Sheng Xia, who had remained silent all this while, slowly raised her head and looked at Song Zhiqiux.
If she hadn’t heard it with her own ears, Sheng Xia wouldn’t have believed it.
Such brain-dead, values-shattering words were actually coming out of the female protagonist’s mouth!
And yet, the protagonist still wore that kind, magnanimous expression of someone carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders for everyone’s sake.
The people around them also nodded in agreement, one after another.
Not a single person sensed that anything was amiss.
After staring at Song Zhiqiux for two seconds, Sheng Xia laughed.
“Since this blessing is so wonderful, why don’t I give it to you instead?”
Song Zhiqiux’s face stiffened. “What kind of talk is that? I was only doing this for everyone’s benefit…”
“Comrade Song really is righteous and awe-inspiring! Just look at this unselfish attitude—it’s enough to make one stand up and applaud. It’s simply too fair, too kind! How on earth can there be someone as thorough and considerate as you in this world? Where on earth is one supposed to find a warm-hearted comrade with a heart as good as yours?!”
“I’m sure that if the person wronged today were you, or any other female comrade in the educated youth dorm, you’d forgive Wang Qiuxia just the same, right? After all, you’re such a good comrade with a beautiful face and a kind heart! What does being falsely accused of illicit relations even matter! Your magnanimity is so vast that even if you really were caught committing illicit relations, you’d be able to swallow that grievance, because you have to think of the collective here in the dorm!”
With that, Sheng Xia turned the tables with a rhetorical question: “Tell me, am I right, Comrade Song Zhiqiux?”
Under the weight of Sheng Xia’s heavy-handed sarcasm, Song Zhiqiux’s face shifted between shades of pale and livid, looking utterly ghastly.
Her eyes turned dark and gloomy as she stared fixedly at Sheng Xia, wishing she could rip that mouth to shreds.
Why had she never realized in her past life that this idiot’s tongue was so sharp?
She had originally intended to ride the current and do a favor.
When the time came, not only would Wang Qiuxia be grateful to her, but even the comrades in the dorm would praise her for possessing a broad perspective and keeping the big picture in mind.
She never dreamed that such a soundly laid plan would be shredded to pieces by this bitch Sheng Xia in just a few words.
As a female protagonist who had lived a second life, she managed to suppress the hatred in her heart in a mere split second, quickly adjusting her facial expression.
Song Zhiqiux looked at Sheng Xia with an expression of profound remorse and guilt.
Her sincere eyes were filled with apology.
“I’m sorry, Comrade Sheng Xia. It was my fault; I only thought of the collective and overlooked your feelings. I take back what I just said, and I apologize for acting on my own accord. Can you please forgive my mistake for the sake of everyone here? I know you’re understanding and broad-minded—you surely won’t hold this against me, right?”
Was she trying to use retreat as a method of advance and hit her with moral blackmail?
Sheng Xia was amused.
Those sparkling, rippling eyes brightened by several degrees.
“Our great leader said that anyone who dares to accept criticism and engage in self-criticism is a good comrade! Since you’re thinking of everyone, you’ll also bear witness for me, right?”
“Bear witness?”
“You just made the executive decision for Wang Qiuxia and me earlier. I suppose you must be the most capable person in the educated youth dorm—otherwise, why would everyone listen to you?”
Song Zhiqiux’s gaze narrowed slightly.
Having lived through two lifetimes, how could she not hear what Sheng Xia was doing? This was a clear attempt to elevate her to a high position just to make her fall, drawing all the hatred onto her!
This little bitch’s mind was venomous!
Sheng Xia said in a crisp, clear voice: “Wang Qiuxia embezzled two yuan of mine, refused to help when I was on the verge of death, and fabricated rumors to ruin my reputation. Her actions are simply vile—how is that any different from the evils of capitalism? I am a loyal, hardworking child of the people with a red heart turning toward the sun; how can I be framed and oppressed by a capitalist parasite? Comrade Song, your morals are noble, so you will definitely stand up for me and demand justice, right?!”
With such a heavy political label slapped on her, Song Zhiqiux’s face stiffened completely.
In this era, once you were branded with the label of capitalism, you were bound to face a struggle.
Song Zhiqiux had suffered from that exact lesson once in her past life.
With that nightmare reappearing before her eyes, Song Zhiqiux was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
And yet, Sheng Xia kept pressing: “Comrade Song, what do you mean by staying silent? You just apologized to me, and I let bygones be bygones, asking you to uphold justice for me. Could it be that everything you said just now was fake? You aren’t willing to make peace with me at all, and instead want to connive with this capitalist parasite to oppress me?”
