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It was just after dawn, the time when everyone got up to prepare for work.
In the village, aside from the educated youth dormitory and Yan Xiao’s house which were a bit farther out, most homes were built close together.
When the villagers heard Widow Zhang’s voice, the men immediately grabbed whatever handy tools they could find—iron shovels, bamboo poles, carrying poles—and rushed out of their homes.
The women followed behind, some carrying spatulas, some with ladles, others wielding rolling pins.
In no time, a large crowd surged toward Widow Zhang’s house.
Widow Zhang’s husband, Feng Dashan, had died a few years ago. But in his lifetime, he was someone who always helped his neighbors in times of need, the first to step forward whenever there was trouble.
After Feng Dashan’s accidental death, out of gratitude, the villagers treated his widow with kindness, always helping her when they could.
Now that they heard someone dared harass her, the men and women of the village all wore faces full of anger.
When they arrived at her door, they saw a man wearing nothing but shorts, his face swollen and bruised beyond recognition like a pig’s head.
Everyone looked at him with disdain. Compared to Feng Dashan, this man was leagues apart—thin as a stick, not even two taels of meat on him.
And he dared try to harass someone?
“Who is this guy! No clothes on—obviously a hooligan!”
“With that scrawny body, he wants to harass someone? Has he even looked in a mirror? Widow Zhang used to be the flower of Dahe Village~”
“Pah! And you dare harass Dashan’s widow? Tiezhu! Tiezhu? Go call your father! Let the captain send him to reform through labor!”
“You don’t understand—hooliganism is serious. I heard if it’s bad enough, they’ll shoot you with a bullet to the back of the head!”
As the villagers gossiped and shouted…
Fang Ming looked terrified.
He was about to die from frustration. He woke up this morning, not knowing why he had ended up a few li away from where he’d gone to the latrine. Worse, he was wearing nothing but underwear.
He hadn’t even seen clearly what the woman looked like before she started screaming!
She didn’t listen to a word of his explanation, grabbed the broom by the door, and started hitting him.
He tried to dodge, but the stabbing pain in his leg made it impossible to move.
With her beating and shouting, more and more villagers gathered. Fang Ming was on the verge of collapsing…
What kind of bad luck was this? Last night, he was half-asleep and only went out to relieve himself.
Now, seeing the villagers talking about sending him to labor reform, about being executed, fear overwhelmed him and he shouted incoherently:
“Uhh… I… am… an educated youth…”
Villager: “Ugly is one thing, but he can’t even talk straight. Why isn’t the captain here yet…”
Terrified, Fang Ming wet himself. Yellow liquid trickled down his dark shorts, dripping onto the ground.
The crowd wrinkled their noses in disgust at the smell of urine.
A few had originally wanted to tie him up and drag him away, but now, not a single person wanted to lay hands on him.
“The captain’s here!”
Hearing that the captain had arrived, Fang Ming finally let out a breath of relief. His whole body was in agony.
He was an educated youth—surely the captain wouldn’t let these crude villagers bully him.
“C-Captain Feng, I’m Fang Ming! Save me!”
Feng Dabing frowned when he saw the nearly naked man, covered in bruises.
Early in the morning! What a curse!
And just when he’d been hoping for a good evaluation this year…
Damn it, a hooligan had appeared!
Truly one rat’s dropping spoils the whole pot of porridge!
He ordered the man tied up and dragged to the drying yard to await the militia for handling.
Fang Ming looked out at the dark, seething crowd in despair.
“Captain!”
This time, Feng Dabing understood, turning back to glare at the slurred man.
“You want to hit me? Who are you to hit me? If you hadn’t done something so vile, would I have caught you?
Do you know because of you, our brigade’s evaluation this year is ruined?”
“I… am Fang Ming!”
“I don’t care if you’re manufacturing or what!”
When the educated youths of Dahe Village heard there was a hooligan, they also rushed over to watch the commotion.
But when they saw the man tied up and dragged to the yard, they all froze in place.
Isn’t that… Fang Ming?
“Captain, wait a moment! He’s one of us, an educated youth!”
An educated youth?
The villagers erupted in an uproar.
“No way! How could an educated youth behave like this?”
“Doesn’t he look filthy? Are educated youths also this low?”
“Bah! If I didn’t know better, I’d never believe it. We’ve been raising a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”
The women all spat in disgust, pulling their daughters behind them.
Feng Dabing frowned deeply. “You’re certain this person is an educated youth?”
The educated youth rep at once stepped forward, his face pale. “Captain, he’s Fang Ming, the one who came with us. He’s been sick these past two days…”
“Even if he’s sick, does that give him the right to do such things?”
The captain’s voice was stern, his expression livid.
The educated youth rep trembled, unable to say another word.
Widow Zhang wiped her tears, clutching her broom as she cried, “Captain, you must stand up for me! This kind of shameless behavior—if I hadn’t resisted hard enough today, what would people think of me in the future? How would I hold my head up in the village?”
Her grief-stricken wails made the villagers’ fury burn hotter.
Fang Ming, tied up and kneeling in the yard, wanted to cry but had no tears.
He had no idea what had happened last night—why he had somehow appeared at Widow Zhang’s doorstep half-naked.
But no one listened to his explanation.
The villagers were already demanding he be handed over to the commune militia for punishment.
Feng Dabing’s face was grim. This incident had already destroyed any chance of the brigade receiving a good evaluation this year.
And worse, this scandal would spread—Dahe Village’s reputation would be ruined.
“Take him away. When the commune militia arrives, hand him over. This kind of scum has no place in our brigade.”
The villagers roared their approval.
“Serves him right!”
“Let him rot in labor reform—better yet, shoot him!”
“Exactly, don’t keep this kind of beast around. Even animals have more sense!”
Fang Ming’s whole body trembled.
He wanted to shout, wanted to argue, but when he saw the captain’s cold gaze and the villagers’ murderous expressions, his voice stuck in his throat.
At that moment, he realized—no matter what he said, no one would believe him.
From this day forward, his life as an educated youth in Dahe Village was completely over.