At around eleven o'clock in the evening, Liu Jia, who was already asleep, was awakened by the knocking on the door and shouting outside. When Xuemei put on her coat and came out of the room, she found that everyone was up except Qingya who was at school.
"Mom, what happened? Why is someone coming to our house in the middle of the night?" Xuemei asked while yawning.
"I don't know what happened. Your father went to open the door! Xuemei, Ruirui, Feifei, you three should go back to sleep. Tomorrow you have to go to work or school!" Liu's mother pushed the two brothers Ruirui and said.
Before Xuemei and the other two returned to their room, they saw Liu's father hurried back. "Mother, something happened at the Youth League Institute. I'll be there now. You guys go back to sleep!" After saying that, Liu's father left.
"Dad, you haven't taken your coat yet? What happened at the Youth League Institute that makes you so anxious?" After saying this, Liu's mother went back to her room to get her coat.
Xuemei took Liu's father's coat and said, "Mom, I'll take it to Dad. I'm already dressed. You and your brothers go to bed first. Just leave the door open for me and Dad!"
After Xuemei finished speaking, she took her clothes and ran to chase Liu's father.
"Xuemei, why did you come here too?" Father Liu asked Xuemei who was running over.
Xuemei handed the clothes to Father Liu and said, "Mom is worried that you'll be cold, and I'm worried about the educated youth too, so I came here to check on you!"
Father Liu took it and continued to follow Dai Dongfeng to the Youth Institution. Xuemei then realized that the person who had just been outside her yard was Dai Dongfeng. Xuemei ran to Dai Dongfeng and asked, "Dai Zhiqing, what happened at the Youth Institution?"
"Comrade Liu Xuemei, I'm not entirely sure. Zhou Bing got up to go to the bathroom at night and spotted two people sneaking around outside the window on the side where He Wenting lived. He shouted, and they ran away. When he got closer, he saw that smoke had been inserted into the windows of the three rooms where He Wenting and her roommates lived.
Later, Zhou Bing woke up Han Chen and me. We called He Wenting and He Jing outside the door, but they didn't respond at all. Then Zhou Bing broke the door open.
Seeing that He Wanting and the others were already unconscious, Han Chen asked me to call Doctor Wu and the others over and notify the village chief. Han Chen and the others were afraid that the two men would return and do something bad, so they stayed at home with Zhou Bing to watch over them. Dai Dongfeng explained.
When Xuemei and the others arrived at the educated youth center, Han Chen and Zhou Bing, who was holding the sleeping Wu Xingqiao, were sitting in the main hall. Grandpa Wu Yuezhu and his grandson came out of He Jing's room.
"Uncle Wu, Xiao Wu, are the He Zhiqing sisters in good health?" Father Liu walked up and asked anxiously.
"Village chief, Zhou Zhiqing discovered it in time. He Zhiqing and the others didn't inhale much smoke, so they can be woken up soon. My grandfather and I will take the children back first!" Wu Yuezhu replied.
Father Liu finally felt relieved. After Wu Yuezhu and his family left, Father Liu asked, "Zhou Bing, did you see the faces of those two people clearly?"
"Village chief, I didn't see their faces. They ran away as soon as I shouted at them!" Zhou Bing said in annoyance.
"Then let it go! For the sake of the reputation of Big He and Little He, you all should just keep today's incident to yourself and pretend it never happened!" Father Liu said seriously to the three male educated youths.
"Village chief, we know about it and we won't tell anyone else. This matter ends here!" As soon as Han Chen finished speaking, Zhou Bing and Dai Dongfeng also expressed their opinions.
"Okay, it's so late today, everything should be fine. Lock the door and get some rest! Tell the two He educated youths tomorrow morning what happened tonight, and ask them to be more alert when they sleep next time! Xuemei, let's go home!" Liu's father added.
…
"Dad, why are you here?" Xuemei asked Father Liu in confusion while looking at him in front of the counter. Usually, if the family wanted to buy something, Mother Liu would tell Xuemei the night before or in the morning before Xuemei came to work, and Xuemei would take it home after get off work in the afternoon.
"It's nothing. You're almost off work today, right?" Father Liu said, changing the subject.
"Dad, it shouldn't be long. Come with me to the lounge at the back and sit for a while, then come home with me after get off work!" Xuemei said as she walked out from behind the counter.
Father Liu nodded and went into the lounge to wait for Xuemei to get off work.
"Dad, what's going on today?" Xuemei asked her father Liu who was pushing a bicycle beside her.
"This morning, a few scoundrels who came from nowhere came to harass Da He Zhiqing at her workplace, saying she was taken by Mingwen and was no longer innocent! They told Da He Zhiqing to marry any of them, saying they didn't mind her, and some even wanted to take advantage of Xiao He Zhiqing.
"Thankfully, the educated youth, He, was smart and brave enough to take risks. She grabbed a sickle and started hacking at the people while calling for help. People working nearby heard the sisters' cries for help and rushed over to help them drive the people away!" said Liu's father.
"What does that have to do with you coming to pick me up? Could it be that these people were deliberately hired by Liu Laizi? Are you afraid that Liu Laizi will send someone to block me?" Xuemei asked with wide eyes.
"Your mother asked me to pick you up because she was worried that Liu Laizi would do something bad. Your guess is almost right. Those random people in the village must be those he hired.
And the increasingly outrageous rumors about Da He Zhiqing in the village lately are probably also the work of Liu Laizi and that old woman, Grandma Li! I just didn't expect Grandma Li, someone so old, to have no moral integrity! She's becoming increasingly vicious, spreading rumors and bullying a young girl in the village. She's already made the story of Da He Zhiqing and Mingwen known to everyone in the surrounding villages!
"Luckily, you were the one who rescued little He Zhiqing with your own hands. No one else saw him fall into the water except us. Otherwise, little He Zhiqing's reputation would be ruined!" Father Liu said worriedly.
"Dad, what should we do with Wanting? Second brother held her because she drowned and passed out. Isn't this a special case? Weren't there three aunts watching? Should we ask them to explain to the villagers that Second brother was saving people?" Xuemei said anxiously. She didn't want He Wanting to have her reputation ruined because of this incident and be harassed by some old bachelors and hooligans in the future.
"What truth can those gossips say? They change every day. What's the point of asking them to clarify now? I think the gossips that started spreading in the village were from them." Father Liu said with some disdain.
"Then Dad, don't you have any other solution?" Xuemei asked Liu's father with a worried look on her face.
"There is a way, but it depends on whether Mingwen, your second mother, and the educated youth Da He agree?" Father Liu stopped and said.
Xuemei looked at Liu's father's expression, thought about it, and finally understood what he was talking about. She sighed and said, "It's true that we can't force it!"
Father Liu patted the back seat of the bicycle and motioned for Xuemei to sit on it. "It's a good place to ride now. Hurry up and get on! Otherwise, your mother will be waiting anxiously at home."
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