During that era, possessing a large amount of gold and silver was already a recipe for disaster, let alone having a notebook containing evidence of his embezzlement of village grain and bribery over the years.
There’s no time like the present, so she decided to take care of the matter immediately.
Seizing the opportunity of chaos at Widow Qiu’s house, she promptly left the village. She retrieved a bicycle from her space—one she had acquired from the Shen Family in Beijing—and headed straight to the county.
She didn’t go to the commune because she feared Xu Wenchang might have accomplices there; after all, some entries in the notebook were particularly cryptic, and she suspected only he himself knew who those individuals were.
Even though the rural dirt roads were difficult to navigate, the moon was bright that night. Coupled with Yunyi’s keen senses, she was hardly affected at all.
She rode the bike so fast it felt like she was on a motorcycle, and forty minutes later, she had already arrived at the county Public Security Bureau.
She found a secluded spot, entered her space, and wrote three identical letters of accusation: one for the Public Security Bureau, one for the county government, and one for the Red Committee, making sure it was foolproof.
Then, she hurried back without stopping. After all, I’m a good comrade who does good deeds without seeking recognition, she thought. I can’t let the villagers detect anything.
Upon reaching the village entrance, she stored the bicycle away and walked directly toward the production brigade headquarters, hearing from the sounds that the commotion had moved.
When she arrived, Ma Jiuxiang had just been dragged from her home and was locked in a brawl with Widow Qiu. "You shameless hussy!" Ma Jiuxiang shrieked. "How dare you seduce my husband!"
Widow Qiu knew she was doomed. Enduring the humiliation wouldn’t lead to a good outcome anyway, so she stopped holding back and attacked Ma Jiuxiang with all her might.
The Xu Family’s two sons were helping at their sister’s place and hadn’t returned. But how could the Qiu Family’s son and daughter stand by and watch their mother be beaten? They too joined the fray.
Among the crowd were those who loved watching a spectacle and didn’t mind if things escalated; they kept making judgmental comments, and in no time, the brigade’s courtyard was a chaotic mess.
Although Ma Jiuxiang was no match for Widow Qiu and her two children, her verbal abuse only grew fouler.
Yunyi, hidden at the back of the crowd, deliberately altered her voice and remarked, "That Qiu Baolin does resemble the brigade leader quite a bit."
Her comment instantly caused a stir, and everyone turned to look.
The talk grew more intense and heated. Hearing the remarks, Ma Jiuxiang’s anger flared. Unknowingly, she picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at Qiu Baolin’s head.
Just then, the Branch Secretary and the security director, who had taken the brigade leader into the office for questioning, came out and yelled at the brawlers, "Stop!"
But the shout came too late; Ma Jiuxiang had already cracked Qiu Baolin’s head open with the stone.
Seeing her son’s bleeding head, Widow Qiu shrieked and lunged at Ma Jiuxiang, "You damned woman! How dare you try to kill my son! I’ll fight you to the death!"
When Ma Jiuxiang saw the blood on Qiu Baolin’s head, she panicked. In that moment of stunned shock, Widow Qiu grabbed her hair and, with all her strength, slammed her to the ground.
Widow Qiu, like a woman possessed, rained punch after punch down on Ma Jiuxiang.
Although Ma Jiuxiang still clutched the stone, she was face down, and Widow Qiu had pinned her arm with her leg, rendering her completely powerless.
Fearing things would escalate, the Branch Secretary quickly called out to a few commune members, "Quick, pull them apart!"
Nearby, Qiu Baojuan panicked and cried out, "Mom, my brother is bleeding so much!" Follow current novels on n0velfire.net
Seeing her son’s grievous state, Widow Qiu shrieked recklessly, "Xu Wenchang, look what your wife has done! If anything happens to our son, those two brats she bore won’t get off easy either!"
The moment these words were uttered, Xu Wenchang thought, It’s over.
Instantly, the crowd of onlookers erupted into chaos.
The Branch Secretary spotted Yunyi at the back of the crowd and was about to call her over to help stop Qiu Baolin’s bleeding, but he saw Yunyi turn and leave.
Now that the truth is out, my purpose is achieved, Yunyi thought. As for helping with first aid, I’m not interested. I’m no longer the village health worker.
The Branch Secretary watched Yunyi leave, his mouth agape. He could only swallow his words and scan the crowd for Xue Linfang.
He didn’t find Xue Linfang, but he spotted Xu Hongzao. "Hongzao, hurry back and get Lin Fang to help stop the bleeding!"
Xu Hongzao was still in a daze. With her uncle involved in such an incident, he surely couldn’t continue as brigade leader. Would her own family be implicated?
Hearing the Branch Secretary’s shout, she replied, "I’ll go get someone right now."
Not far behind Xu Hongzao, Mother Xue overheard the Branch Secretary’s call for Lin Fang (her daughter-in-law) and said with displeasure, "It’s the middle of the night; Lin Fang has already gone to bed."
She then called out to the figure walking away not far off, "Isn’t that Chu Zhiqing? She can help just as well."
Yunyi didn’t slow her pace in the slightest. As everyone looked her way, she called back without turning her head, "Not my position, not my responsibility. I’m not the village health worker. Besides, the Xue Family home is barely twenty meters from here, not a world away over mountains and rivers."
At this, Zhao Guihua stepped forward to defend Yunyi, saying, "Exactly! Lin Fang is the village health worker. How can you expect Chu Zhiqing to do her work for her?"