At two o’clock in the afternoon, Bai Zhengqian began presiding over the village meeting.

“Fellow villagers, comrades, I’ve gathered everyone here today for two reasons. First, our village’s cultural and spiritual progress has recently shown signs of slackening. This won’t do! Don’t think that just because we’ve been named a model village, we can afford to relax…”

Bai Zhengqian’s intention was to criticize “certain people” without naming names.

Sitting below the stage, Educated Youth Jia Xiaohong was filled with resentment. She couldn’t stand Jiang Hongzhi favoring Yan Naqian, coming up with a scheme to pool work points. This essentially made all the educated youth at the station support the lazy and squeamish Yan Naqian. Yet, her protest at the station today failed to gain consensus—

After all, the number of male educated youth in Ruyi Village far exceeded the females. Most young men had a favorable opinion of the beautiful Yan Naqian and believed that her skipping work for a dozen or so days a month wasn’t a big deal since she was pretty and knew how to act coy.

At this moment, Jia Xiaohong couldn’t hold back anymore. She stared at Song Zhi for a long time, then spoke up enthusiastically. “Secretary Uncle, I think our village has always been fine, except for today… Today, a new educated youth came to the village and attacked us without saying a word. Secretary Uncle, can we ask this new comrade—why did you beat us?”

This was clearly a loaded question.

In the corner, Yan Naqian bit her lip and glared resentfully at Jia Xiaohong.

All eyes turned to Song Zhi.

Song Zhi answered truthfully, “When I arrived at the village today to report in and found the Educated Youth Station, I heard a woman crying for help. I saw an old man committing a bad deed… I dragged him out of the house. He hit me, and when I couldn’t dodge, I hit back. When the returning educated youth saw this, they attacked me, saying I was beating an old man…”

Jia Xiaohong glanced sideways at Yan Naqian, who was shrinking into the crowd, and asked loudly, “Then can I ask, what bad deed was the old man doing?”

Song Zhi fell silent for a moment. “He was harassing a female comrade.”

“Whoa—”

The crowd erupted instantly!

“An old man harassing a woman?”

“Who else could it be if not Bai Shikeng!”

“Arrest him! Or no woman in the village will be safe!”

“Who did he harass this time?”

“If it happened at the Educated Youth Station, it must’ve been one of the female educated youth!”

Jia Xiaohong raised her voice. “Comrade, may I ask… which female comrade was he harassing?”

Song Zhi said, “I don’t know her. The room was dimly lit, and I couldn’t see her clearly.”

At this moment, Bai Taoji walked over to Yan Naqian, grabbed her hand, and started dragging her forward.

Yan Naqian was startled and struggled desperately. “Taotao! Bai Taotao, what are you doing…”

Bai Taoji didn’t answer and instead pulled Yan Naqian to Bai Zhengqian.

Bai Zhengqian whispered, “Taotao, don’t make trouble. Go play elsewhere!”

Yan Naqian suddenly realized something. Her face turned pale, and she pleaded urgently with Bai Taotao. “Taotao, let’s go down. Let’s not stay here…”

Bai Taoji said clearly, “Dad, big sister taught me that if anyone asks where I’ve been, I’m to say I went to the Educated Youth Station. If they ask who I met, I’m to say I met Bai Shikeng. If they ask what Bai Shikeng did, I’m to say… Bai Shikeng gave me a candy and wanted to kiss me. She even told me to say I agreed!”

The entire place fell silent.

All eyes turned to Yan Naqian.

—Everyone in the village knew Taotao was a little fool and never lied. So, was it Yan Naqian who taught her to say this? And was Yan Naqian the female comrade that was harassed by the old man?

Yan Naqian was overwhelmed with embarrassment. Her face burned red as she nearly burst into tears.

A man bellowed, “Nonsense! I’m not that kind of person!”

The speaker was none other than Bai Shikeng.

Most families in Ruyi Village bore the surname Bai. Bai Shikeng’s was also surnamed Bai and his name was Sikang. By seniority, he was Bai Taotao’s grandfather.

This man often engaged in petty theft and harassed women but never harmed his own kin.

Bai Shikeng shouted, “I, Bai Sikang, have something to say. Today I went to the Educated Youth Station to see if I could swipe something. But I didn’t get a thing. Instead, I saw that little girl Yan Naqian lying on a bed in the men’s dormitory without any clothes. I… I thought she might be unwell, so I went over to check on her… I swear, I only touched her once… Don’t laugh! Don’t laugh! I… I was worried she had a fever! I swear!”

The men and women burst into laughter.

Yan Naqian looked as if she on the verge of collapse.

Bai Shikeng continued, “…Then, out of nowhere, some young man grabbed me like a chicken and dragged me outside, throwing me onto the cement ground… This old man’s waist is broken! I’m telling you all, you need to take care of me and compensate me. From now on, I’ll be bedridden and need chicken soup for every meal…”

His shamelessness was on full display.

