Chapter 6

"Here? But it should be..."

"Should be what?"

Liang Ying stepped forward. Her gaze was cold, though a dull ache stirred in her heart. "Bai Xiaoyan, Lianhua just said even rabbits don't eat the grass beside their burrows. You stole a coworker's ration coupons. Have you no conscience?"

Reminded of what she had said, Lin Lianhua flushed. Her face turned red, then pale.

"No, I... I..."

In a panic, Bai Xiaoyan looked to Lin Lianhua, hoping she would help.

But Lin Lianhua had troubles of her own. She hurriedly looked away.

"Team leader, we can't just let this go!"

Sister Zhao's voice was rough, the veins standing out on her neck. "Lin Lianhua was right. If she steals coupons today, she'll steal money tomorrow. Everyone in this workshop has always behaved themselves. We can't let one rotten apple spoil the barrel."

"Team leader, I didn't! This is a misunderstanding!"

Bai Xiaoyan's face was streaked with tears and snot.

She looked pitiful.

But Liang Ying felt no sympathy for her.

Liang Ying knew that if someone else had been accused of theft, people might have shown mercy and let them off.

But her family background was considered bad, and her family still hadn't been rehabilitated. If she were framed for theft, she really could end up in prison.

With the current crackdown, she might even be made an example of. Her whole family would be ruined.

"A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? Didn't we find the coupons in your locker?"

Sister Zhao spat. "Now I know why you were so eager to help Xu Wen. The thief was crying thief!"

Bai Xiaoyan had no way to defend herself.

She couldn't explain how the coupons had ended up there.

"If you think you've been wronged, let's call the police."

Liang Ying pulled her coat tighter. "Then no one can say our workshop bullied you."

"We can't call the police!"

"We can't call the police!"

The two protests came at once. The first was from the team leader; the second was from Bai Xiaoyan.

Everyone turned to Bai Xiaoyan.

"And you still say you didn't do it!" Sister Zhao rolled her eyes and spat.

Bai Xiaoyan had no explanation left.

She could only lower her head, her eyes red. "Yes, I lost my head for a moment. But I only meant it as a joke. Xu Wen, please don't hold it against me, all right?"

Xu Wen said nothing. She shook off Bai Xiaoyan's hand.

Liang Ying said coolly, "Team leader, we don't have to call the police, but this isn't a small matter. I wouldn't dare work in the same workshop as a thief. Now that everyone knows she steals, who's to say she won't get revenge tomorrow?"

Her words struck at everyone else's fears.

They exchanged glances, then spoke up one after another.

"Team leader, we won't work with her!"

"That's right. Things have always been fine in the Third Workshop. We don't need someone with sticky fingers."

The team leader felt the same way.

She looked at Bai Xiaoyan and Xu Wen. "Come on. We're going to the Organization Department. Let the leaders decide what to do!"

It was already dark.

The snow had stopped, but the winter wind still slipped through the cracks into every home.

Huang Xirong was chatting with the others by the courtyard gate when she spotted Liang Ying approaching with her daughter-in-law. Her eyes lit up, and she sprang to her feet. "Jin Shui's wife, why are you back so late? Did something happen?"

She asked as though she already knew something must have happened.

Liang Ying suppressed her annoyance. She got off her bicycle and forced a smile. "Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine."

"Really?"

Huang Xirong didn't believe her. She looked at Lin Lianhua, who quietly shook her head. Liang Ying saw it and laughed. "If you don't believe me, ask your daughter-in-law. She knows all about it."

Lin Lianhua's face flushed with shame and anger.

"But Lianhua, don't be so careless next time. You've got eyes—use them." Liang Ying didn't mince words. "I was in a good mood today, so an apology was enough. Someone else might have slapped you."

She raised her hand as if to do just that.

Lin Lianhua jumped, lost her footing, and fell to the ground with her bicycle.

Liang Ying burst out laughing and pushed her bicycle inside.

