CHAPTER 52: 051: ACCUSATION

As they entered the village, Wang Changjiang saw Zhang De’s wife still grabbing his own family’s old lady’s hair, and became utterly enraged, but he didn’t want to lose face in front of the villagers and be labeled as biased, so he turned his gaze toward Zhang De.

Zhang De, understanding the situation with one look at Wang Changjiang and another glance ahead, took a few quick steps to the front of Wang Changjiang and stood before his own old lady, saying, "What do you think you’re doing? Let go of her already; you’re too old to be making a scene."

While he was harshly scolding her, Zhang De didn’t dare lay a hand on his own wife, and seeing this, Wang Changjiang was so angered that his eyes were wide open. Zhang De was notoriously known in the village as a pushover, a man afraid of his wife. Wang Changjiang thought that in front of so many villagers, Zhang De would at least show some backbone, but seeing him in this pathetic state, it seemed he had overestimated him.

"Stop right now," Wang Changjiang could no longer hold back seeing his own wife being attacked, "it’s early in the morning, and no one is going to the fields, are you planning to forgo today’s work points? Everyone, go and do what you’re supposed to."

After all, as the captain, when he shouted, the crowd began to disperse and headed out of the village. Among them were some who were there to watch the spectacle, while others were genuinely trying to break up the fight, but it was unclear who was who. However, Wang Changjiang’s shout made them all scatter.

Zhang De’s wife wasn’t afraid of this, "Captain Wang, you came just in time. We might as well talk about this. My daughter Zhang Juanzi..."

"Enough, whatever you have to say, let’s talk at home. What is the point of this pulling and tugging right now?" As soon as she mentioned bringing up matters related to his son, Wang Changjiang hastily interrupted her, then directed Zhang De, "Take your wife home, as a man you can’t even control your own wife, how do you expect to hold your head high in the village?"

Zhang De, being shouted at by Wang Changjiang, turned red and blue, nodding repeatedly. He shouted at his own wife with a little more determination than before, "Get up, do you believe I’ll hit you if you keep this up?"

As he said this, he raised his hand in a threatening gesture, but his wife’s glare made him hesitant to actually act on it.

"I’ll settle the score with you when we get home," Wang Hua glared fiercely at her own husband, then turned with a cold sneer towards Wang Changjiang, "Captain, how is it that as a captain you’re inciting couples to fight? I, Wang Hua, am not unreasonable. Why would I grip your wife for no reason? How about you ask why? Or are you afraid of what I might say?"

With his hands clasped behind his back and a stern expression, Wang Changjiang replied, "Wang Hua, whatever it is, it can be resolved peacefully. But if you cause a scene, matters that could be resolved may end up unresolved. Wouldn’t you agree?"

Zhang De couldn’t understand the implication in the words, but both Dong Chunhong, Wang Changjiang’s wife, and Wang Hua on the scene understood. Dong Chunhong, who had been silent since she was grabbed by Wang Hua, remained so even after seeing her husband arrive, but her eyes were red, clearly very upset. And upon hearing her own husband’s words, her eyes couldn’t help but widen further.

Wang Changjiang, who deeply cared for his wife, couldn’t coax her at the moment. Seeing Wang Hua silent, he knew she had gotten the point, "Zhang De’s household, if you want the whole village to know, I’ll tell you right now, I, Wang Changjiang, am not one to be easily handled. If you want to settle this amicably, I’m open to discussions. But if you think the Wang Family will bow their heads, let me tell you there’s no way."

"Captain Wang, you shouldn’t say it like that. You should know what your son Wang Hai did. I can’t believe the township won’t address this if it is brought to them." Having heard about her daughter from Zhang Shumei, Wang Hua was bent on involving the Wang Family, naturally not wanting to escalate things too far. If it weren’t for Dong Chunhong’s harsh words, she wouldn’t have acted out.

