Ye Qiu perked up when he heard Jia Yongyuan’s words. So it was him! “Her name is Li Hui, she’s a sent-down youth from the city. I’m Ye Qiu, from Liuye Village.”
Jia Yongyuan clapped his hands and said, “Look at my memory! How much was the total medical fee? I haven’t paid you yet!”
“It cost a total of one yuan.”
“Ye Qiu, how can you ask Mr. Jia for money? This is a good deed!” Li Hui frowned, looking at Ye Qiu with disapproval. She felt secretly pleased, thinking Ye Qiu was such a fool to miss such a good opportunity to make connections. Surely Jia Yongyuan would be moved by her empathy.
“Li, the down-to-earth youth, you’re a scholar after all. My mother always taught me to pay back what I borrowed. You asked me for so many things before without returning any, considering you’re a girl. But this is one yuan we’re talking about! If it comes down to it, I can just forgo all those things and you can simply give me one yuan instead.”
Jia Yongyuan understood the situation. Li Hui was using someone else’s money to play the good person and almost made him seem like someone who takes advantage of others.
As a child, he often faced bullying for being too shy, and he hated people who took advantage of others!
Li Hui couldn’t help but grit her teeth, looking at Jia Yongyuan with dismay. “What are you talking about, Ye Qiu? I simply forgot! If you want it back, you only need to say so, but how can you expose a girl’s shortcomings in front of others?”
“We’re all connected, how about I help Li Hui exchange her stuff as a gesture of thanks?” Jia Yongyuan said, nodding with satisfaction, resolving the situation amicably.
Li Hui’s smile froze. She had taken such a big risk for so little; it was all because of that damn Ye Qiu.
*****
Upon returning to the sent-down youth point, Li Hui became increasingly angry.
No, she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.
Sitting in a corner, she sobbed quietly. When others came to comfort her, Li Hui pretended to hesitate and lamented, “I just took someone who fainted on the roadside to the clinic, but Ye Qiu actually had the nerve to ask me for one yuan before helping them to the clinic.”
“If it was just directed at me, I wouldn’t say anything. But he said all the things I picked up in the village belong to him. Who sees the bird eggs and wild vegetables in the village doesn’t get to claim them! Isn’t he targeting us sent-down youths?”
The other sent-down youths were somewhat angry upon hearing this. “This is too unreasonable! Are we even allowed to collect a bit of wild vegetables? Maybe the villagers usually view us like this!”
“No wonder I feel like the villagers look at us strangely!”
Seeing her ploys were effective, Li Hui cried and fanned the flames: “He’s from the village, so wouldn’t anything in the village belong to him?”
“And also, Ji Chen, that package you lost might have been taken by Ye Qiu. I’ve heard him talking about getting friends to rob us sent-down youths, saying we have money!”
“What? No!” Ji Chen didn’t understand why the matter suddenly involved him, staring blankly without reacting.
Lost a package?
How did Li Hui know? He hadn’t told anyone!
“This is too much!”
“We came down to the countryside in response to the Chairman’s call to contribute, not to be bullied for free. We must demand justice from the brigade leader!”
“Let’s go now! We need answers!”
Li Hui hadn’t intended for this to escalate so much; she just wanted Ji Chen to give her some reparations because of Ye Qiu’s behaviour. At this moment, sensing everyone’s intent to confront the brigade leader, she regretted her decision but, supported by the group’s goodwill, she grit her teeth and followed along.
*****
Zhou Da sauntered into the classroom with a pancake roll, sat down, took a bite, and frowned, unable to finish it.
“Zhou Da, eating pancake rolls again?”
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Seeing Zhou Da not responding, she left.
Today, Zhou Da felt a little off; perhaps he was ill, feeling dizzy.
Zhou Daqiang complained, “I told you, kids should eat at home. You insisted on letting him buy food on the pedestrian street. Food from outside can’t be as clean as home-cooked meals. And now he’s got an upset stomach!”
“This… I let him go alone because I had things to do today, and that vendor was wearing gloves—quite clean, right? He eats this every day, so why is he feeling unwell today?” Sun Lizhen defended herself, feeling wronged.
Zhou Daqiang and Sun Lizhen looked at Zhou Da, who lay unconscious in bed, their hearts bleeding.
“This can’t end like this.”
“You are from the Food Safety Administration; you can’t let those responsible for sending our son to the hospital off the hook!”
*****
In the village brigade leader’s office.
“Brigade leader, we’re not unreasonable people. How could the villagers think of us this way?”
“Yes! Since we arrived, we’ve only taken the brigade’s subsidies, never a single thing from the villagers!”
The brigade leader was puzzled by the youths’ words. He had specifically reminded the villagers that everything had been peaceful since these youths came to the countryside. Why were they suddenly causing trouble today?
“Is there a misunderstanding? Haven’t you all been getting along well?”
Listening to the babbling youths, the brigade leader led them to the village.
Villagers chatting in the village saw the brigade leader angrily lead several sent-down youths over and follow behind, wanting to see the spectacle, and discussing who might be at fault.
The sent-down youths strode into Ye’s courtyard and called Ye Qiu out.
The brigade leader asked with a pained expression, “Ye Qiu, what on earth is going on?”
Just yesterday, he heard that Ye Qiu was becoming sensible and promising. What sort of trouble had he stirred up today to disturb his peace?
“Ye Qiu, why did you ask Li Hui for money?”
“And you wanted her to return the wild vegetables she dug up? Are we not even allowed to eat a single wild vegetable from the village?” the sent-down youths fired off questions in confusion.
What? Ye Qiu actually had the audacity to trick the sent-down youths for money!
Could he have tricked the young girl’s feelings?
Ye Qiu wore a perfectly appropriate expression of confusion. “Li Hui? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”