When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 433: Chapter 155: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in the Period Novel (42)

In their single-minded obsession with returning to the city, they had guarded their bodies and hearts, avoiding close relationships with female comrades and limiting their interactions with the opposite sex in the villages.

But that didn’t mean they didn’t dream of love and marriage, nor did it stop a few of the guys from gathering to talk about women when they were exhausted.

TSK TSK. Such salacious gossip was explosive, no matter the era.

The man’s voice was neither high nor low—just loud enough for everyone to hear if they strained, but still deliberately hushed, as if sharing a secret.

This man claimed his assigned post was in the production brigade right next to Chi Yun’er’s. He then rattled off several supposedly irrefutable, bombshell stories.

How she had chased a man to the countryside, with no sense of how to keep a proper distance. How she let him wait on her hand and foot, and sometimes the two would stay in a room alone together—something all the other educated youth in their courtyard knew.

How she’d threatened to kill herself for a man, even slamming her head against a wall...

How her promiscuous behavior had attracted the attention of local hooligans...

How she was caught in the act at her supposed admirer’s own wedding...

Each sentence was enough to spark the imagination, spinning off into a full-blown TV drama. One could almost wish to stay camped out in the latrine—that temple of earthly cycles—and subsist on this spiritual nourishment alone. What were exams compared to this? They were so dull and dry. Nothing could stir the soul quite like this.

’Though,’ they thought, ’if I don’t get accepted, maybe I should report that Chi Yun’er to the hospital for her indecent lifestyle?’

’All the other rejected educated youth had to go back to the countryside. If she’s out, couldn’t we take her place? Maybe the hospital would even reward us with a job.’

After the person outside the latrine left, the group reluctantly pulled up their trousers and walked out, still wanting more. But standing at the entrance to both the men’s and women’s latrines was an officer in a brimmed cap.

They couldn’t help but shudder, their minds racing to recall if they’d done anything out of line since arriving in the Capital City.

The Comrade took out a pen and paper and had them line up to register their information one by one. He checked their identification papers and letters of introduction, and only after confirming everything was in order did he explain why he was there.

”Enjoying your little eavesdropping session?”

”Legs not asleep?”

”Or is the stench from the pit so fragrant that it’s bringing back memories of breakfast?”

Faced with this soul-crushing trifecta of questions, they shook their heads frantically, overcome with regret.

They had come to the Capital City for the recruitment exam, and it was about to start. Why had they wasted precious time that could have been spent memorizing a few more facts on eavesdropping?

’And now, because of this, I’ve attracted the attention of an officer!’

The two Comrades began to speak to them in a grave, earnest tone.

”Do you know who was outside that wall just now? How many people were there? Did you hear what was said?”

The group exchanged glances before lowering their heads, none daring to be the first to speak up.

Finally, a young woman, afraid of getting into trouble and clinging to the principle of ”leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist,” spoke up honestly in a small voice.

”Comrade, I don’t know who was out there, but it sounded like two people, a man and a woman, both fairly young. They... they were bad-mouthing one of the proctors, a very beautiful female comrade.”

”Oh?” one of the Comrades asked coolly. ”And how did that make you feel? What’s your impression of this female comrade they were discussing?”

”I... I didn’t really have any feelings about it,” the young woman stammered. ”It’s just... I guess it’s not always a good thing for a woman to be beautiful. It tends to attract trouble.”

”And you?” That Comrade’s cold gaze swept over the others.

They all chimed in, ”We are educated youths of the new society! We can’t just believe one-sided rumors. We can’t jump to conclusions about things we haven’t seen and verified with our own eyes.”

”I bet they’re educated youth just like us,” one person ventured. ”They saw that female comrade has a good family background and a job, so they got jealous and are trying to ruin her reputation on purpose!”

As soon as one person offered this theory, the others all nodded in agreement.

”That must be it. Of all the places for a man and a woman to talk, why outside a latrine? And how did we manage to hear them so clearly through a wall?”

