Chapter 57 Two-in-One fights with the people from Zhoujiatun!
It only took Song Li half a day to figure out who stole her food - Zhaodi, a student at their educated youth camp.
Zhaodi is an old educated youth who has been in this place for several years. She is always timid and afraid to look up at people. She is so cowardly that she seems to be able to command even a mouse. She has always been a invisible person in the educated youth point.
Song Li also sorted out various clues again and again to confirm before she believed that the person who stole her food was actually such an "honest man"!
Well, it turns out that the barking dog never bites!
Although she had identified the person, Song Li did not make a scene immediately.
The incident with her third sister Song Ruan had caused her to fall flat on her face, but it also made her understand clearly that one should not underestimate anyone - even if that person looks like a weak fool!
Before you take action, you must think everything through carefully. Once you do so, you must pin the person to death in the mud and never give them a chance to turn over and bite you!
Even a lion uses all its strength to fight a rabbit. There is no way that Song Li will fall into the same pit a second time!
So she calmed down, pretended to know nothing, and carefully inquired and observed Zhaodi.
You wouldn't know if you didn't ask, but as an educated youth from outside the city, Zhaodi had a very good reputation among both the educated youth and the villagers - I heard that she was a poor person, her family was not well off, and she had a sickly brother who had to eat fine grains, so she worked hard every day and didn't eat much, saying that she wanted to save food to send back home. Who wouldn't say that she was a filial child when seeing this?
Song Li, who has always believed in the principle that if a man does not take care of himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth, looks down on such a fool. Ha, his name is Zhaodi, but he still cares so much about his brother. Do you want to feel sorry for his "only root"?
But she also knows that such people are now most recognized and praised by the older generation - they are honest, filial, obedient, and foolishly dedicated to supporting the family. If she were in his shoes, she would also hope to have such a daughter.
She was glad that she did not act rashly and rush up to confront and make a scene.
One is a poor guy who has a good reputation and works hard and has been with us for several years. The other is a foreigner who no one knows about not long ago. The latter said that the former stole something from him. It goes without saying who everyone will be more inclined to favor.
Even if she produced evidence, as long as her attitude was a little aggressive, and Zhaodi just admitted her mistake pitifully and said something about how difficult her life was and that was why she was bewitched, there would probably be many peacemakers who would come and advise her to forgive others if she could.
And to be honest, what Zhaodi stole were just a few meals of food, which were not very valuable. Even if she continued to pursue the matter, and Zhaodi returned the food, the punishment she would receive would not be severe, but she would easily get a reputation for being petty.
If Zhaodi had cried a few more times, perhaps her pettiness would have turned into "cruel and ruthless" - she could build a flawless reputation in a place where she was unfamiliar with the place, but would steal her food. Do you think such a person is really honest and not calculating - bah!
Ever since Song Ruan tricked her into going to the countryside, Song Li now suspects that every time she sees a blade of grass moving, it may be a demon - Song Ruan was someone she had watched grow up, and usually he looked like a simple-minded person who could be trampled upon by anyone, but when he encountered injustice, he was more ruthless than anyone else!
She said, they are all sisters who came from the same mother, so there is no reason why the third sister should be a sheep!
Song Ruan is really good at pretending! More than ten years have passed. Is she the reincarnation of Goujian, the man who slept on firewood and tasted gall? Why isn't she called Song Jian? !
After insulting Song Ruan as usual, she lay dormant for a while, allowing Zhaodi to steal her food without anyone noticing, while staring at her silently.
In other words, as soon as Zhaodi pulled out a piece of grass, she would go over to see if it was something special.
Under such an all-round and no-blind-angle surveillance, she discovered a big secret of Zhaodi - Zhaodi said that she saved the food to send back home, but actually she sold it on the black market!
Not only that, this man also secretly opened a vegetable garden on the mountain. The people here are influenced by the Dai concept and do not use manure when growing vegetables. As a result, the vegetables grown are short, small, and few in number and not enough to eat①, so Zhaodi's vegetables sell very well.
This woman doesn't look very impressive, but she probably has quite a bit of money!
