Chapter 7: Striking at the Heart

There was no need for Tang Xin to say anything further. With several female educated youths at the commune as witnesses, she meticulously wrote out everything she had lent to Meng Jia. Then she pressed her fingerprint to the document.

Meng Jia didn’t much care, thinking that soon enough Tang Xin would be married off into the Li family’s den of wolves. By then, she would be so busy with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law that she’d never remember some trivial IOU.

Yet, after the note was written, Tang Xin insisted on receiving her milk powder. Meng Jia was nearly beside herself with rage, but with the female witnesses still present, she couldn’t risk ruining her reputation in a single moment. She could only swallow her heartache, open her cupboard, and hand over the nearly untouched bag of milk powder to Tang Xin.

Meng Jia’s heart bled, but she forced out a smile. “Here you go, Tang Xin. Enjoy it slowly.”

Tang Xin took it directly, stowed it safely in her own little cabinet, and then pulled out her small bag, preparing to leave.

Meng Jia, unwilling to let it go, hurried after her. “Tang Xin, where are you going?”

Today, Tang Xin had again avoided labor and skipped work. Early in the morning, Meng Jia had already spoken ill of her to Lu Liqin. What irritated her was that, on the surface, Lu Liqin would criticize and educate Tang Xin, but in private, the big fool was out harvesting wheat, using others’ lunchtime to make up Tang Xin’s lost work points.

Tang Xin only glanced at Meng Jia and replied, “Go play with your brother Lu, and stop bothering me.” With that, she raised her beautiful head proudly and strode away, ignoring Meng Jia’s gaze.

Of course, Tang Xin wasn’t heading to work. Since she was already late, she might as well miss the whole day. After all, she never got much done in a day, and at year’s end, she could always pay to make up for lost work points. Oh, no—by then, she’d be married to Li Sheng. The Li family had many hands and much labor; surely they could earn plenty of work points to make up for her missing… at least some of them.

Tang Xin was heading out to find the brigade leader—first, to get a sense of the situation. In the book’s plot, the brigade leader always admired Li Sheng and took good care of his family. Second, she wanted to prepare to avoid the plot point where Li Sheng unexpectedly died.

The brigade leader saw Tang Xin coming and felt a headache creeping in.

He had a vivid impression of this educated youth—not because she was inept at everything, but because she didn’t care about earning extra work points. The real issue was that she was the prettiest in the entire Harvest Brigade. Even the brigade leader’s wife had muttered about her behind her back, sourly claiming that someone so beautiful couldn’t possibly be well-behaved.

Because of Tang Xin, the brigade’s morale was unsettled, especially among the male educated youths, who hopped about like frogs. The Harvest Brigade was preparing for the “Civilized Brigade” contest, and the leader especially wanted to avoid discord or unkind voices in the ranks.

The original book stated that Li Sheng could drive, so he had an official job in the countryside. They had a mining factory, shipping goods out once a month, and Li Sheng was always the one to drive the deliveries. In those days, being able to drive was a rare skill, and he earned a good wage every month, but at his age, he still had no fiancée. No one in the entire Harvest Brigade had offered to introduce him to anyone. The book didn’t explain this, so Tang Xin thought she’d ask the brigade leader directly. Secondhand information from others might be unreliable.

Tang Xin wasn’t shy and asked outright, “Uncle Brigade Leader, I’m planning to marry Li Sheng. Shouldn’t I report to you?”

She cleverly spoke of marriage, not mentioning that for now, she wanted to marry him but the man hadn’t given a definite response.

The brigade leader was stunned, not expecting this pretty girl, whom he hadn’t interacted with much, to be so polite. Still, he was very surprised by her words. “You’re getting married? You want to marry the eldest son of the Li family?”

Though he hid his reaction well, Tang Xin noticed it. His surprise was that a female educated youth would marry a country boy, especially Li Sheng?

So, the real issue lay with Li Sheng?

The brigade leader hadn’t wanted to say much—it wasn’t a happy matter—but Tang Xin was persistent and repeatedly assured him she was serious about marrying Li Sheng. Just then, Lu Liqin, finishing overtime and returning equipment to the commune, happened to pass by and heard Tang Xin’s final promise to marry Li Sheng.

Lu Liqin was so angry he trembled all over. Of course, he didn’t believe that this ill-tempered girl would really marry a rough countryman. It was her casual attitude—even if it was just a joke, how could a young woman treat her lifelong future so lightly?

“You—” Lu Liqin, furious, threw his sickle aside. “Go ahead and make trouble. I won’t bother with you anymore.” He shot Tang Xin a resentful look, turned, and strode off, determined not to deal with this spoiled, headstrong girl any longer.

But he knew, even if he was angry now, sooner or later he’d have to clean up her mess. He’d done so since childhood; this troublemaking girl was always getting into mischief, and Lu Liqin had become used to covering for her. Yet, as he got older, he realized that life couldn’t always be so carefree.

His family already saw Meng Jia as more sensible than Tang Xin and had begun to complain about her. That’s why he hoped she would change, always striving for their future together. But he’d never told Tang Xin any of this.

Thanks to certain deliberate efforts, the original Tang Xin believed Lu Liqin had grown indifferent to her, leading to a series of misunderstandings later on.

After Lu Liqin left, the brigade leader couldn’t withstand Tang Xin’s gentle persistence and told her everything about Li Sheng.

It turned out Li Sheng’s mother had a tainted background, but Li Sheng’s father fell in love at first sight and insisted on marrying her despite immense pressure. Originally, Li Sheng’s father was respected in the brigade, but after marrying the daughter of a landlord, he kept his head down, working hard and living cautiously.

Misfortune struck when Li Sheng was ten. His father led a team to blast the mountain for mining and an accident occurred—not to him, but two members of the commune died. Suddenly, everyone was furious, and Li Sheng’s father became a pariah, cursed and scorned.

Especially the widows of the deceased, who came throwing rotten vegetables and shouting, asking why it wasn’t him who’d died. Li Sheng’s mother’s background was dragged out again, with people blaming his father’s downfall on marrying her.

At that time, Li Sheng was already over ten, and country folk loved to gossip and hit where it hurt, even in front of children.