Chapter Ninety: Zhang San with a Sack Over His Head

The next morning, when everyone gathered at the threshing ground, they discovered that Zhang had been beaten.

The entire sent-down youth compound stood by in gloating amusement, watching the commotion, while several older women and aunts went over to ask what had happened.

“Good heavens, wasn’t Zhang the sent-down youth perfectly fine when he finished work yesterday? How did he end up like this after just one night?”

“No, no, look at how even the bruising is on his face. His two eyes are equally swollen, like they were measured with a ruler. This is no ordinary beating!”

“No ordinary beating? Could he have climbed over a wall last night to find a woman, and then got thrashed when the husband caught him?”

“Impossible. If it had happened in the village, we would have heard some noise. I think he must have been beaten outside the village.”

“Could Zhang secretly have taken up with someone? Was he caught fooling around with a woman somewhere, and then beaten for it?”

“But nobody has seen him making eyes at anyone. Could that woman be from another village?”

“That’s hard to say. Those days when Zhang was hauling manure, he was always running off outside. Maybe he hooked up with her then.”

“Tsk, tsk... they always say a dog that bites doesn’t bark. Zhang really kept this hidden well.”

“Zhang, hurry up and tell us who that woman is. With all the villages nearby, she might even be related to someone here.”

“Exactly. Tell us, and we’ll find a way to help you get even.”

“Isn’t that right? Even if it was your own brother-in-law, he shouldn’t have beaten you this badly.”

“I’ve only ever heard of brother-in-law meaning either proper or improper. This is my first time hearing there are also real and fake ones?”

“Haha... Zhang, is your brother-in-law proper or not?”

The crowd on the threshing ground was quickly driven into helpless laughter by the women, and Zhang’s eyes, bruised black as coal, nearly spat fire.

For the past two nights he had been keeping watch on Wei Chunlan, but she had not stepped outside her courtyard gate even once.

That made him begin to suspect he had picked the wrong target. Yet last night, when he got up in the middle of the night to relieve himself, just after he came out of the latrine, someone had thrown a sack over his head. He had taken a blow to the head and passed out on the spot.

By the time Zhang came to, dawn was already breaking, and by then there was not a single place on his body that did not hurt.

Seeing that everyone was about to wake, he glanced at the courtyard gate, which was still intact, then gritted his teeth and dragged his aching body back inside.

Everyone was sleeping soundly on the kang, so it did not seem to have been them.

The gate was also firmly shut, so it was unlikely an outsider had come in.

Could it really have been Wei Chunlan? But how could a woman have had the strength to knock him out?

Zhang endured the pain, kept a dark face, and lowered his head until everyone had left the sent-down youth compound.

Once the pain in his body eased a little, he limped step by step to the threshing ground.

He had originally planned to wait until everyone had already gone out to the fields, then report the matter to the brigade leader, ask him to help investigate who had beaten him, and also request two days off so he could recover properly.

Who would have thought they would go to the fields so late today, leaving his current condition plainly visible to the whole village.

Who was it? Wei Chunlan? Or the people he had quarreled with a few days ago?

“Brigade Leader, I want to report that someone put a sack over my head last night and beat me into this state.”

“A sack over your head? Where did it happen? Did you see who did it?”

“Last night, in the sent-down youth compound, just after I came out of the latrine, everything went black and I was bagged. I didn’t see who it was.”

The brigade leader frowned. “Anyone in your compound notice anything?”

“No...”

“I was worn out after a full day’s work. I slept until the bell rang before I woke up.”

“Didn’t hear a thing.”

The brigade leader said, “Then this is not easy to handle. Even if we called the police, it might not help. Let’s do this: I’ll give you today off. While you’re recovering, think carefully and see whether you can remember any new clues. Then we’ll talk again. Everyone else, get to work.”

Zhang hurriedly said, “Brigade Leader, it must be the people I reported before. They’re taking revenge on me in secret.”

“Zhang, you can eat filth all you like, but you can’t talk nonsense. Why would we beat you when we’re asleep? Are you out of your mind?”

“Zhang, why are you snapping at people like a mad dog?”

The brigade leader said, “If you have no evidence, then don’t say any more. That is bad for unity. Don’t make me repeat myself. Everyone, hurry up and get to work.”

The villagers drifted off in ones and twos, and many of the people in the sent-down youth compound were still wearing that same gleeful look.

The aunts, sisters-in-law, and older women all went to ask them about it. Half-eaten gossip was the hardest kind to bear.

They wanted to squeeze some news out of these people, otherwise they would have no spirit for work today.

Han Li could not help wanting to laugh when he saw Zhang’s condition. The other man had clearly been beaten on purpose, and beaten up badly.

But he was not interested in who had done it. At that moment, Qi Zhaodi hurried over to his side and said in a low voice, “I heard it last night. Several people from both the male and female sent-down youths were involved in beating Zhang.”

Han Li said, “Got it. Don’t tell anyone else. Otherwise they’ll remember you for it.”

“Mm.”

Since even Qi Zhaodi had heard it, the noise must have been considerable last night.

As for whether Sun Yong and Jiang Xiaoli, the two sent-down youth leaders, knew anything, Han Li absolutely did not doubt it. They simply had not stepped forward because the crowd on the other side was too large, and they had chosen self-preservation.

If this matter did not end with some result, those sent-down youths who had taken part in the beating might well grow even more brazen in the future.

Han Li silently mourned for Zhang for three seconds. Once something like this happened the first time, there would be countless times after it.

In a dull, tedious life with no future in sight, having someone to vent on was a very fortunate thing.

From now on, whenever someone was in a bad mood, they might gather together and beat Zhang up to let off their frustration.

Of course, Han Li hoped all of this was just his imagination. If they really beat Zhang too badly, how would he ever get his revenge?

Another day of pretending to work hard passed as usual. But after work, Han Li saw many villagers heading toward the village branch office.

“Aunt Zhang, what are they all going there for?”

When Aunt Zhang saw that it was Han Li, she pulled him to the roadside and said in a low voice, “Keep your voice down. They’re all going to draw grain in advance.”

“Is there anything secret about drawing grain in advance? Did everyone agree there wouldn’t be enough food today?”

Aunt Zhang looked around, and when she saw no one nearby, she lowered her voice even more.

“That’s only because it’s you, lad. If it were anyone else, I definitely wouldn’t say a word. After you hear this, you mustn’t tell anyone else, understand?”

“Of course. My mouth is the tightest there is.”

“The main thing is that every year, when harvest time is almost here, most villagers’ grain is not enough to eat.”