Chapter 51 - Chapter 51: Imprisoned

  When Xu Manqiu woke up the next day, Liu Manzhu and a group of village cadres came to find her. They wanted to take her to the commune.

  The other educated youths at the educated youth site couldn't bear to leave Xu Manqiu, so they decided to go with her.

  Liu Manzhu and the others looked at it and said nothing.

  At the first stop at the commune, Jiang Youtao and her colleagues took Xu Manqiu to the Women's Federation, while Liu Manzhu and other cadres went to the office of the commune secretary to tell them about the matter.

  Secretary Shen of the commune frowned when he heard this: "Accountant Xu? Xu Liangcai?"

  Secretary Shen has been the secretary of Zaoxiang Commune for nearly ten years, and he knows all the small leaders of the subordinate brigades.

  He had an impression of Xu Liangcai, a man who didn't talk much but kept accounts very carefully. Secretary Xu had once singled him out for praise.

  Thinking of Luo Xuemin and Su Changshan who were recently sent to labor reform, Secretary Shen's anger rose: "You Liushugou people are really talented! Ah? Luo Xuemin and Su Changshan are having an affair, and Xu Liangcai is taking the lead in promoting feudal superstition!"

  Secretary Shen knew how hard the country was cracking down on feudal superstition. He slammed the table and said, "And you guys, you clearly knew that his family was practicing feudal superstition, but you didn't report it one by one, and you helped cover it up. Now that you can't cover it up and the victim can't control it anymore, you come to me, right?"

  Yesterday, Secretary Shen went to the county town for a meeting. The county leaders emphasized these things in particular and found someone who was caught in the act. He was discussing this matter with someone yesterday, but in the blink of an eye, the boomerang he threw out yesterday stabbed him.

  Other people are superstitious and say that he is the reincarnation of Wong Tai Sin. But Liushugou is different. They directly created a lucky star and a broom star. The whole village worships the lucky star, while the broom star is abused by her family.

  Secretary Shen's face turned black as ash when he thought about the consequences of this matter being exposed. The team leader and the village party secretary were having an affair with the same woman. He is still being laughed at. Now, there are three big leaders in Liushugou, and all three of them have problems. What's worse, Accountant Xu's problem is even more serious: "Xu Liangcai is really good, really good, really good!"

  Secretary Shen was so angry that he didn't know how to express his anger.

  In the Women's Federation office, the male educated youth were standing guard at the door. Jiang Youtao and the others followed Xu Manqiu into the Women's Federation office and watched Xu Manqiu show them the wounds on her body.

  They were big and small, of varying depths, some from being beaten, some from being scratched, and the bruises were all blue and purple. In many cases, the previous wound had not yet healed and the back wound had covered it.

  Jiang Youtao and the others knew that Xu Manqiu must be having a hard time in the Xu family, but they didn't expect it to be so bad.

  Everyone was very distressed. The people in the Women's Federation of the commune had seen a lot over the years, but they had never seen anyone beat their own granddaughter so harshly.

  "What kind of hatred and grudge is this!" There were three people in the Women's Federation, and they were all filled with indignation.

  Li Yunying and others felt very distressed. Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei could still hold it together, but Zhao Yonglan and others were in tears.

  Nowadays, many people favor boys over girls. As girls, they are discriminated against in some aspects, and not everyone is favored at home. But they are rarely beaten, and they have never seen anyone like Xu Manqiu who is covered with scars.

  Director Wang of the Women's Federation helped Xu Manqiu put on her clothes and said, "Manqiu, do you still want to go back to the Xu family?"

  Xu Manqiu shook her head: "No, I'm sixteen years old now. I can earn enough work points to support myself. I want to live on my own."

  Xu Manqiu dreamed of moving out of the Xu family.

  No matter what kind of punishment the Xu family will receive this time, she will not go back to the Xu family.