Very good, she is worried about having no money.
So Song Li carefully picked a sunny afternoon when everyone was free. She pulled Zhaodi's clothes and said clearly while crying:
"Sister Zhaodi, I know your family is in financial difficulty and your brother is ill, so I tolerated your stealing of my food because I thought it was not easy for you either. But this time you stole all my money, which is too much! My family is also in financial difficulty. Everyone brings large bags when they go to the countryside, but I only brought two old clothes. I also spent a lot of money on my illness. Now you have stolen all my money. How can I live like this?"
She was also a ruthless person. At the end of her words, she knelt down heavily and said, "Sister Zhaodi, I don't want the food anymore. Just give me back the money!"
My goodness, it was noontime when she had just got off work, and she had chosen the steps facing the gate of the educated youth center. Not only did the people from the educated youth center gather around her, but even people who were rushing home to cook stopped and looked in.
Zhaodi was caught off guard and was completely stunned. Her mind went blank and she subconsciously yelled, "Who stole your money? What nonsense are you talking about!"
The people who gathered around exchanged glances subtly, but due to the unclear situation, no one spoke.
Song Li held her breath until her face turned red. She lowered her head and tears dropped to the ground. Her body was shaky and she looked very pitiful. Seeing that she was just crying and not saying anything, Zhaodi's panic gradually faded away - this girl looked like a coward, and she must have mustered all her courage to dare to question her.
"What nonsense are you talking about? When did I steal your things?"
Since she dared to go to the black market and steal things, her psychological quality was certainly not bad. She quickly adjusted herself and said loudly and righteously:
"Although I am poor, I have dignity! Everyone knows that the food I send back home is earned by working hard every day. I have never borrowed food from others, so how could I steal?"
This statement was very convincing. After all, they did not see Zhaodi stealing things with their own eyes, but they did see Zhaodi working hard every day and never borrowing food.
So one by one they spoke up:
"Is there some misunderstanding?"
"Yes, Comrade Zhaodi doesn't look like that kind of person."
"Comrade Song Li, did you make a mistake?"
Zhaodi's momentum grew stronger as everyone talked. Seeing Song Li crying and unable to speak, she thought she was frightened and felt proud:
"We have never had any problems with things getting lost in our youth camp before. We are all good comrades. Why don't you look for it again? Maybe you put it somewhere and forgot about it?"
These days, collective honor is very important. If a thief appeared in the educated youth’s site, everyone would be embarrassed.
So the onlookers nodded and followed suit:
"Indeed, our educated youth site has always been relatively peaceful."
"How about Comrade Song, you look for it again? Maybe it fell somewhere?"
Some people with thick nerves were even led to believe that Song Li was biting people randomly, but she cried miserably when she saw them, but she was too embarrassed to say it out loud.
Song Li knelt on the ground with her head down, her shoulders shaking violently amid the crowd's attempts to smooth things over. It seemed that she finally couldn't bear it anymore, and she suddenly stood up and rushed into the kitchen.
"I have evidence!"
She came out with a bag of food in each hand and untied the ropes. When she untied Zhaodi's bag, she seemed to be shaking with anger and accidentally dropped it on the ground. She staggered and picked it up and continued to untie it: "Everyone, look!"
Everyone stretched their necks, even the villagers who were watching the fun outside the door came over.
Zhaodi felt a little panicked for some reason - but all rice looked the same, and there was no name engraved on it, so how could she tell the difference?
Song Li took a few deep breaths and raised the open bag of grain: "Everyone knows that I am not well off. I brought few things with me. I was sick and did less work. I was afraid that there would not be enough food, so I added some flour made from corn cores. I didn't tell anyone because I was afraid of being laughed at."
At this point, her face turned red with embarrassment, and tears flowed down her face sadly: "Sister Zhaodi, although you are also in trouble, you work hard and get a lot of food, and the remaining food has to be sent to your brother, so you definitely won't mix corn core powder into it, right?"
"Ah, are there still people eating corn kernel powder? Isn't that something used to feed pigs?"
"It's not good to feed pigs. If you add too much pig grass, the pigs won't be happy to eat it."
