"They look down on us from the countryside." Feng Chunhua fanned the flames as she told the two soldiers’ wives what happened on the train.
"There’s actually such an incident?" The speaker was Zhang Fang, whose husband was in logistics, and she had arrived earlier. She and Feng Chunhua hit it off immediately, feeling like old friends at first meeting.
"What’s wrong with us country folks? Hardy and industrious, working diligently in the fields, we neither steal nor rob, what could be bad about us?" Mei Ying’s husband worked in the propaganda department, and this time, she too had a rare opportunity to visit her relatives.
Because they were all from the same area, the three of them felt a special connection upon meeting.
"Exactly!" Feng Chunhua perked up even more on hearing this, and spiced up the story of what she had overheard in the corridor last night to the two soldiers’ wives, "Yesterday I went to wash clothes for our Old Yang, you have no idea. When I passed by the corridor, I heard the noise from their room, and it was so loud."
"What kind of noise?" Zhang Guifang asked.
Feng Chunhua, seeing that she didn’t catch on, leaned in with a sly smile and whispered, "You know, the kind that’s about attending to a man."
"Oh my, why would you listen to someone’s private matters in their room?" Mei Ying frowned. Among them, she was the oldest and considered to be straightforward and honest.
"How could I want to listen? The noise was too loud; I couldn’t ignore it. That fellow... was making sounds that one should not hear... with a voice so tender, it could melt your bones. I reckon she could keep it up for most of the night. Tell me, isn’t that young girl impressive? She could give those courtesans from the old brothels a run for their money."
Seeing that Feng Chunhua’s words were getting out of hand, Mei Ying couldn’t help but interrupt, "Chunhua, I know you don’t like people from the city, always putting on airs and acting delicate, and indeed they can be irritating to those of us from poorer backgrounds. But as for that sort of thing, it’s their private business, shouldn’t we refrain from spreading it around, not to mention comparing them to women from brothels..."
"Yeah, regardless of whether the girl is young or not, she is the chief of staff’s daughter-in-law. She’s also got an official marriage certificate after reporting to the organization. It doesn’t seem right to call her a vixen," said Zhang Guifang, even though she envied the little vixen quite a bit in her heart.
She felt she had never been young herself, having been buried in hard work ever since marrying her husband.
Feng Chunhua, seeing that the other two had taken offense, quickly held her tongue, "All right, let’s pretend I never said anything. I only spoke because I felt comfortable talking with you. If it were someone else, I truly wouldn’t mention it."
"That’s better. It’s best not to spread such things; it wouldn’t be good if they reached other people’s ears," Mei Ying concluded, but she had developed a bad feeling about Feng Chunhua.
In her life, she had never liked people who gossiped behind others’ backs, as such people often stirred up trouble.
With that thought in mind, Mei Ying said to Feng Chunhua, "You two go ahead, I’m going to visit the restroom before I leave."
Feng Chunhua, sensing that she and Mei Ying were not of the same sort, grabbed Zhang Guifang and left first, continuing to badmouth An Hao as they walked.
Zhang Guifang was quite the loudspeaker; she had arrived early and didn’t stay on the military base, staying instead in the family compound.
After returning, she spread the story to several other soldiers’ wives, and soon the tale spread widely.
Before long, the rumors had made their way back to An Hao’s ears.
On hearing that she was being called a vixen and likened to a woman from the old brothels, An Hao was infuriated! The remarks about Gu Shuangshuang were even worse, saying that without being married, she had run off to live in the military camp, as if she was crazed for men.
This completely enraged both An Hao and Gu Shuangshuang.