Chapter 83: Drinking Pesticides
The delegation came and left quickly. Mr. Yang only wandered around the yard where Ye Qing lived, the Zhuquan cowshed he was currently in charge of, and the health station that was about to be built in the village. After that, he left in a hurry without any further delay. During the whole process, he hardly even disturbed the group of villagers who were watching the movie in the village.
Only Hang Tingfang stayed.
She also had a mission, which was to interview Ye Qing again regarding this opium powder case.
However, considering the nature of this case, if it were published in the Jicheng Daily, it might cause unwarranted speculation and panic among the people, so this report could only be published in an internal newspaper.
Hearing that what was going to be published might be an internal report, Ye Qing was surprised and terrified. Fortunately, Hang Tingfang comforted her:
"Don't worry, this report is not led by you. It is published in the internal newspaper mainly to serve as a warning to the leaders of various units, so that they know that imperialism is still determined to destroy us. We cannot relax our vigilance just because we are in a peaceful era. The war of gunpowder is indeed over, but the war without gunpowder has never stopped! If we relax a little, capitalism will infiltrate every industry and every corner!"
Only then did Ye Qing relax.
She knew Hang Tingfang relatively well and had dealt with him many times, so she was accustomed to Hang Tingfang's interview style. Basically, she answered whatever was asked, openly and truthfully, neither avoiding questions nor pretending.
Hang Tingfang was very satisfied with Ye Qing's state. Even though the questions she asked were sometimes sharp and pointed, Ye Qing was quick to respond. Sometimes she could even make a few humorous jokes, which made the whole interview process not too tense and boring.
In general, Hang Tingfang believes that among the various interviewees she has met over the years, Ye Qing is a relatively special one.
This girl has her own ideas, is good at speaking and has interesting insights, and her thinking is a bit eccentric. Sometimes Hang Tingfang can't even keep up with her pace and will be led by Ye Qing by the nose without realizing it.
This discovery surprised Hang Tingfang because she has been working in the journalism industry for more than ten years. She was the one who set the pace and tone in all kinds of interviews, with her as the interviewer being the leader. This was the first time she encountered someone who took the lead and led her astray.
The key point is this behavior of taking the initiative. Ye Qing did not do it on purpose, but did it completely unconsciously.
So when the interview was over, Ye Qing looked relaxed, but Hang Tingfang was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.
Holding the densely packed record in his hand, Hang Tingfang looked at Ye Qing deeply and commented very pertinently:
"If you had chosen to be a journalist instead of a village doctor, you would have become a star in the news industry in no time, leaving us, the old guard, dead on the beach!"
Ye Qing shrugged his shoulders: "You think too highly of me. Not everyone can get into your field. Apart from other things, the time-limited writing alone is enough to make me drink a bottle of wine!"
As she spoke, Ye Qing pointed at her desk and helplessly pulled a handful of hair from her forehead.
"During this period, I have also tried to write in my free time, but in a week, I have not been able to write a few words. It is too difficult to write an article."
Hang Tingfang had already heard Ye Qing's "The Adventures of the Smart Family" at the sunbathing ground that night, so she thought that the writing Ye Qing was talking about referred to this series of children's stories. She couldn't help laughing and wanted to say that children's reading is difficult to grasp. It must be full of childlike fun and have educational significance. The issue of scale control can stump many people.
As a result, before she could even open her mouth, her eyes were attracted by the manuscripts on Ye Qing's desk.
"'Beginning of Autumn'? Is this the prose you wrote?"
Seeing only two words on the first page of the manuscript, Hang Tingfang was stunned for a moment. He thought Ye Qing was writing an essay about his time in the countryside, so he subconsciously picked up the manuscript and opened it.
But when he read the first chapter, Hang Tingfang was stunned.
This is actually a novel, and a female novel with Li Qiu as the first-person perspective.
[Li Qiu pushed open the window, just like pushing open the cage that shackled her, and jumped out resolutely.
Ever since her eldest sister was beaten by her husband, her second sister was tortured into miscarriage by her in-laws, and she was arranged into a marriage by her parents and sold to a lame old bachelor with a high bride price, she has wanted to do just that!
Fuck accepting her fate! Why should she accept her fate? Her own destiny can only be controlled by herself!
