Luo Xi spread her hands.
“Comrade Song was standing here late at night with her hair all disheveled. When she saw me, she attacked me. I thought she was a thief, so…”
“You’re lying! I didn’t!”
Song Xingui immediately protested.
Guo Jiandang frowned.
“Then why were you standing at the entrance of the educated youth compound at night?”
Song Xingui’s eyes flickered.
“I—I had just finished bathing and wanted to stand outside and dry my hair.”
Everyone’s expressions became a little strange.
Judging by Song Xingui’s expression, it was obvious that she wasn’t telling the truth.
Could she really have been planning to steal Luo Zhiqing’s money?
Even Yuan Jiansi looked at her suspiciously. He knew very well how Song Xingui felt about him.
He used to be quite fond of Song Xingui himself.
But people were afraid of comparisons.
Ever since he met Luo Xi, he felt that Song Xingui was nothing more than a piece of worthless glass mistaken for jade.
Later, he found out about Song Xingui’s identity—she was actually the illegitimate daughter of the Song family.
That status was completely beneath him.
Still, he enjoyed Song Xingui’s admiration and did have some feelings for her.
At the same time, he resented Luo Xi’s indifference toward him, so he was more than happy to use Song Xingui to cause trouble for Luo Xi in various ways.
Luo Xi curled her lips.
“Then why didn’t you answer me when I spoke to you?”
Song Xingui was speechless.
Why hadn’t she answered?
Oh, she remembered.
Luo Xi had asked her, “What kind of evil spirit are you?”
And then… and then she’d been beaten so badly she couldn’t even speak.
She glared at Luo Xi.
“You attacked me right away! You didn’t give me any chance to speak!”
Luo Xi helplessly spread her hands.
“We’re about the same height. Even if I attacked you, how much stronger could I possibly be than you? How could you have been unable to speak?”
“Although I don’t want to suspect one of my fellow comrades, I still have serious doubts about you. Were you too guilty to say anything at the time?”
She looked around at everyone.
“Everyone knows that today I took back the money and watch I’d previously lent to Comrade Yuan. Given your relationship with Comrade Yuan, it’s understandable that you’d be hostile toward me.”
“I have nothing to do with her. Don’t misunderstand!”
Yuan Jiansi hurriedly explained, even taking a couple of steps backward.
Song Xingui trembled with rage.
Being beaten by Luo Xi wasn’t even as painful as seeing Yuan Jiansi deliberately distancing himself from her at this moment.
And all of it was because of that hateful Luo Xi!
She glared fiercely at Luo Xi.
“You did this on purpose!”
Luo Xi’s lips curved upward. She turned toward Guo Jiandang with a sincere expression.
“Brigade Leader, I really didn’t do it on purpose. Anyone who encountered a situation like that would have fought back.”
“Thanks to the efforts of our martyrs, things are relatively peaceful now, but there are still quite a few enemy spies and infiltrators hiding among ordinary people. It’s perfectly normal for me to remain vigilant.”
“Not just me. Everyone should stay alert and prevent bad elements from taking advantage of any opportunity.”
Her words made everyone nod repeatedly.
She did have a point.
Guo Jiandang’s gaze toward Luo Xi softened considerably.
“You weren’t wrong to defend yourself. You just hit her a little too hard.”
Luo Xi looked a little embarrassed.
“I… I’ve never gotten into a fight before, so I didn’t know how to control my strength. I’ll definitely be more careful next time.”
Everyone: “……”
There was nothing wrong with what she said.
Thinking about it carefully, there really wasn’t anything wrong with it.
Suddenly, Luo Xi seemed to remember something and exclaimed,
“Oh! I think I saw Comrade Song holding something like a brick at the time.”
“It was too dark, so I couldn’t see clearly. But when she rushed toward me, her hand was raised. I was terrified, so that’s why I reacted.”
Guo Jiandang’s expression turned serious.
He looked at several villagers who had come with him.
“Go outside and take a look.”
Several villagers, along with two educated youths, immediately went outside to investigate.
Before long, one of the villagers came back holding a stone.
“It should be this one. There are scrape marks on it, and there’s blood on it too.”
Guo Dewang frowned.
“That explains it. I was wondering why there were scrape marks on Comrade Song’s palm.”
Song Xingui was stunned.
“I didn’t!”
But the pain in her hand told her otherwise.
She lowered her head and looked at her palm.
Sure enough, there were several bloody scratches from some irregular sharp object.
But she knew very clearly that she had never held a stone!
Then she remembered.
When Luo Xi had been beating her until she was dazed, something had indeed been stuffed into her hand.
Her eyes suddenly lit up.
“It was Luo Xi! She put the stone in my hand!”
When she saw everyone looking at her as if she were an idiot, tears of anxiety immediately welled up in her eyes.
“Really! You have to believe me! It was Luo Xi! She did all of this!”
Guo Jiandang wasn’t going to indulge her.
“Then tell me. If you were holding a stone and were about to attack Luo Zhiqing with it, what exactly were you planning to do?”
Song Xingui shook her head frantically.
“I didn’t! I really didn’t! Sob… Why does nobody believe me?”
Looking at Song Xingui, who was crying with tears and a runny nose, Guo Jiandang couldn’t help frowning.
“The witnesses and physical evidence are conclusive. Denying it won’t help.”
The situation was obvious.
Song Zhiqing had planned to ambush Luo Zhiqing in retaliation, but she had been no match for her and ended up getting beaten instead.
He turned toward Luo Xi.
“Luo Zhiqing, how do you want to handle this?”
Luo Xi was extremely magnanimous.
“I’ll leave it to the brigade.”
Guo Jiandang was quite pleased with her obedience.
After thinking for a moment, he said,
“Comrade Song planned to ambush you, and you fought back. That’s understandable. However, you did hit her rather hard, so you should compensate her for her medical expenses. How does that sound?”
Luo Xi nodded.
“I have no objection.”
Qi Le looked a little embarrassed.
“Um… I also hit her twice with the shoulder pole. I’ll split the medical expenses with you.”
Luo Xi waved her hand.
“No, no. You were only helping me.”
She looked at Song Xingui, but her tone suddenly changed.
“I also want Comrade Song to compensate me for my medical expenses.”
Everyone was stunned.
Luo Xi raised her fair hand.
The palm of her hand was now red and swollen.
“Although I hit Comrade Song, she also hit me. Well, when I slapped her in the face, the muscles in her face fought back and caused my hand to become red and swollen.”
“So, technically speaking, it wasn’t me hitting her. We were mutually involved in a fight.”
Everyone: “……”
What the hell did she mean by the muscles fighting back?
By that logic, as long as two people exchanged blows, it was mutual fighting.
After all, muscles weren’t made of cotton. Of course your hand would turn red after hitting someone.
If anything, it only proved that she had hit her too hard!
But Luo Xi continued,
“Also, she was preparing to ambush me in the middle of the night and scared me so badly that I almost stopped breathing. She should compensate me for emotional distress too, right?”
Everyone: “……”
What a strange compensation claim.
Yet, after hearing her explanation about the muscles being involved in a mutual fight, they somehow found the emotional-distress compensation strangely reasonable.
Song Xingui was so furious that she nearly exploded.
She was just about to speak when Guo Jiandang’s voice came from the side.
“Hmm. We’ll have Guo Dewang examine you later. Whatever the medical expenses come to, we’ll calculate them accordingly. As for the compensation for emotional distress… how much do you want?”