At noon, Ren Fei returned to Qingshan Village and called Xie Yuyao and Yang Shumei to the front yard. She told them that she had been transferred to the county "Revolutionary" Committee and would be moving away that afternoon. She told them that if they needed anything, they could go to the county to find her.
During this time, Ren Fei's gaze kept falling on Ren Fei and Yang Shumei, wondering if they had mentioned Jiang Yan when they returned.
In fact, Xie Yuyao and Yang Shumei didn't have time to say it. When they returned, the educated youth team hadn't finished work yet, and the two planned to talk about it after dinner.
Now that Ren Fei had just announced her destination, everyone's expressions turned sour. Li Weidong frowned and asked, "Why would you want to go to that unit?"
"I think it's great. So many people want to go but can't," Ren Fei said with a smile. She genuinely thought it was wonderful; with power in her hands, she could better promote the spirit and contribute to the country.
Since they couldn't agree on anything, the educated youth could only offer a simple congratulation.
Afterwards, Xie Yuyao and Yang Shumei planned to leave.
"Wait a minute!" Ren Fei called out to the two of them, "Let me tell you about Jiang Yan."
Xie Yuyao and Ren Fei had witnessed what happened in the county town, and it was no longer possible to hide it. Ren Fei, however, believed she hadn't done anything wrong and had no intention of concealing it.
Through her account, everyone learned that Jiang Yan had hooked up with Director Chen of the Cultural Palace and become his mistress, which allowed her, despite her mediocre talent, to successfully enter the performing arts troupe.
Afterwards, the two had multiple secret trysts, which were discovered and told to Director Chen's wife, who worked in the Revolutionary Committee.
On a dark night, Director Chen's wife caught Jiang Yan in bed with another man in her rented room. In order to extricate herself, Jiang Yan claimed that she was forced into it and that Director Chen used his position to coerce her.
Director Chen was so angry that he slapped Jiang Yan hard. It was clearly Jiang Yan who seduced him; he just couldn't control his lower body and made a mistake that all men make.
Her daughter-in-law abused her position to directly convict Jiang Yan of adultery, making her a target of public condemnation.
Director Chen, on the other hand, lost a considerable amount of his family fortune and was punished by being forced to step down, thus avoiding imprisonment.
Ren Fei ultimately couldn't admit that she was the one who reported it. She successfully entered the city and became a Red Armband activist. She would soon sever ties with Qingshantun, so there was no need to say so much.
Even without her saying it outright, the timing of her job clearly shows that she had cornered Jiang Yan.
However, given Jiang Yan's prior scheming and plotting, Ren Fei's revenge is understandable.
It can only be said that Heaven is watching what people do; retribution may be delayed, but it will come eventually.
A few days later, news reached Qingshantun that Jiang Yan had been criticized and struggled against, and that she had gone insane due to the pressure.
The brigade leader and Party Secretary Liu softened their hearts and personally approached the commune leaders and the educated youth office, proposing to send Jiang Yan back to the city.
After receiving a positive reply, the two took Jiang Yan back to Qingshan Village and first went to the health center for a check-up.
When Xie Yuyao and her two companions, who were learning from Elder Sun at the clinic, saw her, they couldn't help but take a deep breath.
The remaining half of her hair was disheveled and messy, her clothes were dirty and unkempt, and she held a small stone in her hand. Sometimes she would laugh blankly, and sometimes she would mutter words that no one could understand. She really looked like she had gone mad.
Upon entering the clinic, the team leader asked Old Sun for help, but Jiang Yan just smiled foolishly and refused to cooperate.
Xie Yuyao saw through the deception; she was indeed faking madness.
The brigade leader, who had been eating salt for decades, said coldly, "If you don't cooperate, don't even think about going home. You'll be confined to the solitary confinement cell in Qingshan Village for life."
Jiang Yan stiffened, looked at the people from the clinic, and finally pointed her finger at Xie Yuyao.
After taking her pulse, Xie Yuyao prescribed some common tonics and told the team leader that Jiang Yan had hysteria.
Rather than letting Jiang Yan stay in Qingshantun, Xie Yuyao would rather send her back to her hometown to avoid any future trouble.
To make the act convincing, the brigade leader locked her in solitary confinement to prevent this "madwoman" from causing trouble, and said her family would come to pick her up in a few days.
However, as the days went by, Jiang Yan's family still did not show up. When they first contacted them, they said they would leave immediately, but later they said that an emergency had held them back. Finally, they simply said, "She is an adult. Her family has done more than enough to raise her. She has done something that has disgraced the family. She has been expelled from the family and her life and death are no longer our concern."
It seems that Jiang Yan's family knew her true nature very well, guessed that she was faking her madness, and completely gave up on her.
Upon learning this, Jiang Yan wailed in anguish, wishing she could drag her entire family down with her.
After being imprisoned for half a month, she couldn't take it anymore and begged the brigade leader to release her. She said she would work hard and accept labor reform, and she would accept ideological education. She asked him to give her a way to survive.
But the captain had already given her a chance, and she didn't stay quiet for long before starting to harm people again. How could he still believe in crocodile tears?
But putting her in solitary confinement is not a long-term solution, as the brigade headquarters does not have enough food to feed her.
The brigade leader then communicated with the commune and arranged for her to be sent to a farm with someone in charge.
Upon learning of this arrangement, Jiang Yan requested to stay another night at the educated youth compound to say a proper goodbye to the other educated youth before packing her bags and departing the next morning.
The captain agreed.
After receiving the news, Li Weidong specially went to the commune's black market to buy a wild rabbit and asked Wu Lihong to prepare a rather sumptuous dinner. He then invited Xie Yuyao and Yang Shumei to come and eat together, as a farewell dinner for Jiang Yan.
To be honest, Xie Yuyao didn't have much of a relationship with her, but Yang Shumei had spent several years with her and wanted to visit her, so Xie Yuyao went along.
During the meal, Jiang Yan bought several bottles of liquor from the supply and marketing cooperative and filled all the educated youth's glasses. Then she drank one glass after another, filling the table with drinks, either apologizing or thanking them, showing her sincerity.
The educated youths, though embarrassed, still drank with her. Even Yang Shumei was forced to drink a whole glass.
Only Xie Yuyao and Yu Wenbo watched coldly. Yu Wenbo refused from the start, citing his illness as the reason. Xie Yuyao, however, ignored Jiang Yan's sweet talk and all the nice words, refusing to drink. She poured out the baijiu, replaced it with warm water, raised her glass as a gesture, and drank it all in one gulp.
Jiang Yan gritted her teeth in hatred, her face contorted as she forced a smile and toasted with the other educated youth.
She, who didn't have a high alcohol tolerance to begin with, soon got drunk and passed out. The others took her back to the women's dormitory, and the other female educated youths who weren't good at drinking also went back to their rooms to rest, feeling dizzy and unwell.
The male educated youth were alright; they were far from getting drunk.
Xie Yuyao helped Yang Shumei, who was feeling a little dizzy, and prepared to go back to the backyard. "Li Weidong, can you hold up a flashlight for me?"
Upon hearing this, Li Weidong immediately found a flashlight and escorted the two back to the backyard.
Upon arriving at the backyard, Xie Yuyao asked Li Weidong to sit in the main room for a while, while she helped Yang Shumei back to her room.
After settling Yang Shumei in, Xie Yuyao looked at Li Weidong with a deep gaze: "What do you think?"
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