Chapter 46

Ever since the quota for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University went to the Rongshan Brigade, the news has been spreading like wildfire.

The people in the brigade didn't care much about it. The educated youth did a lot of running around for this matter, and the homes of the production team cadres were much busier than usual.

Some people even went to the team leader to get a letter of introduction and went directly to the town or commune to actively strive for this quota.

In comparison, the locals of Rongshan Brigade were much calmer. After all, this quota was reserved for the educated youth.

There was a reason for such care. In previous years, many people from other brigades were able to return to the city. Either they were given quotas by the higher authorities, or the youth educated found ways to return to the city themselves.

Or those who have outstanding talents and perform well will be transferred to work in government agencies or factories in towns or communes.

Their Rongshan Brigade seemed to have been forgotten. After so many years and with so many educated youth, only a handful of them were able to leave Rongshan Brigade. This resulted in their brigade having the largest number of educated youth among the nearby brigades, with a total of thirty-eight people.

Among them, five educated youth married and settled down in the local area, such as primary school teacher Sun Qin.

Most of the others also have positions in the team, such as scorers, team leaders, etc.

However, most of the educated youth still wanted to return to their hometowns, so they actively strived for the quota to return to the city.

Being able to attend a workers-peasants-soldiers university is everyone's highest dream, which means a bright future and guaranteed work and life.

Unlike those educated youth who only got the quota to return to the city, their future is uncertain.

Because there are not enough jobs in the city, they may not be able to find a job after returning home, especially for families with many children. Parents have limited jobs and cannot give all of them to their children, which means they will face livelihood problems when they return to the city.

But it's different after going to university. You will definitely be assigned a job after graduation, and it's a stable job.

Tang Qingqing also heard the rumor that the brigade was going to give the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University quota to Zhai Hongyi. It was said that this was very likely because Zhai Hongyi had been commended several times and the commune leaders had heard of his name.

Tang Qingqing finished the homework assigned by Zhai Hongyi and called Zhai Hongyi out of the house to avoid disturbing Wang Heizi and Tang Qiaoqiao who were studying.

"Brother, are you going to college?"

"That's all just rumors. The brigade officials didn't even talk to me."

"If I talk to you, will you read it?"

Zhai Hongyi raised his eyebrows: "You don't want me to study?"

It is so difficult to get a place in the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University that no one has thought about not taking this option.

Tang Qingqing's question clearly had another meaning.

Tang Qingqing also realized that it was not right to ask this question. After all, according to the information everyone had now, unless someone was stupid, who would give up such a good opportunity? By asking this question, wasn't she exposing her true thoughts?

She learned from the book that the college entrance examination would be resumed next year, and based on Zhai Hongyi's grades, it was very likely that he would be admitted to university based on his own abilities.

However, the situation became a bit awkward for the students from the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, because the qualifications of the students varied greatly, and some of them were recommended without even knowing a single word.

Therefore, their abilities are average and they cannot learn any real skills.

It's okay for college students in the past, but it would be very awkward for these students who have taken the college entrance examination to collide with each other, which would affect their future promotion and so on.

Although Tang Qingqing felt that based on Zhai Hongyi's abilities, these would not hinder his progress, a more "orthodox" background would definitely be beneficial to his development.

And if he does well in the exam, he can go to a better school.

A good school not only has a strong faculty and a good learning atmosphere, but more importantly, it allows you to build your own network of relationships during your college years.

But Tang Qingqing didn't want Zhai Hongyi to give up this opportunity. First, she couldn't explain the source of her information; second, what if Zhai Hongyi failed the exam?

Although the treatment of being recommended to a university and being admitted to a university through the college entrance examination is different, at least you will be a college student when you graduate, and you can change your destiny.

If Zhai Hongyi failed the list, Tang Qingqing's abrupt obstruction might ruin Zhai Hongyi's future.

After all, nothing is 100% certain in this world. What if the test questions happen to be Zhai Hongyi's blind spot, or something unexpected happens during the exam and he cannot go, etc., he may miss the opportunity to go to university.

