Chapter 2: The Art of Passing the Buck

A woman's voice, tinged with excitement, sounded from outside the door.

Through the window, Tang Banxia saw that it was the so-called best friend of the original owner—a fair-weather companion—trailing a whole group behind her. So, they were here to catch someone in the act?

Wen Mubai had gone out early that morning for reasons unknown. His absence was actually perfect; it meant nothing would hinder her performance.

She wore the look of someone who had just been through an ordeal; there was no point denying it now. She wrinkled her clothes, making herself appear even more pitiful.

With a loud bang, the door was kicked open.

“Banxia, Banxia, are you alright? Don’t do anything foolish! Wen Mubai, he…”

“Liyun—” Tang Banxia’s voice wove melodramatically through the syllables, and with a wail, she rushed toward her so-called friend, choking back sobs. “Liyun… you… I… we… he…”

A strange flicker of a smile crossed Liu Liyun’s lips before quickly being replaced by a look of concern. “Banxia, what happened? Don’t scare me! You didn’t come back all night—did something happen to you?”

Tang Banxia didn’t answer, instead gripping Liyun’s shoulders and shaking her hard. “Liyun, how could you do this to me?”

“How could you drug me and Wen the Intellectual Youth? I treated you as my best friend!”

Sobbing, she went on, “Liyun, you’ve caused me so much pain!”

Her words sent shockwaves through the assembled crowd. Weren’t they here to catch Tang and Wen in the act? But from what Tang Banxia was saying, she’d been drugged?

Liu Liyun’s face changed. “Tang Banxia, don’t make things up! If you can’t control yourself, what does that have to do with me?”

Tang Banxia looked at her in disbelief, tears streaming down. “Liyun, how could you… how could you?”

“You—you… Liyun, you…” Tang Banxia’s face flushed with agitation, her words faltering. “You did give me that kind of drug!”

“Drug? What drug?”

“What else? The kind that makes things happen!”

“Just look at Tang’s face—she’s clearly been taken advantage of. What other kind of drug could it be?”

“I’ll be! Liu the Intellectual Youth always seemed so amiable, who knew she could be so ruthless?”

“She’s pushing Tang Banxia to the brink!”

As the gossip swirled among the women behind her, Liu Liyun’s expression turned stormy. Her voice grew harsh and sharp. “Enough! Don’t slander me! When did I ever give you any drugs? Where would I even get such a thing?”

“Wait, that’s not right, Liyun,” an older woman interjected. “Just a few days ago, I saw you at the animal husbandry station. Don’t tell me…”

A corner of Tang Banxia’s mouth curled. There were still good people in this world!

Fortunately, when the original owner bought the drug, she’d been too scared to go herself and had given Liu Liyun the money to buy it. Now, karma had come calling.

Seeing the situation going against her, Liu Liyun panicked and blurted out, “No, no, it was for Tang Banxia—I bought it for her!”

Sobbing even harder, Tang Banxia wailed, “Liyun, so you really did use it on me? After everything—I trusted you so much!”

Liu Liyun could no longer maintain her mask of gentleness. Her eyes burned with fury as she glared at Tang Banxia. “It was you! You said you wanted to marry a man with a good background to escape your own family’s bad reputation!”

“Liyun, are you out of your mind? Why would I ever think that? And with my looks and family situation, it wouldn’t be hard to find a man with a good background. Why would I need such means?” Tang Banxia widened her eyes in feigned astonishment, staring at the so-called friend.

The women watching couldn’t help but nod in agreement. Tang Banxia was right—given her looks and her family’s apparent wealth, she could have her pick of the men in the village.

Even though she never flaunted her wealth, it was obvious from her clothing and daily needs that her family was well-off.

Liu Liyun’s gaze grew darker; for a moment, she couldn’t think of a retort.

“Liyun, you’ve really let me down. Even if you don’t like Wen the Intellectual Youth, you shouldn’t ruin him!” Tang Banxia twisted the knife further.

Liu Liyun’s stare was so dark it was almost venomous. “Banxia, are you blaming me because you don’t want to admit your own wrongdoings?”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as it makes you happy, I’ll do anything,” she sneered. “In that case, why don’t you return the money you borrowed from me—all two hundred fifty-three yuan and eighty-nine cents. I remember every cent.”

Liu Liyun was stunned. Why wasn’t she following the script?

“What? Banxia, what are you talking about? What money?”

Tang Banxia smirked inwardly. So she was going to deny it? At least the original owner hadn’t been completely naive and had insisted on written IOUs for every loan.

She pushed through the crowd, entered the women’s dormitory, and soon returned with a stack of IOUs. She handed them to the intellectual youth center’s leader. “Comrade Wang, look, these are all the IOUs Liu Liyun wrote when she borrowed money from me. They’re all dated and signed.”

