RYEY – Chapter 146 Reaping What One Sows

When work was nearly over, Chen Dazhu and Wang Qin strolled back. Wang Qin had a big piece of white gauze stuck on her forehead, while Chen Dazhu carried several bags in his hands, his face full of smiles.

When the two arrived at the educated youth spot, just the sight of them made Chai Jianmin’s anger boil over. His eyes glared coldly at Chen Dazhu and Wang Qin, but he didn’t say a word—his gut told him he was about to be in trouble.

“Thank you, Brother Chen, for your help today. Here, take this bag of pastries home for Laidi, and also this one yuan to make up for your lost work points.”

Chen Dazhu smilingly accepted the pastries and the money, but a shadow flickered in his eyes. After accompanying her for a whole day, losing ten work points, she gave him only thirty cents.

“You’re too polite, Comrade Wang. I won’t disturb you further.”

“Wait, Brother Chen, I need to say a few words to Comrade Chai.”

Chen Dazhu smiled faintly. You want me to help speak for you? Well, that depends on your performance.

“Comrade Chai, my forehead was split open because of you today. Treatment at the hospital cost two yuan and thirty cents. Plus one day’s work points and compensation for Brother Chen’s lost work points—that totals one yuan fifty-six cents. Altogether, you owe me three yuan eighty-six cents.”

Chai Jianmin laughed angrily. Wasn’t it just her forehead hitting my teeth? And now it’s turned into a stone attack? Is her brain broken?

“My teeth are all loose now and need to be checked at the hospital. And my leg—you rammed into me so viciously it’s been hurting all day. You’ll have to compensate me too. And when did I ever throw a stone at you?”

“Brother Chen can testify. That very stone is still with him.”

“Oh, I see now. So your forehead was actually smashed by Chen Dazhu, and now you’re pinning it on me. You’re using a bitter-meat ploy to extort money, skipping work while pretending to be hurt. You really know how to scheme.”

Wang Qin hadn’t expected Chai Jianmin to see through their trick so quickly, and she panicked a little. But then Chen Dazhu coughed, and her courage rose again.

“You can deny it if you want, but the stone is still with Brother Chen. Once it’s handed to the Public Security Bureau, you won’t be able to escape even with wings.”

“Escape, my ass! Chen Dazhu, don’t tell me you don’t know the Public Security Bureau has a very powerful technique called fingerprint comparison and testing.”

Chen Dazhu’s heart skipped a beat. Back then, when that stone struck at Chai Jianmin, the Bureau had already collected fingerprints from it. He hadn’t understood what fingerprints were for—but now, he finally did.

“Anyway, you saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you, Brother Chen? You can testify that he was the one who did it.”

Wang Qin’s voice was trembling now too. Clearly, they couldn’t use that bloodied stone anymore. But even without the stone, their tongues could still paint black into white.

Chen Dazhu carefully folded the one yuan Wang Qin had just given him and tucked it back into his pocket. Wang Qin understood immediately.

Seeing Chen Dazhu about to leave, she hurried after him: “Brother Chen, this wound was caused by you. Now you’re framing Chai Jianmin. If you don’t testify for me, I’ll just tell the truth.”

“And what truth would that be? That you smashed your own forehead with a stone just to avoid fieldwork, then had me accompany you to the hospital to get three days of sick leave?”

“You… It was clearly you—you didn’t even ask me a word before smashing my forehead.”

“Ah—”

Chen Dazhu slapped Wang Qin across the face, though not too hard. This woman wasn’t Xu Laidi—she was still useful.

“If you can’t speak properly, then shut up. Otherwise, I’ll show you how I can ruin you. You want me to testify for you? Fifty yuan. Not a cent less. Otherwise, I’ll testify for Chai Jianmin instead.”

“You… you…”

“‘You’ my ass. I’ll give you one minute to decide. Do as you see fit.”

Wang Qin hadn’t expected Chen Dazhu to turn on her so quickly. Now she understood why Xu Laidi had laughed herself breathless when Wang Qin once called Chen Dazhu a good man.

She wanted to refuse outright. But if she didn’t give him the fifty yuan, Chen Dazhu would surely say she had injured herself to frame Chai Jianmin.

He might even say worse things—that she was trying to shirk labor and cheat for sick leave. That would ruin her credibility, maybe even get a mark in her file. Then her future would be destroyed.

“I’ve thought it over. I’ll give you the money. But you have to promise—after this, neither of us will ever speak of it.”

“And Chai Jianmin? Are you still demanding compensation from him?”

“No.”

Wang Qin stomped back to her little hut. If she kept pushing for compensation, this minor matter would blow up, and Chen Dazhu would only extort her for more.

She lifted her bedsheet, pulled fifty yuan out from under the mattress, clutched it painfully to her chest, and then rushed out to shove it into Chen Dazhu’s hands.

“From now on, you are you, I am me. We will never speak again.”

Chen Dazhu looked at the fifty yuan in his hand, his face breaking into a brilliant grin. His hand reached toward Wang Qin’s face. Don’t speak? Heh, fine—then we’ll just do real things.

Wang Qin quickly stepped back, suddenly feeling sick at the sight of his face. For the first time, she sympathized with Xu Laidi. How could she ever have married such a man?

Chai Jianmin waited for Wang Qin to come to him, but she never showed her face. She stayed holed up in her hut like she was in confinement, only coming out for the latrine.

Chai Jianmin thought it over carefully and realized what had happened. The two of them must have fallen out—and Wang Qin had gotten the short end of the stick. Ha! Ha! Truly, heaven has eyes.

Three days later, early in the morning, Chai Jianmin showed up before Li Huan with a deeply worded self-criticism. He didn’t admit to faking illness, but instead reflected on his lack of collectivist spirit.

Li Huan sneered inwardly, but it was spring plowing season. He didn’t want to waste time on this scum. He called Jiang Guangrong over and told him to assign Chai Jianmin some work.

After being loosened, the land was left to dry for a day or two. Then they would use an ox-drawn stone roller to flatten it, going over it two or three times until the soil was soft and even.

Before sowing, they mixed the seeds with pesticide on a flat patch at the edge of the field, spraying as they mixed with an iron shovel to prevent underground pests.

Then came sowing. They used a farming tool called a lou (a seeder). One person pushed, another guided in front, rocking it as they walked so that furrowing and sowing were done at the same time.

Everyone seized each precious spring day, working with blazing energy, their only hope that Heaven would bless them with good weather and a bountiful autumn harvest.

Wang Qin finally finished her three days of sick leave. This time, she was assigned to cut pig grass. The work points were low—just two a day—but she didn’t rely on them for her livelihood.

When Chai Jianmin learned that Wang Qin had been assigned to cut pig grass, his face turned dark and gloomy. He suspected she had given gifts—otherwise, given her slippery character, how could she have gotten off so lightly?