Tang Qingqing couldn't bear such a big responsibility, so she quickly waved her hand and denied it:

"How can that be possible? It's such a rare opportunity."

Zhai Hongyi looked at the mountains in the distance. This place was far away from the village and life was very inconvenient, but the scenery was very beautiful.

The picturesque scenery at the door is refreshing.

"So do you think I should go?"

Tang Qingqing was very conflicted. This choice was really too difficult and nothing she said would be appropriate.

"So entangled? Can't bear to leave me?"

A faint blush appeared on Tang Qingqing's fair face. Since she woke up, she no longer took on excessive work as she did before, even though she was dissatisfied.

Although I often participate in the production work of the brigade, compared with herding sheep under the scorching sun before, I rarely expose myself to the sun for a long time.

This made her skin gradually return to its original color and become whiter and fairer.

Together with an egg and a cup of goat's milk almost every day, her nutrition gradually kept up. Not only did she become rounder, but she also grew taller. In less than a year, she grew more than ten centimeters. Now she is 1.53 meters tall, and looks like a young girl, no longer childish.

This makes her more convincing than before when she is hired to track.

When Tang Qingqing heard Zhai Hongyi say this, she didn't know how to respond.

Zhai Hongyi also realized that this statement seemed a bit frivolous, so he directly changed the subject and said:

"I'm not going."

Zhai Hongyi's attitude was firm, which reminded Tang Qingqing of what he had said before.

"Brother, you don't really want to stay here forever, do you?"

They have known each other for such a long time. Although Zhai Hongyi often looks like he doesn't care about anything, he is actually just like what Wang Heizi said - a depressed person.

He is not a man who would settle for less. Since the beginning of spring, he has started to trade in all kinds of things.

He dug up eggs, duck eggs, even goat milk, and wild vegetables from the mountains and sold them on the black market in the commune. He was full of energy and obviously not the kind of person who was content with just doing his job.

Zhai Hongyi doesn't know where the future is headed. Now that he has such a good opportunity, he doesn't want to seize it. What is he thinking?

Tang Qingqing was very curious. After knowing him for such a long time, she probably knew that Zhai Hongyi's behavior had a lot to do with his family.

Although his family cares about him and often sends him gifts, things are not as simple as they seem.

Zhai Hongyi remained silent, looking into the distance.

Tang Qingqing saw his expression and knew that he had no intention of speaking.

Tang Qingqing chatted with Wang Heizi privately, "I really don't know what Brother Yi is thinking."

Wang Heizi didn't care: "He has his own ideas in mind. He must have his reasons for doing this. Even if he gives up the opportunity this time, he won't do badly in the future."

Wang Heizi was the person who least wanted Zhai Hongyi to leave. Ever since he met Zhai Hongyi, he felt that he was a completely different person.

The most significant difference is that I now have more money in my pocket, and by learning from him, I am gradually finding some fun in it.

Wang Heizi now knows quite a few words and is particularly good at math. He feels that his brain has become much smarter.

"Do you think our team will really give the spot to Brother Yi?"

Wang Heizi shook his head: "Who knows? Every time the quota is announced, it is very lively and often a false alarm. Although Brother Yi often makes contributions, he is also often accused of being a liberal and individualist.

There are so many educated youth in our team, many of whom have performed well, and many of them have been there for many years. Brother Yi has been in the team for too short a time, so it is not certain that he will be punished."

The eldest master is the captain Wang Heizi, who is still somewhat aware.

He knew his grandfather's temperament very well and knew he would not consider issues from only one aspect.

Zhai Hongyi has many advantages, but his shortcomings are also very obvious.

Every time I work, I finish my job and won't force myself to do more.

As for the current trend of promoting dedication, the fact that they have not been criticized is due to their tolerance.

If they really intended to give the spot to Zhai Hongyi, they wouldn't have discussed it for so long without any result.

"Heizi, you should prepare to go back to school and continue your studies."

Wang Heizi glared: "Why are you bringing this up with me?"

"I think Brother Yi will definitely leave us in the future. I will also go out to study, and you will stay in the team alone."

