Xu Keke took the small note from the old village chief.
This is clearly a small strip of paper torn from a letter, about three fingers wide.
The note contained only one sentence: "Comrade Chen Xichun, I like you. Come to the mountain tomorrow morning. I have something to say to you." It was signed Bai Lu.
“Go to the police station. This handwriting is a forgery of mine. I am innocent. Someone is deliberately trying to frame me. I am not afraid of the police investigation. I will find the person who framed me.”
The previously noisy villagers quieted down. The villagers were simple-minded; seeing that Chen Xichun had already presented evidence, and Xu Keke still insisted on going to the police, they mostly believed her.
Xu Keke sized up everyone. "Chen Xichun said I like him. What do you think I like about him? Is it because his family is poor, or because he's lazy? He's almost thirty, and still unmarried. It can't be because he's too picky, can it? In all these surrounding villages, which family would be willing to marry their daughter to him? Even if I were blind and foolish to fall for such a scoundrel, I wouldn't go and tell him myself. I'd just pass him this note. I'm not afraid he can't read all the words on it."
Bai Lu and Chen Xichun have been married for over twenty years. Xu Keke knows perfectly well how much knowledge Chen Xichun possesses.
Xu Keke pointed to the character '趟' on the note, then to the last character '露', and asked Chen Xichun, "Tell me, how do you pronounce these two characters?"
Chen Xichun had only learned a few characters during the village's literacy campaign, so how could he know anything? He stared blankly at the note, then looked in the direction where the educated youth had stood.
"I... I don't know how to pronounce it. I don't recognize it, but I can ask someone. I just know what it means, and that's none of your business," Chen Xichun said shamelessly, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.
"Then tell me, when did I give you the note? Don't you dare say that I handed it to you personally. You need to understand, instead of giving you a note, I'll just say this one sentence to your face and make it clear, okay?"
The original instruction given to him was that this note was just in case. Chen Xichun never expected anyone to ask such detailed questions. Mainly, the person who gave him the note hadn't considered that he might be illiterate.
Seeing him still looking around, the old village chief slammed his fist on the table and stood up in anger.
"Why are you mute? Bai Zhiqing is asking you a question. You were quite talkative when you were ruining that young girl's reputation, why are you silent now? You people have disgraced our Chenjia Village. The whole village ganged up on that young girl. You all have children, sisters, and mothers. The things you said were horrible. Don't you have any shame?"
The old village chief stood leaning on the table, pointing at the villagers standing in front of him with his cane, "You all need to think carefully. If your family members encountered such a thing, would you still be so foul-mouthed?"
That's what the old village chief said when he spoke up for Bai Lu in his previous life. Xu Keke looked at the old man before her and gently supported his trembling arm. The old village chief patted her hand reassuringly and pointed his cane at Chen Xichun, saying...
“Xichun, tell me the truth today. Who gave you this note? Who asked you to do this? How much did you get in bribes? If you don’t tell me, I’ll hitch up a car and take you to the police station myself.”
"Third Uncle, what are you doing?" Seeing things were getting out of hand, Widow Wang, Chen Xichun's mother, pushed through the crowd and rushed in. Sitting in the middle of the room, she burst into tears at the old village chief, "You heartless people! My son Chunzi's father died early, and you all help outsiders bully us orphans and widows..."
"Shut up!" Just by looking at Xu Keke's attitude towards Chen Xichun, Chen Jianguo knew that the note couldn't possibly have been written by Xu Keke. Seeing Chen Xichun constantly looking towards the educated youth, Chen Jianguo understood everything.
He hadn't been the brigade leader for so many years for nothing; with just one shout, he silenced Widow Wang.
"If you keep making a fuss, you can forget about going to work. Go home and make a scene before you come back."
Upon hearing Chen Jianguo's words, Widow Wang was so frightened that she jumped to her feet. The villagers outside, seeing her cowardly appearance, all laughed. But when Chen Jianguo glared at her, they quickly shut their mouths.
"Why are you making a fuss? Xichun is being used as a pawn. He's stupid, and you, his mother, are still stirring things up. What's wrong? You're only upset if your son doesn't get into trouble and get arrested?"
Chen Jianguo pointed at Chen Xichun, "Tell me, who told you to do this? To put it mildly, this is just a conflict among the educated youth. To put it more seriously, this is persecuting educated youth. A few days ago, I went to a meeting in town, and you know what we were talking about, it was this very issue. Now this is a serious crime. Do you understand?"
Chen Xichun had never heard of this crime before, and Chen Jianguo's words frightened him so much that his face turned pale. He stared blankly at the group of educated youth, his hand trembling as he tried to point to one of the five people.
“I made him do it, and I even gave him five yuan.” Xiao Han, a fellow educated youth who went to the countryside in the same year as Bai Lu, stepped forward.
When the villagers heard that Chen Xichun had taken five yuan from someone, they sighed in dismay. No wonder Chen Xichun would do such a heartless thing; it was so much money!
Chen Jianguo stared at Xiao Han with a grim face. Xiao Han's eyes, hidden behind his glasses, were devoid of any emotion. Chen Jianguo couldn't fathom what he was thinking. But his demeanor didn't seem like that of someone who had done something wrong.
Chen Jianguo was unsure, his brows furrowed slightly, and he turned to look at his father. The father and son were exchanging glances when Xu Keke spoke.
"You say you did it, so it must be you. Then tell me, why did you hurt me?"
Xiao Han stared at Xu Keke, expressionless, and said, "I like you and want to pursue you, but you don't agree, so I came up with this idea."
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