RYEY – Chapter 40 Chen Chunhua Gets Beaten

“Who do you think you are? Are you Erlizi’s mother or mine? You want to break off my engagement? Did I hear you right?”

Miao Qing: “…”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re planning to take Erlizi’s betrothal money and give it back to Wang Tuozi?”

At that, Miao Qing sucked in a sharp breath. She had originally wanted to side with Chen Chunhua in bullying Cheng Qiao, but her thoughts instantly shifted. Even if an educated youth was naïve and soft, she still had brains.

“Cheng Qiao, you can’t make baseless accusations.”

“Fine, then I won’t make random accusations. I’ll just go find Erlizi and discuss breaking off the engagement with him. Don’t try to stop me, or I’ll start to suspect you’re trying to steal my money.”

Chen Chunhua and Miao Qing both instinctively took a step back. Even though that really was what they were plotting, they didn’t have the guts to actually carry it out.

Miao Qing cursed Cheng Qiao in her heart, but her face wore a kindly smile. She absolutely couldn’t risk being accused of robbery, or her family would be doomed.

“Then go quickly.”

“Mm, I’ll head back first. But Chunhua, after the autumn harvest, you’d better formally apologize to me. Otherwise, I won’t forgive you.”

“You… fine, I get it.”

Chen Chunhua wanted to curse, but Miao Qing twisted her in time, forcing her to swallow her words. Watching Cheng Qiao’s pretty face ride away, Chunhua felt bitter and unwilling.

Cheng Qiao pedaled away quickly. She knew her limits: a girl of only 1.6 meters tall, weighing just eighty jin (40kg), could never fight the two of them head-on.

“Miao Qing, are we really just letting her go like this?”

Miao Qing rubbed her lower back, still faintly aching.

“And what else can we do? She already accused us of trying to steal money. Do you want to end up in jail?”

“But… that’s two hundred yuan…”

“Chunhua, don’t tell me… you actually like that thug?”

“You’re talking nonsense! I’ve already promised to someone else. Don’t you dare ruin my reputation.”

Chen Chunhua’s face flushed red. Miao Qing, watching her fleeting shyness, understood everything at once.

No wonder Chunhua had wanted to shove Cheng Qiao off the ox cart. No wonder her parents were willing to sell the pots and break the bowls to pay compensation. So this was the truth. Very well. Having Chunhua’s weakness in her hands, everything would be much easier in the future.

The two of them whispered together for a long while, with Miao Qing constantly probing out Chunhua’s secrets. Only when she felt she’d gotten enough did she lazily stretch and say:

“Let’s head back. If we’re late, your uncle the village head will chew us alive.”

“Go, go, go.”

Chunhua snapped out of it and hurried back with her. But they were still late. Standing at the village entrance, Chen Weimin saw Chunhua rushing toward him. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and slapped her across the face.

Smack—

The loud crack of the slap made Miao Qing scurry away in fright. Chunhua’s eyes brimmed with tears as she bolted toward home. Her father was too much—humiliating her in public like this!

Hiding in the small grove at the side, Cheng Qiao chuckled to herself. If anyone wanted to bully her, she’d just tattle first.

At home, Chen Weimin grabbed a broom from the wall and advanced on Chunhua again. She hurriedly dropped to her knees. “Dad, listen to me—”

“Listen to you, my ass! Are you brain-dead? You already said yes to Wang Tuozi, you even accepted his betrothal gift. And now you want Cheng Qiao to return Erlizi’s betrothal money to you, so you can give it to Wang Tuozi and cancel her marriage?!”

“Dad, I don’t want to marry Wang Tuozi! Erlizi is a capable man. You’ll regret it one day.”

“Regret my foot! Do you even know? That thug already swindled all of Cheng Qiao’s money. Her pockets are cleaner than her face right now, and you actually went to her asking for cash?”

Chen Chunhua couldn’t believe her ears. Was there really someone so shameless in this world? But then again, Erlizi… maybe he really would do that.

Her crush on the “handsome lad” finally collided with reality. People always said, marry a man and you’ll eat and wear from him. But if she married Erlizi, she wouldn’t even get food and clothing.

Better to marry Wang Tuozi. At least he was a regular worker at the meat plant—meat was guaranteed on the table.

Chen Weimin saw Chunhua’s eyes darting around and sneered coldly. Best to crush her illusions outright.

“This is your last chance. If you keep bringing trouble on the Chen family, I, Chen Weimin, will disown you as my daughter.”

“Dad, it was Miao Qing who misled me. I know I was wrong now. I’ll stay at home and wait until the time comes to marry.”

Chunhua really was afraid of her father’s violent temper. If he beat her until she couldn’t get out of bed, she really wouldn’t be able to marry at all. How would she face Wang Tuozi then?

Fuming, Chen Weimin tossed the broom aside and stormed back to the village committee office. As a dignified village accountant, to be blocked at the door by Cheng Qiao’s complaint had been a huge humiliation.

Meanwhile, Cheng Qiao had already returned to the educated youth compound. Humming off-key, she was busy in the kitchen. She took the red beans she had cooked soft in her space, added sugar and red dates, and mixed them in.

Next she stirred in glutinous rice flour until smooth, put on anti-stick gloves, rolled the dough into round balls, kneaded them firm, coated them in rice flour, dipped them in water, and rolled them again in rice flour to make them tighter.

One by one, she placed the finished balls in a big pot, steaming them for about twenty minutes, then turned off the heat to let them sit a little. Sticky rice bean dumplings—done.

That day it was Xu Laidi’s turn to cook. When she came back, she saw Cheng Qiao putting the sticky dumplings filled with red beans and dates into a lunch box. She swallowed hard.

“Cheng Qiao, making sticky rice dumplings, huh? You’re so good with your hands—they look amazing. I wonder how they taste. Let me try one.”

Before she finished speaking, she reached out with a dirty hand. But Cheng Qiao was quicker, smacking it with hot tongs.

A red welt instantly rose on Xu Laidi’s arm, the pain making her want to strangle Cheng Qiao. But Cheng Qiao’s next words froze her in place.

“These are for Li Huan. If you dare mess with them, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

Hearing Erlizi’s name, Xu Laidi shrank back despite herself, unsure what to do next.

“What are you waiting for? Go cook already. Do you want the others to starve when they get back?”

Packing up the dumplings, Cheng Qiao tossed Xu Laidi a big sanitary ball, then carried the lunch box into her dorm. She popped one into her mouth, savoring the sweet, sticky warmth. Delicious. Li Le would love them.

Quickly putting most of the dumplings into her space, Cheng Qiao grabbed the lunch box and headed out. At the fields where Mother Li was working, she spotted Mother Li and Li Le eating their lunch together under a tree’s shade.