Chapter 59: The Fierce and Rugged Man Who Was Abandoned After Being Used (11)

Not only Yang Rongrong was astonished, but Shuyao was also stunned for a split second.

Who could have possibly helped her weed the fields?

Tall, handsome, and remarkably attractive—there were very few men in the village who fit this description, and her mind immediately jumped to Pei Zhi.

Could it really be him?

Yet his usual cold and aloof demeanor did not make him seem like the type to do such a thing.

As Shuyao puzzled over this, she heard Yang Rongrong eagerly deny it, "How is that even possible?"

She simply couldn't believe it. Why was Jiang Shuyao so blessed that even when she slacked off and skipped work, someone would still step in to clean up her mess?

She was dying of jealousy!

Another educated youth, who had just returned to the dormitory after finishing work and happened to witness the scene, chimed in, "I saw it too. From the way he was dressed, he didn't look like anyone from the production brigade. Could he be a local villager?"

"Jiang Shuyao really lives a life of luxury. Every day, someone is doing her work for her."

Yang Rongrong's complexion could no longer be described as merely unsightly; it was dark and gloomy, as if soaked in ink.

"I didn't even know about this..." she muttered under her breath, completely devoid of her previous self-assurance and overbearing arrogance.

Shuyao sneered. Since Pei Zhi had handed her the best possible weapon for retaliation, she certainly wasn't going to let it go to waste.

"Just because you didn't know, it gives you the right to spout nonsense with that stinking mouth of yours? Who taught you manners? Did you read books all the way into a dog's belly?"

"Jiang Shuyao, how dare you scold me?"

Yang Rongrong had never been cursed at by anyone since she was a child. This was only the second time Shuyao had pointed right in her face and berated her.

Her face flushed crimson, and she was about to throw another fit when Zhao Qiming could no longer endure it and sharply scolded her.

"Haven't you made enough of a scene?!"

Yang Rongrong's expression stiffened, hovering right on the verge of losing control of her anger.

"No matter what, you're a high school graduate, a student who has received higher education! Do you not even understand the principle of not spreading rumors or fabricating falsehoods?"

Zhao Qiming glared at her in exasperation. "Must you drag this to such an embarrassing point, making a spectacle of yourself and giving others something to laugh at? Who knows what kind of things they're saying about our educated youth brigade behind our backs?"

The educated youth held a certain degree of haughtiness and condescension toward the local villagers of Shiyan Village. They believed themselves to be intellectuals destined to take the upcoming college entrance examinations and achieve great things in the future!

Naturally, the impoverished peasants of Shiyan Village could not compare. At the same time, the villagers were well aware of the undercurrents within the ranks of the educated youth.

While they usually put on a polite facade, if any real conflict broke out, they would invariably stand by their own kind.

If the educated youth brigade fell into disarray, goodness knows how much the villagers would mock them.

Those high-and-mighty intellectuals turned out to be nothing special after all.

As the brigade leader, Zhao Qiming cared most about the order of the brigade and, above all, his own prestige.

"Since you are the one who started these fabricated rumors, you will apologize to Educated Youth Jiang."

Zhao Qiming was so furious that his temples throbbed, his head swelling with a dull ache.

In contrast, Jiang Shuyao, the victim who had been splashed with dirty water, returned to an expressionless composure the moment she finished delivering her previous retort.

Had this incident not blown up, who would have imagined she had such backbone, ready to file a formal complaint at the drop of a hat?

Filing an official complaint was no small matter; if mishandled, it could ruin a person's entire future.

However, given Jiang Shuyao's family background, she didn't need to worry about such trivialities at all.

As for Yang Rongrong, that brainless wretch—lacking anyone's solid backing—had actually dared to bully her.

"I won't apologize, Captain..."

Yang Rongrong's eyes grew hot with unshed tears, surrounded by so many pairs of eyes staring straight at her—some mocking, some disdainful, but most simply watching the show.

She felt as though she had lost every shred of her dignity.

Ignoring Yang Rongrong's spoiled pleading, Zhao Qiming's tone turned thoroughly frigid.

"Are you certain you won't apologize?"

He rarely lost his temper and had never displayed such a terrifying expression before. Yang Rongrong felt a shiver run down her spine, her heart pounding frantically.

Her brain raced wildly, desperately searching for an excuse to smooth the matter over.

However, Shuyao refused to give her the opening.

"If she refuses to apologize, that's fine too. I'll just submit the official complaint. Captain, surely you don't want the brigade to descend into chaos, do you?"

Hearing the subtle threat woven into her words, Zhao Qiming felt a sharp thud in his head as his nerves instantly tightened.

That's right—girls from prominent, well-connected families were never fools.

Perhaps she usually looked naive, but when it mattered most, she never showed a hint of cowardice.

He no longer gave Yang Rongrong any chance to stall.

"Whatever you decide. You are the victim."

"Captain!"

Yang Rongrong panicked instantly. If even Zhao Qiming refused to take her side, who else could possibly help her?

Noticing Zhao Qiming's firm stance, Ye Xiu wisely kept silent, retreating into the crowd to watch coldly from the sidelines.

Zhao Qiming turned his head away, avoiding Yang Rongrong's pleading gaze.