Wang Heizi rarely refuted, as he also didn't want their iron triangle to break up.

He used to live a confusing life, but after being with Zhai Hongyi and Tang Qingqing, he finally found the direction to work hard.

Whether doing business with Zhai Hongyi or tracking with Tang Qingqing, it is much more interesting than the previous work.

In fact, doing these things is not that easy, it is very hard and scary.

But he is happy to do it. No matter how hard or tiring it is, he feels it is sweet when things are done well.

Tang Qingqing advised: "Your family is able to provide you with education, you must cherish it. I am telling you clearly that as long as you study hard, you may be able to escape from this ditch in the future."

Wang Heizi believed that Tang Qingqing was not a boastful person, and he fell into deep thought.

He really didn't want to stay in this mountain valley. He also wanted to go to the city and see what the outside world that the educated youth talked about was like.

In his opinion, the commune was already a very beautiful and desirable place, but they said it was nothing compared to those big cities.

"But I learned a lot more from Brother Yi than I did from school."

"The teaching staff in our brigade is not good. There are one class per grade or even several classes. No one attends classes together. Teacher Sun is not a good teacher, but the old principal is much better. When you have mastered the knowledge of the third grade, you can also take the old principal's class.

Let's take the entrance exam for the junior high school in the commune together. Don't you like going to the commune? It will be more convenient for you to go to junior high school."

There is also a junior high school in the town, but the teaching quality cannot be compared with that of the commune.

Tang Qingqing's first goal is to go to the commune junior high school, so even though she has finished the fifth grade classes, she has not thought about taking the junior high school entrance exam this year.

She wanted to use more time to consolidate her basic knowledge and strive to be admitted to the commune junior high school next year.

Zhai Hongyi now not only teaches around the textbook knowledge points, but also intersperses other knowledge. He also teaches her English and attaches great importance to oral English.

In the words of Zhai Hongyi, language is a tool for communication, and being able to speak and listen is the most important thing.

Therefore, Tang Qingqing dared to speak when she started learning English, and she dared to express her meaning even if she said something wrong.

Wang Heizi thought it was fun and started to learn along with them, and Tang Qiaoqiao didn't fall behind either.

Among the three, Wang Heizi is the one with the greatest talent for languages. He is bolder than Tang Qingqing and Tang Qiaoqiao, and learns better. Tang Qiaoqiao learns the slowest because she is the most shy and is afraid of being embarrassed if she says something wrong.

Wang Heizi thought seriously, "If Brother Yi doesn't leave, I will continue to study with him. I really don't want to go into the classroom. As soon as I enter, I feel a headache."

“That’s because the previous teacher didn’t teach well.”

"I don't have a good impression of the school anyway, so I'll just hang out with Brother Yi for now."

Tang Qingqing didn't force it, because he could learn a lot from Zhai Hongyi anyway.

The primary school in their brigade is really too crowded. Children in the lower grades are difficult to manage and need the teachers' patient teaching.

But Sun Qin’s teaching was really bad, and she had a stern face all day long, as if someone owed her money.

Although there is no abuse, the attitude is really not good.

The worst thing is that she often teaches in a chaotic way.

When Tang Qingqing was in her class before, she heard that she made several mistakes.

She raised objections at the time and was reprimanded.

Tang Qingqing also reported the situation to the old principal, but to no avail.

Sun Qin is a regular teacher, so we can't fire her. At most we can say a few words to her, but if she ignores us, there's nothing we can do.

The old principal wanted to exchange with Sun Qin, but Sun Qin was unwilling, and she was not capable of teaching senior grades.

So, that's all we can do.

The learning enthusiasm of the children in the team was delayed by such an irresponsible and inadequate teacher.

As long as the quota for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University was not confirmed, the educated youth were still worried, even though everyone said that the chance would probably go to Zhai Hongyi.

But the results have not been announced, so everyone feels that they still have hope.

During this period, Zhai Hongyi received more complaints than usual, saying that he was too liberal and individualistic and did not obey the organization's arrangements.

