Although Zhou Sihai was arrogant and caused trouble in the commune, he still managed to stay in his position without being removed, which showed he had some insight. If, as the whistleblower letter claimed, these exiled personnel were lazy, wasting food and becoming social parasites, then he had many ways to bring down Qi Dazhu. However, after his investigation, things weren't as the whistleblower letter described, so his pre-arranged plans for the aftermath were useless.
As for the whistleblower, Zhou Sihai decided to let him off the hook for now, keeping him on as an informant to keep an eye on these villages. His extensive connections and well-informed network weren't built on nothing.
When Secretary Qi heard what Zhou Sihai said, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that Zhou Sihai, that vicious person, would find out something. Not only would he lose his position as village party secretary, but the few people in the village who had been sent down to the countryside would also have a hard time.
It doesn't matter if he doesn't become the village party secretary, but these people can't be allowed to get into trouble. His son specifically wrote to him about this. His son is in the army, and those three—the old man in white, Xiang Rong, and Zuo Li—seem to be from military backgrounds. He's probably someone his son is protecting, or maybe someone instructed his son to do so!
Since he had promised his son, he had to do his best to fulfill it.
He had been a little suspicious of whether He Tiantian was the whistleblower, but after seeing Zhou Sihai praise Old Man Bai for his good work, he felt relieved that He Tiantian had acted quickly and brought Old Man Bai out to work. Otherwise, Old Man Bai would have been in deep trouble this time.
Keep in mind there were over twenty strong young men outside; this wasn't just a village show, a perfunctory gesture. If that "education" were to come, they'd be half-dead, if not killed!
Even healthy people would lose half their lives if dragged out for a "circle" by these fierce-looking people, let alone the frail old man with a broken leg.
Secretary Qi understood that confronting these ruthless people head-on would not bring any benefit and would only lead to more trouble. Therefore, he decided to swallow his anger and slowly investigate who wrote the letter of denunciation in order to rectify the atmosphere in the village.
"It's all an organizational call and a commune directive," Secretary Qi said. "Officer Zhou has also worked hard, busy and running around for our commune."
Seeing Secretary Qi praise him, Zhou Sihai rarely smiled and said, "It's all about serving the people. Since your village's education progress is keeping up, the contents of the accusation letter are not true after the inspection. However, you should continue your efforts and cooperate with our work in the future."
"I will keep in mind Secretary Zhou's instructions," Secretary Qi said. "It's almost noon, why don't you come over for a simple meal?"
The thought of so many people having to eat so much food made Secretary Qi feel a pang of heartache, so his tone wasn't exactly sincere!
Zhou Sihai smiled faintly, not at all. He could tell that Secretary Qi was in a dilemma. He hadn't caught any typical cases today and hadn't completed his task. How could he have time to eat? He refused, saying, "No need. Our team doesn't take a single needle or thread, a single meal or a single drop of porridge from the people."
Upon hearing this, Secretary Qi breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that there was no need to waste food.
“Then we’ll invite Comrade Zhou to our home for a visit sometime.” Secretary Qi chuckled and handed two packs of cigarettes to Zhou Sihai. “Don’t eat, just take these two packs of cigarettes. Consider them a way to keep your comrades alert.”
Zhou Sihai did not refuse and took it, saying, "Thank you, Secretary Qi, for supporting our work. We won't bother you any longer. We'll head back now. You should continue to strengthen the education of those who have been sent down to the countryside, and strive to make them useful people who can contribute to society."
"Yes, yes, thank you for the reminder, Officer Zhou," Secretary Qi said. He hoped this matter could be resolved as soon as possible. With the village internally divided, he couldn't be tough on outsiders, constantly worried about being targeted behind his back, leaving him no time to worry about anything else.
After all, what he did was driven by personal motives and couldn't withstand a thorough and rigorous investigation, so it's normal to have some concerns!
Zhou Sihai led more than twenty young men away from Qijia Village, and Secretary Qi saw them off at the village entrance.
Seeing that the person had left, He Tiantian blushed and hurriedly stepped forward to apologize, saying, "Grandpa Bai, I'm sorry. I was forced to say those things just now. They weren't what I really thought. I just wanted to help you deal with those people's inspection."
Old Bai sat on the stool and chuckled nonchalantly, "You're quite clever! If it were during the War of Resistance, you could definitely have been an excellent young Eighth Route Army soldier."
Seeing that Grandpa Bai wasn't angry, He Tiantian felt relieved and said, "I went to the county town a while ago and saw that the leader, Zhou Sihai, arrested a lot of people. Those people were treated very poorly. I saw them coming this way, and I was afraid they would do the same to you, so..."
"Alright, I won't be angry. The situation was very urgent at the time, and you were only doing it for my own good. I'm not someone who can't tell right from wrong," said Old Man Bai. "Everyone else went to work. If I had been sleeping in the house, these people wouldn't have cared whether I had a broken leg or not. They would have given me another lecture, and I probably wouldn't have survived with my old bones."
"Grandpa Bai, you will live to be a hundred years old." He Tiantian flattered, "When my father sent me on the train to become an educated youth, he told me that as long as people are alive, there is hope. If you are no longer alive, even if there are good things in the future, you will miss them. So we must live well so that we can see the hope in the future."
"Your father is right, it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death," the old man said with emotion. He recalled how many of his old comrades couldn't bear it and committed suicide, unwilling to suffer any longer. He himself had considered ending it all, but his old commander had told him to take care of himself and that things would get better.
He had always listened to his old superior, and this time, upon hearing it, he gritted his teeth and persevered.
Old Bai had already sensed his former leader's good intentions in arranging him to be placed here. In order not to disappoint his former leader, he would also take good care of himself here and wait for the right opportunity.
After seeing Zhou Sihai off, Secretary Qi returned to the livestock team. Seeing He Tiantian and Old Man Bai chatting and laughing, he felt slightly relieved and asked, "Tiantian, luckily you were quick-witted today, otherwise..."
Feeling embarrassed by the praise, He Tiantian said, "No need to praise me. I just want everyone to be safe and sound. I didn't think too much about it."
"Sigh, who doesn't want peace and quiet? This time, Zhou Sihai's sudden attack on Qijia Village was because someone in the village reported me for abusing my power and failing to carry out the commune's reform tasks. Today was a busy day. The other six people went out to work. When Zhou Sihai inspected them one by one, they were all working in the fields. Only Old Bai wasn't assigned anything because of his broken leg. But when those people come, they won't care about that. They'll definitely teach him a lesson." Secretary Qi said with emotion. He added that they were able to escape today thanks to He Tiantian.
He misunderstood He Tiantian just now; he was judging a gentleman by his own petty standards!
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