Supervising from the side, Ye Yihan noticed that Zhang Wenli was deliberately glossing over the reasons for her wrongdoing, so she made her rewrite it.
"Write down the whole sequence of events from beginning to end. Include just how arrogant your attitude was back then. Don't write any excuses about being young, ignorant, or not doing it on purpose."
Zhang Wenli tore up the first sheet of paper, rewrote the statement, and tossed it at Ye Yihan with a look of bitter resentment. "Happy now?"
The paper fluttered to the ground. Ye Yihan stood her ground, looked at her, and said calmly, "Pick it up for me."
Zhang Wenli initially wanted to refuse, but catching Ye Yihan's sharp gaze, her heart skipped a beat. She obediently complied, picked up the paper, and handed it to Ye Yihan.
Ye Yihan tucked the confession letter into her shoulder bag, and while sliding her hand in, she slipped it into the Dimension Space, placing it alongside the voluntary statement written by Ye Cheng.
Seeing the matter settled, the middle-aged man let out a sigh of relief. He thought to himself that today's educated youths were truly a bunch of thorns; he had no idea which production brigade they would be assigned to eventually. In his view, it would be best if they were all scattered far apart so that future days might bring some peace.
After letting his thoughts wander, the man took out the registration form to check the name list. Confirming everything was correct, he spoke up in a loud voice, "All of you, stick close to me later and don't wander off."
The group responded in exhausted tones and marched along right behind the man.
Before catching up, Ye Yihan turned her head to look at Zhou Jingshen.
Zhou Jingshen gave a discreet hand gesture, indicating he would follow behind.
Only then did Ye Yihan set her mind at ease and walk side by side with Yu Baiqiu.
Once they boarded the truck, Yu Baiqiu was still feeling a sense of injustice on her behalf.
"You were clearly the victim, yet in the end, you somehow turned out to be the bad guy. These people are simply too much." The mere thought of it made Yu Baiqiu feel stifled for Ye Yihan's sake, and she was moved to tears of frustration.
The space inside the truck was not particularly large, and anyone in the vehicle could hear whatever was said. Hearing Yu Baiqiu's words, the others wore awkward expressions and looked somewhat sheepish. Especially the few people sharing the same compartment as Ye Yihan, whose eyes darted around evasively.
Ye Yihan smiled; she actually rather liked this young woman. She leaned close to Yu Baiqiu's ear and whispered in a voice audible only to the two of them, "Don't worry, this matter isn't over yet."
She certainly hadn't missed the resentment in Zhang Wenli's eyes the moment she lowered her head. Given that girl's temperament, she was bound to stir up trouble again in the future. When that time came, she could drop the hammer hard, and no one would have any grounds to complain—after all, she had once magnanimously forgiven the other party, but Zhang Wenli was simply incorrigible and out to harm people on purpose, wasn't she?
Although Yu Baiqiu didn't fully understand, seeing that Ye Yihan had everything under control, she didn't press for answers.
The commune in the town wasn't particularly remote, but even so, they spent the better part of the day riding in the truck before reaching their destination.
The roads at this time were bumpy dirt paths full of potholes. When Ye Yihan jumped down from the vehicle, half her body was numb, and she nearly failed to stand steady and took a bad tumble.
Feeling her face grow slightly warm, she turned her head to look around and discovered she wasn't the only one—the others were in the same state—which made her feel a little less awkward.
Outside the gates of the commune, the crowd was densely packed. A staff member used a megaphone to announce the assignment list: she, Yu Baiqiu, Qin Yuru, Zhang Wenli, Zhou Yang, and another reticent male educated youth were assigned to the same location.
She had known about this outcome long beforehand, so she felt no surprise, but Yu Baiqiu was sighing deeply. "With them around, life won't be peaceful from now on."
Ye Yihan thought to herself that the girl had guessed right; there probably wouldn't be a single day of peace.
Just as they were muttering among themselves, an old man who looked to be in his fifties walked up leading an ox cart. His face bore little expression—neither warm nor cold—and he certainly couldn't be described as particularly amicable.
"I am the Team Leader of the Anyang Production Brigade. Put your luggage up here and walk behind the cart."
Ye Yihan's gaze flickered. She exchanged a glance with Yu Baiqiu and remained silent.
Zhang Wenli, however, flared up instantly. "Isn't there a cart? Why do we have to walk? This is abuse."
