Amidst the commotion, Yang Caihong gradually calmed down and realized what she had to do. She couldn't let anyone into the house to search; the grain was all in boxes, and a search would be enough to find it.
Now the only option is to exploit the conflict between the educated youth and the villagers, escalate the tension, and ideally, have them fight and get seriously injured. This way, the injured will have to be sent to the clinic, and she won't have time to worry about stealing grain.
Once she understood all of this, she immediately jumped out.
"What are you searching for? The people in our educated youth settlement are all cultured, knowledgeable, and promising young people. We came all the way from the city to support your rural areas, and this is how you slander us?"
"Don't think we don't know. You always look down on us, thinking we're no good at working in the fields and don't earn as many work points as you. Don't you realize that we're all from the city and have never done farm work before? Of course we can't compare to you country bumpkins."
Her tone was harsh, and her words were offensive. She used the terms "city people" and "peasants" to contrast them, using these insulting words to provoke Xu Dong and the other villagers, hoping they would take action.
“Even if we don’t earn as many work points as you, we can still support ourselves. You can’t judge us as thieves just because we earn fewer work points. This is class discrimination.”
This is pure sophistry and distorting the truth. They clearly said they came to the educated youth settlement because they saw someone stealing grain, but she twisted the direct reason for the search and even escalated it to class struggle.
To be honest, her words were quite inflammatory, reminding many of the educated youth of their past grievances against the villagers, and they all became indignant.
Xu Dong and his group were also very angry.
“So what if they come from the city? They’re still working in the fields every day just like us,” a middle-aged man said.
“We never said we were great. It’s you who look down on us and target us every day. Now you’re trying to smear us for stealing grain, saying you’re searching for grain. I think you’re the ones eyeing which of our educated youth’s things, using the pretext of searching for grain to fish in troubled waters.” Yang Caihong continued to stir up trouble.
"Bullshit! We may be country folk, but we never do anything like stealing chickens or dogs. You stinking woman, shut your mouth."
The middle-aged man was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged, and his voice unconsciously rose considerably.
Yang Caihong took two steps forward with her hands on her hips, and shouted loudly, "What are you yelling about? What do you want? You want to hit someone?"
As he spoke, he puffed out his chest and leaned forward, looking like he was asking for a beating.
"Come on, hit me! Come on, hit me! If you don't lay a finger on me today, you're not a real man."
Several other educated youths behind him clenched their fists and took a step forward, looking ready to fight.
The middle-aged man was red-faced and in a dilemma. If he didn't beat this bitch up today, he would be ridiculed for not being a real man.
His fists clenched so tightly they cracked; this bitch was asking for it, he couldn't be blamed.
Seeing that he was really going to hit her, Yang Caihong's lips curled into a triumphant smile. Go ahead and hit her, what's a beating? As long as they don't find out she stole the grain.
She was prepared to be beaten; her eyes were full of provocation, but even more so, hope, making one's teeth itch with rage.
The middle-aged man, unable to bear it any longer, raised his fist with bloodshot eyes.
Just as the punch was about to land, an angry shout stopped him.
"stop."
Lu Guoan stared intently at Yang Caihong with a stern face.
“Yang Zhiqing, you don’t need to stir up trouble. We’re here to catch the thief today.”
Although this guy deserves a beating, this isn't something that can be resolved with a beating. Ah Yuan had previously instructed that if any educated youth caused trouble after we arrived, we should put them aside for now. The main thing is to search for grain, and we should be direct, without beating around the bush or showing any leniency.
"Don't say the thief couldn't possibly be one of you educated youths. The guards at the warehouse saw it clearly: the thief carried the grain into the educated youth settlement. They even saw that it was a female educated youth, whose figure was very similar to yours. They all thought that person was you."
These words caused an uproar among the crowd.
He looked at Yang Caihong in disbelief.
Yang Caihong's heart tightened; she hadn't expected them to have a clear objective, but she remained stubbornly defiant.
"This is slander. Is it because I stood up and said a few words to refute you that you are now targeting me?"
I'm going to the commune to find the leaders and get some justice. I want to see what's going on with the brigade leader and his men bullying a female educated youth like me.
"Don't worry, once the grain is found, you will be sent to the commune," Lu Guoan said.
Then he looked at He Shenghua and said, "You are the leader of the educated youth team. Please find two female educated youths to search Yang's belongings and see where the grain is hidden."
Seeing his confident demeanor, He Shenghua believed him to some extent and ordered two female educated youths to search the house.
As long as it wasn't targeting their educated youth settlement, the educated youth had nothing to say. The two female educated youth nodded and were about to go inside to search.
Yang Caihong stopped them, "No, you can't go in. Why are you only searching me and not everyone else?"
Before Lu Guoan and the others could say anything, one of the educated youths said, "Isn't it because the person stealing grain looks like you?"
"That's right. They've obviously decided that you're the one. If you really didn't steal the grain, just let them search you. That will clear your name."
Lu Guoan also said, "As long as no grain is found, and you have been wrongly accused, I, as the captain, will issue an apology to you over the loudspeaker."
Seeing the captain's confident demeanor, everyone's gaze changed, and they looked at Yang Caihong as if she were a thief.
Yang Caihong became anxious and stood in the doorway, her eyes blazing with fury.
"Get out, all of you get out! No one is allowed to search my things. If anyone dares to touch my things, I'll smash my head against the wall and die right here. How are you going to explain this to the commune leaders and the educated youth office if you force an educated youth to death like this?"
“If there’s anything hard to explain, just say someone stole grain and committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Besides, that’s the truth,” Lu Yuanchao said.
"What facts? I didn't steal any grain. I went to bed as soon as I got back. You're all framing me."
Yang Caihong was going crazy, but at this point she was the target of everyone's anger, and no one was on her side anymore.
He Shenghua said, "Make way. Whether you stole grain or not can be found out with a quick search. You are from the educated youth settlement. If they really wrong you, I will seek justice for you."
As he spoke, he had several female educated youths pull the people apart.
Yang Caihong ignored He Shenghua's previous words and became so excited when he said he would seek justice for her that she kept begging him even after being pulled away.
"Shenghua, you have to believe me, I really didn't steal the grain. Tell them to let me go."
The keys on her belt were ripped off; she struggled and cried out in distress.
"Shenghua, help me! I can't let them get the key. I really didn't steal the grain. You have to help me."
He Shenghua felt extremely uncomfortable hearing her address him by his full name repeatedly; his brows were so furrowed they could have trapped a fly.
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