Chapter 48: Tear It All Down

Wang Hongjie led Deputy Captain Liu straight to the herbal workshop.

When Deputy Captain Liu saw the villagers busy at work inside, he finally believed what Wang Hongjie had said.
His eyes immediately lit up with joy—but he quickly suppressed it and replaced it with a stern expression.

He stared seriously at Wang Hongjie. “Your village found such a good income stream—why didn’t you report it to the brigade?”

Wang Hongjie silently cursed in his heart but kept a simple, honest expression on his face.

“We’ve only been experimenting for a month. We thought we should get more familiar with the process first before officially reporting it to the brigade,” he explained.

“You’ve already made 200 yuan in a month, and you still need to get familiar? Forget it, I won’t argue with you about that now. But come with me to the brigade headquarters and explain this to the brigade leader in detail,” Deputy Captain Liu said, preparing to leave with Wang Hongjie.

“Alright,” Wang Hongjie agreed—he couldn’t hide it now that the brigade had come in person.

But he was still thinking about Su Miaomiao’s situation, so he asked:

“All of this was taught to us by the Huo family, and all the income was handed over to the village. You could say they made a huge contribution, so… about the house situation—can we just… let that go?”

Deputy Captain Liu, who had looked excited a moment ago, now slowly let his smile drop.
His gaze lowered as he stared intently at Wang Hongjie.

“Wang Hongjie, I’ve reminded you many times before—when doing anything, you need to look not just one step ahead, but three steps ahead.”

“That whole family was reform targets sent down from Beijing. You know exactly what kind of place that is, don’t you?”

“Without approval from the higher authorities, the stain on their record can’t be erased for even one day. You, as village head, making special accommodations for them—if word of this reaches Beijing, not only you but even our county officials could be punished.”

Deputy Captain Liu’s words were extremely heavy, making Wang Hongjie’s face go pale.

Even so, he still wanted to speak up for Su Miaomiao, remembering everything she had done for the village.

But Deputy Captain Liu could already guess what he was about to say. He raised his hand and stopped him.

“You don’t need to say anything else. Tear down the house. Don’t cause me any more trouble.”

Wang Hongjie’s face turned ashen—there was no more room to negotiate.

Meanwhile, Su Miaomiao, who had followed them, had heard everything.

Wang Hongjie might not have fully understood the deeper meaning behind Deputy Captain Liu’s words—but Su Miaomiao did.

Deputy Captain Liu wasn’t unwilling to turn a blind eye.
Rather, it was because someone had written a report on them.
If he didn’t take serious action now, that person could report it all the way to Beijing.
That’s why he had no choice but to handle it harshly.

Su Miaomiao’s eyes darkened. Who could’ve written that report?

It likely wasn’t the villagers. After all, she had just given them so many benefits.
Even if they didn’t like her, for the sake of their future well-being, they would never report her at such a critical time.

So if it wasn’t someone from the village… then it could only be someone from the educated youth compound.

Going over all the people in her mind, a specific figure emerged.

Heh. She’d probably had it too easy for too long, and had let down her guard—and a petty person had taken advantage of it.

“Alright, they’re just a bunch of reform targets sent down here. No need to waste too much energy on them. Right now, the most important thing is to report your village’s situation to the brigade leader,” said Deputy Captain Liu, clearly uninterested in delaying for the sake of a few reform targets. He just wanted to bring Wang Hongjie back to the brigade as soon as possible.

After all, their brigade had always ranked at the bottom of the county in terms of performance.
If they could develop this herbal medicine route, they could easily jump to first place.

When that time came, the organization would definitely reward them.
Maybe his own position could even be promoted.

With that in mind, he grabbed Wang Hongjie and got ready to leave.

Meanwhile, Su Miaomiao had quietly hidden behind a pillar before they exited the herbal hall.
Only after they left did she return home.

At home, the Huo family had been waiting anxiously for news.
When they saw Su Miaomiao return, they all gathered around her.

“Miaomiao, how did it go? What did the village head say?”

Seeing the concerned eyes of the entire family, Su Miaomiao didn’t know how to break the bad news to them.

But the Huo family weren’t fools. Even though Su Miaomiao hadn’t said a word, they could guess from her expression.

“Miaomiao, it’s okay. Even if the house can’t be built, Mom will protect you no matter what.”
Tang Chunlan stepped forward and hugged her tightly.

Feeling the warmth in her arms, Su Miaomiao’s tone turned cold:

“This time, someone deliberately reported us. The brigade is afraid the matter will reach Beijing, so they didn’t even leave us any room to explain.”

“Who reported us?” Huo Xinyuan, who could never hide his emotions, flushed with anger.
“Ever since we got here, we haven’t had any conflicts with the villagers. You’ve even done your best to help them—why would they still report us?”

If the house couldn’t be finished and winter came, how would his grandparents survive the cold?
How would his mother and little sister survive?

“I already know who did it. It was a female educated youth named Deng Siyue,” Su Miaomiao said honestly.

She didn’t plan to hide it. Letting the Huo family know would help them stay alert around Deng Siyue in the future and avoid being schemed against again.

“Deng Siyue?” The Huo family had no impression of this name at all.

The villagers had always kept a respectful distance due to the Huo family’s background.
And the Huo family, in turn, never took the initiative to get close to others.
So far, they only knew the village head and a few villagers who had come over to help.

“Just remember her name. Be careful if you ever run into her again,” Su Miaomiao warned.

“We understand,” the Huo family replied in unison.

“Alright then. Since we can’t continue building the house for now, let’s rest.”
Su Miaomiao forced a faint smile.

“Yes, let’s rest. As long as our family is together, no matter what happens, we’ll get through it,” said Tang Chunlan with determination.

Only then did everyone return to their temporary tents.

That night, aside from Su Miaomiao, no one in the Huo family could sleep.

Especially the four Huo men. They spent the night thinking of ways to help Su Miaomiao’s side survive the winter peacefully if the house couldn’t be rebuilt.

After all, the winters in Mocheng were even more unbearable than those in Beijing.

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The next day at noon, Wang Hongjie finally returned to the village after spending the whole night at the brigade headquarters.

As soon as he returned, he led some people directly to Su Miaomiao’s house.

Everyone in the village had already heard about what happened the previous day, and many villagers followed along behind him.