Only then did the educated youth and villagers feel completely relieved and disperse.
The forest returned to its usual tranquility at night, with only the occasional chirping of insects.
The next morning, Chen Yifan woke up again in an unfamiliar room.
The sky was bright, and the morning light was already streaming through the window.
He rubbed his still somewhat heavy head, and felt a little uneasy as he recalled the days he had been locked up here.
I don't know if those people will really let him go, and I don't know how the forest farm is doing now.
Just as he was lost in thought, the door was pushed open, and the soldier who had been guarding him walked in, carrying a set of clean clothes. "Get ready now that you're awake. You can go back to the forest farm today."
Chen Yifan was stunned for a moment, unable to believe his ears, "Really...really we can go back?"
"Yes, the car is already waiting outside," the soldier handed her the clothes, his tone still calm. "Get ready and come with me."
Chen Yifan quickly took the clothes, hurriedly put them on, and followed the soldiers out of the room.
A military jeep was parked in the yard. After he was put into the vehicle, it quickly drove towards the forest farm.
Throughout the journey, he was filled with doubts, but dared not ask any questions.
After what had happened these past few days, he knew not to ask questions he shouldn't, lest he cause more trouble.
The car drove into the forest.
Chen Yifan immediately spotted the familiar dormitory and work area.
The usually bustling venue was now deserted, without a single person in sight.
The car stopped in front of the male educated youth dormitory. The soldier looked at him and said, "We're here. You can get out now."
Chen Yifan nodded, opened the car door, and got out.
As soon as I reached the dormitory entrance, I heard lively voices coming from inside.
He pushed open the door and saw that the male educated youths were all sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) chatting, and the female educated youths were also there. Zhao Xiaoyan and Wang Lili were distributing candy they had bought from town to everyone.
"Chen Yifan? You're back!" Zhang Guoming was the first to see him and exclaimed in surprise.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone crowded around him, asking all at once, "Chen Yifan, where have you been these past few days? How did you get taken away?"
"What did you see? Otherwise, why would you be receiving special treatment?"
"Have you been wronged outside? Have those people made things difficult for you?"
Chen Yifan was completely bewildered by the questions, and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, "How...how did you all know I was taken away?"
"A large group of soldiers came yesterday and took Zhang Qiang and Zhang Qianqian away!" Zhang Guoming said excitedly. "Even the deputy captain was taken away for investigation! You have no idea, Li Guowei and Li Juan are actually soldiers! They were posing as educated youth to carry out a secret mission. One is Comrade Xu, and the other is Commander Jiang. Moreover, they are a couple!"
"Huh?" Chen Yifan was completely dumbfounded, his mind buzzing.
Are Li Guowei and Li Juan soldiers?
Or are they a pair?
So when I saw Li Juan go to the tent earlier, didn't I just stumble upon them carrying out a mission?
No wonder he was taken away, it turns out it was because of this...
If he hadn't threatened Xu Xinghe and said he would tell Zhang Qiang, perhaps he wouldn't have gone through all of this.
"Before Commander Jiang left, he said you were sent away because you saw a crucial part of their mission." Wang Lei leaned closer, looking at him curiously. "What did you see that made them specifically send you away?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Yifan's face turned deathly pale, his body swayed, and he almost fainted.
He instinctively grabbed the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) next to him, his heart filled with fear.
He actually threatened a soldier?
Or are they soldiers on a secret mission?
Will they cause trouble for me?
Will I be arrested and sentenced?
"Chen Yifan, what's wrong? You look terrible." Zhang Guoming noticed something was wrong and quickly helped him up. "Are you feeling unwell? Or did you experience some kind of trauma outside?"
Chen Yifan gripped Zhang Guoming's hand tightly, her voice trembling with tears, "When they...when they left, did they say what they would do to me? Would they arrest me? I...I didn't mean to!"
Zhang Guoming frowned and asked suspiciously, "Why did they arrest you? They didn't say anything, just that you'd be back soon, and that your unconsciousness wouldn't have any aftereffects. But from what you're saying, it sounds like you've done something wrong? What exactly happened?"
The other educated youth around him quieted down, looking at Chen Yifan with suspicion, waiting for him to explain.
Chen Yifan, seeing the gazes of everyone, knew he couldn't hide it any longer.
He lowered his head, his voice halting as he recounted how he had seen Xu Xinghe go to the tent and then threatened her to date him. He added as a final touch, "I didn't know she was a soldier at the time. If I had known, I wouldn't have dared to do it even if you gave me a hundred lives..."
The moment the words were spoken, the dormitory fell silent.
Zhang Guoming released his hand, his brows furrowed. "Chen Yifan, how could you do such a thing? The girl was perfectly fine, and you actually used this to threaten her? A real man wouldn't take advantage of someone in distress!"
"That's right, that's so unfair!" Wang Lei chimed in. "It's a wonder that Commander Jiang even arranged for someone to bring you back instead of arresting you, and you still threatened his girlfriend!"
The female educated youth also showed expressions of dissatisfaction.
Zhao Xiaoyan frowned. "Chen Yifan, what you did was too much. Luckily, Comrade Xu didn't hold it against you, otherwise you wouldn't be standing here now."
Chen Yifan lowered his head, his face flushed red, feeling both ashamed and afraid.
He knew he was wrong, but it was too late to say anything now.
"Alright, now that you know you were wrong, don't do it again." Zhang Guoming sighed. "Comrade Xu and the others didn't pursue the matter, which is already showing you leniency. You must learn from this lesson and behave properly in the future."
Chen Yifan nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.
Thankfully he's alright... otherwise, he would have been in jail at such a young age, and his future would have been ruined!
He swore he would never do such a thing again!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com