Chapter 22: An Awkward Situation

“Why can’t it be done? When you were trying to ruin me and Hu Yingying, did you ever think about how helpless two defenseless girls would feel in this situation?”

After saying this, Li Lin leaned against Hu Yingying and looked at Fang Mingyi for help: “Zhiqing Fang, could you please run to the police station for me? I don’t have the strength anymore.”

“Yanzi, you go. Make it quick,” Fang Mingyi said to Zhu Liyan, still worried about Li Lin.

“I’ll go right now,” Zhu Liyan said, turning to leave.

But he was stopped by the parents of a few ruffians who had rushed over.

“Auntie, it’s useless for you to block me; your sons have caused such a big incident. If we let this slide, it won’t be possible to justify,” Zhu Liyan said helplessly to the several aunties blocking his way.

“I don’t care; anyway, if you want to go to the commune today, that’s impossible,” an elderly woman with white hair sat on the ground, being unreasonable.

“Zhu Liyan, can these old ladies really stop you?” Fang Mingyi squinted, his tone dangerous as he shouted.

“No way.” Sensing the dangerous air from Yi Ge, Zhu Liyan responded loudly and then quickly dashed away.

“Li Zhiqing, look at how trivial this matter is. Why do you need to go to the police station? Also, it was all instigated by Zhao Zhiqing. If you want to find someone, go find her. My son has nothing to do with it.”

Seeing that Zhu Liyan had run off and feeling powerless, the aunt directed her anger towards Li Lin, wanting to untie the vines binding her son.

“Auntie, you can’t untie these. If they escape and the police come and blame you, it won’t be my responsibility,” Li Lin stepped forward to block the aunt.

“Well then, just take this old lady away. After all, I’ve lived a long enough life,” the old lady said, unafraid, pushing Li Lin aside as she squatted down to help her son free from the vines.

Seeing this, Fang Mingyi took a step forward.

“Zhiqing Fang, it’s fine, even if you let them go, they won’t go anywhere,” Li Lin shook her head at Fang Mingyi.

Just like that, the vines tying up the ruffians were untied, but two of them were injured, which made the aunties worry sick.

“Son, does it hurt? Li Zhiqing was too ruthless; if it weren’t for your wrongdoing this time, I would have demanded some compensation from her.”

Upon hearing this, Li Lin let out a cold laugh and turned away to avoid looking at them.

Though she chose not to look, the surrounding people openly gossiped.

There were all kinds of discussions; Li Lin truly didn’t want to bother with it.

But one sentence from Liu Lan made Li Lin stride forward and start beating her.

“Hey, what if Li Lin has been flirting with Zhiqing Fang all this time? Otherwise, how could Zhiqing Fang come to help so quickly?”

“Look, Zhiqing Fang is still standing next to her, seemingly afraid that Li Lin would be bullied, protecting her like that, tsk tsk······”

“Liu Lan, if I don’t tear your mouth apart today for spouting nonsense, I won’t carry the Li surname.”

As Li Lin spoke, she rushed over, kicked Liu Lan down, and then sat on her, immediately starting to hit her.

“What you said isn’t wrong. If you weren’t flirting with him, would he protect you like this?”

Having worked since childhood, Liu Lan was quite strong. As Li Lin reached out to hit her, she quickly grabbed Li Lin’s hand.

“You really deserve a beating; since I can’t teach you a lesson, I’ll just have to write a letter home and let my parents come and have a word with your parents.”

Li Lin said this, but upon seeing Hu Yingying come over to help her, she exerted even more force in her grip.

Wherever there is flesh, that’s where you grab.

“Ah, Li Lin, you little whore!” Liu Lan shouted furiously as she was held by Hu Yingying, unable to stop Li Lin and being pinched painfully, resorting only to yelling.

Li Lin stood up only after her hands felt sore from the squeezing, and huffed, “I wonder if you’ll learn anything from this, and if you dare to speak ill of me behind my back again.”

Seeing this, Hu Linlin also released her hold.

“Li Lin, we’re not done!” Liu Lan stood up, baring her teeth and glaring.

Li Lin didn’t even spare Liu Lan a glance, leaning against Hu Yingying, closing her eyes, lost in her thoughts.

Thus, the crowd split into three groups: some were fussing over their sons, others discussing among themselves, and some were silent.

After who knows how long, Zhu Liyan arrived with two police officers.

“Comrades, this is an injustice! My son didn’t even touch that youth, yet he’s being falsely accused of some sort of hooliganism. Isn’t this just meant to scare us?”

The elderly woman with white hair hurried over to the police, crying and wiping her tears.

“Alright, stop crying. Just go with me to the police station, and we’ll understand the situation,” said the officer.

After that, the officers called those involved in the incident to follow them.

Hearing this, the aunts were terrified and rushed to block their sons, refusing to let them go.

The police tried threats and persuasion, but eventually, due to a lack of options, they had to call the brigade leader over before they could take the people away.

Once everyone arrived at the commune, the police began to separate people for questioning.

In the end, several delinquents were sent for hard labor for three years.

Zhao Li and Zheng Guoqiang were also sent to the most difficult labor camps for five years.

The police initially thought that Li Lin hadn’t suffered any real harm and since she had injured two people herself, they decided to mediate privately.

However, Fang Mingyi used his connections to ensure they were convicted and sent away.

With this, Li Lin felt vindicated, but when she returned to the brigade, she was doused with a bucket of excrement.

Seeing this, Fang Mingyi instinctively stepped in front of her, protecting her from the splatter.

“Bah, seductive little minx, you’re lucky this time. Just wait, this isn’t over!” the elderly woman declared, leaving with her bucket in hand.

“Fang Zhiqing, I’m sorry. I’ve dragged you into this,” Li Lin said, not expecting the villagers to retaliate so openly. Now, seeing Fang Mingyi covered in filth, she felt both furious and helpless.

“I’m fine, but they’ll probably come for you again tomorrow. Just be careful,” Fang Mingyi said with a shake of his head, advising her before turning to head inside to change.

But he was thinking in his heart that he would look for connections tomorrow to see if he could transfer Li Zhiqing away.

Otherwise, with the rural aunts’ barbarism, he was sure tougher tricks were still to come.

Meanwhile, after sending Hu Yingying away, Li Lin returned home pondering whether she should find a job, even if it meant spending a bit more money. 

At least if she left, it would save her from further trouble.

Fortunately, a turning point arrived.

After receiving a letter from their precious daughter, Li Lin’s parents followed procedure and bought a batch of defective fabric from the factory.

They also asked a friend in the transportation team to take the fabric with him when he went to Northeast China.

Just like that, merely two days after Li Lin received her home’s letter, she received more than twenty bolts of defective fabric.

The arrival of this fabric broke the awkward situation Li Lin was in at the brigade.

“Linlin, are you okay?”