A phrase crossed his mind—he had exhausted all benevolence and righteousness.

As the captain, this was all he could do. Yang Rongrong had committed a wrong and refused to swallow her pride; what more could he say?

Yang Rongrong's heart turned icy cold. Her eyes grew even hotter as grievances and sorrow continuously welled up in her chest.

"Fine, I'll apologize, okay?"

She bit her lower lip and choked out the words.

Seeing that she was finally willing to back down, Zhao Qiming breathed an inward sigh of relief.

Yang Rongrong turned toward Shuyao, her reddened eyes masking a fierce surge of hatred and disgust.

"Jiang Shuyao, I'm sorry—"

Though they were words of apology, she spoke them through clenched teeth, making them sound much more like a curse.

Shuyao stared at her quietly, taking in every shred of resentment written across her face.

Her soft lips parted slightly, dragging out a deliberately infuriating cadence at the end of her sentence.

"Your voice is too soft. I didn't hear you."

Jiang Shuyao!!!

In her heart, Yang Rongrong cursed every single one of Shuyao's ancestors for eighteen generations, grinding her pristine white teeth almost to dust.

With gritted endurance, she closed her eyes, refusing to look at Shuyao's arrogant and disdainful expression.

"I said, I'm sorry."

Shuyao let out an "Oh~," as if she had finally heard clearly, a faint, shallow smile blooming across her face.

"Such a good girl."

Withdrawing her smile, she continued, "Still, I advise Educated Youth Yang to mind her words and actions, and keep a tight grip on that mouth of hers. Not everyone possesses a temper as wonderful as mine."

Standing amidst the crowd, her appearance was gentle, her damp, dark hair accentuating her snow-white complexion.

The moonlight blurred her excessively delicate brows and eyes, revealing a beauty devoid of any aggression, yet the words she spoke were enough to literally anger someone to death.

The sound of mocking laughter was entirely too obvious, plunging Yang Rongrong into a level of humiliation she had never experienced before.

This farce concluded with Yang Rongrong's apology, maintaining a veneer of superficial peace and sweeping the conflict under the rug.

Yet by the following day, the rumor that Jiang Shuyao had been beaten by Yang Rongrong sprouted wings and flew across the entirety of Shiyan Village.

"Mother, what does that Jiang Shuyao actually look like?"

Wang Cheng had heard about these events from his second uncle. An internal feud within the production brigade, with two educated youths clawing at each other—it was a sight rarely seen in a lifetime.

He was immensely curious about the educated youth who had been targeted.

"Everyone says she's pretty, but just how pretty can she be? Is she prettier than Lin Yueqiu?"

The Lin Yueqiu he mentioned was the village beauty of Shiyan Village. She was coming of age soon, with a slender figure and striking looks, drawing an endless stream of suitors to her family's doorstep.

Wang Cui'e, with one bare right foot propped up on a chair, cracked melon seeds in her mouth.

She had laid eyes on Jiang Shuyao once and felt that the girl was so unearthly beautiful she looked like a fox spirit in disguise, completely out of place in the rustic environment of Shiyan Village.

She had even worried that the young men of the village might have their souls hooked right out of their bodies by her.

"Of course she is. That girl is as fresh and tender as morning dew, even prettier than the big movie stars on television."

Last year, the village chief's family had bought a television set, and she had gone over to watch it a few times. Jiang Shuyao's appearance was no different from a film star's—perhaps even more breathtaking.

"Really?"

Wang Cheng widened his eyes in utter disbelief.

He couldn't even fathom what someone prettier than a movie star could possibly look like. His first thought was that his mother was lying to him; if there were such a gorgeous girl in the village, how could he possibly have never laid eyes on her?

"Why would I lie to you? I'll take you to catch a glimpse of her another day. But that girl is terribly lazy and utterly pampered. The last time I saw her, she couldn't even lift a hoe. Good for nothing except the looks."

Wang Cui'e spoke with undisguised disgust. Thinking of Jiang Shuyao's slender waist and delicate hips, so frail and thin, she clearly looked like someone who would have a hard time bearing children.

City girls weren't all that great after all.

Upon hearing that Jiang Shuyao was exceptionally beautiful, Wang Cheng's thoughts immediately began to churn.

"With looks like that, who could bear to hit her?"

If he had such a gorgeous wife, he'd be pampering her to no end.

Wang Cui'e smiled and shot him a sideways glance. Seeing the lust burning in Wang Cheng's eyes, she knew precisely what he was thinking.

"No man would have the heart to hit her, of course it was another woman. Someone got sick of her laziness and decided to teach her a lesson."

"Still, this is for the best. These female educated youths only know how to slack off and play lazy. If things keep going this way, when on earth are our village's fields ever going to get plowed?"

Bang—!

The bedroom door was violently shoved open, slamming against the wall with a resounding crash.

Wang Cui'e jumped in fright, accidentally biting her tongue.

"Ow! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Stung by the pain, she turned around and started shouting curses, not even caring who had pushed the door open.

When her gaze met a pair of deeply gloomy, brooding eyes, her reason abruptly returned.

Pei Zhi emerged from the room, his tall frame almost matching the height of the door frame, his expression taut and exceptionally grim.

"What did you just say?"