Zhai Hongyi turned a deaf ear to these criticisms. It was not the first time he had been told this, so he just did what he had to do.

However, he still reduced the frequency of his trips to the black market to avoid getting into trouble.

Wang Heizi was very angry about this: "Why is there no action after discussing it for so long? Our brother Yi is almost a rat crossing the street."

It’s not that Zhai Hongyi failed to express his determination to take root in this land, but no one believed him.

Because when there were quotas for returning to the city, some educated youth also vowed that they would not leave and would work with the vast number of peasant comrades to build a beautiful countryside. They wanted to contribute themselves to this land.

He also claimed that he would not leave even if the spot fell on him.

As a result, the spot really fell to him. What he said before was like nonsense. He rolled up his blanket and ran away regardless of how others mocked him.

But just for a quota to return to the city, they had to use such a strategy to paralyze others and then act secretly, not to mention the quota for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University.

So even if Zhai Hongyi really thought so, no one believed him, and instead thought he was too scheming.

"There's still no news from your master? Why is it taking so long to discuss?" Tang Qingqing asked.

"Who knows? Maybe there are too many qualified candidates, and the brigade officers haven't discussed it yet."

Who gets the quota to return to the city is not decided by one person. It is the result of discussion among the cadres of the entire production team, and then sent to the higher-ups for review. It will only be decided after it is approved.

After the candidates are determined, they will be announced for a period of time. If any questions arise, they can be raised in a timely manner to ensure fairness.

The fairness of the Rongshan Brigade chief is also reflected here. He always follows procedures, unlike some brigades where the chiefs have the final say and there is no democratic election at all.

Wang Heizi was worried: "Brother Yi, do you think you will be smothered to death by someone using a pillow when you sleep at night?"

Zhai Hongyi rolled his eyes at him and said, "Have you memorized your lessons today? You are so free now. I think you have too little homework."

Wang Heizi wailed and quickly begged for mercy from Zhai Hongyi.

The issue of university admissions had not yet been decided when a major incident occurred in the brigade - the female educated youth Jiang Pei'e was raped!

The sun rises quickly in the summer mornings, and it is already slightly bright at around five o'clock.

Many villagers were already up at this time. Some went to chop wood and look after the crops, while the women took their clothes to the river to wash.

Many people started to move before the sun rose.

Aunt Osmanthus was old and her sleep was not as good as before, so before everyone got up, she carried a large basin of clothes to the river to wash.

It's summer now, and I sweat a lot while working every day. If I don't take a shower every day, salt particles will appear on my clothes.

Aunt Guihua was a very clean person, so she would let the family members, young and old, take a bath and change clothes every day, and then she would take them to the river to wash them early the next morning.

On this day, Aunt Osmanthus went to the river in the dark as usual.

She is very familiar with this road and knows exactly where the pitfalls are.

Therefore, with the help of very weak light, she could walk on the path without falling.

When you reach the river, you can see light gradually appearing on the horizon.

But on this day she actually saw someone who arrived earlier than her. She was shocked at first, worrying that it was something dirty.

Although she is always against feudal superstition, Aunt Guihua still believes that ghosts do exist.

Aunt Guihua walked forward cautiously, wanting to see what that figure was and being prepared to run away at any time.

Before she could see clearly, she heard a "plop" sound, and Aunt Guihua shouted quickly: "Someone fell into the water, someone fell into the water!"

Aunt Guihua could now be sure that a living person had jumped into the water.

There was no one nearby, so she quickly put down the basin in her hand and jumped into the water to rescue the person without thinking twice.

For convenience, women also go to the river to bathe in the summer.

Everyone would just meet at a fixed time and go to a fixed place to take a shower. Men were not allowed to get close at that time, and if they were caught they would be beaten up.

This is a long-standing custom, and it is practiced in many places with water, so Aunt Osmanthus also knows how to swim.

The river is not deep. It is just a small river with a width of no more than six or seven meters, and the deepest place is no more than one meter but less than two meters.

This was when there was plenty of rain. By winter, the rain was not even knee-deep in some areas.