The people who were celebrating and preparing to have a feast behind them seemed to notice that the bride had run away, and someone immediately chased after her.
But Li Qiu ran forward desperately, not looking back once.
When seeing this passage, Hang Tingfang's eyes suddenly turned red.
The story ends here, and when you turn the page, all that's left is blank paper.
Hang Tingfang immediately raised his head and asked anxiously:
"What's next? Did Li Qiu escape from marriage successfully? What will happen to her next?"
She had unknowingly finished reading the manuscript of 30,000 to 40,000 words, but the more she read, the more she couldn't stop, and she wanted to know the sequel immediately.
Ye Qing smiled bitterly: "Sister Hang, I have tried my best. I am not a professional in this field. The things in your hand are all written by me during this period of time, word by word, by staying up late at night."
Hang Tingfang was at a loss when she heard this, knowing that Ye Qing would definitely not give her any spoilers. However, she was still not satisfied with the story and was quite excited. She took Ye Qing's manuscript and turned back to the first chapter. This time she read it more carefully and discovered that Ye Qing had laid a lot of groundwork in the previous chapters.
"Your name is well chosen, Li Qiu, which is a pun and worth savoring. The story is also well written. This is the first time I have seen a rural girl's life situation described from a female perspective. I am looking forward to seeing Li Qiu truly stand up and live for herself!"
Hang Tingfang made a very objective assessment, and then she asked Ye Qing:
"Have you ever considered submitting your article to a newspaper?"
Ye Qing was a little nervous.
She didn't know much about the media and newspapers of that era. She only knew roughly that there was no such thing as royalties during that period. Writing articles and submitting them was purely out of love. It was an honor for the author to have his or her article published in a newspaper, but there was absolutely no royalties.
But her purpose in writing this novel was not to earn royalties, but simply to inspire those women who suffered and accepted adversity and to provide them with some inspiration in their confused lives.
But such novels are undoubtedly an alternative in this era. It is estimated that not every newspaper has the courage to accept the ideas and signals conveyed by her novel, so choosing suitable newspapers and magazines becomes particularly important.
Ye Qing’s only connection in this regard is Hang Tingfang.
"This is a novel for women. Are there any newspapers or magazines specifically for women?"
Hang Tingfang was stunned, then she shook her head slowly:
"No, there is no newspaper or publication in the country for the time being. If you really want to publish your idea, my suggestion is that you submit it directly to Youth Daily."
"The tone of Jicheng Daily is different from the style of your article. It will definitely not pass the review. But it is different for Youth Daily. The readers are mainly young people. And the ideas and concepts conveyed by your novel can also resonate with young people."
Hang Tingfang couldn't help but add,
"I have a classmate who is an editor at Youth Daily. If you think it's suitable, I can help you take your manuscript to her for review. If she thinks this novel is feasible, I will let her contact you."
That couldn't be better!
Ye Qing was suddenly a little excited, but she quickly restrained herself.
Don't be too happy now, otherwise it will be a joke if your manuscript is rejected.
After finishing "Beginning of Autumn", Hang Tingfang flipped through the other manuscripts on the table. Unexpectedly, she got the short popular science article on the topic of women's health that Meng Jia had handed in during the day.
Ever since Ye Qing gave Meng Jia suggestions, she began to rewrite those short essays according to Ye Qing's ideas. Ye Qing took some time to read them during the day and felt that they were much better than the previous stiff and rigid popular science.
However, although she had been able to explain things very clearly when giving Meng Jia advice on articles before, she was still a little nervous when she saw Hang Tingfang pick up these short science stories and read them.
After reading these articles, Hang Tingfang fell silent, which was unusual for him.
This made Ye Qing even more nervous, and he thought that these articles had accidentally violated a taboo somewhere.
After a while, Hang Tingfang suddenly raised his head and asked Ye Qing out of the blue:
"Do you think our country should have a publication specifically for women to read?"
Ye Qing: “Ah?”
Hang Tingfang had a complicated expression: "Before the founding of New China, we had the Women's Federation. After the founding of New China, we had the Marriage Law. So why did the reading needs of lesbians be completely ignored in newspapers and magazines?"
"This women's health topic, whether it's the creative ideas or the content, is very good, but as far as the current domestic media magazines are concerned, none of them is suitable to publish such content!"
