Chapter 5

"What kind of joke is that?" Lu Jiancheng almost thought his ears had failed him. As his sister would put it, this was completely unhinged!

Lu Tinglan also thought Bai Rui had lost her mind.

Did I open the door wrong and walk into a hallucination? Five hundred yuan! That's a year and a half of Second Brother's wages, or several years of income for a rural family—and that's before the worker-peasant-soldier university place. Forget Second Brother as he is now. Even when he was hopelessly lovesick, he would never have agreed to this!

Mother Lu and Father Lu had just returned from work with hoes on their shoulders. They heard Bai Rui's outrageous demands at the gate and immediately spoke up.

"If you really want someone to take responsibility, go to the provincial capital and find He Wei. Why drag our second son into it?"

"Village Chief Lu." Bai Rui knew who held authority here. Instead of looking at Lu Jiancheng, she stared straight at Father Lu. "Who fathered the child in my belly isn't for its father to decide, and it isn't for your family to decide. It's for—"

Bai Rui curled a finger toward herself, a smile full of malice tugging at her lips. "Me to decide."

Seeing his whole family threatened because of him, Lu Jiancheng shook with anger. "Dad, don't listen to her. I refuse to believe she can pin something on me that I've never done!"

"Second Son." Father Lu sensed something was wrong and stopped his agitated son, his face taut. "Be quiet. Let her finish."

"At least one of you has some sense. Otherwise, tsk, tsk, tsk..." Bai Rui took an unhurried sip of tea. "Once you've heard me out, you'll know my demands are perfectly reasonable. The child in my belly is real, and Lu Jiancheng did pursue me. What do you think would happen if I sent a report to the Police Station or the Educated Youth Office—"

"The son of Lu Family Village's chief raped an educated youth. Would that be enough to cost both you and your son your lives? Now that I think about it, my demands are far too modest." Bai Rui let out a couple of theatrical sighs.

She had thought her demands through. Five hundred yuan would keep her fed and comfortable, and the university place would secure her future. As for marrying Lu Jiancheng—

Bai Rui touched her belly anxiously. She had secretly visited a barefoot doctor, who had told her that her health was poor and that if she aborted this child, she might never be able to have another. The longer she waited, the further along she became. She was nearly five months pregnant now; a bowl of medicine would no longer solve it. She would have to go to a hospital. But that required a marriage certificate and proof of identity. How was an unmarried young woman like Bai Rui supposed to produce all that?

After turning it over and over in her mind, Bai Rui could only latch on to Lu Jiancheng again. She needed to give her child a legitimate identity. She couldn't let him be branded a bastard the moment he was born.

Mother Lu trembled with anger. Father Lu narrowed his eyes, his expression turning grim.

Bai Rui's move was vicious. Father Lu understood that a person was innocent until proven guilty, but if she went around spreading accusations, lies could become the truth.

Lu Jiancheng clenched his fists so hard that the veins in his forehead throbbed. At this point, he could no longer harbor the slightest illusion about the woman he had once loved.

This had started with him, and he had brought this disaster upon them. Lu Jiancheng hated himself for ignoring his parents' warnings back then, mistaking a venomous snake for a white lotus. It was too late for regrets now.

"Mom, Dad, there's no need to argue anymore." He looked at Bai Rui in defeat, nothing but deep disgust left in his eyes. "This is between us. Leave my family out of it. I'll marry you. But forget about the university place."

"Jiancheng!"

Seeing her son's spirit drain away, Mother Lu remembered the ending her daughter had mentioned in her thoughts and burst into tears. A man needed a virtuous wife. If her second son married this venomous woman, his life would be ruined.

Father Lu was the village chief, but he had been chosen years ago for his honesty and fairness. He had seen plenty of scheming over the years, yet this was the first time anyone had driven him into such a corner.

For a moment, bleakness settled over the Lu family's little courtyard. Only Lu Tinglan remained quietly watching the drama unfold, while Bai Rui basked in her triumph.

"Don't just stand there. The water in my cup's gone cold. Go boil another kettle for me!"

What Bai Rui disliked most about Lu Jiancheng's sister was that they were both high-school graduates, yet Lu Tinglan got to stay home, eating well and being treated like royalty. Meanwhile, Bai Rui had been sent far from home to work the fields every day in this godforsaken village. Now that she had the chance, she intended to be a wicked sister-in-law and make the younger woman's life miserable.

Hold on. I'm thinking!

Lu Tinglan's feet might as well have taken root. She did not move.

"What, you won't even do as I say?" The sight of her acting like a pampered young lady made Bai Rui's temper flare. "I'd better go ask the Educated Youth Office what they think of this. Let's see if they'll step in."

The Lu family's faces darkened further. This woman really did wield the Educated Youth Office like a feather held up as an imperial decree. Worse, they had to let her.

Lu Jiancheng was silent for a long time before finally forcing out, "Let's divide the family property, Mom, Dad."

