RIRW – Chapter 156

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The female student was speaking rather loudly. Even though they were separated by a road, Zuo Dan still heard the name she shouted. Her eyes widened immediately as she looked in the direction Yang Wenxin had run off to.

“Shen Yiming, did I hear that right just now? Did that girl shout ‘Su Dai’?”

“You didn’t hear wrong. I heard it too.” Shen Yiming squinted, his expression grave. “Looks like there’s a story behind this.”

Zuo Dan raised her eyebrows. “What story? This is clearly a case of identity theft! Otherwise, how could someone like Yang Wenxin get into college using Su Dai’s name? Such a despicable act happening right under my nose!”

She recalled some news she had read online before—because of the lack of data sharing in those years, many cases of identity theft occurred. By the time it was discovered, over a decade had passed and people’s lives were already shaped. It was practically stealing someone else’s life. No amount of compensation could ever make up for that.

Shen Yiming said, “I remember dad is currently in charge of matters related to the educated youth and education. We have to tell him about this. He needs to investigate immediately. If this needs to be reported, then report it. Otherwise, if things blow up later, he might get implicated.”

Zuo Dan nodded repeatedly.

To be cautious, the two didn’t directly report Yang Wenxin. Instead, they called Zuo Dacheng.

Unfortunately, Zuo Dacheng wasn’t available, and they could only reach Secretary Liu. Remembering that Secretary Liu had previously handled related matters, they decided to play it safe and merely asked about the household registration transfer concerning Shen Youyou.

After hanging up, Zuo Dan quickly called the provincial education bureau to find Li Hui.

This matter had to be investigated immediately. First, to give Su Dai the justice he deserved. Second, to ensure Zuo Dacheng wouldn’t take the fall for it later.

Li Hui had been doing well at the education bureau. Upon hearing the news, she immediately took it seriously and began investigating. But even she couldn’t access all the necessary information. After all, it was last year’s college entrance exam. While the students’ scores were recorded on their end, the actual admission letters were sent directly from the schools to the students. The admissions process last year wasn’t entirely standard either. Since it was the first reinstated college entrance exam, many veteran officials still held biases. Some students didn’t get in despite high scores, while others with average results were admitted. Plus, because it was the first reinstated exam, much of the information was incomplete.

So even knowing the scores of Su Dai and Yang Wenxin, they couldn’t be 100% sure what had happened.

Li Hui realized the seriousness of the matter. “I’ll personally return to Dahe Commune and check the records with your dad. If Yang Wenxin really used Su Dai’s admission letter, he must have changed the name in his own file. This has to be handled through the commune.”

“Mom, until we’ve investigated everything thoroughly, only you and Dad can know about this. Don’t let anyone else find out. If Yang Wenxin really did something like this, he couldn’t have done it alone.”

Zuo Dan warned.

Li Hui replied, “Got it. You and Yiming should also go to the teachers’ college and confirm whether it was Su Dai who was actually admitted.”

“Okay.”

They split up to take action. Shen Yiming and Zuo Dan headed to the teachers’ college to investigate Yang Wenxin, while Li Hui took a car back to Zuo Village.

Zuo Dacheng had been running around these past few days, busy beyond belief. But at the same time, he had also learned about the living conditions of the educated youth in Dahe Commune. Compared to their Zuo Village, which was closer to town, those in more remote areas were in much worse conditions. There were serious conflicts between the educated youth and the local cadres.

He even discovered that some cadres were bullying the educated youth, using the college entrance exam registration to threaten them. This infuriated him. He was already preparing to deal with those rotten apples. But Secretary Liu kept delaying things, saying stability was the priority. He even argued that if they clashed with the local cadres over this, managing the educated youth would become even harder in the future.

What nonsense! That was just aiding and abetting the evildoers! Zuo Dacheng gave Secretary Liu a stern warning: if he wouldn’t handle it, he would report it directly to the county.

Just as he was preparing to go to the county, Li Hui arrived at the commune.

Seeing her cheered him up a little. But once Li Hui explained the situation, his brief good mood vanished.

It wasn’t hard to investigate this at the commune—especially since Zuo Dacheng oversaw this sector.

They quickly found that the file that had been transferred out belonged to Yang Wenxin. However, Su Dai’s file had been altered. For instance, Su Dai was currently teaching at the Zuo Village Elementary School, but the file claimed he was at the commune’s elementary school.

That was a clear red flag.

He immediately called in the commune’s postal worker. But the new guy had just started this year and knew nothing about the previous year’s situation. The previous postal worker had been sent home after making a mistake.

What a coincidence! Zuo Dacheng quickly drove the tractor and took Li Hui to visit the former postal worker’s hometown.

