Chapter 30 From now on, I can’t hold my head up in Hongqi Village

Chang Suisui seemed to see through Chang Meili’s thoughts and couldn’t help but sneer, “What? Those who seduce others aren’t afraid of losing face, so why should I be? I’m not the one who did something wrong.”

“You…”

“You what?” Chang Suisui cut her off directly. “If you keep going on like this endlessly, are you trying to slack off? Let me tell you, Chang Meili, you’re digging under the foundations of socialism! You better face up to your actions!”

Chang Meili’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. She didn’t expect that just a few words of bickering with Chang Suisui would put such a huge label on her!

“I’m not! I’m leaving right now!” Chang Meili was almost furious. She glared fiercely at Chang Suisui, then angrily hugged a basin and turned to leave.

Chang Suisui shrugged, smiled at Zhang Fen, and went back to her room. She had just bought some things and still needed to organize them well to bring to Xie Yu that evening.

Meanwhile, Qian Weimin had already come to Xie Yu’s house in his new role.

“So, how is it? Xie Ge, I’m now the scorekeeper of our Hongqi Village!” Qian Weimin placed the letter of introduction on the table in front of Xie Yu, looking cheerful and proud. He had even over-fulfilled the task assigned by their team leader and was bursting with pride.

Xie Yu raised an eyebrow, eyes falling on the introduction letter. “Scorekeeper…”

“Don’t misunderstand, Xie Ge,” Qian Weimin quickly explained, “The village scorekeeper got married this month and moved to the neighboring village. So they just assigned me to fill the vacancy.” He knew what Xie Yu was worried about, so he hastened to clarify.

Xie Yu nodded lightly. “Hmm, when you were in town… how is she?”

Qian Weimin was a little stunned, then realized who “she” referred to. His smile immediately brightened. “Xie Ge, I’m telling you, Chang Zhiqing is a great girl—pretty and sharp-tongued! There really aren’t many good youth like her who truly care for the people.”

Whenever Qian Weimin thought of Chang Suisui passionately rallying the people at the supply and marketing cooperative, he couldn’t help but respect her more.

Xie Yu clearly noticed this and suspiciously raised his eyes to Qian Weimin. “Did something happen in town?”

Knowing Qian Weimin well, Xie Yu thought he would at most praise a girl briefly if he liked her. But today, when talking about Chang Suisui, Qian Weimin’s tone was noticeably… respectful?

Xie Yu’s brow twitched slightly, clearly doubting his own judgment.

Qian Weimin scratched his head awkwardly. “Xie Ge… nothing major happened. It’s just that at the cooperative, two sales clerks were rude, and then Chang Zhiqing took care of them…”

He briefly recounted the incident, not forgetting to praise Chang Suisui a few more times. “Xie Ge, you weren’t there then. The enthusiasm of everyone was like they could go up the mountain and fight tigers!”

“…” Xie Yu’s mouth twitched as he patted Qian Weimin’s shoulder, “Alright, hurry up and report to the village chief. Don’t delay.”

Qian Weimin hesitated, glanced at Xie Yu, and stammered, “Xie Ge, actually… there’s one more thing I haven’t told you yet…”

He had heard about this after returning to the village but hadn’t dared to tell Xie Yu directly, so he postponed it with other topics. Now that he was about to say it, he suddenly got nervous.

Seeing his hesitation, Xie Yu said calmly, “Spit it out. What trouble did you cause this time?”

Qian Weimin awkwardly rubbed his head. “Well… Xie Jianguo, yesterday I took apart the wooden board from the pigpen toilet, and he fell in…”

His voice got smaller toward the end, almost inaudible.

Xie Yu’s brow suddenly furrowed sharply. “Qian Weimin!”

“Yes!”

“Tell me everything clearly!”

With Xie Yu’s clear command, Qian Weimin stood up straight immediately.

“Report! Xie Jianguo fell into the pigpen cesspit yesterday but was too weak to climb out and spent the whole night frozen there!”

“…” Xie Yu didn’t expect his nephew to be this weak. The cesspit wasn’t very deep; how could he not climb out and then freeze all night?

Xie Yu pinched his nose and asked, “How is he now?”

It had rained all night and the temperature wasn’t high. Even with Xie Jianguo’s physique, he would likely get seriously ill. This would serve as a lesson for him.

Qian Weimin’s face grew even more embarrassed. “He’s fine now, but… I guess he won’t be able to hold his head high in Hongqi Village anymore.”

“???” Xie Yu blinked his dark eyes. Although he recognized every word Qian Weimin said, when put together, he just couldn’t understand it.

Seeing Xie Yu staring at him, Qian Weimin cautiously said, “Well… ahem… when Xie Jianguo was taken to the village doctor, after emergency treatment, they wanted to send him to the hospital. But young Chang Zhiqing said she could treat him, so…”

He briefly recounted how Xie Jianguo was socially humiliated, but because his version was already exaggerated by the villagers, Xie Yu’s brow twitched continuously.

Qian Weimin looked at Xie Yu nervously and carefully said, “Xie Ge, I really didn’t know he was so useless. If I had, I’d have pulled him out half the night ago.”

Xie Yu gave him a sidelong glance. “Forget it, just be more careful next time.”

Qian Weimin lowered his head, avoiding Xie Yu’s gaze. He had expected to be scolded by their team leader but was surprised that Xie Yu wasn’t angry at all. He looked up in amazement, “Xie Ge…”

“Alright, no more nonsense. Go report to the village chief,” Xie Yu said with a helpless sigh, urging him to get on with real work.

As for Xie Jianguo? Since Xie Yu had him cleaned up, even if there were mishaps, there was no reason to shift responsibility. Besides, Xie Jianguo was now healthy and fine. At worst, he just couldn’t hold his head high in front of outsiders, which was already a light punishment compared to what he deserved.

Seeing Xie Yu was not angry, Qian Weimin immediately returned to his earlier silly smile, cheerfully grabbed a cup of water, and said, “Xie Ge, you rest well. I’m off to report to the village chief now!”

Saying that, he hurried out of Xie Yu’s house and headed to the village chief’s.

When he reached the village chief’s door, he saw a postman knocking with a letter in hand. Qian Weimin instinctively glanced at the sender’s name on the envelope, where he faintly saw the character “Chang”…