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Sun Guohua, seeing Jiang Yanmei still hesitating and stammering, decided to spill everything in one go:
“The chicken was stolen by me and Comrade Yao. We climbed the wall to do it. But the rest was all handled by Jiang.”
“All the older educated youths know that Yao and I can’t cook. We’re usually in charge of fetching water, gathering and chopping firewood.”
If the police asked around, they’d easily find out that the two once almost set the kitchen on fire trying to cook.
Jiang Yanmei realized she couldn’t keep the secret anymore. She lowered her head for a while, then looked up with tears already streaming down her face.
“I was forced! I didn’t want to eat the stolen chicken—it was them who threatened me!”
Anyone hearing this would think it was absurd. But she said it like it was nothing.
The police officer had no patience for her nonsense. He sternly said:
“Comrade Jiang, are you seriously still lying?”
“We’ve seen more people than you’ve crossed bridges. You think we can’t see through your little games?”
In the end, the police considered that Sun Guohua was a first-time offender, had confessed truthfully, stolen only a single chicken, and caused no serious damage. He was let off with a formal warning and ordered to pay for the loss before being released the same night.
The other two—Yao Jian and Jiang Yanmei—were not cooperative, lied repeatedly, and displayed poor thinking. They were detained for seven days, and would also be required to undergo a month of ideological reeducation.
On top of that, they had to compensate the three new educated youths for the economic loss.
This news, once it reached the communal compound, landed like a bombshell—it stirred up an uproar across the brigade.
“Forget the two guys, but Jiang Yanmei always seemed like such a well-behaved girl. How could she do something like this?”
“You never truly know a person!”
“People really can’t be judged by appearances!”
“Do you think this will affect their chances of returning to the city?”
“Who knows…”
The brigade leader, upon hearing the news, knitted his brows so tightly they practically twisted into a knot.
At first, he only wanted to scare them into confessing, never intending to actually report it to the police. But they refused to admit anything.
Then he overheard Jiang Yanmei trying to shift the blame onto the down-placed family, and he had no choice but to see it through.
The three new educated youths, however, weren’t affected at all. They bought another chicken from the brigade leader and also sent someone to the commune to buy:
Each person who had helped build the kitchen was given a generous portion of peach pastries, brown sugar, fruit candy, and plum powder. Everyone was overjoyed and said:
“If the new girls ever need help again, we’ll be there!”
Not only that, the three girls even invited everyone to a meal!
As soon as they stepped inside, the aroma of meat made everyone dizzy with hunger.
Someone joked,
“Am I dreaming?”
“It’s not even a holiday—how come there’s meat on the table?”
That giant plate of meat—they weren’t seeing things, right?
What they didn’t know was that Lin Ting had secretly added some meat from her space.
The supposedly one chicken was actually one and a half.
The five jin of pork belly was actually closer to seven or eight jin.
Looking at the table full of food, everyone couldn’t help swallowing their saliva.
The fatty pork had been braised until melt-in-your-mouth soft, fatty but not greasy.
The braised chicken with mushrooms had tender meat and mushrooms soaked in creamy white broth—insanely flavorful.
There were also:
Everything was served in huge portions—everyone could eat their fill!
Everyone sat back, rubbing their round, full bellies, completely satisfied.
They hadn’t eaten this well in a long, long time.
Meanwhile, the older educated youths in the neighboring yard had smelled the meat all day. Their mouths were watering like crazy.
Wen Chunlan grumbled:
“They’re throwing a feast for the locals and didn’t even invite us?”
Zhao Weidong, voice full of sarcasm:
“They’re busy cozying up to the brigade—how could they remember us?”
Yao Jian and Sun Guohua stayed quiet.
They’d nearly gotten destroyed by that meat—if not for luck, they’d have criminal records by now.
Only Tan Hongxia, the only reasonable one among the older educated youths, said quietly:
“When they were building the kitchen, we didn’t help at all. It’s normal they wouldn’t invite us to dinner.”
Wen Chunlan scoffed,
“We all live in the same compound! We’re supposed to help each other! If they won’t include us now, we won’t help them in the future either!”
Tan Hongxia rolled her eyes discreetly:
“When the chicken thief broke in, you slept like a dead pig. Relying on you for help? The whole yard could be looted and you’d still be snoring.”
Wen Chunlan, fuming, snapped:
“Tan! Whose side are you on?!”
Tan Hongxia fired back:
“Tell me where I’m wrong?”
“When people needed help, you didn’t lift a finger. Now they’re eating meat and you want a share? You’re worse than a freeloader!”
Before Wen Chunlan could respond, they heard shouting from outside:
“Fight! There’s a fight!”
“Old Lady Xu and Old Lady Miao are going at it!”
Everyone knew who that meant—Chen Li’s mother (Xu) and Ning Haitang’s mother (Miao).
Wen Chunlan forgot all about arguing. She rushed outside and grabbed a passing woman:
“Aunt Tian! What happened?”
Aunt Tian blurted out everything she knew:
“Chen Li sent a telegram asking his family for money!”
“Xu Zhaoying claims Ning Haitang spent all his salary and wants her family to repay it!”
Lin Ting, just arriving, overheard and sneered inwardly:
Chen Li’s salary barely covers himself—Ning Haitang probably even subsidized him.
He always loved spending women’s money.
By the time they arrived at the fight, Xu Zhaoying had a fistful of Miao’s hair and was yelling:
“Pay up!”
“My son gets a salary, eats government rations, has an employee dorm. If your daughter hadn’t latched onto him, would his money be gone so fast?!”
Old Lady Miao shouted back righteously:
“A man supporting a woman is perfectly normal!”
“If my two useless sons hadn’t failed, that student recommendation would’ve never gone to your son!”
Xu Zhaoying, enraged and irrational, yelled:
“My son earned that spot fair and square!”
Old Lady Miao widened her eyes in disbelief:
“And what about the promises he made when he begged my husband for help back then?”
“Now he hasn’t even succeeded yet, and your family is already going back on your word?!”
“Heaven is watching—you’ll suffer karma for this!”
Xu Zhaoying’s face turned darker than the bottom of a pot. But Miao was too vicious—those words cut deep.
In a rage, she yanked out a chunk of Miao’s hair.
Miao screamed and retaliated, yanking a handful from Xu’s head.
They rolled into the dirt, grappling and scratching. Xu clawed Miao’s face till it bled; Miao bit Xu’s arm. The scene was brutal, leaving onlookers frozen in shock.
No one even dared to pull them apart.
The brigade leader finally rushed in and dragged them apart.
He scolded them, out of breath:
“How old are you both? Still brawling in public like this?”