Chapter 18: Going to the County

The anxious running figure on that rainy night...

That back that was soaked when I knocked on the door of the clinic...

That voice that clumsily soothed a crying little daughter...

A blurry, distant, and slightly warm picture suddenly popped into my mind!

This brief but real impact of memory, like a blunt knife, stabbed deeply into Lin Sanquan's already rotten heart!

A huge, indescribable bitterness and...

The insignificant but real guilt that came more than ten years late, mixed with deeper fear and despair, suddenly broke his last bit of will to resist!

The madness and resentment in his eyes faded away like the tide, leaving only endless grayness and emptiness.

The clenched fists loosened powerlessly, and the body that was tense in resistance seemed to have all the bones pulled out, and it instantly went limp.

He stopped struggling and allowed the militia to tie him tightly with the rough hemp rope.

The roar in his throat turned into meaningless sobs, and turbid tears mixed with cold sweat rolled down his lifeless face without warning.

At this moment, it seemed as if all his energy and spirit had been drained away from him, leaving only an empty shell completely crushed by the past and sins.

I can no longer face looking at my daughter.

"take away!"

The old branch secretary Ma Zhenshan looked at Lin Sanquan who was completely broken down. There was no mercy in his eyes, only cold determination.

Li Tiezhu and the militiamen no longer hesitated. They tied up the completely paralyzed Lin Sanquan, the groaning Zhang Fangqin, and the curled up and groaning Lin Youcai like dragging dead dogs.

Amidst the villagers' angry curses, contemptuous pointing and rotten vegetable leaves thrown at them, they were dragged out of the trial hall in a miserable state, where they had walked into a trap and ultimately ended up in disgrace.

What awaits them will be severe punishment by law!

Fubao raised his little head in his mother's arms. His little face, hidden in the red headscarf, was so cute and pink. He clapped his hands and waved them.

Shen Lingning's heart rang with her excited squirrel cry: "Wow, today's full moon banquet is so good that it makes my breasts unobstructed! Mom, you are so handsome!"

Shen Lingning had recently gotten used to Fubao's crazy talk, so he hugged her and kissed her hard on the cheek.

She whispered, "Lin Sanquan is wrong. Mom, you, and your dad!"

As the noise and cursing gradually subsided as the escorts went away, the courtyard was filled with silence.

The sun still shines warmly, but it seems as if it has experienced a thrilling storm.

Shen Lingning's spine, which had been as tense as a string, finally relaxed slightly. A huge feeling of exhaustion and belated grief for her mother instantly swept over her. Her body swayed, and she was firmly held by Aunt Wang, who was quick-eyed and quick-handed.

"Girl... you've suffered so much... your mother... can finally close her eyes..."

Aunt Wang's voice was choked with sobs as she hugged Fubao tightly. Fubao had stopped crying at some point and was looking at his mother curiously with his big black eyes.

Shen Lingning looked at Fubao, who was naive but seemed to sense that the storm was over in Aunt Wang's arms, and then looked at the simple faces in the yard with sympathy, admiration, and expressions of lingering fear but incomparable warmth.

The tears finally burst out and slid silently across the pale cheeks.

These tears are for her mother who died in vain, for her husband who is missing, and for the homesickness that gave her the last shelter and warmth in this difficult world.

After wiping away the tears, Shen Lingning smiled and greeted everyone: "It's just right that everyone is busy with their mouths and hands, so let's eat something to replenish our body."

There were bursts of laughter in the yard: "It really can't be wasted!"

A few days later, a joint reply from the commune's public security department and the county organizing committee was quickly issued: Lin Sanquan, who had committed heinous crimes by killing his wife, stealing valuables, and extorting the martyr's family, was sentenced to death and executed immediately.

His wife and son participated in extortion, the circumstances were serious, and they were sentenced to ten years of hard labor.

Everything is settled.

Zhou Weiguo's pension and the martyr certificate with a bright red seal were solemnly handed to Shen Lingning by the old branch secretary Ma Zhenshan.

The old man patted the back of her hand with his wrinkled hands and sighed heavily, "Lingning, revenge has been taken, justice is clear. Take Fubao with you... and live a good life. We must look forward to the future. If you have any difficulties, tell me."

Shen Lingning nodded with tears in her eyes, but her fingertips dug deeply into her palm, leaving deep marks.

The money she earned with her husband's life was her only fare to find him and run towards that slim but extremely precious hope!

Shen Lingning now has dozens of kilograms of food, more than a dozen rolls of cloth, and nearly 1,000 yuan in money in his space.

But she has been tired of being poor in recent years, and she is going to join the army in the mountains. Just in case, she still needs to prepare more food and money.

——

It is already late February in the lunar calendar. The cold wind outside the window has finally brought a hint of warmth. The frozen soil in southern Shanxi has begun to loosen, and the fields in late February in the lunar calendar have shown a little bit of new green.

Shen Lingning's body recovered very quickly under the nourishment of the spiritual spring. After the confinement period, she was able to move around without any problems.

Through the vague route privately revealed by militia captain Li Tiezhu: Laohuaishu Hutong in the west of the city, the third broken courtyard gate, and the codeword "buy old mountain products", Shen Lingning had a plan in mind.

She held Fubao, who was one and a half months old and whose features were becoming more and more delicate and lovely, and went to find the old branch secretary Ma Zhenshan.

"Uncle Ma,"

Shen Lingning's face showed a perfect combination of pleading and tenacity: "Fubao is growing up day by day, and it is really difficult to get milk powder tickets. I thought about taking her to the county and trying my luck at the trust store to see if there are any old milk powder cans;

Secondly... I can also buy her some new cloth to make her a spring shirt. It's spring now, and it's not a big deal for a child to always be wrapped in old cloth."

Her reasons were well-founded and her feelings were sincere, and she even mentioned Fubao specifically.

Ma Zhenshan looked at Fubao, who was lying in the cradle with his big black eyes open and not crying or making a fuss.

Looking at Shen Lingning's thin but resolute expression, he didn't ask any more questions and readily wrote out a letter of introduction for "visiting relatives and friends, and purchasing daily necessities."

This thin piece of paper is the pass to the "outside world".

Early in the morning, a rumbling "Dongfanghong" tractor emitting black smoke stopped at the entrance of the village.

Chen Lingning, holding Fubao wrapped in an old pink scarf, squeezed onto a small stool on the back of a tractor with several fellow villagers who were going to the commune to do business, and two educated youth, Zhang Qian'an and Li Hongmei, who were carrying canvas bags and planning to "try their luck" at the Xinhua Bookstore in the county.

The tractor driver shook the handlebars, and the body of the tractor suddenly shook violently and started to move, raising dust.

"Wow! Is this the legendary walking tractor? It's rumbling, rumbling, and it even has its own background music!"

Fubao's voice was filled with curiosity and a hint of ridicule belonging to a "president". His big eyes looked curiously at the rapidly receding fields and the gray village through the gaps in the scarf.

"Adobe houses, loess roads, flying dust, a strikingly blue sky, green wheat seedlings by the roadside... Mmmm, the sense of age is palpable! The air is truly fresh!"

Shen Lingning wrapped Fubao tightly in the thin blanket, shielded her little head with her hands, and listened to her daughter's inner voice, with the corners of her mouth unconsciously curving up in a very faint arc.

The future of China?

She couldn't imagine it, but the transcendent "insight" in Fubao's words always made her feel at ease.