Chapter 29: Downfall

Chapter 29: Downfall

“Chirp, chirp—”

When I woke up in the morning, I heard a magpie chirping outside the window.

Xiao Aiyun smiled and said, "It seems that something good is going to happen today."

With the good mood of "the magpie is calling, good things are coming", Tao Nanfeng and everyone went to the site to receive work tools. Metal carts, shovels, pickaxes, hammers...there are quite a few tools that the road construction team needs.

Liu Bin walked out of the office lazily and spotted Tao Nanfeng among the crowd at a glance.

A navy blue short cotton jacket, loose blue trousers, and a pair of army green liberation shoes. The simple colors have a unique elegance and harmony on Tao Nanfeng.

Liu Bin approached Tao Nanfeng, and Chen Zhilu quickly stood in front of her and glared at him unhappily: "What are you doing?"

Xiao Aiyun said: "Liu Bin, aren't you afraid of being beaten? How dare you come over here!"

When the word "beat" was mentioned, Liu Bin shrank his neck and looked at Tao Nanfeng with a little fear: "I, I'm here to inform you that Director Jiao wants to talk to you. Don't beat me."

Seeing his silly look, Xiao Aiyun burst out laughing: "It's just a normal notification, not a thief, why are you so sneaky?"

When Tao Nanfeng heard that Director Jiao wanted to talk to him, he was stunned for a moment: "What's the matter?"

Liu Bin shook his head: "I don't know, the leader wants to talk to you, you should go quickly."

Xiao Aiyun took Tao Nanfeng's hand and volunteered: "I'll go with you."

Liu Bin stopped Xiao Aiyun: "The director said that only one person is allowed to go."

Seeing that the educated youth were about to step forward to question him, Tao Nanfeng hurriedly said, "You guys go to work first and don't affect the progress of the road construction. I'm alone, it's okay."

In broad daylight, with such a formal notice of an interview, I don't think he would dare to do anything wrong.

Seeing Tao Nanfeng's calmness and confidence, the members of the road repair team thought that she was strong and not afraid of being bullied, so they instructed her, "Then you should be careful and ask Xiao Aiyun to wait at the office door."

Tao Nanfeng nodded. The trust, affirmation and care she had always longed for since her mother passed away were all felt by the road construction team, which filled her heart with warmth and strength.

The director's office is located at the easternmost end of the corridor of the office building, and it appears more spacious because it is extended two meters outward.

As we approached the office, Tao Nanfeng was standing in the middle of the room, meeting Jiao Liang's gaze across a large desk.

Jiao Liang didn't say anything. He just sat back in his chair with a serious expression. The atmosphere was a little depressing.

Tao Nanfeng didn't say anything, thinking to himself: It's you who wants to talk to me, so you speak first.

Jiao Liang didn't expect that this young educated youth could be so patient. He waited for a while and saw that he didn't seem like someone who would take the initiative to break the silence. He adjusted his expression and bowed slightly: "Tao Nanfeng, I remember that your father is a university professor and your mother is a worker in a sewing machine factory. It's a good family with both intellectuals and workers."

Tao Nanfeng didn't want to explain too much and just nodded.

Jiao Liang continued, "You must be a comrade who is ambitious to be able to sign up to go to the countryside. Have you ever thought about going a step further?"

——Here it comes.

Tao Nanfeng thought that Luo Xuan was courting Ye Qin and Li Huilan in order to win him over. Now Jiao Liang was even more direct, and his purpose must also be to pull him into their camp.

Tao Nanfeng's expression did not change at all, and he said calmly: "What aspect do you mean, Director?"

Jiao Liang looked at the pretty young educated youth in front of him. Her delicate face was still as white as jade even after being exposed to the sun and rain in the road construction team. Her slender figure had become more resilient after working every day. Such a beautiful girl was unexpectedly assigned to the road construction team by Luo Xuan. It's so unfortunate for those rough guys. What a pity, what a pity.

His eyes became somewhat sticky: "You are an intellectual, why do you have to do those physical labors in the road construction team? What future can you have by being a bricklayer? It's better to..."

He reached out and touched his chin, pretending to be profound.

According to Jiao Liang's experience, fishermen only need to throw out the bait and the fish will naturally be caught. What matters at this time is patience.

But Tao Nanfeng was very patient. She lowered her eyes, looked at the back of her feet, and said nothing.

Jiao Liang looked at Tao Nanfeng's head, where two thick and shiny braids hung on both sides of her cheeks. There was a hint of lust in his eyes, and he said with a smile: "Tao Zhiqing, look at what this is?"

