Just as Wang Wenqi was racking his brains for a solution, he was startled by the sound coming from behind him.

"What are you doing? In this heavy snow, you can't even let people have a moment's peace. Why aren't you resting at home? Aren't you tired? If you're not tired, then you'd all be going to the threshing ground to shovel snow later."

Speaking of which, Shen Baogen is not young anymore. The autumn harvest has been quite tiring for the old man. He finally got to rest at home for a day after the snow to recover. He also thought about what to do with the corn in the granary that hadn't been dried yet.

If we just take it to deliver grain, it definitely won't be rated as top-grade. But this snow came too suddenly, and according to the old Party Secretary, this snow probably won't stop anytime soon.

We might have to organize people to go up the mountain to collect firewood and prepare to dry the snacks.

As the person in charge of the educated youth settlement, Feng Baoguo rushed forward to greet the brigade leader as soon as he saw him arrive: "Uncle Captain, look at the heavy snow, why did you come all the way here? It's nothing, just a small misunderstanding. Don't worry, Uncle Captain, Comrade Liu Shumei and I can handle this."

Shen Baogen was quite lenient with Feng Baoguo, the person in charge of the educated youth settlement. He snorted and said, "It's best if it's a misunderstanding. Then I'll leave this matter to you and Liu, the educated youth. But I'm telling you this: it's almost time to hand over the grain tax and select outstanding brigades. You'd better not cause any trouble, or don't blame me for being impolite."

As he spoke, Shen Baogen turned to leave, but he didn't forget to say to the villagers who were watching the commotion, "Alright, alright, it's nothing serious. Everyone, hurry back home. Take a good rest while it's snowing. We'll have a lot to do after the snow stops."

Shen Baogen didn't really want to get involved in the affairs of the educated youth. They were all young masters and misses from the city, and they were really good for nothing but causing trouble.

He came this time because some villagers came to his house looking for him. What they said was quite frightening. They said that Chen, the educated youth, was going to drag Yang, the educated youth, to the town to find the police and the Revolutionary Committee.

You have to understand that their brigade has been rated as an excellent brigade for three consecutive years. If this year's selection is affected by these young educated youth causing trouble, that won't do.

The selection of an outstanding brigade is not just an honor for him as the brigade leader; it concerns the interests of all the villagers.

Just like the tractor in their brigade, they were only allocated that one because they were rated as an outstanding brigade for two consecutive years.

Because of this, not only he, the captain, but all the members of the team, feel proud when they go out.

Therefore, the villagers are very united in this matter, and any issues that may affect the matter will be nipped in the bud by the team members.

So when some people heard that Chen Shuning was going to take Yang Wanqiu to the town to find the Revolutionary Committee, they didn't even care about watching the excitement and went straight to find him.

Although Shen Baogen and Feng Baoguo wanted to let the matter drop, Yang Wanqiu didn't want to. She couldn't let this beating go unpunished.

So when she saw the captain turn to leave, she ignored Liu Shumei's attempts to stop her and shouted, "Captain, you can't leave! I'm going to report Chen Shuning for assaulting a revolutionary comrade without cause, and I'm going to report Zhong Lingling and Chen Shuning for maliciously framing me for stealing money."

Yang Wanqiu's words made Shen Baogen's head spin. He had originally thought it was just a minor conflict between educated youth, since such things often happened, and Feng Baoguo and Liu Shumei usually handled them quite well.

So his presence today is just a formality, meant to intimidate these troublemaking young people.

This doesn't sound like the whole story. There's assault, false accusation, and what else? Stealing money?

Yang Wanqiu's face was swollen badly on one side, making it difficult for her to speak. She had to push away several female educated youths who tried to stop her while she spoke, and she was only able to finish her sentence by enduring the pain.

Upon hearing this, Shen Baogen quickly turned around and searched for the person who had spoken in the crowd.

Because they didn't want things to escalate, Liu Shumei and several other former educated youths deliberately kept their distance from Yang Wanqiu, who had been beaten, after hearing that Shen Baogen was coming. As a result, Shen Baogen didn't see that Yang Wanqiu's face was now swollen like a pig's head.

When he saw it, even Shen Baogen, who had seen many wounded soldiers, was startled.

Only half of the person's face was recognizable as Yang Wanqiu, but the other half was a truly horrific sight.

It was red and swollen like a steamed bun, and blood was flowing from the corner of its mouth.

Seeing such a face, Shen Baogen asked incredulously, "Yang Zhiqing, who slapped you in the face?"

Shen Baogen, who said this, looked at Chen Shuning standing next to him in shock. He really couldn't believe that Chen Shuning, with her small stature, could beat Yang Wanqiu, who was half a head taller than her, into such a state.

Chen Shuning knew he had gone a bit too far, so he felt a little embarrassed when the captain looked at him like that.

However, she was in the right today, and she couldn't let Yang Wanqiu take advantage of being beaten to falsely accuse her.

So Chen Shuning also retorted to the captain without backing down.

"Captain, you've come at the right time. I also have a report to make, a report against Yang Wanqiu for framing revolutionary comrades. I just came out to watch the excitement, and she accused me of colluding with Comrade Zhong Lingling to frame her for stealing money. I suspect that she is actually an enemy agent who has infiltrated our people. After all, her maternal grandfather is a capitalist, and she also has an uncle who has fled abroad. Captain, we must take such people seriously."

Hearing the conflicting accounts from both sides, Shen Baogen felt a headache coming on. Especially when he heard Chen Shuning mention some kind of enemy agent, Shen Baogen really regretted coming all this way. If he had known this would happen, he should have sent someone to find the Party Secretary, that old guy was better at handling these kinds of things.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!