Chapter 64: Bullying us country folk for being honest?

"Not only are you slandering Dongzi, a grown man, but you aren't even sparing Sister Cuilan, a decent housewife!"

"Forget it, there's no point arguing with you. Let's call the person in charge of your educated youth team and the team leader first! Let them give us a fair judgment!"

At this moment, Ma Jian was entirely convinced that he had been wronged.

Hearing that they were going to fetch the team leader, he stubbornly shouted back, "Fine! Even if you don't find someone, I was going to! This matter cannot just end like this!"

Soon, the commotion escalated.

Lights flickered on in many households across the village.

Villagers living nearby rushed over to watch the spectacle.

Before the team leader arrived, another round of shouting broke out at Zhao Dong's place.

The ones arguing this time were Ma Jian and Zhao Dong's neighbor, elderly Mother Meng.

"You open your mouth and spout baseless slanders against my daughter-in-law, dragging our family's reputation through the mud!"

"My daughter-in-law is an honest woman; perhaps she's just too kind-hearted—and that's what caught the wandering eye of an outsider like you!"

"As an educated youth sent down to the countryside, instead of figuring out how to help the collective, you spend your days idling around and wandering near my house multiple times... Do you take this old woman for a blind fool?"

"Even if I wasn't home, my son is here every single day, and he sees it all crystal clear! It was you, you little punk, who came here multiple times!"

"My son may be crippled, but he's neither deaf, blind, nor stupid! He knows very well what kind of dirty tricks other men are hatching inside their stomachs!"

Mother Meng was so furious she beat her chest and stamped her feet. If others hadn't held her back, she would have rushed forward and slapped Ma Jian right across the face!

"My son warned me long ago to be on guard against those young fellows from the educated youth team... I just thought he was cooped up at home all day, growing narrow-minded and overthinking things!"

"I never imagined that while our family lives upright lives, we would summon such a disaster out of nowhere!"

Ma Jian was already feeling annoyed.

Hearing Mother Meng's endless nagging now only stirred his anxiety further. He figured this old woman was just being stubborn and deliberately making trouble.

By extension, he began to feel as though everyone in the surrounding crowd was a bad person!

They were all trying to harm him!

Ma Jian immediately roared, "What are you all yelling about? Once the team leader and Chen Xiangdong from our educated youth team get here, the truth will come to light!"

With that, Ma Jian seemed to regain his bravado and brazenly barked back at Mother Meng.

"Old hag, instead of wasting your breath cursing me here, you'd better go call your daughter-in-law over! I have evidence of her straying right in my hands—do you dare make her come face me head-on?"

***

Upon hearing the word "evidence," Mother Meng's face instantly stiffened.

Clutching her chest and feeling her vision go dark, she looked as though she was about to collapse backward!

Witnessing this scene, far from feeling any pity, Ma Jian became even more arrogant!

He slumped down directly onto the heated brick bed of Zhao Dong's house, treating himself as an honored guest!

"Ma Jian! How can a young man like you speak this way?"

"Everyone is equal before justice!" Ma Jian glared viciously at everyone present. "You only allow her to quibble, but don't allow me to defend myself?"

"You!"

Just as both sides reached an impasse, the team leader and Chen Xiangdong, the representative of the educated youth team, arrived together at Zhao Dong's house.

Zhang Yang and Zhao Dong had been hiding in the woodshed warming themselves by the fire, but hearing people arrive outside, they quickly stepped out.

Zhao Dong was the first to voice his grievances:

"Team leader, you must seek justice for me!"

"Through my own hard work, I finally managed to join the militia team, hoping to contribute a little effort to the village and realize my personal value!"

"Who would have thought that after being away from home for just a few days, a thief would break in."

"This thief didn't steal my things; he claims he came here to steal a person."

"How infuriating is that! Sneaking into someone else's house is bad enough, but defiling their rooms as well—it's utterly vile! Can these educated youths from the city just read a bellyful of books and then trample all over country folks like this?"

This final remark hit hard, instantly stoking the villagers' fury!

Panic seized Ma Jian as well. He leaped down from the brick bed, rushed over to Chen Xiangdong, and pointed angrily at Zhang Yang and Zhao Dong.

"Brother Xiangdong! You know I'm not that kind of person! These two bastards are trying to frame me!"

Zhang Haiquan rebuked sternly, "Ma Jian! Watch your manners!"

Chen Xiangdong didn't take Ma Jian's side either. "Look at the state of you! We emphasized discipline just this afternoon, and you've already forgotten it?!"

Panicking, Ma Jian pleaded, "Brother Xiangdong, they really are framing me!"

Zhang Yang sneered coldly. "Talk requires evidence! Who framed you? Who saw it? Didn't you walk here on your own two legs? Did the two of us go to the educated youth team and tie you up to bring you here?"

Ma Jian choked on his words.

Chen Xiangdong's expression darkened as well.

***

Before coming out, he had asked around and learned that it was indeed Ma Jian who had gone out for a stroll after drinking!

Several people had seen him at the time; it was impossible for the educated youth team to collude with the villagers just to frame him alone!

Chen Xiangdong shot Ma Jian a harsh glare. "Confess honestly! Why did you come to Zhao Dong's house?"

As if inspired by the question, Ma Jian immediately blurted out, "Huang Cuilan wrote a note telling me to come! Otherwise, how could I have run out here in the middle of the night?"

With that, he began patting himself all over, searching for the little note.

However, after feeling every inch of his clothing, the note was nowhere to be found.

Zhang Yang nudged Zhao Dong with his elbow and said, "Dongzi, I remember you saying Sister Cuilan is illiterate. Can she even write notes?"

Immediately, a villager chimed in, "This educated youth is talking nonsense with his eyes open! Huang Cuilan doesn't know a single character!"

Ma Jian jumped up in a panic. "It was Huang Cuilan! She invited me here!"

"She's a married woman, why would she invite you?" Glaring at Ma Jian, Chen Xiangdong subtly guided him to spill the truth.

Throwing caution to the wind with a brazen attitude, Ma Jian shouted, "She's been casting glances and flirting with me several times already! I figured she must have run into some trouble and needed my help, so I rushed right over!"

Sensing that Chen Xiangdong's questioning was steering things in the wrong direction, Zhang Yang quickly cut in. "Ma Jian, from start to finish, you haven't produced a shred of genuine evidence, yet you keep using Sister Cuilan as a shield to cover up your own mistakes. Do you think you can bully us country folk for being honest?!"

His booming shout made Ma Jian shudder violently.

Zhang Yang pressed on, "Team leader! I don't know what kind of discipline they have in the educated youth team!"

"But Sister Cuilan is a virtuous wife known far and wide in our village!"

"Even though her husband has been bedridden for years and struggles with daily life, Sister Cuilan has never uttered a single word of complaint. Ever since she married into our Zhang family village, she has lived an upright life and raised her children properly. Ma Jian can slander anyone he likes, but slandering Sister Cuilan is crossing the line!"

Zhang Haiquan had long since run out of patience.

As soon as Zhang Yang finished speaking, he pinned two charges directly onto Ma Jian!

"Ma Jian trespassing in Zhao Dong's house is an ironclad fact!"

"Regardless of who invited him here today, Ma Jian's involvement in illicit relations is something he admitted to with his own mouth!"