Chapter 23 Here Be Melons

Facing Wang Shumei's penetrating gaze, Lin Nianhe calmly continued to feign timidity.

Although she hadn't known Wang Shumei for long, she understood very well that she was the same kind of person as herself.

Exactly the same type of black sesame-filled dumplings.

Sure enough, not only did Wang Shumei not expose her, but she also soothingly patted Lin Nianhe's back a couple of times before pushing her into Wen Lan's embrace.

When Lin Nianhe was forced to lean against Wen Lan's shoulder, she put herself in Wang Shumei's shoes for a moment and thought that if she were Wang Shumei, she would also dispose of two troubles in one go.

Truly a meeting of minds.

Wen Lan was originally embarrassed about tearing a man's clothes, but upon hearing that this man's family did not behave in a proper manner, she immediately rolled up her sleeves, ready to fight.

However, she had barely taken a step forward when Lin Nianhe gave her a full embrace.

"Sister Lan, I'm scared, please stay with me for a while."

Wen Lan was very frustrated and cast a disdainful glance at Lin Nianhe: "You silly girl, what's there to be afraid of?"

Lin Nianhe couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Hmph, ungrateful.

Despite the disapproval in her heart, Lin Nianhe held onto Wen Lan's arm tightly, preventing her from joining the fray.

With so many people here, a kick from each would be enough to break that fellow's bones; there really was no need for Wen Lan to show off her skills.

Besides, Lin Nianhe always felt that Wen Lan was a bit too fierce; she was genuinely capable of accidentally beating someone to death.

Outside the courtyard, Li Dahe hurried over with his three sons.

Lin Nianhe glanced over and felt that Uncle Team Leader's hair had thinned even more.

Li Dahe caught a glimpse of Zhang Sancai's misdeeds and immediately told his sons without further ado: "You three tie up this son of a bitch first; I need to go ask Old Man Zhang what the heck is going on with Nine-miles Team causing trouble at my doorstep!"

He first protected his own people before he looked at Wang Hong with a questioning gaze.

Wang Hong found her reason returning a bit after being stopped by Lin Nianhe, and with a trembling voice, she pointed at the wailing Zhang Sancai on the ground: "Team Leader, Old Zhang Family arranged a marriage for Daxi behind our backs, and while I was away at the county, they abducted Daxi to their home. What do you think should be done about this?"

"What?"

Before Li Dahe could speak, the typically reticent Li Xiaoshan suddenly jumped up.

He glared at Zhang Sancai with eyes even redder than Wang Hong's.

"You took Daxi... where did you take Comrade Wang Xixi? Speak! Or I'll strangle you!"

Li Xiaoshan instinctively used the hemp rope to strangle Zhang Sancai's neck, his crazed appearance...

Lin Nianhe: "There are melons to be had here."

Wang Shumei: "These two have an affair."

Wen Lan, like a chayote that couldn't find the melon field: "What melon? What affair? What? What are you guys talking about?"

Lin Nianhe and Wang Shumei ignored her; they exchanged glances and saw kindred spirits in each other's eyes.

To find melons to munch on in such a chaotic scene, one must either be extremely detail-oriented or be someone who thrives on the spirit of a gossiper.

Either way, finding a kindred spirit was something to be happy about for a moment.

Li Xiaoshan's sudden outburst took everyone by surprise, but no one thought of it in that light; they were more concerned about where Wang Xixi had been taken by the Zhang family.

Zhang Sancai was a coward, having just been chased around by Wang Hong with a shovel, then having his palm crushed under Lin Nianhe's foot, and now being strangled by Li Xiaoshan, his slim courage had completely dissipated.

While he was still able to breathe, he yelled with a voice straining: "At home, in my home! Dani is at the Zhang Family!"

"Enough!" Li Dahe kicked his younger son on the butt and dragged him away, "Don't beat someone to death!"

He furrowed his brows in thought for a moment, then turned around, arm aloft, and shouted, "Hongzi is our hero daughter from Ten Miles Team, and Daxi is also a child our fellow villagers watched grow up. Since Hongzi and the eldest son of Zhang Family are divorced, Old Zhang Family can't have a say in Daxi's marriage!"

