Inside the main hall of the Xia family home, however, there was a heavy and oppressive atmosphere, as if a violent storm was about to break out, but then stopped abruptly at the edge of its eruption, leaving only a suffocating silence.

Old Man Xia lay helplessly on the kang (a heated brick bed). His legs were already broken and he was paralyzed in bed. Now he was trembling like a candle in the wind, and every part of him was shaking.

His once bright and piercing eyes were now cloudy, filled with fear and bewilderment, which evoked pity in those who saw them.

Grandma Xia slumped on a stool like a lump of mud, her body convulsing from excessive grief and fear.

Tears of fear streamed down her wrinkled face as she muttered, "What are we going to do? Our family has always been honest and law-abiding. How could we possibly have any reactionary books? Why is God torturing us like this? What sins have we committed?"

Suppressing his fear, Old Man Xia shakily raised his hand, pointed at Xia Jianjun who stood bewildered to the side, and ordered in a trembling voice, "Jianjun, quickly search inside and outside the house, and burn anything that looks unclean! Hurry up..."

Before he could finish speaking, a noisy commotion suddenly came from afar.

Immediately following was the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground and glass shattering, a cacophony of sounds like the roar of a demon, instantly breaking the deathly silence inside the room.

Along with this ear-piercing noise, there was an even more violent and brutal sound of the door being kicked.

With a loud crash, the tightly closed door was kicked open, sending splinters flying everywhere.

Then, several men wearing red armbands stormed into the house like fierce demons.

The leader, a burly man with eyes bulging like copper bells, roared, "Someone reported that your Xia family is hiding English books and has reactionary thoughts. Confess to me honestly!"

Xia Jianjun walked out of the house, trembling, and stammered, "Comrade, this must be a misunderstanding. We are all honest and law-abiding people, how could we do such a thing?"

"Enough with the nonsense! Search!" The men in red armbands ignored all explanations and began searching the room.

The drawer was suddenly pulled open, and its contents were dumped onto the floor with a clatter; the cabinet door was violently flung open, and clothes were thrown everywhere.

Seeing the group's unreasonable and rude behavior, Li Cao rushed forward without hesitation, trying to stop their evil deeds, and shouted urgently, "You can't do this! This is our home! How can you smash things like this? These are all our hard-earned possessions!"

However, one of the men wearing a red armband looked impatient and, without even glancing at Li Cao, roughly stretched out a hand and shoved him hard.

Poor Li Cao was caught off guard and lost her balance instantly, falling heavily to the ground.

Meanwhile, Xia's two daughters were terrified by what they had just witnessed. They huddled tightly in the corner of the room, trembling all over.

Those pairs of eyes, filled with fear and helplessness, stared intently at the people who were wantonly destroying their homes. Tears welled up in their eyes like a burst dam, but they were so overwhelmed with grief that they didn't even have the courage to cry out loud.

Just then, Xia Wan, who had been hiding behind the crowd and coldly observing the farce, slightly raised the corners of her mouth, revealing a cold smile that was hard for others to detect.

She thought to herself: Hmph, it's finally their turn! You see, there was never any English books in the Xia family originally; she had secretly placed them there yesterday.

I remember the last time I passed by a scrap yard, I glanced at these English books and thought they might come in handy someday, so I casually put them into my special space. I never expected they would actually come in handy today.

This is exactly what's coming in handy now!

The red-armband-wearing men continued their frantic search and finally found a tattered English book in Old Man Xia's drawer.

The leader, wearing a red armband, looked as if he had discovered a new continent, proudly holding up the book and shouting, "Look, what's this? You still dare to say you haven't hidden any reactionary books!"

The old man's face was ashen, and his lips trembled as he murmured, "This...this isn't ours...how...how could our house have something like this?"

He stared wide-eyed at what was before him in disbelief, as if it were some terrifying monster.

"Hmph, not yours? This was found in your house, the evidence is conclusive, and you old geezer still dare to deny it?"

Those wearing red armbands roared aggressively, giving Old Man Xia no chance to explain.

Without saying a word, they firmly detained all the members of the Xia family.

Xia Chunxi, standing to the side, was already terrified, her face drained of color from her already pale complexion. She screamed in terror, "I don't know! This really has nothing to do with me! Please, please let me go!"

She tried to distance herself from the situation, but no one paid any attention.

At this moment, Xia Jianjun and his family members finally snapped out of their initial daze.

They struggled desperately, trying to break free from the red armbands' grasp, while shouting, "Comrades, this really has nothing to do with us! We separated from our father a long time ago! You can't wrong innocent people!"

Their voices were filled with anxiety and fear, but their explanations seemed so powerless in the face of the stern gazes of the red armband-wearers.

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