He Manshu was clever. From the look on everyone's faces, she could immediately tell that she had become the target of their anger. But would she allow herself to become a thorn in everyone's side so easily?
Of course not.
Pretending to be terrified, she gave a dramatic shiver. The moment she did, Wang Xiu, who had been leaning on her, lost her support and crashed to the ground.
Damn! That hurts!
The ground at the Wang family's house had been trampled down over many years—it was as hard as concrete. The "fainting" Wang Xiu fell straight onto it with a loud thud. That fall nearly knocked her half-dead. Worse yet, a small rock—who knows where it came from—was right where her face landed. She was now dangerously close to being disfigured.
If she hadn't remembered to maintain her "delicate" persona, Wang Xiu would have jumped up and started cursing.
It hurt like hell!
As Wang Xiu hit the ground, everyone's attention shifted to her.
"Oh no! Mom, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault! I wasn't strong enough to hold you up!" (She threw Wang Fugui under the bus again.)
He Manshu, having slyly sabotaged Wang Xiu, squatted beside her and began to cry. Her sobbing sounds painted her as a helpless victim.
The real culprits? Wang Fugui and his mother!
If the mother and son hadn't come causing trouble at the Wang household, how would the villagers have ended up in a mass brawl while trying to break up the fight? How would they have almost been accused by the Party Secretary of inciting a group fight?
Once everyone pieced the cause and effect together, they looked at Wang Fugui and his mother like they were human garbage.
Ugly and always stirring up trouble!
With the crowd's attention diverted, He Manshu and Wang Xiu were effectively ignored.
After the chaos, Wang Fugui and his mother were in terrible shape. His mother had been pinned down by Wang Old Lady and several daughters-in-law. Her clothes were torn and filthy, her face scratched in multiple places, and her graying hair was now a tangled mess.
Some of her scalp was bleeding from hair being ripped out. It looked painful.
One look at the scene, and Party Secretary Wang Zhiguo turned to Wang Fugui. After all, women weren't usually held responsible—it was the men who would be blamed.
Unfortunately, Wang Fugui looked even worse than his mother.
Already ugly to begin with, after being beaten, his face looked more like a swollen pig's head than ever. The swelling actually softened the ugliness a little, making him slightly less offensive to look at.
Suppressing his anger, Wang Zhiguo barked, "Wang Goudan, explain yourself! Why did you cause trouble?!"
If he didn't get a clear answer today, he'd have this guy sent straight to a labor reform camp.
Group fights weren't a joke.
If someone reported this to the commune, even the Party Secretary could get into serious trouble.
Realizing how serious things were, Wang Zhiguo's anger only grew.
But Wang Fugui stayed silent, head bowed.
He didn't dare speak the truth.
He couldn't say that it was Comrade Li—the educated youth—who told him to stir up trouble at the Wang house. He might be a grown man, but his ugly looks had kept him single for 35 years. When Comrade Li dangled the dream of marrying He Manshu in front of him, he believed it and rashly acted on it.
But reality was a cruel slap in the face.
Seeing him play dumb, Wang Zhiguo almost laughed from rage.
You son of a... He had given the man a chance to explain, and he refused to take it. Now, he wouldn't show any mercy.
Just as Wang Zhiguo was about to charge him with inciting a disturbance, Fugui's mother, half-lying on the ground and gasping for breath, suddenly got clever. Seeing the Secretary's face darken, she quickly spilled the truth.
"It was Comrade Li! Secretary, Comrade Li told me and Fugui to come stir up trouble!"
What?!
Comrade Li told Wang Fugui and his mother to cause trouble?
Everyone was stunned. Was she referring to the same Comrade Li they all knew?
Wasn't Comrade Li just recently knocked into the river by this ugly brute and passed out? How could he be involved in this?
But Wang Zhiguo, with his keen instincts, immediately sensed something bigger was at play.
