Chapter 57: Signing to Resolve

"Which plot of land do you want to build a house on?" The Captain also caught the meaning in An Yinan's words; she wanted to move out.

"I've already set up a vegetable garden behind the Educated Youth Station, and I don't want to let others have it for cheap. I will seal off the back corridor door, so let's build the house below the Back Mountain." An Yinan was very calm; it was clear she had planned this long ago.

Upon hearing this, the Captain thought this location was easy to approve.

"What are you all gawking at? Scatter, quickly." The Captain looked at the villagers watching the commotion behind them. They didn't seem this enthusiastic when it came to working, but they sure ran fast to watch a spectacle.

"Captain, just let us watch! We don't know the outcome yet!" a young man shouted.

"Watch, watch, watch! Tomorrow, all of you get to the fields. If I don't see you there tomorrow, you won't get your head-count grain ration this year," the Captain barked angrily.

The youth quickly surrendered, "We're leaving, we're leaving, not watching anymore."

The villagers laughed and left, leaving only the Captain, Ershu Xie's family, and a lonely old woman, who was none other than Auntie Liu.

"Yuanyuan, boil some hot tea." An Yinan thought for a moment and asked Xie Yuanyuan to boil some hot tea. It was very cold now, and she was afraid that because of this incident, someone might get sick, and wouldn't they just end up holding a grudge against her?

While they were talking, Sun Xiaoqin also woke up. This time she didn't speak again, looking like a ragdoll that had lost its soul, but no one present felt sorry for her.

"Tell me, do you agree to the Educated Youth An's conditions?" The Captain looked at Wang Chunmei and Sun Xiaoqin.

Wang Chunmei frowned, "If she builds a small two-story house, I can't afford that."

The Captain looked at An Yinan, and An Yinan understood, saying, "You don't need to worry about what kind of house I build. On top of the fifty in medical expenses, give me ten yuan for construction costs. Whether I build a straw shed or a tall building has nothing to do with you. If you agree, sign and press your thumbprint; if not, I'll report it to the Public Security Bureau."

An Xiangbei moved out a few stools, enough for everyone in the village, and Zhang Qian also moved his out from the room, letting An Yinan sit on one.

"That's too much." Sixty yuan—that was all the money she had.

"Fine, then let's report it to the Public Security Bureau." An Yinan didn't waste a single word; she stood up directly, not wanting to talk anymore.

"Fine! I'll sign." Wang Chunmei closed her eyes. It was over, all over.

After signing and pressing her thumbprint, she handed the document to the Captain, then walked back to the Educated Youth Dormitory, trembling, took out sixty yuan, and handed that to the Captain as well.

Now everyone looked at Sun Xiaoqin.

"I don't have money." Sun Xiaoqin made a crying face. The money in her hand was only twenty yuan, which she had secretly taken from her mother before coming to the countryside; otherwise, her mother wouldn't have given her a single cent.

"You didn't say you had no money when you were hitting people," Xie Yuanyuan said, carrying a thermos and some broken bowls over, pouring a bowl of hot tea for everyone in the village.

"I'll compensate with grain." Sun Xiaoqin thought about it; she had nothing else besides the Work Points from her labor.

The Captain thought for a moment, "How much money do you have on you? Pay that first, and cover the rest with Work Points."

"Is that alright, Educated Youth An?" The Captain looked at An Yinan. He used to think she was a soft little girl, but today she was truly frightening.

An Yinan saw Sun Xiaoqin's expression and it didn't seem like she was lying, so she nodded.

Sun Xiaoqin gave An Yinan twenty yuan, and the rest was calculated as Work Points, transferred directly to An Yinan's name. After working for several months, the Work Points still weren't enough, so she finally guaranteed she would work every day to earn them.

"Captain, I don't dare live there anymore either," Xie Yuanyuan said, smiling at the Captain.

Zhang Qian also took a step forward, standing directly beside the Captain.

He had figured it out; these three were in cahoots.

"No one is going to build houses for you," the Captain snorted coldly.

"I'll pay for it myself," Xie Yuanyuan said with a smile.

"Hmm... go choose the land tomorrow."

Li Xiue and Zhao Qiuhua also walked up at this time; they had been standing in the back the whole time and hadn't gotten involved in this matter.

Now that things were settled, they said, "Captain, Qiu Hua and I have discussed it. Can we also move out to live? Now that those two are causing such a huge scene, we really don't dare to stay there."

They were afraid of being killed in the middle of the night!

The Captain thought to himself: if this group of Educated Youth builds houses, wouldn't they hire people from the village? The rush harvest was already over, and now the villagers could earn some extra income by building houses, so he simply nodded and agreed.

"Go together tomorrow."

The matter was thus settled.

Xie Yuanyuan and Zhang Qian went to An Yinan's room together. As soon as they entered, Xie Yuanyuan collapsed onto a stool, feeling her legs go weak.

"Were you scared?" An Yinan smiled and took out ointment to apply to Beibei's face. Beibei's face looked red and swollen, but in fact, it had already been coated with a layer of pain-relief cream, and now she applied some for reducing swelling. It would probably fade in a day.

"A little." Where had Xie Yuanyuan ever seen such a big confrontation? Even now, she felt her back turning cold, and her legs were trembling as if they didn't belong to her.

After An Yinan finished applying the medicine to Beibei, she said seriously, "Kind people are bullied, and gentle horses are ridden."

"I used to think I had given Sun Xiaoqin enough of a lesson, but I didn't expect her to turn around and hurt Beibei. That is something I cannot tolerate."

"However, leaving the Educated Youth Station through this incident is not a bad thing."

In the Educated Youth Station, everything one did was under scrutiny, even if it was just bringing back a bundle of firewood.

Now that they had left the Educated Youth Station, they could freely collect mountain goods and do their own things.

Everyone had secrets unknown to others.

Xie Yuanyuan's childhood sweetheart, Zhang Qian's mission, and her own space.

Even Beibei had the secret of the Cowshed; they really weren't suited to stay in the Educated Youth Station anymore.

Zhang Qian thought for a moment, "Are we just going to let them off like that?"

"If they want to cause trouble, this isn't the first time, but this time they slapped Beibei. Even if we reported it to the Public Security Bureau, it would just be a verbal warning and two or three yuan in medical expenses. It was Auntie Liu who scared them, which is why they suffered this loss."

It was also because they lacked common sense; being uneducated is terrifying.

"That's true." Zhang Qian nodded, but he was still a bit indignant. As a martyr's family member, he felt powerless about such things. This happened to Beibei and An Yinan, who had the ability to resist, but what if it happened to someone else?

His status made him think a bit more.

Just as the three were talking, the door was knocked. An Yinan looked at the two people outside; it was Li Xiue and Zhao Qiuhua.

The two walked into the room, and Li Xiue asked gently, "Did we disturb you?"

An Yinan poured two bowls of tea and handed them over, "No, are you here to ask about marking land to build a house?"

Li Xiue nodded, "Things going missing in our room is a common occurrence. We've long wanted to move out separately, but where could we go? Taking advantage of your situation, we feel it's quite good to move out. Setting up a small courtyard for ourselves and cooking together with Qiu Hua would also be much more convenient."

How can one spend a thousand days on guard against a thief?