He opened the drawer, took out a form and pushed it in front of Tao Nanfeng.

Tao Nanfeng raised his head and after seeing the form in front of him clearly, his eyes suddenly lit up: the recommendation form for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University!

Jiao Liang is different from Luo Xuan. Luo Xuan is a stingy person, but he knows what kind of bait to use for what kind of people. Faced with the calm and composed Tao Nanfeng, he took drastic measures this time.

He smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed into a line: "Tao Zhiqing, you are an intellectual, you must not want to waste your youth in this poor and remote place. Why don't I recommend you to go to the Agricultural University in the provincial capital. You will have a bright future. Isn't it better than building roads on the farm?"

Go to college!

This has always been Tao Nanfeng’s dream.

Despite the temptation, Tao Nanfeng remained calm and composed.

She wanted to go to college, and there was nothing wrong with that. But a gentleman has things he does and things he doesn’t do.

The Jiao Liang opposite is a smiling tiger. He must have some ulterior motive when he took out this form. It was clearly a university place recommended by the farm, but he used it as a favor!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Tao Nanfeng suddenly raised his head with a gleam in his eyes: "What price do I have to pay for going to college?"

Seeing her blushing cheeks and more beautiful complexion, Jiao Liang could not help but become lustful. He completely forgot about the legend of Tao Nanfeng's immense strength. He stood up, walked around the desk, and came to her, saying, "What's the price? You're so beautiful, let me get close to you..."

When he approached Tao Nanfeng, a pure and sweet fragrance of a young girl hit him, making him completely lose his mind. He stretched out his left hand to touch her face.

hateful!

A fat and greasy claw stretched out in front of him, and Tao Nanfeng felt a strong sense of humiliation in his heart. Pretty, pretty girl, should she endure such bullying?

The anger was escalating, heat was surging in the body, white lines flashed before his eyes, and the point on the claw where the white was most concentrated was the center of the wrist!

His body moved faster than his brain, and Tao Nanfeng moved.

She slightly tilted her body, and with her right hand as fast as lightning, she grabbed Jiao Liang's wrist and exerted slight force.

There was a sound of "crack!" and Jiao Liang screamed: "My, my hand——"

Tao Nanfeng dragged Jiao Liang downward with his right hand and threw him to the ground. He took a step forward with his left foot and stepped on his left elbow.

"Ah——" Another scream.

Xiao Aiyun's screams and violent knocks on the door came from outside the office: "Tao Nanfeng, what's wrong with you?"

The door was locked!

There was a chaotic sound of footsteps. Someone rammed the door with all his might, and the hinges of the office door were knocked off. The whole door fell to the ground with a bang, and a group of people rushed in, stepping on the door panel.

Because of anger, Tao Nanfeng's chest heaved violently, his cheeks flushed, and one of his braids was thrown behind his head. She clenched her fists, her eyes flashed sharply, her lips trembled slightly, and she said nothing for a long time.

Xiao Aiyun hugged Tao Nanfeng tightly, wrapped her thin arms around her shoulders, and whispered in her ear: "Are you okay? Are you okay?"

Tao Nanfeng shook his head. For some reason, his eyes became hot and tears began to well up in his eyes. Jiao Liang clearly didn't touch her, and he clearly broke her claws with his own hands, but he just felt a fire burning in his chest and his eyes were burning.

Because of anger, because of humiliation.

Pampered by his parents since childhood, he respects others, cherishes his reputation, is strict with himself and lenient with others; he lives an honest life, does things seriously, does not argue loudly with others, and does not play intimately with the opposite sex. Although she was not very popular, no one, from teachers to classmates to her parents' neighbors, had ever scolded her harshly to her face.

No one even touched her!

Even stepmother Feng Chun'e and stepsister Tao You only said a few harsh words in a veiled way, which was a soft knife.

Unexpectedly... this forty-something old man dared to try to touch his face and use a recommendation form to claim his innocence!

So shameless!

Tao Nanfeng squeezed out two words from between his teeth: "Shameless!"

Xiao Aiyun hugged Tao Nanfeng and stared fiercely at Jiao Liang who was still struggling on the ground: "Director Jiao, you sent Liu Bin to talk to Tao Nanfeng. What are you talking about? Why are you bullying me?"

Liu Bin looked Tao Nanfeng up and down, and was relieved to see that her clothes were neat, her hair was not messy, and apart from being angry, there was nothing unusual about her.

After all, he was the first one to fall in love with the girl, so Liu Bin certainly didn't want anyone else to touch him. He didn't dare to scold Jiao Liang to his face, so he could only spit at him: "Why lock the door! What are you doing?"

