The villagers watching were all quite afraid of officials, especially those with a stern face.
They were able to say a few words just now, but now they're all as quiet as quails.
In the end, Xu Yan recounted what had happened.
“I saw it as soon as I got here,” Xu Yan pointed to Cheng Jin, “He was carrying that child on his shoulders the whole time.”
“After I was jostled by someone, I turned around and they were gone. And she,” Xu Yan pointed at the old woman again, “she turned around and ran away furtively.”
The commune secretary frowned.
"Just because she ran away, you're accusing her of stealing from you?"
“I saw it,” said the tall man who had been standing next to Xu Yan. “I was standing right there, so I saw the child give the thing to her, but I didn’t see where she took it from.”
As he spoke, he pointed to the spot where he had just been standing.
The commune secretary looked over there.
Given the young man's height, he could definitely be seen standing there.
“We didn’t steal it,” the old woman insisted, then glared at Xu Yan, “She must have seen me buy a nice piece of cloth and deliberately accused me of stealing it!”
After saying that, she turned the tables and said, "Who knows what her relationship with that man is? Maybe they're working together to frame us!"
Xu Yan's face turned cold.
Before he could even speak, he heard a young woman's voice, "You're talking nonsense! How could Xiao Xue the tailor lie? Besides, he's in town all year round, how could he possibly know anyone in the village?"
After saying that, he glanced at Xu Yan and then turned his head away.
“I don’t know any of you,” Xue Ning frowned, “and I’m not likely to be lying. I’m just saying what I saw.”
"But you, you all..."
He suddenly changed the subject, glancing at the old woman and Cheng Jin before saying, "I wonder what their relationship is."
After he finished speaking, Xu Yan could clearly feel that although the old woman's face looked bad, it was still okay. The main problem was that the man's face was deathly pale.
The people gathered around, watching the spectacle, were whispering amongst themselves; it was too noisy to hear clearly.
“Leader,” Xu Yan called out to the commune secretary, “all the cloth I brought out today has my name written on it. You can tell at a glance whether it’s mine or not.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the expressions of the two people in front of her became even more stiff.
The old woman instinctively reached for the piece of cloth tucked inside her clothes.
The commune secretary isn't stupid; surely he can see the problem by now?
"Take it out!" he shouted sternly.
The old woman was so frightened that her hand trembled violently.
“I’ll count to three,” the commune secretary said, his eyes wide and his eyebrows furrowed, his tone impatient.
The old woman finally couldn't resist and took out the cloth with trembling hands.
"The words 'Da Bao' are written on one corner of this cloth," Xu Yan said after only a glance.
The old woman couldn't read, but Li Aihua snatched the cloth from her hand, unfolded it, and indeed, Da Bao's name was written on one corner of the cloth.
The people around immediately became much louder.
"What else do you have to say?" Li Aihua said, glancing sideways.
The commune secretary looked at the old woman and Cheng Jin again, his face still dark. "What's your relationship? Which brigade are you from?"
These days, they're cracking down really hard on social connections. If they see someone acting suspiciously, they'll check their letter of introduction. If no one can prove their identity and they don't have a letter of introduction, they'll be arrested.
His question immediately startled both his wife and Cheng Jin.
"Leader!" The old woman rushed over to grab the commune secretary's hand, but he glared at her and she took a few steps back in fear.
"Speak!" the commune secretary said impatiently, raising his voice.
“He…he is my man,” the old woman stammered.
Her words caused an uproar, not only among the commune secretary but also among everyone around her, who collectively rubbed their ears.
I thought I hadn't heard clearly.
"What did you say?" The commune secretary looked at her incredulously, then at the young man next to him.
She'd believe it if she said this kid was her grandson.
“We got married in the first half of the year and had a wedding banquet,” the old woman said. “Everyone in the village knows about it.”
Xu Yan finally understood why she had angered the other party with just one sentence.
She stared wide-eyed at the old woman who looked to be in her sixties or seventies, then at the young man next to her who looked to be only twenty-four or twenty-five years old and wearing glasses. She felt that this world was really a bit magical.
Is it really that bumpy?
What's the point?
Is it because she doesn't shower, or because she has a lot of wrinkles?
The commune secretary was probably quite puzzled as well. After a long pause, he finally asked, "Which brigade?"
“From Da Niu Gou,” the old woman murmured.
Da Niu Gou is not actually called Da Niu Gou. Its official name is Qinghe Brigade. Judging from the name, it should be a good place like Qingshan Brigade, but in fact, the environment is a million miles worse than that of Qingshan Brigade.
Qinghe Brigade is the village that Ye Wei mentioned before, where the educated youth didn't have to work.
In the mountains, if a poor person can afford a complete set of clothes, they are considered wealthy.
Xu Yan didn't know about Da Niu Gou, but Li Aihua understood immediately.
"It was the poorest production brigade in our entire county. I heard that people still starved to death throughout the year. The female educated youth in the educated youth settlement either married people from their village or married people from other villages."
"This is the first time I've ever heard of a male educated youth getting married..."
Li Aihua lowered her voice, but her voice was already loud, so even with the volume controlled, it was still quite loud.
Cheng Jin's face turned a deep purplish-red.
His hands were clenched into fists, and his head was drooping so low it almost hit the ground.
The people around were initially surprised, but then turned to disdain.
When these educated youths first heard the news that they wouldn't have to work, they were all so happy. The other brigades had also heard about it. But as things got worse day by day, they started thinking about going to the fields to earn work points.
But their brigade leader was so shrewd; because of their past actions, he never assigned them any work.
This has led to a decrease in the number of people in the educated youth settlements.
Basically, they couldn't stand it and ended up finding someone else.
But it's rare for someone to directly find themselves a "grandmother".
The discussion grew louder and louder, but was eventually interrupted by the commune secretary.
He took the two of them, along with the child, directly to the commune.
After the crowd completely dispersed, Xu Yan saw that the person who had spoken up for her earlier was still there. She wanted to go over and thank him, but when she saw the girl standing next to him glaring at her, she didn't go over.
But Li Aihua also saw this and enthusiastically pulled Xu Yan forward two steps, saying, "Little Xue the tailor."
Then he turned to look at Xu Yan, "Didn't you want to have clothes made? Xiao Xue's tailoring skills are unparalleled."
"Oh," Xu Yan said, a slight smirk playing on his lips.
After what just happened, the group got to know each other.
Xu Yan
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