Jiang Linchuan, who had been leading troops for many years, naturally possessed a strong aura. When pressed like this, Dazhuang panicked, his eyes darting around, unable to utter a word for a long time.
This hesitation immediately caused an uproar among the villagers.
"Dazhuang! What happened? Didn't you say that Ye Wenshu couldn't stand the hardship, so she deliberately took off her clothes in front of you to show you her body, wanting to marry you, but then changed her mind? That's why we came to help you, right?"
"That's right! We're all from the same village, how could we not believe you? You wouldn't really be lying to us, would you? Making up such a lie just to get a wife?"
Dazhuang's face turned a deep purplish-red from the questioning, and he lowered his head even further, unable to utter a single word of explanation.
Now everyone knows he was lying.
The villagers' protests grew even louder.
"Commander Jiang, we only came to speak up for him because we believed Dazhuang's words and thought that the female educated youth was bullying him!"
"That's right! If we had known he was lying to us, we wouldn't have dared to force him into marriage even if we had ten lives!"
"Dazhuang, how could you tell such a lie? You've dragged so many of us into this mess, it's really too much!"
Seeing this, the village chief's wife quickly pulled Dazhuang behind her to protect him, and retorted to the villagers with her neck stiff, "What are you all shouting about! My son didn't lie! That female educated youth must have deliberately seduced him, making him mistaken and misunderstand! We're all from the same village, you've watched Dazhuang grow up, don't you know what kind of person he is? Do you really believe an educated youth from outside and not your own family?"
"It's because we trust our own people too much that we followed you!" an old man carrying a hoe couldn't help but retort. "When Commander Jiang questioned Dazhuang just now, look at how he stammered. Did he not lie? If it really happened, why didn't he dare to say it?"
"By the way, where's the village chief? Such a big thing, why didn't he show up?" Someone suddenly remembered this and looked around.
"The village chief went to visit relatives in the neighboring village early this morning!"
"No wonder you chose today to force me to get married. It turns out the village chief isn't home, and you two wanted to get things done first!"
Upon hearing this, many people immediately realized that the mother and son had been lying from the beginning, without even telling the village chief, just wanting to force the issue!
The facts are clear: Dazhuang lied first, and the village chief's wife helped cover it up later. Ye Wenshu was innocent from beginning to end.
Jiang Linchuan coldly observed the chaotic scene, and his voice instantly silenced all the discussions: "This is not the old society. Marriage must be based on a woman's own wishes. If Comrade Ye does not want to marry, no one can force her. There is no room for discussion."
The villagers immediately echoed this sentiment, each trying to distance themselves from the matter.
"Commander Jiang is right! We were also kept in the dark. If we had known the truth earlier, we would never have helped force the marriage!"
"That's right, that's right. We're all reasonable people, how can we force people to do that?"
Hongqi Village has always been a close-knit community, and although this incident caused quite a stir, fortunately no one was killed. The law does not punish the masses, so even if they were to investigate, there would be no serious consequences.
Jiang Linchuan was aware of this as well, so he stopped pressing the villagers and instead warned them in a stronger tone, "This matter ends here today. But if anyone dares to coerce educated youth under any pretext in the future, it won't be so easy to let it go."
He waved his hand, signaling the villagers to disperse, and added, "Go and call your village health worker over to give Comrade Ye a medical check-up."
They could only leave after confirming that everyone was safe.
Seeing this, the villagers dared not linger any longer and dispersed in twos and threes.
Dazhuang clenched his fists, wanting to argue, but the village chief's wife held him back tightly.
She lowered her voice and gritted her teeth, saying, "Don't say a word! This matter has already reached the military headquarters. You couldn't even cover up your lie just now. If you cause any more trouble, you'll only be asking for trouble! After they leave, I'll think of something for you. Those educated youth won't be leaving anytime soon; they'll have to stay in our village. There will be plenty of opportunities!"
Hearing this, Da Zhuang's anger subsided slightly, but his eyes remained fixed on the direction of the educated youth settlement, filled with resentment.
He had planned to marry Ye Wenshu today and have a warm family life with his wife and children tonight, but he ruined everything because he couldn't withstand Jiang Linchuan's questions.
The thought of Ye Wenshu's delicate face made his heart clench, but he dared not let it out and could only suppress it.
In the educated youth settlement.
The mud-brick house exuded a chill.
The medic squatted down by the kang (a heated brick bed) to examine Ye Wenshu, gently touching the red marks on her neck with his fingers. "It's nothing serious, just some red marks from being strangled. I'll leave you some ointment later; just apply it twice a day and it'll go away. But you were very emotional just now, and it's cold outside, so you need to be careful to keep warm and avoid catching a cold."
In such cold weather, getting emotional can easily weaken the body, so the medic reminded him to drink more hot water before packing up his medicine kit.
Jiang Linchuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the educated youth in the room. "Now that the matter is resolved, we'll head back to the military headquarters."
"Thank you so much, Commander Jiang! We really owe you all this today!" Several male educated youths quickly stood up, their faces full of gratitude.
They thought they were going to be forced to compromise after seeing that scene just now, but Jiang Linchuan managed to calm things down as soon as he arrived.
“Yes, we were worried before… worried that you would side with Hongqi Village and not help us, the educated youth from outside,” a female educated youth said softly, her tone still carrying a hint of lingering fear.
Lieutenant Wang finished up the matter, smiling as he instructed, "If you encounter something like this again, just go to the military headquarters and find us! This is a new society now, how can we still have those outdated customs of forced marriage from the old society? Don't worry, whoever is in the right, the military headquarters will definitely protect them."
The educated youth quickly agreed and saw them to the door.
As soon as Lieutenant Wang pushed open the door, a large swarm of snowflakes flew onto his face, making him shiver from the cold. "Good heavens! Why is it snowing so heavily all of a sudden?"
Xu Xinghe followed behind and was also taken aback by the snowy scenery.
She wasn't much help from beginning to end, but she did see how the military handles these kinds of things, so it wasn't a wasted trip.
She tightened her scarf. "We have to hurry, otherwise with this much snow, we won't be able to move."
Lieutenant Wang frowned and pointed to the ground. "I'm afraid we can't leave now."
Xu Xinghe looked down and saw that there was already a layer of snow on the ground. They had only been in the house for a little over half an hour.
Lieutenant Wang put on his hat. "Let's go check out the car first."
The group quickly rushed to the car.
Lieutenant Wang squatted down and touched the tires, his face darkening further. "Our snow tires are almost worn out. If the snow continues to accumulate, the road will be very slippery. It will be too dangerous to drive back. We might get stuck on the road."
Lian Xiao also leaned over to take a look. "It looks like this snow isn't going to stop anytime soon. Should we find somewhere to take shelter from the snow? We can't just freeze here."
Zhang Cishu silently stepped in front of Xu Xinghe, shielding her from the cold wind, and rarely spoke, "There should be vacant houses in Hongqi Village. Let's find a place to stay at the village chief's house first, and leave when the snow subsides."
Jiang Linchuan looked up at the sky. Snowflakes were still falling densely, and the clouds were very low, so it was clear that it wouldn't stop anytime soon.
He nodded. "That's the only way. Lieutenant Wang, go and tell the people in Hongqi Village to find a house where we can start a fire so we can take shelter from the snow."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
