"alright."

Seeing that all the parties involved had signed, Sister Wang put away the documents and breathed a sigh of relief.

"From today onwards, the division of ownership is officially in effect. Master Su, is there anything else you'd like to say?"

Su Jianguo shook his head, his gaze sweeping over his two eldest sons.

"I hope you will take care of yourselves."

Li Jinhua grabbed Su Mingqiang and pulled him up.

"Let's go! I can't stand this awful place for another minute!"

Liu Meijuan also pushed Su Mingde's wheelchair out, cursing under her breath.

"That old bastard, he'll get his comeuppance for betraying his own son!"

The Li family slunk away from the courtyard, and the crowd automatically parted to make way for them, with whispers and pointing fingers rising and falling.

Su Jianguo smirked as he watched his two unfilial sons slink away.

"Splitting up the family, splitting up the family, first give each of you 2500 famine coins..."

...

After the family division turmoil, the Su family courtyard finally returned to a brief period of peace.

Su Jianguo sat on a rattan chair in the main room, holding a cigarette in his hand, and leisurely took a puff.

"Master, have some tea."

Wang Xiulan brought over a cup of hot tea and gently placed it on the small table next to Su Jianguo.

Her eyes were still a little red and swollen, clearly from crying.

Her two sons were so unfilial that she, as their mother, felt extremely guilty.

I feel sorry for Su Jianguo.

Su Jianguo nodded, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

The tea was served at a perfect temperature, with a subtle jasmine fragrance, which was his favorite flavor.

He looked up at the wall clock.

It was 10:30 a.m., and there was still some time before lunch.

"I plan to go back to the village this afternoon."

Su Jianguo put down his teacup and said calmly.

"I need to go talk to Dad and my older brother about building a vegetable greenhouse."

Just as Wang Xiulan was about to respond, a series of urgent knocks came from outside the courtyard gate, accompanied by a familiar male voice.

"Is Mr. Su home? This is Old Li from the police station!"

Su Jianguo frowned, put down his teacup, and strode towards the courtyard gate.

Wang Xiulan followed closely behind, a worried look on her face.

Upon opening the gate, Officer Li and a young policeman stood outside.

It was the same police officer, Li, who handled the case of the four Zhang brothers.

Officer Li's expression was unusually serious, and there were fine beads of sweat on his forehead, clearly indicating that he had rushed here.

"Officer Li, what happened?"

Su Jianguo's heart tightened; the police were coming to his door at this hour.

That must be about Zhang Qiang's incident last night.

Could it be that the neighbors beat Zhang Qiang so badly that he was killed?

Thinking of this, Su Jianguo turned his head and looked at the west wing.

The youngest daughter, Su Yuzhen, has not come out since she went in last night.

Officer Li took off his hat and wiped his sweat.

"Mr. Su, is your daughter, Su Yuzhen, at home? We need to ask her about some things."

Just then, the door to the west wing was suddenly pushed open.

Su Yuzhen rushed out like a gust of wind, her hair disheveled, but her eyes were full of excitement.

Although she stayed indoors, she still paid close attention to what was happening outside.

When the police came to her door, her first thought was that Zhang Qiang was alright and wanted to find her.

"Is it Brother Qiang looking for me?"

Her voice trembled, and her face wore a sickly excitement.

"I knew he'd come looking for me! Where is he? Is he at the hospital? I need to see him!"

Officer Li and Su Jianguo exchanged a complicated look.

The young policeman cleared his throat awkwardly and looked down to open the notebook in his hand.

"Comrade Su Yuzhen."

Officer Li's voice was unusually gentle, yet carried an undeniable seriousness.

"We need to talk to you about Zhang Qiang."

Su Yuzhen's smile froze; she keenly sensed that something was amiss.

"What happened to him? Is he badly injured?"

The courtyard suddenly became eerily quiet; even the cicadas in the trees stopped chirping.

Wang Xiulan quietly walked to her daughter's side, trying to take her hand, but Su Yuzhen suddenly shook her off.

"Zhang Qiang's injury is not as simple as it seems."

Officer Li took a deep breath.

"He was taken to the hospital last night, and after he woke up, we interrogated him. The result... uncovered a major case of human trafficking."

"What?"

Su Yuzhen's voice was so shrill it almost pierced the eardrums.

"You're talking nonsense! Brother Qiang isn't that kind of person!"

Officer Li did not immediately refute, but instead took out a stack of documents from his briefcase.

"This is Zhang Qiang's confession, along with the testimonies of his three accomplices. They were a criminal gang specializing in trafficking young girls, and they had committed more than ten crimes in the past year."

Su Yuzhen's face turned deathly pale instantly. She staggered back two steps, shaking her head.

"Impossible...this can't be...you must have made a mistake...Brother Qiang...he's been so good to me..."

"They specifically target young girls like you."

Officer Li continued, his voice low and firm.

"First, they gain trust with sweet words, then they abduct the girl under the guise of eloping. This way, the girl's family thinks she's eloping with another man, and since family scandals shouldn't be aired in public, most won't report it to the police. That's why they haven't been discovered yet. Last night, three of his accomplices were waiting in a nearby alley. Once you climb over the wall..."

"Shut up!"

Su Yuzhen suddenly screamed and covered her ears with her hands.

"I don't want to hear it! You're all lying to me! Dad must have told you to say that, right?"

She turned to Su Jianguo, her eyes filled with hatred.

"Why did you treat Qiang Ge like this? Just because he wanted to take me away? You're so despicable!"

Su Jianguo stood there, his facial muscles twitching slightly. He really wanted to slap him hard, but considering the police were nearby, he ultimately held back.

"Comrade Su Yuzhen."

The young policeman couldn't help but speak up, his voice filled with sympathy.

"We've found several other girls they trafficked. One of them was your age, named Wang Fang, remember her? According to the records, she should have been your classmate."

Upon hearing this, Su Yuzhen nodded.

Wang Fang was her junior high school classmate. The two used to have a good relationship, but not long ago, she suddenly dropped out of school and disappeared.

Officer Li took a photo out of the file bag.

"This is a photo of Wang Fang when she was rescued. She had been sold to a mountain village not far from Beijing and forced to become the wife of a bachelor in his forties. When she was rescued, she was already... already five months pregnant."

The photo shows a haggard young girl standing next to a dog kennel. Her eyes are vacant, her belly is noticeably swollen, and a broken dog leash lies at her feet.

Su Yuzhen's gaze fell on the photo, and she froze as if struck by lightning.

Her lips trembled, but no sound came out.

"Zhang Qiang's gang used very professional methods."

Officer Li continued, his voice calm yet cruel.