Chapter 39: Is This a Set-Up to Deceive Someone?

Li Baobei’s mother, seeing yet another young female Educated Youth appear, remained completely unfazed.

She lifted the rag in her hand.

At that moment, everyone saw that the object in her hand wasn’t just a rag, but a pair of pants.

The surface was stained with large patches of dark red. If you didn’t look closely, you’d think it was blood.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be some kind of juice or dye.

“Li Dazhao, what is that you’re holding? What do you need Su Niannian for?”

“That, it can’t be blood, right?”

“What is that dye? Oh right, the day before yesterday afternoon, I saw Li Baobei with a red spot on his backside. I thought the little brat had… you know.”

“Hahaha, who ever heard of a half-grown boy having that kind of thing? You’re killing me with laughter.”

In no time, the villagers from the threshing ground gathered around.

Of course, most of them were women, though a few disoriented old men also joined in, curious to see what was going on.

At this moment, the village chief, Li Guofu, also made his way over.

It seemed like he was here to settle the matter.

“Two afternoons ago, this new Educated Youth, Su Niannian, bullied my son.”

“Not only did she beat him, but she also ruined his pants like this! I demand an explanation today!”

Gu Nan had also arrived at a place not far from Su Niannian.

“This Mrs. Li, why don’t you start from the beginning and tell the whole story?”

Su Niannian wore a faint smile, her expression calm and composed.

At that moment, the educated youths from the settlement also entered.

“What do you mean? Are you saying that a grown adult like you is bullying a child barely over ten years old?” Sister-in-law Li retorted, her neck stiff with indignation.

“Look, everyone! I just made these pants new for my son, and the moment he put them on, this Su Educated Youth ruined them like this! And not only that—she even slapped my son right across the face!”

“My son has been acting dazed these past couple of days.”

As Sister-in-law Li spoke about her son, she even let out a few sobs.

“Really? Even a child gets hit?” Zhao Sulan’s voice chimed in at an inopportune moment.

At her words, several gazes shifted toward her.

Zhao Sulan was a newly arrived Educated Youth and might not be familiar with the situation regarding Li Baobei.

But the other villagers present knew all too well.

Although Li Baobei was still young, he was unusually arrogant. Relying on the fact that his grandfather was the village chief, he treated hitting people, stealing, and destroying things as if they were everyday occurrences.

It wasn’t as if no one had reported these incidents to the village chief before. On the surface, the chief would promise to strictly discipline his eldest grandson, but behind the scenes, he would make life difficult for those who complained.

Either they would receive fewer supplies than they were allotted, or they would be assigned the hardest and most exhausting tasks, only to end up with barely any work points.

Over time, after experiencing this again and again, everyone became too afraid to speak up.

Even when they suffered losses, they could only swallow their grievances in silence, never daring to seek justice again.

This only made Li Baobei’s behavior grow even more reckless and unrestrained.

So now, when everyone turned to look at Zhao Sulan, their gazes were complicated.

“If you ask me, as an adult, hitting a child is wrong no matter the reason. Why don’t you just apologize to Auntie?”

Seeing everyone looking at her, Zhao Sulan mistakenly thought she had said the right thing and won their approval.

Meanwhile, Lu Xingguang’s eyes lit up.

If he stepped in to help Su Educated Youth at this moment, would she start to have a favorable impression of him?

“I’m only thirty-one, and you’re calling me ‘Auntie’?!” Sister-in-law Li rolled her eyes at Zhao Sulan.

But now wasn’t the time to argue about that! She quickly shifted the topic.

“This newly arrived Educated Youth is right! No matter the reason, an adult hitting a child is wrong!”

“And not only do I want an apology—I want compensation too!”

After saying that, Sister-in-law Li fixed her gaze directly on Su Niannian.

“Here we go again—same old trick!”

“The great extortion act begins!”

Several villagers shared the same unspoken thought.

This wasn’t the first or second time Sister-in-law Li had pulled this trick.

Especially in front of the village chief!

Every time, the accused would stay silent, and she would get exactly what she wanted—without fail.

The only question now was how much she planned to extort this time.

Many of the villagers began to quietly speculate on how much money Su Niannian would be extorted for this time.

Sister-in-law Li turned her gaze toward the village chief, and he nodded slightly.

“Little Su Educated Youth, you’re new to our village, so perhaps you’re still adjusting or in a bad mood.”

“But no matter what, you can’t hit a child!”

“You’re an educated young person! You hit someone and ruined their new pants—it’s only reasonable for you to pay compensation.”

“Here’s what I think: you should apologize first, then compensate for the medical fees and the cost of the pants. After that, we can consider this matter settled, and no further issues will be raised!”

Village Chief Li Guofu’s words were firm and resolute, and at first glance, they sounded quite reasonable.

However, many of the villagers couldn’t help but roll their eyes at the absurdity.

Just as Su Niannian was about to speak, Lu Xingguang squeezed his way through the crowd and approached.

“Village Chief, Village Chief!”

“If you ask me, there’s no need to make a big fuss over this matter. Su Educated Youth is just a young girl, and she’s new here. If there’s anything she hasn’t done properly, I’ll apologize on her behalf.”

“If compensation is necessary, I’ll take care of it. We’re all Educated Youth who came down to the countryside together. We should be helping each other out!”

After speaking, Lu Xingguang puffed out his chest and looked at Su Niannian with a confident gaze.

Su Niannian looked back at Lu Xingguang.

Lu Xingguang thought to himself, She must be admiring me now, right?

But when their eyes met, and he saw the expression on Su Niannian’s face—one that seemed to say “are you an idiot?”—a sudden unease stirred in his heart.

Could it be that what I said was wrong? Or does Su Niannian not want me to help her pay the compensation?

At this moment, the darkness in Gu Nan’s eyes deepened. Seeing a male Educated Youth stepping forward to offer his help, he thought to himself, This guy is definitely not Song Qingyu; he clearly looks like he has something wrong with his head.

Su Niannian patted Song Zhaodi’s shoulder, signaling her to move aside.

She then walked over to Sister-in-law Li, taking the pants from her hands.

“What are you trying to do?” Sister-in-law Li raised her voice in warning, eyeing her suspiciously. “With so many people here, you’re not planning to destroy the evidence, are you?”

Su Niannian gave her a disdainful glance and then exposed the stained part of the pants more clearly, letting the onlookers see it better.

“Everyone, take a look. This stain was caused by the juice from the March fruit.”

“So what? It’s not coming off! These pants cost me five yuan to make for my dear child!” Sister-in-law Li said, holding her head high.

“Five yuan?”

“Damn, she said these pants cost five yuan!”

“Tsk tsk tsk, that’s a big ask,” someone in the crowd muttered.

The fabric and processing cost of these pants wouldn’t even add up to a yuan, yet Sister-in-law Li was asking for five yuan!

It was nothing short of a ridiculous demand.

Su Niannian covered her mouth, chuckling softly.