A group of people who didn't know the truth crowded over and saw Jiao Liang lying on the ground screaming. Tao Nanfeng was so angry that tears welled up in his eyes. Thinking that Jiao Liang had always been lustful, he probably got beaten because he touched the pretty educated youth. He really deserved it!

"Captain Jiao, how did you have this conversation? How did you end up on the ground?"

"What on earth did you say, Director? What made the young educated youth so angry?"

"Looking at your state, leader, I'm afraid you were beaten by Tao Zhiqing, right?"

"Tao Zhiqing can smash a birchwood table with one slap. How dare you mess with her? You are really asking for your life."

Jiao Liang was both ashamed and annoyed, and he struggled to get up from the ground. His left hand was limp from the elbow to the wrist, and the slightest movement would cause the broken joint to move, causing pain throughout the bone gaps.

Faced with everyone's accusations, he was still full of grievances. I thought to myself, I didn't even touch her finger and she started to get violent. How could she be like a woman?

He was obviously the one who loved to bully and was beaten, so why is everyone blaming him now?

Someone noticed the university recommendation form on the table and suddenly discovered something new: "Oh my, the director is willing to give me a recommendation for university this time."

Jiao Liang gasped in pain and shouted hoarsely, "My bones are broken! Hurry up and call a doctor, call a doctor——"

Everyone saw a flash before their eyes, and a white figure rushed in from outside the door, bringing with it a strong smell of hospital disinfectant. It was nurse Liu Lili in a white coat.

Liu Lili's eyes were filled with anger, she gritted her teeth and raised her hand to slap him twice.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

Then there was a burst of crying of a woman: "I will beat you to death, you shameless bastard. Are there no women on the farm? You want to get involved with everyone! I begged you to transfer me to the foot of the mountain but you refused. I begged you to send my brother to school but you refused. Now you are willing to spend money to please others? Send her to college? Why don't you just die! You stupid thing, I will let a thunderbolt hit you to death..."

This, what is going on?

"Why is Nurse Liu so excited?"

"I've long said that the relationship between these two is not normal. Look at her expression like a wife catching an adulterer. It's really funny."

"Bah! Slut! You still dare to make trouble? Do you have any shame?"

"She didn't work hard at the nurses' station, and she still had the nerve to ask to be transferred down the mountain? Liu Bin wants to go to college when he looks so bad? Does she think the farm is her own?"

The discussions became louder and louder, and everyone's face unconsciously showed a trace of contempt.

Jiao Liang tried to get his hands on the pretty educated youth with the recommendation for college, but his hand was broken instead;

Liu Lili seized on Jiao Liang's mistakes and beat and made a scene, which only exposed more shameful behavior;

The farm leaders have a corrupt style, are not upright, and have poor personal ethics.

——Is such a person qualified to be a leader?

Jiao Liang was stunned by the two slaps from Liu Lili. He heard the discussions of the crowd and felt a chill all over his body. He looked at the disheveled Liu Lili in front of him and yelled, "Have you had enough of this?"

A loud shout came from outside the door: "Stop!"

Xiang Bei walked in with several field leaders, his face livid, and motioned Wei Min to go forward and pull Liu Lili away.

He walked up to Tao Nanfeng, his eyes deep, with a hint of apology and a hint of pity, and said softly: "You go back first, let me handle this."

His eyes were gentle and his words were full of love, as if a summer breeze was blowing across the lake, and the resentment in Tao Nanfeng's heart was instantly calmed. She nodded and turned to leave.

Xiao Aiyun held Tao Nanfeng's hand tightly, walked out of the office, and stood in the open space of the field office, letting the cold wind blow, tears streaming down her face. After a long time, she said, "I, I should go in with you."

Tao Nanfeng patted the back of her hand: "Don't worry, I didn't suffer any loss."

Xiao Aiyun blamed herself and cried all the way. After returning to the dormitory, she closed the door, then hugged Tao Nanfeng and burst into tears.

“Wuwuwu——”

Tao Nanfeng didn't want to cry at this moment.

Someone cares about him so much, someone cries for the grievances he has suffered. Tao Nanfeng's heart seems to be soaking in a hot spring. He reaches out and gently touches Xiao Aiyun's head, saying softly: "I'm fine, I broke his wrist and elbow."

Xiao Aiyun burst into laughter and said, "If we don't treat him, we'll ruin him!"

In the director's office, Xiang Bei's heart felt like it was frying in a frying pan.

Last night he was still planning how to bring down Jiao Liang, but today he heard that Tao Nanfeng was being bullied. I walked into the director's office in a hurry and saw Tao Nanfeng standing there like a wounded little animal, lonely and helpless.