Aunt Guihua quickly found the person who was diving. At first, she was almost pulled down by the person. She was so anxious that she kicked around in the water and grabbed the person's hair.

Aunt Guihua was used to doing farm work. After a lot of effort, she finally rescued the person who fell into the water.

As soon as she got ashore, Aunt Guihua recognized who the person was. It was the female educated youth Jiang Pei'e.

Aunt Guihua squeezed out the water in Jiang Pei'e's stomach, and she gradually regained consciousness.

When she saw Aunt Guihua, Jiang Pei'e burst into tears.

"Auntie, please let me die. I have no face to live anymore!"

When Aunt Guihua heard this, she knew something was wrong. Something serious must have happened, otherwise why would a grown-up girl jump into the river?

Under what circumstances would a woman say something like this? You can tell what happened without even thinking about it.

Aunt Guihua quickly comforted Jiang Pei'e: "My dear, we can't think like that. You should think about your parents. If they knew that their daughter died outside, they would be so sad. We can't do this, suffer ourselves and let others be proud of it!"

Jiang Pei'e cried miserably, "But, but what should I do?"

"It's nothing. Just think of it as a dog bite. Tell me who bullied you first. Aunt Guihua will teach him a lesson for you!"

"I have no idea."

Aunt Guihua was startled: "What?"

"It was too dark and I couldn't see who it was. I was also knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I found... wuwu——"

Aunt Guihua slapped her thigh suddenly. This made things even more troublesome. She didn't know who the bad guy was. What if she couldn't catch him and he committed the same crime again?

Aunt Guihua also has a daughter, who is very pretty, and she is also afraid that her daughter might encounter something like this.

Looking at the wound on Jiang Pei'e's head, the man was really cruel! It's still bleeding.

She no longer cared about the clothes to be washed and took Jiang Pei'e to find the team leader.

Jiang Pei'e was unhappy at first, worried that everyone would find out and look down on her.

"You are not afraid of death, so why are you afraid of these things? Besides, when you return to the city, who will know what happened here? I heard that some educated youth had married, and then they returned to the city and didn't recognize each other anymore. Aren't they living well now?"

Aunt Guihua was very strong. She bandaged Jiang Pei'e's wound a few times and then dragged her to find the captain.

The captain had just woken up early in the morning when he heard about this incident in his own team. He didn't even notice that the cigarette holder in his hand had fallen.

"God damn it! If I catch that bastard doing this, I'll skin him alive!"

These are educated youth sent by the organization. If anything happens to them, not only will they lose their position as team leader, they will also be punished.

There were many cases of educated youth, especially female educated youth, being bullied by local people in remote areas, and some brigades in their commune had also experienced disturbances.

After the organization found out, they were very angry and punished those people severely, which calmed down a lot.

If something happened to their brigade, the brigade commander would be furious just thinking about it.

Fortunately, Aunt Guihua rescued the person and at least no one was killed.

The captain didn't care what would happen in the future. The most important thing at the moment was to find the person who was so audacious.

If such evildoers were not caught, the young wives and girls in their team would not dare to go out.

But Jiang Pei'e knew nothing about anything. She couldn't describe what the man looked like or what kind of person he was.

Jiang Pei'e had just been injured and was in a state of panic. As a man, the captain didn't want to ask too many details for fear of upsetting her, so he asked Aunt Guihua to stay with her first.

Aunt Guihua saved Jiang Pei'e and helped her apply medicine and bandage her wounds. Now she is very dependent on Aunt Guihua and is filled with fear and distrust when she sees other people.

Jiang Pei'e also didn't want to go back to the educated youth center, for she was worried that people would see that she was not clean anymore and would laugh at or look down on her.

The captain let him stay in his home and placed her in his own girl's room.

Jiang Pei'e curled up into a small ball, her eyes were empty and lifeless, and she looked extremely pitiful.

Seeing her like this, the captain couldn't help but sigh deeply.

He also has a concubine. If he knew which bastard was bullying his daughter, he would skin him alive.

