Chapter 52

The group didn’t speak again, their eyes fixed on the front of the crowd.

The village head began with some official platitudes, and then came the main event that everyone was waiting for.

“This time, several comrades worked very hard to check the accounts. They checked for five days straight before finally calculating all the accounts for this year.”

“We found that not only were there problems with unfair work points, but the accounts were also a mess, chaotic.”

“Comrade Zhou Xingxue did indeed engage in favoritism and abuse of power. The village has decided to remove her from her position as the record keeper, effective immediately. At the same time, because the impact of this matter is too great, we will hand Zhou Xingxue over to the police.”

The village head’s series of statements caused an uproar in the crowd.

Zhou Xingxue stood next to Zhou Jianguo.

Zhou Jianguo’s old face turned red, but he stood there stiffly, not moving.

But Zhou Xingxue wasn’t so calm. She turned to Zhou Jianguo for help, grabbed his sleeve, and said with a grievance, “Dad, please say something for me. If Uncle Village Head hands me over to the police, my life will be ruined.”

Seeing that Zhou Jianguo didn’t move, Zhou Xingxue’s face immediately changed. She collapsed and roared, “If you don’t help me, I’ll go find Grandma. If she knows you’re treating me like this, she’ll definitely…”

Before she could finish, “slap”, Zhou Jianguo slapped her across the face, “You did something wrong and still don’t know how to repent. Did I teach you this way?”

The police arrived earlier than expected. Before everyone could disperse to go to work, they took Zhou Xingxue away.

With the assurance of the village head and Zhou Jianguo, everyone didn’t pursue the matter further.

The police car had just left when Old Mrs. Zhou rushed over.

She looked around, but she didn’t see Zhou Xingxue, so she loudly questioned Zhou Jianguo, “Where’s Xiao Xue?”

Zhou Jianguo didn’t answer.

There were always people who liked to watch the excitement in the crowd. Someone deliberately said loudly, “She was taken away by the police. She won’t be back for a while.”

“Is that true?” Old Mrs. Zhou’s expression was numb. She asked Zhou Jianguo again.

Zhou Jianguo closed his eyes as if he had resigned himself to his fate and nodded heavily.

The next moment, the cane in Old Mrs. Zhou’s hand fell on Zhou Jianguo’s back, “Are you a father? Your own daughter was arrested, and you can still stand here? Why don’t you hurry up and get Xiao Xue back?”

Zhou Jianguo was also angry. Before Old Mrs. Zhou’s cane could fall again, he grabbed it and said expressionlessly, “She’s not a baby anymore. She should be responsible for her actions. Since she did something wrong, she should be punished.”

“What punishment? I only know that she’s my precious granddaughter. You don’t feel sorry for her, but I do. If you don’t go, I’ll go!” Old Mrs. Zhou said, pulling the cane away from Zhou Jianguo’s hand. She turned around and was about to chase after the police car.

Zhou Jianguo could no longer bear it. He roared, “You’ve spoiled her into what she is now. Are you going to make a fuss? Do you want to watch me give up my position as captain before you’re satisfied?”

This was the first time Old Mrs. Zhou had ever heard her son speak to her like this. She was shocked, but also stunned by his words, “give up my position”.

Old Mrs. Zhou snorted coldly and didn’t say anything more. She turned around and went home.

…

Time always passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, the time Song Shishi had agreed with Director Zhao to go to Beijing arrived.

She heard that Zhou Xingxue had been detained, but she didn’t know how long she would be detained.

According to Song Shishi’s expectations, why wasn’t Zhou Xingxue sentenced for doing such a terrible thing?

But she wasn’t familiar with the law in this area, so she didn’t know the details.

Anyway, after Zhou Xingxue was arrested, Zhou Jianguo went to Qinghe Town almost every day.

In just a few days, Zhou Jianguo’s hair turned white.

Also, the villagers had become familiar with greenhouse planting. So when she explained the situation to Zhou Jianguo, he praised her, “Comrade Song, you’re so outstanding. You’re really the pride of our Huaiqing Brigade.”

“Where, you’re exaggerating. But I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone this time.”

“It’s okay. Go ahead. I received the certificate from the library a few days ago. Chen Hui, Zhang Qingmei, and my son, Jin Bao, have been learning from you for so long. They should be able to solve any problems they encounter with greenhouse planting.”

When Song Shishi started to take on the task of guiding everyone in greenhouse planting, Zhou Jianguo had Chen Hui, Zhang Qingmei, and Zhou Jin Bao follow her to learn.

In the past month, the weather had been changing constantly, and they had encountered many problems, which the four of them had solved together.

So Song Shishi agreed with Zhou Jianguo.

This time back to Beijing, she only brought two sets of clothes. She could buy clothes in Beijing anyway, and she had some at home.

To avoid any trouble, she didn’t bring anything else.

She left her bicycle for Xu Li.

She was exhausted when she first taught Xu Li how to ride a bicycle.

Later, seeing that Shi Tou was always following them, she simply stood by the side and corrected Xu Li’s incorrect posture. As for the physical labor, she let Shi Tou do it all.

Shi Tou was also happy to do it.

When they arrived in town by Uncle Zhang’s ox cart, Song Shishi didn’t rush to the library. Instead, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative first.

She hadn’t been back for so long, so she couldn’t go back empty-handed.

She bought a red scarf that Zheng Peilan liked, and a pair of leather gloves for Song Zhenhua.

Zheng Peilan liked pastries, and Song Zhenhua liked wine, but they didn’t sell them in Qinghe Town. She planned to buy them when she got to Beijing.

When she appeared at the library entrance with bags and bags of things, Director Zhao laughed at her.

“Are you going home or visiting relatives?”

Director Zhao teased her, and she felt a little embarrassed.

“I’ve never used my own money to buy gifts for my parents before. I haven’t seen them for a while, so I have to make them happy.”

Director Zhao nodded repeatedly, “Your parents must be overjoyed that you’re back.”

On the way to the train station, Director Zhao instructed, “We’ll probably arrive in Beijing tomorrow morning. The leader has a meeting tomorrow morning. I’ll send you back first, and then pick you up in the afternoon.”

Looking at the thick briefcase in Director Zhao’s hand, she guessed that he must have something to do in Beijing this time, not just to send her to Beijing for the assessment.

So she said understandingly, “No need. You can go about your business. I’ll call my family to pick me up when I get to the station.”

Director Zhao looked at her. Seeing that she wasn’t just being polite, and he did have something to do in the afternoon, he nodded in agreement.

To avoid Director Zhao from not being able to contact her, she specifically gave him her home phone number.

On the train, Director Zhao took good care of her.

He bought the train ticket, saying that it was considered a business trip and would be paid for by the public funds.

There were many people on the train. Even if you wanted to get up to use the restroom, you had to ask someone you knew to watch your seat. Otherwise, when you came back, you might only be able to stand all the way to the final station.

So Song Shishi didn’t drink much water all the way and ate the dry food she brought with her.

She didn’t feel this way when she rode the train with Meng Xunzhou last time.