This made Hang Tingfang very confused and regretful. She had always been a reporter and editor-in-chief, but before that, she had been fighting for various resources and opportunities among men, and she was also used to the newspaper articles being mainly aimed at men.
But at this moment, the articles seen on Ye Qing's desk, whether it was "Beginning of Autumn" or these short popular science articles on women's health, looking at the entire news newspaper circle, among more than a dozen media newspapers and magazines, there was not a single one that perfectly matched the main theme of these articles.
This was such a shocking, frustrating, sad and infuriating fact that Hang Tingfang felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her and her mind instantly became clear.
So, after so many years of shouting slogans about gender equality in the country, has equality really been achieved?
"Who wrote these popular science essays?" Hang Tingfang could already tell the difference from the handwriting. The novel and the essays were written by two different people.
Ye Qing nodded: "This was written by my apprentice Meng Jia. She was also an educated youth who went to work in the countryside in Kaoshan Village. I saw that she had a strong learning ability, so I took her as my apprentice. This topic of women's health was proposed by her."
Hang Tingfang couldn't put these articles down. As a female journalist, and from a female perspective, she understood too well the importance of women's health knowledge.
However, there are currently no books or publications published in China specifically targeting women's reading needs in this area. Therefore, women, whether in urban or rural areas, lack relevant reading and learning channels, thus ignoring the importance of managing their own health in daily life.
But even if she took these articles away, they could not be published. The fate of these articles could only be to appear in a pile of waste manuscripts and finally be taken to the waste dump.
When Hang Tingfang thought about such a good article being buried, he felt extremely upset and unwilling.
For some reason, a bold idea suddenly flashed through her mind.
Once this thought came to her mind, she could no longer suppress it. Her eyes flashed with strong ambition. When she raised her head again, she looked at Ye Qing with an extremely firm expression:
"Ye Qing, can you leave your article "Beginning of Autumn" and your apprentice's topic on women's health to me? Give me some time, half a year, at most half a year, and I will definitely get all of your articles published in newspapers!"
Ye Qing was stunned, and after thinking about it carefully, she realized something. She raised her head suddenly and stared at Hang Tingfang with surprise and disbelief:
"You want to—"
Hang Tingfang nodded solemnly:
"Yes, I think you are right. Our country should have a newspaper and magazine specifically for women. No one dares to do this, so I will be the first person to try it!"
Ye Qing was shocked. He didn't expect that after just a few casual chats, Hang Tingfang would make such an important decision.
But it must be said that the vision and courage of this female reporter are indeed extraordinary. If such a newspaper or magazine can really be established, it will definitely be a great thing that will benefit hundreds of millions of female compatriots across the country. Ye Qing raised his hands and feet in agreement.
"I just started writing this novel. At this rate, it will take me half a year to finish it. I hope to hear good news from you after my novel is finished!"
When Ye Qing first started writing "Beginning of Autumn", it was just a spur of the moment idea. She did have some ideas about publishing this novel, but not much.
But if Hang Tingfang could really apply for the first women's newspaper and magazine, she would publish her novel no matter what, not for the honor of being published in the newspaper, but for the original intention of writing this novel, to promote the awakening of consciousness of hundreds of millions of female readers!
Since she had decided to publish this women's newspaper, Hang Tingfang was not the type to back down or procrastinate, so she left in a hurry on the afternoon of the day after interviewing Ye Qing.
On the other hand, in Kaoshantun, two major events occurred the day after watching the movie, after the autumn harvest.
One thing is the commune examination.
The educated youth who had registered in the village hurried to the village entrance to gather early in the morning.
It may be that Ye Qing's arrival during this period of time did a lot of practical things, which led to the improvement of the status and circumstances of other educated youth in the village. For this commune examination, the village specially harnessed several ox carts, led by Wu Cong, to drive these educated youth to the Hongqi Commune to take the examination.
Wu Yueying also signed up, but she gave up the exam.
During this period of recuperation at home, she also tried to take out her textbooks to review, hoping to temporarily pray for Buddha's feet.
But she was a poor student in her previous life with a very poor foundation. Now when she opened those yellowed textbooks, she would start to feel sleepy after reading only a few pages, and would give up before even finishing the whole day.
The Wu family was not surprised by this result.
