“Then search! Start with the female knowledge youth dorm!”
Chen Aidang bellowed. Two militia members, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately strode toward the dorm.
Lin Zhaodi’s eyes lit up instantly.
Eager to take credit and afraid of any delays, she dashed ahead of the militia and was the first to burst open Su Wanqing’s door.
“I’ll do it! I’ll help everyone search! Not a single corner will be left unchecked!”
She shouted heroically, but her actions were brutal.
She went straight for Su Wanqing’s bed, yanking off the neatly folded quilt, and roughly threw the pillows and bedding to the floor.
Su Wanqing shivered in terror, retreating behind Li Xiu.
Her shoulders shook violently, and she cried so hard it seemed she might suffocate.
“Comrade Lin… please… don’t touch my things—”
“Your things?”
Lin Zhaodi smiled wickedly, her eyes filled with the crazed excitement of someone about to succeed.
“They won’t be yours for long!”
She leaned over the bed, her head peeking underneath, and frantically rummaged with her hands. Her eyes glinted with malice.
She found something.
It had to be here.
Her heart leapt with joy as she grabbed at a bulging object and pulled with all her strength.
But what she dragged out was only a ragged doll stuffed with cotton.
Lin Zhaodi’s grin froze.
She refused to believe it and turned the entire space under the bed upside down.
Even Su Wanqing’s trunk was pulled out, the lock pried open and searched thoroughly.
Clothes, shoes, socks, hand cream, scraps of fabric—everything was thrown about in a mess.
But no grain.
Not a single kernel.
The militia who came in carefully inspected everything as well, finally straightening up and shaking their heads solemnly at Chen Aidang standing at the door.
“Captain, there’s nothing.”
What?
Nothing?!
Lin Zhaodi’s mind went blank; her face drained of color.
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”
She screamed like a madwoman.
“I… I ob… ob…”
She almost shouted, “I clearly hid it here!” but choked on the words.
Yet her panicked expression said it all.
Lu Zhenting, standing at the edge of the crowd, felt his heart sink at the scene.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
The plan had gone wrong.
Su Wanqing’s reaction was too strange, and now that nothing was found, the situation was completely out of his control.
“Impossible…”
Lin Zhaodi muttered to herself.
Suddenly, she looked up, grasping at a final hope, pointing outside, her voice hoarse from shouting.
“She must have hidden it elsewhere! I know! I saw her last night! She was sneaking around by the firewood pile outside! It’s definitely there!”
She no longer cared about logic—she just wanted to find the stolen goods and pin it on Su Wanqing.
“Oh?”
Madam Ma, standing in the crowd with her arms crossed, spoke coolly.
“Your eyesight is impressive, Comrade Lin. Weren’t you only ‘suspicious’ before? How come now you ‘saw it with your own eyes’? How much of what you’re saying is actually true?”
“Exactly! One moment it’s suspicion, the next it’s ‘seeing with your own eyes.’ Do you take us for fools?”
“I think it’s just a thief crying ‘catch the thief’!”
The murmurs around drove Lin Zhaodi nearly mad.
She pushed through the crowd, running outside while shouting:
“If you don’t believe me, we’ll go look! It’s definitely at the firewood pile! We’ll find it, and then you’ll see!”
Chen Aidang frowned, his face extremely grim, but at this point, he could only follow her.
A group of people surged toward the firewood pile in the corner of the courtyard.
Lin Zhaodi, frantic, dove at it and started digging with her hands. A few female knowledge youths who were friendly with her quickly joined in.
At that moment, a cold voice rang out—quiet but clear, reaching everyone’s ears.
“No need to look any further.”
Everyone froze and turned in unison.
Gu Yanshen stepped out from the shadows of the crowd.
His face was expressionless, but his deep eyes cut across the pale faces of Lin Zhaodi and Lu Zhenting.
This was the first thing he had said tonight.
Countless eyes in the crowd fixed on him.
Without even looking at the pile, Gu Yanshen’s gaze locked on Lin Zhaodi as his voice remained calm.
