Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback
CHAPTER 135: The Pretty Educated Youth in the 1970s (3)
Liu Erbao’s loud outburst made everyone working in the fields look up.
One of the older village aunties even teased him, “Erbao, what did Educated Youth Jiang do to offend you? You’re shouting like you’ve swallowed a stick of dynamite.”
“Exactly! You’re the village chief’s nephew, after all. You should learn to be a little more magnanimous…”
Liu Erbao was already seething with anger. Hearing them joke around only made him more irritated, and he snapped, “What’s it got to do with any of you? I’m here for Jiang Jin!”
Seeing how worked up he was, everyone promptly fell silent.
Jiang Jin casually wiped the sweat from his face with the towel around his neck, set down his tools, and ambled over.
“What is it?”
“You’ve got some nerve asking! You know damn well what you did!”
Liu Erbao stepped forward and, in his fury, immediately tried to kick him.
Jiang Jin’s expression darkened. He swiftly dodged to the side while giving Liu Erbao’s trouser leg a quick tug.
Liu Erbao lost his balance and pitched forward. The next second, his legs split apart, and he stumbled straight into the field.
“Ahhh!”
Jiang Jin pretended to be startled and called out anxiously, “Comrade Liu, how did you fall? Are you alright?”
Liu Erbao had pulled something. Clutching his inner thighs with both hands, he howled in pain and cursed furiously, “Jiang Jin! You dare use underhanded tricks to make me fall? I’ll be damned if I let you get away with this today, you little bastard!”
“Comrade Liu, don’t falsely accuse me. You were the one who tried to kick me just now. I simply dodged.
“We educated youths came to the countryside to help build it up, not to be your punching bags. If you keep throwing your weight around and bullying people, I’ll have to take this up with the village chief.”
Xia Shuang hurried over from the other side too. “Exactly! We educated youths are here to contribute, not to be your slaves. What gives you the right to order us around and spread nasty rumors about Jiang Jin and me?”
Seeing Xia Shuang step forward to defend Jiang Jin, Liu Erbao immediately shouted through the pain, “See? I knew I was right! If there’s nothing going on between you and Jiang Jin, why are you jumping out to defend him?”
Xia Shuang deliberately reddened her eyes and, in front of everyone, tearfully accused him, “You’re the one with bad intentions! You thought you could get away with harassing me just because you had the village chief backing you, but I managed to avoid you every time.”
“Now that you’ve found out Comrade Jiang Jin and I are dating, you’re deliberately spreading these rumors to slander us! Let me tell you, Comrade Jiang Jin and I are soulmates. We haven’t even held hands! Our relationship is completely innocent!
“I’ll prove it with my life, right here in front of everyone!”
With that, Xia Shuang suddenly dashed toward the wall opposite her, intending to smash her head against it.
At the critical moment, an auntie who was putting away the tools on the other side of the wall hurried over and stopped her. “Good heavens! Child, what are you doing? Nobody here doubts you! What a terrible waste it would be for such a pretty young woman to smash her head open. You could even ruin your face!”
Jiang Jin was startled and hurried over too.
The other onlookers were also frightened by Xia Shuang’s actions. If she was willing to risk her own life, then Liu Erbao must really have been using his position to bully her!
Everyone instinctively believed Xia Shuang’s words.
Yet Liu Erbao still cursed, “You shameless bitch! What kind of nonsense are you spouting? You and Jiang Jin have something going on between you! I bet you were clinging to each other in the river! And now you dare turn around and smear my name? Believe me, I’ll beat you to death!”
Several women stepped forward and fiercely condemned Liu Erbao.
“Liu Erbao, don’t think you can do whatever you want just because your second uncle is the village chief! We women work hard and earn work points just like everyone else. We have our dignity too! What gives you the right to bully women like this?”
Some of the older women in the village joined in, cursing him as well. “Your second uncle only became village chief because every household here voted for him! You think we’re afraid of a brat like you just because you’re riding on his coattails? Even if the village chief himself came, we wouldn’t be scared of him!”
Everyone stopped working to condemn Liu Erbao. Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, the men he had brought along hurried off to notify the village chief.