  Director Wang subconsciously wanted to shake her head, but when she thought about what Xu Manqiu had just said, it was not impossible for her to live alone, but she was still worried. After all, she was a grown girl, and there were many old bachelors in the countryside. What if something really happened?

  When she looked back, she saw Jiang Youtao and the others. Director Wang had an idea, but she suppressed the thought in her mind. She had to discuss it with Captain Liu from Liushugou and the others to decide whether it would work or not.

  Secretary Shen finally had enough of scolding, so he asked someone to call the director of the Revolutionary Committee. This kind of feudal superstition is usually handled by the Revolutionary Committee. The director of the Revolutionary Committee was just worried about not being able to find an opportunity to make meritorious contributions, and in the blink of an eye, someone came to his door. Of course, he was very happy.

  As soon as a large group of people walked out of the door, Hu Gongan and his men arrived. Secretary Shen went up to Hu Gongan and said, "We were just about to look for you."

  Secretary Shen didn't waste any words. He told Hu Gongan about the matter in a few words. Hu Gongan waited for him to finish before saying, "What a coincidence. We came to you because of this matter. Last night, Xu Liangcai's two grandsons went to the educated youth site in Liushugou to set fire. They were sent to us overnight by the people from Liushugou Brigade. After interrogation, they said that everything they did was instructed by Xu Cuilian."

  Hu Gongan and his companions were just about to go when they saw Liu Manzhu and his companions heading towards the township government in a mighty manner, so they simply waited outside and went together.

  After all, they have worked together on several cases before, so this one won't be a big deal.

  Secretary Shen's already dark face became even darker.

  The people in Liushugou are really capable. Not only do they engage in feudal superstition, they also instigate their grandson to commit arson.

  Accountant Xu hadn't slept since he came back last night. He found a stool and sat in the yard. Old Lady Xu couldn't sleep either. She got up and looked at him like a doorpost. She was so angry that she asked, "What are you doing sitting here?"

  Accountant Xu ignored her and just sat there.

  Old Mrs. Xu rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen.

  Her eldest granddaughter was lucky, having saved the son of a county leader and the life of an old factory director. Her second son was also capable and knew many people. She was not worried at all.

  She was filled with disdain for Accountant Xu's look of as if the sky was falling.

  She was cooking in the kitchen when she suddenly recalled the days when she was a maid in a wealthy family. There was a young master in her family, two years older than her, good-looking and well-educated. She would never forget the image of him reading in the corridor in a long gown.

  Before she was sold, her mistress told her that the young master had already told her that when she was older, he would call her to serve him.

  Old Lady Xu poked the bowl angrily. If her young lady hadn't committed a crime, they, the maids, wouldn't have been sold. If they hadn't been sold, she would have become the young master's concubine.

  She would not be afraid even if land reform came, because her master's family was rich, and any money she hid would be enough for food and drink.

  After being bought back by the Xu family, she had no food to eat or clothes to wear, and she had to marry a wimp like Accountant Xu. She couldn't stand up for herself at all.

  Old Lady Xu prepared the meal, but unfortunately no one was in the mood to eat.

  She ate it all herself.

  Just as she put down my bowl, Xu Zhiqiang and Li Yinfeng arrived. The couple couldn't sit still after receiving a call from home last night. They finally waited until dawn and hurriedly took the earliest bus here.

  "What's going on? Where is Xu Manqiu?" Xu Zhiqiang, wearing a brand new blue work suit, had been looking for Xu Manqiu since he entered the door.

  No matter how anxious Li Yinfeng was, she dressed up beautifully. She wore a goose yellow suit jacket and even a pair of small leather shoes on her feet.

  "This damn girl is so bold. I'm not saying anything bad about you, Mom, but you've pushed her too hard." Li Yinfeng came from a well-off family, gave birth to a lucky girl, and had a job, so her status in front of Old Lady Xu was different.

  She said what Aunt Xu and Aunt Xu San didn't dare to say.

