Chapter 46 Accepting the Search

Captain Liu glanced at Li Changping and then said, “We received a report saying that there are educated youths in your Victory Production Team who are privately possessing foreign books.” Upon hearing Captain Liu’s words, Li Changping’s face turned even paler. The crime of privately possessing foreign books was a serious one.

 If it were professional academic books, it would be fine, but ordinary foreign books, once discovered, would at the very least result in being sent to a farm for reform. He didn’t care how the higher-ups dealt with the educated youths, but this matter would definitely implicate the Victory Production Team and him, the team leader.

Li Changping felt a chill run down his spine, worried that the commune would blame him for lax supervision.

“N-no… is that so? Who did the report name? Which educated youth in our point dared to do such a thing?” Li Changping knew that a few educated youths in the point weren’t very reliable, but he thought that most people wouldn’t dare to do this. Who would be so bold as to hide foreign books? Captain Liu gave Li Changping the names and wanted Li Changping to take him to their rooms for a search.

After hearing the names Captain Liu reported, Li Changping was stunned. Then, Li Changping asked incredulously, “Captain Liu, are you sure it’s educated youths Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong? Their performance in the team has been excellent recently; they shouldn’t have done such a thing.” Li Changping had a good impression of Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong.

The two young men worked diligently and actively and were not arrogant like some city kids. Of course, there was also another reason: these two educated youths knew how to act. When they first arrived in the countryside, they secretly gave him some gifts.

Li Changping hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. They gave him two packages of rock sugar, a pack of Dajianmen cigarettes, and two bottles of baijiu—all highly sought-after goods in the countryside. Since they had given him gifts, Li Changping would naturally take care of them whenever he had the chance.

  Remembering how they had benefited from Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong and eaten wild boar meat, many team members spoke up for them. “Yes, is there a mistake? Who reported it? Educated youths Mu and Bai shouldn’t be that kind of people.” “These two kids look upright; they definitely wouldn’t do such a thing.”

 “I think someone is making a false report.”  Hearing Li Changping and the team members defend them, Peng Zhigang, fearing a change of events, quickly stepped forward, “Team Leader, you can’t say that. You can’t judge a book by its cover.

Who knows what kind of people Mu and Bai really are? Since they’ve been reported, they might have done it. Whether they did it or not, let the inspection team search. If nothing is found, they’ll naturally be cleared of suspicion.

” Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong frowned, feeling that something was wrong. They knew better than anyone whether they had hidden any foreign books. But now, someone had reported them for hiding foreign books. Without thinking, they knew someone was deliberately trying to frame them. They hadn’t offended anyone since coming to the countryside, and those who had no grudges against them wouldn’t report them.

 At this moment, seeing Peng Zhigang jump out, they realized who was behind it.  Who else but Peng Zhigang? Perhaps because they had witnessed his affair with Li Yuehong, the guy wanted to silence them.

It seemed they had been too lenient with him.  Even though they knew they might have been framed by Peng Zhigang, Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong had no way to stop it. They couldn’t stop the inspection team from searching. If they stood up to stop them now, they would be seen as guilty.

 Captain Liu also said, “Yes, since we received the report, we must search first. We must have evidence; if we don’t find anything, we won’t simply convict based on a single report.” Although Li Changping was still worried, he couldn’t stop Captain Liu now that he said this. So Li Changping led Captain Liu to the educated youth’s courtyard.

Many team members followed to watch the excitement. On the way to the educated youth’s courtyard, Peng Zhigang was particularly excited. He knew that Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong would soon be in trouble.

Thinking that those two annoying guys were going to be sent to labor reform, his mood was incredibly good. Heh, those two dared to threaten him? He would let them know his power. Soon, the group arrived at the educated youth’s courtyard.

 “Which rooms are Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong’s?” Before Li Changping could speak, Peng Zhigang pointed out Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong’s rooms. “Captain Liu, this is where they live.” Captain Liu nodded, but Li Changping showed displeasure.

Was this Peng Zhigang being too eager? Did he really hate other educated youths so much? If Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong really hid foreign books, he, as the head of the educated youth’s courtyard, would be considered incompetent and might be criticized.

More importantly, if one educated youth committed a crime, it would affect the others. He was still the head of the educated youth’s courtyard.

 As the head, didn’t he have any sense of collective honor? Li Changping planned to find a replacement for the educated youth’s courtyard head after this matter was over. Peng Zhigang was chosen as the head before mainly because he was the oldest and had been in the countryside the longest. But in terms of ability, Peng Zhigang was only average.

 This incident showed that his character had problems; such a person was not qualified to be the head of the educated youth’s courtyard. Peng Zhigang was only thinking about revenge against Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong and didn’t realize he had displeased Li Changping. “Please open the door; we need to search inside.

” Captain Liu asked Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong to open the door. If they didn’t, they would just break the door down. Mu Jingxun had no choice but to open his door first. Jiang Li could see Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong’s nervousness. She smiled and patted their shoulders, “Don’t worry, it’s okay, don’t be afraid.

” Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong didn’t know why Jiang Li said that; they wondered if she knew something. Seeing Jiang Li’s confident look, they suddenly felt relieved. They knew Jiang Li’s abilities; if she said it was okay, then it was definitely okay. After Mu Jingxun opened the door, the inspection team members went in to search.

They turned everything upside down, and soon, Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong’s room was in a mess. Seeing their room like this, Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong were a little angry but helpless. The inspection team searched for a while, checking every corner, but they didn’t find a single foreign book.

After the inspection, Captain Liu said, “We’ve caused you trouble. There’s nothing here; the report is false. We followed procedure; please forgive us.”