The brigade’s orchard is located at the foot of another mountain, and its size isn’t large. To acquire this piece of land for the orchard, Tian Youfu exerted a great deal of effort.
At first, the people in the brigade didn’t understand. They thought it was too much trouble and wouldn’t be worthwhile. There were already a few wild fruit trees on the mountain, such as wild peaches and jujubes, which could be eaten in a pinch. Why go through the trouble of creating an orchard?
But in the end, it proved that Tian Youfu had foresight.
After the orchard was established, Tian Youfu did thorough research and ultimately decided to plant apples and hawthorn trees.
The reason was twofold: first, both types of fruit were easy to preserve and transport; second, both were cold-resistant species, so after planting, there was no need to worry about the seedlings freezing in the winter.
The orchard wasn’t large, but by the third year, the members of the brigade had already reaped the rewards.
Every year, in September and October, after the fruits were harvested, some were distributed among the members, and then the brigade contacted units to buy the fruit. Because the transportation wasn’t very convenient, the final amount of money earned wasn’t much.
Of the money earned, Tian Youfu didn’t divide it all equally but instead kept some aside as funds for the brigade, and the rest was distributed every two years.
Xu Shuang said that last year, each household received ten yuan.
Although it wasn’t a lot, compared to other brigades, where after years of hard work they might not see any money at all, the treatment in the Seventh Brigade was already quite rare.
As a result, everyone took the orchard seriously. Even families who were struggling with hunger wouldn’t let their children go into the orchard to ruin the young trees, for fear of damaging the brigade’s business and their own income.
Wang Ying hadn’t been to the orchard much since her marriage, so when she went with Xu Shuang for a stroll in the orchard, she couldn’t help but praise it.
“This place is really nice, but there are too few fruit trees.”
The scale was too small. Every year, the orchard could only supply fruit to the nearby county, and anything further was insufficient.
Xu Shuang responded, “This amount is enough. For further places, the fruit would spoil before it even got there.”
Apples were fine, but hawthorn, if not dried, couldn’t be stored for long.
Wang Ying, puzzled, asked, “Can’t it be made into canned fruit?”
Hawthorn canned fruit was a rare thing, and even if the Seventh Brigade only produced raw fruit, the price wouldn’t be high enough. It would be better to make it into canned fruit so it could be sold farther away for a better price.
Xu Shuang said, “It’s not that easy. Forget about whether the commune would approve, just bringing in the machinery would be extremely expensive, and the others wouldn’t agree.”
Xu Shuang led Wang Ying through the orchard’s small trees and into a nearby tool shed.
Recently, Old Dog had been busy with manure collection and was sleeping in the orchard at night. So, Xu Shuang brought Wang Ying to hide there and planned to wait until midnight to question Old Dog.
They arrived after dinner, intending to wait for everyone to fall asleep before asking questions.
Old Dog was eating with a forest guard, chatting as they ate. Old Dog didn’t like working in the fields and had been short of food. After a winter, his food supplies were nearly exhausted, so now his bowl didn’t contain potatoes or cornmeal but wild vegetables picked from the mountain.
He mixed some noodles with wild herbs and salt and steamed them. Not caring about the appearance, he shoveled the food into his mouth. Since wild vegetables didn’t fill him up, he drank a large amount of cold water to compensate.
After eating, Old Dog went outside and picked up a small branch to clean his teeth.
The forest guard laughed, “Old Dog, you were telling me about that little widow sneaking around with men. You haven’t finished the story yet. Tell me more.”
Old Dog, grinning as he cleaned his teeth, said proudly, “That was years ago. That widow from that family, she was quite flirtatious, always swaying her big hips around the brigade…”
Old Dog, who was getting old and had no wife, had a strong desire for women and would make up wild stories based on rumors he’d heard. He told them with great detail and flair, making the young forest guard listen intently.
Wang Ying crouched outside the window, and Xu Shuang pushed her head down.
Xu Shuang frowned tightly, feeling that she hadn’t beaten Old Dog enough last time. This guy was spouting nonsense with an arrogant attitude, and he really deserved a beating.
Wang Ying also found it ridiculous. She could already imagine how Old Dog looked telling these scandalous stories—definitely with a perverted expression.
He really deserved a beating.
