Chapter 50 : The Dark Little Educated Youth

“Comrade Yun, there must be some misunderstanding. I’ll go with you to take a look. If what you say is true, I’ll definitely stand up for you,” the team leader said, though he was clearly in a dilemma. After all, these guys were local youths from the village. No matter how useless they might be, labeling them as “land-grabbers” was a serious matter.

Their conversation was loud, and everyone nearby working in the fields heard it clearly. People reacted with mixed expressions, some stumbled in surprise, some burst out laughing, some were jealous, and others thought Yun Siying was being dramatic.

“Let’s go see which young men offended this beautiful Comrade Yun,” someone joked. Although everyone had different thoughts, they all fell into step, trailing behind the team leader and Yun Siying, eager to watch the drama unfold.

Soon, the crowd arrived at the edge of Yun Siying’s assigned plot. The team leader looked at the nearly completed work and couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth. He thought to himself: ‘This Comrade Yun is truly cunning.’ She had waited until the work was almost done before coming to report and demanding justice. Wasn’t this just a scheme to get free labor without giving those guys any credit?

Yun Siying move was truly ruthless, it completely shut down anyone trying to get close to her. She wasn’t just tough on others, but on herself too. With this, she’d certainly offended some villagers, and her reputation would likely take a hit.

Li Hongying had been watching Yun Siying closely. When she saw her leave, she assumed the girl was going to fetch the scorekeeper after finishing her work. But when she noticed the team leader and a group of villagers following behind, her excitement spiked. She didn’t know what Yun Siying had told the team leader, but her instincts told her something juicy was about to go down.

Before the others could voice their confusion, the team leader sternly asked, “Jiang Laosan, Zhu Tieniu, Wang Erniu, Xue Zhigang, did the four of you occupy the task site assigned to Comrades Yun and Lin? Were you trying to steal their land?”

“Team leader, no, that’s not it!” the men said in a panic, clearly flustered, casting disbelieving looks at Yun Siying.

“No?” the team leader barked. “Then explain what you’re doing here!” His voice grew louder, he clearly intended to use this as a lesson for the village’s young men.

‘Don’t be fooled by a female educated youth into working for free,’ he thought. ‘Not only do you work without compensation, but you even bring them rice, flour, and eggs from home. In the end, you gain nothing and burden your own families.’ Fortunately, Yun Siying wasn’t the type to string them along, she had directly rejected their attempts to cozy up.

“We—we just saw Comrade Yun working very hard, so we came to help,” Jiang Laosan said hurriedly, sweat forming on his forehead. The way he looked at Yun Siying changed. ‘Why wasn’t this woman playing by the usual rules?’ It was clear now, she wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

“Comrade Yun, look… this all seems like a misunderstanding. They were just being overly helpful…” the team leader tried to smooth things over and hinted for Yun Siying to let it go.

“Team leader, I have no familial or friendly ties with any of them. They just came to help me out of the blue, and they’re all men. You’re telling me they weren’t trying to take our work points? Or use this to ruin my reputation and force me into marriage? Especially now that everyone knows I have over 1,000 yuan on me?” Yun Siying didn’t want to let the matter slide so easily. These people needed to learn their lesson, she couldn’t afford to deal with this kind of trouble every day at work.

“Comrade Yun, you’re accusing me wrongly! I really didn’t mean anything like that!” Zhu Tieniu said anxiously. The others chimed in to defend themselves, but two of them had shifty eyes it was clear Yun Siying had accurately guessed their intentions.

“No? Then you’re trying to stop me from answering the country’s call, actively participating in rural construction, and attempting to undermine national policy. Looks like I’ll have to report this to the Educated Youth Office,” Yun Siying pressed on relentlessly.

“Comrade Yun, the villagers in our brigade are just enthusiastic and like to help each other. It’s fine if you don’t appreciate their help, but to go so far as to frame these kind-hearted comrades isn’t that going too far?” an older woman stepped forward and said.

“Auntie, don’t think I’m young and easy to deceive. Why don’t they help the other educated youths especially the female ones? Why is it always me they’re ‘helping’?” Yun Siying smiled as she spoke, but her gaze lingered on the woman. She could tell from the look in her eyes that her son was probably involved.

“Because of their inappropriate actions, I will punish them by having them carry manure for a month and guarantee that this kind of thing won’t happen again,” the team leader quickly stepped in to defuse the situation as he saw it escalating.

“Since the team leader has spoken, I’ll let it go, for his sake. But I believe everyone here knows exactly what those people were thinking and trying to do. If anything like this happens again, I’ll go straight to the police station and report them for harassment.” Yun Siying smiled as she spoke, but her eyes were icy cold.

“Siying, people meant well. You’re just making a big fuss,” Shu Ruxue said disapprovingly after hearing Yun Siying’s words.

“This Yun Siying may look pretty, but she’s too ruthless. Those boys were just being nice, and she’s being totally unreasonable. She’s not as considerate as Ruxue. Clearly, she’s a troublemaker,” someone said angrily from the crowd.

“What are you talking about? It’s because their intentions weren’t pure. If all the educated youth turned people down as firmly as Yun Siying, my son wouldn’t have been tricked so miserably.” An elderly woman, whose son had clearly been duped before, defended her.

“Shu Ruxue, who exactly are these people to you? Are they your lovers? Why are you defending them so fiercely?” Yun Siying saw Shu Ruxue jumping back into the fray again and sighed, this woman was as persistent as a cockroach.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Shu Ruxue’s face instantly went pale. She hadn’t expected Yun Siying to strike directly at her reputation.

“Then why are you barking like a dog? You’re so nosy. If you’re so capable, how come you can’t even keep your own money?” Yun Siying ruthlessly stepped on her sore spot.

“You…” Shu Ruxue stomped her foot several times in frustration, too angry to come up with a comeback.

“What are you all still doing here? Have you already earned enough work points? Got too much food? Too much money? Go back and keep working!” the team leader scolded the crowd harshly as he saw them still gathered around.

The villagers quickly dispersed, leaving only a few behind, still chatting in low voices. Yun Siying looked at the reclaimed task land and asked, “Team leader, whose work points are being counted for my assigned land?”

The Team leader looked at Yun Siying, who stood there with full confidence. She smiled at him calmly, without flinching. ‘Tsk,’ he thought, ‘how many villagers has she already angered just by standing her ground like this?’

Annoyed, he said, “Scorer, record today’s work points for Yun Siying and Lin Zikang.” Then he quickly walked off with his hands behind his back, he didn’t want to see Yun Siying again.