Chapter 53: Liu Mu's Fury (2)

  The village secretary Yu Fugui and the village head Ma Cuihua of Huaguan Village have not appeared, such a big movement, Xu Shaojie believes that they must know, but they have not appeared for a long time, the reason in between is worth exploring, Xu Shaojie did not mind these things, before figuring out the situation, Xu Shaojie would not shoot without a target, doing things always has to have a purpose.

  Zhang Xiaoyu's craftsmanship was not bad, and she was very quick. The kitchen had a fragrance wafting from it, and the two little girls had already run into the kitchen. When Xu Shaojie and everyone returned, they had just entered the house and smelled the fragrance.

  "It smells so good."

  Xu Shaojie had just expressed his feelings when Zhao Deli chimed in beside him.

  "Yes, when the time comes that the woman in my house can cook dishes of this level, I will be satisfied."

  "Secretary Zhao, you won't abandon your wife at home, will you? A wife with a rough exterior but a kind heart should not be discarded."

  "It won't work out, at this age, although I'm an old spinster, just make do with it."

  At this moment, Dong Guihua came out, Xu Shaojie knew that he was in trouble, and Zhao Deli would definitely suffer. Discussing women like this, how could Dong Guihua let Zhao Deli off?

  "Hey, Village Chief Dong, I wasn't talking about you, you're as beautiful as a flower, and your husband is still pretty good."

  "You farted, hum, liking new and disliking old, all men are like this, just watch me not tell your sister-in-law."

  "Director Dong, I didn't say anything, don't attack me every time. With a sweep of your words, I also have to listen. Besides, Secretary Zhao is just someone who likes new things and gets tired of old ones, it's because you're too outstanding, beautiful as a flower."

  Dong Guihua's face suddenly turned red, Song Tao and Yang Chen were eating on the side, laughing, saw Dong Guihua's expression, immediately became serious, Dong Guihua spoke too fiercely, couldn't afford to provoke her.

  Liu Mu had already started to tidy up the main room, and meals must be eaten in the main room, which looks more formal. When there are distinguished guests at home, one has to pay attention to etiquette. According to rural customs, women do not sit at the table during meals, so Liu Mu's wife and Zhang Xiaoyu did not sit down. What is strange is that Dong Guihua, who has such a sharp tongue, did not mention this matter. As the village head, Dong Guihua was naturally not within this scope. Xu Shaojie sighed, rural customs are really formidable, even a strong-willed woman like Dong Guihua does not speak out in the face of these customs.

  At dinner, Liu Mu was very lively, constantly pouring wine for everyone. Yang Chen had to drive and drank in moderation. Zhao Deli and Dong Guihua finally got into a heated argument. Xu Shaojie, Song Tao, and Yang Chen tightly closed their mouths, refusing to intervene in the couple's quarrel. As the host, Liu Mu was delighted when everyone ate and drank more. About half an hour later, Xu Shaojie discovered that Liu Mu could drink a lot of wine, having downed over half a kilogram of baijiu, yet remained unaffected.

  The wine from noon still hadn't worn off, and Zhao Deli finally couldn't hold on any longer, gloriously falling onto the bed. Dong Guihua wasn't much better, her eyes blurry and mumbling to herself, not knowing how she ended up on the woman's bed, where she fell asleep. This caused Xu Shaojie to wait for a long time, only realizing what had happened when the woman came out of the kitchen and into the bedroom. At this point, Xu Shaojie clearly couldn't leave immediately, and could only wait until Zhao Deli and Dong Guihua were slightly more sober before departing.

  "Secretary Xu, I'll accompany you for a walk."

  Liu Mu spoke out the words, Xu Shaojie was somewhat unexpected, Zhao Deli was supported by Song Tao and Yang Chen to another room to rest. Zhang Xiaoyu was busy collecting bowls and chopsticks, she never looked at Xu Shaojie straight in the eye, lowering her head. The woman was accompanying Dong Guihua in the bedroom. Zhang Xiaoyu's daughter was very well-behaved, taking two girls playing outside the house.

  The sun sets in the west, and the small village is shrouded in a golden hue. The sunlight will soon disappear, but the sky won't completely darken for a while. It's summer, and the days are long. Xu Shaojie and Liu Mu walk slowly, neither of them speaking. Behind Liu Mu's house, there's a small hill, and they finally reach the top, looking out at the village scene. Many households have smoke rising from their rooftops, and children can be seen playing in front of the houses. It's a peaceful and serene atmosphere. Xu Shaojie has never seen such a scene before, and he becomes mesmerized by it. Liu Mu doesn't disturb him for the time being.

