Chapter 283: Chapter 283: Hell is Empty, and the Devils Walk the Earth

“What are you afraid of? Sister Fang isn’t taking a penny from you, it’s just a routine inspection.” Chen Fang took the flashlight, crouched down, and swept it around the hole.

That one sweep immediately revealed a problem. Inside was a pile of crumpled-up things that looked all too familiar—weren’t those women’s underwear?

“Well, well! Fang Youde, you shameless thing. Hiding money was just an excuse, you were really hiding underwear!” Chen Fang spat at Fang Youde.

The other two didn’t even need to search anymore; everyone gathered around to help.

Fang Youde was still a bit stunned.

“What underwear am I hiding? It’s all my hard-earned money in there, Sister Fang, be careful, don’t ruin it.”

Gu Qinghuan helped Chen Fang pull out the underwear stuffed inside.

“Fang the Shameless, you heartless bastard, what do you have to say for yourself?” Chen Fang cursed him out.

“You scumbag! Sister is already at her age, and you still have the nerve to steal from her!” scolded a middle-aged female teacher who was searching with them.

Looking at the kang bed covered in women’s underwear, Fang Youde was scared out of his wits.

When did his room ever have so much women’s underwear in it?

“Found it!” the female teacher shouted loudly outside.

By the time Fang Youde came to his senses, he was already being restrained.

He cried out in grievance, “I swear to God, I really don’t know what’s going on!”

“Shut up!”

A male teacher who never got along with him kicked him, and then everyone rushed forward, beating and kicking him.

Gu Qinghuan also joined the crowd and gave him two hard kicks.

Fang Youde was left speechless, unable to utter another word.

No one believed he was innocent, because he was already a strange, older bachelor. Doing something like this actually seemed pretty plausible.

After all, everyone has desires.

“The stuff was found in your room, and you say you don’t know? Who are you trying to fool?”

“Never thought you had this kind of hobby, Fang the Shameless.”

“Rotten to the core! Spit! Send him to the police, let him go to a labor camp.”

“With this kind of awareness, you’re dragging down the whole team’s standards.”

“He’s a bad element, we need to draw a clear line and not let him influence us.”

...

A people’s teacher, doing something so disgraceful, could never be a teacher again and would carry a lifetime of infamy.

Once everyone had vented enough, Principal Chen had a few teachers hand him over to the police.

The police didn’t even investigate, just went through the motions and convicted him—after all, the internal investigation was already clear.

From start to finish, no one knew it was Gu Qinghuan who set him up.

Gu Qinghuan never told anyone else about Fang Youde’s real crimes. She punished this disgusting man in her own way.

Giving him this charge wasn’t wronging him—what he’d actually done was ten, a hundred times worse.

In later years, legal columns often reported cases of young girls in the countryside being molested or even assaulted.

Some were lured by old men or bachelors with a single piece of candy, leading to irreparable tragedies.

There were even stories of male relatives assaulting six-month-old babies.

When you read about it, it all seems so far away.

But when she experienced it firsthand, she realized those cases in the legal columns were all too real. For a girl to grow up safe and sound was truly difficult.

Hell is empty, and the devils walk the earth.

Stories come from real life, but they can’t even begin to capture the complexity and ugliness of human nature.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t regret for a second setting up Fang Youde and sending him to labor reform. If she had stood by and watched today, then when disaster struck her in the future, there’d be no one to speak up for her.

If there’s any retribution, let it come for her.

With this matter settled, the school officially went on break.

Dabao and Beibei’s exam results came out—both scored perfect marks in both subjects.

Gu Qinghuan asked them what reward they wanted, but the two sensible kids didn’t ask for anything.

In the end, she gave them a special treat: she took them to the county cinema to watch a movie and dressed them in new clothes for a photo at the studio.

She wanted to send these photos to Xu Huaian. The kids had changed a lot in the past half year, especially Beibei—she’d grown taller and prettier, absolutely adorable.

Gu Qinghuan loved dressing her up now.

Ming Ruxue had sent over lots of pretty hair clips and ribbons, and Gu Qinghuan had also bought her many cute little dresses—simple, plain styles, nothing flashy. Every day she dressed her up adorably, and just looking at her made her happy.

After school let out, Gu Qinghuan took the kids back to Xujia Village.

In the past two months, orders for Yujie Soap hadn’t stopped, growing month by month. Word of mouth spread, and even supply cooperatives from other counties came to place orders. Gu Qinghuan didn’t even have to worry about sales anymore.

Other brands of soap were just too expensive, especially since they had to be shipped from other provinces, with losses along the way.

Yujie Soap wasn’t just effective and uniquely shaped, it was cheap and practical, so more people bought it. Plus, it was locally produced, so transport was easy and costs were low. Naturally, it quickly captured the market.

