Looking at her daughter's condition and combining it with the recent changes in Song Erya, she always felt that Wang Chunhua was going to suffer.
Zhang Xiuli had no appetite to eat. She left her two sons and her husband, Wang Gang, behind and ran off in a puff of smoke.
Many onlookers had already gathered around the village committee dam, and the uproar inside the office was bubbling over.
Each neck was stretched out longer than that of a goose.
"This thing was found in a box in your room, what else do you have to say!"
The missing official seal and important documents of Zhao Shouzhong were laid out on the table.
Zhao Shouzhong's face darkened, and he remained silent.
Captain Zhang's neck turned red with anger as he yelled at Fu Hao, "Speak up, don't think by playing dumb you can get away with this!"
Fu Hao had just returned from the Ghost Market, he hadn't even entered his dorm before he was called to the office.
Seeing the items on the table, his heart skipped a beat, and he felt incredibly guilty.
"What is this?"
Captain Zhang, seeing Fu Hao playing dumb, wanted to slap him right then.
But he suppressed his rage and said, "These were found in your room. They're enough to put you behind bars!"
"How could it be in my room?"
Fu Hao continued to play dumb.
He had been so careful, how could he have been discovered? Who had reported him?
As long as he stubbornly denied everything, he still had a way to frame someone else.
Captain Zhang took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
"Then you tell me what you were doing the day before yesterday, whom you met, and why you were in the brigade office last night?"
Fu Hao's heart lurched again, he stammered, "The day before yesterday I was sick in the dorm, I didn't see anyone, last night… last night… I was also in the dorm."
"Stop bullshitting me, I have already asked Li Qianjin next door; you left early in the morning the day before yesterday and didn't return until late at night, and last night, you came back to the dorm in the middle of the night!"
Unable to take it anymore, Captain Zhang gave Fu Hao a harsh slap on the back of his head.
"Stubborn as a mule, you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin, you wretch."
"People saw you coming out of the office last night, and you still insist on lying!"
Captain Zhang was extremely agitated.
How could he be so unlucky? Not only was the Golden Brigade tailing in production, but it also had a series of troubles and riffraff to deal with.
"Who? Let him come out, I was clearly in the dorm yesterday!"
Li Qianjin, Fu Hao's neighbor, had long been called over for questioning, and upon learning that Fu Hao was frequently absent from the dorm, Zhao Shouzhong was so angry he could tear Fu Hao apart!
"According to Li Qianjin's statement, you returned late last night and weren't in the dorm all day the day before yesterday. How do you explain that?"
"I… I…" Fu Hao was completely at a loss for words.
Because in his plan, this was supposed to be seamless.
He knew what the loss of the official seal would mean, and that person was only offering so little in exchange for making him take such a risk.
So Fu Hao backed out at the last minute, planning to blackmail that person.
But he hadn't expected to be caught so quickly; now, he was so nervous that even his voice trembled when he spoke.
"I'll report this matter to the leaders for handling. You just stay put these next few days and wait for the outcome."
Zhao Shouzhong, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, trying to keep his emotions stable.
Otherwise, he was afraid he might kill Fu Hao in front of the entire team!
Fu Hao also realized his affair was blown wide open, and regardless of his dignity, he knelt down with a plop.
"I was wrong, Secretary Zhao, please have mercy and spare me!"
With that, he began to slap his own face, sobbing uncontrollably, "I was blinded by foolishness, made a momentary mistake, please look at the contributions I've made for the Golden Brigade and let me go this one time!"
Zhao Shouzhong was unmoved, looking at him with contempt.
"Hmph, if only you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?" Zhao Shouzhong turned his back, refusing to look at him.
"Captain Zhang, please plead for me, I've always treated you like my own father."
Captain Zhang also walked away quickly, leaving a sentence behind, "Don't you dare; I don't have a backstabbing son like you."
Wang Chunhua, shoved to the outskirts, couldn't catch a snippet of news and cursed furiously.