"I've definitely never seen Zhaodi eat this."
"It can't be added. She took the leftovers to the commune and sent them to her brother, not keeping them separately. If corn flour was added, would her brother, who can't even eat whole grains, still be able to eat it?"
"I've seen Zhaodi's grain bag. There was nothing else in it."
As everyone was talking, they subconsciously observed carefully:
Sure enough, the white rice in the bag with Song Li's name on it was mixed with mostly yellow powder. The bag with Zhao Di's name on it looked like all white rice at first glance, but if you looked closely you could see that part of the rice was covered with a slightly yellow layer. It was just because the amount was small and it was shaken and mixed with the larger amount of normal rice, so it didn't look obvious.
"And if you add corn flour like I do, no matter how much, the rice will be dyed yellow. There will also be a layer of flour on the edge of the bag, but you don't. In your grain bag, there is a layer of yellow-gray rice mixed in the middle of the white rice, and the rice next to it is still white and clean. Tell me how you can mix it like this?"
That makes a lot of sense.
Everyone looked at each other, and their suspicious eyes fell on Zhaodi.
Zhaodi's heart suddenly skipped a beat - this was never the case when she stole Song Li's food! Song Li's food is just as clean and pure as everyone else's, without any impurities! She is not a fool, how could she leave such a big handle for herself?
She murmured that it was impossible and hurried over. She saw that Song Li's grain bag was indeed filled with a thick layer of yellow corn core powder. She was stunned - it was not like this when she took it last night!
Her dazed eyes fell back on Song Li, and she caught a glimpse of the smile that flashed across the corner of her mouth, and suddenly realized - it was this woman who was behind this!
"You...!" She wanted to ask angrily, but was suppressed by Song Li's raised voice:
"Sister Zhaodi, the food is fine, but you really have to return the money to me! My house was robbed when I went to the countryside, and I didn't have time to prepare any luggage. This is the 60 yuan my parents borrowed from the neighbors to let me bring to prepare supplies. Not to mention anything else, I haven't even prepared a cotton coat yet, I will freeze to death in winter!"
"sixty!"
The onlookers all exclaimed in amazement, especially the villagers who were watching the excitement outside, their eyes widened - what a huge sum of money, enough to build a small bamboo house!
Someone immediately said, "Zhao Di, please return the money to them as soon as possible."
"Yes, such a large sum of money is equivalent to a whole family's harvest in a good year. I can't feel at ease with it!"
"Zhao Di, even if you are poor, your spirit is not poor."
The onlookers all began to persuade Zhaodi.
Zhaodi's face turned dark - she only took some of Song Li's food, but when did she steal her money?
Then she saw Song Li, who had her back to the crowd, looked up and slowly smiled at her.
Zhaodi:? ? ? ?
Zhaodi:! ! ! !
How could she have attracted such a poisonous snake? This little bitch looked timid, but actually she was full of bad intentions!
She was no pushover and wanted to expose the true face of this little bitch right then and there.
Then she saw Song Li mouthed the word "black market" towards her, and she stood there as if a basin of cold water had been poured over her.
This little bitch is following her! How much does she know?
I was surprised again when I saw her mouth the word "mountain".
Her behavior can be defined as digging into the country's territory without having to be strictly scrutinized.
There is also the land she has opened up on the mountain. If this little bitch goes crazy and brings the villagers up there, she might be able to get away with it by refusing to admit it, but what if this little bitch directly searches her things?
She couldn't tell where the money came from!
Everyone knows that her family is extremely poor and she has to send money and food to them. Where does she get so much money?
Her eyes flickered darkly, and after weighing the pros and cons for a long time, she finally decided to sacrifice the small for the big and pay the hush money, and lowered her head reluctantly.
"I'm sorry," she said flexibly, "I'll give you the money back."
This little bitch, wait till she finishes cleaning up her mess!
Zhaodi's eyes were grim.
Careless!
Song Li felt a little regretful. He agreed so readily. This guy must have some money in his hands. She should ask for more!
