Chapter 95

Chapter 95

That night, many people in Qingshui Production Brigade couldn't sleep.

Most of the villagers were too angry to sleep, especially those families who worked themselves to the bone all year and still couldn't get enough to eat—they couldn't even feed themselves, yet the Lin family had embezzled so much money. Just thinking about it left them feeling resentful, and many lay in bed still cursing the Lin family.

Some were so furious they couldn't take it anymore. In the middle of the night, they gathered a few people, didn't even bother covering their faces, and stormed over to Lin Xiangsong's and Lin Suanshu's homes.

The adults in both families had mostly been arrested, leaving only the elderly, women, and children at home.

These people weren't afraid at all. They took anything valuable and smashed anything worthless to pieces on the spot.

The villagers looted the Huo household much more severely than Mother Huo had back when she did it herself.

And none of this reached Gao Mingzhu and Huo Huaichuan.

After an intense day, the young couple didn't sleep early that night either.

They stayed up late fooling around.

After the intense emotional swings of the day, both of them craved each other's comfort to feel secure.

Huo Huaichuan's legs couldn't move? Then Gao Mingzhu would take the lead!

But she didn't have great stamina, especially since she was a "conservative"—not in terms of mindset, but because she always held back her sensations, stopping the moment she hit a certain point.

…Huo Huaichuan was miserable.

Yet Gao Mingzhu, blithely, started giving up: "I can't do it anymore… it's too tiring… Why aren't you done yet?"

She had already finished twice, but he…

In the past, Huo Huaichuan had been like a wolf in this matter—whenever he was with Gao Mingzhu, he couldn't control himself, always fierce and urgent. He had never experienced such a gentle pace before! His eyes were red from holding back as he pleaded with her, his voice hoarse: "Mingzhu, honey…"

"No!"

"It hurts…"

"I'm tired!"

Huo Huaichuan: "…"

That night was messy and intimate for them.

Compared to the villagers' anger and the young couple's intimacy, the people at the educated youth compound felt even more conflicted.

The day's turnaround had been completely unexpected, leaving several of them unable to sleep and their opinions of Gao Mingzhu even more mixed.

Endless whispers came from the communal sleeping area, but as for what exactly was said, Gao Mingzhu didn't know.

She definitely overslept the next day.

When she woke up, Huo Huaichuan was already out of bed, sitting beside her, smiling as he watched her. Seeing her open her eyes, he said gently, "Awake? Hurry up and get up. Mom's already made breakfast and was about to call you."

The moment Gao Mingzhu saw him, she remembered last night. The drowsiness from just waking up vanished instantly, and her face flushed bright red. She couldn't help shooting him a dirty look.

In Huo Huaichuan's eyes, that look was more like an adorable pout.

He looked at her with a grin, which only made her angrier. She pushed him directly: "You jerk!"

Yeah, it was even more like a pout.

Huo Huaichuan felt a tingle in his chest, but he was feeling wronged himself: "I only got one round last night!"

And even then, he had forced himself…

She'd come more than twice…

Gao Mingzhu's face turned redder. She got up to brush her teeth and wash up. Huo Huaichuan didn't rush out either. In fact, he even took out the clothes she was supposed to wear today—the ones Gao Mingzhu had prepared the night before.

As he held the clothes, he said, "I don't know about others. I've never talked about this with any other guy."

From outside came Mother Huo's voice: "Huaichuan, Mingzhu, come out for breakfast!"

"Coming! I'll be right after I brush my teeth!" Gao Mingzhu called back, brushing her teeth and glaring at Huo Huaichuan at the same time. "Don't just sit around—go out and help Mom with the chores!"

Huo Huaichuan didn't pester her further. He nodded: "Alright, I'll head out first. Come quickly when you're ready."

"Mm-hmm," Gao Mingzhu replied.

Soon, Gao Mingzhu finished getting ready and came out. Mother Huo and Huo Huaichuan had already poured the porridge for her; she could sit down and eat right away.

When she got up, she hadn't known what time it was, but when she looked at her watch while washing up, she was shocked to see it was already past nine.

She glanced at Mother Huo and asked in surprise, "Mother, didn't you go to work today?"

Given how eager Mother Huo usually was to go to work, it was really unexpected for her not to go.

Mother Huo handed her a freshly peeled egg and said with a smile, "It's fine. I took on a task and came back early to make breakfast—no rush. A lot of people didn't show up for work today."

Hearing that, Gao Mingzhu thought about it and quickly figured it out.

After the Lin family's embezzlement was exposed yesterday, the villagers who had worked themselves to the bone yet still couldn't eat were seething. How could they be in the mood to work?

"Sigh, this can't go on." Mother Huo sighed as she drank her porridge. "The busy farming season's almost here. That's when we need everyone on deck—how can they all be slacking off? Your uncle's probably going to have a headache over this."

Indeed, if the villagers refused to work, the one with the biggest headache would be Du Shan, the production brigade leader.

Gao Mingzhu was now a brigade cadre too. In theory, she should be worried too, but since she was new to the role and not yet familiar with brigade affairs, it didn't bother her that much.

She ate faster, thinking she should head to the brigade office to see what was going on.

Just then, Huo Huaichuan spoke up: "I'll come with you to the brigade office later."

?

Mother Huo and Huo Huaichuan both turned to stare at him.

Huo Huaichuan looked completely natural, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"What are you going to do at the brigade office? You should just stay home and focus on your studies," Gao Mingzhu said.

"I'm going to be a brigade cadre too now," Huo Huaichuan said slowly.

Gao Mingzhu paused, her chopsticks frozen mid-air, staring at him in surprise: "What? You're going to be a cadre too? What position are you taking?"

After yesterday, Lin Xiangsong definitely can't be village chief anymore, so that job's open. And Lin Tianxiong's job as storekeeper is open too.

Was Huo Huaichuan going to be village chief or storekeeper?

Mother Huo gave a knowing look, but she didn't interrupt, waiting for the young couple to speak themselves.

Huo Huaichuan looked at Gao Mingzhu, as if he could read her mind: "It's neither of those positions."

"Then what is it?" Gao Mingzhu quickly asked.

"The Discipline Inspection Committee."

"The Discipline Inspection Committee?"

"That's right." Huo Huaichuan nodded, reminding them, "Remember the letter Secretary Tan gave me before he left yesterday?"

Gao Mingzhu and Mother Huo then recalled—Secretary Tan had indeed given Huo Huaichuan something yesterday, but at that time everyone's attention was on the Lin family and Gao Mingzhu, so they didn't have time to ask for details.

Huo Huaichuan pulled an envelope out of his pocket and said, "I volunteered to Secretary Tan for the brigade's Discipline Inspection Committee member position. He submitted my name, and the higher-ups already approved."

Gao Mingzhu took the letter and checked it—it was true! She looked at Huo Huaichuan in surprise: "When did you talk to Secretary Tan?"

Huo Huaichuan said, "When I wrote to him, I mentioned it."

Gao Mingzhu: "..."

Mother Huo then chuckled and said, "We already knew this morning."

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