"There's only so much room on the cart, and there are too many of you. What if you crush my ox?" The Team Leader looked at Zhang Wenli with total impatience. He had already heard people say that this female educated youth was a troublemaker who had caused quite a commotion right after getting off the train.
*Sigh*, why did someone like this have to end up in his brigade?
At the mere thought of a turbulent future, the Team Leader felt a headache coming on.
"Can't you just make room for two people?" Zhang Wenli pouted with dissatisfaction.
The Team Leader snapped irritably, "And who are we supposed to make room for?"
"Me and Sister Yuru, of course," Zhang Wenli said with an air of entitlement. "There wasn't any space to begin with; it was only because I spoke up that there is."
The Team Leader was utterly sick of Zhang Wenli. He had never seen such a selfish and self-centered young girl before.
Perhaps sensing the Team Leader's impatience, Qin Yuru stepped forward and said very considerately, "How about this? We can take turns riding so that everyone gets a chance to rest."
"That's a great idea." Zhou Yang cast an appreciative glance at Qin Yuru, and even the Team Leader's gloomy expression softened considerably.
As for Ye Yihan and Yu Baiqiu, neither of them spoke, preferring to conserve their energy.
Since the Team Leader had already told them that the Anyang Production Brigade was about ten miles away from the small town, even taking turns meant walking for an hour or two, they didn't want to waste their breath arguing.
The other male educated youth kept his mouth shut as well, which amounted to tacit approval of the decision from everyone.
"Then Sister Yuru and I will ride for 30 minutes first, followed by Zhou Yang and Li Wen, and then Ye Yihan and Yu Baiqiu."
"That doesn't seem quite right." After Zhang Wenli made her announcement, Li Wen hesitated. "We're men and have better stamina. We should let Comrade Ye and the others go second."
"What difference does it make whether you go first or second? We all ride for 30 minutes anyway," Zhang Wenli frowned, looking highly displeased.
"But..." Li Wen wanted to say more, but Ye Yihan stopped him.
"Thank you, Comrade Li, let's just do it this way."
Just as Zhang Wenli had said, the rest time was the same either way, and there was no real difference whether one was placed at the front or the back, so there was no point in wasting time.
"Look, she agreed to it herself. Did you even need to stick your neck out for them?" Zhang Wenli let out a cold snort, loaded her luggage onto the cart, and plopped herself down.
Qin Yuru smiled at Ye Yihan and then climbed aboard with lady-like grace.
The Team Leader drove the ox cart in front, while Ye Yihan and the others walked behind.
At first, they managed with ease, but after about 20 minutes, sweat was already beading on their foreheads.
Ye Yihan was holding up fine; this body was accustomed to farm work, and this short distance was nothing.
Yu Baiqiu, on the other hand, was truly physically weak. Having seemingly never walked such a long distance before, her steps began to falter as she clutched her chest and panted heavily.
Seeing her turn pale with a glassy-eyed stare, Ye Yihan supported her and hurriedly called out to the Team Leader, "Team Leader, Comrade Yu isn't feeling well. Can you make a little more room on the cart?"
Hearing this, the Team Leader brought the ox cart to a halt and looked back, seeing immediately that Yu Baiqiu could barely stand. "Then let her get on the cart. The two people on board, scoot over to the side."
"We can't scoot over, there's no extra space," Zhang Wenli muttered with a pout.
"Just squeeze in a bit, and there will be!" the Team Leader raged.
"Fine!" Zhang Wenli ultimately didn't dare cross the Team Leader. Unwillingly, she wriggled her backside and squeezed out a tiny sliver of space.
Veins throbbed on the Team Leader's forehead; he desperately wanted to curse. With just that tiny sliver of space, sitting sideways would be difficult—how could anyone actually sit down?
"Forget it, I'll be fine like this," Yu Baiqiu panted as she shook her head.
Ye Yihan pressed her lips together. After a moment of silence, she took down her own bedding, which was packed into a cube. "You sit on this."
"That won't do!" Yu Baiqiu disagreed. She found walking this stretch extremely arduous; if Ye Yihan had to carry her own luggage on top of that, wouldn't she be even more exhausted?
"It's fine, I have strength." She wasn't lying; she genuinely didn't feel tired carrying these things.
Yet in Yu Baiqiu's eyes, Ye Yihan was merely putting up a brave front, and she flatly refused to get on the cart.
Just as the two of them were at a stalemate, the put-put-put sound of a motor echoed from behind.