But she was just thinking about it. In fact, sixty yuan was the result of her careful thinking. This sixty yuan had to be made known to everyone. The amount was just right. It was three months' salary for a city dweller, and a countryman could earn it in a year if he gritted his teeth.
People will be amazed at how much her parents love her and will be envious, but they won't be so jealous as to resort to underhanded tactics to plot against her.
However, once she gets the money, she will spend it on buying supplies and will not keep it in her hands for long.
After all, for a single woman from outside the country, it is never too careful.
She took the money from Zhaodi and wiped her tears: "Thank you, Comrade Zhaodi. My house was robbed and my parents gave me this money so that I could exchange it for more food to send back. If you don't return it to me, my family will run out of food."
The discussions around were even louder.
"I was wondering, who would ask a girl for so much money? Turns out she's going to help buy food for the family."
"Alas, this girl is also difficult."
"Zhao Di didn't do this well."
"That's right, I trusted her so much before."
This little bitch is taking advantage of me and still acting like a good kid!
Zhaodi almost fainted from suffocation.
But she was also perceptive, and she felt that the eyes of the people around her were gradually becoming unfriendly. She knew that if she didn't handle this matter well, not to mention her future situation, she would be caught and made an example of.
He knelt on the ground without hesitation, tears streaming down his face, "I'm sorry, Comrade Song! But, but I really have no choice. My brother has recently fallen seriously ill, and all the money in the family has been spent on him and it's still not enough. I, I can't watch my brother die of illness. I was just bewildered for a moment..."
She burst into tears and kowtowed while crying: "I really know I was wrong, Comrade Song, please forgive me! I will return you double the food!"
You are the only one who can kneel! I will kowtow!
In this day and age, people wouldn’t dare curse their family members like this. In addition, they had always heard that Zhaodi’s brother was in poor health, so it was reasonable for him to suddenly become seriously ill. Everyone believed it:
Then he turned around and began to persuade Song Li:
"Song Li, Zhaodi was forced into a desperate situation. Please forgive her."
"Yes, give her a chance. It's not easy for everyone to gather here from all over the world!"
"Forgive others when you can."
Looking at these fence-sitters who are swayed by the wind, Song Li sneered in her heart. Anyway, it was not their interests that were harmed, so of course they could talk without any pain. If her sixty yuan had really been stolen, she would probably be furious now.
But her money wasn't stolen; she picked it up for free.
So she generously pulled the person up and said, "I know Sister Zhaodi was just confused for a moment. I am willing to give her a chance."
Zhaodi wanted to skin her alive, but she had to pretend to be grateful and tearful: "Thank you, thank you, I will learn from this. If I steal money again, my whole family will be killed! I will be struck by lightning!"
In this way, Song Li obtained her first sum of money, purchased the necessary daily luggage and supplies, and gained a good reputation for being tolerant and kind.
As for why she let Zhaodi go, she curled the corners of her mouth.
There was no name written on the land on the mountain, so even if she brought people up to check, she couldn't be sure that it was Zhaodi who opened it. Just wait and see. The vegetable patch is producing a good harvest. Zhaodi will definitely not want to throw it away, but she has no reason to take it back. The vegetables cannot be stored for long, and she will probably take the risk of going to the black market.
She would wait until she was in the middle of a transaction and then pin the person to death!
As for the sixty dollars for keeping quiet?
What hush money? This is the money that was stolen from her!
After dealing with things here, she began to think about what to do next.
Sixty yuan may seem like a lot, but she had no quilt or cotton-padded clothes, and after buying herself some, she only had twenty yuan left. Add the ten yuan left from the medical treatment, and she had thirty yuan left in her hand.
What can you do with thirty dollars? It’s not even enough to buy a piece of bra in the city!
Although she wanted to live an easy life, she didn't plan to get married - mainly because even if she married a bunch of peasants here, she wouldn't be able to live a good life, so she had to continue to make money.
Where does the money come from?
Song’s father and mother?
Forget it.
If the family was well-off, perhaps after a year or two they might send her some rags for the sake of their reputation. But now even the wall paper at home had been taken away by thieves. How could they possibly send her things when they were starving?
Love her?
