The sun grew increasingly intense, shining directly overhead, like a giant, burning furnace hanging in the sky.

Xu Yan felt that the entrance to the educated youth settlement was a bit eerie.

Otherwise, why would two major events have occurred in Qingshan Brigade, which had been peaceful for several years, in just two days, and why would both of these major events happen right at this gate?

She stood behind Xie Zhuo, staring at his tall back for a while, then reached out and gently tugged at the hem of his clothes.

Xie Zhuo and Sun Guoan were still glaring at each other, sweat almost dripping into their eyes, but they didn't blink.

It was as if whoever blinked first would lose.

Seeing that Xie Zhuo did not move, Xu Yan gently tugged at the hem of his clothes again.

Xie Zhuo lost.

He turned his head and frowned as he looked at Xu Yan.

“Let go,” Xu Yan said.

Xie Zhuo's brows furrowed even more.

Seeing that he still had no intention of letting go, Xu Yan lowered his voice and leaned closer to Xie Zhuo, "If we let go now, we'll still be in the right."

The sweet fragrance unique to the young woman wafted into Xie Zhuo's nose as Xu Yan suddenly moved closer, causing him to turn his head slightly to the side, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

"If you don't let go now, you'll be in the wrong even if you're in the right," Xu Yan said, raising her hand to tug at his clothes again. "Besides, the whole village is watching. Do you want to ruin your reputation?"

Although Chen Guizhen was in the wrong, it was wrong of you, a grown man, to lay a hand on an elder who was twenty or thirty centimeters shorter than you.

The villagers' reasoning.

Xie Zhuo wanted to say that he no longer cared about his reputation. He didn't have a good reputation in Qingshan Brigade either. Otherwise, why didn't anyone stand up for him when Chen Guizhen said she wanted to break off the engagement?

Is he really not good enough for Sun Jiarou?

Xie Zhuo didn't respond verbally, but he still let go of Chen Guizhen's arm before Xu Yan could pull on his clothes.

"You damned little bastard!"

The moment Chen Guizhen's arm was released, she yelled and lunged at Xie Zhuo and Xu Yan again, "I think you two are courting death! Even I—"

We dare to fight.

Snap!

Before Chen Guizhen could finish her sentence or even get close to Xu Yan, Xu Yan suddenly slapped her across the face.

Sun Guoan originally wanted to take Chen Guizhen's hand, but was stunned into place by Xu Yan's sudden slap.

The others were also taken aback when they saw Xu Yan's actions.

The noisy cicadas seemed to be silenced by the slap, and after a few seconds of quiet, they started chirping again.

"You! I'll kill you!" Chen Guizhen stood there stunned for a long time, clutching the spot where she had been hit. After recovering, she lunged at Xu Yan again. "You dare hit me? Do you know who I am?"

Xie Zhuo didn't expect that Xu Yan would do it himself the moment after telling him to let go.

He thought that although the female educated youth was quick-witted, she was timid and afraid of trouble.

Unexpectedly...

She's much better than him!

That crisp slap must have been delivered with full force. Xie Zhuo glanced at Xu Yan's bright red palm without making a sound.

Then, when Chen Guizhen lunged at him again, he stepped aside to block Xu Yan.

"Oh? Who are you? Aren't you the thief who stole the brigade's grain?"

Xu Yan, seemingly oblivious to Chen Guizhen's slightly deranged state, peeked out from behind Xie Zhuo.

Her words successfully silenced the surroundings once again.

"Little Xu, what are you saying?"

“I said,” Xu Yan’s voice rose a little, his eyes fixed on Chen Guizhen’s face, “I said she stole the brigade’s grain.”

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Chen Guizhen's previous manic state changed instantly because of Xu Yan's words. As if someone had exposed something, she glared at Xu Yan with bloodshot eyes and said, "Don't think that just because you're a female educated youth, you can talk nonsense here!"

"Ha," Xu Yan sneered, "Am I talking nonsense?"

She reached out and pulled Xie Zhuo aside, facing Chen Guizhen directly. A few seconds later, her bright eyes turned to Sun Guoan. "Didn't the secretary already discover that the grain was missing? Didn't he investigate who stole it?"

Xu Yan's words, thrown at the entrance of the educated youth settlement, were like someone pouring a bowl of cold water into a pot of boiling oil.

The surrounding area instantly erupted in chaos.

"What? The brigade's grain rations are lost?"

"Really? Young Xu, you can't just say things like that."

"Little Xu, how did you know?"

"Secretary, is what she said true?"

"Secretary, please say something! Is what Little Xu, the educated youth, said true or not?"

"Captain, Captain! Is it true that the grain rations that Xiao Xu, the educated youth, said were stolen?"

Song Guangming: ...

If facial expressions could reflect one's thoughts, Song Guangming's face would probably be covered in a string of profanities right now.

Ask him if it's true.

He knows nothing!

He still doesn't know the grain has been lost!

But when he went to the grain depot to check the inventory a couple of days ago, he happened to run into Sun Guoan coming out of it. He originally wanted to go in and take a look, but Sun Guoan said that he had checked and there was no problem.

Is this what he means by "there's no problem"?

Song Guangming felt that the blisters on his lips wouldn't heal anytime soon!

“Little Xu, the educated youth,” Song Guangming’s hawk-like eyes were fixed on Xu Yan’s face, “Do you have any evidence for what you’re saying? You can’t just make things up and wrong people!”

“Captain,” Xu Yan turned to look at him, her expression serious, “why don’t you go to the place where the commune’s grain is stored and count it yourself and you’ll know?”

"Yes, Captain, let's go to the commune's granary and count them!"

Upon hearing Xu Yan's words, everyone else felt they should go and count them.

If someone were to actually steal grain from the granary, that would be a huge problem!

Song Guangming glanced at Chen Guizhen and Sun Guoan, and had already made up his mind. He couldn't help but sigh.

Chen Guizhen's face turned deathly pale when Xu Yan told the brigade leader and the others to go and check the place where the public grain was stored. She looked at Sun Guoan with a panicked expression.

Sun Guoan's face was so black it looked like ink could drip from it, but he wasn't looking at Chen Guizhen; his eyes were fixed on Xu Yan with a fierce glare.

Xie Zhuo noticed his gaze and subtly hid Xu Yan behind him.

Actually, the person who was most shocked at this moment was Xie Zhuo.

After all, in his previous life, it was also on a sunny day when he was dragged from his home to the street. Sun Guoan pointed his finger at him and called him a thief for stealing from the public.

Chen Guizhen pointed her finger at him and said that getting engaged to someone like him was a mistake, adding that like father, like son, and that his parents were no good people either.

Xie Zhuo immediately pounced on Sun Guoan and punched him.

Then he was sent to a farm to do the hardest work. Sun Guoan even said that he would keep him on the farm for life. If it weren't for the brigade leader helping to smooth things over and saying nice things, he might have really had to work in a labor camp for several years.

Xie Zhuo suddenly had a headache, and he frowned and pressed his temples.