"Those of you who can fight, come with me; we're going to Nine-miles Team to bring the child back home!"

Li Dahe, under the twilight glows, shimmered with a golden luster at this moment.

"Let's go! We can't let that family of vermin harm our girl!"

"Kill these damned bastards; they even dare to sneak into our place and kidnap, they're asking for it!"

The crowd was frenzied; the young and strong, wielding shovels, hoes, and sickles, followed him towards Nine-miles Team. The older ones immediately started shouting the news, and more young people ran out to join the massive group.

They cursed as they walked, and when they were extremely angered, they gave Zhang Sancai a few kicks to vent their frustration.

Zhang Sancai hadn't left the village yet and was already covered with footprints of all sizes.

Before Li Dahe left, he said to Sun Guanghui, "You lead the Educated Youths back; you can't get involved in this."

Sun Guanghui frowned, "No way! Director Wang takes good care of us usually; we can't ignore it when her family is in trouble!"

"That's right, Uncle Team Leader, they're committing a crime!"

"The more of us there are, the stronger we'll be; we should..."

"Shut up!" Li Dahe had no mood for their clamor and said gruffly, "Educated youths fighting—do you think your records are looking too clean?"

Wang Hong turned back and said, "Listen up, Educated Youths, none of you are allowed to go; otherwise, you'll all be writing self-criticism reports!"

The group of Educated Youths looked at each other, wanting to follow but unable to find a solid reason to argue back.

In the end, it was Wang Xue who whispered, "We'd better listen to Uncle Team Leader and Director Wang; after all, this is entirely the fault of Nine-miles Team; the situation may not escalate to a fight. Besides... if Nine-miles Team holds a grudge and complains to the commune, it'll be harder for us to return to the city."

Sun Guanghui was left staring in frustration, his limited vocabulary insufficient to articulate a rebuttal.

Dinner tonight was bound to be tasteless; neither the braised pork nor the plain steamed buns could lift everyone's gloomy spirits.

Lin Nianhe had no appetite either and excused herself, saying she had already eaten, then went back to her room.

Drawing the curtains, she took out a desk lamp from her space and started to do practice problems while keeping an ear out for any noise outside.

The rustling sound of her pen mingled with the swishing of the leaves outside the window, forming a symphony, unintentionally stretching the time.

After Lin Nianhe finished two sets of math practice papers for the middle school examination and corrected them against the answers, she was about to start reviewing her weak points when she heard some faint noise from outside.

Her eyes lit up as she quickly packed away the desk lamp and practice papers, and once again called upon the old actor, the newspaper.

Lin Nianhe put on her coat and waited until the noise got a bit louder before she took her flashlight and stepped out.

Everyone in the front yard heard the commotion and came out to see; even Miao Yulan came out leaning on Wang Xue's arm.

Perhaps to wait for the people who had gone out, the door of the Educated Youth Corps wasn't closed tonight. They hadn't walked out yet when Li Xiaoshan, pale-faced, stumbled in.

Sun Guanghui's gaze sharpened as he quickly went up to support him, "Li Xiaoshan, what happened? Was there an accident?"

Li Xiaoshan shook his head, pushing away his arm, and scanned the faces around, only to relax a bit when he saw Lin Nianhe.

He quickly approached Lin Nianhe and asked her, "Lin, Educated Youth Lin, my mom asked me to ask if you have... do you have any medicine?"

There was no clinic in Ten Miles Team, and in those days, it was rare for people to have common medication at home. Mostly, if they had a headache or fever, they'd just endure it until it passed, and if it got serious, they'd be taken to the health clinic in town.

The ones who might have medicine were the newly arrived Educated Youths.

Seeing his state, Lin Nianhe immediately nodded, "I have some, what kind of medicine do you need?"

Li Xiaoshan's lips trembled, and he shook his head in panic, as if he had lost his soul, "I—I don't know... Daxi, she's bleeding a lot..."