Having lived together for more than ten or twenty years, the Wu family knew Wu Yueying's personality very well. They knew that she would only get interested in something for a short period of time. If a poor student like her could get into university, one can imagine how low the quality of this university must be.
However, the Wu family didn't care whether Wu Yueying gave up the exam or not. After all, in addition to the commune examination, there was another big event in the village that day.
That’s right, the construction of the Kaoshantun Health Station is finally about to begin!
The old branch secretary and Wu Yongbing were very excited. They started mobilizing people in the village early in the morning. They gathered all the able-bodied young laborers from every household.
According to the construction requirements for the health station proposed by Ye Qing earlier, several production team cadres quickly allocated and dispatched personnel to ensure that each task could be completed as quickly as possible.
You know, once the health station is built and electricity is connected to the village, Kaoshan Village will become unique in the entire Hongqi Commune, no, in the entire Qingshan Town!
In order to lay the electric wires, the team leader had actually reported and applied to the commune many times. Each time, the commune’s reply was that he had to wait in line for news. However, after so many years, the problem has not been solved.
Wu Yongbing and several other cadres had been worn out by the prevarications made by their superiors for so many years. But who would have known that such a difficult matter could be resolved by Ye Qing with just one word.
When the villagers heard that with the help of Ye Zhiqing, the village would be able to have electricity before the New Year, they all became excited and expectant, and started to work very hard. They went wherever the brigade cadres instructed, for fear that if they were slow, Ye Zhiqing would be dissatisfied and would turn back on the electricity issue.
In addition to the construction of the health station, the expansion of the Youth League Home and the Zou family's old house where Ye Qing currently lives have also been included in the production team's year-end plan.
According to the agreement between Ye Qing and Wu Yongbing, the homestead on the Zou family's side will be directly returned to Ye Qing's name in the future. However, there are only two rooms in the house now. Ye Qing also needs to build a room next to it, and also build a bathroom and dry toilet in the backyard.
Although all the people in the village have gone out to work, it is already early November and the temperature is very low. Snow may fall at any time. Once the village is blocked by heavy snow, the entire village will be covered with a thick layer of snow, and everything outside will be frozen hard. If you want to build a house, you will have to wait until the beginning of next spring.
Therefore, time was tight and the task was heavy, so no one dared to slack off. In addition to the young and strong laborers from each family, many old, weak, women and children came to help spontaneously and joined the ranks of doing chores. Even the educated youth who had returned from the commune after taking the college entrance examination all participated.
With the ready-made building materials that Ye Qing had obtained from the county, and with everyone in the village working together to build houses, the speed was definitely very fast. In just three days, the health station, the Youth League Home, and the expansion of Ye Qing's old house were basically completed.
At this time, after the main structure of the house is built, there is no need to do any external painting or internal decoration. Just build the stove and put it on the kang, burn the fire for a few days to dry out the moisture in the house, and you can almost move in.
At the health station, Ye Qing had already gone to an old carpenter to customize a medicine cabinet for medicinal materials. He also made a few wooden shelves for western medicines. He just had to wait for the moisture on the walls to dry up completely before he could start arranging things inside the health station.
Because she was busy with the work of the health station, Ye Qing did not pay much attention to the commune examination. After all, she was not planning to apply for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, and Meng Jia and Gu Weinan had no plans in this regard either. So she really didn't care who would get the recommendation quota for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University this year.
However, although Meng Jia did not take the exam this year, he still got some information from the old educated youth.
This year, a total of more than 300 people from the entire Hongqi Commune took the exam. In addition to the new and old educated youth from each production brigade, there were also some junior and senior high school graduates from the village who signed up. A few days after the exam, the commune posted the results on the bulletin board.
Unfortunately, several of the most promising players in Kaoshantun all met with accidents this year. Meng Jiaqi gave up the exam, Jian Ming was arrested, Li Yunbo was still in a state of injury due to a ruptured spleen, and the performance of the remaining educated youth was worse than the last, so among the top five results announced by the commune, not a single person from Kaoshantun was among them.
In other words, this year's two recommended university admission places have nothing to do with Kaoshantun.
But in this way, everyone became quiet and honest.
In the past, the educated youth in the village fought tooth and nail to get into college, using all means possible. But now that they knew that no one had any chance, the way they got along with each other became simpler and more harmonious.