"It takes two to tango, Wang Hai was at fault, but was your daughter Zhang Juanzi blameless?" Wang Changjiang wasn’t afraid, "The worst that could happen is I lose my position as captain, but I won’t let you manipulate me. If you genuinely want both families to get along, we can sit down and talk. But if you’re thinking of using the township to make me nod in agreement, I’ll resign for the sake of my dignity, and still won’t concede. Enough, let’s not let the village see a joke, let go of her hand, and after work tonight, you and Zhang De come to my house, and we can talk further."

The intentions were clear; to discuss the matter in the evening and not outright reject it. Wang Hua, getting what she wanted, finally let go and stood up from the ground, patting the dust off her clothes, "Captain Wang, then Zhang De and I will come tonight."

She already had a smile on her face.

Zhang De hurriedly pulled his wife along to head to the fields. Only when everyone had left, did Wang Changjiang’s cold eyes turn to his wife, squat down, and help her up, "That person is just like that, it’s not worth getting angry over."

"After seeing what happened today, is that kind of family even suitable as in-laws? I’m telling you, Wang Hai can marry anyone, but Zhang Juanzi is not an option." Having been humiliated like that, Dong Chunhong wouldn’t accept anyone from the Zhang Family.

Wang Changjiang didn’t respond to her comment, "Go home, you don’t need to work today."

After such an incident, Dong Chunhong didn’t intend to go to work either. Nodding, she parted ways with her man and headed home. It must be said, Wang Hua was also clever, though she had held onto Dong Chunhong during the fight and kept cursing, she never let out any concrete details, leaving villagers aware of the conflict but clueless about the reasons.

On the other side, Ye Ling and her grandmother had arrived at the station early, sitting at the same spot as yesterday. With no train arriving yet, Ye Ling dug for wild vegetables all around, placing them in front of her grandmother to pick. When a train came, she would go over to sell wild vegetable dumplings. By evening, of the nearly sixty dumplings steamed, only four or five were left. The grandmother-granddaughter duo had them for lunch at the station, and returned home only as darkness approached, taking the remaining dumplings along.

"Grandma, considering what we earned yesterday, it should be almost ten dollars now, right?" After a whole day of digging for wild vegetables, Ye Ling didn’t feel tired, still carrying a review book in her basket.

On closer inspection, it was her high school materials bought in the city.

"Indeed." Old Mrs. Ye, pleased with the earnings, looked much more spirited than before, "While everyone in the village is busy with spring plowing and no one’s competing with us, we should earn more these days so that we aren’t worried when sales aren’t great later on."

"Yes, Grandma, someone asked today if we have anything other than what we’re selling. How about we make some noodles, using pickled wild vegetables as the sauce, do you think that would work?" For the first time in two lifetimes, earning money made Ye Ling see hope.

"It sounds good, but what will we serve the noodles in? The train stops for only five minutes, how could anyone finish in such a short time?"

Ye Lin nodded thoughtfully, staying silent while trying to figure out a solution. After thinking for a long time and coming up with nothing, she decided to drop it. However, since she brought up the idea, when they returned home, Old Mrs. Ye kneaded some dough and made corn twists to eat. This was a food typical of poor northern families, developed because they couldn’t afford dried or white noodles, and the cornmeal was too coarse. They discovered a way to make noodles with cornmeal instead, by squeezing the dough through a tin ring fitted on the index finger, directly into boiling water below. The extruded cornmeal strips would turn into noodles in the hot water, although cornmeal tended to break easily, resulting in short lengths.

Every household made it into a hot soup, with Old Mrs. Ye using Chinese cabbage to make a soup. After cooking, it was served on a kang table, and with homemade pickled vegetables from the sauce crock, Ye Ling enjoyed three full bowls. During this era, every family would pickle a variety of garden vegetables, like celery, cilantro, various greens along with cucumbers, in homemade cloth bags buried in soybean paste, allowing them to be eaten after a winter’s time.

With a rare good appetite, Old Mrs. Ye had two bowls before she put down the chopsticks. They hadn’t even started cleaning up when someone arrived at their home. Before they could get down from the kang to see who it was, the door opened, and in rushed Ye He Ping, wearing a green Zhongshan suit.