However, what Wang Ying didn’t expect was that as Old Dog continued to talk, his words became more outrageous.
“I’ll tell you, don’t look at how I, Old Dog, never married. But I’ve got sharp eyes. I can tell what kind of woman someone is just by looking.”
“Like that actress who was sent here from the city. You can tell she’s not a decent woman. Do you know what I mean? A woman like that, before the founding of the country, she was definitely from a back alley. Tsk tsk. Even though she’s called an actress, in reality, she’s probably been involved in all sorts of shady business.”
Wang Ying, who was listening outside, was already furious.
Yet trouble was brewing inside.
The young forest guard teased with a laugh, “Then Dog-uncle, why don’t you just marry that woman? She’s got bad political status, sure, but her figure’s alright. Even if her background’s poor, you’re a third-generation poor peasant—if you marry her, she’s the one benefitting.”
Old Dog quickly shook his head. “You brat, stop trying to cause trouble for your Dog-uncle. A woman like that—even if she was handed to me for free, I wouldn’t want her. My family background is pure as can be, how could I let someone like that through the door?”
The forest guard just laughed it off and changed the topic. He was only joking when he suggested Old Dog should marry the woman. In those days, no one would be foolish enough to marry a woman with a bad class background, especially one labeled as a counter-revolutionary who’d been sent down. No one dared get involved with that.
Though he said no more, his words planted a seed in Old Dog’s mind like a spark in dry grass.
Not long after, the two went back to their rooms to sleep, but Old Dog tossed and turned in bed, those earlier words spinning in his mind.
Marrying a counter-revolutionary? Absolutely not.
But then he thought about that woman, Cheng Shufen. When she first came to the brigade, though she was a bit older and looked thin, her face and figure were still attractive…
Old Dog flipped over restlessly, knowing his thoughts were inappropriate.
But he just couldn’t stop.
Last time, when he had wicked thoughts about Wang Ying, he’d been beaten so badly by Xu Shuang he had to lie in bed for days. Afterward, he was made to go into the mountains and sweep snow all winter. It was exhausting, and if not for that, he wouldn’t have eaten through all his rations before spring.
He no longer dared have those thoughts about Wang Ying. Even now, whenever he remembered Xu Shuang, the places where he’d been beaten still seemed to ache.
Restless and unable to sleep, Old Dog got out of bed, thinking vaguely that if he couldn’t sleep, maybe he’d take a walk on the back hill?
Even he didn’t dare think too hard about why he was going there…
Wang Ying and Xu Shuang had planned to wait until he was asleep before waking him up to question him. But they waited and waited, and he just didn’t fall asleep. Instead, he got up and slipped out of the orchard!
Wang Ying frowned tightly as she watched Old Dog sneak out.
“…Where do you think he’s going?” she asked.
Xu Shuang tugged her along for a bit. “Looks like the back hill.”
Wang Ying’s face darkened with fury. Just earlier, Old Dog had been talking about Cheng Shufen, and now he was heading for the back hill?
This man really never learns, does he?
Xu Shuang could tell Wang Ying was furious. Quietly, she followed along, and once they reached a secluded spot, Xu Shuang stepped forward and knocked Old Dog unconscious with a quick chop to the neck.
Wang Ying: “Drag him to the threshing ground.”
Xu Shuang had already told her how she’d handled Old Dog last time, and Wang Ying clearly wasn’t planning to go easy on him either.
When Old Dog finally woke up again, he was nearly scared out of his mind.
Under the dim moonlight, Xu Shuang and Wang Ying stood over him with unfriendly faces.
Next to him was the village’s well.
It was like a nightmare all over again—same place, same Xu Shuang, same menacing look.
Old Dog immediately began to beg. “I didn’t do anything! I didn’t say anything I shouldn’t have!”
He thought Xu Shuang was going to beat him again and quickly tried to apologize and surrender.
But he had misjudged—the one dealing with him tonight wasn’t Xu Shuang.
Wang Ying stepped up and gave him two punches before coldly asking, “You really dare say you weren’t planning anything just now?”
He’d gone all the way to the back hill—how could he not have been planning something?
Old Dog never expected that Wang Ying would see right through him. His face instantly turned pale with fear.
“I—I didn’t… I didn’t actually do anything!”
