Chapter 47 The Hidden Book Disappeared

Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong naturally wouldn’t blame the inspection team leader. Captain Liu was right; they were following procedure based on the report. Without the report, they wouldn’t have come. So if they were to blame anyone, it would be the reporter, not the inspection team who was simply doing their job.

Mu Jingxun also spoke smoothly, “Captain Liu, you’re exaggerating. This is your job, and we understand.  You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to investigate this matter personally. Now that the matter is clear, and we’ve been cleared of suspicion, we won’t hold it against you.

” As he spoke, Mu Jingxun took out a pack of Dajianmen cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to each member of the inspection team. Cigarettes were good things, both in the countryside and in the city. 

To buy cigarettes, one needed industrial coupons. City dwellers with jobs only received a limited number of industrial coupons each month, and country people had even fewer. Because industrial coupons were scarce, people usually spent them on necessities and rarely on cigarettes. So when the inspection team members saw the cigarettes Mu Jingxun offered, their eyes lit up.

This young man was good at speaking and handling things. The inspection team hadn’t found anything in Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong’s rooms, and with Mu Jingxun’s skillful handling, the matter was settled. Li Changping was relieved that the matter was resolved smoothly.

 But Peng Zhigang, in disbelief, jumped out and said to Captain Liu, “Captain Li, are you sure you searched thoroughly? Did you miss any corners?” Seeing someone question him, Captain Liu was displeased. He looked at Peng Zhigang unhappily, “What do you mean?

Are you saying our work was perfunctory and that we missed something? Or do you think we accepted bribes and deliberately let these two educated youths off?”  Seeing Captain Liu’s displeasure, Peng Zhigang quickly waved his hands, “No, Captain Liu, that’s not what I meant. I just think it’s possible you might have missed some nook or cranny. Since they received a report, it wouldn’t be baseless.

 It’s possible they hid the books deeply and cleverly, which is why they weren’t found. We should search thoroughly and not let a bad person get away.” Hearing Peng Zhigang’s words, Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong were even more certain that Peng Zhigang was trying to harm them.

Was he so eager to see them suffer? Li Changping also felt that Peng Zhigang’s behavior was strange. Wasn’t it better that the inspection team didn’t find anything? Yet Peng Zhigang wanted them to be in trouble, clearly showing that he didn’t want Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong to have a good time.

Li Changping secretly guessed that perhaps Peng Zhigang was the one who reported Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong. If that were the case, Li Changping felt that someone like Peng Zhigang shouldn’t stay in the production team.

 He hated people who reported this and that, making the whole team anxious and chaotic, everyone busy with reports, with no time to work. Under Li Changping’s management, reports were indeed rare. Even the people in the cowshed were treated better by Li Changping than in other teams.

 Captain Liu snorted at Peng Zhigang, “Since you doubt that we didn’t search thoroughly, you go in and search yourself and see if you can find anything. If you search personally, you shouldn’t have any doubts, right?” Peng Zhigang thought this was a good idea. He knew where the books were hidden.

He had put them there himself; he didn’t believe they weren’t there.  At this time, the other educated youths found Peng Zhigang’s behavior speechless.

 As the head of the educated youth’s courtyard, shouldn’t he have defended the other educated youths? But now, not only did Peng Zhigang not defend Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong, but he was trying to undermine them, hoping they would get into trouble. Having such a head was disheartening.

 Would Peng Zhigang do the same if other educated youths got into trouble in the future? Peng Zhigang didn’t care what others thought; his only thought was to get rid of Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong. Peng Zhigang personally went to their rooms to search.

He pretended to search other places first. After checking other places, he went to where he had hidden the books. After rummaging around, his face fell.

The books were gone. He couldn’t believe it and searched again, still unable to find the books. Captain Liu saw Peng Zhigang repeatedly searching the same spot and impatiently urged, “You’ve been searching the same place over and over again.

What are you looking for? Quickly search other places; we don’t have that much time to waste.” Although Peng Zhigang was unwilling, he couldn’t find anything in the place where he had hidden the books.  He had no choice but to search other places, wondering if he had accidentally hidden them elsewhere in the room.

 But he searched every corner and still didn’t find the books.  Having searched everywhere, Peng Zhigang had to give up. How could this be? The books he had personally hidden couldn’t have vanished into thin air! Could it be that Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong had found them and taken them away? That was possible.

But if that were the case, wouldn’t his plan have failed? Thinking that he had failed to frame Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong, Peng Zhigang felt unhappy. But this time, Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong escaped punishment, and Peng Zhigang would still look for opportunities to get rid of them. No matter what, he wouldn’t let those two threats remain in the educated youth’s courtyard.

Captain Liu sneered at Peng Zhigang, “So? Comrade, now that you’ve searched personally and haven’t found anything, you have nothing to say, right?” Peng Zhigang bit his lip; he couldn’t say anything else. To have the inspection team arrest someone, there must be evidence. Since no evidence was found in Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong’s rooms, they couldn’t be held responsible.

 “I have nothing to say.” Seeing that Peng Zhigang was silent, Captain Liu snorted. Then Captain Liu smiled and said goodbye to Li Changping and Mu Jingxun.

This trip wasn’t a loss; at least his men got a smoke. Mu Jingxun was also shrewd and directly handed the remaining cigarettes to Captain Liu, “Captain Liu, you’ve worked hard this time.

I don’t smoke; take the rest back for everyone.”