This matter concerned Jiang Pei'e's reputation, so the captain did not make it public and asked everyone not to spread it. He then went to find Tang Qingqing.

Tang Qingqing frowned when she knew about this, "How can there be such a vicious person! Uncle, don't worry, I will definitely find him out!"

"We can just investigate this matter in private and keep it secret if possible. If the news gets out, I'm afraid Jiang Zhiqing will have to jump into the river again."

Tang Qingqing nodded: "Captain, I know the severity of the situation."

Tang Qingqing originally wanted to find Jiang Pei'e to ask about the situation at that time.

But the captain said that Jiang Pei'e was in a trance because of the fright, so it was not appropriate to ask her now, so he told Tang Qingqing about the situation at that time.

"She was raped last night and then knocked unconscious. When she woke up, it was already several hours later."

The captain, a grown man, felt awkward talking to a little girl like Tang Qingqing about these things, so he simply asked Aunt Guihua to come over and answer Tang Qingqing's questions.

She has always been with Jiang Pei'e and knows more.

Tang Qingqing asked curiously, "Why did Jiang Zhiqing go out alone so late at night?"

"She said she was going to the restroom. She had a stomachache and was embarrassed to disturb others, so she went alone."

Tang Qingqing nodded. If she wanted to go to the toilet, she didn't have to run too far because there was a urine bucket in the room.

But if you have a stomachache, there is nothing you can do but go to a toilet farther away.

The toilets were also built by the educated youth themselves. At first, they thought the abandoned dry toilets were too smelly, so they built the toilets farther away.

"Did anyone know when she went out?"

"Everyone was asleep at the time, and her movements were relatively quiet, so no one should have noticed."

It was now daybreak, and the people at the educated youth site had woken up, but no one noticed that Jiang Pei'e had not returned home all night, and no one came to report it, so it was estimated that no one realized that she had been in trouble.

"When did she go to the bathroom?"

"She didn't have a watch, so she couldn't tell the exact time. I guess it was around 11 or 12 at night."

The educated youth had a lot of activities and usually went to bed later than the villagers, but usually no later than ten o'clock.

Jiang Pei'e had just fallen asleep and before she could fall asleep she felt uncomfortable in her stomach and got up from the bed.

The Rongshan Brigade was relatively safe. The brigade commander was quite strict and there were no idle men who liked to harass the female educated youth.

Jiang Pei'e didn't think too much about it. She went to the toilet with toilet paper because her stomach hurt so badly.

Now is the busy season, and the educated youth are working hard to impress themselves in order to get a place in the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University.

Everyone was very tired during this period and slept later than usual, so Jiang Pei'e didn't feel comfortable waking others up.

Unexpectedly, something happened when she went to the toilet in the middle of the night.

"Was she first raped and then knocked unconscious, or was she knocked unconscious and then raped?"

"She said that when she came out of the toilet, a big man covered her mouth from behind, held a knife against her, and dragged her into the haystack. She just wanted to struggle, but she was knocked unconscious. When she woke up, she found that her clothes were not properly put on."

Tang Qingqing nodded, "Okay, I understand. I'll go to the scene to check the situation now."

Aunt Guihua: "Qingqing, you must catch that beast as soon as possible, otherwise I will feel uneasy."

"Aunt Guihua, don't worry, I won't let the criminal go unpunished."

Aunt Guihua breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but praise: "As expected of someone who has been to school, the way you speak is different now."

Tang Qingqing first went to the toilet for educated youths and could smell a foul odor as soon as she approached.

But for Tang Qingqing, she was already used to it. She calmly covered her nose and checked the footprints on the ground.

The educated youth didn't know what had happened yet. When they saw that the toilet was sealed and temporarily unusable, and Tang Qingqing was squatting there and staring at the ground, they immediately realized that something must have happened.

"God Eyes, what happened? Why are you here?"

At first, Tang Qingqing didn't know that someone was talking to her. She concentrated on checking the situation on the ground and ignored the sounds from the outside world.

After being called twice, Tang Qingqing realized that he was talking to her.

Tang Qingqing didn't explain, she just said, "Let's go to another place."

