Chapter 46 Take off your clothes and let me see.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wenchang frowned slightly and immediately stood up, saying, "I'll go out and take a look."

After saying that, he lifted the quilt and got off the kang (a heated brick bed).

He moved extremely quickly, putting on his clothes and slipping on his shoes in no time before heading outside.

"Be careful!" Jiang Wanqiu was worried and got off the ground as well, her voice filled with unconcealed concern.

The man paused, turned around, and looked at her with his dark eyes in the dim light, giving her a reassuring look: "It's okay, go back and lie down, and lock the door."

The night was as dark as spilled ink, but the educated youth settlement was ablaze with fire and bustling with noise, waking up all the dogs in half the village.

I don't know who first spread the rumor that not far north of Zhao Family Village is the Heihe River, and beyond the river lies Soviet territory.

Life is good over there. The factories hire educated young people at high prices to teach their country's education. Most importantly, there are more women than men there. Many blonde, blue-eyed foreign girls are very interested in our educated young people.

Just a few days ago, a female educated youth died, and the murderer was still nowhere to be found. Now, there are rumors that spies have infiltrated the area, which has further shaken morale.

Now they had to go up the mountain to reclaim wasteland before dawn, working themselves to the bone and still not having enough to eat. At this point, several hot-blooded young men threw down their hoes on the spot.

"Damn it! I quit! Rather than being treated like an animal here, I'd rather go out and make a better future!"

The village cadres in charge of managing the educated youth were unwilling to let go, and after a few words, they started pushing and shoving each other.

The situation was about to spiral out of control, and the village officials were sweating profusely with anxiety. That's when they remembered Zhao Wenchang, this big shot.

When Zhao Wenchang arrived, several male educated youths who were leading the group were pinning an elderly villager to the ground and beating him.

Without saying a word, he took long strides and rushed over like a gust of wind.

Before everyone could see, the two most disruptive educated youths had been picked up by Zhao Wenchang, one in each hand, like chicks, and then slammed to the ground with a forceful thud!

Two muffled thuds struck, sending a shiver down one's spine.

Zhao Wenchang stood in the middle of the crowd, his tall figure like a mountain. He looked around and said in a cold voice, revealing no emotion: "Anyone else who wants to cause trouble, step forward!"

His move intimidated many people, and the few who had been cheering earlier shrank back in fear.

In the shadows of the crowd, Su Huai's eyes, seemingly poisoned, were fixed on Zhao Wenchang.

She quietly tugged at the male educated youth next to her and whispered a few words in his ear.

The male educated youth, feeling triumphant, immediately pulled out a flashlight and shone it at Zhao Wenchang's face.

The blinding white light made Zhao Wenchang squint instinctively.

In that instant, the surrounding villagers suddenly cried out in alarm: "Wenchang, watch out!"

...

Inside the room, Jiang Wanqiu felt a sudden jolt in her heart, as if something had tugged at it, and she panicked.

She couldn't sit still any longer, so she put on her clothes and tried to go outside.

"Wanqiu, don't go!" Ma Jinhua grabbed her arm. "It's a mess outside, why are you going out and making things worse? Wenchang knows what he's doing. He's caused trouble before, but he always handles it well."

That's what she said, but Jiang Wanqiu couldn't put her mind at ease.

That night, she stayed awake almost until dawn.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the door creaked open, and a blast of cold air swept in.

Zhao Wenchang is back.

He spoke a few words to his family members who were guarding the main room, his voice hoarse from overuse: "The ringleaders have been locked up and are waiting for someone from above to deal with them. The rest are behaving themselves and will go to work as usual today."

Jiang Wanqiu had been listening intently in the inner room. Upon hearing his voice, she rushed out without even putting on her shoes properly.

Seeing this, her family greeted her and then all carried their farm tools to work.

When educated youth cause trouble, villagers must go over and keep a close eye on the remaining people.

However, before leaving, Zhao Xiaohua reminded Zhao Wenchang to rest well at home today, and also said that Wanqiu was weak and sick, so don't forget to cook a light meal for Jiang Wanqiu at noon.

Once everyone left, only the two of them remained in the room.

Jiang Wanqiu ran to the man in a few steps and then saw that there was a cut on his forehead near his temple, and the blood had congealed into a black scab.

"What happened to you?!" She was both angry and distressed, her voice trembling slightly.

Zhao Wenchang acted as if nothing had happened, even twitching the corners of his mouth and revealing a nonchalant smile: "It's nothing, it was just a dark place, someone ambushed me."

"What's going on? What exactly are those educated youth trying to do?"

"It's just blind hype," Zhao Wenchang said casually. "It's not impossible that those spies are stirring things up."

Jiang Wanqiu was terrified when she heard this, and pulled him to sit down on a chair: "Sit down quickly, I'll go find you a first-aid kit!"

“Oh, no need,” Zhao Wenchang pulled her back. “It’s just a minor injury, nothing serious. I’ve had much worse injuries back in the army.”

"That's different!" Jiang Wanqiu shook off his hand and forcefully pressed him into the chair. "Sit still and don't move!"

She turned around and fiddled around for a while, eventually finding an old medicine box in the house, from which she took out half a bottle of mercurochrome and a roll of clean gauze.

She bent down, leaned close to the man, and carefully used a cotton swab to clean the congealed blood clots from his wounds.

Her movements were very gentle, as if she were afraid of hurting him. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and her expression was as focused as if she were handling a rare treasure.

Zhao Wenchang just looked up at her.

The woman was so close that he could even smell the faint scent of soap in her hair.

Looking at her earnest little face, he felt a part of his heart soften instantly.

He suddenly raised his arm, stretched out his long arm, wrapped it around her waist, and gently exerted force.

Jiang Wanqiu exclaimed "Ah!" and fell into his strong arms, landing steadily on his lap.

Before she could react, the man's deep, amused voice rang in her ears.

"Is this position more comfortable?"

"You!" Jiang Wanqiu snapped out of her daze, her cheeks instantly burning hot enough to fry an egg. She pushed him away, both embarrassed and angry. "Stop being so cheeky! You're injured like this, and you still have the mind to joke around!"

She didn't use much force when she pushed.

But the man's back slammed against the cold chair back without warning. He suddenly frowned and let out a muffled groan.

"Hmm..."

A thin layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on the man's forehead. The two were very close, and Jiang Wanqiu noticed the man's pained expression almost immediately.

She jumped out of the man's arms and looked at Zhao Wenchang with great concern: "Are you injured anywhere else?"

"Cough...no." Zhao Wenchang's eyes darted around. "There's only a little blood on his head. Just wipe it clean."

"I don't believe it." Jiang Wanqiu narrowed her almond-shaped eyes, her attitude firm. As she spoke, her fair hands reached for the man's clothes without giving him a chance to argue.