Lin Lan recognized her as Yang Meihua, the wife of the deputy team leader, He Xianghua. It was an open secret in the Lexing Team that He Xianghua and Captain Liu Guozhi were in a power struggle.
A great man once said that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Lin Lan looked at Yang Meihua gratefully. "Thank you, Captain's wife!"
Yang Meihua beamed at the title, her lips curling into a smile. She feigned a scolding tone. "This is the new society; you can't call me that. Just call me Sister Meihua."
Yang Liying chimed in with a smile, "Lin Lan, Sister Meihua is a Yang, one of us. You should call her Sister Meihua."
"Sister Meihua!" Lin Lan readily agreed.
Yang Meihua nodded with a broad smile, then turned to Zhang Jun. "Zhang Jun, we're all part of the same team. It's not right of you to deny her work."
Zhang Jun glanced at Yang Meihua, remembering Liu Guozhi's words. He turned back to Lin Lan. "For Sister-in-law Yang's sake, I'll find a job for you. We're short one person for carrying manure. You can do that."
'This bootlicker, Zhang Jun!' Lin Lan cursed inwardly. 'Just you wait.'
Yang Meihua shot Zhang Jun a sidelong glance, then turned to Lin Lan. "Why don't you go carry manure for a day, and come back tomorrow to pull seedlings?"
Lin Lan nodded with a wide grin. "Thank you, Sister Meihua! The Chairman said that women can hold up half the sky. Don't just say carrying manure—I'd go even if you asked me to carry rocks. But I have a question for Captain Zhang."
Yang Meihua looked at Zhang Jun and said sarcastically, "Captain Zhang, is she allowed to ask a question?"
Zhang Jun frowned at Lin Lan, thinking the woman was acting a bit strange today. "Go on!"
Lin Lan looked at him. "Captain Zhang, from now on, will every female commune member who returns to work after sick leave have to carry manure?"
Zhang Jun scowled and snapped, "We'll deal with the future when it comes. When I don't give you work, you complain. When I do, you complain it's too hard! If you don't want to do it, go home. Stop all this nonsense!"
Lin Lan looked him in the eye and raised her voice. "Captain Zhang, I haven't said a single word about carrying manure being too tiring, so you don't need to give me the official runaround. We live in a socialist country that values fairness and justice. If you only make *me* carry manure, then that's neither fair nor just."
Humiliated and enraged, Zhang Jun shouted, "You take sick leave every other day and don't show up for work, yet you dare to spout such nonsense here!"
Lin Lan's eyes welled with tears as she shouted, "I'm not spouting nonsense! You're all bullying me because my husband is dead and there's no one to stand up for me! That's the only reason Captain Liu's son, Liu Jinbao, dared to skip work in broad daylight to come kick down my door! And where were you, the team cadre, then?"
"He kicked down my courtyard gate and forced his way into my house with indecent intentions, which is why I had to cut him with a knife! Liu Jinbao just paid compensation and admitted his mistake yesterday, but when I come to work today, you tell me there's no spot for me. You're all ganging up on me, using your positions to settle a private score!"
The women working in the nearby paddy fields gathered on the ridges, watching Lin Lan with tears shimmering in her eyes. They began to murmur amongst themselves, "What kind of man bullies a widow?"
One woman pursed her lips. "To do something as depraved as kicking in a widow's door... the captain of the Lexing Team must be so proud."
Another said, "So Liu Jinbao got cut by Lin Lan because he broke down Yang Laoyao's family's door and tried to molest her?"
"Really? But I heard Lin Lan was refusing to pay a debt..."
Hearing the gossip, Zhang Jun's face flushed red, and he roared, "Lin Lan, watch your mouth! Who is getting revenge or settling a private score?"
Lin Lan pointed at him and declared loudly, "You and Captain Liu! Mr. Wang from the police station said that gambling debts aren't protected by law, but trespassing is a crime. If I had killed him, it would have been justified. The law required Liu Jinbao to compensate me and apologize, or he'd be detained. He *chose* to pay and apologize."
"But Liu Jinbao wasn't satisfied after apologizing and paying up! He cornered me in an alley and threatened to harm my son, Douzi! Then he started spreading rumors that I got Douzi's younger uncle to pull strings so the police would take my side. And after that, he went to Captain Liu to get revenge on me by blocking me from work!"