Old Dog was so scared he began to cry, and a suspicious wet spot appeared below his waist. “I swear I didn’t! I just thought about it, just thought about it, and you two dragged me here…”
Old Dog was completely broken. He couldn’t understand how just thinking a few indecent thoughts could lead to this.
He hadn’t actually done anything!
Why did these two always manage to catch him right on time?
Could there really be gods watching from above, determined to keep him from ever doing anything immoral in his life?
Wang Ying gave him two more punches. Old Dog clutched his head and didn’t even dare cry out loud.
After letting off some steam, Wang Ying finally got to the real point. “I’ll deal with your back hill nonsense later. Right now, I’m going to ask you something. Think carefully before you answer.”
Old Dog quickly begged and nodded. “Go ahead, ma’am, ask anything you want!”
Wuwuwu, he used to think Xu Shuang hit hard—turns out Wang Ying’s punches hurt just as much. These two were born to torment him!
Wang Ying asked, “A few years ago when my mother passed away, she shared a hospital room with you. Did you hear anything? Did she say anything before she passed?”
Old Dog wasn’t expecting this question at all. He hung his head and thought hard for a moment. “I just remember that your uncle came and spoke with your mother for a while, but I was so tired, I fell asleep early…”
Wang Ying didn’t react on her face. “Really? Think again. Every word and movement from that time—can you recall and repeat them to me?”
Old Dog gave a bitter smile. “I really don’t remember much. I was scared out of my mind and just wanted to sleep… But I think I heard a few words. Something like, ‘Tell Yongfu to come back quickly.’”
Wang Ying fell silent. Yongfu was the name of the original host’s father.
Xu Shuang, seeing her expression, took over the questioning. “You said Wang Yongshun came into the room. Was there anything unusual about him when he left?”
Old Dog wailed, “Please, I really don’t remember! I just recall that while Wang Yongshun was there, someone else came in—they said they were from the next room and had forgotten something. It woke me up briefly, but other than that, I don’t remember anything else…”
Wang Ying couldn’t hide her disappointment. After going through all that trouble, everything had somehow returned to square one.
Xu Shuang gently patted her on the shoulder. “At least we know someone went in during that time. We’ll keep digging.”
Old Dog might be useless, but at least he’d pointed them in a clear direction. It seemed the matter ultimately came down to that woman’s family member.
Wang Ying pulled herself together. “It’s fine. I’ll go and try to work on Doctor Wu again later, see if he’ll compromise and give us an address.”
Old Dog, standing to the side, was near panic. “Ancestors, masters, goddesses, can I go now?”
He swore he would never again entertain such wicked thoughts. He truly didn’t dare anymore.
Tonight, he hadn’t even acted on anything—he’d just thought about it—and Wang Ying had already taken him down. How had he ever thought Wang Ying was some weak, easily bullied orphan girl?
She was clearly a ruthless and cunning woman!
When faced with someone crueler than him, Old Dog immediately turned into a docile lamb. He didn’t dare even mention being beaten—he just wanted Wang Ying to let him go.
Wang Ying exchanged a look with Xu Shuang. This man, Old Dog, had a filthy mouth, lacked brains, and his mind constantly strayed to perverse things. The lesson from last time hadn’t been enough—now he’d made another mistake.
Truly detestable.
But all that still wasn’t enough to expose him publicly, especially since he hadn’t even reached the foot of the back hill.
Old Dog had already realized he was at the mercy of this couple. In the end, it all depended on Wang Ying’s mood, so he desperately begged her for mercy.
Wang Ying didn’t disappoint him—she punched him straight into unconsciousness.
Xu Shuang: “What do you plan to do?”
Wang Ying thought for a moment and beckoned Xu Shuang over with a finger.
“I remember last time you snuck into the brigade office and got your hands on medical alcohol, right?”
Xu Shuang: …
And so, the next day, a familiar scene replayed itself.
Song Dagui stood stiffly, staring at Old Dog lying on the ground, seething with anger.
“Really impressive, aren’t you! Last time you sneaked alcohol, now you’re at it again! Old Dog, be honest—do you have your eyes set on our brigade’s medical alcohol or something? How else could you always manage to find it and drink yourself into unconsciousness every single time?”
“Alright, save the excuses. This year, the brigade’s manure duties are all yours.”
