It was almost eight o'clock when Lu Wanqing gradually woke up, and she drowsily hugged the quilt, feeling content.
Suddenly opening her eyes, she realized it was already bright outside and hurriedly called Lin Ye's name.
Lin Ye ran in carrying Miaomiao, "What's wrong, wife?"
She was shouting anxiously, thinking something terrible had happened!
"Why didn't you wake me up when Xiao Cui went to school today? What kind of sister-in-law am I!" Lu Wanqing frowned and complained.
Lin Ye chuckled, "It's not like she's not coming back. She'll be on summer vacation in a few months!"
"But I'm so reluctant to part with her. Xiao Cui is so lively; she's always laughing and joking around me. I feel like something's missing if I don't see her now. No, I have to go to the county town and send the rest of the packages there!"
As Lu Wanqing spoke, she quickly finished dressing and got out of bed.
Lin Ye laughed at her for being too concerned. Xiao Cui hadn't settled in yet, so how could she send things? Let's wait for her to send a letter first; she has enough for now.
Lu Wanqing had no choice but to nod reluctantly.
Lin Chunhua and Zhao Xiaolan each brought in a baby, and the family was still lively and cheerful.
At this moment, Wang Guangming, leading several commune leaders, stood outside the courtyard and called Lin Ye out. His serious demeanor made Lu Wanqing's heart skip a beat.
She had a bad feeling!
Sure enough, after a while, Lin Ye invited several people who looked like leaders into the house.
A comrade wearing a dark blue Zhongshan suit, upon seeing Lu Wanqing, went straight to the point and said, "You're Lu, the educated youth, right? I'm Officer Peng. The commune received a report that you're running a clothing workshop for profit and are suspected of speculation and profiteering, so we've been sent here to investigate and collect evidence."
Lu Wanqing paused for a moment, then asked, "Officer Peng, how could I possibly know who reported me? Everyone in the brigade knows about my clothing business, and Captain Wang is aware of it too. How did it become speculation and profiteering in his mouth?"
Now, apart from a few people who don't get along with her, everyone else in the brigade gets along quite well with her.
She couldn't guess who would do such a thing.
Officer Peng chuckled twice, without revealing the name, "I can't say who reported it. But what he said was very specific, like how many clothes you made, how much money you made, and how much you must have earned tens of thousands of yuan these days!"
You're even encouraging everyone to develop side businesses, so that everyone will go out and make some quick money, abandoning the main occupation of farming. Wouldn't that be undermining socialism and turning into capitalism?
As Officer Peng spoke, he became more and more excited, eventually spitting as he spoke.
Wang Guangming quickly smoothed things over, "Officer Peng, don't get agitated. I've always known about and supported Lu Zhiqing's clothing business, and after she sells all her clothes, she'll give 10% of the proceeds to the brigade headquarters as a public fund."
These public funds played a significant role in improving the production conditions in the brigade.
Furthermore, I disagree with your final point about abandoning the primary farming occupation. Because of the fertilizer invented by Lu Zhiqing, the Shengli Production Brigade experienced a leap in both the quantity and quality of grain production, which can be verified in the brigade's accounts. Therefore, your claim that developing sideline businesses meant abandoning the primary farming occupation is untenable.
besides......"
Wang Guangming spoke of the contributions that Lin Ye and his wife made to the brigade with great familiarity, remembering every single one of them clearly.
Seeing that he was getting more and more agitated, Officer Peng interrupted him, "Captain Wang, you don't need to speak up for her. Since the brigade headquarters has the account books, let's go and take a look at them."
Not only hers, but your ledgers too!
"Weren't you investigating me? What does Captain Guan have to do with this?" Lu Wanqing asked, frowning.
She realized that this Officer Peng wasn't a high-ranking official; he was just a gofer. Logically, if he was investigating her, he should only investigate her and wouldn't involve others.
It wasn't that she didn't trust Wang Guangming, but seeing them wielding their authority like it was nothing made her feel like she'd swallowed a fly.
Sensing the disgust in her eyes, Officer Peng became even more arrogant. "The leaders sent me down to investigate, so of course I have the right to investigate whomever I want! Come on, let's go to the brigade headquarters and look at the ledgers. I want to examine them carefully, one by one!"
Good heavens, his smug, petty face was on full display.
Wang Guangming had no choice but to say goodbye to Lin Ye and Lu Wanqing: "Don't worry, I will handle this properly and won't let you be wronged."
After saying that, he hurriedly followed behind Officer Peng.
These little devils are very troublesome. Even if the accounts are complete, they will keep causing trouble. Wang Guangming doesn't want to use money to get rid of them, so he has no choice but to keep dealing with them.
At the brigade headquarters, as soon as Yang Hui heard that the account books were to be checked, she quickly took out all the account books from the past few years.
There were three thick stacks of them, large and small, categorized by type.
The investigation team simply stayed at the brigade headquarters.
Li Yulan was incredibly excited when she heard that the investigation team was there to investigate Lu Wanqing. She frequently appeared beside Yang Hui, bringing up the events of that year.
"Sister Hui, do you remember how you moved from the old brigade headquarters? The old place was so nice! The current brigade headquarters is so shabby. On rainy days, it rains heavily outside and drizzles inside. You even had to cover your ledgers with plastic to keep them dry..."
Yang Hui was busy finding information to answer the investigation team's questions and didn't bother with her.
She got more and more excited as she talked, and her words reminded Yang Hui of the time when Lu Wanqing took back the house and kicked her out.
"Zhao Yulan, what nonsense are you spouting! How I moved out is none of your business."
Let me be frank with you, that house belongs to Lin Ye, and it's perfectly reasonable for them to want it back. It was wrong of me to occupy their house; I was in the wrong first. Not only did Lu Zhiqing not blame me, but she also offered a helping hand when my family members were sick. If I still don't know how to be grateful, I would be utterly heartless!
On the contrary, it's you who, at this crucial moment in the investigation of Lu Zhiqing, brings this up with me—your intentions are despicable! I advise you to conscientiously do what you're supposed to do as a sent-down youth, or you'll suffer the consequences!
Yang Hui was so busy she barely had time to sit down, and she still had to deal with her, which was really a headache. So she simply told her to go back to her room and not to show up at the brigade headquarters again, otherwise she would be assigned the hardest and most tiring work in the future!
The other two educated youths, Liu Jie and Su Dazhuang, mocked her when they saw her return looking disheveled. "How about that? You tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead! Li Yulan, you're just a troublemaker, always trying to use others as pawns. Do you think everyone is like Xu Ying, who would actually serve you faithfully after you've fooled them a few times?"
They weren't stupid; they knew that Li Yulan was behind everything that happened to Xu Ying. In the end, Li Yulan got away scot-free, while Xu Ying went to the farm to repair roads on her own.
How could Li Yulan possibly let such a great opportunity slip by? Ignoring their ridicule, she went to find Li Fang again.
However, Li Fang had gone back to her parents' home for some business, so she found no one there. When Aunt Luo saw her, she didn't give her a friendly look and dismissed her with a few words.
She stormed back into the house, looked at the dusty walls, and thought about how her life was bleak and dull compared to Lu Wanqing's. She decided to take matters into her own hands this time!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