Caught Eavesdropping on the Seventh Day ### "How did it go?"

As soon as Liang Ying entered, He Chunlian hurried over to ask.

Liang Ying nodded and put the New Year goods on the table. "It's taken care of."

"That's good." He Chunlian sighed in relief. She had worried all day, and now she could finally relax.

"Do you know who framed you?"

Liang Ying gave a bitter smile. "Xiaoyan."

"Bai Xiaoyan?" He Chunlian's eyes widened in disbelief.

Liang Ying nodded, picking at the cord of the mesh bag. A bitter taste filled her mouth.

Bai Xiaoyan had been her closest friend at the factory. When Liang Ying was ostracized because of her family background, Bai Xiaoyan had spoken up for her. And when Bai Xiaoyan's husband beat her because she couldn't bear him a son, Liang Ying had asked Gu Jinshui to stand up for her.

"Don't take it to heart."

He Chunlian sighed. "I heard that squawking busybody next door making a racket outside just now. Was her family involved?"

"I think Bai Xiaoyan and Lin Lianhua did it together," Liang Ying said. "I slipped the coupons into Bai Xiaoyan's locker. Knowing her temper, she probably won't let Lin Lianhua off."

"Good!"

Only then did He Chunlian cheer up.

The next day, Liang Ying heard the news as soon as she arrived at the factory: Bai Xiaoyan had received a major demerit and been transferred from the workshop to cleaning the toilets.

"Serves her right." Sister Zhao was still furious. "If you ask me, cleaning toilets is letting her off easy. She'll still make twenty or thirty yuan a month."

"That's a lot less than the fifty she used to earn."

Another coworker said, "I heard her mother-in-law and husband beat her when she got home last night."

Liang Ying felt nothing as she listened.

She had ended their friendship the moment she saw Bai Xiaoyan slip the coupons into her locker.

"Why are you pulling me? I can walk on my own!"

Afraid of being seen, Lin Lianhua glanced around.

Bai Xiaoyan's face was taut with anger. She gritted her teeth. "You're worried someone might see us? This was your rotten idea! Look what you've done to me!"

She pointed to the bruises on her face, her eyes red with fury.

Lin Lianhua felt guilty. "You can't blame me for this, Xiaoyan. I was only joking when I brought it up. You chose to do it yourself. And you even botched something so simple."

"You're blaming me?" Bai Xiaoyan seethed. If Lin Lianhua hadn't egged her on, would she have plotted against Liang Ying? "You've left me cleaning toilets! You owe me compensation!"

"Xiaoyan, be reasonable."

Lin Lianhua frowned and pulled her hand free. "You did it, and the leaders decided your punishment. You can't pin this on me."

"So you won't pay?"

Bai Xiaoyan gave her a cold smile. She dropped the mop and turned to leave. Lin Lianhua's heart lurched, and she quickly grabbed her. "Xiaoyan, where are you going?"

"To ask the leaders to settle this."

Bai Xiaoyan's smile didn't reach her eyes. "If I'm going down, you're coming with me! What do you think everyone will say when they find out it was your idea? I got a major demerit. You should get at least a minor one, shouldn't you?"

Lin Lianhua's face nearly turned green.

"How much do you want?"

"Fifty yuan!" Bai Xiaoyan held out her hand.

Lin Lianhua stared. Fifty yuan was her entire month's pay, which she had received only that morning.

"Impossible. How am I supposed to explain that money being gone?"

"I don't care. Figure it out. Or don't pay me."

Bai Xiaoyan lifted her chin and crossed her arms.

At the gate, Gu Jinshui sent Shanhu, Douzi, and Sun Yaozu on their way, telling them to come back on the fifth day of the New Year. Then he carried his basket inside.

He had barely reached the back courtyard when he heard crying and scolding from the East Wing Room.

The crying sounded like the Song Family's little girl; the scolding sounded like her grandmother.

