Chapter 16

Upon hearing this, the village chief said, “Then we’ll have to wait until work starts in the afternoon to ask.”

Xu Xiangdong glanced at the pot and said, “The bottom of this pot has a crack. The steward said that, just like the bowls from this morning, it cracked without being hit by anything heavy.

This is an iron pot. There aren’t many things that can cut through iron. If we search around, we’ll find out.”

“Xiangdong, this is a lawful society. You can’t just search people’s rooms at will. Shouldn’t we call the police and let them handle it?” The village chief deliberately said this in front of everyone, implying that Xu Xiangdong was ignorant of even basic laws.

Xu Xiangdong looked at the village chief and said, “I know that. But if we call the police, they’ll take too long to arrive. If all the educated youths agree, we can search the rooms together.”

“Xiangdong, we can check the male educated youths’ rooms, but what about the female ones? You can’t be so one-sided,” the village chief said directly, seeing that Xu Xiangdong dared to challenge him.

Xu Xiangdong chuckled, “Village chief, have you forgotten? Our village has a women’s director.”

Hearing this, the last trace of a smile disappeared from the village chief’s face.

“That’s right, we have a women’s director. We agree, let’s get this done quickly. We still need to cook,” one of the educated youths chimed in.

Everyone was exhausted from working all morning and just wanted to finish up quickly, eat, and rest.

Xu Xiangdong turned to the village chief and said, “Village chief, can you send someone to call the women’s director?”

The village chief, clearly displeased, still gave the order.

Xu Xiangdong, along with the steward and the female educated youth, started searching the male educated youths’ rooms.

Meanwhile, Lu Lanlan went straight to the kitchen to cook.

Gu Yu watched her leave, frowning slightly—it seemed she had nothing to do with this incident.

After searching all the male educated youths’ rooms, they finally arrived at Fu Chunian’s.

Everyone’s noses were practically ruined from the overwhelming stench of sweat and foot odor in the previous rooms. But the moment they entered Fu Chunian’s room, all they could smell was the fragrance of food—nothing else. They all took deep breaths, savoring the fresh air.

The female educated youths looked at Fu Chunian with even more admiration.

“Xiangdong, you and the steward can search. I don’t want anyone else touching my things,” Fu Chunian said.

Everyone present knew exactly who his words were aimed at, and the female educated youths’ expressions turned ugly.

“If I don’t search, how will I know you’re not hiding something?”

“Xiangdong, steward, please unfold every piece of clothing and show them,” Fu Chunian said.

Xu Xiangdong nodded. He actually knew Fu Chunian wasn’t the culprit—after all, they had been working together all morning, and Fu Chunian never returned to his room.

But if he spoke up now, it would only make it seem like he was covering for Fu Chunian.

Just as they opened the cabinet and pulled out a stack of clothes, the women’s director found evidence in the female educated youths’ room.

Upon hearing this, the village chief immediately walked out, and Xu Xiangdong and the others followed.

Fu Chunian, however, simply put his clothes back into the cabinet, showing no interest in what was happening with the female educated youths.

When the news broke that the evidence was found in a female educated youth’s room, Lu Lanlan’s first reaction was that someone was trying to frame her. She immediately left the kitchen—

Only to be blocked by Fu Chunian.

“Is the food ready? I’m hungry.”

“It’s almost done, I just want to check what’s going on,” Lu Lanlan said.

Fu Chunian firmly blocked the kitchen doorway.

“There’s nothing to see—just a thief crying ‘thief.’ Hurry up and cook,” he said.

“What? Thief crying ‘thief’?” a fellow educated youth in the kitchen exclaimed. “This person must be crazy.”

Hearing that the situation had nothing to do with her, Lu Lanlan turned back to check on the food.

Outside, the female educated youth in question was crying and shouting that she was innocent.

Moments later, everything outside fell silent. By the time Lu Lanlan finished making soup, the educated youth had been taken to the police station by Xu Xiangdong.

“When I first heard they found something in the female educated youths’ room, I was scared someone was trying to frame me,” Lu Lanlan whispered to Fu Chunian.

Fu Chunian glanced at her but said nothing.

“She must not be very bright—trying to frame someone and leaving the evidence in her own room,” Lu Lanlan added.

Fu Chunian chuckled. “Alright, let’s stop talking about her. Eat before the food gets cold.”

“Mm.”

—-

The village chief stormed home in a rage.

Seeing this, Xu’s mother asked, “What’s wrong? Who made you so angry?”

“Who else but that Xu Xiangdong?” the village chief fumed.

He had planned to embarrass Xu Xiangdong in front of everyone, making him look incompetent. But instead, Xu Xiangdong had solved the case.

And when the culprit was caught, neither the women’s director nor the steward even looked to the village chief for direction—they all asked Xu Xiangdong what to do. When he said to take her to the police, they did so without hesitation, completely ignoring the village chief.

“My term isn’t even over yet, and they’re already treating me like I don’t matter,” the village chief gritted his teeth.

Xu’s mother tried to comfort him. “If you can’t stop him, don’t try. Instead, use this year to make plans for our family. If you push too hard, he might come after us once he’s in charge.”

The village chief was unwilling to let Xu Xiangdong go so easily, but he knew his wife was right. He would have to wait for another opportunity.

—-

That afternoon, Fu Chunian didn’t go to the fields, saying his back hurt and he needed rest.

Lu Lanlan went with the work team alone.

Even though she was by herself, everyone knew about her relationship with Fu Chunian, so no one approached her.

As she walked, Gu Yu suddenly came over.

“Lu Lanlan, how do you grow your vegetables? I want to learn. Can you teach me?” Gu Yu asked.

Lu Lanlan looked at Gu Yu in shock. “You’re asking me?”

From the beginning, Gu Yu had always looked down on her, so why was she asking for help now?

Growing vegetables wasn’t a difficult skill—she could have asked any village woman.

“Yeah, we share a room, so of course I’d ask you first,” Gu Yu said with a smile.

Seeing Gu Yu’s sudden change in attitude, Lu Lanlan felt something was off.

She glanced around and spotted a plump female educated youth watching them closely.

Recalling how Gu Yu had insulted her before, Lu Lanlan really didn’t want to help her. But she was also afraid something serious might happen.

Lu Lanlan lowered her voice, “Are you going to insult me again later?”

Gu Yu immediately shook her head and whispered, “I apologize for what happened before.”

“You’ve apologized before, but then you went back to your old ways,” Lu Lanlan said.

Gu Yu tugged at her sleeve anxiously. “I admit I was biased before. You’re right about everything. I really won’t do it again.”

Lu Lanlan frowned. “If you have a problem, go to the steward or the village chief. Why are you asking me?”

“You’re the only one who can help me. Please.” Gu Yu’s face was full of desperation.