Everyone here had scored high enough on the self-assessments to come to the Capital City for the exam. They were no longer the naive young men and women they had been before being sent to the countryside. Life had tempered them, and they had all learned to survive the backstabbing and intrigue of the educated youth posts.

You shouldn’t set out to harm others, but you must always be on your guard.

It was starting to dawn on them. If those two Comrades hadn’t shown up, they probably would have returned to the queue and immediately started spreading what they’d heard, disguised as a juicy ”secret not to be told.”

The thought of being used as a weapon in someone else’s hands made their faces turn pale.

The Comrade said briskly, ”There was only one man outside just now.”

”He was putting on a one-man show, hoping to use all of you to spread his story so the rumor’s true origin could never be traced.”

”People who spread gossip tend to lose their sense of reason. They add their own embellishments, making the rumor more detailed and believable. You would have become his accomplices in achieving his goal!”

The group was so frightened that cold sweat started streaming down their backs.

”Comrade, we... we didn’t do anything! We just went to the latrine...”

”Oh, really?” the other Comrade drawled, raising an eyebrow. He lifted his wrist and tapped his watch. ”For five minutes, nobody went in or out. Are you telling me all seven of you just so happened to be in there for a long visit?”

The crowd fell silent. Only two of them had actually been there for that reason.

”Do you know who he is? Or who this Comrade Chi Yun’er he mentioned is?”

Everyone shook their heads, putting on their most cooperative and repentant faces as they listened to the two Comrades’ lecture.

”Chi Yun’er happens to be the most famous comrade in our district right now. She single-handedly established the hospital’s market department. And Shengshi Street, the talk of the town for the past month, was also her creation.”

”The fact that you’re all here today, taking an exam to work in the shops around the General Hospital—that’s because of her. She created these opportunities and specifically requested that they be filled by educated youth.”

”Otherwise, with so many unemployed youths in the Capital City, why on earth would the General Hospital spend the time and energy to recruit from your ranks?”

”She put herself in your shoes and wanted to give you all a helping hand. Is this how you repay a fellow comrade?”

”Heh. So why do you think that man would want to sling mud at such an outstanding female comrade?”

”We suspect he has ties to the enemy, that he’s specifically targeting exceptional young people to obstruct our economic progress. We need you to cooperate and come with us to identify him.”

The group nodded vigorously. ”Comrades, we don’t mind helping you identify him, but we never saw his face. And now that you mention it, his voice was probably disguised as well.”

”We want to help, but we’re powerless to do so.”

The two Comrades ignored them, simply sandwiching the group between them and leading them toward the front of the main queue.

Seeing the two officers in their brimmed caps approaching, everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats, terrified that a single wrong move, even a misplaced breath, would get them hauled away for questioning.

”Hello, Comrades,” one of the officers said, addressing the people standing directly in front of and behind Jiang Zishi. ”Excuse me, did anyone leave the line to use the latrine in the past five minutes?”

Hearing this, Jiang Zishi’s heart skipped a beat.

He had actually thought through many different scenarios before making his move.

It was the day of the General Hospital’s recruitment exam; everyone was preoccupied. Who would possibly notice his subtle maneuver?

And even if Jiang Yihua had seen him go to the latrine from the car, there was no way he could have guessed that he would hide behind the wall and use the people inside as unwitting mouthpieces for his rumors.

He had gone over the plan again and again, certain that as long as he wasn’t caught red-handed, Chi Yun’er’s reputation would be destroyed. She’d be finished in the Capital City.

Jiang Zishi knew all too well how devastating rumors could be to a woman. Even if they were completely false, once they were repeated by the jealous and spiteful, they could be twisted into something that sounded perfectly plausible.

It wasn’t just the target who suffered; their entire family could be subjected to the malice of those around them.

But Jiang Zishi had never, ever imagined he would be exposed this quickly.