Wang Lili clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms, and in the darkness, the hatred in her eyes grew stronger.
Looking at her curled-up back in the quilt, and then at Xu Xinghe's calm profile, Zhao Xiaoyan felt helpless and uneasy.
She always felt that Wang Lili had gone through something terrible, but the other party was unwilling to say more, and Xu Xinghe was indifferent. The atmosphere in the dormitory was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe. In the end, she could only pray silently in her heart that this matter would be over soon.
Even if the two of them never speak to each other again, at least let's prevent something like today from happening again...
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Xu Xinghe got up quietly.
Aside from the first two days when she wasn't quite used to it, she made a point of avoiding Wang Lili and Zhao Xiaoyan, who were still fast asleep, and went to wash up when no one was around.
After washing up, she opened the tin of face cream she had placed on the shelf and froze on the spot.
The originally delicate snow cream contained a lot of blackish-gray powder. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be furnace ash. If you touched a little of it with your finger, you could feel the rough texture.
Xu Xinghe felt a chill in her heart; she knew without even thinking who had done it!
She had no choice but to stop wiping her face, apply black paint to her face, and then turn around and go back to her room.
When they returned, Zhao Xiaoyan and the others had already woken up.
Xu Xinghe put down his things and bent down to change into his work shoes.
As soon as I put my finger inside the shoe, I was pricked by something sharp.
She abruptly pulled her hand back, turned the shoe upside down and shook it. A thin sewing needle fell to the ground with a tinkling sound; the needle tip was very fine and gleamed coldly.
At this point, Xu Xinghe completely lost her patience.
Mixing snow cream with furnace ash is just disgusting, but hiding a needle in a shoe is a real attempt to hurt someone.
If you weren't paying attention, the shoe might have poked into your foot while you were putting it on. Not only would you be unable to work, but you might also get an infection and inflammation.
She had tolerated Wang Lili's difficult behavior before because she didn't want to cause too much trouble during the mission, but now that the other party was resorting to underhanded tactics, continuing to tolerate it would only put her in a more dangerous situation.
"Wang Lili, stop right there!" Xu Xinghe straightened up and blocked Wang Lili, who had just gotten up and was about to go out.
Wang Lili sneered, "What are you doing? You want to hit me?"
"What are you doing?" Xu Xinghe picked up the box of face cream mixed with stove ash, then pointed to the needle on the ground. "You mixed stove ash into my face cream and hid a needle in my shoe. You're now trying to harm me. Come on, let's go find the brigade leader right now. This matter must be made clear, and you have to pay the price for your actions!"
"I didn't do it!" Wang Lili retorted immediately, her voice sharp and shrill. "Who knows if you did it yourself or not? You're trying to frame me!"
Seeing this, Zhao Xiaoyan quickly stepped forward to persuade them, "Li Juan, Lili, let's talk this out. Don't go to the brigade leader. It'll be bad for our reputation as educated youth if word gets out..."
"Hard to say?" Xu Xinghe interrupted her. "She's about to harm people, what does she care about her reputation? We have to go today!"
Seeing Xu Xinghe's resolute attitude, Wang Lili became even more defiant, sticking out her neck, "Fine, I'll go! I'm not afraid of things I haven't done! I'm not afraid to go to the brigade leader either!"
She was certain that Xu Xinghe had no evidence, and even if she went to the captain, he wouldn't be able to convict her.
The two were locked in a stalemate, and Zhao Xiaoyan's attempts to persuade her were to no avail. She could only watch as Xu Xinghe forcefully pulled Wang Lili toward the forestry office.
When they arrived at the office, they were told that the team leader, Zhang Qiang, had gone to a meeting in town early that morning, and only the deputy team leader was there.
Without hesitation, Xu Xinghe placed the face cream and needle on the table and calmly recounted what had happened. "Vice Captain, this is no small matter. Wang Lili intended to hurt someone. Please help me."
The deputy captain put down the documents in his hand, picked up the box of face cream and looked at it, then glanced at the needle on the ground. His face darkened, and he looked at Wang Lili, "Is what she said true? Did you do it?"
