HCB Chapter 39 Is this a scheme to extort money?
Chapter 39 Is this a scheme to extort money?
Li Baobei's mother remained completely unfazed when another female educated youth appeared.
He then raised the rag in his hand.
Only then did everyone realize that what he was holding wasn't some rag, but a pair of pants.
It was stained with large patches of dark red; if you didn't look closely, you might mistake it for blood.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be either fruit juice or dye.
"Sister-in-law Li, what are you carrying? What do you want with Su, the educated youth?"
"Could that be blood on it?"
"What dyed it? Oh right, I saw Li Baobei's butt all red the day before yesterday afternoon, and I thought the kid was on his period."
"Hahaha, have you ever seen a boy who's only half a kid getting that kind of thing? You're killing me with laughter."
Before long, the villagers in the threshing ground gathered around.
Of course, most of the busybodies were women, but a few unreliable old men also gathered around to watch.
At this moment, village chief Li Guofu also walked in this direction.
It seems they've come to solve a case.
“The day before yesterday afternoon, this new educated youth, Su, bullied my son.”
"Not only did I hit him, but I also ruined his pants like this. I demand an explanation today!"
At this moment, the onlookers had turned their attention back to Su Niannian.
"The new educated youth has offended the village chief's precious darling; he's probably doomed."
"Sister-in-law Li isn't reasonable either..."
"It's going to be exciting."
This time, they kept their voices low, since the village chief was there, and they were afraid of getting into trouble if they talked too much.
When Su Niannian saw the village chief arrive, she smiled and showed no sign of panic.
At this moment, Gu Nan also arrived at a place not far from Su Niannian.
"Sister Li, would you like to tell me the whole story from the beginning?"
Su Niannian wore a smile, remaining completely calm.
At this moment, the educated youth at the settlement also came in.
"What did I say? What did I say about how an adult like you bullied a child who was only ten years old?" Sister-in-law Li said defiantly, her neck stiff.
"Look, everyone! These pants are brand new ones I made for my son. He just put them on and this educated youth Su ruined them like this. And she even slapped my son across the face!"
"My son has been confused these past two days."
When Sister-in-law Li talked about her son, she even sobbed a little.
"No way? You hit a child too?" Zhao Sulan's voice came over at an inopportune moment.
Upon hearing this, several gazes turned to Zhao Sulan.
Zhao Sulan is a newly arrived educated youth and may not know much about Li Baobei's situation.
The other villagers present knew this very well.
Although Li Baobei was still young, he was extremely arrogant. Relying on his grandfather being the village chief, he beat people, robbed things, and destroyed things as if it were a daily routine.
It wasn't that no one had told the village chief about this before, but while the village chief outwardly said he would strictly discipline his eldest grandson when he got home, he secretly made things difficult for these people.
Either the things we were assigned were bad, or we had to do the hardest and most tiring work, and then we didn't get many work points.
Over time, everyone became angry but dared not speak out.
They silently accepted their losses and never dared to seek justice again.
This also made Li Baobei's behavior even more eccentric.
Therefore, the way he looked at Zhao Sulan at this moment was very complicated.
"If you ask me, as an adult, you are wrong to hit a child, no matter what the reason is. You should apologize to the aunt."
Seeing everyone looking at her, Zhao Sulan thought she was right and had won everyone's approval.
Lu Xingguang, however, brightened up.
If I were to step in and help Su Zhiqing now, would she develop feelings for me?
"I'm only thirty-one, and you're calling me 'auntie'??" Sister-in-law Li rolled her eyes at Zhao Sulan.
However, now is not the time to dwell on that! Let's change the subject.
"This new educated youth is right! No matter the reason, it's wrong for adults to hit children!"
"Moreover, I want more than just an apology; I want compensation!"
After Sister-in-law Li finished speaking, she stared intently at Su Niannian.
"Here it comes, the same old routine!"
"The extortion scheme has begun!"
Some villagers were thinking this to themselves.
This isn't the first or second time that Sister-in-law Li has used this tactic.
Especially in front of the village chief!
One-time use, one-no-say-say, works incredibly well!
I just don't know how much money they're planning to extort this time.
Many villagers began to speculate about how much money Su Niannian would be extorted from this time.
Sister-in-law Li looked at the village chief, who nodded.
“Little Su, you’ve just arrived in our village, so you might be having some trouble adjusting or feeling down.”
"But no matter what, you can't hit a child!"
"You're a cultured young man! You hit someone and dirtied their new pants, so it's reasonable for you to compensate them."
"In my opinion, you should apologize first, then compensate for the medical expenses and the cost of your pants, and that's it. Don't pursue the matter further!"
Village chief Li Guofu spoke with conviction, and at first glance, his words seemed quite reasonable.
However, many villagers rolled their eyes to the heavens.
Just as Su Niannian was about to speak, Lu Xingguang squeezed through the crowd.
"Village chief, village chief."
"If you ask me, we shouldn't make such a big deal out of this. Su is just a young girl who has only just arrived. If there's anything she did wrong, I'll apologize to you on her behalf."
“If we need to pay compensation, I’ll do it. We were all sent-down youth together, we’re all one, we should help each other!”
After Lu Xingguang finished speaking, he straightened his chest and looked up at Su Niannian.
Su Niannian looked back at the starlight on the road.
Lu Xingguang thought, she must admire him a lot now, right?
However, when Lu Xingguang saw Su Niannian's expression as if she were looking at an idiot, his heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that I said something wrong? Or did Su Niannian not want me to help her compensate?
At this moment, Gu Nan's eyes darkened considerably. Although he saw a male educated youth coming out to fawn over him, he thought to himself, this guy is definitely not Song, he clearly looks like he's mentally ill.
Su Niannian patted Song Zhaodi on the shoulder, signaling her to move aside.
He walked over to Sister-in-law Li and took the pants from her hand.
"What are you trying to do? There are so many people here, you're not trying to destroy the evidence, are you?" Sister-in-law Li raised her voice and said warily.
Su Niannian rolled her eyes at her disdainfully and revealed the stained part of the pants in her hand so that the onlookers could see it more clearly.
"Look, everyone, this is dyed with the juice from the March soaking plant."
"So what if it is? It can't be washed off! I spent five yuan to make these pants for my little darling!" Sister Li said stubbornly.
Five yuan?
"Holy crap, she said these pants cost five yuan!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, that's quite an opening."
The fabric and processing fee for these pants would be a hefty sum if it were even a dollar, but Sister-in-law Li actually asked for five dollars!
This is undoubtedly an outrageous demand.
Su Niannian covered her mouth and laughed.