Chapter 130 Breaking into the Village

With torches blazing, the group stormed into the village entrance of the neighboring brigade.

The commotion startled the villagers on night watch, who grabbed their weapons and rushed out.

"What are you doing?! Bringing so many people into the village in the middle of the night, looking for a fight?"

Before Liu Zhixia could speak, a hot-headed young man next to her shouted, "Are they here to steal our grain? I heard they were digging up wild vegetables like crazy the other day, there must be a famine! Quick! Go get the brigade leader! Call the militia company too!"

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Zhang Xiuying was anxious to explain, but Liu Zhixia grabbed her arm.

"Mother, don't panic. We have nothing to hide. It would be better if they called the brigade leader."

Zhang Xiuying was taken aback, then realized. That's right! This is their territory; with the brigade leader involved, things will be much easier, and finding the right people will be much simpler!

A short while later, the brigade leader, wearing a coat, hurriedly arrived with a group of militiamen.

"What's going on? Who dares to cause trouble?"

By the firelight, the captain sized up the Liu family and frowned slightly: "You look familiar...you seem to be the former in-laws of the Shen family?"

Zhang Xiuying quickly stepped forward, her tone sincere: "Captain, we're not here to cause trouble! My eldest grandson is missing, and someone saw with their own eyes that the two Shen brothers kidnapped him!"

"What?! The child has been kidnapped?!"

Upon hearing this, the captain's eyes widened in surprise.

Aunt Zhou squeezed through the crowd, her voice urgent yet measured: "Comrade Captain, I'm the women's director of the next brigade. I can testify that what they're saying is true! It's a matter of life and death! We're here to find our child, not to fight. The child was indeed taken away by the Shen family, and we have to hurry and rescue them! If the Shen family really does something heinous, won't the blame ultimately fall on our brigade?"

These words struck a nerve with the brigade leader. In those days, if a brigade had a heinous case of child abduction, the whole village would be implicated, and they could forget about being recognized for any merits or awards.

The captain made a decisive decision, waving his hand: "Let's go! I'll take you to the Shen family! We must get to the bottom of this tonight!"

The group arrived at the Shen family's door in a grand procession, and the captain stepped forward and banged on the door.

"Old Shen! Open the door! The brigade is checking people!"

After knocking for a long time, the door finally creaked open a crack. When Mr. Shen peeked out and saw the scene at the door, he turned pale with fright.

"B-Captain, what are you doing? Bringing so many people so late at night? My family are all law-abiding citizens, we haven't done anything illegal or disorderly."

The captain sneered, "I haven't even interrogated you yet, and you're already trying to clear your name? Don't you know whether you're a law-abiding citizen or not?"

Mr. Shen's heart skipped a beat. He lowered his head, not daring to look at anyone, and forced a smile: "Then... what exactly is it?"

The captain turned and pointed at the Liu family behind him: "The Liu family's eldest grandson is missing! Someone saw it was your two good-for-nothing sons who did it! Where are the eldest and second sons? Call them out!"

When Shen's father looked up, he met the fiery eyes of Zhang Xiuying and Liu Shouren. He immediately became emboldened and turned the tables on them: "It's you again! You can't even keep an eye on your own children, so you come to my house to blame me?"

At this moment, Shen Hongmei rushed out of the house with disheveled hair, grabbed Liu Shouren's arm, and said in a trembling voice, "What? The child is missing? Dabao is missing?! Where's Xiangyang? Why didn't he keep an eye on the child?!"

Judging from her panicked appearance, it didn't seem like she was acting.

A moment of silence fell over the people around them. Shen Hongmei panicked even more and turned to Liu Zhixia: "Little sister! Say something! How is Dabao?"

Lu Xiaohui stepped out from behind Liu Zhixia, her eyes icy: "Stop acting. I saw with my own eyes your two younger brothers kidnap Dabao. Shen Hongmei, what are you pretending to be innocent for?"

Upon seeing Lu Xiaohui, Shen Hongmei's eyes instantly erupted with hatred, and she pounced on her like a madwoman.

"You're talking nonsense! That's my own flesh and blood! How could my brother possibly kidnap my son?! It must be you! Your Lu family stole the fake formula and lost everything, so you're holding a grudge and seeking revenge! Tell me! Where is my son?!"

Seeing that Shen Hongmei was about to lose control, her mother suddenly rushed out, grabbed her tightly, and dragged her into the house while shouting, "She's gone mad! She's gone mad! Get her inside and calm her down! The Liu family's child really isn't here! You've got the wrong person!"

"I won't go in! I want to find Da Bao!" Shen Hongmei struggled desperately, but was forcibly dragged into the house by her mother.

Father Shen glared fiercely at Lu Xiaohui, his eyes filled with resentment. If it weren't for this brat stealing their business, the Shen family wouldn't have ended up in this state.

However, the way Shen's mother was so eager to drag Shen Hongmei away made Liu Zhixia feel a strong sense of unease.

There's definitely something fishy going on here!

Shen's father rolled his eyes and said to the captain with a forced smile, "Captain, this is clearly a misunderstanding. The Liu family couldn't keep an eye on their child and let the traffickers kidnap him. That damned girl from the Lu family has a grudge against us, so she's just taking advantage of the situation to pin this on us."

The captain frowned slightly: "Even if there was a grudge, you can't just accuse someone of such a serious crime like that, can you?"

Shen's father spread his hands, looking utterly shameless: "Captain, look closely by the firelight, she's Lu Jianping's daughter from next door! If there are human traffickers in their village, how can Lu Jianping, the captain, not be responsible? By dragging the trouble to our brigade, he can both settle his personal score and protect his own father—a brilliant two-birds-with-one-stone move! Without real evidence, you think you can pin the blame on my Shen family? No way! Come back to us when you have evidence. We're taking a break now, don't bother seeing us out!"

After saying that, he slammed the door shut, leaving everyone standing outside.

The sound of bolting came from inside the courtyard. Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Lu Xiaohui stamped her feet anxiously: "Captain! Don't believe his nonsense! I swear on my honor, it really is those two bastards from the Shen family! I recognize their clothes, they were wearing the same clothes they wore when they came to cause trouble in our village last time, the stains from being splashed with excrement are still there! I'd recognize them even if they were ashes!"

The captain raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and led them to a secluded corner.

"I have a general understanding of the situation. Comrade Lu identified the Shen brothers as suspects, but the problem now is—there is no evidence."

Lu Xiaohui was about to retort when Liu Zhixia grabbed her arm and said, "Don't rush, let the captain finish speaking."

The captain nodded approvingly: "We made such a big commotion just now, and the Shen brothers didn't show up, which means they're not home and are most likely still hiding outside. Judging from Shen Hongmei's reaction just now, it seems like she really doesn't know about this, so the child is probably not in the Shen family's house either. If we force our way in now, we won't find anyone, and we'll only alert them and make them more prepared."

Aunt Zhou's expression turned serious: "So you mean..."

The captain pondered for a moment: "Kidnapping a child is either for money or revenge. If it's for money, the child is not in immediate danger. I suggest we don't act rashly. I've already arranged for people to keep an eye on the Shen family. As soon as those two brothers show their faces, we'll take them down immediately! As for searching the mountain, we'll have to rely on our team, since we know the terrain well. Your team next door shouldn't run around, lest, as Old Man Shen said, it provokes conflict between the two teams and makes things worse."

Liu Zhixia nodded slightly in agreement: "The brigade leader is right. Old Shen's words just now were meant to stir up conflict within the brigade and divert attention. This is their brigade's territory, so we still need the help of the villagers."