Before Song Zhiqiux could reply, Wang Qiuxia shrieked in sheer terror at the top of her lungs: “Sheng Xia, stop spouting nonsense! Who is a capitalist? How can you just open your mouth and smear me! Besides, I never took your money in the first place!”
Sheng Xia said languidly, “There were only the two of us present at the time, so if you say you didn’t, then you didn’t… After all, I don’t have any evidence. I know you’re jealous of my looks and can’t stand the sight of me in everything I do, but we’re still good partners in the same educated youth point and comrades in the same trench! I never imagined you’d act just like a capitalist, framing me and destroying my reputation over money. Since you refuse to admit it, and Comrade Song won’t uphold justice for me either, then let’s go find the village chief—or if that fails, let’s go to the public security bureau! I believe justice dwells in people’s hearts, and the village chief and the police will definitely give me an explanation!”
Boom! Something seemed to explode inside Wang Qiuxia’s head.
Her face turned deathly pale as she stood on the spot, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
Find the village chief?
Find the public security bureau?!
People of this era held a natural, ingrained reverence for the police.
No matter how loud or fierce a dispute was, matters were always settled through private mediation.
How could anyone ever dream of dragging a dispute all the way to the police station?!
Frightened out of her wits and completely losing her composure, Wang Qiuxia felt her legs turn to jelly and collapsed onto the ground.
Her hate-filled eyes were masked by an inability to conceal her terror.
Sheng Xia was right: there were only the two of them there at the time. If Sheng Xia insisted on launching a counter-accusation, what could she possibly do?
Not to mention, even her plot to manipulate Sheng Xia into slipping an aphrodisiac to Zhou Zexi was a secret known to no third party…
No, wait—Song Zhiqiux!
There was still Song Zhiqiux!
“Song Zhiqiux, save me! Sheng Xia is talking complete nonsense! It was clearly she who drugged herself to try and seduce Zhou Zexi, and it has nothing to do with me at all! Why should I go see the police?! Besides, you clearly knew about this—”
“Wang Qiuxia!”
Song Zhiqiux cut her off, her tone sharp and stern.
“I think you’ve truly lost your mind! First Jiang Han, and now dragging Comrade Zhou into this—just how many people are you planning to frame!”
Wang Qiuxia screamed like a madwoman: “How can this be framing?! It was clearly Sheng Xia who harbored evil intentions and wanted to seduce a man. How can you help this little bitch instead of me?! I’m your good friend!”
Besides, it was clearly Song Zhiqiux who had said that if Sheng Xia’s reputation was ruined, she would never be able to seduce Zhou Zexi again.
She had listened to Song Zhiqiux’s words and acted exactly as she instructed.
And now, at this critical moment, Song Zhiqiux was actually refusing to help her!
Song Zhiqiux squatted down, grasped Wang Qiuxia’s hands, and earnestly tried to persuade her with well-meaning advice.
“Qiuxia, you did something wrong and you ought to apologize. If this really goes all the way to the village chief, would you have any ground to stand on? Besides, if word of this reaches your parents’ ears, do you think they’ll spare you?”
At the memory of her son-preferring, nagging mother and her alcoholic father, Wang Qiuxia shuddered violently.
They would strangle her to death for sure!
Seeing Wang Qiuxia’s ash-gray expression as she sat despairingly on the ground, a flicker of regret crossed Sheng Xia’s lowered eyes.
She had originally expected Wang Qiuxia to bite back and drag Song Zhiqiux down with her!
To think the female protagonist really was the protagonist, easily cowing someone into submission with just a few soft words.
Tch, what a useless piece of work!
Seeing how pitiful Wang Qiuxia looked, the others couldn’t help but feel their hearts soften.
Just as someone was about to speak up and intercede, they heard Sheng Xia burst into aggrieved tears.
“Ever since I came to the educated youth point, I’ve noticed that our female comrades are prettier than one another. It was my bad luck to encounter this today, but what about tomorrow? Who will become the next unlucky soul? When the label of seducing men and committing illicit relations gets plastered all over you—even knowing you’re completely innocent—the spittle of the masses can drown a person. When you have no way to prove your innocence, what face do you even have left to keep living?”
As soon as these words dropped, the expressions of the female comrades present stiffened, turning exceptionally ugly.
Sheng Xia was right.
It was her today, but who would it be tomorrow?