After leaving the brigade leader's house, Yu's mother and son Yu Wenbo went to Secretary Liu and Xie Yuyao's houses to express their gratitude.
In the days that followed, Yu Wenbo began to handle the relevant procedures, waiting for the day when he could register for the new semester.
Just when everyone thought the dust had settled and was congratulating Yu Wenbo, a storm swept in.
That morning, Xie Yuyao was inspecting medicinal herbs at the clinic that were about to be sent to the provincial capital when Wu Lihong rushed over in a panic, her breath coming in short gasps. "Yaoyao, something bad has happened! Several people from the county have come, saying they received a tip-off and that Yu Wenbo is suspected of bribery again. They're gathering everyone at the educated youth compound for questioning."
That's utter nonsense! They're dirt poor, where would they get the money to bribe someone? Besides, they don't have the connections!
Xie Yuyao's heart sank. Before she could speak, her mother, who was working, heard this and said anxiously, "Yaoyao, I'll go too! I don't know which heartless person slandered my Wenbo. Don't they know we don't have any extra money to give as bribes!"
“Aunt Yu, don’t worry. Everything needs evidence. We’re innocent, so we have nothing to fear. I see you can’t stay here any longer. Why don’t you go to your place and wait? Tell Uncle not to worry. I’ll go see what’s going on.”
Knowing that she was too agitated and might not be able to explain herself clearly, and that she might offend the investigators, Yu's mother listened to Xie Yuyao, handed over her work to her colleagues, and hurriedly rushed back to her residence.
Xie Yuyao walked into the educated youth compound and saw a large group of people gathered in the main hall of the front yard. In the middle of the hall sat three unfamiliar faces, who were sharply interrogating Yu Wenbo.
The brigade leader and Party Secretary Liu stood solemnly by his side, surrounded by all the educated youth from Qingshan Village.
Yu Wenbo's face was pale, and he was sweating profusely. With his thin frame, he looked like a paper doll as he hurriedly explained something.
Seeing that the group's gaze had shifted to behind him, Yu Wenbo turned around, his anxious and fearful eyes fixed on Xie Yuyao.
The glimmer of hope that had just begun to rise in her heart was quickly extinguished. This matter had implicated the brigade leader, Party Secretary Liu, and other relevant officials of the commune; why drag her into it as well?
Seeing the change in his eyes, Xie Yuyao could roughly guess his thought process and nodded reassuringly at him.
When Su Xingguo, who was in charge, saw Xie Yuyao, a glint flashed in his eyes: "You are Xie Yuyao?"
"It's me." Xie Yuyao nodded with a slight smile.
Su Xingguo visibly softened his attitude: "I've heard of you. Why don't you apply to the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University? With your abilities and contributions, this spot is rightfully yours."
"Thank you for your appreciation, Director Su. I'm currently studying medicine and herbs, and I've just gotten to the basics. I don't want to give up halfway," Xie Yuyao explained with a light smile.
"That's fine. If you want to pursue further studies later, you'll still have the opportunity." Su Xingguo's words clearly showed that he was on Xie Yuyao's side.
Xie Yuyao was grateful. Seeing his gentle attitude, she tentatively asked, "Director Su, I've heard that every time the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' University recruits students, there are always unscrupulous people who try to oust others so they can take their place. Besides bribery, what exactly is being attacked in this accusation against Yu Wenbo?"
Su Xingguo gave her an approving look. If it were just a report of bribery, without real evidence, no one could easily change the commune's decision on the number of students to attend school.
He stopped hiding it and said frankly, "My health condition."
Upon hearing this, Yu Wenbo froze, and the other educated youths also changed their expressions.
“I am now a health worker at the Qingshantun Medical Clinic. I have been taking care of his health ever since he returned to Qingshantun from the county hospital,” Xie Yuyao said seriously. “I am very sure that his health is recovering rapidly and will not cause any obstacles to his studies. If you have any concerns, you can have him go to the county hospital to have Dr. Huo, who was the attending physician at the time, examine him again.”
Upon hearing this, Su Xingguo looked up at Yu Wenbo and frowned slightly: Is he really alright, given his swaying appearance?
But remembering his superior's instructions before he left, he suppressed his thoughts and said, "Then let Yu Wenbo go to the county hospital for a check-up tomorrow and get a medical certificate."
If anyone criticizes them, they can simply deflect the criticism to the hospital.
Yu Wenbo quickly agreed.
With the crisis largely resolved, Su Xingguo still had to go through the motions. He verified the authenticity of Yu Wenbo's recommendation materials with everyone, learned that Yu Wenbo was a hardworking and responsible young man, and confirmed that he had neither the ability nor the evidence to bribe him, so he let him off lightly.
The matter was settled, and Xie Yuyao invited the three of them to lunch in the backyard, but Su Xingguo declined to avoid suspicion, since they had gone to the countryside to investigate educated youth, and Xie Yuyao was also a member of the educated youth team.
Finally, the brigade leader and Party Secretary Liu warmly invited them to have dinner at Party Secretary Liu's house. Xie Yuyao accompanied them and treated them well before seeing them off.
As he was leaving, Su Xingguo stood by the car and asked, "Please give my regards to Comrade Zhao Honghui when he returns."
"Definitely." Xie Yuyao's eyes flashed, and she nodded with a smile.
After the car drove away, Party Secretary Liu sighed, "Fortunately, we had Honghui's connections, otherwise this matter would have been in serious trouble."
Xie Yuyao lowered her eyes and remained silent. Zhao Honghui's detailed instructions before leaving were still fresh in her mind. She never expected that they would actually come in handy.
She wasn't naive enough to think that if the people from above couldn't gather evidence, they couldn't do anything to Yu Wenbo. If she really wanted to bring him down, she had plenty of ways to do it.
Thinking of the person far away, Xie Yuyao felt a pang of sadness, hoping that everything was going well for him.
Let's go back a few tens of minutes.
After the people from the county town and the brigade leader left the educated youth compound, the educated youth breathed a sigh of relief.
"I don't know who reported it, but they actually tried to steal a spot from our Qingshantun educated youth team," Bei Xiao said quickly.
He Wenyao quickly chimed in, "That's right, they're really malicious. I heard that two production brigades didn't get any educated youth elected, it's very likely they're behind it."
Many of the educated youth looked at him with meaningful glances.
"Why are you looking at me? I didn't do this, you have to believe me!" He Wenyao was anxious. As one of only two educated youths from Qingshantun to sign up, if Yu Wenbo failed to be selected, he had a high chance of taking the position.
But honestly, he really didn't do that!
He's not stupid; even if he manages to bring Yu Wenbo down, he's not 100% sure he'll be elected.
Moreover, most of the educated youth were looking forward to future policy changes, and he also wanted to take a chance and earn a higher platform.
Seeing that he showed no sign of guilt despite his anxiety, the educated youth who knew his level of experience laughed it off.
After He Wenyao was calmed down, he said with emotion, "I didn't expect Xie Zhiqing's good reputation to spread to the county town. Without her, this matter would have been difficult to handle. Yu Wenbo, you should thank her properly."
"I will." Yu Wenbo, still shaken, sat down to calm himself, and Wu Lihong poured him a cup of hot water.
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