23
A Grudge Must Be Settled, Jiang Zhizhi
Sun Xiaoyue was speechless, staring at Chen Shuangyan in disbelief: “Are you stupid? That thermos has our Educated Youth Housing mark on it. What if it gets traced back to us?”
Chen Shuangyan hadn’t considered that at the time. She just wanted to destroy the evidence quickly so no one would discover it. Who would have thought that a simple case of diarrhea would make the village party secretary make such a big deal out of it over the loudspeaker?
She couldn’t help muttering: “Even if they find it, it’s no big deal. It’s just diarrhea. As long as we deny it, they can’t do anything to us.”
But Sun Xiaoyue knew what was really inside. Was the village party secretary so furious because Jiang Zhizhi had already been…?
If that were the case, ruining Jiang Zhizhi would be worth it.
Thinking this, Sun Xiaoyue took Chen Shuangyan’s hand: “Right, when the time comes we’ll just deny everything. Besides, there are so many people at the Educated Youth Housing, they won’t be able to pinpoint who did it. You’ve helped me so much this time. I’ll write to my father and have him arrange a job for you in Beijing, get you into government work.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Shuangyan’s eyes lit up: “Xiaoyue, don’t worry. Even if they discover something, I won’t give you away.”
This was exactly the reaction Sun Xiaoyue wanted. She gripped Chen Shuangyan’s hand tightly: “You’re so good to me. I’ll definitely have my father arrange a good job for you.”
…
Jiang Zhizhi witnessed the village’s unity and the village party secretary’s authority. Not long after the loudspeaker announcement, people began coming forward with clues one after another. Though the information wasn’t specific, they all stated they didn’t want the Work Points reward.
As dusk fell, a child brought a thermos bottle found in the mountain gully behind the village.
Squinting, Old Liang held up the thermos bottle under the kerosene lamp, carefully examining it. When he saw the small character “Zhi” written on the bottom, he frowned: “This is from the Educated Youth Housing! What were they trying to do?!”
Jiang Zhizhi was puzzled. The Educated Youth Housing was quite distant from the village, and she had never been there. The only educated youth she had met was Chen Shuangyan, and they had no real interaction. Could it really be her trying to harm her?
Then it suddenly dawned on her – it must be about the design drawings. The educated youth hiding behind Chen Shuangyan couldn’t hold back anymore, so they made a move against her?
This made the situation much more logical.
However, she didn’t plan to tell Old Liang about her suspicion. She would take her revenge first.
Yang Fengmei had a different theory from Jiang Zhizhi. She believed these people were targeting Old Liang, probably trying to use some cheap trick to seduce him. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became: “Shameless little sluts! Just wait until tomorrow when I tear their faces apart!”
Old Liang’s face darkened: “Shut up! If you dare cause trouble, I’ll beat you to death!”
Even if it was someone from the Educated Youth Housing, he couldn’t act recklessly. Causing trouble could lead to serious mistakes.
Jiang Zhizhi slept well that night, building up her energy. Early the next morning, after eating breakfast and waiting for Old Liang’s family of three to leave for work, she tidied up, poured some water into yesterday’s thermos bottle, shook it vigorously, and carried it to the Educated Youth Housing.
The educated youth started work later than villagers. At this hour, they were still eating breakfast in the courtyard.
Sun Xiaoyue had just picked up her lunch box to leave the kitchen when she saw Jiang Zhizhi storming in with the thermos bottle. She quickly retreated back into the kitchen, hiding by the window to watch. She hadn’t expected Jiang Zhizhi to track them down so quickly.
If Jiang Zhizhi discovered she was here, she would definitely suspect her immediately.
Chen Shuangyan panicked upon seeing Jiang Zhizhi enter the courtyard. She stood up with her rice bowl but before she could speak, Jiang Zhizhi grabbed her by the hair and dragged her toward the main gate.
Everyone was stunned. They had only seen Jiang Zhizhi put down the thermos bottle and approach, and before they could process what was happening, she had already hauled Chen Shuangyan to the entrance.
Jiang Donghua stepped forward, glaring angrily at Jiang Zhizhi. “Who are you? Let her go immediately! What you’re doing is wrong—be careful or I’ll report you!” As he spoke, he set down his lunchbox and rushed toward Jiang Zhizhi, reaching out to pull her away and force her to release Chen Shuangyan.
Jiang Zhizhi lifted her leg and kicked him squarely, sending him tumbling to the ground. “Report your ass! Anyone who dares interfere today will get the same treatment! If you fight, it’ll go on your record. Let’s see how you’ll ever make it back to the city then.”
Her words deterred most of the onlookers who had considered intervening.
Jiang Donghua struggled to his feet, clutching his stomach in pain, but still tried to block her path. Jiang Zhizhi showed no mercy, delivering another sharp kick to his thigh. With a howl of agony, he collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
A few others who had thought about helping were too terrified by Jiang Zhizhi’s ferocity to approach, resorting to verbal protests instead: “Let her go! You could kill someone like this!” and “We’re going to call for help! We’ll definitely report you and have you arrested!”
Chen Shuangyan wailed hysterically, “Let me go! What are you doing?”
Jiang Zhizhi dragged her onto the stone platform by the gate, forced her head down against the stone, and pinned her shoulder under her foot so she couldn’t move. Pointing at the thermos bottle on the ground, she demanded, “Recognize this?”
Chen Shuangyan refused to even look. “No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jiang Zhizhi sneered, “Brave enough to do it but too cowardly to admit it? This is your Educated Youth Housing’s thermos bottle. If it wasn’t you, then who was it? Tell me, and I’ll let you go. Otherwise, you’ll get a taste of the filthy stuff inside yourself.”
Chen Shuangyan clenched her teeth, still refusing to confess. “I don’t know what you’re… talking about… Let me… go…”
The others, recalling the village party secretary’s furious announcement over the loudspeaker the previous night, began to piece things together. The secretary’s rage had something to do with this thermos bottle—and it belonged to their Educated Youth Housing…
Jiang Zhizhi laughed coldly. “Playing the loyal one, huh? Won’t talk? Fine, then you drink it!” Since her right hand wasn’t working well, she sat on Chen Shuangyan’s stomach, clamped her knees around Chen Shuangyan’s face, grabbed the thermos, and poured its entire contents down her throat.
After forcing it all in, she pinched Chen Shuangyan’s nose shut, preventing her from spitting anything out. Chen Shuangyan swallowed most of it.
She didn’t resist too much, thinking it was just some stomach-upsetting medicine and that swallowing it wouldn’t be a big deal.
Satisfied, Jiang Zhizhi watched her finish every drop before releasing her and standing up. “Whatever happens because of what you drank, take it up with whoever gave you the medicine. If you want to report me, think carefully. I have the paper you used to wrap the powder—with your fingerprints all over it. We can always take each other to court!”
Disheveled and covered in dust, Chen Shuangyan sat on the ground, weeping bitterly into her hands. Never in her life had she felt so humiliated.
Jiang Zhizhi scanned the crowd gathered in the courtyard. “She drugged this thermos bottle and left it at the village party secretary’s house. What kind of drug it was, you’ll soon find out by watching her. And I have evidence proving the drug came from your group.”
“If any of you want to turn this around on me, you’d better think twice about whether you have the guts!”
Chen Shuangyan sobbed, “It was me. I just couldn’t stand you, so I put some laxative in it. So what?”
Jiang Zhizhi sneered, “I hope you’ll still call it a laxative later!”