Liu Lili was cursing, Liu Bin was trying to stop the fight, and people around were talking. Except for Xiao Aiyun who stayed by Tao Nanfeng's side, no one cared about the injustice Tao Nanfeng had suffered.

She was very strong and injured Jiao Liang; she had a cold personality and didn't cry or make a fuss... This was just a farce.

Everyone thought that Tao Nanfeng suffered no loss.

However, Xiangbei was heartbroken.

How can there be no loss? She was a well-behaved girl, and was tricked by Jiao Liang into his office for no reason. She must have heard some inappropriate words, which made her so angry that she took action.

How can there be no loss? She has always been willing to endure hardships and work in the road construction team, and never cares about personal gains and losses. She is cultured and well-mannered, cold on the outside but warm on the inside, treats people sincerely and never argues with anyone. But he must have felt sad to be bullied by that bastard Jiao Liang right under his nose.

Although Tao Nanfeng doesn't talk much, she has a pair of eyes that can speak. As soon as I entered the room, I saw that her eyes were slightly red and tears were flashing. She must have suffered a great injustice.

Such a good girl was actually humiliated by Jiao Liang in the field office.

——This is my own dereliction of duty!

If we had acted earlier, why would a villain like Jiao Liang jump up and down? Since ancient times, soldiers have used treacherous tactics. What's wrong with using some tricks to deal with such a villain!

At this moment, Xiangbei made up his mind not to show any mercy.

The captain of the sharp knife company, who had once planned to live a dull life because of the death of his comrades, no longer concealed the murderous aura honed in battle after battle, and his eyes became sharp and powerful.

Xiangbei walked forward, raised his hand and pressed Jiao Liang's left shoulder: "Since you are sick, you should take good care of yourself." After that, he supported, twisted, and pushed with his right hand, and Jiao Liang screamed again.

The screams were so shrill that they made one's head numb.

Liu Lili hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, but was pushed away by Mao Peng: "Hurry up and take your lover to the clinic for treatment. This is really embarrassing!"

Jiao Liang felt that his entire arm was completely out of control and screamed in pain: "What are you doing? Help, help..."

Xiang Bei calmly withdrew his hand and pushed Jiao Liang towards Liu Bin: "Director Jiao fell hard, send him to the clinic immediately."

After that, he said to the crowd watching the excitement, "Everyone go back to work. Director Jiao just fell accidentally. Nurse Liu came to take care of him. Nothing happened."

The crowd burst into laughter and dispersed, mocking as they walked out.

"Falling? The fall was pretty hard. I'm afraid all the bones are broken."

"Nurse Liu is taking care of... taking care of the bed, right?"

"Director Xiang is a good person. He didn't mention Tao Zhiqing at all."

"Shut up! What does this have to do with Tao Zhiqing? Everyone knows that Director Jiao is having an affair. Now he has made things worse. He deserves it!"

Tao Nanfeng was ruthless, and Xiangbei was even more ruthless.

Tao Nanfeng broke Jiao Liang's wrist bone and stepped on the radius of his forearm. The injuries will heal after a month or so of splinting. Xiangbei made a move and the broken bones were dislocated like lightning. The broken bones pierced into the muscles... This hand was most likely disabled.

Jiao Liang almost fainted from the pain. His shoulders, elbows and wrists were all red and swollen. How could he think? He was groggy and was supported by Liu Bin and Liu Lili on both sides as he went to the clinic.

When the crowd dispersed, only Xiang Bei and Mao Peng were left in the director's office.

Xiangbei glanced at the desk, folded the university recommendation form on the desk and put it in his pocket, then glanced at Mao Peng.

Mao Peng has worked with him for many years and understands him well. In no time, he pried open all the drawers, shaking his head and admiring them.

"Wow, seven or eight cartons of cigarettes!"

"It's a big iron box, full of money."

"Wow! This cabinet is full of good wine."

Xiangbei nodded, picked up a cardboard box from the ground, put all the items into the box, and walked ahead: "Let's go! Raid his lair."

The two men were familiar with the place and went up to the second floor to raid Jiao Liang's lair, which was even more outrageous. Not only were there high-end cigarettes, alcohol, and clothing, but there was also a small account book that recorded every bribe and every item given or received, including what he gave to Liu Lili and where they had sex.

Xiangbei instructed: "Let Doctor Jiang give him anesthesia and let him sleep well in the clinic for a few days." Then he hurried down the mountain.

A week later, when Jiao Liang woke up from the hospital bed, the world had suddenly changed.

