Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

After being caught in the rain, Yue Chuan's cold worsened. Despite his burning fever, he couldn't stop shivering. In this state, he felt sore all over, let alone compete, even just lying still.

Having not left the house for several days, Yue Chuan was getting restless. But no matter how much he begged, Ding Lingfang absolutely refused to let her son step out of the house.

"Chuan'er, it's still raining outside." Seeing her son about to leave, Ding Lingfang rubbed her temples and nagged, "Your father and I will take care of the funeral arrangements for your uncle. Don't go to the cemetery; it's all muddy!"

"Mom, I've already taken my medicine. I'll just go for a walk in the fields, just one walk!" Yue Chuan's stubbornness flared up again. He was determined to go, and not even ten oxen could pull him back.

Ding Lingfang didn't try to persuade him any further. She silently put the thick winter coat on Yue Chuan and, before leaving, tied a white mourning band around her son's forehead. Only then did she let go of his hand.

The autumn rain was continuous and the roads were slippery, so Yue Chuan deliberately chose an easy route to Jutaidi.

Holding an umbrella in his left hand and a bamboo basket slung over his right, Yue Chuan had only walked a few hundred meters along the village road when he was already panting heavily. At that moment, his legs felt weak, so he decided to rest under a soapberry tree at the fork in the road.

Yue Chuan was leaning against a tree trunk, wringing out his wet sleeves, when he suddenly heard the sound of mahjong tiles being rubbed coming from behind the wall of the courtyard behind the tree.

Coincidentally, this courtyard surrounded by gray bricks is the ancestral home of the old hunter.

The old hunter was too old to take care of himself and had long since moved out so that the "Four Tiger Brothers" could take turns looking after him. So, there shouldn't be anyone in the house. Today was an exception, as his five daughters-in-law had nothing to do and got together to play cards.

"Have you heard? Something strange has happened in our village again..." The eldest daughter-in-law deliberately teased, tossing down a card before slowly speaking, "That slut Ma Xiangju takes Mao Dan to burn paper money for her godfather every day!"

"Hey! I thought it was a big deal! Aimin even gave her life to save her son, burning some paper money is nothing!" The fifth daughter-in-law replied with a sneer.

"Fifth Sister, don't be in such a hurry, I haven't finished speaking yet!" The eldest daughter-in-law raised an eyebrow and lowered her voice, "I managed to get some information out of Qin Ergou. He said that Aimin is Maodan's biological father!"

This rumor has been around for a long time. Ever since Aimin sacrificed himself while saving people, Qin Ergou, the number one social activist in Qinjiazhuang, added fuel to the fire and made it a hot topic.

"Hmph! I've known for a long time that Ma Xiangju and Aimin had an affair, and Maodan'er really is Aimin's son! Look at Huozi, that wretched guy, how could he possibly have such a lavish son?"

"I knew it! If they weren't so close, who would risk their life to save them!"

The second and third sons' wives chimed in, their words also filled with baseless speculation.

At this moment, the fourth son's wife also started shouting at the top of her lungs: "If you ask me, they didn't suffer any losses. I heard that the mine compensated Qin Yunhai with over ten thousand yuan! Tsk tsk tsk! That much money is enough for that old geezer to spend!"

After the fourth son's wife became a widow, her temper became strange, and her words became sharp and sarcastic. Her husband poisoned Ah Huang, but he was bitten and died of rabies in the police station. The government didn't pay a penny in compensation and even charged him with attempted murder. Thinking about this, her eyes bulged with anger.

"Fourth Sister, don't be angry. We'll see. We'll see if the Qin Yunhai family members don't suffer a good death!"

"Exactly! They deserve what they get for always making things difficult for us!"

"Absolutely! Since Qin Laishun became a brigade cadre, they've all been strutting around like crazy. Look what happened! He sent people to set fire to the mine, killing his own people. Serves him right!"

"There's not a single good person in their family! They even said my Pipi started the fire! Bah! If I ever hear anyone say that again, I'll tear their mouth apart!"

……

The five gossipy women got more and more excited as they talked, all with gloating expressions. They weren't just short-sighted; they were clearly black-hearted and wicked to the core.

The more they laughed, the angrier Yue Chuan became, standing under the soapberry tree outside the wall. Thinking of how Uncle Aimin had desperately searched for Pipi, only to find he'd rescued such a bunch of heartless bastards, he trembled with rage.

The boy felt sorry for his uncle. At that moment, Yue Chuan picked up a half-brick at his feet, gripped it tightly in his hand, and was gathering his strength when suddenly a hand landed on his shoulder.

He turned around abruptly and saw Ma Xiangju standing in the rain, dressed in plain clothes and carrying a basket exactly like his.

Like Yue Chuan, she was also on her way to perform the seventh-day memorial service for Ai Min. While passing by, she happened to overhear five gossipy women spreading rumors.

Seeing Yue Chuan holding back tears and about to explode, Ma Xiangju raised her index finger to her lips. This gesture seemed to be a signal to him not to alert Yue Chuan.

Then, Ma Xiangju snatched the stone and whispered in the boy's ear, "Chuan'er, don't listen to their nonsense. Go to the cemetery first, and I'll come over after I've dealt with those sluts."

"But there are five of them..."

Before Yue Chuan could finish speaking, Ma Xiangju interjected, "What's there to be afraid of? They're all cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong. I guarantee they'll never dare to gossip again!"

Although Ma Xiangju seemed confident, Yue Chuan was still uneasy and reluctant to leave. Ma Xiangju pushed the boy's back, saying, "Chuan'er, listen to your sister-in-law, hurry up and leave! Study hard, so you can stay far away from this filthy place in the future!"

Ma Xiangju was illiterate and spoke in a strange, peculiar way, as if she were seeing him off.

Yue Chuan couldn't figure out what the other party was trying to say, so he kept turning back every three steps before finally leaving this place of trouble.

Yue Chuan was chased away by Ma Xiangju. He had just turned the corner when the woman strode heavily to the front of the courtyard gate.

She stood with her hands on her hips, swung a half-brick, and stood on tiptoe, yelling through the crack in the door:

"You damned ancestors! You old hunter, your whole family is ruined! Not a single one of you is any good! You stole my land, beat my man, and now you're hiding behind the scenes, spewing stale, worthless farts! Aren't you afraid you'll get hemorrhoids from your mouths?!"

"What did Aimin ever do to you! How dare you old bastards spread such rumors about him! If we had known you were like this, we should have let wolves carry off your children back then!"

"What kind of bastards are you! How dare you disgust people here? You're so damn nasty! Come out and argue with me if you dare! Come out!"

……

In less than a minute, Ma Xiangju cursed the old hunter's ancestors for eighteen generations. Such an overwhelming barrage of insults would make anyone gasp in shock.

To everyone's surprise, the five gossipy women in the courtyard fell silent. It wasn't that they felt they were in the wrong, but rather that they simply didn't dare to confront Ma Xiangju directly—even the "Five Tiger Brothers" of yesteryear hadn't gotten the better of this woman, let alone the rest of them.

Ma Xiangju cursed until her throat was hoarse, but she didn't stop until the Four Tigers brothers heard the news and rushed over to rescue her.

It eventually turned into a chaotic fight where one person took on nine others. Although Ma Xiangju was injured, she exposed all those dirty and shameful things to the villagers.

This earth-shattering struggle ultimately ended in a resounding victory for Ma Xiangju…