Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 323 Bite back

Upon Wang Fucheng's summons, Wang Hai soon arrived with several militiamen.

As for Wang Chengpeng? His home is quite far away, so it will take some time to notify him.

But it doesn't matter, this is just right.

Wang Fucheng's ideal scenario is for Wang Chengpeng to come and clean up the mess after Wang Fucheng and his men have figured things out.

Giving Xia Mingyue a reassuring look, Wang Fucheng slowly began to speak:

"I never expected that someone would dare to commit a gang robbery in broad daylight. This matter cannot be left unresolved."

“Come with me to the educated youth settlement. This time, we must seek justice for Xia, the educated youth.”

On the way here, Wang Hai had already heard a brief account of the situation from the militiaman who delivered the message, and immediately made a promise to Xia Mingyue, saying:

"Xia Zhiqing, don't worry."

"Now that you've come to Wangjia Village, you're part of our village, and we'll never let you suffer any injustice."

"These are special times, and the value of those textbooks is greater than we imagine. Their behavior is really too bad."

"Of course, it's not just because the textbooks are valuable; even if they only stole small things, we must not tolerate it."

Seeing that both of them were on her side, Xia Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief, but she still quickly corrected herself:

"Thank you for your support, Captain and Captain Wang. However, there is one thing I need to correct: they did not steal, they robbed."

"After I made it clear that I would not lend them the textbooks, they still refused to return them, which changed the nature of the matter and made it no longer as simple as it was at the beginning."

Nodding, Wang Hai acknowledged Xia Mingyue's statement and followed her towards the educated youth settlement.

The educated youth settlement was not far away; it was generally located in the very center of Wangjia Village.

That's why the group arrived at their destination in no time.

After gesturing for the others to wait outside, Xia Mingyue knocked on Luo Wenbin's door.

Back then, conditions weren't that good. Not to mention the educated youth settlements, even the villagers' own homes couldn't afford the luxury of one room per person.

That's why the person who opened the door wasn't Luo Wenbin, but another male educated youth named Qi Xuan.

Qi Xuan glanced warily at Xia Mingyue, then spoke through the crack in the door:

"Xia, what are you doing here again?"

"Get out of here quickly. It's not a good thing for a male educated youth like you to keep going into men's rooms."

Judging from his self-righteous demeanor, anyone who didn't know better would think he was the victim.

With a cold snort, Xia Mingyue said with a stern face:

"You know better than I do why I'm here."

"I don't want to waste my breath on you. Let Luo Wenbin come out and tell him to return the book he stole from me right now."

"This is his last chance. If he remains obstinate, he should prepare to suffer the consequences."

As fellow educated youth sent to the countryside, they would inevitably run into each other. If the other party hadn't gone too far, Xia Mingyue wouldn't have wanted to take things so far.

To everyone's surprise, Luo Wenbin showed no appreciation for Xia Mingyue's kindness and instead shouted defiantly from inside the room:

"What robbery? Xia Zhiqing, don't be so rude."

"These books are what you promised to lend us. We appreciate your kindness, so what do you mean by going back on your word?"

"Xia Zhiqing, you have really disappointed us."

"Go back quickly. I'll pretend this never happened. I'm a magnanimous person and won't ask you to apologize. I'll just forgive your mistake."

Luo Wenbin spoke very loudly, and even through the door, the people standing outside could hear him clearly.

It was precisely because they could hear clearly that they felt even more sympathy for Xia Mingyue.

No wonder Xia Mingyue, who usually has a good temper, was able to file a complaint with the village; these people's actions were really too much.

Without hesitation, Wang Fucheng strode forward and took the initiative to speak:

"A loan? A loan without the consent of the parties involved?"

"This is the first time I've heard someone talk about robbing so confidently. You educated youths have really opened my eyes to something."

As a sent-down youth in the village, it was impossible for me not to interact with Wang Fucheng.

That's why they immediately recognized Wang Fucheng's identity.

With disbelief filling his eyes, Qi Xuan pointed at Xia Mingyue, his face ashen, and loudly accused her:
“Xia Zhiqing, you actually went to the village to make a scene over such a trivial matter. That’s really going too far.”