  "Liu Mu, say whatever you want to say, I'm listening."

  Liu Mu looked at Xu Shaojie with a smile, the smile was very desolate, obviously he had suffered a huge blow, and only then would such a smile appear. Xu Shaojie's heart felt a bit tight.

  "Director Xu, do you know that many people may not know my name, but as soon as they mention 'rotten wood', everyone will know. This is to say that I am the one who is uncarvable, and this title was given to me by Liu Zhihua. In this life, I have a vendetta against Liu Zhihua, an unjust killing."

  Liu Mu's face was somewhat distorted, Xu Shaojie took out a cigarette, and the two lit up cigarettes, Liu Mu's emotions calmed down a bit.

  "Secretary Xu, today I'm telling you something that I've never told anyone before. Everyone knows that Liu Zhihua looks down on me, but no one knows why. They all think it's because I don't work hard enough, but the truth is, Liu Zhihua has been targeting me from the start.

  I graduated from a normal university and was assigned to Yudou District. Because of my good writing skills, I was assigned to the Education Station. Later, the district government took notice of me and transferred me to the district government office. This was all thanks to Liu Zhihua's efforts. He even promoted me to deputy director of the office.

  At that time, I thought my future was bright and that as long as I worked hard, I could achieve my goals. My wife, Yu Zhirong, is from Huaguan Village. We met through mutual friends when I first arrived in Yudou District. She's beautiful, gentle, and caring. I used to think I was the happiest person in the world.

  But all of this changed suddenly. Yu Zhirong usually stayed at home and rarely came to the district government office. One day, four years ago, our daughter had just been born a few months prior, and I went out to the countryside for work. When I returned home that evening, I found Yu Zhirong lying in bed, foaming at the mouth, with an empty pesticide bottle next to her.

  I was terrified and rushed her to the hospital with the help of our neighbor Zhang Xiaoyu's husband. Luckily, we were able to save her life. Afterward, I asked Yu Zhirong why she had done it, but she wouldn't tell me. When I pressed her for answers, she would just cry.

  From then on, Yu Zhirong's health began to decline. We couldn't find anything wrong with her through medical checks, but she was weak and spiritless. Not long after that, I was transferred to Qinghua Township as deputy secretary. This move came as a huge surprise to everyone, including myself. I didn't understand why I was being transferred when I had done nothing wrong.

  Liu Zhihua took advantage of my negative attitude towards the transfer and criticized me at meetings. That's how my reputation began to suffer. Not only that, but many people who were close to me were also affected and were transferred to remote areas or demoted.

  I never understood why all of this was happening until last spring festival, when Yu Zhirong finally told me the truth."

  Liu Mu said to this point, has been extremely painful, his voice changed, apparently trying hard to suppress emotions, not letting himself cry out loud. Xu Shaojie had a kind of ominous premonition.

  Yu Zhihong was afraid I wouldn't work, and tearfully told me what had happened. It turned out that when she went to the district office to find me, she coincidentally ran into Liu Zhihua, who took her back to his dormitory and raped her. Liu Zhihua even shamelessly told Yu Zhihong, "I've done so many things for your husband, sleeping with you is a given, it's just repayment."

  Xu Shaojie was stunned, his cigarette dropped to the ground.

  "So you're just going to leave it like that?"

  "Secretary Xu, what can I do? Liu Zhihua is the district party secretary. It's been so long since this thing happened, and there's no evidence. Where can I find it useful? That night, I couldn't bear it anymore, ran to the district office, found Liu Zhihua, and made a big scene. At that time, the district was in a meeting, I didn't dare to say it out loud, many people thought I was there for transfer issues. A few days later, I was transferred to Hualin Township. I admit I'm weak, such a great shame, I don't even have the courage to fight Liu Zhihua to the death, I'm not a man."

  Liu Muo hugged his head and squatted down, he finally couldn't help but burst into tears.

  Xu Shaojie hadn't spoken for a long time, this matter had exceeded his imagination, and such a thing would actually happen. Where did Liu Zhihua get the nerve to do such a thing? The subsequent experience of Liu Mu could also be explained. Yu Zhihong took medicine, Liu Zhihua was probably enraged and therefore took action against Liu Mu, not caring at all. He probably thought that this matter couldn't pose a threat at all. Also, as the district party secretary, how could such a thing be investigated? Yu Zhihong was a woman, an absolute weakling, who didn't know how to protect herself or preserve evidence. After the incident passed, it would still be up to Liu Zhihua to say what happened, and if things went wrong, Yu Zhihong might even be accused of making false accusations.