There were even reporters who came to interview Xu Huainian, the factory director.

Luckily, he’d been a brigade leader for years and was a good speaker, so he managed to handle it.

With the newspaper coverage, Yujie Soap had truly established itself and just needed steady development.

Only then did Xu Mingshan realize what he’d missed out on.

He’d thought it was just a tiny workshop that wouldn’t make a splash, maybe even lose money. Who’d have thought it would actually succeed?

Now he wanted a piece of the pie, but unfortunately, Xu Huainian had already secured his position—there was nothing left for him.

Of course, Xu Mingshan was unwilling to give up, trying all sorts of tricks, but Xu Huainian was no pushover. He guarded the factory like an iron fortress and didn’t let him interfere.

Their open and secret struggles had been going on for a while.

The factory was now selling over 10,000 yuan worth of soap a month. At a wholesale price of 15 cents, with a cost of 4 cents, and after paying the workers’ wages each month—

That meant the factory’s net profit was about 900 yuan a month, a very impressive figure.

At the end of the year, all these profits would go into the village collective’s income, and when distributed to each household, the work point value would be sky-high.

So now the villagers saw hope and tasted the benefits. Everyone was much more motivated to work, wanting to earn more work points and get more money for the New Year.

Gu Qinghuan was now drawing two salaries—one from the school, and one from the Yujie Soap Factory, as Xu Huainian had decided to give her a wage as well.

All together, she made seventy or eighty yuan a month, making her one of the high earners of the era.

At the Yujie Soap Factory, Xu Huainian set everyone’s salary at thirty yuan, from the director to the workers—everyone got thirty.

After all, the division of labor was different, but everyone contributed. This wasn’t like a city factory; it was all for the collective. If they started creating class divisions, people would criticize them.

The Xu Huainian family was now in a completely different situation—three people in the family each earning thirty yuan a month, for a total of ninety yuan.

In their spare time, they could still earn work points, since making soap only kept them busy for a few days a month, and then it was just a matter of waiting.

Chen Fengqin had now become a hot commodity—everyone wanted her to put in a good word and get them a job at the factory. But she was always clear-headed: you say your piece, I’ll do my thing, and I don’t need anyone to tell me how to do my job.

Her only worry now was her youngest son Erdan’s grades.

This year, Erdan started school with Dabao and the others, but he had no talent for studying at all—couldn’t sit still, and failed both subjects at the end of term, which made Chen Fengqin anxious.

She was gradually realizing that the world belonged to the educated. If you had brains, you could earn easy money; if you had strength, you earned it the hard way.

Just like Gu Qinghuan—she could make money with a single recipe, while the rest of them ran themselves ragged.

So she brought gifts and asked Gu Qinghuan for advice.

Gu Qinghuan handed the job to Dabao. When Beibei didn’t like studying before, it was always her big brother Dabao who supervised her.

To thank Dabao for tutoring Erdan, Chen Fengqin made two new outfits for Dabao and Beibei as tuition.

Gu Qinghuan knew she could afford it now, so she accepted.

Dabao took on the task and even made a study plan in advance, organizing everything neatly so Gu Qinghuan didn’t have to worry.

It was just tough on Erdan—he didn’t like studying, just wanted to play with cats and dogs and catch sparrows, but was forced to sit and study every day.

But kids teaching kids really worked wonders. After a summer, Erdan had made huge progress.

But that’s a story for later.

The summer was scorching, and in the heat of midsummer, no one had much of an appetite.

Gu Qinghuan suddenly started craving the beer, barbecue, and crayfish from the future.

She was a true foodie, so to satisfy her cravings, she went to the fields herself to catch snails and crayfish.

No one in Xujiatun ate those things—they were hard on the teeth, used up ingredients, and you couldn’t eat much anyway.

Crayfish were almost overpopulated in Xujiatun; people would toss them out whenever they saw them, afraid they’d affect the crops.

Crayfish are incredibly resilient. In the wild, whether in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, ditches, ponds, or even marshes and wetlands with little water, as long as there’s no severe pollution, they can survive and reproduce, forming their own populations.

In no time, Gu Qinghuan had filled a whole bucket with crayfish and snails.

She just picked them up—didn’t even have to look.

Gu Qinghuan had an idea in mind, but she needed to test the waters first.

She finally got to eat the barbecue crayfish she’d been craving for so long. There was no beer, but it was still pure bliss.

In her little courtyard, everyone enjoyed the cool evening air while eating barbecue.

Chilies, eggplants, and chives from the field could be picked, washed, and grilled right away, brushed with her secret sauce—delicious.

And Gu Qinghuan specially made a big bowl of spicy crayfish and stir-fried snails. The aroma alone was enough to make everyone dizzy with delight."