"Can you please tell me what happened first? How did you end up investigating the case at the toilet door? Could it be that someone is stealing feces?"

As soon as the male educated youth finished speaking, everyone couldn't help but laugh.

Although dung is a very good fertilizer, sometimes they would fight over the cow dung on the ground. But it is funny to think about people stealing dung.

Tang Qingqing didn't answer and continued to check the situation on the ground.

The team leader came over quickly and sent all the educated youth away, and the scene returned to normal.

Captain: "How is it, did you find anything?"

"Not yet." Tang Qingqing stared at the ground, looking very carefully.

He would go forward to check every bent grass and overturned stone.

"Then you stay here and watch. Take your time. There's no rush. This matter can't be made public. I've sent Zhai Zhiqing and Heizi away. I'll have the director of the women's department come over to keep you company."

"No, I can do it alone. There's no need to go through so much trouble in our team."

Now they had entered the busy production phase, and the captain did not insist when she refused. He just gave her a few instructions and left.

Tang Xingqiang got the news quickly and sneaked over. Normally, Tang Qingqing never brought him along when she went to investigate a case, saying that he was too young, and if she brought him along, people would be even less likely to believe that she had the ability to track down someone.

Tang Xingqiang always felt very regretful, because he had heard that Tang Qingqing always treated him to delicious food and drinks.

Look at Tang Qingqing now, she is so tall and her face is round and beautiful, isn’t it all due to the food she eats?

He just wished that he could grow as tall as Zhai Hongyi overnight, but no matter how much he prayed, he was still a dwarf.

Now that he knew Tang Qingqing was investigating a case in the village, he immediately slipped over.

"Sister, let me help you."

Tang Qingqing was speechless: "It stinks in here, why are you here to join in the fun?"

Tang Xingqiang pinched his nose and said, "Wang Heizi and Zhai Zhiqing were assigned to work, and I saw that you had no help, so I came here. You don't have to be too grateful, just give me some of the reward later."

"No need."

Even if Zhai Hongyi and Wang Heizi were free, Tang Qingqing felt there was no need to call them.

In her own team, Tang Qingqing felt safe and familiar with the place, so it didn't matter if she had no help.

Tang Xingqiang disagreed: "Sister, you don't know this. We haven't caught the bad guys yet. If they come back, you will be in danger if you stay here alone! I am here, at least I can help you report it."

"You know what I'm looking for?"

"I don't know. Since the news hasn't spread, it must be something that is difficult to say. Since it's difficult to say, there's no need for me to ask."

Tang Qingqing was very impressed by her younger brother, who was quite a smart guy despite his young age.

She did not chase him away because, just as Tang Xingqiang said, if the rapist turned around and shot her, no one would hear her even if she screamed for help.

In order to avoid the scene from being destroyed, the captain organized everyone to work elsewhere, and now there is no one in this area.

The footprints here are very messy, after all, this is a place everyone comes to every day.

After looking for a long time, Tang Qingqing finally found Jiang Pei'e's footprints, but did not find the man's footprints.

She followed Jiang Pei'e's footprints and soon arrived at the place where Jiang Pei'e was violated.

The originally well-stapled haystack was now in a mess. The scene must have been very intense, so the criminals knocked Jiang Pei'e unconscious.

"Sister, there is a bloody stone here!"

Tang Xingqiang pointed at the ground and shouted. Because of Tang Qingqing's instructions, he didn't dare to touch the stone.

Tang Qingqing drew a circle near the stone. Tang Xingqiang was curious: "Sister, why are you drawing a circle on the ground?"

"That way, even if we pick up the stone, we won't forget where it was before."

"What's the use of knowing the place?"

"It's better to work backwards to understand what the situation was like at the time."

Tang Qingqing checked the scene and still didn't see any suspicious footprints.

This person must have been very careful. It didn't seem like he acted on a whim or just because he met Jiang Pei'e. Otherwise, there wouldn't be no traces left at all.

But if you squat by the toilet, then you are really relying on your luck.

In most cases, people don't want to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, at most they want to go to the bathroom.

