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By now, Gu Nan also understood the characters of Aunt Zhou Dajie and Zhou Daniu.
Both of them were reliable, but when it came to his young girl, he knew he had to watch over her closely.
Su Niannian was lying on the tractor. Aunt Zhou Dajie, concerned that the ride might jostle Su Niannian and make her uncomfortable, gently placed Su Niannian’s head on her lap. She allowed Su Niannian to lean against her a bit, which made her feel more comfortable.
Su Niannian, pretending to be unconscious, expressed her gratitude inwardly.
Aunt Zhou Dajie really knows how to handle things—when there’s an issue, she steps up for real.
Su Niannian slightly squinted her eyes and saw Gu Nan sitting next to the tractor’s driver’s seat.
At this moment, Gu Nan was also looking down at Su Niannian in the tractor’s bucket.
“You two take it. Here’s twenty yuan. Daniu, you hold onto it first.”
Jiang Aiguo handed the twenty yuan to Zhou Daniu.
Zhou Daniu nodded, took the money, and tucked it away.
“Be careful,” Jiang Aiguo reminded them again.
The others nodded in response.
Lu Guofu was really a bit unscrupulous. After saying he would leave the matter to Jiang Aiguo, he had even left without leaving any money behind.
If it weren’t for the fact that Jiang Aiguo also held a portion of the village’s funds, he really wouldn’t have been able to come up with the twenty yuan.
Jiang Aiguo was different from Lu Guofu; he hadn’t taken any advantage from the village.
Throughout the year, he only received the fixed salary given by the higher-ups.
Not a single thread or penny had been taken from the village, and he was known for being extremely upright and reliable.
After starting up the tractor, Zhou Daniu drove with the people on board, heading straight for the county town.
Because Lu Xingguang still had a wound on his head, they had only placed a cotton pad beneath it, so Zhou Daniu didn’t drive the tractor too fast.
More than an hour later, the group finally arrived at the county hospital.
They called in the on-duty doctor and nurses, who then helped everyone off the tractor and into the hospital.
“This isn’t right…” Aunt Zhou saw Gu Nan coming over, intending to carry Su Niannian, and immediately positioned herself between them.
“This is my fiancée,” Gu Nan said in a low voice.
He was very serious and sincere.
Aunt Zhou was momentarily stunned, doubting if she had heard him correctly.
But just as Aunt Zhou snapped back to her senses, Gu Nan had already picked up Su Niannian effortlessly and was heading toward the hospital.
At this moment, Gu Nan was holding Su Niannian in his arms. Su Niannian mischievously squinted her eyes and stole a glance at him.
Gu Nan could feel the gaze coming from his arms.
“Do you think they’ll find out you weren’t affected by the sleeping powder during the check-up?” Gu Nan quietly asked Su Niannian.
Su Niannian slightly nodded.
Seeing her nod, Gu Nan’s brows furrowed in concern.
In fact, Su Niannian had already come up with a solution while they were still on the tractor.
Once Su Niannian was placed near Song Zhaodi and Huang Yingying, she retrieved the spiritual spring water from her space.
She poured it into both of their mouths.
The spiritual spring water slid down their throats and into their bodies.
In an instant, both of them showed signs of regaining consciousness.
“Hey? It looks like Song Zhaodi is moving,” said the female educated youth who was standing guard beside Song Zhaodi.
At the same time, Huang Yingying also showed signs of waking up.
Su Niannian also pretended to move her wrist.
After a moment, Huang Yingying sat up suddenly.
She looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings, the scent of disinfectant filling the air.
Song Zhaodi sat up, stretched lazily, and yawned.
Seeing that both of them were awake, Su Niannian stopped pretending and acted as if she had just woken up in a daze.
“Where is this? Wasn’t I sleeping in my room?” Song Zhaodi looked around and asked the female educated youth beside her.
Su Niannian also acted as if she had just woken up, looking confused as she glanced around.
“Su Niannnian, you’re awake! Do you feel any discomfort? This is the hospital.”
“You were unconscious earlier, so if anything feels wrong, you have to tell Auntie!”
Auntie Zhou Dajie stood beside Su Niannian, her face filled with worry.
“Wasn’t I sleeping at the educated youth site? How did I end up in the hospital?” Su Niannian continued to play dumb.
The group nearby was chatting lively, exchanging words with each other, while over at the other side, Huang Yingying clenched her fists tightly, her eyes blazing with fury, staring at Su Niannian.
Even if she was dumb, she now understood what had happened.
She and Qian Jun had brought the wrong person.
Su Niannian was still playing dumb, and if Qian Jun had carried someone, it could only have been Zhao Sulan.
She didn’t know if Lu Xingguang had realized they had kidnapped the wrong person, but if so, she wondered if he would still want Zhao Sulan’s body.
Now that they were in the hospital, Huang Yingying was beginning to realize that the events of last night had not only failed but had also been exposed.
She could only hope that this mess wouldn’t end up implicating her.
Huang Yingying felt a discomfort all over her body, especially in her head.
“You two—go and separate that female Educated Youth,” he finally ordered.
Huang Yingying must have also been affected by the sleeping drug, so this incident might just be the perfect way to clear her name.
She was furious—furious that Su Niannian was acting as if nothing had happened.
On the side, Gu Nan stood leaning against the wall, observing Huang Yingying’s expressions and movements carefully. He could see the anger and frustration in her, but he was more focused on how the situation was unfolding.
Gu Nan’s eyes were practically spitting fire.
This female educated youth, Huang Yingying, actually dared to use such insidious and vicious methods against his girl?
Even though Su Niannian had said she had her own way to deal with it later, Gu Nan still felt like this was something he couldn’t just let slide. His fists clenched at his sides—he had always believed in letting Niannian handle her own matters, but this time, it had crossed a line.
He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the violent urge surging in his chest. But his eyes never left Huang Yingying, cold and sharp like a blade.
Although Gu Nan had his principles and never hit women, in that instant, he was overwhelmed by a strong urge to give Huang Yingying a good beating.
This was just too much.
How could such a young educated youth harbor such vile and filthy intentions?
What she had done was no longer just a prank or a scheme—this was a crime.
Seeing that the three female educated youths over here were already out of danger, Zhou Daniu only proceeded to handle the admission paperwork for Zhao Sulan and Lu Xingguang.
“Lu Xingguang’s family!” a young nurse in uniform called out from outside the emergency room.
“He’s an educated youth from our village—no family here. I’m the one who brought him in,” Zhou Daniu stepped forward to answer.
“He has a mild concussion, nothing serious. There’s a gash on the back of his head, but we’ve already given him an anti-inflammatory shot and bandaged it up. No major issues. He can either stay for observation for a day, or you can take him home directly,” the nurse said, glancing at the paperwork in her hands.
This was a county hospital in that era—far from advanced. A simple treatment like that was often considered good enough.
“Alright, thank you.”
“What about the other female educated youth? How is she doing?” Zhou Daniu asked the nurse.
“She’s in another room. I’m not sure about her condition. You’ll have to ask across the hall,” the nurse replied, waving her hand dismissively before heading back to her ward.
That was just how things were in those days—everyone had their assigned duties, and many treated their jobs with little enthusiasm, just getting by however they could.
“Okay.” Zhou Daniu gave a short response and headed to the room across the hallway.
The glass pane on the door had its curtain drawn, so Zhou Daniu couldn’t see what was going on inside.