Chapter 14

“Why are we being dragged into your fight over a man?” a female educated youth said unhappily.

Lu Lanlan crossed her arms and leisurely watched as the woman offended everyone around her.

“You?” A male educated youth sneered, “Just take a whiff of yourself. Even from this distance, you stink.”

“What did you say?” The female educated youth was most sensitive about being called smelly. She wanted to bathe every day too, but she couldn’t.

As she lunged at the male educated youth to hit him, no one stepped in to stop her.

She had already offended all the female educated youths, and the male ones were afraid of getting falsely accused if they intervened.

The male educated youth, enraged after she scratched him, immediately kicked her, sending her sprawling.

The supervisor quickly stepped in to hold back the male educated youth.

The female educated youth, who had fallen to the ground, saw that the male educated youth was restrained. She immediately grabbed a brick nearby and got up.

Everyone was busy trying to calm the male educated youth down and didn’t notice her—except Lu Lanlan.

As she rushed toward the male educated youth with the brick, Lu Lanlan swiftly grabbed her wrist.

“Let go!” the female educated youth shouted at Lu Lanlan.

It was all because of her—this wretched woman! Everyone hated her now!

Her loud yelling drew the attention of all the educated youths.

The supervisor saw the brick and immediately scolded, “What are you doing? Put that down!”

“No!” The female educated youth screamed. Unable to shake off Lu Lanlan’s grip, she used her other hand to grab the brick.

The moment she got hold of it, her first instinct was to smash it at Lu Lanlan’s head.

Lu Lanlan quickly stepped back, and at the same time, a blur of movement flashed before her eyes.

Then, she saw Fu Chunian standing in front of her.

“Bang—”

The brick landed squarely on Fu Chunian’s back.

“Fu Chunian!” Lu Lanlan immediately pulled at him, trying to check his back, but he gripped her tightly, stopping her from moving. Slowly, he turned around.

His face was cold as he stared at the female educated youth.

Lu Lanlan looked at his back, relieved when she didn’t see any blood.

The female educated youth now realized she had gone too far. She dropped the brick and took two steps back in fear.

The supervisor, seeing Fu Chunian’s dark expression and afraid that things would escalate, stepped forward and said, “Let’s call the police. You should also go to the clinic to check if your bones are injured.”

“Yes, go to the clinic,” Lu Lanlan quickly added. “Let’s go right now.”

Fu Chunian looked down at Lu Lanlan’s worried face. His gaze softened as he said, “Alright.”

Then, he turned to the supervisor. “Please report this to the police.”

The supervisor nodded.

At the village clinic, there was no X-ray machine, but the doctor, based on experience, examined him and confirmed that there was no bone injury.

Fu Chunian moved his back slightly and assured them that it only hurt a little and that he was otherwise fine. Only then did Lu Lanlan relax.

“Next time, don’t get involved in something like this,” Fu Chunian said on the way back.

Lu Lanlan knew he was worried about her, so she nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect myself. But you didn’t have to go that far—we’re just pretending to be a couple. There was no need to actually take a brick for me.”

Hearing this, Fu Chunian quickened his pace.

As Lu Lanlan walked, she suddenly realized she couldn’t keep up with him. She turned to him in confusion. “Are you upset?”

“No. You’re right,” Fu Chunian replied, but his steps became even larger.

Lu Lanlan had to jog to keep up until they reached the educated youth dormitory.

By then, the village chief, Xu Xiangdong, and the women’s affairs director had all arrived.

The other educated youths recounted what had happened, and the women’s director was trying to talk sense into the female educated youth.

Seeing Fu Chunian and Lu Lanlan return, the village chief and Xu Xiangdong approached them.

“Fu Educated Youth, are you alright?” the village chief asked before Xu Xiangdong could speak.

“I’m fine. No bone injuries,” Fu Chunian replied coldly.

“That’s good, that’s good,” the village chief said with a smile.

“Fu Educated Youth, Lu Educated Youth,” the village chief continued, “since you’re both unharmed, do you still need to report this to the police? Everyone here is far from home, and life isn’t easy. She knows she was wrong and is willing to apologize. Could you consider giving her another chance?”

The village chief looked at them expectantly.

“If the police do come, they’ll likely just educate her and let her go after a few days,” the village chief added.

Seeing the two of them remain silent, the village chief pulled Xu Xiangdong aside and whispered, “Xiangdong, you know Fu Educated Youth well. Try talking to him. If this gets out, our village might lose its ‘Advanced Collective’ award this year. I’ll go check on the other side.”

With that, he left the problem to Xu Xiangdong.

Xu Xiangdong understood what the village chief meant. If he could resolve the issue, the village’s honor would be maintained. If he failed, it would reflect poorly on him.

But he wasn’t willing to sacrifice someone’s well-being for the sake of the village’s reputation—especially when keeping someone as dangerous as that female educated youth around could cause future trouble.

He turned to Fu Chunian and Lu Lanlan and said, “Throwing a brick at someone is intentional assault. If you want to call the police, do it.”

Fu Chunian and Lu Lanlan exchanged glances.

After a moment of thought, they both said, “We won’t report it.”

Xu Xiangdong was stunned by their sudden change of heart but nodded. “Alright, I’ll tell the village chief.”

After he left, Lu Lanlan looked up at Fu Chunian, who was also watching her. She smiled, but Fu Chunian immediately turned away and went back to his room.

Lu Lanlan pouted. What did she do to upset him this time?

A short while later, the women’s director brought the female educated youth over to apologize to everyone.

By the time the matter was settled, it was already eight or nine in the evening.

Most people had lost their appetite for dinner. After quickly washing up, they went to bed.

Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, Lu Lanlan pondered why Fu Chunian had decided not to report the incident.

As for her own reason?

One, because Xu Xiangdong had chosen to stand by them despite knowing the village chief’s trap—she didn’t want to let the village chief succeed at the expense of someone who had genuinely supported them.

Two, because as the village chief said, Fu Chunian was unharmed. Even if the police came, at most, they would detain the female educated youth for a few days and give her a warning.

If there was little benefit to reporting it, why let the village chief’s plan succeed and cause trouble for Xu Xiangdong?

But just because she didn’t report it didn’t mean she would let this slide.