After dinner, Sheng Ning tidied up the house. By the time she finished cleaning, it was already evening. Sheng An had gone out and hadn't returned yet, and she felt a bit restless.
In the early eighties, the rural area had pretty good public security, but unexpected incidents could still occur. Thinking of this, she closed the door and hurried out to look for him.
Although she had been away from home for less than a year, it felt like decades to her. Seeing the adobe houses in the village and gradually recognizing the families from her memories gave her an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Not knowing where to find Sheng An, she stopped a little boy playing naked on the road. "Little boy, have you seen Sheng An?"
Sheng Ning was pretty, with fair and tender skin, which kids particularly liked. Seeing Sheng Ning, the boy's eyes lit up. He wiped his nose as he pointed in the direction of the village chief's house. "He went to the village chief's house. Sheng An likes to play with Xiao Hong."
Just as the boy finished speaking and Sheng Ning was about to thank him, a sharp voice suddenly sounded from behind. "Gou Dan, don't mind her." A woman rushed over and pulled Gou Dan aside, looking at Sheng Ning with a wary look.
"Gou Dan, don't mind her. This woman is not a good person, bad luck."
"But she's really pretty." Gou Dan said, bewildered, as he sniffed and spoke.
"What do you know? She's a promiscuous vixen. Be careful not to get corrupted by her." The woman gave Gou Dan a slap on the butt.
Sheng Ning watched the woman coldly throughout. She originally wanted to retort, but for the sake of the child, she held back.
"Little boy, next time you see a vixen like me, it's best to stay far away," she said, smiling at Gou Dan, her eyes seemingly filled with the entire starry sky.
Gou Dan looked up with his mouth open, drooling dumbfoundedly.
The woman nearly went mad with anger. "How dare you look, how dare you look! So young but already just like your father. I'll beat you to death, I'll beat you to death."
"Mom, don't hit me." Gou Dan, strong as he was, broke free from the woman's grip and ran away.
"Quite smart." Sheng Ning's mood improved even more.
"Sheng Ning, you did it on purpose, didn't you?"
"Whether I did it on purpose is hard to say, but you definitely did it on purpose." Sheng Ning tilted her head. She couldn't recall who this woman was after so many years. But she wasn't someone who wouldn't fight back if provoked. Just now in front of the child, she didn't want to say anything too harsh. Now that Gou Dan had run off, she didn't feel the need to hold back.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's very clear. You're cursing me as a vixen without even knowing me. Did I seduce your man?"
"You... you dare!" The woman was so enraged she was at a loss for words, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her useless husband could be easily bewitched by someone like Mrs. Zhang. If Sheng Ning really did that, how could she live?
"Could it be that you can't control your own man and are taking it out on innocent people?" Sheng Ning didn't expect her random remark to hit the woman's weak spot.
"Shut up. A girl who hasn't even married, how can you say such things?"
"You just remembered that I'm an unmarried girl now? Why didn't you think if it was appropriate when you were scolding me earlier?" Sheng Ning's expression didn't change, but her tone became commanding.
Initially, the woman was confident she could deal with Sheng Ning, but now she could only retreat in defeat and shame, heading home dejectedly.