Chapter Seventeen: Rebirth

"Liu Sancao, you... I'll fight you with my life!"
"Mother!" Sun Dalang grabbed his mother's arm. He knew how terrifying gossip could be. Though he'd been saving someone today, once the story spread, it wouldn't be so simple anymore.
"And there's still Comrade Lin Xiao from the city..." Aunt Hua spoke up quietly.
Lin Jingyue's lips twitched. She realized that, though these two women usually couldn't stand each other, when something happened, they acted as if they were cut from the same cloth.
Lin Xinrou had no intention of getting involved with a country bumpkin. Her face pale, she shook her hand. "I... I'm fine. Comrade Sun just grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the water."
Those who reached the shore first nodded. "That's right. Sun Dalang didn't do anything to Comrade Lin Xiao."
The implication hung in the air—so Sun Zhi Yuan had done something to Wang Xueping, then?
The men from the educated youth spot arrived late, but by then, the story had already been told and retold.
Sun Liangdong's face was especially grim. He took off his shirt, draping it over Wang Xueping, though he failed to notice how her whole body stiffened.
Ah, this development! Everyone exchanged meaningful glances.
The brigade leader and the party secretary exchanged a look. "Alright, everyone, get back to work. Do you still want today's work points or not? Anyone caught standing around will lose a day's wages."
Work points were everything to the villagers, and in a rush, they all scattered.
"Are Comrade Sun and Comrade Wang a couple?" On the way back, Lin Jingyue asked Xia Nan in a low voice.
"I don't know, but the two of them are quite close. I've seen Wang Xueping bring Sun food several times."
Lin Jingyue nodded and asked no further.
Back at work, everyone was still gossiping about the day's events, leaving Aunt Hua and Aunt Liu no time to keep an eye on her.
"The party secretary's wife probably doesn't want Sun Dalang to marry an educated youth," Liu Sancao muttered.
"Wang might not be much of a worker, but her family sends her parcels and money all the time. Some people just don't know how lucky they are," Aunt Hua said with a hint of jealousy.
"City girls are hard to please. The party secretary's family is well-off, and Sun Dalang is a soldier. It's not surprising he wouldn't want her," Aunt Liu said, and even jerked her chin toward Lin Jingyue when she mentioned difficult city girls.
Lin Jingyue rolled her eyes dramatically.
Such busybodies, she thought. "Aunt Liu, whether city girls are hard to please or not, your family couldn't handle it anyway. And not every city girl would look twice at just anyone."
With that, she slung her hoe over her shoulder and strode away, leaving Aunt Liu fuming.
"That damn girl! Next time I catch her, I'll teach her a lesson she won't forget!" Aunt Liu's chest heaved with rage.
"Look at the people you hang out with! Makes me sick!" she snapped at Aunt Hua, clutching her chest as anger gnawed at her insides.

Aunt Hua said nothing—she already regretted getting involved.
Lin Jingyue slipped away to the scorekeeper, had her six work points recorded, and then happily hurried back to the educated youth compound.
She was exhausted and needed some good food and a nap.
With a day off tomorrow, she could finally wander around the county town.
She gulped down a large mouthful of spring water, feeling entirely refreshed.
At the educated youth compound, Wang Xueping, who had just been brought back, thanked everyone for their concern before lying on the kang, her gaze empty.
She never imagined she would actually be reborn—and on the very day she fell into the water and got entangled with Sun Zhi Yuan!
In her previous life, she had also been rescued by Sun Zhi Yuan after falling into the water. The gossipy women of the brigade ruined her reputation, claiming Sun Zhi Yuan had touched every inch of her body.
Rumors killed silently. Pressured by circumstance, she hastily married Sun Zhi Yuan.
The Sun family's circumstances weren't bad, but Sun Zhi Yuan didn't care for her, and his mother had long set her sights on a city girl for her son—just waiting for his return to arrange a meeting.
Who knew she would cut in and snatch him away.
Once inside the Sun family, his mother was cold and hostile at every turn.
As soon as Sun Zhi Yuan's leave ended, he returned to the army. Naively raised, she was unwilling to argue over anything and suffered many losses.
Her first child was lost in the fields, tormented by Sun Zhi Yuan's mother.
Yet, for all the Sun family's faults, Sun Zhi Yuan had always treated her with utmost sincerity.
After that incident, he stood up to his mother and split the family. Though he couldn't arrange for her to join the army with him yet, he sent his parents five yuan a month and gave her the rest.
She was never forced to work in the fields again. When the college entrance exams resumed a few years later, he supported her in taking them.
And yet...
Thinking of all this, Wang Xueping was in tears. She had originally been with Sun Liangdong, but forced by circumstances, she married Sun Zhi Yuan. Suffering under his mother's harshness, she grew resentful of the Sun family and was blind to Sun Zhi Yuan's devotion.
At Sun Liangdong's instigation, she left for college after being admitted, never to return, abandoning Sun Zhi Yuan and their daughter.
Back in the city, Sun Liangdong's family refused to let him marry a divorced woman.
Unable to defy his family, Sun Liangdong married someone else, leaving her completely unwanted.
Her own family, disappointed in her foolishness, lost hope in her. With nowhere to go, she wandered the streets.
Luckily, after graduation, she landed a good job and life finally improved a little.

One day, as she was leaving home, she unexpectedly ran into Sun Zhi Yuan, who was supposed to be in the countryside, accompanied by her old friend, Chen Chunlan.
The two acted like a loving couple.
She was struck as if by lightning. It had been Chen Chunlan who constantly urged her to abandon her family, coupled with Sun Liangdong's sweet talk and Sun Zhi Yuan's reticence, that had led her astray.
Who could have predicted this...
Overcome with grief, Wang Xueping thought her life had been a farce.
After a long while, she composed herself and noticed things were already different from her previous life. Last time, Lin Jingyue had been a firecracker who exploded at the slightest provocation, offending everyone in the brigade.
She'd even shown some interest in Sun Zhi Yuan, hinting to him a few times, but he always ignored her.
Later, somehow, she managed to return to the city and lived well.
In this life, Lin Jingyue was still temperamental and spoiled, but entirely different from before.
Even more surprising, in her previous life, neither Lin Xinrou nor Lin Xinjian had been at the educated youth spot.
As Wang Xueping mulled over these things, in the next room, Lin Xinrou lay on her bed, also deep in thought.
She had no desire to get entangled with a country boy; besides, the one she liked was Zhao Hua.
Before she came, Zhao Hua's mother had said that when he returned home on leave, they should get engaged.
Her own mother, however, had refused.
"Sis..." Lin Xinjian came in with a bowl of ginger soup. Though it was hot outside, she'd spent a long time in the water.
"Where's Zhao Hua? Call him. I need to speak to him," Lin Xinrou said, sipping the soup.
"Alright."
A moment later, Zhao Hua entered, his brows creased with fatigue.
"You wanted to see me?"
Lin Xinrou detected the coldness in his tone, her heart fluttering with anxiety, though her face showed only weakness and grievance. "Zhao Hua, I nearly thought I'd never see you again today."