Zhao Mancang pinched a cigarette butt that was barely longer than a fingernail, reluctant to throw it away, and took a couple more puffs.  

Jiang Le sat on the only wooden plank bed in the clinic, watching him exhale clouds of smoke, nearly choking to the point of rolling his eyes. He had been forced to inhale secondhand smoke before—after all, he’d often encountered inconsiderate men in public spaces—but he realized that the tobacco Zhao Mancang rolled in old newspaper was even more suffocating.  

Just as Jiang Le was about to endure it silently, the female village doctor, unyielding and unfazed by Zhao Mancang’s status as village head, spoke up: “Comrade Zhao, this is a medical clinic, and there’s a patient here. If you can’t control your urge to smoke, then take it outside!”  

Jiang Le was stunned, barely resisting the urge to give her a thumbs-up.  

Embarrassed by the reprimand, Zhao Mancang chuckled awkwardly and stepped outside.  

Jiang Le exhaled in relief, casting a grateful look at the village doctor. Finally, he could breathe freely again.  

The village doctor waved him off indifferently and went back to her work.  

The Party secretary glanced at Zhao Meilian, who was standing guard beside Jiang Le, then turned to the boy. “Jiang kid, regarding what Xu Youcai did… how do you want to handle this?”  

Zhao Meilian, clueless, looked at the secretary and blurted, “What’s there to think about? Of course, we hand him over to the police!”  

She stared at her youngest son, his head wrapped in white bandages, his face deathly pale—her heart ached terribly. And the one responsible for all this was Xu Youcai.  

If the village head and secretary hadn’t been present, Zhao Meilian would’ve lunged at that bastard and scratched him to death. How dare he bully her child like this?  

Falsely accusing her boy of theft and even trying to send him to labor reform? In her eyes, it was Xu Youcai who deserved labor reform—he absolutely had to be handed over to the police!  

The secretary sighed. “This matter isn’t exactly major, but it’s not minor either…”  

Zhao Meilian didn’t understand the secretary’s meaning, but Jiang Le did. If the secretary had wanted to send Xu Youcai straight to the police, why would he bother asking a child’s opinion? Even as the victim, his input wasn’t that crucial.  

The fact that the secretary had come to ask him meant there were reservations about involving the authorities.  

From the secretary’s tone, Jiang Le immediately grasped the situation.  

Handing Xu Youcai over to the police was certainly an option, but as Jiang Le had pointed out earlier, these days, collectivism and unity were emphasized. If someone in the village did something shameful, it tarnished the reputation of the entire community.  

Sure, Xu Youcai was an educated youth, but since the higher-ups had assigned him to Kanzi Village, he was now a member of their village.  

What if someone argued that Xu Youcai’s original class status was problematic? But he had already undergone half a year of reform in Kanzi Village. If his ideology and ethics were still flawed, the higher-ups might start questioning the competence of the village cadres.  

If Xu Youcai’s actions were severe, then handing him over to the police would be non-negotiable. But in this case, his offense wasn’t serious enough to warrant that.

Most likely, handing him over to the police would only result in a stern lecture. Was it worth tarnishing Kanzi Village’s reputation just for that? The cost far outweighed the gain.  

Jiang Le glanced at the secretary, whose expression carried a hint of guilt. He knew the man’s concerns were valid, but no matter what, he was the one who had suffered here. Letting this slide without consequence was out of the question.  

That said, Jiang Le had already figured out the dynamics in the village—the village head held a grudge against his family, and the village head’s son was the male lead of this story, naturally positioned as his, Jiang Le’s, nemesis.  

So, he needed to find someone who could temporarily counterbalance the village head’s influence. And the Party secretary was undoubtedly the best choice.  

Technically, the secretary outranked the village head. And while the man had his own considerations, overall, he was a fair and upright figure.  

Like right now—if Jiang Le insisted on reporting this to the police, the secretary wouldn’t refuse…  

Jiang Le’s gaze shifted to Xu Youcai, who stood nearby, his face pale, looking as though his soul had fled from terror. He lowered his eyelids slightly.  

Reporting this to the police now would certainly teach Xu Youcai a lesson, but there was a risk—if the man ended up with a permanent stain on his record, he might think, Since I can’t return to the city anyway, why not go all out?

A man with nothing left to lose was the hardest to deal with.  

Faced with the possibility of even worse retaliation later, Jiang Le preferred to wait for an opportunity to crush Xu Youcai completely in one go.  

Right now, the charges against Xu Youcai were still too minor.  

Having made up his mind, Jiang Le lowered his eyes and said softly, “Uncle Secretary, I don’t want to pursue this matter further.”  

The secretary was stunned. He had already prepared to send Xu Youcai to the police—after all, Jiang Le had been wronged—but he never expected the boy to say such a thing.  

Jiang Le forced a weak smile, his pale face making him look even more pitiable. “…Everyone makes mistakes. Besides, Comrade Xu is also part of our village. I don’t want to ruin the reputation of all the uncles and aunties here. I just wanted everyone to know… that I didn’t steal anything…”  

At this point, he lowered his gaze, as if hiding the glimmer of tears in his eyes.  