Bai Dongsheng’s face flushed with rage. His large hands clenched into fists the size of bowls, and he asked Bai Shikeng fiercely, “Did you touch my Taozi?”

Bai Shikeng, trembling with fear, shook his head desperately. “I’m not a beast! Taozi is my granddaughter. No matter how bad my character, I’d never do something like that. Absolutely not…”

The women nearby began to interject—

“Dongsheng, don’t get angry. Taozi was at home all morning. We can vouch for her!”

“Yes, we can all testify for Taozi!”

“You know what kind of person Bai Shikeng is. Don’t bother with him. He’s bad, but he’d never harm his own kin.”

“Dongsheng, don’t fall for someone’s trap. Taotao is a child. She wouldn’t even know who Bai Shikeng is unless someone from outside taught her. We locals always address people by their seniority!”

One of the women asked Bai Taotao, “Taotao, who’s Bai Shikeng?”

Bai Taoji didn’t known before, but now did. But she still looked at them with her clear eyes, shook her head, thought for a moment, and asked, “Auntie, what does ‘kiss’ mean?”

Another uproar followed!

Although Bai Taotao was already seventeen, the villagers regarded her as a child of four or five. Seeing such a pure and innocent child say such words, the women became furious and glared at Yan Naqian. They began scolding collectively—

“Taozi, don’t listen to such filthy words! Listening to such words will rot your ears!”

“Don’t say them either. Saying them will rot your mouth!”

“Taozi, don’t play with Yan Naqian anymore. She’s no good!”

“Taozi, come here. Let’s eat peanuts and ignore those who don’t respect themselves!”

Meanwhile, Bai Shikeng, frightened by Bai Dongsheng’s anger, fell to his knees with a thud and swore to the heavens. “Dongsheng, you have to believe me! I really didn’t see Taozi this morning. If I did… No, if I had even touched her, let me be struck by lightning and left unburied!”

—Bai Shikeng had no parents, siblings, or children. He depended entirely on the Bai clan for his survival. Though he had committed many misdeeds, he would never harm his own kin.

His grandparents and parents had chosen to die rather than reveal the whereabouts of the villagers and their food during the Japanese occupation, which led to his orphanhood. Because of this, the villagers of Ruyi Village were especially tolerant of him.

Now, hearing him make such a heavy oath, most of the villagers believed him and began persuading—

“Come on, let’s just drop this! He’s already old—what more punishment could he face? Sending him to prison would be letting him off easy!”
“Exactly! If you ask me, Educated Youth Yan has some blame too. Skipping work in broad daylight to sleep in the male dormitory is bad enough, but how could she not wear clothes? Doesn’t she know the dormitory is a shared space? With so many people coming and going, how could she dare?”
“Most importantly, she was sleeping naked in a male educated youth’s bed!”
“Sikang already said he just touched her to see if she was sick. That’s understandable!”
“Exactly! Besides, the new educated youth already beat up Sikang. Consider that justice for Educated Youth Yan!”

Yan Naqian’s eyes brimmed with tears as she sobbed, “In your eyes… does a girl’s reputation mean so little?”

The peanut auntie rolled her eyes at her. “What reputation do you have? The reputation of sleeping naked in the male dormitory? Or the reputation of framing Taotao? Hmph, you’re lucky Taozi’s mom isn’t here today! If she were, and found out you tried to harm her little Taozi… I’m telling you, you’d be done for!”

Yan Naqian bit her lip with a pale face.

The village chief and Bai Zhengqian conferred quietly for a while before reaching a consensus.

“Everyone, quiet down!” the village chief shouted.

The noisy crowd finally began to settle down.

The village chief said, “Comrades, let’s vote! There are two options. First, we handle this officially—we send Bai Sikang to the police station and let the authorities investigate. After all, we can’t let Educated Youth Yan suffer injustice. At the same time, we must thoroughly investigate Yan Naqian’s attempt to instruct Taotao to give false testimony!”

“The second option is to settle this privately. This is an internal dispute among our people, and we should handle it ourselves. Bai Sikang will apologize to Educated Youth Yan, Educated Youth Yan will apologize to Bai Taotao, and Song—the new educated youth—and the others involved in the fight will apologize to each other. Everyone shows understanding and respect… Think about it, and we’ll decide in half an hour!”

Once the village chief finished, the crowd buzzed again—

“If you ask me, sending Sikang to prison would be great. Let him eat prison food—we’d save five catties of rice a year!”
“I agree! Handle it officially! Once Bai Sikang’s in jail, I’d like to see how Yan Naqian explains herself to Taotao’s mom!”
“And what about the fight? They’re here to be educated, but they’re brawling instead? Lock them all up too!”
“If the educated youths get sentenced and go to prison just for fighting, wouldn’t that be too much? They’re intellectuals, after all.”
“Eh, doesn’t matter to us. Whether it’s official or private, we’re just here for the show!”

Yan Naqian felt completely at a loss.

Given how things had blown up, with everyone knowing she had been molested by Bai Shikeng, she thought it was better to handle it officially. As for the educated youths who fought for her, whether they broke rules or ended up in prison wasn’t her concern. What mattered was clearing her name and proving she was the victim.

