The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

Chen Xiaoshuai went home, grabbed a knife, and stormed out the door, brandishing a kitchen cleaver. His family was terrified and chased after him. Chen Peng, Chen Ergou, and Chen Da followed closely behind.

Chen Ergou: "Should we help or stop them?"

Chen Peng and Chen Da remained silent; they hadn't made up their minds yet.

Chen Zhi also came, while Xi Lang stayed home to make breakfast and didn't come over.

Hearing the commotion, the nearby villagers also ran over to see what was going on.

The Liang family's gate was tightly shut, smoke was billowing from the kitchen, and the pig was still grunting and squealing. The family of three seemed to be living their lives as usual.

That pig is still alive!

Enraged, Chen Xiaoshuai kicked the old wooden door of the Liang family.

"You damned robbers! You kicked down the door the moment you came in!" Liang Xiaoqiu's mother came out, cursing and swearing, holding a fire poker. The moment she opened the door, a gleaming kitchen knife was right in front of her.

"Murder!"

The woman shouted as she hit Chen Xiaoshuai outside the door with a fire poker.

Chen Xiaoshuai was not one to be trifled with either, and he slashed at the woman with a knife.

The Chen family members who had chased after him were terrified when they saw this scene. "Master, your son is going to kill someone! Quickly, go and stop him!"

The scene descended into chaos.

Standing at the back of the crowd, Chen Zhi, who had grown a bit taller, could clearly see the grief-stricken Chen Xiaoshuai being held down by his two cousins, unable to move. She could also see Liang Xiaoqiu's mother leaning against the wall, panting heavily, yet still arguing with Chen Xiaoshuai's mother while holding a fire poker.

She tiptoed towards the Liang family's house, trying to catch a glimpse of the man-eating pig, but the wooden fence blocked her view. Just as she was about to look away, a thick black mist filled her vision, billowing from the pigsty and soon enveloping the entire Liang family home.

What is this?

Chen Zhi frowned; she instinctively disliked this thing.

Later, Chen Xiaoshuai was taken home by his family, and with no more excitement to be seen, the villagers dispersed.

Chen Zhi didn't have to work today. She was reading comic books under the eaves. After she finished reading, she would wait for Xi Lang to come and read the contents of the book to her. Xi Lang would read it once, and she would read it once. After reading a book several times, they would switch to another one.

In the morning, I read books and learned to read; in the afternoon, I made shoes and clothes.

Xi Lang took out the wolf skin, python skin, and white dragon skin he had saved up and taught Chen Zhi how to cut and sew them. One taught diligently, and the other learned diligently. The day passed just like that.

When Shi Xin came over in the evening, Xi Lang made a new request to him, "Get me some cotton and some thick fabric."

"What do you want them for?" Shi Xin asked, puzzled. Didn't he give them two quilts? Logically, they shouldn't be short of quilts.

"I want to make winter clothes for Zhizhi," Xi Lang said.

Shi Xin's eyes widened. "You can do this too?"

Xi Lang: "Is this difficult?"

Shi Xinchao gave him a thumbs up. His younger brother was truly a woman who could handle both social graces and domestic duties, a virtuous woman indeed!

As night fell, the incessant crying returned.

In the dormitory of the educated youth settlement, Zhao Jinbao patted the wall and whispered to the female educated youth next door, "Can you still hear the sound?"

"No, that's all," Zhu Yuan replied softly.

They slept well that night.

Early in the morning, Zhao Jinbao went to fetch water again. He didn't like cooking and was a regular water carrier at the educated youth settlement. Today, besides Zhao Jinbao, there was also Li Zhou'an.

Zhao Jinbao: "Yesterday's talisman was really effective! We couldn't hear a sound and slept soundly. Your Xi Lang is amazing!"

Chen Zhixin said that was natural, but didn't forget to remind him, "Don't tell anyone about this."

Zhao Jinbao nodded, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"I would like to ask for another talisman," Li Zhou'an said.

"He wanted to get one for Chen Xiuzhen," Zhao Jinbao added. After saying that, he secretly glanced at Chen Zhi. Chen Zhi and Li Zhou'an used to be quite close, but she had no feelings for Li Zhou'an at all.

Chen Zhi remained calm. When she heard that Li Zhou'an wanted to send Chen Xiuzhen talismans, her expression did not change at all. She said as usual, "Then you can send five more books over."

Li Zhou'an hummed in agreement, gave Chen Zhi a deep look, and then looked away.

There were fewer people fetching water today.

Chen Zhi was supposed to work today, but the team leader said that she would rest this morning and carry water to water the crops in the afternoon.

The village was quiet all morning; there wasn't a soul in sight on the road.

In the afternoon, Chen Zhi carried buckets to work and learned from Aunt Qingfen that everyone hadn't slept well for two consecutive nights and was feeling listless, so the brigade leader let everyone rest for half a day and catch up on sleep at home.

"If this continues, my body can't take it," Aunt Qingfen said with a pained expression. "Now we know that the crying won't hurt anyone, but who can stand it when someone keeps crying in your ear from dusk till dawn? What's even more terrifying is that no matter how much you plug your ears, you can't block out the sound."

"My second aunt said that Liang Xiaoqiu's resentment was too strong, and there was nothing she could do. They said they'd need to find a high-ranking monk to chant sutras to help her pass on, or find a Taoist priest with even higher powers to disperse the resentment. But where can you find such people these days?"