"If you're so capable, why don't you go and stick your eye to the crack of the door?" someone challenged.
So the dim-witted Wang Chunhua, under everyone's watchful eyes, scurried to the door.
Through the crack, she didn't see Song Yitang but saw Fu Hao kneeling on the ground, still slapping his own face.
Brother Fu Hao wouldn't be taking the fall for that dead girl, would he?
"The stuff was clearly stolen by that Song, so why make things hard for Brother Fu Hao?"
Wang Chunhua pushed hard and barged right in.
A stir arose among the crowd!
"Get out, this is not your place to speak," Captain Zhang was startled by the sudden intrusion of Wang Chunhua.
Zhao Shouzhong's eyes nearly burst with sparks, his face so dark it could drip ink.
"Comrade, please leave!"
"I won't. Is there anything that can't be said in front of everyone? Secretary Zhao, you just want to show favoritism towards Song Yitang."
Wang Chunhua, thinking of how much Fu Hao is helping Song Yitang, felt a jealous rage boiling within her.
"No wonder you, such a big leader, insist on helping this girl with no kin, no ties. Perhaps you have an improper relationship!"
Zhao Shouzhong's already fierce anger was ready to erupt again, his eyes nearly spewing fire.
"Chunhua, you go out first."
Seeing the situation, Fu Hao also tried to pull Wang Chunhua away. After all, if this were to be dealt with publicly, he'd never be able to stand tall and be a man in this lifetime.
"Brother Fu Hao, are you trying to take the blame for her?"
As the standoff continued, Zhang Xiuli, who had been watching from the outside for a long time, realized something was amiss.
She then made her way in late, rushing in to drag Wang Chunhua out.
"Sorry Secretary Zhao, it's my lack of discipline that let this unruly dead girl offend you."
"As someone magnanimous, please don't stoop to the level of this young girl."
"You get to say all the excuses now. If you can't discipline her, go back right now and do a good job at it!"
Wang Chunhua had indeed infuriated Zhao Shouzhong enough!
Zhao Shouzhong made a mental note of this incident; he wasn't the pushover everyone could easily handle.
In the days to come, he'd make sure this girl understood the principle that you can eat carelessly but cannot speak carelessly.
Wang Chunhua wanted to retort, but a stern glare from Zhang Xiuli forcefully stifled her words.
Captain Zhang, with sharp eyes, noticed a crowd gathering outside and sensibly went to disperse them.
With evidence incontrovertibly against him, Fu Hao had no choice but to confess.
He had indeed been stealing small items, and after stumbling upon Ghost Market, he loved taking the money wired from home for a stroll there.
Because Ghost Market didn't require ration coupons, cash alone could buy many precious things.
Last week, he encountered a very peculiar person, seemingly from the capital, judging by the accent.
That person claimed to know the definite news about the return of the sent-down youths and could also get him an early return, but only if he brought down Zhao Shouzhong.
At first, Fu Hao refused, but that person gave him a plan and even promised a fee of five hundred yuan upon success.
So he agreed.
Having heard everything, Zhao Shouzhong didn't say another word and picked up the water cup from the table to hurl it at Fu Hao.
Fu Hao could only cry miserably, begging on his knees for Zhao Shouzhong to spare him.
Returning home in the afternoon, Song Yitang didn't expect that merely repaying Zhao Shouzhong would unexpectedly net her fifty yuan.
After finding evidence, she didn't want to create enemies, so she proposed they randomly ask other sent-down youths to verify if Fu Hao was indeed in the dormitory.
Zhao Shouzhong insisted on giving her fifty yuan and some ration coupons, telling her she must accept them.
In Zhao Shouzhong's heart, Song Yitang was like someone who had saved his life.
And he felt that this young girl would surely achieve great things in the future.
Holding the fifty yuan, Song Yitang's heart bloomed with joy; with the current money, the expenses for her senior year of high school and books were no longer a concern.
Now considering herself a little rich girl, she smiled, her mood extremely pleased.
[Weight Gain Mission Progress: 30%]