Chu Li did not answer immediately, and her gaze subconsciously turned to Mu Xia.

Mu Xia raised an eyebrow, her eyes full of mockery. Chu Li suddenly lowered her eyes, a fleeting look of disappointment crossing her face. When she looked up again, her smile returned to its usual gentleness.

"Comrade Li, the power the organization has given you is not meant to be used in this way."

Instead of focusing on building revolutionary friendships, you should think about how to explain to your superiors how your family maliciously instigated and incited thugs to bully female educated youths.

I will ask the educated youth office to intervene.

It means he's determined to see this through to the end.

Li Honghua was incredulous and reached out to tug at Chu Li's sleeve, "No, you can't do this."

"Have some self-respect." After saying this, Chu Li walked around Li Honghua, who was crying uncontrollably, without letting her touch a single corner of his clothes.

After the excitement subsided, everyone went back to their own business, still harboring their gossip about Sandao Gou.

Back in my tent, I discovered that the shredded potatoes and batter I had prepared on the cutting board outside had been taken away by some heartless person.

She held the kitchen knife and looked around, and every villager who met her gaze instinctively looked away.

After working on the river construction for a day and a night, only a very small number of villagers went to watch the excitement; most of them were setting up camp or cooking.

"Whoever took my shredded potatoes had better hand them over. Don't blame me for being blunt now; if I find out later, we'll all be in trouble."

Not far away, Shen Meihua blinked her beady eyes and guiltily kicked a bowl of batter under the cart again. Her husband, Zhang Musen, who was cutting wood and building a house nearby, did not notice anything unusual about his wife.

Seeing that no one spoke for a long time, she sneered again. Aunt Zhong's husband, who lived next door to the educated youth settlement, came over, scratching his head and holding a small handful of wild vegetables.

"Girl, did someone take your food? I didn't notice anyone coming over. Your Aunt Zhong told me to keep an eye on things. Take this bunch of wild vegetables and eat them to tide you over tonight."

"Alright, Uncle Wang Qi!" Aunt Zhong's husband's surname was Wang, and he was the seventh child in his family, so the villagers all called him Wang Qi. Ruan Xianxian didn't stand on ceremony and took the wild vegetables to look at them.

"It's shepherd's purse! We just happened to bring a piece of pork with us, so we'll make dumplings tonight and bring you some when they're done cooking."

Ruan Xianxian is stingy and possessive of her food, but she is exceptionally adept at navigating social situations.

Sure enough, the surrounding villagers cast envious and jealous glances at Wang Laoqi, and some even slapped their thighs in regret.

"If I had known I shouldn't have eaten that pancake, I might have been able to get a plate of dumplings in return. My heart is aching!"

Ruan Xianxian didn't say anything, but the message she conveyed to the outside world was that those who genuinely helped her would be rewarded handsomely.

A familiar-looking auntie groped her way over and whispered, "Girl, I just saw Chen Meihua wandering around here for a while. Maybe she's the one who took your food."

"What? Auntie?" Ruan Xianxian put her hand to her ear as if listening, and deliberately asked loudly, "You mean you saw Chen Meihua wandering around here? Maybe she took the food?"

"Shh!" The auntie, whom she had only seen a few times in the fields and could only call a familiar face, almost covered her mouth. "You child, I was just trying to be kind, why are you shouting like that?"

Ruan Xianxian didn't say anything, just smiled and looked at her, making her feel a chill run down her spine.

"Auntie, if I hadn't said anything earlier, you would know whether I was just pretending to be kind or really trying to take advantage of you."

Having her thoughts exposed, the auntie didn't stay any longer and left cursing.

He went back and started smashing and throwing things, cursing enthusiastically, when suddenly he received a cold gaze. He looked up and met Shen Meihua's murderous expression.

The woman trembled with fear.

Even plum blossoms are afraid!

She, she, she just saw a plate of unclaimed dough lying there and her hands were itching to grab it. Now that that brat knows, won't she retaliate against her?

On the day she picked mushrooms, she personally witnessed Ruan Xian fighting five people at the educated youth settlement. Would she come and fight her too?

This unease persisted into the night, and seeing that no one came to confront her, she couldn't help but feel smug again.

Yeah, so what if that brat knows it's her?

She wasn't some educated youth who could be easily manipulated without any backing. She spoke harshly, leaving the other woman with no choice but to keep quiet and not dare to confront her.

Once she understood, she went straight to sleep.

River engineering is truly inhuman work.

The moment she drifted off to sleep, a large black goose slipped in through the crack.

The goose first determined that the dough under the cart was its own, and in a fit of anger, it turned its rear end over and pooped a runny poop. Then, it shook the tip of its smooth, shiny tail and jumped onto the cart.

Soon they found a small half-bag of corn kernels and picked them up with their beaks.

Remembering his mother's instructions, he swayed over to the sleeping Chen Meihua, and with a quick snatch from her pocket, he took out five cents.

He put the money into the grain bag and left satisfied.

On the other side, Chen Zhaodi, who was in charge of cooking dumplings, patted the goose's big head, took the food bag from its beak, and whispered:

"Come in, we've left you some dumplings, they're still hot."

Because the decision to eat dumplings was made relatively late, they needed to knead and proof the dough while everyone else was asleep, and the food had just come out of the pot.

Hearing that hot dumplings had been left for it, the goose flapped its big wings and flew into the tent, leaping onto Ruan Xianxian's lap and finding a comfortable position to wait for being fed.

Inside the tent, because of the cramped space, the three women sat in a row, each holding a plate of shepherd's purse dumplings. Mu Xia swallowed one in one bite, her sound of burning her mouth indistinct.

"Hehehe! No, I don't know if it's just my imagination, but the dumplings tonight are especially delicious. They're the best dumplings I've ever eaten."

Chen Zhaodi took a small bite, her eyes squinting happily, "If you put a whole piece of pork in, it'll definitely taste amazing!"

Ruan Xianxian shook her head, "Too much pork might not taste good. I added a lot of seasonings; I brought oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar."

After eating grass all summer long, the taste of meat finally comes out and tastes especially delicious.

Meatballs have to be lamb dumplings. I'll make them for you to try once I get some lamb.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at Mu Xia, "Speaking of which, you're just letting that Li Honghua off so easily?"

The shepherd's purse dumplings were already quite delicious, and both women were longing for the even more delicious mutton dumplings she mentioned. Upon hearing the question, Mu Xia raised an eyebrow and asked in return:

"What else can we do? We can't kill them. Once the flood is over, we can hand the thugs over to the police, and the Li family will naturally be caught."

Seeing Ruan Xianxian bowing her head and remaining silent, she added, "What if it were you?"

If it were her? Ruan Xianxian actually thought about it and finally came to a conclusion, "Give both Mad Bee and Wild Butterfly a beating, then throw the scoundrel away."

It's not his fault that he has admirers, but it is definitely his fault that they dance in front of me.

If a woman has so many men she doesn't like, yet chooses a married man, it must mean that man has given her inappropriate signals.

Not refusing or ignoring it is also a form of indulgence.

Just like weeds in the field, if you don't pull them out as soon as you see them, they'll just grow wildly.

Outside the tent, Chu Li and Feng Bai, who were lucky enough to sneak in some dumplings to return the plates: ? ? ?

Chu Li wasn't one to mince words. He immediately lifted the curtain and said, "Ruan Xiaoxian, you haven't been beaten in days. What kind of cult-like ideas are you spreading?"

Feng Bai took a step back, frowned, and began to recall whether there were any weeds growing in his saline-alkali land.