Chapter 93: Bolted Outside the Door
Porridge is the most comfortable thing to drink in the summer after it has been allowed to cool down, and it won’t make you feel hungry.
After dinner, Lu Dongping sent her back to the educated youth site. Zhang Hongying didn't say anything else. He had asked her to go down the mountain a long time ago, but she had been dawdling until this time. It made her angry just thinking about it.
Lu Dongping had been carrying wheat all day and was more annoyed than them, yet he still had to deliver it back and forth.
She held it in and said nothing, but she was quite clear in her mind that if she complained at this moment, something bad would happen.
Lu Dongping walked Wen Wan to the entrance of the educated youth center with a flashlight. Wen Wan gave him the flashlight and said, "It's too dark on the road. Be careful."
"I'm used to groping in the dark, so I can do it. You keep it. It's pitch black in the room and I can't see what to do."
Wen Wan was so tired that she wanted to go back and lie down. She didn't want to waste time with him, so she stuffed the flashlight into his arms and turned away.
Lu Dongping took the flashlight and stood there without moving, keeping the flashlight on and waiting for her to come into the house before leaving.
Wen Wan went to the door and pushed it, but it didn't open.
I pushed again, but it still didn't budge.
The door was bolted from the inside.
Wen Wan knocked on the door, but there was no sound from inside. She leaned against the window and shouted a few times, but the person inside was fast asleep and there was no sound at all.
Lu Dongping stood there, noticing something was wrong. He walked over in two or three steps and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's bolted."
Lu Dongping reached out and knocked a few times, but there was still no movement inside.
Wen Wan pulled him aside and said, "Forget it. We're back too late. They're all exhausted and must be fast asleep. Stop knocking."
"So what are you going to do tonight? Why don't you come to our place and stay with Chun'e for the night?"
Wen Wan shook her head, turned around and sat down on the eaves outside the door: "You go back, I'll just stay like this, I can stay anywhere for a night in the summer." It would be okay if she didn't have a boyfriend, but if she did, how could she go to Lu Dongping's house in the middle of the night? She would be blamed for it later.
Lu Dongping was so angry that his teeth ached: "Everywhere can make do, but our family can't?"
Wen Wan didn't say anything and just sat there hugging her knees.
Lu Dongping nodded, turned off the flashlight and sat down next to her.
Wen Wan turned to look at him: "Why don't you go back to sleep?"
"You're sleeping outside, and you ask me to go back to sleep?" How could he sleep when his partner isn't settled? How could he sleep at all?
Wen Wan sniffed, hugged her knees and sat there without saying a word.
It suddenly became quiet outside.
After a while, there was finally movement in the silent room.
Deng Hongjuan took her hand away from Xu Wenfang and lay back down.
Xu Wenfang sat up suddenly: "Deng Hongjuan, are you sick? Wen Wan is knocking on the door, and you don't get up, so why don't you let me make a sound and cover me up? You acted like you were dying when you were working during the day, but now you have a lot of strength. Are you a wicked person?"
Zhang Yun on the side pretended to be dead the whole time and didn't make any sound.
Deng Hongjuan also sat up and looked at her provocatively: "Then go and open it for her now. You want to curry favor with her? Xu Wenfang, do you really have to? Do you still have any blood or temper? We are all educated youth, do you really have to curry favor with her like this? I am immoral, so what? I just can't stand her and I did it on purpose. We are all educated youth, why can she go to the members' homes to work together but we can't?"
Working with those male educated youth, I was exhausted and my nose and eyes were all messed up. If I worked with other members of the commune, I would have to work much less.
It's so busy right now, there's no sound outside, I guess everyone has left.
"Why not? Don't you have any sense? If it weren't for the two of you holding back, the members here would have disliked you. Compare yourself with Wen Wan, what do you have to compare with her? Do you have a better family or a higher degree? You don't have either, so why are you showing off? You think you are superior to others, go look in the mirror and see what kind of character you have. Wen Wan is at her boyfriend's house, what's wrong with her boyfriend taking care of her? You are not convinced, you are jealous, and you also want to date her? Oh, I forgot, you are from the city, how can you look down on these people from the mountains..."
Before he could finish his words, the door slammed shut, and the three people in the room sat up in fright.
Xu Wenfang and Deng Hongjuan stopped arguing, and Zhang Yun stopped pretending to be asleep.
Deng Hongjuan bravely asked, "Who is it?"
Lu Dongping sneered and replied, "Oh, I thought everyone in the room was dead! Turns out they're still breathing! So, do you want to open the door yourself or should I open it for you?"
If he kicks the door again, it will be enough. At worst, he can fix it tomorrow. He will be criticized, but what's the big deal?
These female educated youth are intellectuals, and each one of them is so amazing.
Knowing that someone hasn't come back yet, he still locks the door and pretends to be asleep while awake. It's really amazing.
The male educated youth next to him was also woken up by the noise. He sat up yawning and asked, "What's that noise? What's going on next door?"
"It sounds like someone is kicking in the door next door!"
As they were talking, someone got up and walked out.
Although it was annoying for the female educated youth to keep nagging and hindering work during the day, they were all educated youth who came here together, so I should at least take care of them.
Xu Qingming put on his shoes and walked out of the house with a flashlight.
There's already a commotion outside.
Deng Hongjuan's shrill voice stung people's ears. "You're kicking the door in the middle of the night. What do you want to do? Are you a hooligan? Is this educated youth settlement still habitable? Is there anyone who's going to take care of it?"
