Wang Chunhua got home and started throwing a tantrum, determined to give Song Yitang a piece of her mind.
"Look at you, all cowed. You can't even handle a yellow-haired girl. You're less use than a dog." Her mother Zhang Xiuli remarked coolly from the side.
Dog, dog, dog, it's always about dogs!
So I've got a problem with dogs today, have I?
Wang Chunhua threw the fire tongs she was holding and went back to her room to sulk, which led to a scolding from Zhang Xiuli outside.
"Aunt Zhang, these are the two eggs I borrowed from you last time."
The educated youth Li Qianjin carefully cradled two eggs in his hands.
Zhang Xiuli, seeing this, hurriedly took them and warmly invited Li Qianjin to eat.
"Qianjin, eat here tonight at your aunt's. The dishes will be ready soon, and the rice is all cooked!"
Li Qianjin had an honest face, a big guy measuring over one meter eighty, with dark skin that inspired trust at first glance.
"No, no, I still have things to do later. There's been a theft at the team, and we're investigating it."
Upon hearing gossip, Zhang Xiuli was even less inclined to let Li Qianjin go.
She quickly took two coarse-grain corn buns from the pot and stuffed them into Li Qianjin's hands.
"A theft? What's been stolen?"
"Just some hoes and shovels and the like. Not really important stuff, but the new Secretary Zhao is taking it quite seriously, saying whoever's caught will be severely punished."
"If there's nothing else, I should get back. It's about time."
Zhang Xiuli, knowing the gossip, didn't press him to stay any longer.
"Take care on your way, and do come over more often, Qianjin."
Zhang Xiuli was also keen on finding a son-in-law from the city, and she was particularly fond of Li Qianjin. He seemed reliable and free of scheming.
In the future, he would definitely be a family man, and it seemed he wouldn't be hard to deal with.
Unfortunately, her good-for-nothing daughter had her heart set on that pretty boy Fu Hao.
Wang Chunhua in the room heard their entire conversation clearly.
Aunt Liu, fearing that Song Yitang might run off, dragged her back home as soon as they finished work.
"If you ask me, it's good that you left that family. It was too distressing to live with them."
She had long disapproved of that family, which favored boys over girls, had a pretentious father, a spineless mother, and a brother with no ambition who only wanted to play.
"From now on, whatever you need, just come to your aunt's place and take it. Take whatever you like!"
Aunt Liu pitied her for being thin and insisted on serving her cured meat, which was reserved for guests during holidays.
"Sister Tangtang, I think you're her real daughter!" Aunt Liu's daughter, Wang Hui, joked while sitting in front of the stove.
Aunt Liu replied irritably, "Haven't you been spoiled enough already?"
The atmosphere in the household was very joyful.
This was the first time Song Yitang felt relaxed since she came back to life.
Aunt Liu, disliking how skinny Song Yitang was, forced her to eat two bowls of rice and piled lots of meat onto her plate, threatening her not to get up from the table until she finished it all.
Before she left, she also gave her lots of other things.
When Song Yitang returned to her broken-down house, she lit the candles Aunt Liu gave her, sat on a wooden stool, and her lips curled into a faint smile.
After resting for a moment, she washed up with hot water and prepared to enter her space to study.
Yesterday, she had found a stack of test papers and started with an easy one.
She had just finished writing and hadn't yet checked her work when, in the blink of an eye, the paper was graded.
Thinking her weak points were in Chinese and biology, Song Yitang couldn't sit still when she saw she only scored 65 in math.
She wasn't sure if the test was particularly difficult, or if she was overconfident.
Entering her space, she started to work on the practice questions she'd sorted the day before, in order.
A night went by.
Everything seemed normal when she went to work in the morning, but after eating lunch, as Song Yitang got ready to collect the tools and start work, she noticed people whispering behind her back.
Song Yitang thought it was because of yesterday's incident when she disciplined Li Ping and Wang Chunhua, so she didn't pay much attention to it.
When Aunt Liu saw Song Yitang, she quickly walked up to her and said in a mysterious whisper, "There's been a theft at the team, and some people are saying that you took the items."