  "Liu Mu, you didn't do anything wrong. What's the use of working so hard? You might not even have met Liu Zhihua yet and you'll already be in jail. If something happens to you, what will your family do? A gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late. Take it easy, sometimes you need to use your brain. Since Liu Zhihua wants to take you down, you should make sure not to fall. If you fall, Liu Zhihua will succeed."

  "Secretary Xu, I understand all these things, it's just that I feel uncomfortable in my heart."

  Xu Shaojie thought for a moment before finally making his first decision since arriving in Yudu District.

  "Liu Mu, I don't know how to comfort you. I have some immature ideas. If you trust me, follow me from now on. At least I can guarantee that Liu Zhihua won't hurt you again. And about Yu Zhihong's matter, don't mention it to anyone. This thing is currently uninvestigable and there's no evidence. It's just empty talk and it will only harm you and Yu Zhihong if spoken out. Think of other ways later."

  The two of them stopped talking, lit cigarettes and watched as night slowly fell.

  "Liu Mu, you must know the actual situation in Huaguan Village, what kind of person is Yu Fugui?"

  "Hum, not a good thing, Liu Zhihua's dog, doing all kinds of bad things, relying on Liu Zhihua's backing to be arrogant, will eventually come to no good."

  "Oh, then tell me, what's so arrogant about Yu Fugui? What has he done?"

  Liu Mu heard Xu Shaojie's words clearly and suddenly understood something. He hastily spoke up.

  Yu Fugui is a lecher, whenever he sees a beautiful woman, his legs turn soft. Almost everyone in the village knows about it, but he's the secretary after all. Over the years, relying on the power in his hands, I don't know how many women he has ruined. Many men in the village have gone out to work, and he has countless opportunities. Relief funds, grain and oil subsidies, etc., are all up to him to decide. Some women who benefited from it naturally wouldn't say anything. When I was stationed in Huaguan Village, it was actually arranged by Liu Zhihua, just to let Yu Fugui keep an eye on me. Humph, I'm not a stationed cadre at all, but rather a monitored object. I'm afraid Liu Zhihua already knows about today's situation. The village head, Ma Cuihua, was promoted by Yu Fugui himself, and the relationship between them is ambiguous.

  "Liu Mu, what you said is useless. Yu Fugui's being a womanizer, he's just the village secretary, not a national official. If it was consensual between two parties, at most it would be a matter of personal conduct, nothing more. As for other issues like rough behavior, they don't count for much and can't be brought up publicly. As for your situation, don't even mention it. Think carefully, what else is there? For example, why is Yu Fugui's family so wealthy, is it really from honest labor?"

  Liu Mu couldn't believe that the 22-year-old Xu Shaojie in front of him was so cunning and ruthless, considering problems from a sideways angle. For the time being, he wouldn't make a move on Liu Zhihua. If Yu Fugui fell into Xu Shaojie's hands, he would probably never be able to turn over again. This would be a heavy blow to Liu Zhihua, and the situation in the district would change immediately.

  "I remembered, Yu Fugui was doing tobacco business, this is an illegal deal."

  "Speak clearly, what is going on?"

  Yu Fugui himself did not grow tobacco at home. Every year when it was time to purchase tobacco leaves, he would use his power to forcibly buy them at a low price from the whole village and then sell them to the tobacco station's purchasing point, earning the difference in price. This is a form of forced buying and selling that must be resolutely cracked down on. But this situation is very common, I don't know if it will have any effect.

  "Heh heh, that's enough. The time for purchasing tobacco leaves is approaching. I heard yesterday that the scales will be opened on September 10th. Let Yu Fugui jump around for a few more days. As a stationed cadre, this task is assigned to you. Secretly pay attention to Yu Fugui's every move. We can't grasp Yu Fugui's specific actions."

  "Secretary Xu, don't worry, I will definitely keep an eye on Yu Fugui's every move."

  "It's going to rain." Xu Shaojie looked up at the sky, Liu Mu felt strange, the stars were twinkling in the sky without a single cloud, why did Xu Shaojie say such words, but Liu Mu soon understood what he meant.