As for instructing Bai Taotao to lie… Bai Taotao was a fool, and no one else was there to witness it. She could deny it outright—who would believe the little fool without proof?

At this moment, Jiang Hongzhi squeezed through the crowd and pulled her aside. “Naqian, let’s settle this privately!”

Yan Naqian froze, tears streaming down as she looked at Jiang Hongzhi. “Why? Do you also think anyone can violate me?” She inwardly sneered—Hmph, isn’t he just afraid of being implicated?

“No, it’s not that,” Jiang Hongzhi said anxiously. “Naqian, listen to me…”

Two years ago, another outsider’s wife reported Bai Shikeng to the police for molestation. The police took him in for investigation but released him shortly after, citing poor health—he had heart problems and possibly other serious illnesses.

With his frail body, Bai Shikeng didn’t meet the criteria for detention or incarceration.

Jiang Hongzhi explained, “Even if we go the official route, even if the police get to the bottom of this, Bai Shikeng might still be released on medical grounds.”

Yan Naqian’s heart sank halfway.

“Then I…” She started sobbing.

Jiang Hongzhi said softly, “Let’s settle this privately. From my experience, you can make some demands of the village. As long as they’re reasonable, they’ll agree.”

Yan Naqian cried, “But…”

Jiang Hongzhi assured her, “Naqian, I believe you, and this incident won’t make me think any less of you.”

Yan Naqian’s eyes darted as she sniffled. “Hongzhi, I’m so scared! So many people are staring at me—I… I’m too nervous to speak.”

Feeling sorry for her, Jiang Hongzhi gently said, “It’s okay, I’ll help you. If you’re uncomfortable facing them, just tell me your demands, and I’ll negotiate for you.”

Relieved, Yan Naqian thought for a moment. Then, blushing, she said, “Hongzhi, I’ll leave it to you. Settling privately is fine, but I need fifty yuan and ration tickets for cloth and pastries.”

Jiang Hongzhi stared at her for a moment before nodding. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you, Hongzhi… I’ll rely on you.” Yan Naqian whispered.

Jiang Hongzhi said, “You go rest. I’ll come find you once it’s done.”

Yan Naqian smiled tearfully, but as she walked away, her eyes couldn’t help but linger on Song Zhi, who stood on the platform. She stared at him briefly, then lowered her head and hurried off.

After Yan Naqian left, Jia Xiaohong approached Jiang Hongzhi with a smirk. “So that’s your idol? She was sleeping naked in the men’s dorm, got seen by Bai Shikeng, and he molested her? Hey, was it your bed she was sleeping on?”

Jiang Hongzhi’s face turned dark.

Of course not.

His bed was neat and untouched, just as he had left it in the morning.

Jia Xiaohong continued, “She nearly got molested, but her solution was to frame a little fool? Then, when that fell apart, she demanded official action to clear her name. Now that she knows that won’t work, she wants money to settle privately? Jiang Hongzhi, your idol sure is… practical!”

“Did she ever think about you? That you could be jailed for fighting for her and ruin your future?” Jia Xiaohong asked.

Jiang Hongzhi frowned. “We’re all educated youth. We are destined to meet each other from thousands of miles. We must understand, respect and help each other!”

Jia Xiaohong smiled, “As long as you don’t mind. But when it comes to helping each other, I’m curious. Tell me, you’ve helped her so many times, has she ever helped you?”

Jiang Hongzhi: …

Jia Xiaohong glanced sideways at Jiang Hongzhi and showed a contemptuous smile, “I say Jiang Hongzhi, don’t you see it has always been your unilateral contribution? She has never promised you anything, everything was willingly done by you!”

“What nonsense!” Jiang Hongzhi snapped.

Jia Xiaohong giggled. “Jiang Hongzhi, you are a smart man, otherwise you wouldn’t be our leader. You also know very well in your heart whether I am talking nonsense or not. Ah, and don’t forget the Educated Youth Song. He is so handsome and has a good temperament. He is a thousand times better than you..” After having said that, she left.

Jiang Hongzhi glared at Song Zhi.

He wasn’t blind. Yan Naqian’s attention had been fixed on Song Zhi all day!

Jiang Hongzhi clenched his fists in anger.

–The implication of Jia Xiaohong’s words was that Yan Naqian was too selfish and only considered herself, not others.

Jiang Hongzhi was not unaware of Yan Naqian’s character.

However, Yan Naqian was very beautiful and was very good at acting like a spoiled child. Looking at her beautiful face and talking to her would make people feel particularly comfortable. Moreover, her family background was very powerful. As long as he married Yan Naqian, he would be able to leave the countryside and return to the city with her in the future.

Jiang Hongzhi had been seeking Yan Naqian for more than a year. He thought that after another year of dating, he would be able to confess to her and then report to the organization to marry her. Who knew that Song Zhi would appear halfway?

Oh, he would not give this Song Zhi any chance!