Especially since they would be moving into the Youth League Home to live together soon, everyone's attention was focused on how to decorate their new home. When they thought about the possibility of becoming roommates with each other, the conflicts between men and women seemed to disappear.
However, just when the atmosphere among the educated youth in Kaoshantun was becoming increasingly harmonious and everyone was working hard to make progress, something suddenly happened that broke this peace and tranquility.
Just two days after the commune announced the test results, an ox cart rushed into Kaoshan Village at a very fast speed. As soon as it arrived at the village, the driver pulled the villagers to anxiously inquire about Ye Qing's whereabouts.
Then, under the guidance of the villagers, the man hurriedly drove to the end of the village, picked up the people on the ox cart, and shouted:
"Ye Zhiqing, is Ye Zhiqing here? Please come and save her, she can't hold on any longer!"
Ye Qing and Meng Jia were making arrangements at the health station, preparing to partition one of the rooms into an inner and outer room, placing a wooden bed inside and making a simple curtain to facilitate the diagnosis of some private diseases.
As a result, before the wooden bed was even moved into the house, heart-wrenching screams were heard from outside.
When he heard that someone was dying, Ye Qing ran out to check.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he ran out, he saw a strange man about the same age as Wu Yongbing, who was anxiously carrying a young girl down from the ox cart. The girl was already in a state of confusion, her face was pale, her lips were black, and white foam was constantly coming out of the corners of her mouth.
"What's going on?"
Seeing this situation, Ye Qing's heart sank suddenly. Without saying a word, he took the girl over and carried her into the house.
Guessing that this should be the Ye Zhiqing he was looking for, the man behind him immediately explained:
"I drank pesticide last night because I was depressed. I wasn't found until this morning. The health station in the commune refused to take me in. They said I couldn't be saved. They asked me to take the person back. Secretary Lai asked me to come to you to see if there is any solution!"
Ye Qing quickly reached out to feel the girl's pulse. She was unconscious and convulsing, her body temperature was too high, her heart rate was too fast, her breathing had stopped, and she also had hyperreflexia. It was obvious that she had ingested too much toxin and was showing symptoms of alkaloids. If she was delayed for a while, she might not be saved.
Without asking any more questions, Ye Qing immediately began to give the girl an injection to induce vomiting, while instructing Gu Weinan and Meng Jia:
"I'm going to read out the prescription now. One of you should memorize it and go home to get all the herbs I need. The other one should light a fire and prepare to boil the medicine!"
After Meng Jia and Gu Weinan looked at each other, they immediately made a clear division of labor. Meng Jia prepared the medicine, while Gu Weinan was responsible for making a fire. At the same time, the girl also took the anxious man standing nearby out.
As soon as the door was closed, Ye Qing recited the prescription while not wasting any time with his hands. He stripped the girl's shirt off and then stabbed silver needles into the girl's chest and back like a rainstorm.
As soon as the silver needles were inserted into the acupuncture points, they quickly turned black, causing Meng Jia, who was standing by, to widen his eyes in surprise.
After more than twenty injections, the girl who had been in a coma suddenly opened her eyes slowly. The next moment, she screamed and vomited filth crazily.
Ye Qing had anticipated this and placed the enamel basin aside. Soon, the girl vomited out a lot of foul liquid with a strong and pungent smell of pesticides.
But this is clearly not enough.
After pulling out the twenty or so silver needles, Ye Qing picked up her own army green water bottle and poured it into the girl's mouth.
After half the bottle of water was poured down, about five minutes later, she repeated the injection process again.
This vomiting-inducing process was repeated several times until Ye Qing emptied all the water in her and Meng Jia's water bottles, and the girl's stomach contents were completely emptied, even the bile was vomited out.
At this time, Meng Jia had already got all the medicines on Ye Qingbao's prescription.
Those medicinal herbs were all collected by Ye Qing from the mountains during this period and then prepared. She originally used them to demonstrate and teach Meng Jia and Gu Weinan. The quantity was not large, but it was enough for emergency rescue at this critical moment.
While waiting for Gu Weinan to decoct the medicine, Ye Qing cleaned the toxins from the patient's blood. He inserted needles into acupuncture points all over the body and cut the girl's fingertips and toes, trying to force as much toxin out of the wounds on her fingers and toes as possible.