"Chapter 284: Xu Meiling’s Difficult Labor

Zhong Zijun and Ji Linhai were in charge of grilling, while everyone else was responsible for eating.

Gu Qinghuan even chilled some watermelon to go with it—the combination of hot and cold was simply irresistible.

The spicy crayfish and stir-fried river snails received high praise from Old Master Ji.

“I never would’ve thought that the big bugs everyone hates in the fields could be turned into such a delicious dish. The aroma is incredible!”

A whole bowl of crayfish was gone in no time.

Gu Qinghuan then cooked some noodles and mixed them with the crayfish sauce—needless to say, it was absolutely delicious.

Once everyone was full and satisfied, Gu Qinghuan finally brought up business.

“My friend is looking to buy a batch of crayfish and river snails, offering fifteen cents per jin. Are you interested?”

“Fifteen cents?” Zhong Zijun perked up immediately. She’d made a nice profit last time with the loaches and eels and had been thinking about it ever since.

“These things are everywhere in the fields—it’s basically like picking up free money. Let’s do it together?”

Everyone agreed.

This time, Gu Qinghuan deliberately kept the crayfish business within the family, not inviting outsiders.

Zhu Chunlin was busy taking care of his pregnant wife and working at the same time, barely having any spare time to earn extra money.

Xu Huainian’s family of three was also busy with the factory and had no time to get involved.

So Gu Qinghuan, Zhong Zijun, and Ji Linhai worked together and soon almost wiped out the crayfish and river snails in the nearby villages.

It just so happened that it was too hot in the summer, and there wasn’t much farm work to do, so they had time for this.

She quoted Zhong Zijun fifteen cents per jin, but actually sold them for twenty-five cents.

In the end, Zhong Zijun and Ji Linhai split the profits and each made nearly three hundred yuan.

Gu Qinghuan made four hundred.

Dabao and Beibei also joined in the fun. They weren’t slackers either and each earned more than ten yuan, which Gu Qinghuan let them keep for themselves.

Of course, they only worked in their spare time—otherwise, they could have earned even more.

During this period, Lin Xiaomeng was also busy, sometimes only coming home every few days, often leaving Dacheng at Gu Qinghuan’s house.

Gu Qinghuan simply arranged for the two boys to sleep on another kang (heated brick bed).

Later, Xu Huainian mentioned that Lin Xiaomeng had privately bought several thousand bars of soap from him at a wholesale price of fifteen cents each.

Gu Qinghuan more or less guessed what she was up to.

Lin Xiaomeng was quite enterprising and had an eye for opportunity. She got a note from Xu Mingshan to prove the products belonged to the village collective.

She then took the soap to bigger, farther places to sell, places where Yujie Soap hadn’t yet reached, so she managed to find a gap in the market.

She wholesaled them for eighteen cents each to department stores and supply cooperatives.

She made three cents profit per bar, and over the summer sold five thousand bars, netting one hundred and fifty yuan—more than she’d make in several months’ salary.

But only she could pull this off—others couldn’t.

First, she had the gift of the gab and a good eye, able to persuade people to buy.

Second, she had the physical ability to carry so much soap herself—anyone else would’ve found it a hassle.

Gu Qinghuan told Xu Huainian to just turn a blind eye and let her be.

There’s no end to making money. Even though Lin Xiaomeng was doing it for her own profit, she was also bringing in revenue for them and expanding their product’s reach. It was a win-win.

If this were in modern times, Lin Xiaomeng would be a top saleswoman—her silver tongue wasted in the current era.

One day at the end of July.

The weather was sweltering, and everyone liked to go soak in the shallow part of the river in the evening to cool off and relax.

Gu Qinghuan was bringing four children home from the river when they passed by Xu Meiling’s house.

They saw a group of people carrying the heavily pregnant Xu Meiling on a door panel.

Gu Qinghuan was shocked when she saw the person lying on the door.

What happened to Xu Meiling?

She’d always been a bit chubby, but it never used to be a problem.

Now she was as fat as a pig, lying on the door panel, her belly almost as wide as the panel itself.

Her face was bloated, even bigger than the large noodle bowls the men used at home, her eyes squeezed into slits.

She was clutching her belly in pain, unable to make a sound.

Liu Guifang was crying and calling her daughter’s name, as if someone had died.

“My poor Meiling!”

“Hang in there, daughter!”

“Heavens, please save her!”

Chen Jianghe, Xu Mingshan, Xu Huaiyu, and a young man from the village were struggling to carry her toward the commune.

The village midwife, Granny Yang, came out of the house but didn’t follow them. She just got ready to go home.

“Granny Yang, what happened?” someone asked, curious.

Granny Yang shook her head helplessly.

“I’ve delivered babies for years, but I’ve never seen one this fat. She’s too pampered—eats too much and never exercises.

