PWE – Chapter 124 Hiding in the Pigsty

Upon hearing this, everyone turned toward the source of the voice.

From the Zhan family’s pigsty, a dozen or so people emerged—and among them were the village chief and the village committee head.

The Zhan family’s pigsty was connected to the kitchen. Seeing the village chief and others coming out of the pigsty, Qiu Haiyang furrowed his brow, his breathing tightening involuntarily.

“Village chief, why are you in Zeyan’s pigsty?” a villager asked, clearly puzzled.

Others also looked on with surprise and curiosity.

The village chief’s face was cold. He shot Qiu Haiyang a displeased glance, then turned to the crowd. “Earlier, we heard that something happened at Zeyan’s wife’s place, so we wanted to come check it out. On our way here, we ran into Zhaozhao, who told us to sneak into the Zhan family’s property and hide in the pigsty for the time being. She said from there, we’d get to see quite a show!”

He paused, then continued: “And indeed, it was a show! Had we not hidden in the pigsty, Comrade Qiu’s schemes… would probably have succeeded today!”

Hearing this, everyone instinctively turned to look at Qiu Haiyang.

So… this meant Qiu Haiyang had been lying? That he claimed Zeyan’s wife tried to lunge at him and that she was promiscuous—he had been falsely accusing her?

Zhao Lijuan, who had been hiding in the pigsty as well, now looked at Qiu Haiyang with disapproval. Her voice was deliberate and firm: “This comrade, a soldier, and yet you have no sense of justice. Only a heart full of scheming malice! We saw and heard everything you said in the kitchen with Zeyan’s wife! She did nothing to you, yet you tried to seduce her, you tried to do something improper! You, as a soldier, are unworthy! You don’t deserve to serve!”

A woman behind Zhao Lijuan added: “Exactly! Someone this wicked serving as a soldier is a disgrace to our country! Comrade, rest assured—we will report your behavior to your unit! Even if they can’t expel you, they’ll make sure you get punished!”

“This is outrageous! And you say you’re Zeyan’s subordinate? This is how a subordinate treats his wife? If Zeyan knew, he’d rise from his grave to settle accounts with you!” another woman spat, glaring at Qiu Haiyang with fury.

Qiu Haiyang gripped his hands tightly, cold sweat forming on his forehead. His heart raced.

He had suspected Xiao Wange might have a countermeasure, but he never imagined she was this capable—arranging for the village chief and committee members to be hidden in the pigsty.

The pigsty was so close to the kitchen. Normally, if there were people hiding there, he should have sensed it. Yet he hadn’t noticed at all. Could it be that Xiao Wange tampered with things? That she used some method to conceal their presence so he couldn’t detect them?

After all, he had already seen her abilities. If she wanted to hide someone’s aura, it was certainly possible.

“I will personally report this to your commanding officers. If your superiors do not punish you, I will take it to the capital and report it to the relevant authorities! I refuse to believe that such a malicious person as you could escape punishment!”

The village chief spoke sternly. Initially, he had thought Zhan Zeyan’s comrade came to the village with good intentions to check on Zhaozhao and Xiao Wange. But it turned out this comrade harbored ill intentions—planning to harm Zeyan’s wife.

Zeyan’s wife was pitiful. If he, as village chief, did not ensure justice this time, his position would be meaningless.

Qiu Haiyang’s hands clenched even tighter. He wanted to speak, but the committee head fixed him with a stare: “I want to know why you targeted Zeyan’s wife. What grudge do you have against her? Did Zeyan offend you in the unit? Now that he’s dead, you can’t retaliate against him, so you come after his wife? If that’s the case, it only shows your pettiness!”

From the back of the crowd, Bai Caixuan heard this. She furrowed her brows slightly but secretly felt relieved.

As long as all the blame fell on Qiu Haiyang, and she wasn’t implicated, she would be fine.

She had just been released from prison. If another scandal broke out now, her reputation—already fragile—would be completely ruined.

But she seemed to forget: her reputation had already been destroyed. Ever since her scheming was exposed, her name had been ruined.