Song Yitang was very puzzled. "Who is saying that?"
"Don't worry about who said it first, people are spreading rumors that you went out to steal things at night. If the captain comes looking for you, just say you spent the night at my place."
"You don't need to worry, I've already dealt with Xiao Hui and the others."
"If it comes to it, insist that you were sleeping at our house. The stuff seems to have gone missing last night, so as long as you don't confess, there'll be no problem."
Song Yitang furrowed her brows, knowing she had, indeed, slept in the space last night and wasn't at home.
However, she had a good idea of who it actually was—she had only offended Li Ping and Wang Chunhua.
Aunt Liu also shook her head; she heard the gossip as soon as she arrived.
Li Ping was very proactive; once she got the news, she spread it everywhere, afraid that someone might not hear about it.
Song Yitang recalled that she got up late today and didn't have time to carefully check for any changes at home. She rushed to work in the morning, and at noon, all her attention was on eating.
Sure enough, speaking of the devil and he shall appear.
With his hands behind his back and a stern expression, Captain Zhang called Song Yitang away.
Everyone's eyes were intently fixed on the two of them, their thoughts following them as they left.
"Your uncle definitely doesn't want to believe that you would do such a thing, but the items were found around your house after all."
"To avoid people gossiping about you, Secretary Zhao sent me to find you."
To anyone with clear eyes, it was obvious Song Yitang had been framed.
"Don't worry, they'll let you go after a while."
Captain Zhang found her a stool and said, "Sit quietly for a while, we still have important matters to handle."
Listening to Captain Zhang's words, ripples stirred in Song Yitang's heart.
The office was very simple, the once white walls had turned yellow, with a cement floor and a large poster on the wall stating "Serve the People."
The desk was no more than two study desks put together, and the drawers of the bookcase had been opened, with papers scattered around.
It was as if the place had been ransacked by a thief.
Zhao Shouzhong remained silent, his expression grave and serious.
Suddenly, Song Yitang's eyes lit up, as if she had remembered something.
After a moment of hesitation, she asked, "Is it the official seal that's been lost?"
"How did you know?"
Zhao Shouzhong snapped out of his thoughts, his gaze intense, as if trying to see right through her.
In her past life, Song Yitang remembered this incident because it caused a huge commotion.
With a glance from Zhao Shouzhong, Captain Zhang wisely closed the door.
"I just moved to the Educated Youth Spot two days ago. There was an educated youth surname Fu who kept asking about Secretary Zhao. Last night, when I was returning from Aunt's house, I happened to see him coming from the direction of the village committee office."
Indeed, Fu Hao was the one who carried out the deed. However, Song Yitang had not encountered Fu Hao.
In her past life, after the educated youths returned home, Fu Hao, who was quite popular within the team, was invited out for a meal. He got drunk and blurted out the entire process of how he had framed Zhao Shouzhong.
Not many people knew about it, but Song Yitang's sister-in-law was there and only mentioned it to Song Yitang years later.
The outcome for Zhao Shouzhong was that he was dismissed from his job due to a major oversight and ended up returning to his hometown in disgrace.
"Are you sure you saw him?" Zhao Shouzhong asked, half-believing.
Song Yitang nodded firmly.
"We cannot let others know about this before we get to the bottom of it. Follow me to search the dormitory."
Zhao Shouzhong knew all too well what the consequences of the missing items were.
Even as darkness fell, there was no news of Song Yitang being punished. Wang Chunhua was on pins and needles at home.
"What's the matter, got hemorrhoids or something? You're fidgeting so much just trying to eat."
Zhang Xiuli slapped her chopsticks onto Wang Chunhua's hand.
This girl, out and about in the dead of night, has been acting strange ever since she came back.
It couldn't be related to the incident with that girl from the Song's house…
Wang Chunhua winced in pain and refocused her attention.
She was very anxious inside, wondering why there had been no movement yet.
"Sister Zhang, want to go watch the excitement? I heard they caught the thief!"
Upon hearing the news, Wang Chunhua jumped up from her seat.
"Mom, I'm going to check out the commotion!"