Chapter 34 The Bet
All eyes immediately turned to Gu Mansheng.
The person who's been at odds with Liu Zhixia lately is none other than Gu Mansheng, isn't she?
Given her unusual behavior today, it's hard not to make connections to her.
Gu Mansheng angrily said, "Liu Zhixia, you yourself are denying what you wrote to Wang Laizi? This letter wasn't written by me at all! Don't the people at the educated youth center know how bad my handwriting is? It's not this ugly!"
Lu Huaiyuan shielded Liu Zhixia behind him and deliberately said to Gu Mansheng, "Gu Zhiqing, don't talk nonsense. The love letters Zhixia wrote were all for me!"
He winked at Gu Mansheng, signaling her to cooperate.
But Gu Mansheng was furious when she saw him protecting Liu Zhixia.
This was clearly a trap she set for Liu Zhixia. If she didn't marry Wang Laizi, how was she supposed to fool him?
Moreover, Zhao Dongmei would definitely not let her off the hook over the handkerchief incident.
Therefore, we must at least make Liu Zhixia acknowledge all of this!
Gu Mansheng raised an eyebrow, looking at Lu Huaiyuan with dissatisfaction, and said through gritted teeth, "Comrade Lu, you just confirmed that you were the one who sent the paper and ink! Everyone, take a close look at this love letter. Although the paper looks crumpled, it is still new. This means it hasn't been stored for long."
"Then it must have been written recently. Everyone knows that Liu Zhixia and Comrade Lu broke off their engagement, so why would she write love letters to Comrade Lu again?"
"Besides, just a few days ago, Captain Lu's family brought generous gifts to apologize to the Liu family. This shows that Comrade Liu doesn't think much of Comrade Lu at all!"
"This love letter must have been written to Wang Laizi!"
Liu Zhixia didn't even look up: "Gu Zhiqing, are you so sure? What if I didn't write it?"
"If it wasn't you who wrote it, I'll go live in a cowshed!" Gu Mansheng was determined to go all out.
Liu Zhixia laughed: "Then you'd better hurry back and pack your things."
Gu Mansheng looked at her with a smug expression.
Because the letter was written in a crooked and messy manner, any country woman who knew a little bit about writing would have thought it would have been written in a similar way.
Liu Zhixia had no way to prove herself.
Liu Zhixia turned to look at Lu Jianping beside her: "Captain Lu, Gu Zhiqing wants to live in the cowshed, what are you going to do?"
Lu Jianping also disapproved of Gu Mansheng and said sternly, "If Gu Mansheng is slandering this matter, then let her get out of the educated youth settlement!"
"Liu Zhixia!" Gu Mansheng said angrily, "You talk as if you can actually prove it! If you can't prove it, then we'll get engaged to Wang Laizi today! How about that?"
Liu Zhixia blinked: "Do I look like a fool to you? Your class background is bad, so living in the cowshed is only right. It's just that the villagers are kind-hearted and let you into the educated youth settlement. How come you think it's a matter of course?"
"What? You don't dare to bet with me?" Gu Mansheng said smugly.
“Of course we’ll gamble,” Liu Zhixia said, spreading her hands. “But you have to raise the stakes.”
Gu Mansheng gritted her teeth and shouted, "If I slander you today, I'll carry a bucket of manure for a month!"
Someone nearby immediately objected: "With those work points so high, isn't that a bargain for you?"
"I don't want work points, okay!" Gu Mansheng glared at him.
“Sure, why not?” Liu Zhixia said with a smile in her eyes.
Gu Mansheng, hands on her hips, said smugly, "Comrade Liu, how are you going to prove that you didn't write this love letter?"
Liu Zhixia crossed her arms and casually uttered a sentence that resonated like a thunderclap in everyone's ears:
"I've never been to school, I can't even read a few words, and you're writing love letters? Are you and Lu Huaiyuan having the same dream?"
Upon hearing this, both Gu Mansheng and Lu Huaiyuan froze.
Gu Mansheng looked at Lu Huaiyuan in a panic, and Lu Huaiyuan scratched his head guiltily.
It seems... Liu Zhixia really didn't go to school.
To be precise, not only the girls in this village, but even the boys' families are reluctant to send them to school.
Only Lu Huaiyuan's family was the brigade leader's family, and they were quite wealthy.
When the old lady of the Liu family was still alive, she had some spare money. The eldest and second eldest children were at a special age when they could go to school, while the fourth child was a little younger and was more relaxed. So she thought of sending the children to study.
Later, the old lady fell seriously ill, and the medical expenses were so high that they emptied the Liu family's coffers.
Therefore, Liu Zhixia was illiterate, let alone able to write those difficult words and phrases.
She probably doesn't even understand what that means!
As Liu Zhixia finished speaking, a deathly silence fell over the surroundings. Some of those who had just been jeering were now blushing with embarrassment.
"Pfft!" Zhang Xiuying couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter, giving her daughter a thumbs up. Luckily, her daughter had covered her mouth earlier, otherwise she wouldn't have witnessed the spectacle of Gu Mansheng jumping into the pit herself!
Gu Mansheng was still desperately trying to explain: "What if... what if she copied it from the book? Doesn't Liu Xuejun have the book?"
"Pah!" Zhang Xiuying spat. "My son reads exam books and never touches this filthy stuff! But you, a capitalist's daughter, probably used to read this every day, right? Writing this kind of garbage is disgusting!"
Shen Hongmei chimed in, "Mother, if a woman doesn't know how to flirt with men, how can she seduce someone else's fiancé?"
Xu Zhihong finally realized she'd been used as a pawn, and stared coldly at Gu Mansheng: "Yes, now that Captain Lu doesn't approve of his relationship with Comrade Lu, they've switched to someone else. They wrote these things to Wang Laizi. They wanted to send a token, but they had nothing of their own, so they stole from my room!"
"I didn't!" Gu Mansheng panicked. "I didn't write anything to Wang Laizi!"
Zhao Dongmei gave her a cold look: "Since it wasn't written by Comrade Liu, it could only have been written by someone from the educated youth settlement. Investigate. The person who wrote the love letter is the one who stole my handkerchief."
Gu Mansheng instinctively tried to shift the blame to Xu Zhihong: "The handkerchief was originally with Xu Zhihong, perhaps it was her..."
"You're talking nonsense!" Before she could finish speaking, Xu Zhihong interrupted her angrily, "I've been busy with the elementary school entrance exams these past two days, from morning till night. How could I have time for this kind of thing?"
“Gu Mansheng, the female educated youth in our educated youth settlement, are either working in the fields or helping out at the primary school.”
"The only one who's free is you, Miss!"
Gu Mansheng's face turned deathly pale instantly.
Because of her family background, she wasn't involved in elementary school matters and had no idea about it.
She also liked to shirk her duties when working in the fields, avoiding going whenever possible.
Anyway, Lu Huaiyuan usually provides for his food and drink.
She had no idea that Xu Zhihong had spent the entire day at the elementary school.
"What else do you have to say?" Lu Jianping glared at her.
Gu Mansheng trembled all over. Really… she was going to live in a cowshed? She was terrified of cows!
I almost lost my life because of a cow last time...
Seeing that she remained silent, Lu Jianping snorted coldly, "Pack your things and get out of the educated youth settlement right now! As for the theft, you educated youth settlement can handle that yourselves!" He then looked at Liu Zhixia and said in an unfriendly tone, "Are you satisfied with this arrangement?"
As soon as he said it, he was stunned. When did he have to report to Liu Zhixia when dealing with the affairs of the brigade?
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