Chapter 22: Tension Among the Educated Youth

Su Yue stood up and said,
“Mom, go ahead and put away the cigarettes and liquor. You should head to the fields. Xiangbei and I will cook lunch at home.”

Shen Qiuxia smiled and replied,
“Alright then, I’ll leave lunch to you two. It’s still early—take a break first and start cooking around ten. That should be enough time.”

Su Yue replied with a cheerful smile,
“Don’t worry, Mom!”

After Shen Qiuxia left, Li Xiangbei asked curiously,
“Yueyue, it’s so hot today—why didn’t you let your mom rest at home a bit?”

Su Yue dropped her smile and explained,
“Our brigade assigned all the work early this morning. If Mom doesn’t work now, then after we leave, she’ll have to stay up late with Dad working into the night.”

Li Xiangbei’s eyes lit up with realization,
“Then let me go help your parents in the field. The sooner we finish, the sooner they can rest.”

Su Yue beamed,
“Xiangbei, you’re the best. But it’s really sunny outside. How about you wear my straw hat?”

After saying that, she turned around to grab a straw hat and handed it to him, smiling brightly as she saw him out the door.

Su Yue didn’t idle either. First, she made a round through the kitchen. Then she picked up a basket and went to the family’s private plot, harvesting all the ripe vegetables and pulling out any weeds she saw. After returning with a full basket, she headed back into the kitchen.

She fetched a bucket of water and grabbed a cloth to clean the house. After wiping down the dust, she mopped the floor twice.

There were no dirty clothes or shoes lying around, and the sheets and blankets were all clean.

Shen Qiuxia had always been a neat person. No matter how tired she was after a day in the fields, she always washed her clothes and shoes after bathing at night. As for bed linens, she often woke up early to wash them.

Seeing there wasn’t much left to tidy up, Su Yue began preparing lunch.

Meanwhile, Li Xiangbei, wearing the straw hat, headed toward the fields.

His appearance quickly drew attention from the brigade members already working. Curious, someone asked what he was doing there. Li Xiangbei smiled and said he had come to help his mother-in-law with the work.

His answer immediately earned him praise from the crowd.

Before long, he had made his way to where Shen Qiuxia was working.

Shen Qiuxia had already heard the villagers praising her son-in-law-to-be. When she saw him walking over, her fondness for him deepened even more.

“Xiangbei, what are you doing here? It’s scorching hot—go back and take a rest,” she said with concern.

Li Xiangbei smiled,
“Mom, I came to give you a hand.”

Shen Qiuxia didn’t stop him. After all, if he had come, that meant her daughter knew and approved.

She praised him a few more times, then started teaching him the task at hand.

It wasn’t complicated work—just clearing weeds from the cornfield and loosening the soil a bit.

“Xiangbei, be careful when working—make sure you don’t step on the corn stalks,” she reminded him.

Li Xiangbei readily agreed and got to work with enthusiasm. Shen Qiuxia watched, nodding in satisfaction.

Nearby, Aunt Zhang witnessed the scene and praised with a laugh,
“That Yueyue’s man—though he’s a city guy, the way he works, he’s better than those educated youths from the city.”

Shen Qiuxia smiled with pride at the compliment.

But a nearby female educated youth wasn’t having it. She suddenly stood up with a look of grievance and shouted,
“Aunt Zhang, what do you mean by that? We work ourselves to death every day, and still, you criticize us? How are we supposed to keep going like this?”

Her voice trembled, and before she even finished speaking, her eyes turned red, and tears welled up.

Aunt Zhang was used to the village women’s quarrels and noise, but seeing this young woman suddenly burst into tears after just a few words left her stunned and at a loss.

Li Xiangbei quickly stepped forward and said, “Miss, when did we ever arrange work for you? If you feel wronged, why not explain clearly so everyone can understand?”

The young woman was momentarily speechless. She was simply upset about having to do so much farm work every day and hearing Aunt Zhang mention the “educated youth” made her emotions explode. But she couldn’t say that out loud, so her crying only got worse.

Another young woman also stood up, pointing at Li Xiangbei with righteous anger, “You, as a man, why do you bully us educated youth?”

Nearby villagers, hearing the commotion, gathered around with curiosity. Those standing farther away saw Feng Chunyan crying so pitifully and started whispering and speculating.

Shen Qiuxia, seeing her future son-in-law wrongly accused, felt displeased and quickly explained the situation briefly.

“Everyone, judge for yourselves—how could my future son-in-law bully Feng Chunyan?”

Shen Qiuxia’s gaze was calm and stern toward Wu Mei.

Wu Mei glanced at the tearful Feng Chunyan, clearly not believing Shen Qiuxia’s explanation. She then turned to Feng Chunyan and said, “Chunyan, if you have any grievances, just say it. We educated youth are united. If anyone dares to bully us, we’ll take it up with the county’s youth office. We’re educated youth responding to the call to build the motherland and must not allow bullying.”

Once Wu Mei said this, about a dozen educated youths gathered around, and the atmosphere immediately became tense.

Feng Chunyan now realized the matter was escalating, felt regret, and her face turned white then red in embarrassment.

“Feng Chunyan, just tell us what happened. We won’t let anyone bully you,” Wu Mei said, beating her chest in assurance.
Aunt Zhang also felt wronged. Pointing at Li Xiangbei working hard in the fields, she said, “I didn’t say anything wrong. You educated youth tell me—wasn’t this the first time you worked, and didn’t you have Yueyue’s boyfriend helping you?”

Wu Mei frowned, suspicious, “Spring Yan wouldn’t cry so much just because of one sentence. You must have said something even more hurtful.”

One of the villagers spoke up, “Wu Mei, Shen Qiuxia already told us the whole story, we all heard it clearly. Oh, and Fang Zhiqing is here too, Fang Zhiqing, tell us if it’s really like this.”

Everyone turned their gaze to Fang Zhiqing (Fang Ya).

Feng Chunyan’s heart skipped a beat and secretly resented her—she and Fang Ya had never gotten along and had often been at odds. Fang Ya would surely not cover for her now.

Feng Chunyan’s eyes darted, quickly scheming. Seeing all eyes on Fang Ya, she suddenly bit her own lip hard. The sharp pain made her choke back tears. She pretended to sob, “Wu Jie, you misunderstood. I heard Aunt Zhang say that, and I just couldn’t accept it, so when I retorted, I accidentally bit my lip. It really hurts—that’s why I cried.” Then, deliberately, she spat some blood-streaked saliva on the ground.

Everyone was stunned by this.

The educated youth looked a bit embarrassed; what was once a tense atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

“Those city kids really make a fuss over nothing, acting like it’s a big deal,” a villager muttered quietly.

“That Wu Mei is the same—didn’t check the facts before making a scene. Made our whole team look like a pack of wolves,” another villager added.

Everyone murmured and talked. Wu Mei’s face flushed bright red.

Finally, the team leader arrived. After understanding the situation, he asked Wu Mei to apologize to Li Xiangbei.

Li Xiangbei waved it off, saying, “There’s a saying: ‘Concern causes confusion.’ Wu Mei only reacted because she saw Feng Chunyan so upset and wanted to protect her. Though a bit impulsive, her heart was in the right place.”

“But Feng Chunyan should’ve stopped Wu Mei too. You bit your lip, but your hands are fine,” he added, shaking his head and muttering, “If you’d explained earlier, none of this would have happened.”

Wu Mei didn’t expect that Li Xiangbei would speak up for her after the misunderstanding, and she felt a ripple of warmth in her heart.