RYEY – Chapter 83 The Letter

“Village head, Chai Jianmin indeed has a grudge against me, but I know he’s closest to Xu Laidi. Weren’t they even in a relationship before?”

Cheng Qiao’s words stirred unpleasant memories in Chen Weidang. Right, Chai Jianmin and Xu Laidi had announced their relationship, but Xu Laidi was eventually lured away by Chen Dazhu’s ten jin of cornmeal.

At the time, he had even warned Chen Dazhu, saying that woman was no good and that he shouldn’t be deceived by Xu Laidi. Yet, what happened? Ugh, just thinking about it made him angry.

No, Chai Jianmin’s leg injury wasn’t a natural accident; it was man-made. Back then, he had been full of malice toward Xu Laidi, even publicly calling her a “broken shoe.”

As for whether it was Chen Dazhu or Xu Laidi who did it… hmm, it should be Xu Laidi. Chen Dazhu was honest and straightforward and could never have come up with such a vicious trick.

“I’m leaving.”

As Chen Weidang thought this, his mind heated up. A surge of anger burst from his chest. Xu Laidi, you’re unbelievable—I even spoke up for you back then, and this is how you repay me?

No wonder Cheng Qiao fell for her tricks. Even someone as experienced as him had been caught, so a young girl like her would be no match. He hoped Chen Dazhu would stay safe—otherwise, he would never forgive that poisonous woman.

“Open the door! Chen Dazhu! Are you home? Hurry up!”

Chen Weidang soon arrived at Chen Dazhu’s house at the village entrance. The yelling inside had abruptly stopped. Chen Dazhu had grabbed Xu Laidi by the throat and threatened: “If you dare ruin my reputation, I’ll cook you alive tonight.”

Xu Laidi trembled in fear. She had just found out that all the wages she had painstakingly earned over twenty-five days were taken by Chen Dazhu. She had said only a few words and was already beaten until her whole body ached.

“Who is it, village head? Oh, it’s you! Please come in. The house is simple, but I hope you don’t mind.”

Chen Weidang entered the living room. It was spacious but only contained a homemade square table and two long benches. The floor was dirt, and some patches had even sprouted green seedlings, perhaps because the grass seeds weren’t fully removed.

Chen Weidang frowned slightly. Seeing Chen Dazhu wipe a bench clean with his sleeve, he sat down.

“Where’s your wife?”

“She’s in the inner room sleeping. Village head, do you need her?”

Still not getting up at this hour—sure enough, a lazy woman. Luckily, she wasn’t his own wife, or he would have beaten her senseless. Chen Weidang’s dissatisfaction with Xu Laidi deepened.

“Hmm, Chai Jianmin’s leg is broken. Although it can be treated, the doctor says he will likely be lame afterward. So the village is preparing to give him some compensation.”

“Really? He’ll be lame? Poor guy. Compensation from the village is fair.”

“Chai Jianmin also said he needs an extra thick quilt. I thought I’d ask if your wife has an extra quilt. If so, bring one out, and I’ll settle the cost with you later.”

Mention of a quilt made Chen Dazhu blush. On his wedding day, the village head hadn’t come because he was upset, so he didn’t realize how humble the woman he married was.

“Village head, Xu Laidi… she doesn’t have a dowry.”

“What? No dowry? Didn’t you provide fifty yuan as bride price and some fine grain?”

In Xiangyang Village, it was customary: the more bride price the groom gave, the more the bride had to contribute in dowry. For example, Chen Chunhua always had at least a thick quilt prepared.

Then there was Cheng Qiao, who somehow got a bicycle and even used his mother’s savings for the bride price. Cheng Qiao married with a massive dowry.

Now looking at Dazhu’s house, it looked so rundown. Even Erlizi’s mother and sister wore new clothes and ate fine grain. That’s the attitude toward marrying well.

“Well, it’s not like we had fabric coupons or cotton coupons. Even if we had money, we couldn’t get these things. Besides, Xu Laidi borrowed so much from Cheng Qiao, and on their wedding day, Erlizi still came to collect the debt.”

“That rascal… he shouldn’t have asked for the debt now. I’ll go scold him later. Dazhu, I now suspect that the stone was tampered with. The suspect is your wife, so you need to be careful not to get schemed against.”

Chen Dazhu’s heart raced. Panic showed on his face, and he waved his hands frantically. No, no—his Laidi was kind; she could never do such a heartless thing.

Chen Weidang, whose anger had just subsided, was irritated again by Chen Dazhu. He glared at him and turned to leave. A hopeless case, he thought—then why bother helping?

When Chen Dazhu returned to the room, Xu Laidi turned pale, clutching the quilt she had brought and trembling in the corner of the kang.

“See, even the village head suspects you tampered with the stone. No wonder you were so eager to shovel the mud over there. Truly a most poisonous heart.”

Xu Laidi closed her eyes, unwilling to defend herself. She knew her reputation was ruined—destroyed by Cheng Qiao, Dazhu, Chai Jianmin, and even Chen Weidang.

Especially Chen Dazhu—he seemed honest but was rotten inside. She couldn’t just sit there; she had to pretend to submit and think of a way to get rid of him later.

Chen Dazhu grabbed the quilt from Xu Laidi, and she slowly began using her own special techniques, satisfying him completely.

Meanwhile, after sending Chen Weidang away, Cheng Qiao hurried back to her room and carefully tore open the letter.

The letter was short but left her feeling unsettled. In her previous life, she had been blind-hearted, misunderstanding her devoted father, allowing Xia Fen to seize the Cheng family estate.

“Father sent a letter. What did he say?”

Zhang Yuefang had brought the letter. Li Huan, of course, knew. Seeing Cheng Qiao put it down with a worried expression, she asked anxiously: “My father said he sent part of the money from the family savings account, along with my mother’s dowry, to Aunt Yangmei’s house. I can pick it up when I have time.”

“What happened? How could it come to this?”

Li Huan opened the remittance slip and saw the amount. She gasped—eight thousand yuan! No wonder Cheng Qiao was so naive; her family’s good condition had made her carefree and bold.

“I don’t know. I only know I misunderstood my father. Xia Fen had nothing to do with him; she was just a woman he hired to take care of me.”

“So now your father realizes he was deceived, and that person took his own daughter to the countryside, enjoying all the things that were originally yours.”