"I have a clear conscience, so I'm not afraid of slander and lies. Douzi's younger uncle is a state official. Accusing him of pulling strings and showing favoritism to a relative is defamation! Spreading such rumors is a crime that can land you in jail!"
"I'm going to the police station to ask Mr. Wang to come to the team, and we will hash this out with Liu Jinbao face-to-face! We'll make it clear whether Douzi's younger uncle helped me or not!"
'It's not as simple as "an innocent person has nothing to fear." A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. With enough gossip, anyone's reputation can be ruined. If she didn't make a big scene now, by tomorrow people would be saying she was sleeping with Yang Dingbang.'
Zhang Jun pointed at Lin Lan. "You accuse me of retaliation? You need proof—"
"Pah!" Lin Lan wiped away her tears and spat at Zhang Jun. "The proof is right there in front of you! Liu Jinbao doesn't show up for work, so why don't you go deal with him? What kind of man bullies a woman?"
Zhang Jun, with spittle on his face, was so furious he raised his hand. "You..."
Lin Lan instantly dodged behind Yang Meihua, feigning terror. "Captain Zhang is hitting someone! Captain Zhang is hitting someone! Yang Laoyao, open your eyes and see this! You've only been gone two months, and they're already bullying your widow and orphan..."
Zhang Jun's fists were clenched in anger. "You all saw it! I didn't hit her!"
Yang Meihua stepped forward and pointed at him. "Zhang Jun, you've gone too far! What kind of man bullies a widow and her child!"
Yang Liying's eyes were red with rage as she glared at him. "Zhang Jun, Yang Laoyao may be dead, but the Yang family isn't! You dare lay a single finger on her, and my sisters and I won't let you hear the end of it! Bullying her in broad daylight and spreading vicious rumors with bare-faced lies!"
Zhang Jun looked at her resentfully but didn't dare say a word.
"Zheng Sanmei, you're going to explain yourself!" The more Yang Liying thought about it, the angrier she got. She wiped away a tear and strode toward a short-haired woman on the field ridge.
Zheng Sanmei lived next door to Liu Jinbao's family and was one of the biggest gossips in the Lexing Team.
If any family had so much as a small argument, she and a few others could embellish the story and spread it throughout the entire Lexing Team in less than half a day.
Seeing the fire turn toward her, Zheng Sanmei quickly spun around and tried to run.
Several women from the Yang family stepped forward to block her way. "Zheng Sanmei, Liying told you to make things clear."
They might have found Lin Lan annoying, but Yang Dingbang was the only person from the Yang family who was an official in the city. He was capable and righteous. Whenever someone from the Yang family asked for his help, he never put on airs if it was something he could do.
Since Liu Jinbao was slandering him for "pulling strings," they weren't about to stand by and watch the Liu family ruin Yang Dingbang's reputation.
Zheng Sanmei struggled. "This has nothing to do with me! Why are you grabbing me?"
An older auntie pointed at her. "I heard you talking about Lin Lan the moment I got to the fields. Your voice was the loudest one in the paddy."
Yang Liying grabbed her firmly. "Zheng Sanmei, yesterday when I got home from work, you came to my house specifically to tell me that Lin Lan had asked Ding Bang for help pulling strings to get out of her debt. You're going to tell me exactly what's going on!"
Zheng Sanmei kept struggling. "Yang Liying, let go! I wasn't the one who said it!"
Yang Liying glared at her. "You told me yourself!"
Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Zhang Jun turned and headed for the team headquarters.
Seeing this, Yang Meihua ran off toward Third Grand-aunt's house.
Lin Lan stepped forward and stared at her coldly. "Zheng Sanmei, which one of your eyes saw me ask Douzi's younger uncle to pull strings? Which eye saw me try to get out of a debt? If you don't make yourself clear, I'll tear your mouth off!"
Zheng Sanmei looked at the menacing women surrounding her, hesitated for a moment, then lowered her head. "Sun Xiuhua said it."
Yang Liying grabbed Zheng Sanmei. "Let's go. We're going to the pig farm to confront Sun Xiuhua."