  Old Lady Xu threw the bowl and chopsticks on the table and said, "Are you blaming me now? What did you do before as a mother?"

  When Old Lady Xu got angry, Li Yinfeng didn't dare to stab her. Her toughness was based on the fact that Old Lady Xu wanted something from Xu Baozhu. If Old Lady Xu didn't give her face, she wouldn't dare to say anything.

  It shows the bullying of the weak and fear of the strong to the fullest.

  When Xu Baozhu heard her parents' voices in the room, she quickly ran out of the room, rushed into Xu Zhiqiang's arms and started crying.

  Li Yinfeng could only put down her open hands awkwardly.

  Just as Xu Baozhu was crying and complaining about her grievances, Jiang Youtao and her group arrived, and there were many people following behind them to watch the fun.

  Li Yinfeng saw Xu Manqiu in the crowd, her eyes became fierce, and she rushed towards her: "You are such a wicked girl, you are so bold that you dare to go out and talk nonsense. If I had known you were such an ungrateful person, I would have strangled you to death long ago."

  Li Yinfeng and Mrs. Xu are indeed mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. They are really family and even their way of speaking is similar.

  Director Wang immediately stood in front of Xu Manqiu and asked, "Comrade, what do you want to do?"

  Li Yinfeng stopped the car and looked Director Wang up and down, her eyes full of arrogance: "Comrade, please move aside so I can teach my child a lesson."

  Because of Xu Baozhu's relationship, Li Yinfeng mostly interacted with people of status and position, and she looked down on Director Wang, the director of the Women's Federation in a village.

  Director Wang's face suddenly turned ugly.

  In the eight brigades of Zaoxiang Commune, she was respected wherever she went. She had not seen anyone with an attitude like Li Yinfeng for many years.

  Xu Zhiqiang ignored the turbulent situation between the women. He walked up to Secretary Shen and the others, took out a pack of Da Tuanjie from his pocket and handed it out: "Hello Secretary Shen, I am Xu Zhiqiang. We met once before at the county government. I wonder if you still remember me."

  Secretary Shen had a deep impression of him. As the secretary of the director of the county supply and marketing cooperative, he would meet him three out of ten meetings.

  But Secretary Shen did not have a good impression of him, saying he was flattering and took advantage of his superiors.

  Secretary Shen pushed his cigarette away and said with a fake smile: "Sorry, I don't know how to smoke."

  The slightly arrogant smile on Xu Zhiqiang's face froze. Shen Kaiming was shameless. When he was in the county town, he saw Shen Kaiming smoking more than once!

  The stiffness lasted only a moment, and he continued to smile: "It won't be good, it won't be good, smoking this is harmful to your health, harmful to your health."

  He continued to send it to other leaders, but no one dared to take it.

  Xu Zhiqiang couldn't maintain the smile on his face.

  The director of the Revolutionary Committee didn't want to waste time talking to them. He waved his hand and his Red WBs rushed towards Accountant Xu, and Xu Zhiqiang and Li Yinfeng were not left behind.

  Accountant Xu accepted his fate and was taken away but his heart was cold and hard as he was being escorted by them. Xu Zhiqiang and Li Yinfeng's faces turned pale and they struggled desperately.

  Hu Gongan and others went to arrest Old Lady Xu. Old Lady Xu was stunned when she heard the reason why the police wanted to arrest her: "When did I order them to set the fire? Those two little bastards are just making up stories."

  When Aunt Xu heard Old Lady Xu scolding her son like that, she looked at Old Lady Xu with a strange look in her eyes.

  All the resources of the Xu family are tilted towards the second son's family. The first and third son's families can only get some scraps, and even then they still have to compete fiercely with the third son's family.

  Aunt Xu's eyes fell on Xu Baozhu, who could only sob. Her two sons were arrested for setting fire for her, but Xu Baozhu had never asked about it since last night.

  Aunt Xu was so angry that she said, "I can testify that my son set the fire because Xu Cuilian ordered her to do so. Xu Baozhu also helped her."

