The group immediately took action, pulling the saplings out of the soil and stomping on their branches and roots, instantly crushing the lush green leaves beyond recognition.
In no time, all ten newly planted poplar saplings were destroyed, lying haphazardly on the ground, looking lifeless.
"Let's go over there and wait, let's see how he cries when he comes back!" Liu Hu clapped his hands and led a few people to sit under the shade of a tree not far away, waiting to watch the show.
After helping Xu Xinghe tidy up the seedlings, Jiang Linchuan hurried back to his own planting area.
But as soon as he got closer, his face instantly darkened.
The once-standing tall poplar saplings are gone, leaving only trampled branches and broken roots on the ground, with messy footprints still in the soil.
"Who did this?" Jiang Linchuan's voice was icy as he glanced at the educated youth working around him, finally settling on Liu Hu and his group under the shade of a tree.
The other educated youths around either kept their heads down and worked or pretended not to see anything; no one dared to respond.
Liu Hu sat on a rock with his legs crossed, toying with a twig in his hand, and slowly said, "Hey, Comrade Guowei, what happened to these saplings? What a pity. Each sapling is worth ten work points, so these ten are worth a hundred. Not only are you working for nothing today, you'll also have to lose work points. If this continues, you'll have to work for nothing for the next ten days and won't even get any food."
He paused, then deliberately glanced at Xu Xinghe not far away, his eyes full of malice. "You'd better take good care of your saplings from now on, don't let them rot every day. Otherwise, forget about helping your sister, you might not even be able to eat."
"Exactly! They can't even do their own jobs properly, yet they want to protect others?"
The older educated youth nearby joined in the jeering, and the group burst into laughter, their laughter full of mockery.
Jiang Linchuan's suppressed anger erupted instantly when he saw the disgusting look in Liu Hu's eyes as he looked at Xu Xinghe.
He could tolerate being targeted, but he absolutely could not tolerate anyone looking at Xu Xinghe with those eyes!
He strode forward, grabbed Liu Hu by the collar, pulled him off the rock, and punched him directly!
Caught off guard, Liu Hu took a solid punch, his mouth filled with the taste of blood.
Enraged, he broke free from Jiang Linchuan's grasp and roared, "Brothers, beat him! Today we'll teach him a lesson!"
The men who came with Liu Hu immediately rushed up, some grabbing Jiang Linchuan's arm, others kicking him in the back.
Jiang Linchuan was not afraid at all. Although he had to suppress his strength, dealing with these educated youths who only knew a little bit of the rope was a piece of cake!
"A fight has broken out over there!"
"Stop hitting! Stop hitting!"
The surrounding villagers and female educated youth gasped in fright.
"Go and call the captain over here immediately!"
"How did they start fighting?"
Some villagers wanted to break up the fight, but seeing how fiercely they were beating each other, they didn't dare to step forward.
Hearing the commotion in the nursery, Xu Xinghe felt a pang of anxiety and dropped what he was doing to run into the crowd.
As soon as I squeezed in, I saw Jiang Linchuan being surrounded by four or five people, being punched and kicked.
Fortunately, he didn't lose ground.
Just then, a girl wearing a floral blouse suddenly squeezed in. She looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, with two braids and big, bright eyes.
Her gaze fell on the field, and she saw Jiang Linchuan unceremoniously throw Liu Hu and the others to the ground.
One person took on five or six opponents and still won!
Jiang Linchuan stood there, his clothes torn open by someone, with a large rip at the elbow, revealing clearly defined muscles on his arm and a gleaming wheat-colored skin.
The mud splattered on his chin and neck didn't make him look disheveled; instead, it added a touch of wildness to his ruggedness.
The girl was completely stunned, her eyes fixed on his exposed muscles, and even her breathing slowed down.
My cheeks flushed red starting from my ears and gradually spread to my whole face, and my heart started racing involuntarily.
He even forgot what he was about to say when he went up to her.
