Lin Qing looked up and glanced around, secretly remembering the names of the older women who had spoken ill of Brother Nanxun.

"Alright, Chen Zhaodi, those were all your guesses. You damaged Lin Zhiqing's things without cause and slandered her. Now you are punished by having to compensate Lin Zhiqing for her bedding."

"Captain, I'm not convinced! I'm going to accuse Lin Qing and Gu Nanxun of having an affair."

“Chen Zhaodi, accusing someone of having an affair requires evidence. Do you have evidence to prove that we have an affair? Does getting closer to someone mean we have an affair? Does helping a soldier who is serving the country mean I have an affair?”

"According to you, men and women in the brigade can't get close to each other, otherwise it's considered having an affair."

"Besides, we're both single, so why can't we get closer? Even if we can't get closer, can't we still have a free-choice relationship? The leaders have encouraged free-choice relationships, so do you have a problem with what the leaders say?"

"When did I ever have a problem with the leader? Don't make baseless accusations..."

Upon hearing Lin Qing say that she had opinions about the leaders, Chen Zhaodi quickly denied it.

"Since you have no objection to what the leader says, why do you accuse us of having an affair when we have normal contact?"

"I……"

Hearing Lin Qing's question, Chen Zhaodi was stunned, and then couldn't help but glance at Li Hongmei.

"Enough, Chen Zhaodi. If everyone were like you, accusing anyone of having an affair just because they get a little close to them, wouldn't that be chaos? Would the men and women in our brigade be unable to talk to each other? And if you educated youth eat together every day, are you also having affairs?"

"Captain, we didn't... Chen Zhaodi is just making things up."

Hearing the brigade leader say that, the other educated youth at the settlement glared at Chen Zhaodi and quickly explained. This Chen Zhaodi is truly a troublemaker.

"I...I didn't..."

"Alright, that's settled then. Little Lin, how much did your bedding cost? Let Chen Zhaodi compensate you."

Before Chen Zhaodi could finish speaking, she was interrupted by the brigade leader, who was also angry. This Chen Zhaodi was trying to kill someone based solely on her own guesses; she was truly vicious.

"My bedding is newly made; if you don't need a ticket, just give me 15 yuan."

Lin Qing calculated the price and said. She wouldn't take advantage of Chen Zhaodi, but she wouldn't skimp on what was due.

"Chen Zhaodi, give 15 yuan to Lin Zhiqing."

After listening to Lin Qing's words, the brigade leader nodded and said to Chen Zhaodi, "The hardest thing to get now is coupons. Sometimes you have money but no coupons, and you can't buy anything. In that sense, it's Lin Qing who's at a disadvantage! After all, cotton coupons are hard to come by now. Lin Qing is too kind."

"Captain, I have no money."

Chen Zhaodi rolled her eyes and then said.

"If you don't have money, we'll deduct it from your work points."

The brigade leader could tell what Chen Zhaodi was up to the moment he saw her. She was trying to use the excuse of not having money to cover up the matter, as if their brigade was just for show!

"Alright, everyone go back and rest! We still have to work this afternoon."

After saying that, the captain led everyone away.

Lin Qing knew that although the matter had been suppressed by the brigade leader, the rumors in the village would not stop.

Lin Qing never expected that she wouldn't be talked about. When she helped Gu Nanxun, she knew that doing so would definitely attract gossip. After all, a girl being nice to a man for no reason is bound to cause misunderstandings.

In fact, Lin Qing herself wasn't afraid. As someone from the 21st century, why would she be afraid of such gossip? She was just worried that Gu Nanxun wouldn't like it.

Two days ago, Lin Qing intended to use Chen Zhaodi's matter to give everyone a heads-up, which would also be a legitimate excuse for herself, even though the excuse wasn't valid. She just wanted to keep everyone believing her for a while. But she didn't expect Chen Zhaodi to ruin it so quickly.

"Brother Gu, something terrible has happened! Your wife has been bullied!"

As soon as Zhao Youcai entered the door, he said to Gu Nanxun...

"What happened? What's going on?!"

"thump……"

When Gu Nanxun heard Zhao Youcai say that, he was anxious to get off the bed, but he forgot that his legs were crippled and fell hard to the ground.

Seeing Gu Nanxun like this, Zhao Youcai quickly went over and helped him to the bed. His eyes also involuntarily reddened. He seemed to understand what his brother Gu had said earlier.

Yes! Any man would feel terrible hearing his beloved girl being bullied while he couldn't even stand up. That feeling of helplessness—just thinking about Cuihua being bullied and forced to lie in bed makes me feel like I can't breathe—let alone Gu Ge!

What happened?

After a long silence, Gu Nanxun finally asked. He was also worried and confused; given Youcai's personality, he wouldn't have come to him to talk about it if the matter wasn't resolved.

"Here's what happened: at noon, Chen, a educated youth at the educated youth settlement, had her bedding splattered with feces. She suspected her sister-in-law had done it, so she went to find the brigade leader. After investigation, it turned out that it wasn't her sister-in-law who did it. But Chen herself let slip that she had ruined her sister-in-law's bedding yesterday and didn't know how her sister-in-law slept last night."

"The brigade leader made Chen, the educated youth, compensate his sister-in-law for her bedding, but Chen refused, saying that his sister-in-law was disreputable, had an affair with him, and brought him food every day and even made him clothes..."

Zhao Youcai's voice grew softer and softer, and he couldn't help but secretly glance up at Gu Nanxun.

Upon hearing this, Gu Nanxun punched the wall several times, and his fingers immediately became red and swollen.

"Brother Gu, your hand..."

Zhao Youcai couldn't help but stand up and exclaim when he saw Gu Nanxun's swollen hand.

"Brother Gu, wait a minute, I'll go find your wife and ask her to take a look at your hand..."

As he spoke, Zhao Youcai was about to walk out the door.

"return……"

“Brother Gu…” Zhao Youcai stopped and asked, puzzled.

"Don't tell, Qingqing," Gu Nanxun said after a long while, opening his eyes.

What happened in the end?

"Brother Gu, you have no idea how smart your wife is!"

"Ahem... Brother Gu, listen carefully, this is what your wife said."

"Chen Zhaodi, do you have any evidence that we're having an affair? We're both single, so what if we get close? We're in a free-love relationship. Even the leaders encourage free-love relationships. Do you have a problem with what the leaders say?"

"After saying that, Chen Zhaodi didn't dare to say a word. In the end, she could only say that she had no money. She thought that if she said she had no money, they couldn't do anything to her. Gu Ge, guess what the captain said?"

At this point, Zhao Youcai winked and asked.

"Let her pay it back with her work points..."

Upon hearing Zhao Youcai's question, Gu Nanxun loosened his clenched fist and answered.

"Brother Gu, you're really smart. That's exactly what the captain said."

Zhao Youcai couldn't help but give Gu Nanxun a thumbs up.

"Qingqing, is that really what they said? That we fell in love on our own?"

Gu Nanxun's heart pounded wildly when he heard those words, as if it were about to burst out of his chest. His hand trembled slightly involuntarily.