Chapter 136: The Rabid Fan

Fortunately, she was not drinking water at the time. Otherwise, Li Xihua felt she might have splashed away everything she had in her hands. What on earth was her sister-in-law talking about? Why could she not understand a word of it?

In truth, Tang Xin’s thoughts were very simple. Whether it would succeed or not could be discussed later; for now, finding her elder sister-in-law something meaningful to do was a good idea.

Although Li Xihua had made up her mind to divorce, and living at her parents’ home was perfectly fine, Tang Xin knew that she had not truly let go of that scoundrel.

After all, neither of them knew that the scoundrel had been carrying on with other women. What Li Xihua hated at present was only Old Madam Qian’s humiliation and Qian Darong’s deception.

Once she came to her senses—especially in the dead of night, when she awoke from her dreams—how could she not miss the bastard of a former husband who had pretended to be a respectable man at home?

Women were all like that. Give them something to do, and they would stop letting their thoughts run wild.

Li Xihua stared at Tang Xin, her eyes widening until they were rounder than a bull’s. “You’ve got some nerve! The brigade office isn’t yours to run. You want me to stand for election as women’s captain? Do you think I’m capable of that?”

Tang Xin deliberately lifted her head and looked Li Xihua up and down from head to toe before passing judgment. “Judging by appearances, you do seem a little short on ability.”

Before Li Xihua could lose her temper, Tang Xin continued, “But none of the other women on our team are particularly capable either. Why can’t you stand for election?”

This time, Li Xihua finally understood. At the very least, at the very least, her sister-in-law was complimenting her, wasn’t she?

After thinking it over, she said, “Oh, I’m uneducated too. I can’t handle that sort of thing.”

“What does being uneducated matter? You can learn. Even Mother is learning to read. Why can’t you?”

Tang Xin was becoming more and more enthusiastic. She removed the cucumber slices from her face and tossed them into the slop bucket, where they could later be fed to the brigade’s pigs.

Then she turned to her elder sister-in-law. “Isn’t the women’s vice-captain simply supposed to arrange for the female comrades to work in the fields and organize everyone to take part in production? Do you not know how to farm, or do you not know how to speak? Usually, your little mouth at home is perfectly capable of chattering away. So what, you can only tell me that I can’t go to the team and direct the women?”

“But—” Li Xihua hesitated.

“That sounds like a fine idea. I support my daughter-in-law’s decision.” Fang-shi was the one who spoke.

Fang-shi was her daughter-in-law’s most devoted admirer. No matter what Tang Xin said, she thought it was wonderful.

What Li Xihua could not accept was that her mother supported her candidacy not because she had any confidence in her.

It was simply because the suggestion had come from her sister-in-law?

No wonder her younger sister had said that their mother’s heart had already tilted all the way to the horizon. Was it too late for her to imitate Lady Meng Jiang and weep until the Great Wall collapsed?

By evening, when the whole family gathered for dinner and a family meeting, Tang Xin brought up the matter again.

Li Xihua’s parents agreed and offered their unconditional support. Li Kai and Li Xiyue naturally supported their elder sister, while Gu Changfu also thought the proposal was workable.

She was only running for women’s vice-captain of their Eighth Team, not planning to assassinate the brigade captain. What was there to fear?

Thus, without taking Li Xihua’s opinion into account, the entire family unanimously voted in favor of her candidacy.

Ahem. To be precise, Tang Xin had suggested that they hold a vote at home first.

Naturally, she cast Li Sheng’s vote on his behalf.

So while Li Xihua sat there dumbfounded and unable to believe what was happening, everyone else had already begun discussing how she should participate in the election and what preparations she ought to make.

The women’s vice-captain position had been created mainly because every team had several difficult women who refused to follow work assignments.

The male captain could never argue them into submission. His tongue was not sharp enough, yet he could not use force against women either.

The women’s captain existed specifically to deal with such matters.

Naturally, the position also carried authority over all the women on the team.

With this incentive in mind, Tang Xin smoothly mapped out a new path in life for Li Xihua.

First, she would stand for election as women’s captain of their Eighth Team. After working for a while and building up some prestige, she could then strive toward becoming the women’s director of the Harvest Brigade.

Li Xihua felt that her sister-in-law had gone mad. She had only just escaped the life of a worn-out housewife, and now Tang Xin was crazily trying to turn her into an official?

That night, Li Xihua had nightmares until dawn. When she got up the next morning, her face was ashen and she had two dark circles beneath her eyes.

That morning, she first went to greet her parents, then began to complain. “Mother, I really think you should stop tormenting me. I’ve only just divorced and returned to my parents’ home, and already you’re thinking of making me a cadre. Aren’t you pushing me straight into a fire pit?”

Tang Xin happened to get up at that very moment. It was rare for her to wake so early, but she overheard what Li Xihua was saying to their parents.

She immediately puffed herself up like a teapot, planted her hands on her hips, and demanded, “Sister, what exactly do you mean by that? You’re saying I want to push you into a fire pit? So your own sister-in-law is trying to harm you?”

Even if Li Xihua did think that way, she could not possibly say it openly. Naturally, she waved her hands again and again.

She kept begging for forgiveness and apologizing, and only after a great deal of effort did she manage to placate Tang Xin. Yet somehow, she ended up following her to the brigade office.

By the time Li Xihua came to her senses, she discovered that her sister-in-law had actually brought her to the brigade office to sign up for the election.

This was truly a case of forcing a duck onto a perch. But since she had come all this way, could she really refuse?

And so, in the most inexplicable manner, Li Xihua became one of the candidates for women’s vice-captain of the Harvest Brigade’s Eighth Team.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, the whole team voted unanimously in her favor, and Li Xihua was successfully elected.

The main reason was that, to many of the women, Li Xihua was practically a role model.

She had dared to resist her mother-in-law and her husband, divorce, and return to her parents’ home—and, most importantly, she had been accepted by her family, especially by her sister-in-law.

How could a woman like that not become an example for the other women of the Eighth Team to follow?

In truth, the most capable woman in the Li family was their daughter-in-law, Tang Xin. But Educated Youth Tang had come from the city, and her experiences were naturally different from theirs.

All the others could do was look up to her.

Li Xihua, however, was different. Many of the mothers-in-law and aunts in the village had watched her grow up.

They had also had some vague understanding of the suffering she had endured in her husband’s family over those years.

At a time when women’s movements and women’s liberation were being widely promoted, when everyone was talking about equality between men and women, Li Xihua’s successful divorce gave courage and hope to many traditional women still oppressed by their husbands’ families.

They began to dream.

If Li Xihua became their leader in the future, might she be able to help them escape their difficult lives as well?

Was life not always like this? Having dreams and hope was a good thing.

And so, miraculously, Li Xihua did a fairly good job after taking office.

For one thing, she had the brigade captain’s wholehearted support. For another, Li Sheng had earned an excellent reputation throughout the Harvest Brigade through his solid work in the transport team over the past few years.

With the Li family’s full backing and Tang Xin’s assistance from the sidelines, Li Xihua smoothly took up her duties as women’s captain.