"Jiancheng... Second Son, what are you saying?"

Lu Jiancheng shook his head, helplessness written deep across his face. At this point, dividing the family was the only solution. He would bear the consequences of his own mistake rather than drag his family down with him.

Lu Tinglan had been watching Bai Rui all along, her mind racing through the plot she remembered. How could she find this woman's weak spot? A thought flashed through her mind, and she had her answer.

"Mom, Dad, please go outside. I have something to discuss with Bai Rui alone."

Father Lu hesitated. If all the adults together could not handle this, wouldn't leaving his daughter alone with Bai Rui just give the woman a chance to bully her? But Mother Lu tugged at his sleeve and pulled both him and the stunned Lu Jiancheng outside.

Mother Lu felt that her daughter knew what she was doing. She also hoped that strange gift of foreknowledge might turn things around.

With the courtyard cleared, it became a battleground for Lu Tinglan and Bai Rui. Bai Rui casually smoothed her hair, as though she did not consider Lu Tinglan an opponent at all.

Lu Tinglan chose the seat farthest from her and spoke without hurry. "He Wei left four months ago. He should still be a trainee at the provincial capital's cotton mill, shouldn't he?"

Bai Rui tensed at once, sitting up straight without thinking. "What business is that of yours?" she demanded sharply.

"How is it not my business?"

From her reaction, Lu Tinglan knew she had found the first weak spot. Bai Rui was hopelessly lovesick, and He Wei would be Lu Tinglan's first blade.

"If you dare go to the Educated Youth Office and make up lies about my brother, I dare get the whole village to sign a report about He Wei and send it to the cotton mill. Improper conduct and an illicit relationship, plus damage to public property. Do you think those two charges would be enough to get him fired and sent back here to be an educated youth?"

"You wouldn't dare!" With the person dearest to her threatened, Bai Rui turned into a mother hen guarding her chicks.

"Why wouldn't I?" Lu Tinglan gave her a faint smile. "Besides, don't you think I'd be helping you?"

"If He Wei came back, you two could be a loving couple again. Wouldn't that beat settling for my second brother?"

That... actually sounded rather nice. Bai Rui's gaze wandered as she remembered how loving she and He Wei had once been. She was almost drawn in by the rosy future Lu Tinglan had painted.

The next instant, she jolted back to her senses. No. She didn't just want them to be together; she wanted them to have a good life together. This would hurt He Wei. She absolutely could not allow it!

That blade had drawn blood, but it was not a decisive blow.

Lu Tinglan was in no hurry. She poured herself a cup of tea; it was just cool enough to drink. Bai Rui watched her warily, grinding her back teeth.

That brief exchange had been enough to show Bai Rui that this future sister-in-law was not easy to deal with. She needed to get away. She could not stay here with her!

Bai Rui sprang up from the stool, but Lu Tinglan's light words stopped her in her tracks.

"Sometimes I really can't tell whether you're clever or foolish. Clever enough to use your pregnancy to threaten an unrelated man for your own benefit, but foolish enough to stake your marriage on it?"

The novel was not finished, so Lu Tinglan did not know how Bai Rui's story ended. She doubted it ended well. He Wei had abandoned his pregnant girlfriend for a chance to return to the city. Surely he would abandon her again when something else came along.

Lu Tinglan looked straight at her belly. "You're already five months along. You won't be able to hide it much longer, will you?"

"You..." Bai Rui covered her belly protectively. Lu Tinglan walked over, bent down, and murmured into her ear with a soft laugh, "You can threaten the rest of the Lu family because they're honest, kind people. But I, Lu Tinglan, am not easy prey. You won't get a cent of bride price. Go ahead and marry into this family, and see whether I can make your life hell..."

The young woman's voice was clear, yet a ruthless edge ran through it. Every word struck Bai Rui's heart like a bomb, leaving her trembling all over.

Bai Rui wanted to convince herself that Lu Tinglan was just a paper tiger, but the look on the young woman's face was disturbingly earnest. Bai Rui believed her in spite of herself.

"Enough!" Bai Rui's lips went pale. Her rounded nails dug into her palms, drawing blood, but she forced herself to say, "It's a lie. You wouldn't dare threaten He Wei, and you won't do anything to me. You're trying to fool me! You're not Lu Tinglan at all. Who are you?"

The more frightened Bai Rui became, the gentler Lu Tinglan's smile grew. She brushed a stray lock of hair from Bai Rui's face, and goose bumps rose wherever her fingertips touched.

"I speak to people in their language and to ghosts in theirs. You bullied my family, so you should have been ready for me to strike back."

"I'll ask you one more time. Are you still set on your decision?"

"Aaaah!"

At that moment, Lu Tinglan looked little different from a life-claiming demon in Bai Rui's eyes. Bai Rui broke down and screamed. Was this really the Lu family's youngest daughter—the girl everyone called gentle, kind, and easiest to bully?