She rolled her eyes and spat, "Bad luck? When you heard I was going to have a job, why didn't you complain about it being bad luck? When I wasn't around, you went and deliberately talked to my boyfriend, saying that we were all from the same place and that we were destined to be together! You were even standing up for him! Now that you hear my job is going to fall through, you're saying it's bad luck?"
"I don't even mind my partner's situation, so who are you to complain? And you're saying you're being dragged into this? Who do you think you are? What do you have to do with my partner? And you're saying you're being dragged into this? If you wanted to be dragged into this, my partner wouldn't even bother with you! What are you doing? You're shamelessly trying to extort money! Do you understand?"
"What, you educated youth went to the countryside just to shamelessly stage accidents? Weren't you supposed to come down here to help our vast number of poor and lower-middle peasants? Weren't you supposed to make a difference in the vast countryside? Is this how you understand and treat the instructions of the highest leaders?"
The leader of the educated youth team turned pale upon hearing this, knowing that he could not let Xu Ningyan continue.
If we continue, the nature of the argument changes; it transforms from a simple quarrel into a matter of ideology.
They, the educated youth, will all be implicated.
Without hesitation, he said, "Comrade Xu! The two of them have problems with their thinking and their attitude is not correct. They haven't studied and understood the instructions of the highest leader properly! We'll send them back to the educated youth section to write some self-criticisms!"
After saying that, he turned to the two female educated youths and said, "Zhong Yuanyuan and Jiang Ying, you two go back to the educated youth settlement right now and write a self-criticism!"
Zhong Yuanyuan and Jiang Ying were already furious after Xu Ningyan publicly accused them of being shameless and trying to scam people.
As a result, the leader of the educated youth settlement wanted to send them back to write self-criticisms without even asking what happened. They felt extremely wronged and tears immediately welled up in their eyes: "Why? We didn't do anything wrong, why should we write self-criticisms!"
This self-criticism is not something to be written casually. If it gets out, it will be a stain on my reputation. How can I go back to the city with a stain on my reputation?
Team leader Nie Wei had never seen such a stupid person. He was protecting the two of them and giving them a way out, okay?
Go back to the educated youth settlement. Whether or not you have to write a self-criticism is another matter. Just leave this place of trouble first, and you won't be labeled with any more serious accusations.
And yet they actually complained? What's there to complain about?
He then gave a wink to the two older educated youths beside him, signaling them to go forward and drag Zhong Yuanyuan and Jiang Ying away.
He stepped forward and said, "I'm really sorry, they are new educated youth, young and ignorant. Comrade Xu, you are very generous and don't take it to heart."
Xu Ningyan scoffed, "Young? Immature? I'm sixteen this year, how old are they?"
Nie Wei choked.
Looking around, they saw that the people from the Unity Brigade in the distance had already noticed the commotion and some of them were looking over.
He was anxious. As a former educated youth, he knew that because of that incident, the Tuanjie Brigade didn't have a good impression of the educated youth in the settlement.
In recent years, he has also been working with several former educated youth to improve and unite the relationships among the brigade members.
Thanks to their efforts, things had already improved a lot. At least starting this year, they won't be assigned dirty and tiring tasks.
If they were to clash with Xu Ningyan again, the easing of tensions would likely escalate once more.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Comrade Xu, what do you suggest we drop the matter?"
Seeing Nie Wei's anxious expression, Xu Ningyan dug out the original owner Siya's memories and knew that it was another old case.
Siya had witnessed the efforts of the older educated youth at the educated youth settlement over the past few years. When Siya collapsed from exhaustion before, it was two female educated youths at the settlement who helped her to the shade of a tree, fed her water, and even gave her a piece of candy.
This was one of the few acts of kindness that Siya received during her short life.
Well, considering this, she shouldn't go too far.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Nothing else, just tell those two female educated youths to stop having such crooked ideas! Also, if they can't speak properly, they shouldn't speak at all! Otherwise, people might think their brains are connected to their intestines!"
Nie Wei didn't react at first, but it was only when a female educated youth next to him couldn't help but burst out laughing that he realized what Xu Ningyan meant.
For a moment, I didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused.
However, since Xu Ningyan was willing to take a step back, he naturally reciprocated.
"Don't worry, we'll keep them in check when we get back! Thank you, Comrade Xu—"
Xu Ningyan waved her hand: "No need to thank me! I'm just returning a favor! When I fainted in the field, two female educated youths helped me. If you want to thank someone, thank them! Otherwise, if anyone dares to look down on my partner or gossip behind my back, I will definitely not let them off the hook!"
After saying that, he pulled Gu Zhiyuan to the front.
Nie Wei turned around in astonishment to look at the educated youth behind him: "Is that so? Who was it?"
Zhang Can and Yang Xinrong exchanged glances: "That happened last year. We had just started doing farm work and were lagging behind. We saw the little girl looking so pitiful, collapsing in the field with no one to help her, so we lent a hand. The little girl didn't say anything after she woke up, and we thought she had forgotten! We didn't expect she had remembered it all this time!"
“No wonder! Do you remember at the end of last year, we went up the mountain to collect firewood? We spent half a day in the mountain but didn’t find much. At the bottom of the mountain, we saw a big pile of scattered firewood that no one wanted. The two of us picked it up and brought it back. It was two big bundles! At that time, I thought I saw Siya’s back. I thought I was seeing things! Now that I think about it, it must have been her!”
The two exchanged a few words of reflection.
The educated youths nearby listened and their gazes toward Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan became somewhat complicated.
After a while, someone whispered, "Actually, Comrade Gu is quite lucky. Although he was forced to marry Siya, she protected him with her life. If I had someone protecting me like that, I would be content!"
The educated youth sent to the countryside were mostly those who were not favored at home or who were unlucky, since the favored ones stayed in the city to accompany their parents.
Hearing this, everyone felt a pang of sympathy, and for a moment, they looked at Gu Zhiyuan with a mixture of envy and resentment.
Gu Zhiyuan was once again protected by Xu Ningyan without hesitation, even though he didn't need it and these gossips couldn't hurt him at all.
In that moment when he could be protected, Gu Zhiyuan heard his heart pounding.
His gaze involuntarily fell upon Xu Ningyan. A strange mix of emotion and reason left him both confused and somewhat agitated.
Especially the part of his arm that Xu Ningyan was holding, the warmth of her palm seeped through his shirt and into his skin, burning him so much that his first reaction was to shake off Xu Ningyan's hand.
He said in a deep voice, "Ah Ning, you don't need to get into conflict with others for my sake! My family background means I'm destined to face some disdain and differential treatment! I can bear it! If you do this, it will only make people target you—"
While saying these words, his eyes were fixed on the spot where Xu Ningyan had just grabbed, and he seemed somewhat lost in thought.
He was touched by Xu Ningyan's protection of him, but he also felt an inexplicable sense of irritation.
Is Xu Ningyan only protecting him like this, or does she protect all her so-called boyfriends in this way?
Although the thought only flashed through his mind for a moment, it made his face darken.
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