Wu Qin sneered. “I don’t know how she tricked me, but I do know how you’ve been setting up your own cousin. You’re supposed to be her older sister. Do you have some kind of grudge against Jiaojiao?”
Wen Lili certainly didn’t want her reputation ruined. Her expression immediately turned pitiful.
“You don’t understand our family situation. Jiaojiao relies on being younger and often hits and bullies me. That would be bad enough, but she also steals money from the family…”
Wu Qin didn’t believe her. “How do you know she stole money? Aren’t you the daughter of her second uncle? How would you know what goes on in Jiaojiao’s family?”
Wen Lili answered with absolute certainty. “Of course I know! She really did steal the money. We were supposed to come here together, but she came first. That proves she stole money from home and ran away!”
Wen Lili’s voice attracted the attention of the women in the surrounding dormitories.
As more and more people gathered to watch, Wen Lili became even more enthusiastic. She wished she could tell the whole world exactly what kind of person Wen Jiaojiao was.
Once everyone disliked her, Wen Jiaojiao naturally wouldn’t be able to stay in the army. She would have no choice but to obediently go home and marry the town chief’s son.
But whenever Wen Lili thought about Jiaojiao marrying the town chief’s son, she felt uncomfortable. Someone like her actually getting such a wealthy in-law? What a lucky break!
Just as she was getting carried away, two men in military uniforms suddenly approached.
“Who is Wen Lili?”
Wen Lili’s voice immediately stopped.
Qiu Shumin, who was standing beside her, quickly answered, “Wen Lili is here. May I ask what this is about?”
One of the men said, “Wen Lili has been reported for spreading rumors about a fellow comrade. Come with us.”
Wen Lili’s face instantly went pale.
“No! I didn’t spread any rumors!”
“Whether you did or not, the regiment will investigate and find out. Come with us.”
The two men were stern and impartial. Without giving her a chance to argue, they took Wen Lili away.
Wen Lili was escorted away in front of everyone. The entire group immediately fell silent.
Qiu Shumin, in particular, felt incredibly relieved. Thankfully, she hadn’t said anything just now.
Only Wu Qin and Wang Xiaomei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Good job, Jiaojiao!
Interrogation Room
Wen Lili sat trembling in the interrogation room, shrinking into herself like a frightened quail.
“I didn’t spread any rumors! Everything I said was true!”
The instructor slammed his hand down on the table.
“Where’s your evidence?”
“If you’re going to accuse Comrade Wen Jiaojiao of having improper conduct, then produce evidence. If you can’t, then you’re spreading rumors.”
The sound of the table being slammed frightened Wen Lili until her face turned pale. She stammered helplessly, unable to say anything.
After all, she hadn’t personally witnessed anything, nor did she have any evidence to prove her claims.
The instructor had no favorable impression of this young woman.
“What do you think this place is? This is a military unit with strict discipline. How can you come here and spout nonsense?”
“You are disqualified from joining the army. Go home.”
The moment Wen Lili heard those words, panic completely overwhelmed her.
She couldn’t be disqualified!
She had worked so hard to get this opportunity!
“No, Instructor! I was wrong! I know I was wrong! I shouldn’t have said those things about Wen Jiaojiao. Please give me another chance!”
Wen Lili burst into tears, her eyes filled with fear.
The instructor watched her with a stern expression.
He had indeed only been trying to scare her.
After letting her cry for a while, he finally asked, “Do you really know that you were wrong?”
Wen Lili nodded repeatedly. Tears and mucus were running down her face.
“I really know I was wrong! Please, Instructor, give me another chance!”
The instructor’s expression remained unchanged.
“Since this is your first time joining the military, I can give you one opportunity to correct your mistake. You’ll receive a minor demerit and write a six-hundred-word self-criticism. Hand it to me today.”
When Wen Lili heard that she could still stay, she didn’t dare say another word.
By the time she walked out of the interrogation room, she felt completely drained.
The incident had truly terrified her.
She had only said a few things. She never imagined the consequences would be so serious.
“Lili, are you all right?”
Liu Xiaocui had been waiting nearby. The moment she saw Wen Lili come out of the interrogation room, she hurried over with concern.
As soon as Wen Lili saw her, tears began falling again.
“Xiaocui, I…”
Liu Xiaocui patted the back of her hand sympathetically.
“I know. I know everything. Lili, you’ve been wronged. Jiaojiao went too far. How could she report you?”
Wen Lili’s eyes widened.
“What? Wen Jiaojiao reported me?”
That was right.
She had been so frightened earlier that she hadn’t thought of it.
Who else would have nothing better to do than report her?
It had to be Wen Jiaojiao!
The moment Wen Lili realized that Jiaojiao had nearly ruined her future, her face twisted with anger for an instant.
“I’m going to confront her!”
Just as Wen Lili was about to storm off and pick a fight with Wen Jiaojiao, Liu Xiaocui stopped her.
“Lili, don’t be impulsive.”
“You were just called in by the instructor. If you go looking for Wen Jiaojiao now, aren’t you just asking for trouble?”
At Liu Xiaocui’s words, Wen Lili immediately stopped.
But she was so furious that she felt as though her lungs were about to explode.
“Then what am I supposed to do? Just let her set me up like this?”
Liu Xiaocui shook her head.
“This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go back to the dorm first.”
…
“Jiaojiao, hurry and come outside! Wen Lili’s self-criticism has been posted on the bulletin board.”
Wang Xiaomei rushed into the dormitory with an unmistakably gleeful expression.
She grabbed Wen Jiaojiao, who was reading, and pulled her outside.
Wen Jiaojiao wasn’t interested in Wen Lili’s self-criticism at all.
But Wang Xiaomei kept dragging her along, so she had no choice but to put down her book and follow.
“I’ll go with you.”
Wu Qin also put down her book.
Zhang Shaoying climbed down from her bunk as well.
“I want to see how good your cousin’s writing skills are.”
The other four women in the dormitory had already gone ahead to watch the commotion.
A crowd had gathered in front of the bulletin board, and everyone was pointing at and discussing the self-criticism posted there.
As for Wen Lili herself, she didn’t dare leave the dormitory at all.
The looks from everyone around her made her feel suffocated.
The more humiliated she felt, the more she hated Wen Jiaojiao.
Wen Jiaojiao, just you wait!
“Hahaha! Her handwriting is unbelievably ugly!”
Zhang Shaoying openly laughed at the sight.
The characters were crooked and messy. They hardly looked like the handwriting of a girl at all.
If Wen Lili had heard that, she probably would have wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.
She had only attended middle school, and even then, she had barely taken her studies seriously. Being able to write at all was already an achievement. How could anyone expect her handwriting to look pretty?
Wu Qin wasn’t as openly mocking as Zhang Shaoying. She merely covered her mouth and giggled before leaning toward Wen Jiaojiao and whispering,
“She’s your cousin. How come your handwriting is so much better than hers?”
One person’s writing was crooked and messy, while the other’s was neat and elegant. They were on completely different levels.
Wen Jiaojiao merely smiled without saying anything.
How could she tell them that her handwriting used to be just as ugly?
Back then, she had been just like Wen Lili was now—like a frog at the bottom of a well.
She had believed that there was no point in a girl studying too much and that marrying into a good family was the most important thing.
Only after suffering the consequences did she realize just how important knowledge was.
Her handwriting had been practiced later in life.
In order to survive in society, she had kept learning without a moment’s pause.
Unfortunately, she had realized it all too late.
“That girl is just lucky,” Zhang Shaoying said, crossing her arms and clicking her tongue. “By the time the next batch of recruits arrives, there’ll be educational requirements.”