After the frail beauty went to the countryside, she went crazy with scientific research.

Chapter 53, Episode 0053: A Poisonous Snake in the Educated Youth Settlement

Comrade Li Manzhi, the youngest son of the Women's Director Aunt Taohua, is one of the most promising people in the brigade. He got a job at the city's machinery factory through his own abilities, and he's a skilled worker. At only 21 years old, he's already a level 14 skilled worker, and his monthly salary is 42.5 yuan.

This is the level of a college student intern technician, while Comrade Li Manzhi only has a junior high school education.

What's even more impressive is that his mentor was an engineer who could get into a research institute, and the most outstanding technical talent in the factory.

Don't even mention that the young man is quite handsome; with those qualities, even if he were ugly, he would be the first choice for marriage among young women in the city, and an even more desirable husband in the countryside.

The village girls were envious, and the educated youth were also very interested.

Sure enough, several female educated youths in the settlement had feelings for Li Manzhi, but Wan Qifang was bolder than the others.

As the saying goes, "One who is immersed in ink becomes black." Xu Zhichuan, who used to be a proud young master (but was actually socially awkward), has now become a qualified bystander after just over a month of being influenced by his surroundings.

"Do you remember Wang Laidi from the educated youth settlement?"

Except for Zhang Ze, who nodded, the other three shook their heads.

“It’s normal that you don’t remember her. Wang Laidi has always been a bit of a presence. If I hadn’t overheard her talking to Wan Qifang once when I went to the outhouse, I would never have noticed her either.”

Just from her name, Wang Laidi, you can tell that she comes from a family that favors sons over daughters, and her life was probably not good.

And that was indeed the case. Wang Laidi was dark-skinned and thin. After she went to the countryside, her family never sent her anything. On the contrary, she would send at least half of every grain she received back home.

She is usually timid and withdrawn. No matter the occasion, she always hides in the corner, almost invisible, making her easy to overlook.

But no one expected that this seemingly insignificant person would actually be a venomous snake in the educated youth settlement.

“I heard Wang Laidi tell Wang Qifang that she saw Chen Hongxiu from the old Party Secretary’s family riding back on Li Manzhi’s bicycle.”

At the time, Xu Zhichuan didn't think much of it. He had no idea that Wan Qifang had feelings for Li Manzhi. It was normal for Wan Qifang and Wang Laidi to be closer since they lived in the same room. It was just private talk between girls, and he, a grown man, just listened and moved on.

But the next day, on his way up the mountain, he overheard people in the village saying that Wan Qifang and Li Manzhi were dating.

Xu Zhichuan and Li Manzhi are friends. They met and became acquainted through technical issues, so Xu Zhichuan knew that Li Manzhi had a girlfriend, and the rumors in the village were just that—rumors.

Xu Zhichuan recalled the conversation between Wan Qifang and Wang Laidi the night before. The words that he hadn't thought were problematic before now seemed very problematic upon closer examination.

“Li Manzhi did give Chen Hongxiu a ride, but she didn’t tell Wan Qifang that Chen Hongxiu was just a ten-year-old girl. If Wan Qifang didn’t have feelings for Li Manzhi, then it’s fine. But if she knew that Wan Qifang had feelings for Li Manzhi, then her words are very problematic.”

Wan Qifang wasn't very bright and couldn't keep a secret. Within a few days of arriving at the educated youth settlement, everyone knew about her family situation.

Wang Laidi and Wan Qifang lived in the same room and often went in and out together. It's hard to believe that Wang Laidi didn't know that Wan Qifang had taken a liking to Li Manzhi.

Conversely, Wan Qifang had only been in the countryside for a little over a month, while Chen Hongxiu had been staying at her aunt's house in the city for the same period. It would be more reasonable to say that Wan Qifang was unaware of Chen Hongxiu's situation.

"I went to investigate to see if the rumor originated from the educated youth settlement."

Firstly, because Li Manzhi was his friend; secondly, it was out of personal motives.

Li Manzhi's status in the village was different from that of the young men who toiled in the fields. He was considered a role model for the younger generation, and was highly valued. He was a precious treasure in the eyes of the brigade leader and the old party secretary.

