The villagers of Qianjin Village gradually felt something was strange. In the past, these educated youths would chat with them, but suddenly it seemed like they had created a distance between them.
These people seemed to have agreed to go in and out together, and even when they were joking, they did so with their companions.
Although I would talk to them while they were working, they didn't seem as enthusiastic as before; instead, they seemed rather indifferent.
"Our village doesn't tolerate disunity," someone said sarcastically as Hua Xiangyun and her friends walked along the road, chatting and laughing.
Hua Xiangyun and the others pretended not to hear, but these people were unwilling to let them off so easily.
They were willing to exchange tickets with these educated youths before, but these days no one has managed to exchange a single one, which indicates that there is a big problem.
Everyone needs something in their home sometimes. If we replaced something before, why can't we replace it now?
“I’m telling you guys, forming cliques isn’t allowed in our village,” two middle-aged women said, blocking their way, wanting to see how these people would play dumb.
Hua Xiangyun and the others looked completely bewildered. "What are you two aunties talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with us. You guys are always together now, but you never talk to us. What, are you looking down on us villagers?"
Look at the way that hat is placed on him, no wonder the Ren family suffered losses in the past.
Hua Xiangyun asked with a surprised look, "Everyone, is there some misunderstanding?"
We go to and from work in the same direction, so what else can we do but walk together?
"I can't exactly go all the way to your homes, can I? Would you offer me a glass of water or a meal?"
"Pah, what a pipe dream," one of them asked, hands on hips. "We're no relatives or friends, why should we entertain you?"
"That's exactly the point. We don't eat a single grain of rice or drink a single cup of water from you, so why should we have to fawn over you?" Since it's impossible for the women to always take the lead, several men stepped in front of them.
"Besides, we came here to support the countryside and we finish our work on time every day, but is there anything we did wrong?"
I see that all the other aunties go home with their families, so why can't we do that?
"..."
"Sure enough, you city folks are so sharp-tongued. Even though it's clearly... we have to put it in such a... " After the aunt finished speaking, she quietly asked someone next to her, "What was the next thing to say?"
I forgot my lines...
Ang Lee and the others, "..."
"..."
"Why aren't you going home for dinner? What are you all doing here blocking the way?" Captain Ren asked, frowning as he saw so many people gathered.
"No, I just have some questions to ask..." The villagers were still somewhat afraid of Captain Ren, after all, their food rations were in his hands.
Hua Xiangyun and her group didn't have this concern. "Captain, I don't know why these aunties and grandmas stopped us. They were saying some strange things that we couldn't understand."
We live together and go everywhere together, so how is that detrimental to unity?
These older women have accused us of forming cliques, and we really don't understand what we did wrong.
Captain Ren glared at the villagers, knowing that they couldn't resist causing trouble again.
He was naturally happy to see the educated youth exchange tickets with them to make everyone's lives more convenient.
Although he knew that the children had suffered some losses, he would let things take their course as long as they didn't cause a scene and the villagers didn't go too far.
But for some reason these days, these educated youth seem unwilling to interact with the villagers, and have even started going in and out together.
He wasn't stupid; he immediately guessed what was going on and figured out what these young people were wary of.
Seeing how aggressive these villagers were, he understood perfectly well that they were taking advantage of him and trying to scheme against him, but the villagers were quick-witted and had taken precautions in advance.
"Don't talk nonsense. Do people have to report to you who they go to and from work with?"
"Why don't you all just let me be the captain? You can't even handle your own affairs, yet you're worrying about other people's problems..."
Captain Ren pointed at those women and gave them a lecture, as if they really thought these kids had no connections.
They don't even consider that the educated youth assigned each time are from other places. Why should they be assigned to people from the county town this time?
If someone didn't have connections and skills, they wouldn't be able to send their child here.
He also had his own agenda, wanting to use the connections behind these people to climb the ranks further. If these people dared to cause him trouble, they shouldn't blame him for being ruthless.
Even if he intended to take advantage of the other party, he still had his bottom line. Since he had come to this place and had promised Director Jiang, he naturally had to protect her.
Stopping people didn't bring them any benefits; instead, they received a good scolding. Even if these women harbored resentment, they could only swallow their anger and leave.
Captain Ren smiled wryly and said to the educated youth, "The villagers are ignorant, please forgive them. It's good that you are like this, going in and out together, and taking care of each other if anything happens."
Li An and the others' pupils contracted; it seemed that this Captain Ren also knew something.
Hua Xiangyun's information was correct, and it's no wonder the villagers were anxious today and stopped them; their purpose was self-evident.
After thanking the captain, the group returned to the house, and the situation thereafter became even more low-key.
Even when several girls go out together, they never do so; they always have to be accompanied by a male comrade.
While they were living in fear, the Ren family on the mountain couldn't wait any longer. It was clearly their territory, yet they had been forced to hide on the mountain.
Several young souls, unable to contain themselves any longer that night, quietly returned to the Ren family mansion.
Seeing that the once familiar place had been filled with many unfamiliar things, Ren Guangyi and his group could no longer hold back and deliberately made some noise.
Xiao Shaoyao turned over and felt that the shadow outside the window was a bit strange. Having lived here for so long, he couldn't possibly be unfamiliar with the outside. When did tree branches or something like that start swaying outside?
Thinking he was seeing things, he rubbed his eyes, but what he saw wasn't a tree shadow at all; it was a human-shaped black shadow.
"Who's there?" Xiao Shaoyao wondered if someone had gotten up in the middle of the night, but she didn't seem to hear the door open.
Upon further reflection, even if it were a shadow cast by the moon, it shouldn't be able to stand on the window.
Xiao Shaoyao panicked and moved to Wu Yanxin's side with the blanket. "Yanxin, wake up quickly and see what's outside the window."
After a long day of work, Wu Yanxin, who was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, rolled over and said, "What could it be? It's just a window. Go to sleep, we have things to do tomorrow morning."
“No,” Xiao Shaoyao moved directly into Wu Yanxin’s blanket, “When did there start seeing shadows outside our window? It looks like a person, but it doesn’t quite look like one…”
The window is so high, how can a person hang on it?
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