Rebirth in 1980: The Farm Wife Makes a Comeback
Chapter 81: What Has Been Done

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: What Has Been Done

"Who can afford it?" Aunt Hua lifted her eyelids, her tone neither warm nor fiery as she retorted.

"But they just picked me, said our Hua Family folks are honest and trustworthy, not like some lazy, gluttonous wretches whose mouths seem to have feasted on feces, and now the business is in my hands."

"You two wolf cubs, treacherous dogs who bite the hand that feeds you," Hu Li stretched out her hand to hit Qin Xiangnuan, but the moment Qin Xiangnuan lifted her eyes and stared at her coldly, like a venomous snake, those eyes were terrifyingly cold, making Hu Li involuntarily shiver.

"Hu Li, have you had enough?" The Village Chief slammed the table angrily, "This is my home, not a place for you to beat children. If you want to beat kids, beat your own. These are Du Ping’s children, now separated from you. If I ever catch you hitting them again, you can forget about farming our land. The county is seeking to bring in business and might even repair the roads here in our village. If you destroy the unity of our village, don’t think I can’t handle you."

Here, no official ranks higher than a village official. What the Village Chief says goes. No one in the village wants to disrupt unity, daring to cut off everyone’s livelihood and the children’s path to school. Not just the Village Chief, no villager would agree to that.

Damaging the great socialist unity could lead to execution by firing squad a few years ago.

The Village Chief’s words turned Qin Guohua and his wife’s faces from green to white.

Hu Li, still not convinced, wanted to retort but upon seeing the Village Chief’s stern face, her usually sharp tongue dared not make a move.

The Village Chief walked over to the two children, squatted down, and rubbed Qin Xiangnuan’s head. "Does Nuannuan’s face still hurt?"

Qin Xiangnuan, looking perplexed, acted as if she heard nothing.

The Village Chief’s heart grew anxious. Had the child’s ear really been damaged by the beating?

The Village Chief pointed to Qin Xiangnuan’s face. "Does it hurt?"

Qin Xiangnuan seemed to understand then. She carefully touched her little face, shook her head, and showed her milky teeth. "Grandpa, Nuannuan’s face doesn’t hurt, but my ear does," she pinched her little ear, "A bug has crawled in, buzzing around. Can Grandpa help Nuannuan get it out?"

The Village Chief’s face changed again. The child’s ear must have really been made deaf.

Qin Guohua felt like he was suffocating, filled with hate and regret. Deafening his own child’s ear—if word got out, it would not be good news. His reputation, Qin Guohua’s, would be left to rot here. Beatings behind closed doors remained a secret, but now, it’s out in the open. When their children grow up, who would dare to marry into the Qin Family? This is asking for death.

No matter how much Hu Li internally resisted, in the end, the Village Chief’s word was final—stop bothering the two kids, or else say goodbye to farming the village land. If disobedience continues, they’d be relegated to the worst riverbed plots. And about that shop, Hu Li’s reach, however long, could no longer extend there.

Aunt Hua has a contract, after all.

The Qin siblings are now despised by Qin Guohua. Qin Xiangnuan never says her ear is fine, though everyone assumes she’s deaf in one ear. She hasn’t even told Qin Xiangyang, aware of her brother’s gentle nature towards the Qin Family, that, even at the risk of truly losing her hearing, she must remind her brother of what Qin Guohua had done before.