  Xu Cui Lian was the name of Mrs. Xu. She was called Cui Lian when she was a maid. After she came to the Xu family, she did not change her name, but just added a surname.

  Old Lady Xu was shocked: "Sister Li, you are mentally ill, right? Yesterday, your two sons said in the yard that they were going to set fire that night. The whole family heard it. Did I say anything? Did Baozhu say anything? Old Sister Li, you tell me."

  Aunt Xu looked back and forth between Old Lady Xu and Aunt Xu, then smiled at Old Lady Xu, revealing two gaps between her teeth.

  "My mother did say that." Aunt Xu's resentment towards Old Lady Xu was much deeper than that towards Aunt Xu.

  The first wife's family could drink soup while the second wife's family ate meat, and the third wife's family also smelt the taste of bones. After her front teeth fell out, Xu Laosan despised her ugliness and became even colder to her. Every time she said something wrong, she would be beaten by Xu Laosan. When Xu Cui Lian found out, she specially listened by the window and told her son how to beat his wife so that she would feel pain.

  Want her to speak for you? Maybe in the next life.

  The look that Old Lady Xu gave to the two daughters-in-law of the Xu family was filled with viciousness.

  Aunt Xu wasn't afraid of her, nor was Aunt Xu San. At worst, they would split up the family, or when she was released, she would be scolded and beaten. If it would let Old Lady Xu stay in the police station for a few days. It was worth it.

  Everyone including Xu Baozhu was taken away. After everyone left, Aunt Xu and Aunt Xu San looked at each other in the yard, snorted at each other, and went back to their rooms.

  As soon as Aunt Xu San entered the room, Xu Laosan slapped her. Aunt Xu San dodged to the side, and then she kicked him.

  "Xu Laosan, do you think you are still the same Xu Laosan? I tell you, you'd better be polite to me, otherwise once I leave home, who would want to marry you?" Aunt Xu San had made special inquiries and found out that Accountant Xu had failed this time. The village had no more grain to give to Xu Baozhu. It was not certain whether Accountant Xu and Old Lady Xu, the two leaders of feudal superstition, would be able to come back.

  Why was Xu Laosan shaking in front of her! Ju Lanhua could finally stand up and sing as a serf in her life.

  Thank you country, thank you party!

  As expected, Xu Laosan didn't dare to take action again.

  The Revolutionary Committee and the police station left, and Xu Manqiu was surrounded and taken to the team headquarters.

  Everyone was discussing and thinking about Xu Manqiu's future destination.

  At that time, every family had many children, and Xu Manqiu was so old, but she was not suitable for any family. Aunt Xu and Aunt Xu San were not easy to deal with, so Xu Manqiu would have trouble no matter which family she went to.

  After a round of discussion, it was the Women's Federation's turn. Director Wang said, "I just asked, there is still vacant land next to the educated youth site, so can the village provide materials and manpower to build a small house for Manqiu?"

  Director Wang's words made the team meeting room quiet for a moment, followed by a heated discussion. Ten minutes later, Secretary Shen asked about the results of the discussion with a wooden face.

  Liu Manzhu said: "We have discussed it and we will do as Director Wang said."

  It's not a big deal to build a house, it can be done in a week. They just discussed it and agreed with Director Wang's suggestion. As they said before, Xu Manqiu is sixteen years old, she will get married sooner or later, and once she gets married, the house built for her will belong to the village.

  Not a loss, and it saves a lot of trouble.

  Xu Manqiu didn't expect this result, and her eyes lit up.

  Jiang Youtao touched her hair.

  Her body is only one year older than Xu Manqiu's, but even though she had eaten poorly since she was a child, she had grown to 1.7 meters tall. Now that she eats well, she has grown taller again during this period. However, Xu Manqiu is half a head shorter than her, only about 1.5 meters tall, short and small.

