"What nonsense are you talking about! I'm telling you this is a frame-up, and I'm going to tell the captain."
The educated youth, holding the washbasin, had a flushed face. Liu Ruo hadn't thought anything of it at first, but now she looked at her suspiciously.
"Nonsense? If it wasn't you, why would you be so nervous? It's because I hit a nerve!"
Could it be her?
Liu Ruo had been secretly observing everyone in the dormitory for the past few days, and she suspected them all. However, there were almost always people in the dormitory when they weren't at work, so who could have stolen the watch at this time?
She felt a little guilty for flaunting her watch when she first arrived, probably leaving an impression on these people. If she hadn't listened to Lu Ronghui and hidden the watch later, she probably would have caused even more trouble.
"You're lying, it wasn't me!"
The two started arguing. There were originally six older educated youths in the dormitory, and two of them were in a relationship with this girl. When the two of them saw Liu Ru bullying their companion, they immediately came over.
"You're just making baseless accusations because your things are missing. Do you have any proof?"
"It's because of your stupid watch that the whole dorm is like a dead body, nobody's talking. Who knows if you just didn't put it away properly or if one of your people stole it?"
Bai Jiamei was speechless and wondering what was going on. So this was the dormitory where the female lead was going to live for two years. No wonder she ran off to become the stepmother after meeting the male lead. Who could live in such conditions?
She would love to leave this place as soon as she could move out.
She had someone in mind who suspected her about the missing watch, because there was a similar story in the book, but it wasn't a watch that was lost.
She herself was a city dweller in her original world and had never done farm work before. These past few days, she had almost lost her life in the fields, and when she returned to her dormitory, she didn't want to say anything and just wanted to sleep.
Then I heard this person stirring up class antagonism. If you two are arguing, just argue. Why bring up the new and old educated youth? Isn't this creating division?
"What do you mean 'our people stole it'? Everyone in the dorm is a suspect, but you're the one who jumped so high. Did you take it?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Zhao Hui immediately joined the fray upon hearing that she was actually cursing at them.
"I don't know who stole it. I only know that we were together the morning the watch was returned."
After Bai Jiamei said those words, the expressions of the people on the other side changed.
The fact that they stayed together means that the thief was on their side.
But they've lived together for so many years and nothing like this has ever happened before. Why did something get stolen after Liu Ruo arrived? They couldn't believe it, and they didn't want to believe that their companion of so many years was a thief.
"You're lying, are you all framing us?"
"Exactly, if you say it's us, then we'll say it was you who did it on purpose."
The two sides started arguing again. They were already one person less than the old educated youth, and Lu Ronghui wasn't there tonight. She was the strongest fighter on their side, and the old educated youth were basically afraid of her. Bai Rongjun had been sitting to the side with red eyes ever since the argument started.
She didn't know what to do. Why were they arguing? They all lived in the same dormitory. Besides, the watch had been found. Why was she still pursuing the matter?
The two sides started arguing and then began to fight. Only Zhou Shuyi was sober, but she couldn't hold the others back. The remaining five people started pushing and shoving the three new educated youth.
The three new educated youths fought harder and harder. Although they were outnumbered, they were holding their breath and felt that the bullying was too much.
During the scuffle, something accidentally fell down, immediately attracting everyone's attention.
It was a bar of soap.
Everyone recognizes this bar of soap; it's the one Bai Rongjun went missing before.
This soap not only has a fragrance but also comes with a blue soap dish. Where have you ever seen something so exquisite? Usually, we buy a large, long bar of traditional soap and cut off a small piece when we need it.
So when the item fell out, everyone immediately knew it was Bai Rongjun's piece, but she had just said not long ago that the item was missing?
"Isn't this the same bar of soap that Bai Rongjun lost? I told you it was something you stole, but you wouldn't admit it."
Liu Ruo immediately understood everything when she saw the soap. The girl who had argued with her at the beginning was holding a washbasin, so the soap had fallen out of her basin.
"It really was you guys. I'm going to tell the captain."
Everyone was stunned by what they saw, especially the four older educated youth. The bar of soap felt like a slap across their faces.
They were initially convinced that their own people could not possibly be thieves, and even got into a fight with the new educated youth.
Their arrogance vanished instantly, and everyone's astonished gaze immediately fell upon Chen Hong, the educated youth who had been there at the beginning.
Chen Hong was also stunned, and immediately tried to pick up the soap dish and put it back into the washbasin.
"I……"
"What do you mean, 'you'? You still dare to say you didn't steal it? No wonder you were acting like someone poked a sore spot just now. Didn't you say you were going to report it to the captain? Come on, let's go together."
The truth finally came to light, and Liu Ruo's anger, which had been building up for several days, burned even more intensely.
What kind of person is this, stealing things in the dormitory and then cursing at her after stealing them?
She almost fooled her; Liu Ruo had never seen a thief jump around so enthusiastically.
She reached out and grabbed Chen Hong's hand, intending to drag her to the brigade leader. Zhao Hui breathed a sigh of relief.
These older educated youths have been implying for days that the problem stemmed from within their ranks, accusing them of stealing and framing everyone, but they haven't explicitly named anyone. Everyone wants to curse them, but they don't know how to respond.
Bai Jiamei wasn't surprised; she knew it was Chen Hong, and sure enough, it was her.
In the book, Chen Hong stole money from several people in her dormitory. Because she usually pretended to be well-behaved, no one suspected her. Instead, they suspected the girl from the poorest family in the dormitory.
Although they had no evidence, they were convinced that the girl had stolen the money, and they often verbally harassed her, with Chen Hong being the most vocal among them.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Chen Hong didn't expect to be discovered. She was afraid that she would really be dragged to the brigade leader's place. If the brigade leader found out, she would have no hope of returning to the city.
Chen Hong hugged the washbasin and wept, apologizing to Bai Rongjun, saying she shouldn't have stolen her soap dish, that she had never seen such a thing before and had made a mistake, and hoped Bai Rongjun could forgive her.
She wept bitterly but never admitted that she stole Liu Ruo's watch; a soap box and a two-hundred-yuan watch are not the same thing.
At this point, some of the older educated youth couldn't bear it anymore; they knew the seriousness of going to the brigade leader.
In the future, village officials will need to fill out a form indicating their opinion on returning to the city. If they fill it out truthfully, Chen Hong will never be able to go back.
"Why don't we just let it go? She already knows she was wrong; it's just a bar of soap."
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