Having lived through the war and been shaped by Party ideology, he could think several steps ahead of the villagers. Frowning, he asked coldly, "Repeat that! What did you just say, Goudan's mother?!"
He feared he had misheard.
In this era, educated youths held a special status. They were considered volunteers responding to the Chairman's call to serve the countryside. If someone accused a youth of secretly inciting trouble—it was a serious charge.
Fugui's mother didn't dare hide anything now. For her son's sake, she spilled everything she knew.
"Secretary, it's true! Comrade Li came to our house, said Fugui almost drowned. If it weren't a life-or-death matter, I wouldn't have rushed to the Wang house seeking justice. But you know—my Goudan is my only child. If someone tries to kill him, I'll fight back no matter what!"
As she said this, she glared fiercely at He Manshu. If Fugui hadn't said that girl wanted him dead, would they have ever gone to the Wang house and gotten beaten like this?
Her scalp still burned with pain. Not only had she failed to get justice, she got a public beating instead. It was beyond humiliating.
Wang Zhiguo turned to Wang Fugui and roared, "Is what your mother said true, Wang Fugui?!"
For the first time, he used the man's full name.
Before the Revolution, Wang Zhiguo had been the village militia captain and killed several Japanese soldiers. He commanded real respect in Wang Village. That's why earlier, one shout from him had stopped the fight instantly.
Everyone feared him. Wang Fugui feared him more than most.
Startled by the shout, Wang Fugui instinctively replied, "Yes."
That single word confirmed it—Comrade Li was involved.
This was no longer a small matter. Wang Zhiguo knew he couldn't handle this alone.
Taking a deep breath, he made his decision.
"Ring the bell. Gather all the villagers. Summon every educated youth to the brigade office. We'll get to the bottom of this, face to face. No one gets to run."
So many people had been involved in the fight. A lesson had to be taught.
As he stormed off toward the brigade office, the villagers quietly followed, not daring to make a sound—even Wang Old Lady and Fugui's mother shut up.
They all knew that if they lagged behind, they might be accused of group fighting.
Punishment could mean public struggle sessions or forced labor reform. Just the thought made them sweat.
"Secretary, it's noon… can we eat before the meeting?" someone asked weakly, stomach rumbling.
"Eat? You had energy to fight, but now you're hungry? Starve!"
Still fuming from having to clean up the mess, the Secretary wasn't about to let anyone off easy.
No one dared speak again.
So, stomachs growling, the villagers trudged along behind him all the way to the brigade office. He Manshu was among them. Even Wang Xiu was dragged along after He Manshu pinched her awake—she had to be there as a witness.
After all, she might be the next one to face judgment.
Wang Xiu had no desire to go. When she heard Comrade Li's name exposed, she nearly wished she had stayed unconscious. Though she believed she wouldn't be implicated, the shame of failure was too bitter.
But for some reason, He Manshu had viciously pinched her awake.
And not just a light pinch—she'd grabbed a chunk of soft flesh from her waist and twisted. No one could endure that without yelping.
Opening her eyes, the first thing Wang Xiu saw was He Manshu's wide, innocent-looking gaze—eyes full of worry, as if truly concerned for her mother.
Seeing this, Wang Xiu couldn't scold her even if she wanted to. She was so angry she could barely breathe.
Wang Fugui and his mother had brought chaos to the Wang family—they were the victims.
Whether she liked it or not, at Wang Zhiguo's command, her nephew Wang Dahu slung her onto his back and carried her to the brigade office. The victims had to be present to demand justice.
Dong, dong, dong!
Ten loud strikes of the brigade's bronze bell.
When the bell rang ten times, everyone had to drop what they were doing and rush to the village center immediately.
Ten strikes meant extreme urgency. It also meant: no excuses.
Within moments, all the leaders were present—Brigade Leader Wang Baoguo, Security Director Liu Fuping, Women's Director Sun Guilian, and all three production team leaders.
They thought they had arrived early.
But when they entered the brigade office, they were stunned to see the place already packed.
Something big had happened.