Liu Pandi was left alone in the room, lying on the bed. She turned over impatiently after Ruan Qiushui came in and out twice.
"I don't know how far it is to the river. I have several sets of clothes to wash."
"I don't know if I'll be able to get back before noon after this round trip."
After Ruan Qiushui finished speaking, she slung her basket over her shoulder and left the door half-closed.
Liu Pandi immediately perked up her ears, and after confirming that Ruan Qiushui had left, she immediately sat up.
She first wandered around the yard, and after seeing that no one was around, she ran to the backyard.
After confirming that no one was left at the youth center, they quickly returned to their room and locked the door from the inside with a bolt.
At this moment, Ruan Qiushui had already called the brigade leader over from the brigade office, accompanied by Chen Fenglan and He Yongjun.
The four of them tiptoed into the courtyard and peered through the window, getting a clear view of the house.
Liu Pandi first opened Ruan Qiushui's wardrobe and held up her two new outfits against her body.
Then he opened the box, took out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies, and stuffed them into his pocket. After that, he picked out a few eggs and two pieces of pastry, and also put some flour and rice in a small cloth bag.
"This room isn't safe; we need to move it outside."
Liu Pandi thought for a moment, wrapped the grain in her clothes, and secretly opened the door.
Is White Rabbit candy delicious?
Ruan Qiushui's voice startled Liu Pandi, causing her to drop the cloth bag on the ground.
"When did you get back?"
Liu Pandi took two steps back guiltily, looking at Ruan Qiushui and the captain and his entourage behind her, her face drained of color.
"You little rascal, Liu Pandi! I knew it was because we always ate our food so quickly when we were partners. Turns out you were the one who stole it."
Chen Fenglan was furious and kicked Liu Pandi.
"Liu Pandi, you have completely disgraced us educated youth."
He Yongjun looked ashamed and indignant.
The villagers already disliked the educated youth, and now that a thief has appeared, they'll probably have even more to say.
"Ruan Zhiqing, what do you want to do?"
The captain asked in a deep voice.
The fact that a thief had appeared in the brigade under his jurisdiction is a slap in the face for him.
If this matter blows up, we will definitely lose the title of advanced collective this year.
"Caught red-handed, let's call the police. We also need to notify the commune; it'll definitely be recorded in their files."
Ruan Qiushui understood what the captain meant.
After all, he asked what you wanted to do, rather than directly labeling Liu Pandi.
But Ruan Qiushui didn't want to let Liu Pandi get away with it so easily.
If she handles things gently this time, she'll probably do it again next time, and even if she locks the cabinet, it probably won't help.
"This isn't serious enough to warrant calling the police. How about this, let Liu, the educated youth, compensate you for your losses, is that alright?"
Gu Xianjin didn't want to cause trouble at the commune.
"Sure."
Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake; we have to give the brigade leader face no matter what.
“Yesterday, Liu, the educated youth, took two sausages from me, along with some rice and flour. Today, he took even more. I won’t ask for more. For the sake of the brigade leader, Liu will just give me twenty yuan as a token of appreciation.”
Since we're losing money, we need to ask for a high price to feel better.
"No wonder Liu Pandi ate white rice and steamed white buns yesterday, which is unusual for her. It turns out they were all stolen."
Everyone knew about Liu Pandi's family situation, and Chen Fenglan was curious about where she had gotten her money to buy such fine grains.
"What? Your meager grain is worth twenty yuan?"
With just two sausages and less than five pounds of rice and flour, is Ruan Qiushui trying to rob us?
"Then let's call the police."
Ruan Qiushui shrugged. It wasn't that she wouldn't back down; it was that Liu Pandi wouldn't agree.
"Liu Pandi, hurry up and pay compensation, or I'll report you and transfer you to the farm."
Gu Xianjin called out impatiently.
"And the rest of us, we lost a lot of grain during that period, so we should have lost at least ten yuan."
Thinking back to those days of tightening her belt, Chen Fenglan wished she could slap Liu Pandi to death.
"I, I don't have that much money, I only have ten yuan on me."
This ten yuan was money she had saved by living frugally, which she planned to send back home.
This costs thirty yuan; even if she sold herself, she couldn't come up with that amount.
"No money? Then let's write an IOU. If you can't pay it back before the autumn harvest, we'll settle it with grain. If that's not even enough grain, then we'll send it to the farm."
"Sister Chen, please accept these ten yuan."
Now that she's Liu Pandi's creditor, she'd better behave herself.
"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll take this as an extra treat for He and Yu, the educated youth."
They're the only remaining former educated youth. She's in charge of cooking, so there's nothing wrong with her taking the money.
With the brigade leader as a witness, Liu Pandi reluctantly wrote an IOU for Ruan Qiushui.
Ruan Qiushui carried it on her person, but actually put it in her spatial storage. She then turned around and locked the wardrobe and the box.
"So you did it on purpose!"
Seeing this, Liu Pandi understood everything: there was a lock, yet they deliberately lured her into a trap.
"Yes, it's all thanks to your cooperation, otherwise this trap would have been useless."
If Liu Pandi hadn't been so greedy and hadn't been thinking of stealing a second time, she really wouldn't have been able to do anything about it.
After all, the rice and flour weren't marked, and the sausages weren't exclusively hers. Without evidence, she was destined to suffer in silence.
"you."
Liu Pandi was furious and wanted to tear her hair out, but she didn't dare to lay a hand on Ruan Qiushui. Those twenty yuan were her Achilles' heel.
"Oh."
Ruan Qiushui was too lazy to waste words with her and turned to find Chen Fenglan.
"Sister Chen, I see that we've planted quite a few vegetables in our backyard plot. Can I trade some cured meat with you?"
If something isn't publicly available, we need to find its source.
"Why change it? Just pick it yourself."
It's just a little bit of vegetables; how can it compare to meat?
"Sister Chen, please don't be so polite. I wouldn't want to take advantage of you."
Those were grown with great effort; we can't just eat them for free.
Besides, a little bit of cured meat would be enough to build a relationship with Chen Fenglan. He Yongjun and Yu Guanghua would have benefited from her, so they would have to help her out in the future.
"Thank you then. You can take any vegetables from the garden from now on. I'll just take the meat this time."
Chen Fenglan took a small piece of cured meat and smelled it with satisfaction.
The sausages Ruan Qiushui brought me the night before last tasted so good. Being able to eat cured pork again today is pure bliss.
Ruan Qiushui picked some green peppers and romaine lettuce from the vegetable garden, then turned and went to the kitchen.
First, I rinsed the rice and added water, then cooked a pot of white rice. Next, I stir-fried green peppers with cured pork and stir-fried romaine lettuce, and served it with a bowl of egg drop soup. It was absolutely delicious.
It's not very convenient to only have one pot; you also need to find an earthenware pot to make soup or something.
"By the way, do you know why Qin Qiaoqiao and Duan Zhiyu didn't cook at our educated youth center?"
Chen Fenglan suddenly said something.
Where did they eat?
Ruan Qiushui asked in a very cooperative manner.
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