The relationship between the villagers and the educated youth is already very strained. If any educated youth's attempt to use rumors to pressure Li Manzhi is proven true, it will only worsen their situation in the village. He was also one of the educated youth!
That's not the scariest part. What's truly terrifying is whether this is just a typical sex scandal.

“Wang Laidi has done a lot of things since she went to the countryside, but she is smart and always manages to extricate herself from the situation. Regarding the Wei Zhiqing incident, we all thought that Chen Musheng had saved Wei Zhiqing and was now taking advantage of her kindness. But we all misunderstood Chen Musheng. It was all Wang Laidi’s doing. Her original plan was to marry Wei Zhiqing off to Ma Laizi, but Ma Laizi messed up at the crucial moment, which is how Wei Zhiqing escaped a disaster.”

Although they escaped a disaster, the outcome was not good.

Wei, a sent-down youth, is named Wei Miaomiao. She is 25 years old this year and has been sent to the countryside for five years.

She wasn't particularly beautiful, but she had a delicate and pleasing appearance. She was hardworking and gentle, like a caring older sister. Before she got married, she was the person in charge of the female educated youth at the educated youth settlement.

It's unclear how Wei Miaomiao offended Wang Laidi, but Wang Laidi bribed Ma Laizi of the Second Brigade with two yuan to reveal Wei Miaomiao's whereabouts and have Ma Laizi ruin her reputation.

Ma Laizi was an old bachelor in his early forties. He wasn't lazy, but because of an illness he had as a child, his face was covered in pockmarks, making him look terrible. As a result, he couldn't find a wife, and widows didn't want to marry him.

Now that someone is giving him money and offering him a city wife for free, he's naturally happy to do so.

So one day, when Wei Miaomiao went up the mountain to collect firewood, Ma Laizi ambushed her on the road she was sure to take.

And then, that guy was even worse than Fan Jin. Fan Jin only went crazy after passing the imperial examination, but Fan Jin fainted from excitement as soon as he tackled someone.

Wang Laidi had a backup plan. The men who were supposed to catch him were right behind Wei Miaomiao. Although Ma Laizi was unconscious, he was clinging to Wei Miaomiao. Judging from the sound, he was about to be right in front of her. If someone saw them, even if Ma Laizi was unconscious, Wei Miaomiao wouldn't be able to explain herself.

At this moment, Chen Musheng, who had just returned from military service, suddenly appeared and hid Ma Laizi behind a big tree.

But that's all he can do.

Chen Musheng was discharged from the army due to injury. Not only was his leg injury so severe that it was deemed untreatable and classified as a disability, but his left hand had also been amputated.

It was already difficult enough for Wei Miaomiao to hide Ma Laizi, a grown man, while she was limping and leaning on one hand. The people Wang Laidi had called to catch her were already very close, so everyone saw Wei Miaomiao and Chen Musheng, both with their clothes in disarray, together.

However, because Chen Musheng was a veteran, the villagers didn't gossip about them.

No one said they were dating or anything, because Chen Musheng's situation was too special, so special that no girl in the village was willing to marry him, let alone a girl from the city.

Besides being disabled himself, Chen Musheng has no parents, his brothers and sisters have separated from him because of his disability and discharge from the army, and he is a widower. His ex-wife had a difficult childbirth and left him with a four-year-old daughter.

Marry a man, marry a man, dress and eat.

With his circumstances, wouldn't marrying him mean a life of misery?!

Wei Miaomiao's parents are both working, but they have no intention of giving up on her and often send her packages and money.

So at that time, no one thought that the two of them would end up together.

But Wei Miaomiao still married Chen Musheng.

Given this situation, who wouldn't think that Chen Musheng threatened Wei Miaomiao?

Some people in the educated youth settlement even speculated that Chen Musheng must have bullied Wei Miaomiao on the mountain that day, and felt that he had let down the green uniform he once wore.

Dear readers, I apologize for the inconvenience. Due to some personal reasons, I will only be able to update one chapter per day for the past few days. Normal updates will resume no later than the first of next month.