The Discipline Inspection Commission and the Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Bureau organized a special investigation team to investigate his abuse of power for corruption and bribery; Chief Qian of the Finance Department took the initiative to hand over the leadership's secret accounts; Liu Lili tearfully scolded Jiao Liang as a big hooligan who forced women; Liu Bin resolutely drew a clear line with him and reported him for coercing and bribing female educated youth; Mrs. Jiao rushed to the farm with her brothers and forced him to divorce immediately.

From being a high and mighty farm tyrant, once he falls from power, everyone will want to punish him.

As a die-hard fan of Jiao Liang, office director Luo Xuan was not spared. Behind every account of Jiao Liang, there is Luo Xuan's manipulation, withholding subsidies for educated youth, misappropriating infrastructure funds, and building a slush fund...

Each and every one of these is outrageous.

In addition to famous cigarettes, famous liquors, and high-end items, more than 8,000 yuan was found in Jiao Liang's secret fund; Luo Xuan was even more frightening. He was afraid of being poor and was reluctant to spend money. He hid the money he embezzled under the bed. More than 12,000 yuan was found in one go.

The total amount of the two of them reached more than 20,000.

Extremely corrupt.

With such a large amount of money involved, they will face the most severe sanctions under the law.

The farm that knew the truth was in an uproar, and everyone jumped up and cursed. What a huge corrupt person! These two people thought the farm was owned by their family and they enjoyed being the local rich landlords.

When the Revolutionary Committee brought Jiao Liang and Luo Xuan out for trial, they were hit with spit, stones and clods of earth, leaving their heads broken and bleeding.

"I'll beat you to death, you stingy bastard, for deducting my educated youth allowance!"

"Bah! How shameless! Our farm is so poor that we can only live in a thatched house, and you actually hid more than 10,000 yuan under your bed."

"The two of them embezzled more than 20,000 yuan in total, which could have lasted a hundred years for us to receive subsidies for educated youth!"

"Such parasites should be shot!"

"Yes, let them be shot. They bully women and suck the blood of all our employees. They are really not good people! Such hooligans should be shot!"

The crowd was outraged. Jiao Liang and Luo Xuan were trembling with fear and panic, looking as pale as death.

When Luo Xuan saw the money he had saved for many years being confiscated, he no longer wanted to live. Money is his life, they are trying to kill him!

Jiao Liang was confused and couldn't figure it out. He had been running the farm for many years and had never forgotten to take care of his superiors. Nothing had gone wrong, so how did it come to this?

As for Chief Qian of the Finance Department, Liu Lili, and Liu Bin, although they made meritorious contributions in reporting and exposing the crime, they were also taken away by the public security organs as accomplices. What their fate will be is not what anyone cares about.

What all farm workers are most concerned about now is who the new farm manager will be.

At the new staff meeting, Xiang Bei was elected as the new director of Xiufengshan Farm with an absolute majority of votes. The leaders of the Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Bureau announced the result publicly, and warm applause rang out in the open space of the farm.

Xiao Aiyun's face lit up with excitement, and he clapped his hands vigorously. While clapping, he said to Tao Nanfeng, "That's great! If Xiangbei becomes the field manager, we can live a good life!"

The educated youth in Jiangcheng were as excited as if it were New Year's Day. The director is very active! Less than half a month after the last meeting, Jiao Liang was brought down. Perfect.

Everyone felt refreshed just thinking that they would no longer have to suffer from Luo Xuan's deductions and harassment, and no longer have to worry about Jiao Liang's smiling face.

I am not afraid of the hard work or fatigue on the farm, but I am afraid of encountering bad leaders who make me uncomfortable. If Xiangbei were the leader, he would lead everyone to build roads, open traffic, sell mines, get rich together, and improve their lives. Everyone would work together and strive to move forward. There would be no need to worry about being stabbed in the back or being threatened or held back. How wonderful!

The more I thought about it, the happier I felt. The sounds of the educated youth from Jiangcheng applauding, mixed with cheers and applause, echoed throughout the valley.

Tao Nanfeng smiled without saying a word, his eyes shining brighter. While clapping, he looked up at Xiangbei who was standing in the corridor on the second floor of the office building.

His face looked normal, his eyes were steady, and standing on a high place, his shoulders looked even broader and his legs longer, like a standing pine tree. He raised his right hand amid the applause, and when the applause stopped, he said something solemnly.

"Thank you, I will work hard to lead everyone to live a good life!"

This is a commitment to employees and an expectation for the future.

Tao Nanfeng raised the corner of his mouth slightly, looked up at the new farm manager who was very frugal with words, and said silently in his heart: Let's work together to create a new era for the farm!

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