Before long, the village chief came rushing over.
“What’s all this commotion about now? Liu Erbao, shut your mouth!”
Seeing his second uncle arrive, Liu Erbao immediately launched into a tearful complaint, claiming that everyone was bullying him.
“Second Uncle, they don’t respect you as the village chief at all! They even said they won’t vote for you next year. They’ve got some nerve!”
Village Chief Liu Changgui’s face darkened. He stepped forward and slapped Liu Erbao across the face.
“Shut your mouth! There are so many elders here, and you dare behave like this in front of them? Apologize to everyone!”
Liu Erbao was so stunned by his second uncle’s slap that he stopped crying altogether. “Second Uncle…”
“Don’t call me that! Apologize to everyone, or I’ll disown you as my nephew!”
Frightened by the grim look on his second uncle’s face, Liu Erbao had no idea what was going on. Still, he obediently apologized to everyone.
“I-I’m sorry. I apologize to you all.”
Liu Changgui’s previously gloomy face instantly broke into a bright smile. Turning to the villagers, he said, “My nephew is a little rascal. Unfortunately, my elder brother passed away early, and I’ve spoiled the boy too much. I’ll take him home and make sure he learns his lesson. Everyone, please calm down. There’s no point getting worked up over a bastard like him. I’ll have two extra work points added to everyone’s tally today.”
With the village chief smiling, offering apologies, and promising two extra work points, the villagers’ anger began to subside.
“Now that’s what you call a village chief! No wonder he got the position. Just look at his bearing. He’s on a whole different level.”
“Liu Erbao is just lucky to have an uncle who protects him like that. When all’s said and done, our village chief really is a kind-hearted man…”
Hearing everyone praise him, the village chief finally looked a little more satisfied and prepared to leave with his nephew.
Suddenly, Xia Shuang spoke up. “Village Chief, your nephew has been spreading nasty rumors about us everywhere, and he even tried to hit someone just now. He still hasn’t given the people involved a proper explanation.”
The smile on the village chief’s face stiffened. He looked at Xia Shuang with a hint of coldness in his eyes.
Not only had his nephew failed to get the job done, but he had also dragged him into a whole heap of trouble. What a useless fool, good for nothing but making a mess of things!
“Ah, Educated Youth Xia. I’m truly sorry. I’ll apologize to you on Erbao’s behalf. I’ll make sure to keep a closer eye on him from now on and stop him from causing any more trouble. How about that?”
The village chief spoke amiably in front of everyone.
For a moment, Xia Shuang was put in a difficult position. If she accepted his apology, that was fine. But if she refused, outsiders might think she was making a mountain out of a molehill, especially when the village chief had already been so accommodating.
Xia Shuang had no intention of letting him off that easily. She deliberately feigned surprise and said, “Oh, isn’t he already twenty-seven or twenty-eight? Why does he still need to be watched like a little child? You must have such a hard time, Village Chief. Your nephew really doesn’t know how to behave.”
Hearing this, everyone immediately agreed. A grown man of that age still had to rely on the village chief to clean up his messes!
Xia Shuang sighed again. “Village Chief, you’re responsible for managing the entire village and already have so many affairs to deal with. Please don’t wear yourself out and ruin your health.”
“When grown children do something wrong, they should learn their lesson. Otherwise, they’ll never change their ways. There’s no need to trouble you over this. I’ll just report it to the police and let them handle it.”
At those words, Liu Changgui’s face turned livid. This little brat was threatening him!
But these days, anything involving improper relations between men and women is investigated strictly. His nephew had gotten up to plenty of nonsense over the years. If this turned into a serious case, Liu Changgui could kiss his position as village chief goodbye.
Grinding his teeth, he grabbed his nephew and hissed, “You little bastard! Apologize to them already! Do you really want to end up behind bars?”
Liu Erbao hadn’t expected things to get this serious. The thought of being arrested and sent to prison made him even more terrified.
He hurriedly bowed in apology, no longer caring about his pride. “Educated Youth Xia, I’m sorry! I was talking nonsense. Please, be the bigger person and forgive me. We’re all from the same village. There’s no need to call the police and ruin our relationship over this.”
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