The baby’s grown too big and can’t come out, and she doesn’t have the strength to push. She’s stuck. There’s nothing I can do.

Take her to the commune and see what they can do. If it comes to it, just save the mother first.”

Everyone sighed.

“If you ask me, it’s her own fault. When I had my eldest, we were harvesting corn in the fields. I gave birth right there, quick as laying an egg.

Look at my daughter-in-law now—she’s still working with her big belly.

But Xu Meiling is as lazy as a pig, eats and does nothing, all that fat for nothing, can’t even give birth.”

“Exactly, she’s the laziest in the whole village. Every other daughter-in-law works.

She only got married to Chen the educated youth—any other man would’ve slapped her to death.”

“Chen the educated youth is really unlucky to have married someone like her.”

“Do you think Xu Meiling will make it?”

“Doesn’t look good!”

“If Xu’s daughter dies, do you think Chen Jianghe will remarry?”

“He wouldn’t marry into your family anyway…”

…

The village gossip circle tore Xu Meiling apart from top to bottom, some even sounding like they were enjoying the show.

Of course, they only dared say this because Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang weren’t around—otherwise, they wouldn’t be so bold.

Listening to their criticisms, Gu Qinghuan felt a wave of sadness.

No matter what Xu Meiling was like, as women themselves, they shouldn’t be saying such things when someone was facing life and death.

She cleared her throat. “Some people should watch their words. Karma comes around.

It’s said that those who constantly gossip and slander others will go to the tongue-pulling hell after death.

Everything fades away, only karma remains. Bad speech can bring disaster to your children and grandchildren, or even backfire and cut off your own line.”

Gu Qinghuan looked very serious, speaking as if it were true. The gossipy women were startled, thinking of their own words and deeds, and shivered with fear.

Even though people said not to believe in superstitions, most folks still did.

In no time, everyone dispersed.

“Mom, what’s ‘bad speech’? Is there really a tongue-pulling hell?” Dabao asked curiously on the way home.

“Speaking kindly is the most auspicious.

There are several kinds of bad speech.

First is twisting the truth, saying things that aren’t true, slandering, mocking, attacking, cursing—hurting others’ self-esteem.

Second is cursing or swearing at people, whether it’s true or not.

Third is sowing discord, stirring up trouble, ruining relationships by gossiping and spreading rumors, making people suspicious and slander each other.

Fourth is saying things that sound nice on the surface but are actually deceitful or inciting.

Anything like that counts as bad speech.

As for tongue-pulling hell, I don’t know if it’s real, but as long as we don’t hurt others, we don’t have to worry.”

“Mom, I get it. Those grannies just now were stirring up trouble. That’s wrong.” Dabao said thoughtfully.

Beibei covered her little mouth. “Mom, does tongue-pulling hell really pull people’s tongues out? That must hurt!”

Gu Qinghuan was amused by her cuteness and gently tapped her nose.

“Mom, will Aunt really die?” Dabao tugged at Gu Qinghuan’s sleeve, worried.

“She looked like she was in so much pain. Is having a baby really that scary?”

Gu Qinghuan didn’t know how to answer. Rationally, she didn’t like Xu Meiling much, but as a woman, she didn’t want to belittle her at a time like this.

Giving birth really is a brush with death.

“Your aunt will make it, because there’s a saying: ‘A mother becomes strong for her child.’

Having a baby is scary, but every mother does it willingly.”

Is that so? Dabao suddenly felt relieved.

He was older and thought more deeply. Sometimes he wondered who his own mother was and why his father never mentioned her.

Was she still alive? Did she love him and his sister?

At that moment, he suddenly let go of those worries. No matter who she was or where she was, he should be grateful—after all, she gave him life.

It wasn’t until the next morning that news came: Xu Meiling had given birth to a big, healthy baby girl—ten jin! Both mother and daughter were safe.

Last night, after they took Xu Meiling to the commune, the doctors there couldn’t do anything and had to rush her to the county hospital.

A female doctor there had seen this situation before. Treating a dead horse as if it were alive, she tried everything and finally used her hands to press on Xu Meiling’s belly to help with the birth. At last, Xu Meiling delivered her daughter safely.

The baby was still breathing, though she was a bit blue from being stuck too long.

Mother and daughter were safe, which was the best possible outcome. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

On the way there, Xu Meiling had been completely exhausted, not even able to groan. Everyone thought she and the baby wouldn’t make it.

Liu Guifang, holding her granddaughter, said regretfully, “Too bad it’s a girl. I thought Meiling was having a boy.”

If it had been a boy, her daughter would have had more standing.

Chen Jianghe still hadn’t told his family about it—obviously, he didn’t think much of Meiling!"

"Chapter 285: The Chubby Girl and the Search for Qinglongyi