  It would be good if she could live on her own. The work points Xu Manqiu earned were enough to support her. If worse came to worst, she and Gu Nianwei would still be there to take care of her.

  Zhao Yonglan felt very sympathetic towards Xu Manqiu. She said, "You can live with us during this period. We have room available in our house."

  Neither Li Yunying nor Zhang Huihui objected.

  Director Wang's impression of the educated youth from Liushugou improved a bit. If nothing else, these kids were really kind.

  Secretary Shen saw that Liu Manzhu and the others had already discussed it clearly, so he said, "Okay, it's settled. You guys do the math, calculate Comrade Xu Manqiu's work points, give her the food she deserves, and give her some compensation."

  Secretary Shen made the final decision, and Xu Manyqiu's resettlement was settled.

  Xu Manqiu officially moved into the educated youth center.

  In commune.

  After being arrested, Accountant Xu became disheartened and told everything he had done over the years.

  In the first two days, Xu Zhiqiang and Li Yinfeng still fought hard, fantasizing that the leaders they had been friends with in the county would come to rescue them. But after waiting for several days and seeing no one, Xu Zhiqiang gave up hope, and Li Yinfeng collapsed even earlier than him.

  After arriving at the police station, Mrs. Xu firmly denied the accusations made by Xu Song and Xu Bai, but she had no evidence to prove that she had not said it. After an investigation by the police, she was found guilty.

  She and Accountant Xu were superstitious and instigated Xu Song and Xu Bai to set fire, which was a serious crime. They were sentenced to ten years in prison. Xu Song and Xu Bai were convicted of arson and sentenced to seven years.

  Xu Zhiqiang and Li Yinfeng did not participate too much in feudal superstition, but they were also sentenced to seven years. Xu Baozhu was the core figure in this feudal superstition and was sentenced to ten years. She was held in solitary confinement.

  On the second day of her detention, Xu Baozhu followed in Xia Heyu's footsteps and was sent to the capital.

  Xu Zhiqiang didn't want to go to jail or go to the farm. In order to gain merit and to seek revenge, he exposed the past of all the leaders who had been on good terms with him.

  This shook the entire Yangping County leadership team. When you pull out a carrot, you bring out the mud. People fell one after another, and each official was higher than the last.

  But these have nothing to do with Jiang Youtao and the others.

  Xu Manqiu's house had been built long ago, and she had built a small house next to Jiang Youtao's house. It was a single room, with the same size of kang as Jiang Youtao's, and a small hallway. Although the house was small, it had everything, and Xu Manqiu was satisfied. She had never been so happy.

  The day after Old Lady Xu was taken away, Wang Shanxi and his team went to the county town. After receiving the clear news that workers were needed, they began to prepare.

  The cannery exam was scheduled for the beginning of winter. Except for Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei, everyone else went. Zhou Zhenfeng was also among them, but no one paid any attention to him.

  Xu Manqiu waited until everyone had left before asking Jiang Youtao and the others, "Sister Weiwei, Sister Taotao, aren't you going to take the exam?"

  Jiang Youtao shook her head: "We don't plan to enter the factory."

  Xu Manqiu considerately didn't ask why, and she didn't have time to ask.

  During this period, Xu Dazui's eldest grandson and granddaughter came to Jiang Youtao and others for tutoring, and Xu Manqiu also followed them.

  She is worthy of being the girl of great fortune favored by all the world consciousness. She is very smart. In just a few days, she has learned the knowledge of the second grade from someone who didn't know a single word, and she has learned the first grade courses very well.

  But what makes Jiang Youtao regretful is that after experiencing all kinds of hardships, Xu Manqiu's good luck has almost disappeared. Now, her luck is just better than that of ordinary people, and things go more smoothly for her.

  Jiang Youtao once asked Xu Manqiu implicitly if she had any regrets. Xu Manqiu said, "No regrets. Although good luck is mine, I have never enjoyed any of the benefits brought by this good luck since I was born. On the contrary, I have suffered a lot because of it. It doesn't make much difference to me whether I have it or not."