Lu Dongping sneered, gnashing his teeth. "Playing dirty with you, or with the three of you? My girlfriend is standing right next to me. It's a little dark, but it's not blinding. Take a look at yourself in the mirror. Am I playing dirty with you?"
"What's going on?"
Xu Qingming walked over in two or three steps and said, "Secretary Lu, why are you here at the educated youth center at this hour?"
Lu Dongping shook the flashlight in his hand and felt that this thing was really useful. He would go back to the county town to get another one and buy a few more batteries. He had been using it for so long, what if it ran out of battery and stopped lighting up?
"I took advantage of the coolness of the night to stay up in the mountains for a while. I came back late and sent Wen Wan here. Who knew the door was bolted? There was no response when I knocked or shouted. Then I turned around and heard someone chattering inside. These were intellectuals from the city, and what they did was really unexpected."
Deng Hongjuan refused to admit it at this moment: "Look at the time at night, who knows whether you will come back or not, and who will leave the door open for you."
"That's ridiculous. This is a sent-down youth camp, and I'm a sent-down youth. If I don't come back, where will I live?"
"Oh, you still know you're an educated youth? You've gotten along with people, you've climbed the social ladder. You're the captain's nephew, the commune secretary, how powerful are you? What kind of educated youth are you? Today, all the people at our educated youth site are busy working in the fields, but you're nowhere to be seen!"
Wen Wan sneered, "Who stipulated that educated youth must work with educated youth? I'm willing to participate in labor. I work wherever I go and contribute to production. As for you, you want to be like me, but the problem is that the members are very discerning. They don't want to, but the educated youth team has no choice but to drag you along. If there was a choice, who would want to be with you? You're not good at anything, but you're always a troublemaker. You think you're so superior, you're even better than the production team leader!"
Wen Wan usually doesn't talk about people, but when she does, she chatters away without stopping: "It's my freedom to date wherever I want. There's a rule that educated youth aren't allowed to date in the countryside. What's your intention in pestering me all day? Aren't you jealous of me because I have food, drink, and a partner?"
Deng Hongjuan spat at her and said, "Who is jealous of you? You find a peasant from the mountains as your treasure and you still say that I am jealous of you. It's ridiculous."
"You're not sick, what are you doing? You wanted to switch beds with me on your first day, and I offended you by not agreeing? You dragged the other two into a clique to isolate me, and you're so satisfied with me when I ignore you? Do you think I don't know the bad things you say about me behind my back? You're not sick, you're a mad dog. If you want to go crazy, you have to find the right place."
"Who are you calling a mad dog?"
"I'm talking to you! You don't understand what I'm saying!"
Deng Hongjuan rushed over with her teeth bared and was about to hit someone.
Lu Dongping pulled Wen Wan behind him, and Deng Hongjuan slapped Lu Dongping on the shoulder.
Everyone was stunned.
If Lu Dongping hadn't reacted quickly, that slap would have landed directly on Wen Wan's face. What kind of grudge was this?
Xu Qingming said, "Comrade Deng Hongjuan, please don't go too far!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Wen Wan shook off Lu Dongping's hand and rushed out. Deng Hongjuan was caught off guard and was pushed back a few steps. She didn't know whose foot she was on, and she staggered and sat down on the ground.
Wen Wan went up to her and was about to grab her: "You red-eyed, psychopath, who do you think you are? You hit me, you hit him, what right do you have to hit him!"
“Wanwan!”
Xu Qingming reached out and pulled her up: "Why are you arguing with her? If a dog bites you, bite it back."
Wen Wan couldn't shake him off and was so angry: "Seventh Brother, let me go, let me go! I must return that blow to you. I haven't even touched my girlfriend, she's nothing!" She was so angry that she uttered a string of vulgar words.
"If a dog bites me, I definitely won't bite back. Can I kill her?"
Deng Hongjuan was stunned by the fall, and when she came to her senses, she burst into tears: "You are so bullying!"
Who the hell is bullying whom?
"Seventh Brother, let go!" Wen Wan jumped around in anger. With her thin arms and legs, she could not struggle against Xu Qingming.
"Xu Qingming, let go!"
"Wen Wan!" Xu Qingming called out to her seriously, "Are you tired? Aren't you tired after two days of work? Why are you arguing with her? Go wash up and go to bed! Don't do anything that will make people laugh at you and say you have no manners. You are a teacher now, so you should act like a teacher."
"Wanwan!" Lu Dongping called her, "Listen to your seventh brother and go to bed!"
After that, he said, "Don't worry about me. I'm not a good person. I don't have the bad habit of hitting women. Except for my mother and my woman, I usually don't do that in front of others."
Don’t have the bad habit of hitting women?
No one reacted for a long time.
He acted as if he didn't notice and continued, "Go to bed, everyone. We have to get up early tomorrow. I'm sorry to disturb you."
Wang Jianmao finally said, "What's the point? You should go back and rest early. Let's work harder tomorrow and harvest the crops as soon as possible. This is the top priority."
"That's exactly what I mean. We can sort out other things later after we're done. We still have a long time to live!" He then sneered at Deng Hongjuan and said, "If you want to sing, save it for later. After we're done, you'll have a lot of free time, and there won't be anything fun to do. You'll have to perform well then."
Perform well, this is a trick of making fun of people!
No one paid any attention to her. Deng Hongjuan was crying so hard that she felt like a nobody. Now she was getting angry again.
She wants to go back, she has to go back. Whoever is willing to come to such a shabby place can come!
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