Chapter 51 Jealousy of Others
The educated youth were outraged and immediately surrounded Gu Mansheng!
Gu Mansheng panicked immediately and screamed as she retorted, "She's lying! I saw with my own eyes that Liu Zhixia knocked Zhao Dongmei unconscious with a stick! Zhao Dongmei likes Lu Kai, and Liu Zhixia is jealous of her! Zhao Dongmei comes from a good family and is an intellectual. She knew she couldn't compete with her, so she killed her!"
"How did you know that Zhao Zhiqing liked..." Xu Zhihong asked subconsciously, then glanced guiltily at Lu Kai beside her.
Lu Kai was completely stunned.
Xia... likes me?
Did he really misunderstand something on the mountain?
Seeing the complicated look in Lu Kai's eyes, Liu Zhixia felt a chill run down her spine and immediately clarified, "Brother Kai, don't listen to her nonsense! The whole thing was a conspiracy between her and Wang Laizi! They wanted to ruin Zhao Zhiqing, but I caught them in the act, so they locked us both in the hunter's cabin!"
"Where's the evidence?" Gu Mansheng asked with a smug smirk as she saw that the woman had no proof.
Liu Zhixia blinked, her words clear and logical: "We were locked inside the house, and Comrade Shen came to rescue us. We climbed out from the roof using a rope, and that rope is still there! Comrade Shen himself is the best witness!"
"Comrade Shen?" Gu Mansheng chuckled, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "He's had his eye on you for a long time. He shielded you from the bull and freeloaded at your house. Who doesn't know that? You two came down from the mountain together, and you've already coordinated your stories. Can you really believe what he says?"
Liu Zhixia's eyes turned cold: "If we can't trust the words of a battalion commander who is defending the country, are we supposed to trust you, a capitalist's daughter with a bad class background? Or should we trust that local scoundrel Wang Laizi?"
"Liu Zhixia!" Lu Huaiyuan immediately jumped in to defend her, "Gu Zhiqing's class background is problematic, that's a matter of her origin! How can you judge her with prejudice!"
Gu Mansheng sighed in grievance: "Sigh, it's normal that Comrade Liu is uneducated and has low ideological awareness. As for this hunter's cabin she mentioned, I've never even heard of it. Does anyone know where it is?"
She looked at the educated youth around her, and they all shook their heads.
In fact, they hadn't been in this brigade for long and rarely went too far up the mountain, so they had no idea where the place Liu Zhixia was talking about was.
Just when Gu Mansheng thought she had the victory in her grasp, Lu Kai's cold voice rang out: "You don't know, but Wang Laizi does."
"What does Wang Laizi know have to do with me!" Gu Mansheng immediately started to act out. "You two think you can just throw mud at me with your words? Comrade Lu Kai, if my reputation is ruined, will you take responsibility?"
Looking at Gu Mansheng's confident and fearless demeanor, Liu Zhixia had a vague feeling that something was wrong.
She didn't seem afraid at all to bring people to the hunter's cabin for a confrontation.
Could it be that...
A terrible thought began to surface in her mind.
Just as the two sides were deadlocked, a villager rushed in in a panic:
"It's terrible! There's a fire in the mountains! Help!"
"What?!" Lu Kai's expression changed drastically. "My buddy and the Liu brothers are still on the mountain!"
"They've all gone to the east! Those two soldiers and the Liu brothers are back, and now they're up the mountain again with their weapons to fight the fire!"
“I’ll go too!” Lu Kai decided immediately.
He turned to Liu Zhixia, lowered his voice, and said with a firm look in his eyes, "Xia, I believe you. Putting out the fire is the priority now. We'll settle the score with her after the fire is out!"
With wildfires raging, personal grudges must be put aside for the time being.
The educated youths didn't bother to interrogate Gu Mansheng any further. They quickly tied her up and locked her in the woodshed.
Liu Zhixia and Xu Zhihong were left to take care of Zhao Dongmei, while everyone else went up the mountain.
Liu Zhixia watched the villagers rushing towards the fire, her eyes filled with seriousness.
It is obvious that Wang Laizi started the fire on the mountain.
They had just come down the mountain, and Wang Laizi certainly hadn't expected them to move so quickly.
They probably wanted to burn her and Zhao Dongmei to death together.
Just then, Lu Huaiyuan's gloating voice came from the side: "Liu Zhixia, you're really lucky. If you were still in this trap with your lover, you'd probably be roasted alive by now."
Liu Zhixia glanced at him coldly: "Lu Huaiyuan, how come someone as cowardly as you ran up the mountain alone just now? Tell me, what exactly do you want?"
"Of course I'm here to save you!" Lu Huaiyuan looked hurt and misunderstood. "Unfortunately, you don't appreciate it."
"Save me?" Liu Zhixia seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. "You probably came up the mountain to laugh at me, didn't you? Too bad, Comrade Shen got here before you."
"I risked my life to run up the mountain to save you, and this is how you see me?"
Looking at Lu Huaiyuan's angry expression, it didn't seem like he was lying.
Xu Zhihong, however, spoke up coolly from the side: "Comrade Liu, don't believe him. He must have heard that Gu Zhiqing is also on the mountain and wants to play the hero and rescue her."
Liu Zhixia suddenly realized: "That makes sense."
"You're talking nonsense!" Lu Huaiyuan exclaimed, rushing up to the two men. "I had no idea Gu Zhiqing was on the mountain! I'm telling the truth, why won't you believe me?"
Liu Zhixia didn't bother to look at him again and pushed him out: "Alright, stop making a scene. Zhao Zhiqing still has a fever and needs to rest. The whole village has gone to put out the fire, what are you doing here, a grown man? Why aren't you going to serve the people?"
After saying that, he slammed the door shut.
You can't believe a single word Lu Huaiyuan says!
Lu Huaiyuan cursed angrily at the door and was about to follow the crowd up the mountain when his father, Lu Jianping, stopped him with a loud shout.
"You brat! The whole village is fighting the fire, what are you standing there for!"
"Dad, I just came from the educated youth settlement and was about to go there!" Lu Huaiyuan replied guiltily.
Lu Jianping glared at him and shouted, "Go home and get your tools. Come up the mountain with me!"
Once the surrounding villagers had gone far away, he immediately lowered his voice and changed his tone: "Go back inside and stay there. Don't come out!"
"But Father..."
"But what?!" Lu Jianping said anxiously, "You're our family's only son! This wildfire is so dangerous, what if something happens to you? Let's go back!"
Lu Huaiyuan reluctantly agreed and turned to go home.
He lay in bed, his mind a jumbled mess, the image of Liu Zhixia's disgusted face constantly flashing before his eyes.
She actually fell for that soldier?
As soon as he heard that she was in trouble, he rushed up the mountain without hesitation. Not only was she ungrateful, but she also hugged and kissed another man in front of him!
The more I think about it, the angrier I get!
But then I thought about it again, Liu Zhixia had just said so confidently that she was framed by Gu Mansheng...
"Gu, the educated youth, is so kind. At most, he's just petty and wants revenge. He wouldn't actually kill anyone, would he?"
"But... Liu Zhixia has no reason to hurt Zhao Zhiqing. How could she possibly like Lu Kai? She clearly likes me! Could it be..."
A terrible thought arose in his mind.
"Could it be... that Gu Zhiqing really lied to me?"
Lu Huaiyuan's heart began to pound, and he could no longer sit still.
No! We must get to the bottom of this in person!
He jumped out of bed, grabbed his coat, and rushed out!
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