  Because she has never had it, Xu Manqiu doesn't care whether she loses it or not. Compared with relying on good luck to get something for nothing like Xu Baozhu, she prefers to work hard for what she wants with her own hands.

  Now she just wants to study hard, read more books, and learn more words, and doesn't want to think about anything else.

  Wang Shanxi and his classmates couldn't get their results for a while after taking the exam.

  On the day Xu Baozhu arrived in the capital, Jiang Youtao received a message from the melon-eating system.

  [ The small world of "Koi in 70s" is under testing... After testing, this small world is running stably, the truth about the real lucky star is revealed, the host is the real lucky star Zhang Mu, and builds the foundation for Xu Manqiu to gain a new life. The host is rewarded with 5kg of cotton, 10kg of carp, 10kg of hairtail, 3kg of carp, 20kg of king crab, 20kg of Australian blue dragon, 2kg of squid, 30kg of mixed flavored melon seeds, and 5000 melon coins. ]

  [ The reward has been sent to the system backpack. Please keep working hard. ]

  Jiang Youtao drooled at the seafood in the system backpack.

  Who doesn't like seafood, especially the king crab and Australian blue lobster in her backpack, which are much bigger than her enamel washbasin.

  As a common person, Jiang Youtao had never eaten such high-end food, but she had watched a lot of videos of others eating it.

  She thought that if she wanted to eat these good things, she had to wait until after the reform and opening up.

  Now she have the chance to eat it.

  Jiang Youtao couldn't wait to start eating.

  However, her gaze paused on the carp that was mixed in among the seafood, and she decisively took out the carp.

  "Weiwei weiwei, let's eat carp today." Jiang Youtao carried the carp to the living room.

  Gu Nianwei came out of the room, looked at the lively koi in the bucket, raised her eyebrows, and looked at Jiang Youtao meaningfully for a while.

  Then without asking any questions: "Okay, I'll do it."

  Jiang Youtao has already been giving up. If Gu Nianwei doesn't ask, she won't say anything. Anyway, let's see who can't hold it back first: "This fish is big, and we can't finish it. I'll go call Sister Yunying and the others."

  Gu Nianwei did not object.

  It is better to eat the fish all at once, otherwise it will taste fishy if you reheat it for the second time.

  Everyone was happy to have fish to eat and came over to help.

  Jiang Youtao went to teach Xu Manqiu, and Xu Manqiu did not refuse. She just wrote down all the good things Jiang Youtao and the others had done for her in a separate notebook.

  This is her Ji En book. Except Zhou Zhenfeng, everyone in the educated youth site is in this book. In addition to them, there are also villagers such as Xu Dazui. When she moved into her new home, these people gave her a lot of things.

  She remembers it all, and she will pay it back when she grows up.

  The fish was very big, and Gu Nianwei cooked it in three ways: sweet and sour, braised, and stir-fried with green peppers. Each one was so delicious that you could swallow your tongue.

  Jiang Youtao sent some to Xu Dazui's house before eating.

  Everyone was eating enthusiastically at the meal. Zhao Rongguang contributed all his treasured wine. Except for the kid Xu Manqiu, he poured a glass for everyone. When he poured for Zhao Yonglan, the two looked at each other and blushed.

  Jiang Youtao was surprised and asked Zhang Huihui secretly, "What's going on with them?"

  Zhang Huihui smiled and said, "For several days, the two of them didn't say a word, and occasionally they looked at each other and their faces turned red."

  Jiang Youtao understood that the two of them were attracted to each other, but they just hadn't broken the window paper yet. If you think about it carefully, the two of them are actually quite compatible. Zhao Yonglan's family is well-off, and Zhao Rongguang's family is not much worse. They are well-matched, and there is no question of one taking advantage of the other.

  Isn't this better than Zhao Yonglan marrying Su Zhengtang to work on poverty alleviation projects?