There are urine buckets in the educated youth center, so there is no need to run so far.

The educated youth ate together, and there was no possibility that Jiang Pei'e was drugged, so they expected her to come out to the toilet in the middle of the night.

Tang Qingqing could only attribute the fact to her own fame. Although the criminals might have committed crimes of passion, they were very careful, fearing that they would reveal their flaws and be tracked down by her.

Tang Qingqing did not lose heart. She slowly surveyed the surrounding area bit by bit, not missing any details.

Soon, Tang Qingqing saw a man's Huili shoe print about five or six meters away from the haystack.

The shoe print was on the back half of the right foot and was not very clear.

But this was enough to make Tang Qingqing happy, and she began to search the area more actively.

Without the assistance of Zhai Hongyi and Wang Heizi, her speed slowed down a lot. Tang Xingqiang followed her, yawning constantly out of boredom.

Originally, they thought Tang Qingqing was fooling them by asking them to observe the sheep, but now they realize how difficult this job is.

Tang Xingqiang had no interest in following the code to begin with, and after following it this time, he became even less interested and would rather die than learn it.

Tang Xingqiang saw Tang Qingqing was always circling around this area, so he stopped following her and squatted down to start playing with ants.

Meanwhile, Old Lady Zhou went to her chicken coop to check for eggs as usual, only to find that not only were there no eggs, but even the hens she had raised for a year were missing!

Old Mrs. Zhou searched around the chicken coop for a long time but saw nothing.

She hurried back to the house and asked her wife, "Mother Stone, did you touch the eggs today?"

Shitou's mother was a little unhappy when she heard this. "Mom, I didn't go near the chicken coop, so don't blame me for taking the eggs. Since I got married, I haven't been around since I got married, except for eating an egg during the confinement period."

Old Mrs. Zhou was particularly careful about the eggs in her home. They were one of the few things that farmers could exchange for money. Not only Shitou's mother, but even her eldest grandson Shitou was not allowed to get close to them.

"What's going on? Why are there no eggs today?"

"We only have two chickens at home. Isn't it normal that we can't even lay a single egg?"

The two hens in their house are quite amazing, laying at least one egg every day.

But there's always a chance that it might not be the case, and there's no certainty.

Old Mrs. Zhou was very unhappy. She had planned everything well, but today she didn't get any eggs.

"Have you seen our chickens?"

"It's in the chicken shed."

"There's only one in there, and the other one is missing."

Mother Stone wiped her hands and followed the old lady out to check the situation.

There was indeed only one chicken, and the fattest hen was missing.

At that time, a chicken was a very important property for a farmer's family.

Especially since this is a hen that is at the peak of its egg-laying period, even if someone offers to buy it, it may not be willing to sell it.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law searched for a long time but couldn't find their hen. They were very anxious.

"Where did it go?"

At this time Tang Qingqing also came here following the footprints and ran into Old Lady Zhou.

When Old Lady Zhou saw Tang Qingqing, she was very excited: "Qingqing, my chicken is missing. Can you help me find it?"

"Grandma, when did your chicken disappear?"

"It was still there last night, but it disappeared when I went to touch its eggs this morning. Stone Ma and I have been looking for it for a long time, but we can't find even a hair."

As he was talking, Stone's mother shouted, "There are chicken feathers here, they must be ours!"

Old Mrs. Zhou and Tang Qingqing hurried over and saw the chicken feather.

Tang Xingqiang was so anxious when he saw his sister being dragged over to look for prostitutes again that he stamped his feet. How could she do something else in the middle of her work?

"Sister, don't forget about this!"

Tang Qingqing ignored him and asked, "Auntie, how do you know this chicken feather belongs to your chicken?"

Old Mrs. Zhou snatched the chicken feathers and said affirmatively:

"It must be ours. Our chickens are so pretty. I can tell it's ours just by looking at the feathers."

Tang Qingqing looked at the ground, wanting to help them find clues, and saw the prints of a pair of Warrior shoes on the ground.

This shoe print belongs to the same person as the one she had seen before.