Although Ye Qing applied pressure to the wound again and again, dark purple blood slowly began to seep out of the wound. After about half an hour, the dark purple color of the blood in the wound faded and turned back to normal bright red. Ye Qing then signaled Meng Jia, who was standing aside, to bandage the girl's wound.
At this time, the poisoned girl began to wake up slowly. Her mind was not particularly clear, but her physical condition was much better than when she first arrived.
After Gu Weinan had boiled the medicine and sent it over, Ye Qing fed the medicine to the girl and then checked her pulse again.
But after taking the pulse, Ye Qing's expression was still solemn.
"Master, what happened?" Meng Jia asked anxiously.
Ye Qing sighed: "The poisoning incident lasted too long. The body absorbed too much toxin, causing considerable damage to various organs. Whether it is hearing, vision or brain, there is a high possibility of sequelae. Even if she survives this time, her body will not be able to compare with a normal person."
"We should be thankful that what she drank was an organochlorine pesticide and not paraquat. Otherwise, even a deity wouldn't be able to save her if she took a sip of paraquat."
This answer made Meng Jia silent immediately.
Ye Qing then realized that Meng Jia was not in a good mood and couldn't help wondering:
"What's wrong? Do you know this girl?"
Meng Jia nodded slightly:
"Her name is Zheng Xin, a female educated youth from Houshan Village. She came to Jiaotan County on the same train as me, and then we were both assigned to Hongqi Commune, so we chatted on the way."
"At that time, the educated youth were not assigned to production teams before going to the countryside. Instead, they had to draw lots in the Red Flag Commune. Whoever drew the lot would go to the village where they were assigned to work."
"Originally, I got along well with her, and I thought that if we were assigned to the same production team, we could make progress together. But when we drew lots, she was assigned to Houshan Village, and I was assigned to Kaoshan Village."
"Although the two villages belonged to the same commune, they were more than 10 to 20 miles apart and separated by a mountain ravine, so they couldn't see each other often, so their relationship gradually became distant."
At this point, Meng Jia was confused:
"But I don't understand. She won first place in the commune exam and will be able to go back to the city to attend university soon. Besides, she is so sunny and cheerful. How could she be so depressed as to drink pesticides?"
Ye Qing was originally listening to Meng Jia casually talking about her past with this girl, but when she heard the last sentence, she suddenly raised her head and looked at Meng Jia in surprise:
"What did you say? She was ranked first in this year's commune exam?"
Meng Jia nodded: "Yes, she has a solid foundation and is willing to work hard. She was in the top ten in last year's exam. I'm not surprised that she ranked first this year."
But Ye Qing's focus is not here.
You should know that Meng Jia was envied because of his excellent grades and was almost pushed into the river and drowned by Liu Mei.
Could it be that Zheng Xin was also harmed by someone?
Ye Qing didn't dare to rule out this possibility, so she gestured to Meng Jia, asking her to help Zheng Xin put on her clothes, and then she walked outside.
The middle-aged man outside was still standing in the yard, but perhaps because he had made too much noise when he first came to the village, many people had come to the yard of the health station, looking in to see what was going on. Even Aunt Gu came to ask what was going on.
After Ye Qing came out, everyone gathered around him. The middle-aged man looked anxious and embarrassed:
"Ye Zhiqing, can the people still be saved?"
Ye Qing was about to explain when Wu Yongbing heard the noise and hurried over. When he saw the middle-aged man, he was stunned:
"Lao Guan, why are you here? When I heard someone was driving a bullock cart to ask Ye Qing for help, I rushed over to see what was going on. I didn't expect it to be you. What's going on?"
Captain Guan looked embarrassed:
"It was the educated youth who caused this trouble. In the commune exam, Zheng Xin from our village took first place. This was originally a good thing, but it turned out to be a mess."
"Some people in the village couldn't bear to see this young woman doing well, so they started to spread rumors. Some said she had been in a relationship with someone in the village, had played with other people's feelings, and now that she had been admitted to university, she was ready to end it all; some said she had been flirting with other young men in the village, and had been having affairs; some even said it was even more exaggerated, saying she had slept with a cadre of the commune, and had obtained the test questions in advance by selling her body, and that was how she got first place in the test."
