Secretary Qi hopes to use this incident to bring down Zhou Sihai and, incidentally, expose Qi Jianguo.
"Go to the educated youth settlement and bring Lin Xiaoru along. Oh, and Zhou, what about the other person who reported He Tiantian? Find them too, and go to the commune together. If this matter isn't resolved, then the matter of beating our Qi Family Village elders and children can't just end like this." Secretary Qi said with a smile, but everyone could see that there was no real mirth in his eyes.
Zhou Sihai could speak ill of Lin Xiaoru without hesitation because Lin Xiaoru was just an educated youth sent to the countryside. But Qi Jianguo was different; he had dirt on Lin Xiaoru. If Zhou Sihai revealed Qi Jianguo's secrets, even if the matter passed, Qi Jianguo would still bring it up. A poor handling of the situation would only result in a reprimand from Director Zheng, but if Qi Jianguo revealed that secret, he might lose this coveted job!
“That’s classified information, I can’t say.” Zhou Sihai refused, somewhat exasperated. “Secretary Qi, this concerns the revolutionary cause! You can’t protect this traitor!”
"How do you know she has overseas connections? Besides, even if she does, not everyone is a traitor. Comrade He Tiantian's home is in Nanshi. Have you ever been to Nanshi, or did the commune there send you a letter saying that Comrade He Tiantian is a traitor? Chairman Mao said that without investigation, one has no right to speak. On what basis do you say that Comrade He Tiantian is a traitor, colluding with the enemy and betraying the country? Everyone, do you agree?" Secretary Qi said confidently. Anyway, he had already made arrangements with He Tiantian, and he wasn't afraid even if the matter went to the commune.
Zhao Dajiao stepped forward and said, "You have no documents whatsoever, just a letter of complaint, and you want to arrest He Tiantian. As the women's director of Qijia Village, I suspect you're just looking at her because she's pretty and want to bully her. This is a new society now, and women can hold up half the sky. We working women won't stand for you to bully a young girl like this. Don't you think so, sisters?"
Aunt Liu and some older women spoke louder than the men: "Yes, we can't bully young girls like that! He Tiantian came up the mountain with me to cut grass. She did more and faster than me. She's very diligent and conscientious. She's a good comrade. She was awarded an advanced worker award a while ago. She was chosen by hundreds of people in our Qijia Village."
The villagers might know the other educated youth, or perhaps not, but He Tiantian was the girl in Qijia Village who was closest to the villagers. She was polite, never spoke without smiling, and was always willing to help others, taking care of Grandma Qi San.
Zhou Sihai's forehead was sweating, and he was a little guilty, but he still kept a tough face. If he backed down this time, he could forget about working in Qijia Village next time.
However, here, their dozen or so people are at a disadvantage against a hundred.
Since that's the case, then let's go to the county town, that's his territory, and he doesn't believe he can't deal with these few country bumpkins.
"Let's go, we're heading to the county town. I don't believe you can defy me." Zhou Sihai said righteously. Once he got his hands on He Tiantian, he was going to torture her properly. He hadn't suffered such a loss since arriving at the commune, and he would remember this grudge.
Secretary Qi nodded and said, "It's getting late now. By the time we get to the county town, it will be dark and we won't be able to get anything done. Let's set off in the middle of the night and arrive at the commune first thing tomorrow morning."
"No, we have to go now," Zhou Sihai insisted. "What if He Tiantian runs away?"
Secretary Qi pointed to his own nose and said, "If He Tiantian runs away, you can drag me out for re-education!"
Secretary Qi is going to vouch for He Tiantian!
“You…” Zhou Sihai was so angry that he couldn’t speak. He had originally planned to take his men and arrest the people of Qijia Village that night, so that no one would dare to help He Tiantian when he went to the commune the next morning.
"It'll be dark and gloomy in the county town. Who knows if you'll ambush us?" the others muttered. They weren't stupid; everyone understood the home-field advantage!
Zhou Sihai squinted at everyone and said, "Hehe, in that case, we'll see you at the commune tomorrow."
"See you there!" Secretary Qi was just as arrogant, showing no fear of Zhou Sihai whatsoever.
“Let’s go!” Zhou Sihai knew that if he didn’t do as Secretary Qi said, he and the people he brought wouldn’t be able to leave Qijia Village.
Zhou Sihai, accompanied by a couple, fled in disarray, like a locust swarm passing through.
Upon reaching the edge of the village, one of the men asked, frustrated, "Officer Zhou, are we just going to leave like this?"
"You're not leaving? You still want to eat in Qijia Village?" Zhou Sihai said irritably. He got on his bicycle and found it was very difficult to ride. He looked down and saw that the valve core had been pulled out.
"Damn it!" someone cursed. "These people from Qijia Village are really ignorant of their own limitations! They actually dared to tamper with our bicycles. We'll teach them a lesson when they go to the county town tomorrow."
Zhou Sihai quickly got out of the car, stomped his foot and cursed, "Qi Dazhu, He Tiantian, you just wait!"
The group had no choice but to leave pushing their bicycles, intending to return to Qijia Village to find someone to repair them. However, they knew that even if they went back, there would be no one to repair their bicycles, so they had to go to Hujia Village to get them repaired.
He Tiantian carried Qi Xiaoyan on her back, intending to go to Wang Shuilian's house first so that she could see it. But they hadn't gone far when Qi Xiaoyan woke up.
"Sister Tian, I'm fine, please put me down. I get dizzy when I get excited," Qi Xiaoyan whispered. "I have medicine at home, so we don't need to go to the hospital."
With red eyes, He Tiantian choked out, "It's all because of me that you fainted."
Qi Xiaoyan smiled slightly and said, "My health isn't good to begin with, and I got too excited today. All I knew was that I couldn't let Zhou Sihai take you away! Luckily, my dad is here. Don't worry, we've put in so much effort, everything will be alright."
"I hope so. If anything happens, I don't want to implicate the people of Qijia Village, nor do I want to implicate Grandpa Qi, Professor Wang, and Professor Gu." He Tiantian's eyes were blurry and filled with tears.
As they approached the village, He Tiantian saw Grandma Qi San walking towards them on her tiptoes, leaning on her cane.
"Sweetie, are you alright?" Grandma Qi heard people in the village running towards the livestock team, saying that someone was trying to arrest He Tiantian and had beaten Qi Xiaoyan. She was alone at home and couldn't sit still, so she endured the pain in her bound feet and walked towards the livestock team.
When He Tiantian saw that it was Grandma Qi, she wiped away her tears with one hand and said, "I'm fine for now. Xiao Yan'er fainted, so I'm taking her home."
Liang Hongyu followed behind and said, "Third Aunt, it's alright, don't worry. Come on, let me help you, let's go home."
"Oh dear!" Grandma Qi couldn't help, but seeing that He Tiantian was alright and the village secretary's family was helping, she figured she would be fine. She wiped her wet eyes and went back to the village with them.
He Tiantian put Qi Xiaoyan on the bed, and Liang Hongyu quickly poured water and gave Qi Xiaoyan her medicine. (To be continued.)
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