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Lu Guofu only wanted to make money, and getting any from him was harder than climbing to the sky.
“How about leaving it at the Educated Youth center? You all can watch over it there, and when Su Niannian and the others wake up, let Su Niannian take a look. Then we can ask clearly about what happened last night.”
Lu Guofu, with his small eyes darting around, quickly made his decision.
“……”
The Educated Youths present, naturally, didn’t want to deal with those two.
At first, the few female Educated Youths had a good impression of Lu Xingguang. After all, he usually appeared gentle and refined, wearing glasses, which set him apart from the rough country folk of Kaoshan Village.
Compared to the other male Educated Youths, Lu Xingguang’s appearance was far superior, and there were indeed a few who had wanted to get closer to him.
But now, looking at Lu Xingguang with his swollen face, and hearing about his “glorious deeds” from tonight, many of the female Educated Youths weren’t too keen on paying him any attention.
As for Zhao Sulan, she was the type who liked to take advantage of small opportunities and wasn’t exactly pleasant to listen to. Who would want to deal with them?
Just as Liu Yang was about to agree, a calm, steady voice of a middle-aged man rang out from outside the Educated Youth center.
“Take him to the county hospital. The village will cover the medical expenses for now. Once he wakes up, let him pay the village back.”
“Zhou Daniu, go over to the threshing field and bring the tractor over.”
It was the voice of the village Party Secretary, Jiang Aiguo.
A few young men were standing beside Jiang Aiguo.
The Party Secretary’s house was on the outskirts of the village, and he didn’t usually show himself. When there were important matters to handle, it was usually the village head, Lu Guofu, who took charge.
Jiang Aiguo looked down on the way Lu Guofu handled things, so whenever Lu Guofu was around, Jiang Aiguo generally stayed away.
As the village Party Secretary, Jiang Aiguo’s responsibilities were mostly to communicate directives from above and help publicize and inform the villagers about any policies.
Then, during the autumn harvest and grain collection, he would handle things like coordinating the output and other related matters.
He wasn’t supposed to handle administrative tasks, so Jiang Aiguo hadn’t planned on intervening in tonight’s situation.
However, when someone informed him about what had happened, he realized the severity of the matter and decided to step in.
When he arrived and saw how Village Head Lu Guofu was handling the situation, Jiang Aiguo truly felt a sense of disappointment.
“Alright, since the Party Secretary has said so, we’ll do it as he says,” Lu Guofu smacked his lips and replied.
Zhou Daniu immediately responded and rushed off to the threshing field, preparing to bring the tractor over.
“What about the three female Educated Youths who passed out inside? Should they be sent to the county hospital too?” the female Educated Youth who had just gone in to call for Su Niannian asked.
Lu Guofu couldn’t help but glare at the person.
Three more people? That would cost more money. Although he could get the money back later, Lu Guofu didn’t like any of his money leaving his hands, even for a moment.
“Send them too,” Jiang Aiguo said, giving his order.
After all, whether it was one person or two, it was the same. Since they had fainted, it would be safer to send them to the county hospital for a checkup.
The Educated Youths were assigned to the village according to quotas from above. If anything happened to any of them, the higher-ups would likely look into it.
At that time, Kaoshan Village would be even further away from the more advanced villages.
“Fine, we’ll do it your way, Party Secretary,” Lu Guofu grumbled, clearly unhappy.
It was always these troublesome Educated Youths, causing such problems.
“Since the Party Secretary is here, then let him handle the whole matter. When there’s a result, you can report it yourself,” Lu Guofu said with a sly look, shifting the responsibility onto Jiang Aiguo.
This matter was troublesome.
He hadn’t wanted to deal with it in the first place, and now, with Jiang Aiguo stepping in, it was perfect for him to pass it over.
This way, if there were any trouble or consequences from angering the higher-ups, Jiang Aiguo would be the one to take the blame.
Lu Guofu was quick-witted, and in just a few moments, he had managed to remove himself from the situation.
Jiang Aiguo knew Lu Guofu’s character all too well—he was always at the front when there were benefits to be had, but when trouble came, he was quick to retreat to the rear.
Without saying much, Jiang Aiguo simply nodded.
Lu Guofu waved his hand and left the Educated Youths Camp.
Meanwhile, Gu Nan, who had been listening to the conversation about sending Su Niannian and the others to the county hospital, had already moved out from the shadows.
Su Niannian was going to be sent to the county hospital. Although the young girl was surely pretending to be unconscious, Gu Nan couldn’t allow her to go to the hospital alone. What if something happened?
So, he quietly blended into the crowd.
“Hey? Brother Nan, weren’t you going home?” Li Ergou asked as he noticed Gu Nan standing beside him.
He couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled. Was Gu Nan next to him just now?
Li Ergou scratched his head and tried to recall what had just happened.
“Shut up! Why are you talking so much?” Gu Nan shot a glance at Li Ergou.
Seeing Gu Nan’s sharp gaze, Li Ergou quickly shut his mouth, sensing the mood.
But he was still thinking that his brother Nan had indeed mentioned going home just now.
Now that Gu Nan was here, could it be that he was worried about some female youth from the village?
As Li Ergou thought this, a figure appeared in his mind.
“Su Niannian…” Li Ergou thought for a moment, then quickly shook his head.
He brushed off that unrealistic thought.
Time passed for another ten minutes, and soon, Zhou Daniu drove the tractor over.
On the tractor, Zhou Daniu’s mother was also sitting.
“Zhou Dajie (Zhou Daniu’s mother) is here too?” Jiang Aiguo greeted when he saw her.
“Mm, I heard that little Su, the youth from the village, was knocked out, and they’re sending her to the county hospital. I thought there might be a lack of hands, so I came to take a look and help out,” Zhou Dajie explained, as she climbed down from the tractor.
She was shocked when she heard about the events of the night, but when she heard that Su Niannian had also been knocked out, she became frantic.
Su Niannian was a great benefactor to their family. There was no way anything could happen to her—if something did, Zhou Dajie she would be heartbroken.
Despite it being late at night, she still decided to come and take a look.
She thought about how Su Niannian was unconscious, and if no one kept watch over her, what would happen if something went wrong at the county hospital?
Zhou Dajie had to stay by Su Niannian’s side.
Zhou Dajie asked one of the female youth members where Su Niannian’s room was and was quickly led over there.
Meanwhile, Jiang Aiguo had already arranged for people to put Zhao Sulan and Lu Xingguang on the tractor.
Zhao Sulan was quieter now than before, but her mental state still seemed a bit sluggish, as if she had lost her soul.
Lu Xingguang’s condition was even worse. Apart from occasional bleeding from her head, she was completely unconscious, her whole body limp and unresponsive.
One by one, the three people from Su Niannian’s room were carried out and placed onto the tractor.
Apart from Zhou Dajie, two other female youth members also joined, as there wasn’t enough space for anyone else.
After Zhou Daniu took his seat at the driving position of the tractor, Gu Nan sat beside him on the other side.
“You’re going with us?”
“Since I can’t sleep anyway, might as well go and take a look.”
Of course, he had to go—his little girl, he couldn’t just leave her without watching over her.