They seemed to be treating her well and even gave her twenty dollars. That was only because her house had been robbed and everyone saw that she had no luggage, so these two people had to lend her the money for the sake of their dignity.
Of these two, the one who truly loves her is her younger brother Song Jiabao, who is as stupid as a pig but has a lot of fat under his crotch. He seems to treat her well on weekdays, but he just has more food than Song Ruan. He doesn't have to do any work because Song Ruan does it all. If Song Ruan is not around, she will have to do the work.
That’s right—Song Ruan!
She suddenly sat up from the bed. Song Ruan sold her job, so she had money!
More than 500 yuan, can she spend it all? Shouldn’t she support her elder sister?
Yes, she secretly signed up for Song Ruan, but didn’t she get revenge? Isn’t this even?
How can there be any overnight grudge between sisters?
She quickly pulled out a piece of paper and wrote with divine inspiration. If she didn't want it, would Song's father and mother not want it? Bah, I’m afraid the letter has already arrived!
It’s better to give it to her than to those two old guys!
But she didn't dare to treat Song Ruan as a fool now - money is no small matter - she estimated that Song's father and mother must have gone straight to Song Ruan to ask for money. As an elder sister who had a conflict with Song Ruan, she would probably not get a response if she did the same, so she had to take it slow.
Song Ruan finally finished reading the letter, and she was completely numb - it was eight pages long. Song Li was really good at writing. Did she have a typewriter in her hands?
To sum up, there are only two things.
First, she talked about how difficult her life in the countryside was. In the midst of hardship, she realized how reckless and immature it was to sign her up to go to the countryside without permission, and how much harm it would cause her. She has now regretted it. He said he wasn't asking for her forgiveness, but just wanted to do his best to compensate her. But because of my lack of ability and lack of earnings, I will work harder in the future.
The second is to share with her some interesting stories about the border area of Yunnan Province, to encourage her to stay optimistic in her life in the countryside, not to give up, and to say that as a girl, she should pay attention to safety.
The writing is so good, the apology is so sincere, the concern is so gentle, the instructions are so detailed, and there is not a single mention of money in the whole article, as if it is really a repentant sister compensating her younger sister for her guilt.
Don't believe it.
However, Song Ruan did not throw this letter into the stove like the one sent by Song's father and mother, but found a place to put it away.
Of course I didn't want to commemorate it, but mainly because Song Li's apology in the letter was also her personal admission of the fact that she had tricked her into going to the countryside. I'd better keep it for now, in case it might come in handy in the future.
She soon put the letter out of her mind.
Her life was very peaceful after that, mainly because she was fighting four new educated youths, which added another layer of bloodiness to her already fierce reputation. No one dared to seek death with her. Even the young men in the village began to respectfully call her "Sister Song" when they saw her, and even dogs bowed and scraped.
That's so majestic!
That day, she and Han Zhenzhen were distributing honeysuckle water on the school playground.
This was her new, easy job. Every morning she would go up the mountain to look for some honeysuckle, dandelions and plantain - picking whatever she came across, then washing them by the river. She would then divide them into two parts, boil a large bucket in the morning and a large bucket in the afternoon, and then pick them out to share with the people who were building the school.
She can fool people - mainly because the system's database is very comprehensive, and she can list a lot of benefits of any herb she picks, and she makes it sound so magical that it seems as if drinking it can turn you into a dragon and plow ten miles of land.
Han Zhenzhen was rich, so she would put some sugar in the drink at her own expense every time, so everyone was more satisfied when drinking it and praised them again and again.
So even though their work is visibly easy, no one wants to snatch it away - pulling those herbs is easy, but adding sugar out of your own pocket every day, my goodness, who can stand that?
Such a big bucket of water tastes quite sweet when you drink it. How much sugar must be put in it? Only these two educated youth with a lot of money and money would be willing to do it.
It can be said that the sugar added to the soup has become both their main competitive advantage and a threshold.
In fact, Han Zhenzhen only put in three spoonfuls of sugar. As for why the sweetness is so obvious, it is because some herbs have some sweetness to begin with, and secondly, Song Ruan added a little juice from the sweet stalk. In addition, there is less sweetness these days, especially in rural areas where supplies are more scarce. People generally save good things like sugar for the elderly and children, so it tastes extra sweet.
