This was an era of invisible tension, permeating society from top to bottom. Everyone was extremely cautious.
Zhao Nuanyue nodded and said gravely, "Miao Cunzheng, I recognize him. We met him and his friend on the train to Labor County. They're good people. Wang Yuan and Yang Guanghui were with me, so they saw them too. They should remember their faces."
"Oh, that's good then." Hearing this, Miao Cunzheng stopped worrying. They were common folk; helping a good person was simply the right thing to do, a show of goodwill. No one could fault him for it. "Have the young folks come over and take a look!"
Wang Yuan, who was making breakfast, heard someone tell her she was needed in the village. She had no choice but to call Li Qiong and Yang Guanghui to go with her.
When they arrived, Wang Yuan and Yang Guanghui also recognized him as the man they had seen that day.
Since it was a good person who was injured, it was a serious matter. Miao Dahai had the village's barefoot doctor perform a simple disinfection and bandaging, then personally took the young, injured man to the large hospital in the county seat for treatment, bringing a few of the young people along.
Of course, to vouch for the man's character, Miao Dahai brought Yang Guanghui along, asking him to help care for the man on the way.
When Zhao Nuanyue heard the village doctor say that Hua Yusen's injuries were only superficial and he'd be fine once he got to the county hospital, despite the significant blood loss, she was relieved.
He had saved her once before, and now she had saved him.
'What I owed him from my past life, I'll just have to repay it bit by bit,' she thought. 'The debt will be cleared one day.'
'He's such an upright, good person. I hope he doesn't have to suffer so much in this life. I hope he can live in peace.'
When the villagers heard that a good person had been injured nearby, on top of the recent hooligan incident, they suddenly felt the village wasn't safe. This gave Wang Dadan an excuse to start organizing the villagers into a night patrol.
It was a classic case of the thief crying "stop thief!" Wang Dadan carried it out with practiced ease and great fanfare, acting as if he were the only "righteous gentleman" in all of Nianqiao Village.
However, whenever Wang Dadan passed by the Dragon King Temple, he would always stop to "check on it." His excuse was that since the Dragon King Temple was far from the village, it needed extra attention. He put on a selfless front, but inwardly he was festering with filth, his mind churning with wicked ideas, just waiting for a chance to strike again.
Only, with Yang Guanghui gone, Zhao Nuan Yang, despite being male, was no help at all due to his mental condition. The three girls were terrified. Thankfully, the patrolling villagers who came by weren't just Wang Dadan, which eased their fears a little.
In reality, Zhao Nuanyue wasn't afraid. She still had an ace up her sleeve.
She was now monitoring Wang Dadan and Liu Lanhua almost around the clock. The moment they made a move, Zhao Nuanyue would know.
Now that the heat had died down, Li Siming and Wang Dadan, simmering with ill intent, deliberately separated Zhao Nuanyue and Zhao Nuan Yang. Because Zhao Nuan Yang didn't speak and couldn't communicate, he was unable to complete his assigned tasks.
Zhao Nuanyue was very anxious. Failing to complete the tasks not only affected whether they would get rations next year, but because of all the gossip and finger-pointing, her brother Zhao Nuan Yang had become even more withdrawn.
If things went on like this, her brother's condition would only get worse. Zhao Nuanyue decided to use her connections with other village cadres.
Because Li Guihua was good at her job, she implicitly held some leverage over Li Siming and Wang Dadan. Therefore, she was the most suitable person to approach about this matter.
Sure enough, after Zhao Nuanyue privately gifted her a Plum Blossom brand ladies' watch, Li Guihua stepped in. She argued that because of Zhao Nuan Yang's mental condition, he could only work when accompanied by a family member, and so he should be allowed to stay by Zhao Nuanyue's side. Then, citing the need to care for the weak and young, she declared that as long as he completed the same amount of work as Zhao Nuanyue, he could receive full pay.
Li Siming and Wang Dadan were furious.
"Li Guihua, you're overstepping your bounds! Assigning work and calculating pay is my job. What right do you have to interfere? You've crossed a line, haven't you?" Li Siming frowned. Ever since Wang Dadan was almost caught and their plan nearly exposed—all because that woman Zhao Nuanyue couldn't keep her mouth shut—he'd wanted to teach her a lesson. Otherwise, there would be no appeasing the anger of his own wife and Wang Dadan.
Hearing this, Li Guihua calmly continued stitching a shoe sole and chuckled. "Women hold up half the sky, and children are the flowers of the motherland. Zhao Nuanyue and Zhao Nuan Yang are only fifteen, still just kids. Especially Zhao Nuan Yang, who has his issues—he needs even more care. If they can complete their tasks by staying together, isn't that a good thing? What's your purpose in deliberately separating them?"
"Wh-what purpose could there be...? I was just... making standard arrangements..." Li Siming stammered, his face flushing red. Cornered by Li Guihua's words, he didn't dare argue further. If he wasn't careful, she could slap him with the political labels of "disrespecting women" and "not caring for the flowers of the motherland," and he couldn't bear that.
Wang Dadan, who had been listening from the side, grew impatient with Li Guihua's aggressive tone. "I say, Madam Guahua, how can the flowers of the motherland grow strong if they don't face the wind and rain? Li Siming is just trying to toughen them up."
"Heh, toughen them up? You two really know how to make it sound nice!" Li Guihua shot a look at Li Siming and Wang Dadan, a smirk playing on her lips. "I think you're just making arbitrary arrangements. You knew the siblings were in a difficult situation, yet you did it anyway. I'd say you have ulterior motives. Maybe you're trying to get revenge because Zhao Nuanyue said a few words to your wife that day, and you've been holding a grudge, haven't you?"
Her words were a clear allusion to the cave on the back hill. The two men immediately clammed up, not daring to even let out a fart, consumed by their guilty consciences.
The official results of the village investigation might fool others, but they couldn't fool Li Guihua. With over a decade of experience, she had developed a sharp eye. Even through guesswork and deduction, she could figure out the general truth.
And this time, it came in handy.
"Madam Guahua, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want! You can't slander me..." Li Siming said anxiously, afraid that Li Guihua would reveal something explosive that would put them in a very difficult position.
"Heh, whether it's slander or not, you know in your hearts. Sometimes, people shouldn't go too far." With that, Li Guihua picked up her small basket of sewing supplies and walked out of the village committee office.
Watching Li Guihua's retreating figure, Wang Dadan and Li Siming looked at each other, wondering just how much she knew. They were on pins and needles.
'Zhao Nuanyue didn't care how Li Guihua reached an agreement with those men,' she thought. 'She had given a gift and gotten the result she wanted. That was good enough.'
'The watch was just a material possession. If it was gone, it was gone; she could buy ten, even a hundred more in the future. But she only had one brother. She couldn't accept even the slightest accident befalling him.'
Now that he could work beside his sister again, a smile returned to Zhao Nuan Yang's face, revealing two adorable dimples at the corners of his mouth.