"This rumor was all over the place, getting more and more outrageous, and eventually it even evolved into saying that the girl had aborted several children and would sleep with anyone who was paid. In short, it was as disgusting as possible, as if they were determined not to stop until the girl was ruined."
"There was an old bachelor in the village who believed it to be true and actually went to the girl to verify the story. He wanted to force her to marry someone else, or he would report to the Revolutionary Committee and threatened to arrest the girl and parade her through the streets."
"This girl is very proud and hot-tempered. How could she tolerate such an insult? Last night, she was so upset that she drank pesticide."
As soon as these words were spoken, the villagers who had come to listen to the excitement were suddenly outraged.
Ye Qing couldn't help but frown.
No wonder Zheng Xin committed suicide. The person who fanned the flames and spread the rumor behind the scenes is so vicious!
Slut-shaming is simply the perfect weapon to destroy a woman. It has been invincible for thousands of years. No matter which woman, no matter how outstanding or capable you are, once you are splashed with such dirty water, you will never be able to wash yourself clean in your lifetime.
Ye Qing was very angry and almost immediately pointed his gun at the middle-aged man:
"You are the captain of Houshan Village, right? When the rumor first came out, why didn't you, the cadres, stop the villagers from spreading it, but let it spread? Wasn't this a dereliction of duty on your part as the captain?"
Captain Guan never expected that at his age, he would be scolded by a little girl. This made him feel a little embarrassed:
"Kid, it's not that we don't care, but she has her own mouth, can I really shut her up? Besides, how can I care about this kind of thing? If I stand up and speak for her, someone might make up a story that I had an affair with that female educated youth."
Ye Qing was furious.
Because he was afraid of getting into trouble, the captain of Houshantun chose to turn a blind eye to those who spread the rumors, allowing them to make up nonsense about a female educated youth, forcing the female educated youth to die to prove her innocence!
As a female educated youth who went to the countryside, Ye Qing knew very well what kind of situation these girls were in when they left their hometowns and came to this strange and poor remote place to work in the countryside!
Zheng Xin's experience is just a microcosm of what tens of thousands of female educated youth experienced.
If she did not stand up for this female educated youth when she encountered such a terrible incident, then if she was wrongly accused and slandered one day in the future, others would choose to remain silent for the sake of self-protection!
Ye Qing was just about to take Captain Guan to the town police station to report the case, but unexpectedly at this moment, Lai Guochang came over breathlessly, threw his 28-inch bicycle outside, and rushed straight into the yard, his expression more serious and stern than ever before:
"Guan Zhicheng, who is this person behind all these rumors and slanders? If you know, just send him to the commune. If you don't know, don't blame me for using extraordinary means to find this person!"
Secretary Lai was really furious this time:
"I have been the secretary of the commune for so many years, and I have always been fair, just and upright in my work. How dare someone throw dirty water on me?"
"What do you mean by sleeping with a town cadre and getting the exam questions in advance? The exam questions for this commune exam were specially prepared by a retired teacher invited by the county education bureau. The exam questions were sent for mimeographing the night before the exam, and the county education bureau sent someone to deliver the exam papers to the commune on the morning of the exam. No commune cadre participated in or intervened in the question-setting process!"
"Now there are rumors in your village that the test questions have been leaked in advance. What does that mean? Are you dissatisfied with my work and think that I failed in my supervision of the commune exam? Or are you dissatisfied with the result and want to overturn it and start over?"
"Or maybe the commune official who was having an affair with Zheng Zhiqing in the rumor was actually me, and the person who started the rumor thought I was the one who leaked the information?"
"Then I'm curious, who on earth is behind this, making such a big show, taking such a big detour, could it be that the ultimate goal is actually to mess with me?"
Lai Guochang's words shocked everyone present and made them speechless.
Captain Guan of Houshantun turned pale with fright. He never thought about it and did not realize that this matter would involve Lai Guochang.
Ye Qing was also secretly shocked.
Lai Guochang was so angry, which showed that the matter had become a hot topic and someone might have implicated him.
Maybe the person who started the rumor in the first place just wanted to ruin Cheng Xin and prevent her from going to college, but that person never thought that someone would take the opportunity to stir up trouble and add fuel to the fire, directing the blame towards Lai Guochang.
This seems like they are trying to bring down the commune secretary as well!
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