"In your eyes, are you still one of the educated youth? How could you do something so disruptive to unity?"

Hearing Qi Xuan's increasingly accusatory remarks, Xia Mingyue's eyes turned cold, and she retorted loudly:
"When you were only cooking for yourselves, why didn't you feel like I was one of the educated youth?"

"Unity is indeed important, but it is not a pretext for your robbery."

“I have given you many chances, but you did not cherish them. Then let the village handle this matter officially and see if it was right or wrong for you to take my book.”

After saying these words, Xia Mingyue stepped back a few steps, giving the spotlight to Wang Fucheng.

Too many words lead to mistakes!
She is not a sharp-tongued woman, and if she continues to argue with the other party, she will easily be led astray and end up in a passive position.

Since the village has agreed to stand up for me, I can just wait for the brigade leader to uphold justice for me.

Upon hearing Wang Fucheng's voice, Luo Wenbin could no longer sit still and walked straight out of the house.

Passing Qi Xuan, Luo Wenbin pushed open the door, looked at Wang Fucheng obsequiously, and said ingratiatingly:
"Captain Wang, what wind blew you here today?"

"Don't listen to Xia Zhiqing's nonsense. There's no robbery at all."

Although they looked down on these country folks from the bottom of their hearts, since they had been sent to Wangjia Village, these educated youths were subject to Wang Fucheng's control in many ways.

Especially now, at this crucial moment of resuming the college entrance examination, Wang Fucheng could easily ruin his life by arbitrarily accusing him of a crime.

That's why Luo Wenbin was very humble in front of Wang Fucheng, showing none of the arrogance he displayed in front of Xia Mingyue.

Especially when he saw Wang Hai, the militia captain, walking over with several militiamen, his expression became even more strange, like a chicken seeing a weasel.

Despite Luo Wenbin's attempts to curry favor, Wang Fucheng remained unmoved, saying sternly, "I will judge for myself whether there was a robbery or not. This is not something you can decide for yourself."

He gave Wang Hai a wink, and the other man immediately understood. He then called several militiamen who stormed into the room and grabbed Luo Wenbin.

After a quick search of the room, Wang Hai brought several books to Xia Mingyue and asked:
"Xia Zhiqing, take a look and see if these books are yours?"

Actually, this question was just a formality. Xia Mingyue's name was written all over her books, which was irrefutable evidence.

Nodding slightly, Xia Mingyue said, "These are indeed my books."

"But it wasn't just these books. Not only did other educated youths at the settlement also snatch my books, but Luo Wenbin probably also kept some for himself."

"All told, I lost more than fifty books in total."

"A gang robbery, you guys are really something." Hearing Xia Mingyue's accusation, Wang Hai's face turned ashen, and he continued:
“At first, when Xia, a educated youth, told me about this, I didn’t believe it. I thought that all the educated youth in the village should be good comrades.”

"But these irrefutable facts have slapped me in the face. Now that I've been caught red-handed, what else do you have to say?"

Before Luo Wenbin could even offer a defense, Qi Xuan, prioritizing his own safety, spoke first and made the accusations:

"Captain Wang, I've been wronged! You must help me get justice!"

"These books were all lent to us by Luo Wenbin, who said it was something Xia Zhiqing agreed to. We were just deceived by him."

"Ignorance is no excuse. I'm willing to return the book. I can't be blamed for this at all."

Seeing how serious Wang Hai was, the others disregarded their so-called camaraderie among the educated youth and stood up to criticize Luo Wenbin, accusing him of acting on his own initiative and claiming they were unaware of the truth.

Feeling that he had become the target of everyone's criticism, Luo Wenbin's face turned ashen, and he retorted:

"Don't talk nonsense. You can't just believe everything I say. You're not stupid pigs."

“When Xia Zhiqing asked you to return the books before, she made it clear that the books were not borrowed willingly by her. Now you are biting me like vicious dogs. It’s ridiculous.”

Luo Wenbin knew he could never escape responsibility for what he had done, but he was unwilling to take the blame alone and planned to drag those who had stolen the books down with him.

Of course, it's not exactly like dragging them into it. After all, they were just taking a chance and thought they could control Xia Mingyue, so they participated in the book-grabbing incident together.

