Yesterday, Lu Zhengting and Lin Qingyan were in the field watching Old Lady Bai and Old Lady Chen each bring their sons to ask Song Qingfang for money, and today the incident of money being stolen from the educated youth settlement occurred.

Lu Zhengting guessed that this matter was likely related to Song Qingfang. Song Qingfang urgently needed money to resolve her own problems, and she certainly wouldn't steal the money herself, so she would likely team up with outsiders. However, it was obviously more convenient and reliable to work with people from the village. By investigating those who had been lazy yesterday, he quickly found Erlaizi.

Jiang Laosi was merely bait to lure Erlaizi into a trap.

The captain was worried that Er Laizi hadn't handed over all the stolen money, so he asked again, "Is there any more? Or did you give the money to someone else to pay off your debts?"

"No, that's all. I stole it today. The autumn harvest is so busy, and I've been working in the fields all afternoon. I was just afraid you would notice something was wrong with me, so I didn't go anywhere. I have no way to spend the money."

"You must tell the truth. If we find the remaining money, your punishment will be more severe."

"No, really no more. Wang Zhiqing just searched my pants, there's really nothing left. Do you expect me to pay for my underwear too?"

The captain didn't speak or press him further, which was taken as tacit acceptance of his statement.

When they were young, Li Fang and the son of the fifth squad leader also came. They were responsible for guarding Er Laizi. The brigade leader, Wang Qiang, and Lu Zhengting went to the educated youth settlement to arrest Song Qingfang.

Tomorrow would have been fine, but the captain didn't want things to get complicated, so he decided to arrest all the culprits today.

Although Song Qingfang was just a weak female educated youth, and Lu Zhengting had no intention of touching her, he inexplicably wanted to go to the educated youth settlement.

At this time, some of the male educated youth had already gone to sleep because Wang Qiang had not yet returned, but Xu Dazhi was still awake because he was worried about the money.

The female educated youth had already locked the door, blew out the oil lamps, and gone to sleep; some had even been asleep for a long time.

When the brigade leader and his team arrived at the educated youth settlement, they needed the cooperation of the female educated youth leader to arrest Song Qingfang. So Wang Qiang called Chen Lu outside the female educated youth dormitory. After Chen Lu got up, she learned about the situation from the brigade leader and then went back to the room to wake up all the female educated youth and told them to get up quickly.

The female educated youth were immediately confused, but they all obediently got up.

Only Song Qingfang looked very unwell; she even put her jacket on backwards when she was getting dressed.

Hu Jiajia reminded her, "Qingfang, what's wrong? You're wearing your clothes inside out. You seem distracted; is something on your mind? Hey, I think the brigade leader is coming over now. Does that mean we've found our lost money? We should be happy."

Upon hearing this, Song Qingfang was no longer happy; her heart was pounding with fear.

I prayed silently that it wasn't the money that had been found; I hoped it was something else entirely.

Seeing that her complexion had worsened, Hu Jiajia realized something, but she didn't say anything.

If my guess is correct, then the answer will come soon.

The female educated youths were all dressed and followed Chen Lu's instructions to go to the courtyard.

The captain smiled and looked at everyone: "I have good news for you all. The money you lost has been found."

Song Qingfang's heart skipped a beat. She looked at the brigade leader in disbelief, realizing that her worries were true.

His face turned ashen instantly.

But she still had a sliver of hope: that Erlaizi wouldn't betray her.

But this hope is obviously very slim. Er Laizi will get nothing, so why should he help her cover it up?

When the educated youth heard the news that the money had been found, they all laughed with excitement.

The male educated youth were also in the courtyard, and they were naturally very happy to hear the news.

Originally, this matter had nothing to do with Gu Mingzhou; he simply came out of the dormitory to join in the fun.

But as soon as he stepped outside, he saw Lu Zhengting, that eyesore, standing in the yard.

The fact that this guy came along means he deserves credit for finding the stolen money for the educated youth.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously turned his head to look at Lin Qingyan standing among the female educated youth. If Lu Zhengting really had some credit, this guy would be able to win Lin Qingyan's favor again.

damn it!

He cursed inwardly.

Immediately afterwards, the captain looked at Song Qingfang in the group and said, "Before returning the money to everyone, I want to tell you who the thief is and also find out the bad apples in our educated youth settlement."

Upon hearing this, Song Qingfang became even more frightened. Her legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground.

The others seemed to have sensed something, and instead of looking at her with concern, they cast disdain and hostility their gazes at her.

Because Song Qingfang's behavior was clearly out of guilt.

Wang Qiang walked up to Song Qingfang and asked, "Where's your front door key? Show it to me."

"I...I can't produce it."

Song Qingfang couldn't produce the key, and she regretted it now. She should have taken the time to make a copy for Er Laizi first. She was too anxious to steal the money while everyone was busy in the fields during the autumn harvest. Because she was too busy with the harvest, she didn't have time to go to the county town to make another copy, so she could only give her own key to Er Laizi.

"Me, me."

"You can't produce it, because the key isn't on you at all."

The brigade leader spoke up at the right moment, "This morning, Erlaizi came to the educated youth settlement and stole everyone's money. However, there was another accomplice, Comrade Song Qingfang from the educated youth settlement. She and Erlaizi stole everyone's money together. Someone saw that they had secret dealings in private. Erlaizi also sneaked away during work hours today."

Er Laizi has confessed that she and Song Qingfang conspired together, and that Song Qingfang gave Er Laizi the key to the main gate, allowing Er Laizi easy access to the educated youth settlement. Now arrest Song Qingfang, and tomorrow hand her and Er Laizi over to the police for processing.”

After the captain finished speaking, Song Qingfang finally couldn't take the blow and collapsed to the ground.

Because she was a woman, the male comrades couldn't just arrest her directly. The brigade leader said to Chen Lu, "Which of you female educated youths will arrest her?"

"I'll do it." Chen Lu stepped forward first, then called Hu Jiajia and Shen Man over to help her subdue Song Qingfang.

It wasn't until Song Qingfang was restrained by the three female educated youths that she came to her senses and began to struggle.

"It wasn't me, I didn't steal the money, it wasn't me."

The brigade leader snorted coldly: "Song Zhiqing, you still won't admit it even now. No one in the educated youth settlement needs money more than you. You're desperate to pay back your debts, so you teamed up with Erlaizi to steal everyone's money."

He looked at everyone and said with a smile, "Actually, the reason why I was able to find out that it was Song Zhiqing who colluded with Er Laizi to take the money was thanks to my nephew. He reminded me that Song Zhiqing needed money a lot during this period, and coincidentally, the money was stolen from the educated youth settlement. So, people had to suspect Song Zhiqing, and then we found out that she and Laizi had colluded."

This means that most of the credit is attributed to Lu Zhengting.

When everyone found out, they were all somewhat grateful to Lu Zhengting.

Only one person felt very uncomfortable.

That was Gu Mingzhou.