be a teacher!"

"Fuck!"

Several hot-tempered villagers, men and women alike, charged forward. Fists as big as sandbags rained down on Lu Xiaohu and Qin Shujie. Scum like them did not deserve to live!

The despair in the girl's tearful accusation rang in everyone's ears. Expectant eyes turned to Father Lu, waiting for the village chief to decide what to do.

Father Lu waited until the crowd had vented its anger before calling a halt. "The village primary school will dismiss them first. The village committee will discuss what to do after that."

"All right, all right. Anyone who isn't involved, go home." Father Lu began clearing the crowd.

In the end, only a few female students' parents remained, along with Lu Tinglan and Jiang Xingnian, who had quietly watched the whole spectacle.

Qin Shujie seemed to realize something. He glared fiercely at Er Ya. "It was you. You planned everything that happened tonight!"

There could not be so many coincidences. They had fooled around at the school countless times, yet tonight, of all nights, a large group had come up the mountain armed and caught them.

A smile that did not belong on someone her age appeared on Er Ya's face. "Teacher Qin, I was the last one here. I'm completely innocent."

"Besides, after doing so many things you ought to be ashamed of, you had to know someone would find out one day."

Qin Shujie knew there was no escaping this, so he could not be bothered to struggle anymore. Lu Ting's father saw his daughter huddled close to Lu Xiaohu, and anger surged through him. He threw out a bitter ultimatum.

"Since you've got yourself a man, come home tomorrow and we'll divide up the household..."

"Dad, what are you saying?" Lu Ting was rebellious, but she had never imagined it would come to this. Besides, if he split off a daughter not yet fourteen, could she really support herself on the work points she earned?

Tears instantly filled Lu Ting's eyes. "I just want to be with someone who truly treats me well. What did I do wrong? Mom's gone. Are you abandoning me too?"

As if she had lost her mind, Lu Ting lunged at her stepmother, who stood nearby. "It's all your fault! You nasty woman, you must have been saying bad things about me every day!"

Lu Ting's stepmother was heavily pregnant. The lunge frightened her so badly that she clutched her chest and stumbled several steps backward.

It was not really Lu Tinglan's place to judge another family, but Lu Ting's family had done right by her. Her father had waited three years after her mother's death to remarry, and her stepmother had not become pregnant until two years after joining the family.

The best things in the household had gone to Lu Ting. Even the fabric of the clothes she wore was nearly as fine as Lu Tinglan's, while her stepmother's clothes were covered in layer upon layer of patches.

Lu Tinglan was speechless. She might as well have given birth to a slab of roast pork.

Father Lu and Jiang Xingnian nodded in agreement.

Lu Tinglan had said exactly what they were thinking!

Lu Ting's father was utterly disappointed in his daughter. He shook his head and walked away, his steps slow and unsteady.

Lu Tinglan delivered one last congratulation, a knife straight to the heart: "Congratulations on getting what you wanted. Now you and Teacher Lu will never have to be apart again."

Lu Ting choked on her words. "You... you, you—"

Lu Tinglan blinked and gave her a polite smile.

Sorry, girl obsessed with fighting other women. Lu Tinglan never waited until morning to get even.

Jiang Xingnian watched her walk away, the faintest smile curling his lips.

What had begun as a trip up the mountain to rescue someone had turned into news of a scandalous affair.

Liu Cuilan had gone up on her own two feet, only to faint from anger and be carried back down. As for the two scoundrels, Village Chief Lu had left people at the school to keep watch over them.

Seeing her old enemy lose face so spectacularly, Mother Lu laughed and cursed with satisfaction. "Liu Cuilan's as sturdy as an ox. Who'd believe she fainted? She's just too ashamed to come down on her own! You can tell what someone will be like at three. I said long ago that shifty-eyed bastard she brought home was no good!"

"I feel sorry for those female students..." Lu Jiancheng had been on night duty and missed the whole spectacle. After hearing Lu Tinglan recount it, he sat stunned for a long time before speaking.

Several students' reputations were at stake. Before leaving, Father Lu had asked the villagers who had gone up the mountain that day not to let the matter out.

But people had mouths, and how could paper ever wrap up fire? He could only hope the team made a decision quickly, before the rumors grew more outrageous.

The light in the Lu Family's main room burned all night. Cadres of every rank in the Production Team had gathered there.

This was a difficult matter!

The cigarette at Father Lu's lips went out, then flared again. He fiddled with the curled corner of a page and said, "Let's hear it. What does everyone think?"

Xu Yin, the Production Team Deputy Leader, stepped in to smooth things over. "It's just two men getting together. How big a deal is that? They're young and foolish. Send them home, let their parents give them a talking-to, and they'll mend their ways!"

He had not gone up the mountain to see the commotion that night, but Liu Cuilan had come to him with ten yuan. One way or another, Xu Yin had to make a big problem seem small and a small problem disappear.