Wang Lili's eyes immediately reddened, and her voice trembled with tears, "Deputy Captain, I didn't! It must be Li Juan who holds a grudge against me because of what happened yesterday, and she's deliberately slandering me! She broke the things herself and pinned the blame on me, just to make me get punished!"
"I'm slandering you?" Xu Xinghe sneered. "There are only three of us in the dormitory. I have no grudge against Zhao Xiaoyan. If it's not you, then who is it? Did a needle run into my shoe by itself, or ashes jump into my face cream by themselves?"
Wang Lili gritted her teeth and refused to admit it, sometimes saying that Xu Xinghe had a problem, and sometimes saying that she had no motive. The two of them stuck to their own stories and argued fiercely.
The deputy captain listened with a frown for a long time, but couldn't get any answers.
Without eyewitnesses or direct evidence, it's impossible to determine whether Wang Lili did it, especially since Xu Xinghe does seem to have a possibility of slandering her.
Ugh, women are such a hassle!
The deputy captain impatiently slammed his pen on the table, his tone stern, "Alright, stop arguing! No matter who did it, it's wrong to do this kind of dirty trick at the educated youth settlement! You two need to reflect on your actions! If you dare to do these crooked things in private again, whoever it is, get out of the forest farm right now!"
After saying that, he picked up the work point book on the table and crossed out ten work points each after Xu Xinghe and Wang Lili's names. "These ten work points are a lesson for you. Remember, in the forest farm, working hard is the only thing that matters. Don't always think about these useless things!"
Xu Xinghe pursed her lips, somewhat unwilling.
She did nothing wrong, yet she had to be punished along with everyone else.
Wang Lili stood aside, and although she also had her work points deducted, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, with a hint of smugness hidden in her eyes.
Hmph, as long as we don't catch her in the act, no one can say she did it!
After leaving the office, Xu Xinghe and Wang Lili walked one after the other towards the planting area. Neither of them spoke, and the air was thick with tension.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the nursery, the two immediately separated and went to opposite sides.
Xu Xinghe picked up a small shovel, ready to get to work, but Wang Lili dawdled and stood there, her eyes occasionally glancing towards the male educated youth's planting area.
As noon approached, the sun grew increasingly intense.
The vice-captain blew his whistle, giving everyone a half-hour rest.
Xu Xinghe put down her work and, under the pretext of washing her hands by the river, went around to the woods.
She had already made an appointment with Jiang Linchuan that if there was anything urgent, they would meet here during their lunch break, and the signal would be to put a tree branch up in the grass between them.
As soon as she entered the woods, she saw Jiang Linchuan leaning against a tree trunk waiting for her, holding two steamed buns in his hand. "What's wrong? What happened?"
Xu Xinghe took the steamed bun, took a bite, and then recounted what had happened that morning, as well as the result of the deputy captain deducting ten work points from each of them. "I'm not afraid of her targeting me, but now she's even starting to use dirty tricks like hiding needles. I'm really afraid that one day I won't be careful and I'll actually get hurt. If it affects the mission, that would be troublesome."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Linchuan's face instantly darkened, and the steamed bun in his hand was squeezed out of shape. "Wang Lili has gone too far. If we keep her around, she will become a hidden danger sooner or later."
He was silent for a moment before speaking, "I will think of a way to get her out of the forest farm. Even if I can't get her out of Dongmeng, I will transfer her to another educated youth settlement. I can't let her stay by your side any longer."
"But... how do we get there?" Xu Xinghe asked worriedly. "She hasn't done anything seriously wrong yet, and the deputy captain is only giving both sides a slap on the wrist. If we go looking for trouble, won't it arouse Zhang Qiang's suspicion?"
"Don't worry, I won't act too quickly." Jiang Linchuan shook his head, his tone calm. "We need to find a suitable opportunity, such as when she commits another offense, or... In short, before I make a move, you must be careful. Check your shoes several times when you wash up and change them, and protect yourself while you sleep at night. Don't give her any chance."
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