In these times, people were still simple and unsophisticated—none of them had ever experienced the impact of a masterfully played “green tea” act. Seeing Jiang Le’s strained smile, they immediately imagined the worst: This child has suffered so much injustice, yet he’s still thinking of everyone else…

The more emotional ones, Zhao Meilian and the village doctor, were already in tears.  

As for Xu Youcai—he stared at Jiang Le in utter disbelief. Just moments ago, he had been terrified, convinced that Jiang Le would never let him off and would surely send him to the police.  

He had never been favored in his family. With an older brother, an older sister, and a younger brother, he was the superfluous middle child.  

When the mandatory youth relocation to the countryside was announced, his sister had escaped by getting married, and his younger brother was still underage, so neither had to worry. That left only him and his older brother eligible.  

If his parents had passed their jobs down to the two of them, neither would have had to go to the countryside.

But to Xu Youcai’s shock, after discussing it, his parents decided to pass his father’s job only to his older brother—his mother refused to give hers up for him.  

The outcome was predictable: he alone was forced to go to the countryside.  

Did Xu Youcai resent it? Of course he did. The entire journey to the village, he had been in a daze. It was during that time that he met Lin Banxue. Seeing him so downhearted, she had comforted him with a few words and even given him a piece of candy.  

That candy was so sweet—he had never tasted anything like it before. From then on, he fell hopelessly in love with that unattainable girl.  

But back to the present. No matter how much Xu Youcai hated his heartless parents, the harsh conditions of rural life were unbearable. He still longed to return to the city.  

That was why he was terrified of being handed over to the police. He didn’t know what punishment awaited him, but his greatest fear was ending up with a permanent black mark on his record—one that would bar him from ever going back. What difference would that make from outright killing him?

Yet, against all expectations, Jiang Le wasn’t pressing charges. Staring at the boy’s pale face, Xu Youcai was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of shame.  

The more magnanimous Jiang Le appeared, the more despicable it made him look!  

Jiang Le, of course, had no idea that Xu Youcai was also an overthinker. In reality, he was simply making the choice most advantageous to himself.  

So what if Xu Youcai wasn’t sent to the police? Judging by the secretary’s guilt-ridden expression, the man wouldn’t get off easy either.  

Jiang Le smirked devilishly in his heart, but on the surface, he remained as pure as an innocent little flower.  

The secretary sighed heavily. “Ah! Kid, how… how can you be so kindhearted? Don’t be like this in the future—you’ll only get taken advantage of.”  

Jiang Le offered a frail smile, his expression full of trust. “I know that with you here, Uncle Secretary, I won’t suffer any real losses.”  

That single sentence would probably haunt the secretary enough to make him slap himself awake at midnight.  

The secretary hadn’t known Jiang Le well before—after all, the village had so many people. He’d only heard rumors that the boy had a less-than-stellar reputation. Now, he realized how wrong it was to blindly believe gossip.  

His guilt had already peaked, and now he was determined to make it up to Jiang Le somehow.  

He stood up, walked over to Xu Youcai, and smacked the back of the man’s head with a palm as broad as a cattail leaf fan.  

In these times, even cadres had to participate in labor—so the secretary’s strength was no joke. The blow instantly made Xu Youcai see stars.  

In a stern voice, the secretary declared, “That kid Jiang Le has a huge lump on his head because of you. Even if he doesn’t want to pursue this, I, as the Party secretary, can’t just let it slide. We’ll discuss your punishment later, but for now—you’re paying him compensation for nutritional expenses!”  

The secretary had already thought it through. It wouldn’t be appropriate to use collective funds from the village, but one way or another, Jiang Le *had* to be compensated.

His idea was to have Xu Youcai agree to borrow the compensation money from the village funds first, then pay it back later. If Xu Youcai couldn’t repay in cash? Then he’d work it off through labor!  

But to his surprise, after hearing his words, Xu Youcai fell silent for a moment—perhaps still overwhelmed by shame over Jiang Le’s unexpected mercy. Without much protest, he fumbled inside his clothes and pulled out a crumpled ten-yuan bill.  

Ten yuan—this was all the savings Xu Youcai had left.  

His relationship with the other educated youths was strained, and he was paranoid about theft, so he kept the money stitched inside a hidden pocket in his clothes.  

Since his family had never cared much about him, he hadn’t brought much money when he was sent to the countryside—only about twenty yuan in total. By the time he’d spent half, he couldn’t bear to part with the remaining ten.  

Reluctantly, Xu Youcai handed over the money. The secretary snatched it from his hand, his stern expression instantly softening when he turned to Jiang Le. “Jiang kid, this is compensation from Xu Youcai for your injury. You’ve suffered unfairly this time—don’t worry, this matter isn’t over yet.”  

Of course Jiang Le would take the money. Even though the lump on his head had already stopped hurting, he hadn’t endured that blow for nothing.  

Besides, according to the original host’s memories, ten yuan had significant purchasing power in this era. For reference: pork cost seventy cents per jin (about 1.1 pounds), and eggs were ten cents for two.  

Ten yuan was equivalent to half a month’s wages for an average urban worker. For rural farmers, earning ten yuan in a whole month was unlikely.  

This was a substantial sum—and judging by Xu Youcai’s expression, he couldn’t possibly cough up any more. The money was an unexpected windfall.  

Take it? Of course he’d take it!