With this move, Tian Baozhu had put Li Yanhua in a difficult position.
Li Yanhua secretly regretted her actions. If she had known Tian Baozhu would let things go so easily, what would it have mattered to say a simple apology?
But then again, she wasn’t just anyone.
Quickly plastering a smile on her face, she shamelessly said to Tian Baozhu, “Educated Youth Tian, since you’ve already forgiven your Aunt Guo Cui, how about letting this matter with me slide too? After all, I’m your elder. Surely you wouldn’t actually make an old woman bow down and apologize to you, would you?”
Tian Baozhu sneered inwardly. Guo Cui had genuinely realized her mistake. But Li Yanhua didn’t think she had done anything wrong at all. And now she was trying to pull the “elder” card to pressure her? What kind of elder did she deserve to be called?
“Li Yanhua, I can forgive Aunt Guo Cui, but I cannot forgive you. Because you are nothing but an executioner. The words you said were like a knife in your hand, stabbing others again and again. Why should I forgive an executioner like you? Either you bow and apologize in front of the whole village, or I go to the town and have a good talk with the commune leaders about the nature of your behavior and what consequences you should face.”
Li Yanhua was left speechless by Tian Baozhu’s words, stammering without knowing what to say.
Branch Secretary Liu, seeing this, stepped in with a headache brewing to mediate.
“Educated Youth Tian, let’s handle it this way: Li Yanhua will bow and apologize to you in front of the entire village. Then, as punishment, she’ll be assigned to haul pig manure. As for going to the commune, let’s not take it that far. After all, we’re all from the same village. Lips and teeth sometimes bump into each other—there’s no need to air our dirty laundry outside and make a spectacle of ourselves. Li Yanhua, do you accept this decision?”
After addressing Tian Baozhu, Branch Secretary Liu turned and glared at Li Yanhua with wide eyes, waiting for her answer.
What else could Li Yanhua say? She didn’t want to bow and apologize in front of the whole village, nor did she want to haul pig manure. But compared to Tian Baozhu taking the matter to the commune, neither option seemed so bad. She could only nod grudgingly, accepting the outcome.
“Alright, now that winter’s here, have you got everything ready at home? Stop running around spreading gossip all the time. If you’ve got nothing to do, find something useful to keep yourself busy.”
With that, Branch Secretary Liu dismissed Li Yanhua with a wave. He then led Tian Baozhu into his office.
After they sat down, Branch Secretary Liu gave Tian Baozhu a meaningful look. Yesterday, he had thought she was an obedient and sensible young woman. It seemed appearances could be deceiving. This Educated Youth Tian was probably a bit of a troublemaker.
Just as he was thinking this, Tian Baozhu resumed the harmless, innocent expression she had worn the day before.
“Uncle Liu, sorry for the trouble. I did think about just letting it go. But gossip is a terrible thing. If I let people spread rumors about me freely, it wouldn’t be long before all sorts of labels were pinned on me.”
As she spoke, her eyes reddened. Seeing this, Branch Secretary Liu felt a pang of sympathy. He didn’t have a daughter himself, but if he did, and someone talked about her behind her back like that, his wife would probably storm over and tear the person’s mouth apart.
With a slight sigh, he pulled the referral letter he had prepared from his drawer and handed it to Tian Baozhu.
Her eyes lit up immediately when she saw it.
“Thank you, Uncle Liu.”
“You’ve still got time. Old Gen’s ox cart should still be there. Hurry over to the threshing ground.”
Branch Secretary Liu had barely finished speaking when Tian Baozhu quickly expressed her thanks. Goodness, she had originally thought she would have to walk all the way to town on her own two feet again today!
Just after Tian Baozhu left, Cheng Aiwen, the brigade leader, arrived at the brigade headquarters with a displeased look on his face. The reason was simple: dissatisfied with Branch Secretary Liu’s punishment, Li Yanhua had gone straight to the brigade leader’s home to file a complaint against him.
“Guoquan, look—although these educated youth have come to our village to settle, in the end, the villagers are still more important. You can’t just side with outsiders and wrong one of our own just because that Educated Youth Tian is a female educated youth, right?”
Hearing these words from the brigade leader, Branch Secretary Liu nearly choked on his own breath.
“What exactly are you trying to say, Brigade Leader? This matter today—while not trivial, isn’t exactly monumental either. But it concerns the innocence and reputation of a young female educated youth. As branch secretary, I will not back down an inch. The commune has always required that our members and the educated youth unite in friendship and help each other. How is it that, in your mouth, we’re suddenly divided into insiders and outsiders?”
“Li Yanhua wants to disrupt the peace of our Chengjiawan Brigade. I originally intended to give her a chance, but some people just don’t know when to stop. Since Comrade Li Yanhua is dissatisfied with my handling of the matter, then it’s simple. Let Educated Youth Tian report this directly to the commune and have them send someone down to investigate. When the investigation finds out who’s been spreading these rumors, those who end up sent to the labor farm can come tell me about being wronged.”
With that, Branch Secretary Liu shot a sidelong glance at the brigade leader.
Hearing Liu Guoquan’s words and seeing his expression, Cheng Aiwen nearly ground his teeth to dust.
“Ah, Guoquan, I was just speaking casually! Why are you being so serious? The commune is very busy—there’s no need to trouble them over this. I’m just trying to keep the village harmonious. Fine, since you’ve already thrown such a big accusation at me, we’ll go with your handling of the matter.”
Having said that, he cleared his throat, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked out of Branch Secretary Liu’s office.
Branch Secretary Liu stared at the brigade leader’s retreating back, feeling like he could spit in disgust. He took several deep breaths before finally suppressing his anger.
The moment the brigade leader stepped out of the brigade headquarters, his previously smiling face dropped.
“Brigade Leader, what did Branch Secretary Liu say?”
Li Yanhua had been hiding outside the brigade headquarters waiting for news after filing her complaint. Now seeing the brigade leader emerge, she immediately rushed forward with a beaming face to ask.
In Chengjiawan Brigade, the only one who could stand up to Branch Secretary Liu was the brigade leader. So Li Yanhua had been confident that sending the brigade leader would solve everything.
Cheng Aiwen’s already sullen face grew even darker upon hearing Li Yanhua’s question. If it weren’t for standing up for her, he wouldn’t have had to listen to that old fossil Liu Guoquan’s sarcastic remarks.
“Li Yanhua, if you think you’ve done nothing wrong, that you’ve been wronged, and aren’t afraid of an investigation, then go ahead and ask the commune leaders to support you. I’m sure that would mean the people who actually framed you should be the ones afraid. But if what Branch Secretary Liu said is true, then his handling of the matter is perfectly appropriate. You should just do what you’ve been told. Or are you deliberately trying to undermine the unity between the members and the educated youth?”
By the end, the brigade leader’s tone had turned somewhat sinister.
How could Li Yanhua have expected the brigade leader to throw such a heavy accusation at her? She frantically waved her hands, replying in a frightened voice.
“Brigade Leader, you’ve wronged me! How could I possibly be trying to undermine the unity between members and the educated youth? This… this matter, I just overheard Sister Taohua chatting with someone and picked up a bit of gossip. I thought Sister Taohua’s words couldn’t possibly be lies.”