——Originally, she wanted to honestly put in five or six spoons of sugar. After all, it was nothing to her. As long as she could be lazy, she would be happy to spend a little more money, but she was stopped by Song Ruan.
"We have to cook two large buckets a day, so we should save money where we can."
Han Zhenzhen lay contentedly on the edge of the field. She felt the gentle wind and the blue sky, and she felt so happy that she seemed to be taking off.
Wow, life is so easy nowadays. I can boil two pots of water every day and rest for the rest of the time - it's better than working hard to pull grass and repair the school.
Thank you Songruan!
She will go to the commune in a few days to write a letter to her father and ask him to send her more money!
Just when he was living a peaceful life, he suddenly saw Er Laizi running towards him in a hurry. The only remaining hair of Er Laizi was swaying in the air, and one of his shoes was missing.
"Captain, Captain!" Er Laizi didn't even have time to catch his breath, and he shouted with his hands, "The pig that was lost in our team was stolen from Zhoujiatun next door!"
"What?!!!"
The villagers who were sitting on the ground at the edge of the field and drinking honeysuckle water suddenly stood up.
At that time, the pigpen collapsed and nine out of ten pigs ran away. Although only eight were found later, because Song Ruan killed an extra wild boar, the total number of pigs was still ten. Moreover, the wild boar's meat was divided on the spot, so although everyone felt sorry for the lost pig, they could still accept it.
But as the wild boar meat was eaten, everyone's heartache and nostalgia for the lost pig began to grow day by day. After all, they just didn't lose anything now, but if the pig hadn't been lost, it would be like they had picked up the wild boar meat for free!
——People are always dissatisfied.
Pork is so precious nowadays that they can only eat a few kilograms throughout the year!
That's a whole head!
Now they heard that it was their mortal enemy Zhoujiatun who stole it, and their faces turned red.
"Really? I went to the pagoda to play cards today... I heard it when I passed by the toilet at the entrance of their village. I even went to their pigpen to take a look, and there was one extra pig!"
Er Laizi swore to heaven and earth, and his eyes turned red with anger.
Although he is a lazy guy who doesn't like to work, he loves pork!
Not to mention the collective sense of responsibility in the village.
"Fuck Zhoujiatun! They stole our pigs!"
"I told you they are not good people!"
"We can't afford to suffer this loss!"
"Captain, we have to get the pig back!"
"Yes, we have to take it back!"
Mother Sun was the most excited - she had always been the one taking advantage of others, but now someone was taking advantage of her? That's meat! Meat!
"The Zhoujiatun Brigade, with their black hearts and lazy intestines and pus on their heads and sores on their feet, are taking advantage of me. I fuck your mother and steal our flesh," she jumped up and down, suddenly bent down and picked up a long pole used for wood from the ground. "They are looking for death by jumping into the oil pan. I will fight them!"
"Yes, let's fight them! Do they really think that the people from our Dongfeng Squadron are easy to bully?"
Aunt Liu also had a cold face.
Xu Daya's teeth have all been retracted.
The always smiling captain also had a gloomy face and raised his voice: "Everyone grab some weapons and let's go and have a good talk with Zhoujiatun! Lao Wang and I will go and harness the ox cart!"
At that time, everyone was indignant. Some took hoes, some took sticks, and some took shovels. The playground was in full swing with pre-war preparations.
Song Ruan looked around and also dragged a long wooden stick.
"You little girl, don't go..." The captain subconsciously wanted to persuade her, but suddenly remembered Song Ruan's fighting power and shut up.
This is a powerful weapon, you must carry it with you.
It was the first time that Han Zhenzhen saw such a scene, and she was rubbing her hands eagerly.
"Don't go. If a fight breaks out, I won't be able to take care of you."
This is indeed useless, the captain said without hesitation.
"Ah?" Han Zhenzhen was very disappointed, but she also knew the importance of the matter and did not insist on going.
The captain waved his hand suddenly: "Go!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