That man, Liu Xiaoshan, had been responsible for transferring mail between the county and the commune. Earlier this year, he had delayed the mail for two days, and Secretary Liu sent him home for it.

When asked, Liu Xiaoshan recalled, “There was a letter for Comrade Su Dai. It’s been over a year, though, so my memory’s fuzzy. Let me check my records. I kept logs of who picked up each letter.” He took out a notebook and quickly found the entries from when the admission letters were issued. “Yes, there was an admission letter for Comrade Su Dai, but I gave it to his fiancée, Zuo Qing. Now I remember—during that time, she came every day asking about the admission letters.”

“If the letter was handed to Zuo Qing, why did everyone say Su Dai wasn’t admitted? Was there one for Yang Wenxin?”

Liu Xiaoshan checked and said, “No.” Seeing the dark looks on the couple’s faces, he got nervous. “Secretary Zuo, is something wrong? I really did hand out every letter. I didn’t miss a single one.”

Zuo Dacheng glared at him, but there wasn’t much else to say. In their area, mail was often picked up by brigade secretaries or family members. Since Su Dai and Zuo Qing had been dating seriously and were about to get married, no one questioned it when the letter was handed to her. As the brigade secretary at the time, Zuo Dacheng hadn’t kept a closer eye on things—he felt responsible.

When they returned to the commune, Zuo Dacheng looked utterly dejected.

Li Hui said, “We need to report this right away. Even the public security bureau needs to be involved. And we must hurry. Otherwise, Su Dai won’t be able to attend university. The information on his application doesn’t match the file. How can he enroll like that?”

“This can’t be delayed!”

Zuo Dacheng immediately called both the county education bureau and the public security bureau.

This caused quite a stir.

Back in Beijing, Zuo Dan and Shen Yiming confirmed that the teachers’ college had indeed admitted Su Dai.

After calling Li Hui and learning the full story, Zuo Dan was stunned. Zuo Qing had known about it, yet she handed the admission letter to the Zuo Huan family and helped them hide the truth from Su Dai.

What kind of brain did she have? Even if you don’t help your fiancé, at least don’t sabotage him.

In Zuo Village, Xu Fengxia was making preparations for her eldest daughter Zuo Qing’s wedding to Su Dai.

Su Dai hadn’t received the admission letter and had already grown disheartened.

After failing twice, he believed maybe he just wasn’t cut out for it. So, he decided to marry Zuo Qing and settle into his teaching job at the elementary school.

Compared to other educated youth, he considered himself lucky—at least he was teaching, and Zuo Qing treated him sincerely.

Only Gao Wei felt it was a pity.

The two of them were the only ones left from their original group of five male educated youth. Gao Wei had also failed twice but was preparing for a third attempt. He was still young, unmarried, and full of hope—he was determined to leave the countryside.

He had always thought Su Dai, being the better student, would leave before him. But now Su Dai was getting married.

Su Dai was just too soft-hearted. He felt Zuo Qing treated him with all her heart, and he didn’t want to let her down. No matter how Gao Wei tried to persuade him, he wouldn’t leave her.

So Gao Wei had no choice but to help plan the wedding.

Xu Fengxia’s family was also tidying up the house. Since they planned for Su Dai to become a live-in son-in-law, she had cleared out the room previously used by Zuo Huan to serve as a bridal room for Zuo Qing and Su Dai.

For the first time in her life, Zuo Qing received such treatment and was so moved that her eyes turned red.

Zuo Huan, on the other hand, was upset. “Then where am I supposed to sleep now?”

Xu Fengxia said, “With your husband, of course. Didn’t he go to university? Hasn’t he written to say he’ll come get you? Since he’s not here anymore, you should go live with your in-laws in the city.”

“I’d love to go—if only I could find him. He’s been in Beijing for half a year, and I haven’t received a single letter from him,” Zuo Huan complained, blaming Zuo Qing. “This is all because of her. If I’d known, I never would’ve let Wenxin go to college. Now she gets to keep her man, while mine won’t even come home!”

Zuo Qing lowered her head and didn’t dare speak.

Xu Fengxia pressed her lips together. Though she still disliked her eldest daughter, this was the man who would be taking care of her in old age, so she had to say something in her defense. “Enough. You were the one who suggested it back then. Why blame her? I think you should just go to Beijing yourself.”

Zuo Huan thought for a moment. “Fine, but I don’t have travel money.”

“I’ll get it for you later,” Xu Fengxia said unhappily. “As your mother, I really must owe you kids something.”

Hearing that she’d get money, Zuo Huan immediately brightened up and dropped the issue about the room.

Just as the house was bustling with activity, someone knocked at the courtyard gate.