Mr. Qin quickly covered Madam Zi's mouth to stop her from making more noise, afraid Freya might get angry and kill them even faster.
Mr. Lao looked terrified. They had provoked a female demon.
He regretted it deeply, but it was too late to say anything now.
Freya saw that the three of them had completely lost it and were genuinely afraid. She exchanged a knowing glance with Grandpa Lu, who had remained calm and silent, then finally spoke to Yaran and Walli, who were still eating apples.
"You two, go get Secretary Wang. Tell him we caught three criminals committing adultery and prostitution.
If anyone asks, don't hide it. Just tell them the truth."
"Do what your sister says. Go on, be careful on the way." Grandpa Lu smiled kindly at the two children.
"Okay, we're going." The two kids took the flashlight Freya handed them and quickly ran out.
"Not going to kill them anymore?" Father Lu and his wife asked in unison, letting out a breath of relief. Their hands were still trembling slightly.
Freya found their nervous faces amusing but was also moved by what they said.
So this is what a parent's love is, unconditional and selfless.
"Forget it. As long as they behave, I'll spare their lives. What can I say? I'm soft-hearted."
She turned and gave a warning look to the three people huddled together, trembling, and smiled gently, harmlessly.
The three of them: "…"
You're scary, and you're right.
"Behave, we'll behave for sure." Mr. Qin said with his mouth, but his head kept shaking wildly like a rattle drum.
He was probably so scared by Freya's gentle look that his nerves snapped.
"Yes, yes, I even committed prostitution. I'm guilty. I surrender. Just take me away." Madam Zi finally pulled Mr. Qin's hand off and shouted urgently.
Being taken away by the police was better than falling into this woman's hands, she was terrifying.
"That's better. So obedient. If you had done this earlier, I wouldn't have had to act. Just wait there."
Freya pulled a spring picture book from her cloth bag and shoved it into Mr. Lao's arms.
Then she went to Madam Zi and Mr. Qin's cowshed and casually stuffed two reactionary books (comic books, spring pictures, English books, and even their so-called revolutionary manifesto) under their bedding. She had taken them from a spy base to kill time when bored, but they came in handy now.
Once she was done placing the items, she quickly slipped into her space, washed her hands, and came out wiping them with a wet tissue, just in time to hear Secretary Wang and the two children talking.
"Who was caught with whom? And why are there three people?
This is really embarrassing and shameful.
Old Wang, what's going on with our brigade? Why does stuff like this keep happening?
This is disgraceful. Our brigade must be having bad luck this year."
Secretary Wang's wife, Lü Liu, had followed along. She wasn't a bad person, just a chatterbox who loved gossip. Once she heard the nature of the incident, she insisted on tagging along.
"Stop asking. The kids are still young. They don't understand.
You'll see when we get there." Secretary Wang scolded his wife. "What kind of things are you saying in front of children? You're going to corrupt them."
"Oh come on, Sister-in-law is just curious. What's the big deal.
If you ask me, these intellectuals still need more reeducation. How else could they do something like this?
They're useless for work and first to stir up trouble."
A woman from the neighboring house chimed in. She was the type who loved drama and didn't care how big the scene got. Once she heard something was going on, she dragged her husband over to watch.
"Oh no. My younger sister just talked about them. Now look what happened.
I'm going to tear those adulterers apart." another young woman shouted in anger.
Now, the Red Bull Brigade already had a bad reputation. It was only recently that Freya brought some honor to the brigade by winning an award and a banner, which helped restore a bit of their reputation.
And now, this kind of thing happened again!
...
"Freya, what... what happened here?
How did they end up so badly injured?"
Secretary Wang used the light from the torches and the children's flashlights to clearly see how miserable the three people looked!
"Oh dear, what else could it be? Mr. Lao must've tried to mess with someone else's wife, got caught by the husband, and they all ended up fighting and getting hurt!"
The local loafer, He Niu Niu, had just come back from wandering outside and also came to join the commotion!
Seeing how pitiful Mr. Lao looked, he whistled gleefully.
Who told Mr. Lao to go out womanizing without taking him along? He deserved to get beaten up!
"Exactly, Mr. Lao's no good! He's always sneaking around the cattle shed!" A young man in his twenties added, fueling the fire.
...
"Enough, stop the noise!
Don't you see how bad our brigade's reputation is already? Still have the mood to gossip like this?
Don't any of you have daughters to marry or sons to find wives?"
Secretary Wang's face darkened as he heard them happily chatting away.
"Uncle Wang, don't be angry!
Go ahead, speak! We'll keep quiet now!"
The ones who were the most vocal quickly shut up and stepped back.
Freya saw that just a few words from Secretary Wang managed to quiet down eight or nine people and felt satisfied with his ability to control the scene. It looked like the villagers really respected him.
"Freya, tell us.
Why were you here?
What exactly happened?"
Secretary Wang looked at the filthy, badly beaten trio on the ground with a headache and quickly turned to Freya to cleanse his eyes—the sight of those three almost burned them.
"Oh, it's like this!
I was walking along the riverbank at night, checking out the terrain, thinking maybe I could come up with a way for our brigade to make some money.
Who would've thought I'd accidentally spot those three sneaking around toward the cattle shed. I was worried they'd do something harmful to the brigade, so I quietly followed to check. Who knew they would...
Oh, it's so shameful, I really can't say it. I'm just a girl—it's too filthy to speak of!"
Freya covered her face, pretending to be shy and embarrassed.
The Lu family: "..."
You really know how to act!
"A young bride like her would obviously be too embarrassed to say it! What filthy stuff could it be?
It's just that man-woman kind of thing, right?
Oh my, this woman must be like a bottomless pit. One strong man couldn't satisfy her, so she found Mr. Lao and two more? She's completely out of control! Tsk tsk tsk!"
A woman blurted it out without any shame.
"Why didn't she come to me? I'm way better than Mr. Lao!"
A man as dark as a coal lump, still unmarried, shouted jealously. He had never experienced a woman before.
"Ahem, all of you shut up!
Don't you see we're dealing with something serious here?
A bunch of foul-mouthed gossips!"
Secretary Wang tapped his tobacco pipe against the wooden board, coughed twice, and scolded them sternly to stop the increasingly ridiculous gossip.