Just as Lu's mother was about to leave, she suddenly remembered Lu Zhengting. If Lu Zhengting also knew that Lin Qingyan was in trouble, he would be even more anxious.

He is currently unable to move around easily, and in order to help his legs recover quickly, he needs to avoid frequent activity.

"What if Zheng Ting finds out about this?"

“Even if my cousin knew, he couldn’t help Lin Zhiqing,” Li Fang said.

Grandma Li also said, "If he finds out that Xiao Lin, the educated youth, is in trouble, he might disregard his own legs and go looking for her. Anyway, he can't help much, so it's better not to let him worry about it. It wouldn't be good if he hurts his legs again. Let's not tell him."

Everyone else nodded, deciding to keep it a secret from Lu Zhengting for the time being.

Li Qinqin, Lu's mother, Li Fang, and Li Gang went out together to go up the mountain to find the brigade leader and Lin Qingyan. Old Mrs. Li was too old to go up the mountain, so she could only wait for news at home, in order to prevent Lu Zhengting from becoming suspicious if they all went out.

Before the four of them even reached the top of the mountain, they ran into the team leader and his group who were coming down the mountain.

Lu's mother and Li Qinqin quickly went to Lin Qingyan's side. They had thought Lin Qingyan would be very scared, but seeing that Lin Qingyan was calm, they were relieved.

Lu's mother held Lin Qingyan's hand: "Little Lin, Auntie believes you are innocent, but what exactly happened?"

“Sister Qingyan, I also believe you wouldn’t do such a thing,” Li Qinqin said.

Lin Qingyan was very grateful that someone trusted her unconditionally and stood by her side.

“Auntie, Qinqin, of course I didn’t kill her. I went up the mountain to find my mother-in-law. When I saw Tong Jiaojiao, she was already dead. Zhao Hehua saw me next to Tong Jiaojiao’s body and assumed that I had killed her.”

Li Qinqin and Lu's mother breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Lin Qingyan's explanation.

When Li Qinqin saw Zhao Hehua in the group, she went over and scolded her: "You didn't understand the situation before you started talking nonsense. You've really ruined Qingyan's life."

Zhao Hehua also protested her innocence: "I was too scared at the time, and there was only Dr. Lin there, so I thought it was Dr. Lin who did it."

Li Qinqin glanced at Tong Jiaojiao's corpse, then quickly looked away; the dead body terrified her.

When they returned to the brigade headquarters, almost half the village had gathered at the entrance to watch the spectacle.

Among them were the educated youth from the settlement, including Du Xiaoyue, Hu Jiajia, and Chen Lu. Upon seeing Lin Qingyan, they quickly gathered around her. Lin Qingyan told them the truth: Zhao Hehua had made a mistake, and they naturally believed Lin Qingyan.

Several male educated youths were watching from the sidelines, including Lin Guanghui. When he saw Lin Qingyan explaining things to the others as if nothing had happened, he became frightened again.

If Lin Qingyan cannot be convicted of murder, then he is still in danger.

what to do?

I don't know if the captain has reported it to the police. We must arrest and convict Lin Qingyan as soon as possible.

He was anxious and pondering. He thought that Lin Qingyan had a close relationship with the people in the brigade leader's family, and that maybe the brigade leader would make an exception for Lin Qingyan.

No, he must seize this excellent opportunity to both kill Lin Qingyan and escape danger.

If he doesn't see the police come here tomorrow, he will go to the police himself to report it.

No matter what, we cannot let Lin Qingyan go.

The captain's house

Because of his leg problems, Lu Zhengting couldn't go anywhere, and his sleep schedule gradually became reversed. He slept in the house for a while, and when he woke up, he found the house quiet. He sat in his wheelchair and went out of the house, only to see Old Mrs. Li and Li's mother at home.

"Have Qinqin, Li Fang, and my mother all gone out?" he asked Old Mrs. Li.

Because she had to keep something from Lu Zhengting, Old Mrs. Li looked somewhat unnatural; she didn't even dare to look Lu Zhengting in the eye.

"Oh, they went out for a stroll. They should be back in a little while."

Lu Zhengting glanced at the sky outside; it was already dark. He wondered where his mother and Li Qinqin might have gone.

He wheeled himself out and looked outside. He felt a little stuffy: "Grandma, I'm going to the front gate for some fresh air."

Grandma Li quickly stopped him, wondering what would happen if Lu Zhengting met someone else at the door and learned about Lin Qingyan from them.

"Zhengting, you don't need to go looking for them. They'll come back on their own in a little while."

Lu Zhengting looked at the old lady in confusion. He was just going out for some fresh air, so why was his grandmother stopping him?

"Grandma, I won't go far, I'll stay right at the door."

"Then don't go out. It's getting dark, and Grandma will worry about you. Just stay inside."

Lu Zhengting felt that his maternal grandmother was acting strangely today. Could it be that something had happened to his mother or Li Qinqin?

"Grandma, has something happened at home?"

"No, nothing's wrong, don't overthink it. Grandma just thought it was getting dark and it wouldn't be safe for you to go out in your wheelchair."

Lu Zhengting still felt that something was wrong with his grandmother. "Grandma, what exactly happened?"

"It's alright, Zhengting, you're overthinking it. If something were wrong, Grandma would definitely tell you. Listen to Grandma, don't worry about it anymore. Your mom and Qinqin will be back soon."

Hearing their conversation, Li's mother walked over with a forced smile: "Zhengting must be bored at home, but it's really not a good day to go out. Let's wait until tomorrow when the weather is better."

Lu Zhengting felt uneasy, as if his whole family knew what had happened but refused to tell him, keeping him completely in the dark.

Perhaps this matter isn't very important, and his family felt there was no need to tell him, or they didn't want him to worry about it.

But his tightly furrowed brows just wouldn't relax.

Brigade Headquarters

After several people carried Tong Jiaojiao's body inside, they placed it in the courtyard of the brigade headquarters. Many villagers rushed to watch, examining the state of Tong Jiaojiao's death and discussing the cause of her death.

Opinions varied, and there was much commotion.

The battalion commander finally managed to get them all driven away, bringing peace to the battalion headquarters.

He frowned and discussed with the other squad leaders how to handle the situation.

Lin Qingyan said, "Captain, when my mother-in-law and I were going home last night, we saw Tong Jiaojiao come out from behind a haystack. Before she came out, we also saw a dark figure come out from behind the same haystack, but that person ran too fast and it was too dark, so we couldn't see who it was."

Later, we found that Tong Jiaojiao had entered a villager's house and hadn't come out for a long time, so we left. Since Tong Jiaojiao had just miscarried today, I have a guess: perhaps the person who got her pregnant didn't want her to give birth, fearing it would affect them, so they wanted her to have an abortion. But something uncontrollable happened in the process—perhaps intentional murder, perhaps accidental killing—in any case, Tong Jiaojiao is dead.