Xu Xinghe stepped forward, a bright smile on her face, her voice clear and resonant, "Of course I'm satisfied! Captain Zhang is truly a fair and just captain. He not only upheld justice for Zhao Xiaoyan but also got justice for Wang Yanan. Thank you so much! I believe Wang Yanan would be happy to hear this from beyond the grave."
She spoke sincerely, and her smile was very bright, but Zhang Qiang felt that every word she said was sarcastic.
But with so many educated youths and villagers present, he couldn't lash out. He could only grit his teeth, suppress his anger, and wave his hand at the crowd, "Disperse! Female educated youths, go to work or eat. The rest of the older educated youths, hurry back and pack your bags!"
The older male educated youths were unwilling to leave, and they all surrounded Zhang Qiang, grabbing his arm and pleading for his life.
"Captain Zhang, we know we were wrong, please give us another chance! We'll never do it again!"
"Our bodies simply couldn't handle doing dirty work in that village for a year!"
Zhang Qiang abruptly shook off their hands, his eyes fierce. "Enough nonsense! If you don't pack your bags and leave today, none of you will ever leave again! I'll record your actions in your files and ensure you never get a chance to return to the city, forever stuck in the countryside!"
These words struck a nerve with the older male educated youth.
Their biggest wish is to return to the city as soon as possible; if their records are tainted, their lives will be ruined.
The group instantly lost their temper, their faces turned ashen, and they could only mutter curses as they reluctantly turned and headed back to their dormitory to hurry up and pack their luggage.
"Why should we do such dirty work? It's all the work of those bitches like Li Juan!" An old educated youth gritted his teeth in anger. The thought of cleaning the latrine made him feel disgusted and furious. "We can't let this go. We have to get revenge on them! Since we're going to be punished anyway, we can't let them have it easy!"
The other male educated youths chimed in, "That's right! They've made things difficult for us, so we shouldn't let them have it easy either! Now that Captain Zhang isn't here, it's the perfect opportunity. Let's go to the female educated youths' dormitory and ambush them, and see how arrogant they can be!"
The group quickly reached an agreement and stealthily headed towards the female educated youth dormitory.
They kept their distance and avoided being seen by the villagers.
When they arrived at the female educated youth dormitory, they found that the doors were locked, the rooms were empty, and there was no sound at all.
"Where are they? Why is no one here?" A tall educated youth frowned and asked in confusion, "This should be lunch break time, why aren't they in the dormitory?"
The young man with the buzz cut was still determined. He peered through the window and, seeing no one, gritted his teeth. "They must be hiding! Let's go check the construction site; they might still be working!"
The group headed towards the planting area and saw Xu Xinghe, Zhao Xiaoyan, and other female educated youths hoeing the ground with the villagers. There were also many villagers working around them, chatting and laughing, creating a lively scene.
The male educated youth, hiding behind the trees, watched this scene, their faces growing even uglier.
With villagers around, they couldn't get close at all, let alone confront the female educated youth.
"Damn it! They're definitely doing this on purpose! They knew we were going to cause them trouble, so they hid where there were villagers!" The tall educated youth kicked a tree trunk in anger, causing leaves to fall. "What do we do now? We can't exactly start a fight in front of the villagers, can we?"
The other educated youth were also at a loss.
They could only stare at the distant figures, their eyes fierce. "Consider them lucky! Let them go for now, we'll settle the score with them later!"
Although the others were unwilling, they knew that now was not the time, so they could only turn around and leave.
They were afraid that if they delayed any longer, Zhang Qiang would come back and see that they hadn't left, and he would really make a note of it in their files, which would mean they would never be able to return to the city in their lifetime.
Among the crowd, a tall, thin educated youth wearing glasses did not leave.
He looks honest and unassuming, but he actually holds grudges the most.
He blamed all his resentment on the female educated youths for being punished with dirty work, feeling that they had ruined his future.
If they hadn't mentioned Wang Yanan and hadn't brought up what happened back then, none of this would have happened!
As he watched the others leave, his eyes grew increasingly sinister, and he quietly pulled a small paper packet from his pocket.
Inside was the rat poison he had secretly hidden, originally intended to poison rats, but now he had other plans.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he went around to the back of the female educated youth dormitory. There was a low wall there. He pushed himself up and climbed over it, landing in the dormitory courtyard.
He tiptoed to the door of Xu Xinghe and Zhao Xiaoyan's dormitory, tried to push the door, and found it locked.
So he went to the base of the window, pried at it with a tree trunk a few times, and finally opened a crack.
He quickly jumped into the dormitory, his eyes scanning the room before finally landing on the water tank in the corner.
The female educated youth used water from the vat for drinking and cooking.
He gritted his teeth, opened the paper package, and poured the rat poison inside into the water tank. The black powder slowly dispersed and disappeared in the water.
Fearing the dosage might not be enough, he checked it carefully again before quickly leaving the dormitory and going to the dormitory next door.
After he finished doing everything, he climbed over the low wall and pretended that nothing had happened, heading towards the male educated youth dormitory.
Aren't these female educated youths very capable?
Isn't it about unity?
Don't you like to meddle in other people's business?
Let's see how arrogant they are after they drink this water!
Even if they investigate later, no one will suspect him. After all, everyone is packing their bags, so who will pay attention to him?
As the sun gradually climbed overhead, its scorching rays made the ground scorching hot, and even the wind that blew by carried heat.
The female educated youth worked in the fields with the villagers all morning. They were all drenched in sweat, their clothes soaked through and clinging to their bodies, and their throats were so dry they felt like they were on fire.
"Finally, I can go back. I was going to get heatstroke if I stayed any longer." Zhao Xiaoyan wiped the sweat from her forehead and quickened her pace toward the dormitory, her voice full of exhaustion.
Other female educated youths echoed this sentiment, hurrying along.
Right now, all I want to do is drink some cool water to relieve the heat in my body.
Soon, the female educated youth returned to their dormitory courtyard.
As soon as Zhao Xiaoyan entered the dormitory, she went straight to the water tank. She was so thirsty that the only thing on her mind was the word "drink water".
She walked over quickly, picked up the water ladle next to her, and was about to put it into the water tank.
"Wait, don't drink it." Xu Xinghe walked in just then and immediately stopped him.
Zhao Xiaoyan looked at her in confusion, "Li Juan, what's wrong? I'm so thirsty, I just want some water to cool down. It's nothing, I used to drink water all the time when it was hot."
"No, there are worms and bacteria in tap water. Drinking it will easily upset your stomach. From now on, try to drink boiled water. The medical conditions here are not good. If you really get sick, you'll suffer the consequences yourself. I boiled some cooled boiled water yesterday and put it in the thermos by my bedside. I'll go pour it for you. It's much safer than tap water."
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