Qiu Haiyang glanced at Bai Caixuan at the back of the courtyard. He drew a silent breath, ready to take responsibility for everything himself.

But before he could speak, Xiao Wange said: “Qiu Haiyang is Bai Caixuan’s high school classmate. The reason he tried to frame me… is because of Bai Caixuan.”

The crowd’s eyes widened in surprise.

The committee head said: “He’s Bai Caixuan’s classmate? So he’s the one who got her out?”

Xiao Wange nodded: “Yes, it was him.”

Qiu Haiyang ground his teeth and denied: “Xiao Wange, don’t talk nonsense! I don’t know any Bai Caixuan! The reason I targeted you today was because of my grudge with Zhan Zeyan. In the unit, he always bullied me. I couldn’t stand him! When he died, I was thrilled—I even wanted to celebrate with fireworks! It was because of him that I dealt with you. I—”

“Looks like you care a lot about Bai Caixuan. For her, you took all the responsibility on yourself, even dragging Zhan Zeyan into it, stepping on him as well. Qiu Haiyang, do you understand the consequences if this reaches your unit? Do you know how serious this is?”

She paused, then continued: “And your parents—do they know about this? That you abused their authority to get Bai Caixuan released? If they knew, they’d be furious! And now you’re taking all the blame yourself and speaking disrespectfully of the deceased Zhan Zeyan. Qiu Haiyang, your parents would probably want to beat you to death!”

Qiu Haiyang’s breath caught.

Indeed, when he helped Bai Caixuan, he had leveraged his parents’ authority. If not for their influence, no one would have released her.

And his parents didn’t know—because they didn’t like Bai Caixuan and forbade him from associating with her.

If this matter reached his parents…

“I knew it—Bai Caixuan must have egged him on! That Bai Caixuan… I knew she wasn’t a decent person. She just returned and is already causing trouble. How hateful she is!” Zhao Lijuan spat, then turned and saw Bai Caixuan’s figure.

Seeing Bai Caixuan, her face turned cold.

She glared at Bai Caixuan: “Bai Caixuan, why are you so malicious? Must you oppose Zeyan’s wife at every turn? Can’t you be a good person?”

Others also looked at her disapprovingly.

A villager scolded: “Bai Caixuan, I thought you’d turn over a new leaf. Didn’t expect… you’re still shameless!”

“Why does our village produce someone like you? You’re the rotten apple of our village!” Another villager spat at her.

Bai Caixuan gritted her teeth, frowning with a sullen expression.

She cast a sidelong glance at Xiao Wange, then told the village chief and committee members: “This has nothing to do with me! I had no idea Qiu Haiyang came to the Zhan family today! I only just learned it! Don’t blame me for things I didn’t do!”

She spoke passionately, as if she truly believed it.

Her words also confirmed that she did, in fact, know Qiu Haiyang.

Qiu Haiyang looked at her. He had hoped she would clear him completely—but seeing her so cold and denying involvement, he felt a pang of hurt.

So she really didn’t like him. If she did, she wouldn’t have pushed all the blame onto him. As Xiao Wange had said, if he took all the blame… he would be in serious trouble.

He ground his teeth and looked at Bai Caixuan, then turned to the crowd: “Alright, don’t blame Bai Caixuan. Today’s events are entirely my fault. I couldn’t stand seeing Xiao Wange oppose Bai Caixuan, so I wanted revenge for her. That’s why I…”

“Say whatever you like. We’re not going to believe you anyway,” Xiao Wange interrupted lazily, her tone calm.

Qiu Haiyang clenched his teeth, wanting to argue. But Zhao Lijuan said: “Exactly. We won’t believe you! Today’s events were definitely orchestrated by Bai Caixuan. If she didn’t instruct him, I’d be struck by lightning!”

The crowd fell silent, glancing up at the sky.

Zhao Lijuan had risked everything to defend Xiao Wange, even her life.

Everyone believed what Zhao Lijuan said—this matter was certainly connected to Bai Caixuan.