Seeing the crowd arguing noisily, Wang Fucheng shouted, "Enough! What kind of behavior is this, making such a racket?"

"Now things are clear: you stole Xia Zhiqing's books, so you must be punished."

"Admit your mistake sooner and return the book. Maybe I can give you a lighter punishment because of your good attitude in admitting your mistake."

Wang Fucheng had made things so clear that, although those people had no choice, they ultimately had no choice but to confess and submit to the law.

However, just when everyone thought they couldn't escape, a hint of unwillingness flashed in Luo Wenbin's eyes, the culprit. He actually broke free from the militia's restraints and roared loudly:

"Xia Mingyue, you are a shameless woman."

"You yourself promised at the previous meeting of educated youth that you would lend us your textbooks, but you went back on your word and cheated us out of your promise."

"I was just helping you fulfill your promise, what did I do wrong?"

At this point, Luo Wenbin's sharp gaze swept over the male educated youth who had also surrendered, and he loudly questioned:

"Tell me, did Xia Mingyue say at the educated youth meeting that she was willing to lend books?"

"Since she was willing to lend the books, we took them according to her wishes."

"The only mistake she made was going back on her word. What did I do wrong? What did we do wrong?"

As expected of a fellow educated youth in the same household, Qi Xuan immediately stood up when he saw an opportunity to overturn the verdict and loudly questioned:

“Xia Zhiqing, if you have any shame, then admit that you did promise to lend us the books.”

"What? You think you can't beat us in the exam, so you're resorting to these dirty tricks to eliminate dissidents before the college entrance exam?"

"Stop hiding behind others, come out here!"

Because the location of the educated youth settlement was relatively close to the core of Wangjia Village, and because this matter had caused such a great stir, there were quite a few people watching the spectacle.

If Xia Mingyue doesn't come out and explain herself after being led astray by Luo Wenbin and Qi Xuan, this matter will become a huge mess, even if it's not a real problem.

Faced with the malicious intentions of the two people in front of her, Xia Mingyue finally stood up and loudly explained:
"I did agree to lend the books, but I only agreed to lend a portion of them, not all of them."

“I remember you rejected me outright, saying you didn’t care about my charity.”

"It seems you still think stealing books is faster, so I'll make you receive the punishment you deserve!"

Just as Xia Mingyue stepped forward to clarify, Song Sixi also stood up and said:
“I can testify that what Xia Zhiqing said was indeed the truth.”

"She did agree to lend the books, but only a portion of them, not all of them."

Before Song Sixi could say anything more, Luo Wenbin continued to curse:
"You only agreed to lend a portion of the books because you're hypocritical?"

"A part? That's ridiculous. Borrowing a book is also a part."

"If you never intended to lend us books, why pretend to be so noble and say you're willing to lend them to us?"

"The so-called reasons that are hard to explain are nothing but excuses, excuses to cover up your hypocrisy."

"I just did something righteous, exposed your hypocrisy, and made sure these textbooks could benefit more people."

What exactly did I do wrong?

"Xia Mingyue, I'll ask you one last time. Put your hand on your heart and tell me, did you sincerely intend to lend me the book in the first place?"

Xia Mingyue answered Luo Wenbin's question almost without hesitation, saying:
"At the meeting of educated youth, I sincerely wanted to lend you my book."

Upon hearing Xia Mingyue's answer, Luo Wenbin burst into laughter and said:
"Since you sincerely wanted to borrow the book, I was just helping you out and helping you put your noble intentions into practice. What did I do wrong?"

At this point, Luo Wenbin turned to Wang Fucheng and Wang Hai, and loudly questioned them:
"Captain Wang, Captain Wang, do you also think I'm wrong?"

Upon hearing Luo Wenbin's question, Wang Fucheng frowned immediately.

He did have some suspicions about this matter, but he didn't confirm it with Wang Chengpeng and wasn't quite sure if it was true.

What if that's just Xia Mingyue's excuse? Wouldn't he be digging his own grave by giving a random answer?

Thinking this, Wang Fucheng turned to look at Xia Mingyue and asked softly:

"Xia, could you please tell me why you are unwilling to lend all the textbooks?"

(End of this chapter)