She had never seen such a powerful man before. Even though he was covered in mud and his clothes were torn, she couldn't take her eyes off him.
Especially when compared to those lying on the ground...
"The captain is here!"
"Get out of the way!"
Zhang Qiang strode over, his face serious.
The girl next to her immediately snapped out of her daze and called out, "Dad."
He ignored the girl, his gaze sweeping over the people on the ground before turning to Jiang Linchuan. He asked in a deep voice, "Li Guowei, what happened? Who started this?"
Jiang Linchuan said coldly, "He conspired with others to destroy my saplings and even spoke rudely, so I took action."
Liu Hu lay on the ground, clutching his stomach, and shouted that he was innocent, "Captain Zhang, don't listen to his nonsense! He started the fight, we were in self-defense! Besides, he didn't plant the saplings properly, and he's blaming us for it!"
People around started talking all at once. Some said they saw Liu Hu and his group destroy the saplings first, while others said they didn't see clearly. The scene became chaotic for a moment.
The girl stood to the side, her eyes occasionally glancing at Jiang Linchuan, her cheeks still flushed.
Xu Xinghe looked at the scene before her and bit her lower lip tightly.
How will Zhang Qiang handle this matter?
Will he favor Liu Hu, who is on good terms with him, or will he appear impartial on the surface?
Zhang Qiang didn't rush to respond to Liu Hu's protests of innocence. Instead, he bent down and squatted down to examine the trampled saplings on the ground.
The lush green leaves had withered and softened, and the broken roots still had fresh soil clinging to them, clearly indicating that the damage had been recent. He got up and walked around the planting area again, his gaze falling on the messy footprints on the ground. The footprints were of varying sizes, some still clearly imprinted in the soil around the roots of the saplings, obviously the marks left by many people trampling on the area.
"These saplings weren't improperly planted; they were deliberately damaged." Zhang Qiang straightened up, his gaze fixed directly on Liu Hu. "Liu Hu, you did it, didn't you?"
Liu Hu panicked, but still forced a rebuttal, "Captain Zhang, don't wrong us! We were just resting nearby and didn't touch these saplings at all. They must have fallen over because they weren't planted properly!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a voice suddenly came from outside the crowd, "That's not right! I was watering the trees over there just now, and I saw with my own eyes you guys surrounding the saplings, pulling and trampling them. How can you say you didn't touch them?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Uncle Wang, an old villager from the forest farm. He was carrying a bucket of water for watering, and had obviously just come from the vegetable garden next door.
Liu Hu's glare vanished instantly, and the arrogance on his face faded somewhat.
He dared to be arrogant in front of the educated youth, but he dared not offend these old villagers.
The villagers in the forest farm have lived here for decades, and their kinship ties are deeply intertwined. If you offend them, it will be difficult to borrow farm tools or exchange for grain in the forest farm in the future, and you may even be harassed at every turn.
"Uncle Wang, are you sure you're not mistaken?" Liu Hu's tone softened, becoming somewhat ingratiating. "We really didn't..."
"I saw it clearly, and several other villagers saw it too!" Uncle Wang interrupted him, his tone firm. "Young people should be responsible for their actions. You've destroyed other people's hard work, and you still want to make excuses?"
Several villagers nearby nodded in agreement, saying they had seen Liu Hu and his group destroy the saplings.
Seeing this, Liu Hu dared not argue anymore, and hung his head, his face turning red and white in turns.
Zhang Qiang looked at Jiang Linchuan, his tone becoming more serious, "Even if the saplings were destroyed by them, you shouldn't have hit them. In the future, if you encounter something like this, come to me first, and I'll handle it. If it happens again, no matter whose fault it is, they will be punished."
After saying that, he turned and glared at Liu Hu and the other educated youths who had participated in the disturbance. "You lot, you destroyed the saplings and even started a fight. Each of you will have fifty work points deducted. You must complete Li Guowei's planting task today. If you dare to slack off, you will be punished even more!"
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