Wang Haijun, the leader, glanced at them. Sure enough, all the notes were in Liu Liyun’s handwriting. “Comrade Liu Liyun, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Liu Liyun was flustered, but still tried to argue. “They might be fake—yes, they’re fake!”

“Comrade Liu Liyun, handwriting can’t be faked,” Wang Haijun said sternly.

Liu Liyun’s face went from pale to green to black—a veritable rainbow of embarrassment.

Back when she’d conned this fool out of money, she had indeed written IOUs, but she’d never taken them seriously. She’d always believed she could manipulate this dimwit at will.

But today, the fool seemed to have wised up.

Tang Banxia poured fuel on the fire. “Liyun, could it be that you plotted against me just to avoid paying back your debt?”

The onlookers murmured their agreement. It was entirely possible—over two hundred fifty yuan was a huge sum; most families hadn’t saved that much in years. Tang Banxia really was well-off.

Not giving Liu Liyun a chance to speak, Tang Banxia pressed on, eyes rimmed red with grievance. “Liyun, how can you be so cruel!”

“I didn’t! It wasn’t me!” Liu Liyun shouted.

“Comrade Wang,” Tang Banxia looked at Wang Haijun with pitiful eyes.

Wang Haijun pinched the bridge of his nose. “Comrade Liu Liyun, repaying debts is only right.”

“Comrade Wang, there’s no need to argue with her—just search her things,” another female intellectual youth suggested, and the others quickly agreed.

Compared to the envy they felt for Tang Banxia, their dislike for Liu Liyun was far greater.

Seeing Liu Liyun’s stubborn defiance, Wang Haijun nodded slightly.

The women sprang into action, rushing to Liu Liyun’s locker. She tried to stop them, but was outnumbered. In the end, they found more than three hundred yuan hidden in her pillow.

“It’s mine! That’s my money!”

“But Liyun, didn’t you say your family favored boys and neglected you? How did you come by so much money?” Tang Banxia asked innocently.

“It’s none of your business. It’s my money!” Liu Liyun clung to her claim.

Everyone at the intellectual youth station knew each other well enough. There was no way Liu Liyun could really have that much money. Wang Haijun ignored her protests, counted out two hundred fifty-five yuan, and handed it to Tang Banxia. “This is yours.”

Tang Banxia hadn’t expected it to be so easy. She raised her brows, took the money, counted it, and stowed it in her pocket.

“There are also ration coupons—she borrowed ten jin of grain stamps, three feet of fabric coupons, and a jin of sugar coupons. It’s all in the IOUs.”

Wang Haijun looked through the notes and counted out five more yuan. “There are no coupons, so let’s settle in cash.”

Tang Banxia didn’t mind. “Alright.”

Watching all her hard-won money end up in the hands of this idiot, Liu Liyun was utterly defeated.

“Tang Banxia, you wretch! You’re shameless! Someone come—denounce her! She’s immoral!”

Tang Banxia was well aware of the seriousness of such accusations in this era. A cold light flashed in her eyes. “So, this is your real aim, Liyun?”

Now, the only thought left in Liu Liyun’s mind was to get Tang Banxia denounced—then everything would revert to her.

“I’m going to report it—there’s been immoral conduct! Ha! Tang Banxia, you’re finished!”

Tang Banxia’s teeth bit lightly at her lip, her eyes red, stung to the core.

Seeing Liu Liyun’s hysterics, hatred sparked in Tang Banxia’s eyes. She lunged forward in one swift motion.

Slap—

“You scoundrel!”

Slap—

“You ungrateful wretch!”

Slap—

“You schemer!”

Slap slap—

As if overcome by fury, she struck Liu Liyun again and again, venting all her anger and humiliation.

At first, Liu Liyun was too stunned to react and simply took the blows. Only after a moment did she start to fight back. But Tang Banxia was no pushover. With a shoulder throw, she sent Liu Liyun to the ground.

Then she straddled her, raining slaps down on her cheeks.

The onlookers were all stunned by Tang Banxia’s sudden eruption, their mouths agape at her ferocity.

My goodness!

They’d always known Tang Banxia was beautiful, but never expected her to be so fierce in a fight.

Someone gulped audibly.

Beside them, Wang Haijun snapped out of his daze. “Quick, pull them apart!”

“Oh, right!” The women hurried forward, each grabbing one and forcibly separating the two combatants.

“Comrade Xu, take Liu Liyun away.”

He didn’t want any more disgrace brought upon the intellectual youth station.

Even as she was dragged away, Liu Liyun kept shouting, “Tang Banxia, you’re done for! You’re shameless! You’re finished!”

Left behind, Tang Banxia hung her head, her expression unreadable.

Wang Haijun looked at her with concern—there was a trace of sympathy, but more displeasure. There was already tension between the intellectual youths and the villagers. Now, a scandal like this would only make things worse.

No, not just one scandal—there were two!

“Comrade Tang, you—”

“I want to get married. I want to marry Wen Mubai!”