Bai Caixuan clenched her fists. She couldn’t understand why Zhao Lijuan cared so much about Xiao Wange. To an outsider, Zhao Lijuan could almost be mistaken for Xiao Wange’s mother.

“I’ll call Zeyan’s unit immediately. I’ll report today’s events to them!” the committee head said, turning to leave the courtyard.

Panic crossed Qiu Haiyang’s face. Instinctively, he shouted: “Wait!”

The committee head paused.

He turned to Qiu Haiyang: “What is it? You still have something to say?!”

Qiu Haiyang pressed his lips together, wanting to plead, wanting to stop them from involving his unit.

But he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

“Stop dawdling. He probably wants you to not call. He’s afraid his unit will find out. But this matter can’t be negotiated—they must know about his misdeeds!” Zhao Lijuan glared at him, then turned to the committee head.

The committee head noticed the panic on Qiu Haiyang’s face and frowned. He probably guessed what Qiu Haiyang was thinking.

Why be afraid now, after all that?

The committee head withdrew his gaze, hands behind his back, and quickly walked out of the Zhan family courtyard.

The village chief intended to follow back to the office.

Xiao Wange ran up to the village chief: “Village chief, I’m sorry for making you stay in the pigsty today. I really feel bad about it. I…”

“Ah, don’t say that, child. Your pigsty isn’t dirty, and there’s no pigs in it. Nothing happened while we stayed there. Besides, if we hadn’t stayed, how could we have witnessed the injustice against you? You did the right thing. And if it happens again, we can stay in the pigsty again,” the village chief said with a warm smile.

Xiao Wange: “….” She didn’t hope for a next time. Once was enough.

Bai Caixuan, seeing the village chief speak kindly to Xiao Wange, furrowed her brows tightly, consumed by jealousy and hatred.

Why was everyone so good to Xiao Wange? What virtue did she have to make so many people help her? Was it just because she could exorcise ghosts?

Speaking of ghosts, she suddenly remembered something.

She had long thought Xiao Wange was suspicious.

Before, Xiao Wange hadn’t been this formidable. Although Xiao Wange claimed to have learned her skills from her grandfather, Bai Caixuan never fully believed it.

She always felt there was something fishy about Xiao Wange—perhaps she was possessed by some other entity!

She had read ghost stories before. People possessed by spirits often changed drastically in character.

She suspected Xiao Wange was possessed!

Clenching her fingers tightly, she decided she needed a highly skilled master. Only such a person could deal with a woman like Xiao Wange.

Xiao Wange glanced at Qiu Haiyang, still standing in the middle of the courtyard.

A smirk curved her lips: “Comrade Qiu, can you put your clothes on properly? Do you think you’re impressive? That others are eager to see your body?”

Everyone looked at Qiu Haiyang. His belt was undone, hanging messily, and some buttons on his shirt were undone, exposing large patches of chest. He looked like a display-seeker.

An elder scoffed: “Shameless! Having someone like you in the army is a disgrace to your unit!”

Qiu Haiyang: “….”

He felt his pride trampled underfoot.

Xiao Wange said: “Most of our soldiers are good, with strong senses of justice. Someone like Qiu Haiyang is an exception. But I suppose he was good once, until he met Bai Caixuan. There’s a saying: ‘One becomes red near vermilion, black near ink.’”

Bai Caixuan: “….”

Her eyes narrowed, turning red with anger.

How dare that despicable woman trample her like this! How dare she!

“Qiu Haiyang, your family lives in the provincial capital, right? It’s a bit far, but to inform your parents about your actions, I’m willing to make the trip. I want to see their reaction once they know about Bai Caixuan.”

Xiao Wange spoke deliberately, then coldly looked at Qiu Haiyang and Bai Caixuan.

Bai Caixuan’s breath caught.

If Qiu Haiyang’s parents learned of this, they would certainly come down on her!

They might even send her back to prison.

No, she couldn’t allow Xiao Wange to go to the provincial capital. She couldn’t let her inform Qiu Haiyang’s parents.