Chapter 181: Chapter 181 Chastity Arch
People instinctively fear the strong.
Tang Chuxia’s displayed strength left those people daunted and unwilling to resist.
By the ti Tang Chuxia and Gu Beihuai were seated in the village party branch’s office, everyone was looking at her with malice.
Tang Chuxia had been waiting until the girl’s mother had taken her to change and force-fed her ginger soup, before she slamd her palm on the table in front of her.
With that slap, the entire table shattered.
Under the orange glow of the lamp, everyone’s heart turned cold.
That table was made of old elm wood, exceptionally solid, yet Tang Chuxia had smashed it with a single slap.
“If we hadn’t co back, would you all have dared to torture a young girl to death privately?”
Her gaze was malevolent, fury surging within her.
Gu Beihuai was seeing this side of Tang Chuxia for the first ti.
Normally, she was all smiles and seed exceedingly easygoing. Besides being a flirt, she had no faults.
But now Tang Chuxia had a deadly aura, with none of the charm of a young girl left.
The village cadres dared not utter a word, but they also couldn’t remain silent forever, the issue had to be resolved.
“This is our village’s affair, a rule passed down from our ancestors. Whoever dares not adhere to won’s virtue must be thrown into the pond!”
The one who spoke was not a man, but an old granny.
Tang Chuxia was disgusted. She walked up to the old woman and, without the desire to respect the elderly, grabbed her by the collar.
“Not adhere to won’s virtue? What did she do? Did she sleep with a wild man, or with your man?”
The old granny’s face turned red with the humiliation, her advanced age not sparing her from such an insult.
“You old hag, always harping on about won’s virtue—are you not a woman yourself? Do you always strictly adhere to won’s virtue?”
Tang Chuxia was gritting her teeth, livid with rage.
Gu Beihuai patted her shoulder, trying to get her to relax a bit.
Where could Tang Chuxia relax? She was on the verge of losing her mind.
Soone whispered, “That’s Dajuan’s mother-in-law!”
So that was it!
Tang Chuxia laughed.
Pointing at the old woman she asked the crowd, “And her? Has she spent her whole life devoted to her husband, without ever doing anything improper?”
She just threw it out there to test the waters, searching for a topic. But to her surprise, soone cried out, “Hehe, you’re talking about her? A widow with a son, her man died early. Every night she doesn’t even bother to bolt her door!”
Tang Chuxia glanced at the woman who had spoken; it was an old woman.
The woman even smiled back at her.
Tang Chuxia returned the smile.
She understood—this person was helping her.
Tang Chuxia said “Oh?” with a smile that was more of a smirk, looking at the old granny, “How co you have not lived virtuously? Weren’t you supposed to follow your husband in death for the sake of virtue? Why are you still alive? Is there a Chastity Arch erected in your honor?”
The old woman’s face turned a furious red, and she began to curse violently. Tang Chuxia grabbed a teacup lid from the table and flung it at the old woman, missing her cheek and embedding it in the column behind her.
The old granny paled instantly, as if soone had strangled the life out of her.
Tang Chuxia huffed in disdain.
“Who is the village chief?”
An old man coughed, pulled out his tobacco pipe, and began to pack it with tobacco.
“What’s it to you? You’re just a girl, what control do you have over our village affairs?”
Tang Chuxia shook her head, “It’s not my place to manage, but I can call the police. What do you think the outco would be if I were to report this directly to your County Committee or City Committee?”
She pointed to her face, “If you’ve read the newspaper, you should have seen this face. It’s appeared in the newspapers before, and I do have so acquaintances among those leaders.”
Photos that were once considered embarrassing had now beco an asset for Tang Chuxia to bluff with.
One has to marvel at the ironies of life!
When the village chief and the others heard that Tang Chuxia had been in the newspapers, even though they did look at them, they were not literate; they mainly listened to the radio.
Yet, they squashed their underhanded thoughts.
They beca uneasy.
They hadn’t expected to provoke such a person.
Tang Chuxia couldn’t be bothered with them and simply gave the village chief a cold look.
“You often attend etings at the communes, don’t you? You must know it’s illegal to conduct a sinking pond, right?”
The village chief didn’t make a sound, which was as good as an admission.
But in the village, the local customs seldom took the law seriously.
Tang Chuxia was going to say more, but Gu Beihuai placed his hand on her shoulder, “Let do it!”
At this point, they couldn’t keep letting Tang Chuxia do all the talking; inciting public anger would easily make her the main target of attack.
Gu Beihuai stood up, and he pulled out an ID from his person and handed it to the village chief.
“I can tell you with responsibility that if you dare to continue exercising private punishnt, what you’ll face is the possibility that everyone might end up in labor reform!”
In comparison to Tang Chuxia’s scare tactics, the thing Gu Beihuai pulled out had considerably more deterrence.
Seeing the people get startled, Gu Beihuai pointed at Tang Chuxia, “The person you’re pressuring to get married is her brother. Her brother is coming here to buy goods, and I think you all understand that the village needs money, right?”
Whispers had already started among so people.
Gu Beihuai spoke again, “That young woman has not done anything inappropriate with our people, you know that too, right? We can promise to let her handle the business of purchasing peanuts and chestnuts, and anything else you have that we need in your village will be bought at a price higher than the grain store’s!”
After he said these words, the people who were originally reticent beca animated.
With the New Year close at hand, who didn’t need money to buy new clothes for their children and prepare for the festivities?
The money earned from work points over the whole year truly wasn’t enough.
Gu Beihuai nodded at Tang Chuxia.
Tang Chuxia also understood that Gu Beihuai had laid a good foundation, “Of course it’s true. My brother brought money to do business and didn’t shortchange you, right? That young lady becoming my brother’s wife is unlikely; my brother already has soone and can’t ss around. However, I can promise on my brother’s behalf that as long as the young lady trusts us, I can help arrange for her to et suitable n in the city. As for child betrothal, that’s out of the question, it’s illegal!”
She deliberately glanced at the old woman.
The old woman was frantic.
She was in a panic!
Who wouldn’t covet a daughter-in-law who can make money?
“Profiteering is punishable by law!” soone shouted.
Tang Chuxia scoffed, “Have you not been listening to the radios? Don’t you know the country has already started encouraging everyone to engage in economic developnt? If you don’t believe it, ask the village chief. Anything that is reasonable and legal with proper procedures is all lawful!”
Whether the village chief really knew or was pretending, he vaguely nodded his head.
Seeing the village chief’s cooperation, Tang Chuxia thought about sending so gifts to him through Zheng Duoqing the next day.
By the ti the young woman arrived, Tang Chuxia had already finalized the deal, and Zheng Duoqing and the police had co with her.
After he explained the outco, everyone expressed satisfaction with the resolution.
Only the young woman was covering her face, sobbing loudly, insisting on leaving with Tang Chuxia and refused to spend another day in the village.
Tang Chuxia looked at the woman clinging to her arm, feeling sowhat at a loss.
“Um, why do you insist on following ? If you’re going to follow anyone, shouldn’t it be Zheng Duoqing?”
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