“Around midnight last night, I got up and saw Comrade Lin Zhaodi carrying a heavy cloth bag, sneaking toward the haystack behind the pigsty all by herself.”
Boom!
The words exploded through the crowd.
Everyone was shocked.
Gu Yanshen had a reputation in the knowledge youth camp for not meddling, so his words carried more weight than anyone else’s.
Lin Zhaodi’s face went pale. She trembled, pointing at Gu Yanshen, her lips quivering, unable to speak a word.
“You… you’re slandering me!”
Lu Zhenting’s legs went weak; he almost lost his balance.
Chen Aidang’s face turned iron-gray. No longer hesitating, he waved his hand angrily.
“To the pigsty!”
The crowd rushed toward the pigsty again.
Behind the pigsty, the haystack was tall, messy, and emitted a foul odor.
Two militia members climbed up and, without much effort, dug out a patched old canvas bundle from deep inside.
“It’s… it’s Lin Zhaodi’s bundle!” one female knowledge youth exclaimed. “She treasures it so much, she never lets us touch it!”
Lin Zhaodi shrieked and collapsed to the ground when she saw the bundle.
Chen Aidang stepped forward and tore open the bag.
Everyone craned their necks.
But what spilled out was not golden cornmeal.
It was a handful of pure white flour.
The crowd froze again.
What was going on now?
While everyone was confused, Su Wanqing, who had been crying with Li Xiu’s support, suddenly shouted,
“Ah!”
She broke free from Li Xiu, ran to the bundle, and pointed at the white flour, her tears now tinged with anger and grievance.
“Captain Chen… this is my white flour! I brought it myself. The wrapping outside has embroidery my mother gave me. I won’t mistake it for anyone else’s!”
The reversal stunned everyone.
The framing failed, but now it looked like she had stolen?
“That’s not right!” someone shouted again. “This is Su Wanqing’s white flour, so where’s the three bags of cornmeal missing from our brigade?”
“Search again!”
Chen Aidang roared.
“Turn this haystack upside down!”
The militia resumed digging, searching deeper into the haystack.
“Found it! Captain! Here it is!”
Three burlap sacks marked “Red Flag Brigade” were dragged out from the very bottom.
The stolen goods were recovered.
Irrefutable evidence.
“No! It’s not me! They framed me! Su Wanqing and Gu Yanshen set me up!!!”
Lin Zhaodi completely collapsed, rolling on the ground, screaming pitifully.
But at this point, any defense sounded utterly pathetic.
Chen Aidang shook with anger, pointing at Lin Zhaodi, pronouncing her punishment word by word:
“Lin Zhaodi! Stealing public grain and framing a comrade! Crime compounded! Starting today, all your work points for the year are revoked! You will perform compulsory labor at the pigsty every day! At the end of the month, a public criticism meeting will be held for the entire village. You will reflect thoroughly!”
Lin Zhaodi stopped crying.
She slumped to the ground.
It was over.
Villagers murmured among themselves, their eyes full of contempt for Lin Zhaodi.
Lu Zhenting had quietly slipped to the back of the crowd, pale as death, wishing he could disappear on the spot.
However, just as everyone thought the farce was over,
Su Wanqing, still wiping her tears, suddenly raised her head.
She brushed away the tears with the back of her hand. Her eyes, washed by tears, were now clear and icy, devoid of any weakness.
She walked up to Chen Aidang.
Everyone expected her to say a few words of thanks.
But when she spoke, the crowd fell silent again.
“Captain Chen,”
Her voice was soft, yet unusually firm.
“I do not agree.”
Chen Aidang froze.
“Su knowledge youth, you…”
Su Wanqing did not look at him. Her gaze fixed straight on Lin Zhaodi, collapsed on the ground.
“She stole public grain, a serious crime. She framed me to destroy my reputation, which is unforgivable. Such behavior cannot be resolved by simply deducting work points or holding a criticism meeting.”
She paused, each word filled with coldness.
“I will report her to the Public Security Bureau.”
“I will personally see that she is sent to labor reform!”