"Alright, alright, I'll listen to sister-in-law," Li Min said happily, her voice catching as she touched the scratches on her face, letting out a soft hiss.
Everyone else, however, let out a collective gasp. It was over. They had forgotten about the initial show of force by the Li family's young daughter-in-law on their first day in the mountain. This time, it was another move that swept through the entire village.
Everyone glared furiously at Huang Sulan.
Huang Sulan puffed out her chest, "Do you really believe her words? Is Li Min really not going to do housework anymore?"
The crowd held their foreheads, this foolish woman.
As expected, they heard the Li family's young daughter-in-law chuckle, "Hehehe, this comrade speaks well. She's teaching you how to secretly dig wild vegetables and secretly chop firewood."
"That's great. Double standards. After all, she's a cadre's family member, so she's eloquent, saying one thing to your face and another behind your back. I don't support anyone but you."
Huang Sulan quickly explained, "You're talking nonsense, that's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?" Tian Jing's face contorted into a sneer. "You mean, just because Li Min came to dig this kudzu root, digging kudzu root is taking advantage of the collective, right?"
"The firewood you usually chop, isn't it from this mountain? The wild vegetables you usually dig, are they from everyone's private plots?"
"Tell me, who does this mountain belong to? When it's time to use it as evidence, it's collective. When it's not for evidence, anyone can chop firewood and dig wild vegetables. Isn't this a double standard?"
Huang Sulan's face turned extremely ugly from being cornered. This vixen was indeed eloquent.
Everyone once again experienced the power of Tian Jing's sharp tongue.
This wasn't the end. Tian Jing continued, "Anyone who learns to make starch from Sister-in-law Niu, if they are willing to do it for the team, I have no objections. We'll split the starch equally then."
"Didn't the daughter-in-law of the accountant say that anything obtained from the mountain must be handed in and then divided equally? From now on, our family's firewood and wild vegetables will depend on all of you."
"And finally, if you want to learn my skills in the future, hehe, no tuition, no discussion."
Hmph, with so many people here, only Li Min was injured. No matter the reason, it was unforgivable.
The crowd gasped again. Yes, according to Sister-in-law Niu, there was also a method for making sweet potato starch. If she didn't teach it anymore, or rather, if they had to pay tuition to learn it, it sounded like a bad deal.
The women gathered around Li Min, snorted angrily at the women opposite them, and then turned to explain to Tian Jing.
"For the country, we were protecting Li Min. It was those women who immediately stopped Li Min after Huang Sulan grabbed her, telling her she couldn't fight back."
"Exactly. It was them who protected Huang Sulan and stopped Li Min. If we hadn't stepped forward to help, these people almost pushed Li Min down. This pile of kudzu roots was messed up by them pushing it back and forth."
The group of women on the opposite side panicked and wanted to retort, but the facts were right there. They had taken sides.
If they hadn't stopped Li Min, and let Li Min teach Huang Sulan a good lesson, wouldn't there have been room for maneuvering? Now, it looked like Li Min had been terribly bullied.
"Then I thank you all for your help. Next time I make food, you can come with Sister-in-law Niu."
Given the stakes, Tian Jing knew that if she didn't give some benefits to those who helped, the Li family would have no one to turn to for help in the future, and it would also make things difficult for Sister-in-law Niu.
"Thank you, thank you for the country."
"Those for the country are indeed generous."
Tian Jing waved her hand at them, "You're welcome. We're all neighbors, and mutual help is what we should do. I'll take Li Min to Accountant Li's house now."
She turned and beckoned to Li Min, "Li Min, let's go to Accountant Li's house and see about the injury on your face. How will he be held responsible?"
"How can one be so heartless? Aiming to disfigure you. Perhaps you're unhappy because you're about to be married off, and you did it on purpose? They say birds of a feather flock together, hehe."
She wondered if Zhang Fangcao was behind this.
"Do we really need to?" Li Min hesitated at the thought of going to her paternal uncle's house to cause trouble.
"Why not?" Tian Jing glared at her with disappointment. Sudan Novel Network
"The family members of the team cadres should be punished more severely. The members elect cadres to serve the people, to be the masters of the vast masses, not to defecate on the members' heads and then hand them paper."
Hearing her sister-in-law speak so loftily, Li Min happily ran to her side, "Let's go! I also want to ask my uncle, since my aunt treated me like this, where should I seek redress?"
"Silly girl, you seek redress from the队长. After these kudzu roots are handed in, ask the队长 to credit you with work points. Starting tomorrow, you'll patrol the foot of this mountain."
"Yes," Li Min responded loudly.
Everyone in their hearts wailed. This matter wasn't resolved yet. It seemed that if Li Min wasn't given an explanation, and if Tian Jing wasn't appeased, this matter would never end.
Everyone looked at each other, and tacitly picked up the kudzu roots.
"Let's go, hand them over to the team."
"Right, we're handing in pig feed, we should be credited with work points."
"Let's go, carry them to the team."
The few women who had helped Huang Sulan quickly ran away.
They needed to go home and explain the situation to see what to do. Offending Tian Jing, if they were really denied learning the skills in the future, it would be a great loss.
They shouldn't have believed Huang Sulan's words. To say that if they wanted to learn the skills, they should just accuse someone, and then Tian Jing and Li Min would surely teach them.
Bullshit. Before they could even threaten anyone, she had already won over the entire village.
Alas, they would have to endure their mother-in-law's scolding and their husbands' lectures, and perhaps even beatings. All because of Huang Sulan.
When Li Zhengguo arrived, Wang Hongwei was in a daze.
Wang Hongwei was stunned by Tian Jing. Let's not mention that he hadn't seen Tian Jing all the way.
He only spoke of arriving at the foot of the mountain and witnessing Tian Jing's methods of handling matters. Just a few words, and she had pushed Huang Sulan to the opposition of the entire village. This was more formidable than the队长, more formidable than the head队长 and the commune secretary.
Li Zhengguo walked past him, went to Tian Jing and Li Min, and asked Tian Jing, "Are you alright?"
Li Min: "..." This person wasn't her big brother. Clearly, she was the one who was in trouble. Why couldn't her big brother see it?
Sensing Li Min's resentment, Tian Jing shook her head with a smile, "Comrade Li Zhengguo, you've asked the wrong person. Your sister is the one in trouble. I'm taking her to Accountant Li's house now. You go and carry the kudzu roots Li Min dug to the team."
"Okay," Li Zhengguo didn't ask why, just followed Tian Jing's arrangements.
...
Captain Ou was called to the team's office by the members. Seeing more than ten people carrying kudzu roots, he was completely bewildered. "What are you doing?"
"Handing in pig feed."
"Nonsense. The team doesn't raise pigs this year. What are you handing in?" Captain Ou glared at the person who spoke.
"Then hand in kudzu roots," the person changed their tune.
"I won't accept it." Captain Ou turned to go home. These people were bored and playing tricks on him.
"No, you must accept it. Otherwise, we'll all be considered people who are taking advantage of the collective." The person was persistent.
"Who said that?"