After hearing Li Lide's words, everyone looked at each other and calmed down.
Last year, Xiangyang Village was recognized as an advanced village and was awarded a pig as a prize.
Their village's wheat harvest is the best this year, and they are very likely to be the advanced production team this year.
With the harvest season fast approaching, we can't let half a year's hard work go to waste on this one thing!
Li Lide softened his tone and said to Bai Jiaojiao, "Bai Jiaojiao, I only just found out about this myself. Shen Heng did a good job this time, and Yu Wenli deserved to be punished!"
Li Lide's attitude changed so quickly that Bai Jiaojiao hadn't even wiped away her tears. She looked at Li Lide with a half-smile.
Seeing that Bai Jiaojiao remained silent, Li Lide continued, "Child, you and Shen Heng are both members of our brigade, so you must consider the honor of our brigade, right? This matter must not be taken to the police station. We are all fellow villagers, there is nothing we cannot resolve through negotiation."
Bai Jiaojiao immediately agreed: "It's fine if I don't go, but what does the village chief suggest? He can't just let me die for nothing, can he?"
Bai Jiaojiao had no real intention of going to the police station.
First, there is no evidence. Half a month has passed, and if Yu Wenli refuses to admit it by then, there is no way to convict him.
Secondly, once he goes to the police station, Shen Heng's assault will be recorded, and he will inevitably face several days in jail.
Her original intention was just to scare Yu Wenli, and now she was taking advantage of Li Lide's influence.
"Didn't Shen Heng beat him up to vent your anger? Otherwise, make him pay you some compensation for nutrition so you can use it to help yourself recover." Li Lide wanted to smooth things over.
"Village chief, I must state that Heng-ge punched me because he was harassing me earlier. I was riding my bike just fine when he stopped me, said some inexplicable things, and tried to touch me inappropriately. Shouldn't he have been hit?"
Bai Jiaojiao pointed to the onlookers: "Everyone's watching."
Bai Jiaojiao was so easy to talk to that, and after the village chief's persuasion, she immediately agreed to take a step back for the sake of collective honor. The onlookers were also happy to vouch for her: "Village chief, that's exactly what happened!"
"Village chief, you can't blame Shen Heng. If he could tolerate his wife being harassed in public, would he even be considered a man?"
"Yu Wenli, you're a coward too. You're afraid to take a beating, but you dare to do something like this?"
Upon hearing this, the men laughed.
Seeing that everyone was siding with Bai Jiaojiao, Yu Wenli became anxious and retorted, "I'm here to apologize! How can you not appreciate my good intentions?"
"Apologize? It's been half a month, and now you want to apologize?" Bai Jiaojiao sneered.
The onlookers jeered, "He's already married, and you're only now thinking of apologizing?"
Bai Jiaojiao and Shen Heng's wedding was very rushed, and there wasn't even a banquet.
All that was done was that Li Lide issued a certificate, and Bai Shihai, the eldest brother of the Bai family, carried Bai Jiaojiao to the thatched hut where Shen Heng lived.
Half a month is too short for wedding preparations, but too long for an apology.
Seeing Yu Wenli's stammering and evasive manner, Li Lide knew perfectly well what was going on, and his mind started buzzing.
He asked Bai Jiaojiao, "So what do you want to do?"
"Since he says he wants to apologize, then apologize."
Li Lide breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Bai Jiaojiao was still just a young girl and couldn't come up with any particularly tricky moves.
He immediately turned to Yu Wenli and said, "Quickly apologize to him in front of everyone! When you get back, write a self-criticism and read it aloud at the general meeting. Your attitude must be sincere and profound, understand?"
Yu Wenli didn't expect Bai Jiaojiao to be so quick to pick up and easy to put down. He thought that Bai Jiaojiao still had feelings for him, but that Liu Ying was still angry with him.
She immediately softened her expression and whispered, "Jiaojiao, I'm sorry, I..."
"Wait a minute!" Bai Jiaojiao told Yu Wenli to stop. "I haven't finished speaking yet."
"What do you mean?" Li Lide's head throbbed again.
“I want Yu Wenli to kneel down and apologize to me, and also compensate me with ten yuan for nutrition expenses.”
Bai Jiaojiao spoke clearly and forcefully, word by word.
"You!" Yu Wenli was so angry upon hearing this that he almost choked on his words. "Village chief, look at this! She's gone too far!"
A man's knees are worth their weight in gold; he only kneels to heaven, earth, and his parents. How could he possibly kneel to others?
Li Lide moved his lips: "Ten yuan is not a small amount. I think we should skip kneeling. We don't do that anymore. Do you still think this is the old society? Bai Jiaojiao, be forgiving. You went to high school. Don't act like those shrewish women in the village and make trouble for no reason."
Bai Jiaojiao said innocently, "Village chief, I am also a woman in the village, but I do not admit that I am a shrew, nor do I think there are any shrews in our village."
Originally, no one thought much of what Li Lide said, but after Bai Jiaojiao emphasized the key point, one of the women spoke up: "Village chief, we've never left the village many times in our lives, and we've never been to school, but how did we become shrewish women?"
"That's right, village chief, do you have a problem with working women?"
"He almost lost his life, and making Yu Wenli kneel down and apologize makes you a shrew? I think Li Lide, you're the shrew!"
The last sentence was from an old lady in the Li family whom Li Lide should call "aunt" according to seniority. When she spoke, Li Lide blushed and could only choke back his words.
"Bai Jiaojiao, if we support you, you should kneel down and apologize. Don't give me any old or new advice; this is a matter of attitude!"
Women's stance is easy to unify. Even if these sisters-in-law, aunts, and old ladies usually disliked Bai Jiaojiao, they were all indignant at this moment.
Bai Jiaojiao continued, "Village chief, that's all I'm asking for. If he doesn't apologize, there's nothing to talk about. Don't say I didn't give him a chance. Once we get to the police station, we'll see how they sentence him."
Bai Jiaojiao's words seemed to have stepped on Li Lide's tail, and Li Lide, filled with resentment, unleashed all his anger on Yu Wenli:
"Yu Wenli! What could be more important than someone else's life? You're a grown man, shouldn't you take responsibility for your actions? Someone like you needs to learn a profound lesson!"
Heckling is what the onlookers are best at, and Yu Wenli was surrounded by the crowd, unable to escape even if he wanted to.
"Apologize on your knees!"
"Exactly! You almost killed someone, shouldn't you kneel down?"
Kneel down!
Bai Jiaojiao looked at Yu Wenli, admiring his pale and sickly appearance.
Bai Jiaojiao thought with disdain, "This is nothing, and Yu Wenli can't even accept it."
He'll get what's coming to him later.
Yu Wenli hesitated to kneel, and as the sun grew stronger, beads of sweat appeared on Bai Jiaojiao's forehead.
Shen Heng took a step forward, and Yu Wenli, seeing him approach, panicked and said, "What are you doing? Ah—"
Shen Heng kicked Yu Wenli in the back of the knee, causing Yu Wenli's knees to buckle and forcing him to kneel down.
"Chen Heng, you beast!"
He tried to struggle to get up, but Shen Heng grabbed his neck and pressed him to the ground: "What the hell are you dawdling about? Apologize, hurry up!"
Yu Wenli was powerless to resist. Shen Heng pressed his neck down, and he couldn't even lift his head. He could only face the yellow mud.
"Apologize! Apologize!" the onlookers shouted.
Yu Wenli felt dizzy and could only grit his teeth and utter three words under the watchful eyes of everyone: "I'm sorry."
His apology was insincere; his eyes were full of resentment and gloom.
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