  She looked at the two of them and smiled, then said something meaningful: "The peach blossoms on the hill behind our educated youth site will surely bloom beautifully this year."

  Now it's serious, Zhao Yonglan's face is covered with blood.

  Zhao Rongguang was a man, and although he felt embarrassed by the teasing, he still raised his glass and said, "If it really works, I'll treat everyone to a drink."

  At this moment, everyone's laughter was so loud that it could have blown the roof off, and Zhao Rongguang was forced to drink several glasses of wine.

  While eating, Zhao Yonglan listened to Zhao Rongguang protecting her behind him and fending off everyone's jokes. She felt as sweet as if she had eaten honey.

  Xu Manqiu looked at this and that with curiosity on her face, and was very excited.

  Everyone drank a little too much at the dinner, and it was already noon when they woke up the next day.

  Today is the day when the cannery announces the results, which concerns their future lives. Li Yunying and the others could not sit still, so they got up early and went to the county town. Xu Manqiu saw that Jiang Youtao and the others had not gotten up yet, so she prepared some rice and kept it warm in the pot before going up the mountain.

  Although the villagers gave her a lot of firewood after she moved, she was afraid of the cold and always wanted to prepare more.

  On the mountain, she met Aunt Xu and her little son who were also there to collect firewood. They didn't say a word.

  Aunt Xu's family had received many benefits from Xu Baozhu, but now that Xu Baozhu had lost her luck, these former beneficiaries had suffered more or less backlash. Aunt Xu's family had many big and small troubles, just like now, Aunt Xu was obviously very careful, but she still kicked a rock and fell.

  The same is true for Mrs. Xu and Accountant Xu in prison. They are much more unlucky than Aunt Xu and the others. Just like Xu Manqiu, even drinking cold water will cause teeth to ache. When they work, they are always given the most broken tools, always come in last, and being punished is commonplace.

  There would be many more scars on their bodies for no apparent reason, and sometimes they couldn't sleep in the middle of the night because of the pain. The suffering that Xu Manqiu had suffered in the past, the stable small world consciousness was returning to them bit by bit, making them unable to live or die.

  As the biological parents of Xu Baozhu and Xu Manqiu, Xu Zhiqiang and Li Yinfeng benefited the most, but also suffered the most. They had to endure even more, as there were always some people they offended who met them in prison.

  They protected each other when the two is tortured. Xu Zhiqiang and Li Yinfeng lived in dire straits every day, and even eating and drinking became luxuries.

  Xu Dazui came not long after Jiang Youtao woke up, and she brought a piece of news to Jiang Youtao and the others.

  "Are there any teachers shortages in primary and secondary schools in the commune?"

  "Isn't it? They say the middle school is short of four or five people, and the elementary school is short of two or three."

  The school has always been saturated with teachers and there has never been a shortage of so many teachers. When Xu Dazui heard the news, she couldn't believe it.

  Xu Dazui is worthy of being the most well-informed woman in Liushugou. She whispered, "Didn't Xu Zhiqiang expose many corrupt officials? Many people stepped down, and many people were implicated. Those teachers were arrested for corruption and bribery."

  "Those teachers have all taught Xu Baozhu." As soon as Xu Dazui said this, Jiang Youtao knew what was going on.

  Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei looked at each other. Gu Nianwei went back to her room and came out with two apples in her hand: "Auntie, come and have some fruit."

  The apple that Gu Nianwei gave to Xu Dazui was a big round Red Fuji apple, which looked very expensive.

  Xu Dazui accepted it generously. She felt that the two pieces of news she brought were worth the price of two apples.

  "I still have some food stewing in the pot, so I'll leave first. You guys think about it carefully." Xu Dazui left in the same hurry as when she came.

  After she left, Jiang Youtao looked at Gu Nianwei and said, "Try it?"

  "Try it!"

  They don't want to be workers, but they are willing to be teachers.