Chapter 47: Higher-Ups Are Here

“Eh? Who are those people? Are they your relatives?” Wang Qingshan was the first to notice the group of people approaching from the distance and asked Su Miaomiao beside him.

Su Miaomiao followed his gaze. Her eyesight was better than Wang Qingshan’s, and she immediately noticed the red armbands on their arms.

“No… I think those are people from the brigade,” Wang Qingshan also realized something was off.

Suddenly thinking of something, he quietly slipped away from the back.

At this moment, the group had already walked up to Su Miaomiao and the others.

They were dressed in brand-new clothes, their hair combed meticulously, and they each carried a briefcase — clearly very different from the peasants laboring in the dirt.

They looked like… officials.

The crowd, who had just been joking and laughing, instantly fell silent. Their faces now showed signs of nervousness.

There were three people in total, the oldest being a man in his forties.

The middle-aged man scanned the scene. Just as the report letter had said, the group was renovating and building a new house.

“Are you building a new house here?” he asked, though just to confirm.

“And you are…?” Huo Jianguo stepped forward and met his gaze.

As soon as the man saw Huo Jianguo, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.

This man was plainly dressed, but had an undeniable air of authority about him — even more so than the senior officials he had met on county inspections before.

And yet… he was just a reform target who had been sent down?

The man’s expression turned cold immediately. “I’m the Deputy Captain Liu from the Anyang Brigade. We received a report letter claiming that Stone Pier Village had a reform target who was not cooperating with the re-education efforts and was even engaging in bourgeois enjoyment. At first, I didn’t believe it — but now, seeing this with my own eyes, it turns out the report was accurate.”

As soon as he said this, everyone’s face changed dramatically.

A report letter?

Who wrote it?

And what did he mean by bourgeois enjoyment?

That kind of accusation was serious — the entire village might get implicated!

Just as Su Miaomiao was about to step forward, Wang Hongjie came rushing over in a panic.

“Deputy Captain Liu! What brings you here today? Why didn’t you come find me first?” Wang Hongjie had been called over by Wang Qingshan, who told him someone from the higher-ups had come.

As soon as he heard that, he knew something had gone wrong. If brigade officials came to the village and didn’t look for him — the village chief — but went straight to Su Miaomiao’s place, there had to be trouble.

“Wang Hongjie, you’ve really grown into this role as village chief, haven’t you? Don’t you know what kind of background they come from?”

“The organization sent them here for re-education. Do I really need to explain to you what re-education means?” Deputy Captain Liu stared at him sternly.

Wang Hongjie bowed repeatedly, nodding quickly.

“Deputy Captain Liu, there’s definitely some misunderstanding here. Let’s talk about this at the village committee office,” he said, trying to lead them away.

But Deputy Captain Liu didn’t give him any face. His expression grew even uglier.

“What misunderstanding? I’ve seen it with my own eyes! Wang Hongjie, I used to think you were reliable and capable, but clearly, I misjudged you!”

“It’s not like that! It’s just that winter is almost here, and when the snow comes, those old cow sheds won’t be fit for living in. That’s why I asked some folks to help repair the place. You said it yourself — they’re here to be re-educated. But we can’t just let them freeze to death, can we?” Wang Hongjie tried to smile and mediate.

“But from the looks of it, this isn’t just a renovation — it looks like you’re completely rebuilding it,” Deputy Captain Liu said coldly.

“It’s because the original house was so old and in such disrepair that it would collapse with a touch. There was really no way to fix it, so we had no choice but to rebuild,” Wang Hongjie explained, his back hunched and constantly wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“Even if you had to rebuild, isn’t this a bit too extravagant? The other educated youths in the village don’t even have conditions this good!” Deputy Captain Liu snapped.

Su Miaomiao, who had been silent until now, couldn’t help but flicker her gaze when she heard him mention the educated youth housing.

“Deputy Captain Liu, you may not know the full story. The reason we did this… is entirely because the Huo family has done a huge favor for our village,” Wang Hongjie decided to speak the truth.

“What kind of favor would make you disregard everything and build such a nice house for a bunch of reform targets?” Deputy Captain Liu still held some good opinion of Wang Hongjie, so he was at least willing to listen.

“It’s like this…” Wang Hongjie had no other option, so he told him everything — how Su Miaomiao had led the villagers to collect herbs and sell medicine.

When Deputy Captain Liu heard this, his eyes widened.

“You mean to tell me… your village earned over 200 yuan in just one month?!”

“Yes.” Wang Hongjie nodded.

“You sure you’re not lying to me?” Deputy Captain Liu couldn’t believe it.

“I wouldn’t dare lie about something like this. If you don’t believe me, I can take you to our village’s herb workshop right now — there are still villagers preparing herbs there.”

“Let’s go. Take me there immediately!” Deputy Captain Liu could no longer care about the house.

If what Wang Hongjie said was true, their brigade might actually turn things around!

In his urgency, he urged Wang Hongjie to lead the way to the herb workshop.

The rest of the people looked at each other, unsure whether to stay or leave.

“Brother Qingshan, take everyone back for now. Once things are cleared up here, I’ll come find you,” Su Miaomiao said to Wang Qingshan.

She hadn’t forgotten that it was Wang Qingshan who had brought Wang Hongjie over.

“Alright.” Wang Qingshan nodded and offered a few words of comfort. “Comrade Su, don’t worry too much. My dad and that Deputy Captain go way back. Once he knows the truth, he won’t hold it against you.”

“Mm.” Su Miaomiao nodded.

Only then did Wang Qingshan lead the villagers who had been helping with construction away.

Now, the open yard was left with only the Huo family.

Their expressions were grim. Life had just started to show some promise — were they really going to be knocked back to square one?

“Dad, Mom, don’t worry. I’ll go check things out at the workshop,” Su Miaomiao said, looking at Huo Jianguo and Tang Chunlan.

“I’ll go with you,” Huo Jianguo immediately offered.

“No need. It’s better if I go alone — it’ll be more convenient. You’re not in a good position to show your face right now,” Su Miaomiao declined.

Huo Jianguo thought for a moment and finally nodded.

Only then did Su Miaomiao turn and leave quickly.

“Jianguo… do you think we’ll still be able to finish building this house?” Tang Chunlan looked at the nearly half-finished structure, eyes full of worry.

“It’ll be fine,” Huo Jianguo gripped her hand and tried to reassure her.

But in his heart, he felt far from certain. Their political background was a known issue.

Once that label was stuck to you, no matter how capable you are, you might not be allowed to do anything.

For a moment, the entire Huo family was filled with anxious gloom.