"Isn't there any other way?"

"Yes, just wait for it to dissipate on its own."

Chen Zhi breathed a sigh of relief; it would dissipate on its own.

"But I'm afraid that before it dissipates, we'll all collapse first."

When Chen Zhi returned home after work in the evening, she found several more people in her house: the team leader, the Party Secretary, Chen Peng, Chen Ergou, and Chen Da. As Chen Zhi returned, she saw the team leader and the Party Secretary each leaving with several talismans in their hands.

Chen Peng and the other two sat on the stone steps, dejected.

"Chen Xiaoshuai didn't come?" The four of them used to be inseparable.

"His family was afraid he would do something stupid, so they tied him up at home," Chen Peng said weakly. At this moment, Chen Peng looked haggard, with red and swollen eyes and deep eye bags.

Chen Ergou and Chen Da leaned half their bodies against the stone steps, as if all their strength had been drained, and they couldn't even muster the energy to speak.

Xi Lang ignored the three of them and handed Chen Zhi a bowl of water, saying to her, "I'll take the water inside for you. Take a bath and change your clothes first."

Chen Zhi nodded and went back into the house.

Chen Zhi closed the door, and Xi Lang frowned and said, "The three of you should leave."

"I'm not leaving," Chen Peng refused. "I feel safe staying here with you."

Chen Ergou: "I think so too. We're not leaving tonight; we'll just stay outside your room."

Xi Lang: "You can also buy talismans from me."

The three of them said in unison, "We can't afford it."

Xi Lang gritted his teeth and said, "Consider it a gift from me."

That night, Chen Zhi still didn't hear crying, but she did hear a clanging sound. She felt it was somewhat familiar; she often heard this sound long ago when the village still performed religious ceremonies.

Chen Zhi was curious: who had invited the Taoist priest and the Taoist nun?

The clanging sound echoed all night.

"It's no use, absolutely no use!" Aunt Qingfen said, looking both helpless and angry. "The two voices were like they were having a competition, each trying to outdo the other, it was making my head explode!"

Chen Zhi yawned. She didn't hear crying, but the sounds of the ritual were getting louder and louder, making it impossible for her to fall asleep.

"Who invited the person to perform the ritual?" Chen Zhi asked.

"Who else could it be but the Liang couple? I heard that Liang Xiaowei was so scared that he cried for several nights and became haggard. The couple felt sorry for him and gritted their teeth to spend a lot of money to invite the monk."

"They really spared no expense for Liang Xiaowei. If you ask me, if they had just spent some money on Liang Xiaoqiu's medical treatment and hadn't been so greedy for the dowry, and had let Liang Xiaoqiu marry Chen Xiaoshuai, none of this would have happened today."

"But the Chen family doesn't want Liang Xiaoqiu."

"I think Chen Xiaoshuai's family also regrets it. Every night, Liang Xiaoqiu cries, and Chen Xiaoshuai cries along with her. If this continues, Chen Xiaoshuai will go crazy even if he's not stupid."

"Who could bear to see the girl I like end up like this?"

......

A group of aunties sighed with emotion.

The crying continued for several days, leaving the villagers pale and exhausted. Just as everyone was considering whether to take their food and seek refuge with relatives for a few days, one night, a fire broke out unexpectedly at the Liang family's house.

The first to smell the burning was the Liang family's neighbors. They heard the Liang family's cries for help, and immediately got out of bed and ran out without even putting on their shoes.

When they saw the Liang family's house on fire, they were all stunned and hurriedly ran home.

Even if they disliked the Liang family normally, they wouldn't stand idly by in a time of crisis. They grabbed basins and buckets, scooped water from the water vat, and hurriedly ran out.

In the blink of an eye, the Liang family home had been engulfed in flames.

They were all stunned. How could it burn so fast?

They heard banging on the door and screams. The Liang family of three was right behind the door, but they couldn't open it. The people outside tried to push the door open to rescue them, but they couldn't budge it. Several burly men rammed the door together, but the door, which was usually on the verge of collapse, was now as solid as a rock, and it didn't budge even when hit hard.

Seeing this scene, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, and only one thought crossed their minds: Liang Xiaoqiu has returned for revenge!

For some reason, everyone stopped moving. They stopped banging on the door and putting out the fire. They poured the water they had drawn from their homes directly onto the ground, afraid that Liang Xiaoqiu would hold a grudge against them.

The Liang family of three wailed for more than half an hour.

The pig in the Liang family's house also squealed for almost half an hour.

Half an hour later, the sound finally stopped.

The aroma of meat filled the air, and everyone who smelled it felt a wave of nausea and, leaning against the wall, vomited up their leftovers from the night before.

The fire burned all night and destroyed the Liang family's house.

It started raining early in the morning, first as a drizzle, then quickly turned into a downpour.

"Finally, we don't have to carry water to water the crops anymore." Someone breathed a sigh of relief.

"This rain came at just the right time."

"Why is it so soon? The Liang family's house caught fire. If it had gone off a few hours earlier, the three members of the Liang family—"

The sound stopped abruptly.

Everyone looked at each other, and no one dared to speak for a moment.

After a long pause, someone cautiously said, "The Liang family's house is all burned down. There shouldn't be any crying tonight, right?"

That night, everyone lay down in bed with trepidation. Time passed slowly, and all was quiet except for the chirping of insects from the distant rice paddies.

Everyone slept soundly through the night without any dreams.