It bothered Gu Jinshui. He stopped and called out, "Come on, Song Jianshe. Must your family beat a child today of all days? It's New Year's Eve. Don't bring bad luck on yourselves."

"How we discipline our child is our business. What's it to you?"

Huang Xirong lifted the curtain and planted her hands on her hips. "Gu, keep your nose out of our business."

Behind her, Song Chaohua stared at Gu Jinshui through a tear-streaked face, hatred in her eyes.

Gu Jinshui found that strange, but he couldn't be bothered to argue with the Song Family. "Fine, hit her then. She isn't our child. If you hurt her, it's no concern of mine."

"What do you mean by that? Are you cursing our child, you rotten hooligan..." Huang Xirong's face darkened, but Gu Jinshui ignored her and carried his things inside.

He Chunlian was kneading dough. She rolled her eyes when she saw him. "You went looking for trouble. Why stick your nose in when someone else is disciplining their child?"

"I have a daughter now. I felt sorry for theirs." Gu Jinshui rubbed his nose, set down the basket, pushed aside the straw on top, and lifted out a large slab of pork belly. "Mom, look at this meat."

He Chunlian's eyes lit up. She didn't ask where it had come from. "That's good meat. I'll save half of it and split that between my family and your wife's."

"Mom, you really don't have to go to so much trouble," Liang Ying said. "There aren't many people in my cousin's household. Save more for your side."

"Oh, my family raises pigs. They aren't short of meat. Your cousin's the only one in his household with a job. A little extra will help when he visits people for the holiday."

He Chunlian was decisive. "Leave it to me. That's what we'll do."

Liang Ying was grateful. She knew her mother-in-law was thinking of her because her cousin was the only family she had left.

Gu Jinshui looked around. "Where's Yin Xing?"

"Inside, entertaining your daughter." He Chunlian nodded toward the room. "She's twenty, yet she chats away with that baby as if they understand each other. I do worry about her."

Gu Jinshui was about to go see his daughter when a familiar voice called from outside, "Auntie He, are you home?"

He Chunlian lifted the curtain. It was Liang Ying's cousin Liang Renyi, whom they had just been discussing, with his family. "Oh! What brings you here?"

"We came to celebrate the New Year with you!"

Liang Renyi swung the things in his hand. "We brought a little something. You won't turn us away, will you, Auntie?"

He Chunlian took a look: half a hairtail fish, a palm-sized piece of meat, and two large heads of cabbage. The family wore clothes covered in patches and looked hard up.

Liang Renyi's son Liang Liang was plump, though none too clean. Just then, he raised a hand to wipe his runny nose.

"We're family. We're delighted you came."

He Chunlian hurried them inside, poured tea and water, and brought out a tray of sweets and sunflower seeds.

Liang Renyi spotted the large slab of fatty pork at once. "Your family must have earned plenty this year, Auntie, to afford such a big piece of pork."

Hearing the commotion, Gu Yinxing came out holding the baby. She rolled her eyes. "We earn just enough to get by."

"Yin Xing!" He Chunlian glared at her, warning her with a look to watch what she said. Liang Renyi was Liang Ying's cousin, after all.

Gu Yinxing pursed her lips.

So what if she didn't like Liang Renyi? He had shifty eyes and was as round as a barrel. Who would believe his family was hard up?

"No matter how you're doing, it's better than us," said Liang Renyi's wife, Zhao Fenglai, with a sigh. "We wanted to bring more, but this was all we had left at home. We couldn't help it. Old Liang's the only one with a job, and the boy gets sick every few days..."

Hearing himself mentioned, Liang Liang looked up and sniffed.

"That's right. I don't know when we'll live like you, Auntie. Look at this fine white flour, this lovely filling, this beautiful pork..."

Liang Renyi's eyes swept over the food on the table, naked greed in his gaze.

Liang Ying's ears burned with embarrassment.

Gu Yousi had had enough of the family's performance.

"Pretend