The village was in an uproar early in the morning.
Those villagers who readily believed Song Yaoyao rushed to the village chief's house, slamming their fists on the table to complain, "Village chief, something terrible has happened! That Battalion Commander Zhou and his wife drew up a fake map to monopolize the coal mine, completely deceiving us. Now, the people who went up the mountain are buried under the mountain, and we don't know if they're dead or alive. Isn't this murder?!"
The village chief frowned, and before he could ask any further questions, a commotion of voices came from outside.
It turned out that other villagers who had heard the news also came to join in the fun, and they all rushed towards the wooden shed where Zhou Jiuzhen and his companion lived.
The crowd surrounded Zhou Jiuzhen and Ling Huanwu, who happened to be walking out hand in hand, making it impossible for them to pass through.
In the crowd, a man from the next village, who had discovered his wife was missing early that morning, suddenly threw a crumpled map in front of Ling Huanwu and shouted, "Take a look for yourselves! Did you draw this? You deliberately marked the coal mine in a dangerous place, hoping to discourage us so you could take it all for yourselves! Do you have any conscience?!"
The surrounding villagers also joined in the commotion, hurling all sorts of unpleasant remarks.
Zhou Jiuzhen and Ling Huanwu looked at the fake map on the ground and exchanged a glance.
Zhou Jiuzhen cleared his throat and quickly waved his hand to explain, "This definitely wasn't drawn by us. Someone must have deliberately framed us!"
Ling Huanwu looked furious, her face flushed red. She straightened her back and spoke in a clear yet firm voice.
"Fellow villagers, calm down and think about this carefully."
"If we wanted to monopolize the coal mine, why would we have told you when we discovered it? We could have just secretly dug it ourselves, why bother with all this trouble!"
As soon as he said that, the noisy crowd immediately fell silent.
Just then, Aunt Liu squeezed out from the crowd.
She had a good relationship with Ling Huanwu and knew the young couple's character best.
Aunt Liu stood next to the female protagonist, hands on her hips, and said loudly, "You can't wrong good people! These two kids have worked so hard for our island, looking for coal mines and leading everyone to work together, contributing both money and effort. When we were in the semi-cooperative, she even took out all the money she had saved up for a long time. Now you're saying they cheated everyone? I'm the first person who doesn't believe it!"
Several other villagers who had received help from Zhou Jiuzhen and Ling Huanwu in the past also nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, the village chief quickly stepped in to stabilize the situation. "Everyone, stop arguing! We just received news that those women seem to be in some trouble. Saving them is our priority. Once we've brought them back safely, we can investigate this map properly. We can't wrong an innocent person, and we absolutely can't let a bad person go free!"
The crowd agreed with his reasoning and, led by the village chief, hurried up the mountain.
Ling Huanwu disregarded her grievances and followed the crowd.
Along the way, she kept glancing at the villagers following behind her, as if searching for someone.
The group rushed up the mountain.
The once relatively smooth mountain road was now a mess, with boulders and mud completely covering the coal mining area.
Zhou Jiuzhen was extremely anxious. He shouted at everyone, "Don't panic! The young and strong, come with me and move these big rocks first!"
Everyone responded enthusiastically, quickly dividing into several groups and beginning an intense rescue operation.
Under Zhou Jiuzhen's leadership, everyone worked together to move the stones one by one.
After an unknown amount of time, they finally heard faint cries for help.
The group perked up and sped up, finally rescuing several women who had been buried.
The soldiers carried the women back to the village on their backs.
Zhou Jiuzhen was filled with anticipation, thinking that once these aunties woke up, he would be able to find out where the fake map came from.
But who would have thought that as soon as these women woke up, they would team up to lie?
One of the aunties from the neighboring village, who had a grudge against Ling Huanwu back then, said weakly but with certainty, "It was Battalion Commander Zhou and Comrade Ling who gave us the map, and told us to go up the mountain to dig it up overnight, saying that if we were late, someone else would snatch it all!"
The other aunts echoed this sentiment.
Aunt Liu, who was standing nearby, was furious when she heard this.
She rushed forward, pointing her finger at the women and angrily shouting, "Aren't you afraid of retribution for speaking against your conscience? These two children have been working so hard for everyone, how can you turn black into white!"
Other villagers who believed in Ling Huanwu echoed her sentiments, and the scene descended into chaos.
The leader who came to organize the relocation of the island frowned, and after whispering a few words with Political Commissar Hao, he immediately made a decision and announced, "The matter is not clear in a short time. In order to avoid further trouble, we can only detain Battalion Commander Zhou and Comrade Ling for now, and wait until the investigation is clear before making any further decisions."
Song Yaoyao stood outside the crowd, her head wrapped in a headscarf.
She had expected to see Ling Huanwu and her husband frightened, but seeing them simply exchange a calm glance and accept the outcome, she couldn't help but grit her teeth in hatred.
Zhou Jiuzhen held Ling Huanwu's hand, and the two were led to the small room where prisoners were temporarily detained and their chamber pots were placed.
Several Qin Jinshens who hadn't had time to be transferred to the city were already imprisoned inside.
When Qin Jinshen saw the two enter, his eyes lit up at first, then a gloating expression appeared on his face. He said sarcastically, "Oh, look who these two are? Weren't you two a loving couple who were praised and admired by the villagers before? How come you're locked up here now?"
Zhou Jiuzhen didn't even glance at him, but gently held Ling Huanwu's hand, his tone both gentle and firm, "It's okay, even if I'm locked up here, as long as I can be with you, I feel very happy."
Ling Huanwu also grasped the male lead's hand in return, her eyes filled with trust and love.
These words were like a resounding slap in the face, completely breaking Qin Jinshen's defenses.
His face turned ashen. He wanted to argue a few more times, but seeing the two of them so affectionate, his heart felt as if it were wrapped in a damp, airtight cloth, both sour and bitter.
He felt that anything he said would be so pale and powerless, so he could only shut his mouth in anger.
The room reeked of the urine bucket, and Zhou Jiuzhen and Ling Huanwu sat side by side in the corner.
Ling Huanwu scratched Zhou Jiuzhen's palm, and he burst out laughing.
Without even a hand to pull his wife into his arms, he rested his head on Ling Huanwu's shoulder and smiled even more brightly, "With my wife by my side, even a latrine smells sweet!"
Qin Jinshen clenched his fists, staring intently at Zhou Jiuzhen's smug expression, his teeth practically grinding together. "Someone as useless as you, all you do is take your wife to live in a dilapidated house and squat in a latrine!"
"Do you think you're so great? You'll only be able to go to jail from now on..."
Ling Huanwu glanced at the two people secretly arguing, smelled the nauseating stench, and while the two were still arguing fiercely, she simply disappeared into her spatial dimension.
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