If looks could kill, the old woman would have been sliced to ribbons by now.
"Bullshit!" Granny Li regained her senses. "The Gao family was just unlucky enough to get stuck with a piece of work like you. Why else would they go after you and no one else? You must have done something shameful!" She spat out the slander without a second thought. "Don’t try to pull rank on me, either. I’m telling you, this old woman wasn’t raised on empty threats."
The woman shouting was none other than Granny Li, one of Old Mrs. Song’s close friends who shared her exact temperament. She was infamous around the village for having a big mouth and being a terrible mother-in-law. If Old Mrs. Song ranked first in those categories, Granny Li was undoubtedly second. Both women treated their daughters-in-law dreadfully and blatantly favored their sons. However, Granny Li favored her eldest son, which made her slightly more pragmatic than Old Mrs. Song. After all, she knew exactly who would be providing for her in her old age.
"Oh, I’m not threatening you. The previous matter isn’t over yet," Bai Jiu sneered. "Not only did they try to murder me, but they also practiced feudal superstition. I left evidence with the police."
She had originally planned to implicate everyone involved, but Father Bai had talked her out of pursuing the matter of the talisman paper. Otherwise, that mother and son wouldn’t be the only ones on death row. Whoever had given the Gao family that talisman was no good either. Given the chance, she would definitely find out who it was.
"Since you’re sticking your neck out for that mother and son so eagerly, I bet you were the one who gave them that thing." Bai Jiu didn’t care if this woman was good or bad. If she dared to pick a fight, she had better be prepared to get knocked down.
Just as Bai Jiu was about to pin the blame entirely on Granny Li, a middle-aged man came running over.
"Mother!" He glanced at Bai Jiu before glaring at Granny Li. "Will you stop causing trouble? Are you trying to get our whole family killed?" The man didn’t give Bai Jiu a friendly look, either. What kind of wife dared to have her own mother-in-law thrown in jail and sentenced to take a bullet? Hmph.
Bai Jiu didn’t care in the slightest about his hostile glare. Let him stare—it wasn’t going to peel any flesh off her bones. As long as she wasn’t the one swallowing her anger and taking a loss, she didn’t care.
"Oh, son, you don’t understand! This little tramp’s son was bullying our precious Bao’er!" Granny Li suddenly acted quite docile in front of her son, losing all her previous arrogance and vitriol.
The man looked at his son. Did his heart ache? Of course it did. Seeing the boy’s face covered in tears, what father wouldn’t feel bad? But they couldn’t afford to provoke Bai Jiu.
"Enough. It’s just kids bickering. Come on, we’re going home." He had no desire to stay anywhere near this jinx. His gaze was completely transparent; Bai Jiu didn’t have to think hard to know exactly what was going through his head.
Ha. The man was spineless anyway. Trembling visibly under Bai Jiu’s gaze, he hastily dragged his child and old mother away.
Bai Jiu smiled. This was good. Very good.
The production team captain was completely unaware of this little altercation. If he knew, he would have surely confronted Bai Jiu—why was she always at the center of the trouble?
Earlier, the captain had announced the team’s sideline projects, finalized the personnel, and issued the orders to start work. This time, the first task wasn’t farming, but repairing the riverbed. Since there was no adult man in Bai Jiu’s household, she didn’t have to provide labor, but she did have to pay a fee. This was an immutable rule; every household had to contribute either labor or money. Fortunately, it wasn’t much—just fifty cents or a dollar.
Naturally, households that provided labor didn’t have to pay. In fact, they would receive money and grain rations in return. However, earning that money was grueling work. Most better-off families chose to pay the fee and skip the hard labor. But a minority still opted to work rather than part with their money. For example, Granny Li simply forced her second son to do the labor without a single care for his well-being. Her second son was well-accustomed to this kind of treatment, but that was beside the point.
After the meeting, the captain asked Bai Jiu to stay behind.
"Can’t you just give me some peace of mind?" He knew Bai Jiu would face prejudice in the village upon her return, but he hadn’t expected her to be so uncompromising. Then again, if she was the type to just take it, she wouldn’t have done what she did.
"Captain, can you really blame me for this?" Bai Jiu felt wronged too. "I know the villagers have a problem with me, but I can’t just suffer in silence for the sake of appearances. You have to remember, those two tried to kill me! If I didn’t fight back, who knows how miserable my life would be right now."
She wasn’t afraid of angering the captain. "Besides, even if my incident hadn’t happened, do you think these people would be any different? They’d still act exactly the same." She had dealt with rural folks before, but the people in Gaocun Village were a rare breed. Then again, maybe it was just a different era.
"Alright, alright. I say one word, and you talk back with ten." The captain rubbed his temples. There was still a long road ahead; he couldn’t keep blatantly siding with her forever, or he’d be drowned in gossip. "Since you don’t want to interact with them, I’ll try to keep you separated when I assign tasks. Don’t blame your uncle for being biased. As the captain, I have to consider the entire production team."
Bai Jiu understood his predicament. What official didn’t want praise from their superiors? Villages competed with one another, and there were definitely people below him eyeing his position. But understanding his difficulties didn’t mean she was willing to compromise herself for others.
"As long as they don’t come causing trouble right to my face, I’ll pretend I don’t see anything," she said, offering her biggest concession.
"Sigh. I know. Just go on home."
As soon as she left, Aunt Li voiced her displeasure. She had given her husband face while Bai Jiu was present, but with no outsiders around, she couldn’t hold back.
"Look at you! It clearly wasn’t that girl’s fault, so why should she have to endure everything? Is this the kind of thing you can just tolerate and move past?" She had been worried about this exact situation, never expecting Bai Jiu to be targeted the moment she returned.
The captain was stunned by her scolding. "Are you two close?" He knew his own wife; she usually gave everyone a superficial, polite smile. Had she taken the wrong medicine today?
"This has nothing to do with whether we’re close or not. I just like the girl. I’m telling you, it’s not easy for her to raise two kids on her own, so don’t be too biased against her." As a woman and a mother herself, she could empathize with Bai Jiu’s struggles.
He couldn’t tell his wife about Gao Zhijun’s situation. Things weren’t too bad right now, but if Gao Zhijun came back, Bai Jiu’s life would become even more difficult. He sighed.
"How am I biased?" The captain hated being called unfair more than anything. Whether dealing with outsiders or his own family, he always strove to keep a level playing field. "If I’m biased toward anyone, it’s her! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have agreed to call the police in the first place." With a huff at his wife, the captain clasped his hands behind his back and headed home.
Gao Zhijun was a ticking time bomb, and nobody knew when he was going to explode.
While Aunt Li was full of worry for her, Bai Jiu wasn’t nearly as concerned. After bringing the kids home, she poured some water for them to wash up.
"Mom, my sister and I won’t ever fight with anyone again," Zhengyang said, his heart aching as he watched his mother quietly working. He thought his actions today had been wrong and had caused his mother to suffer grievances.
"Silly boy." Bai Jiu looked up at Zhengyang in confusion, taking a long moment to realize what he meant. "Mom is fine, and you and your sister don’t need to hold back either. If someone bullies you, bully them right back—as long as you’re in the right."
This wasn’t some overly civilized era. If you were bullied, you had to hit back.
"Of course, we can’t go out and instigate bullying ourselves. That would be wrong. Our Zhengyang is a good boy. As long as we don’t bully anyone, but also don’t let anyone bully us, that’s enough. Don’t worry about anything else; Mom is here."
The two children were incredibly sweet, and Bai Jiu had accepted them from the bottom of her heart. But Gao Zhijun was a hurdle she couldn’t get over. No matter what choice he made, there would always be a knot in her heart.