Chapter 152 Legal Illiteracy

In the small bungalow, the tables, chairs and benches in the conference room were all old and worn-out with peeling paint, except for the slogans on the wall.

It was in stark contrast to the brand new lacquered furniture in the township government meeting room.

Director Wang asked someone to go to his office to get his treasured fine tea, brewed it for the people from the Third Brigade, and then took several key members of the institute to hold a meeting with Wu Yongcheng and others.

Wu Yongcheng sat in the main seat and said, "Let's not talk about politeness anymore. Behind closed doors, we are all family. I just want to say one thing: handle the case clearly and give an explanation to the victims and the people."

"Director Wang, would you like to say a few words?" Wu Yongcheng asked.

Director Wang waved his hand, indicating that it was not necessary.

"Okay then. Biaozi, Chen Yan, tell me about your interrogation."

Chen Yan said, "Let me first explain the basic situation of Jiang Aqing and Jiang Baogen so that everyone can understand the case. Then Brother Biao will provide more information on the interrogation."

"Jiang Aqing, a native of Sanpo Village, is 48 years old this year. He dropped out of elementary school, is unemployed, and is disabled. At the age of 16, he accidentally touched an electric wire, resulting in one leg amputation. His parents are deceased, and he has two older sisters, but both are married and moved to other villages."

"In 1977 or 1978, I registered my marriage to Yang Xiujuan, a local woman from Liyang County, and we had seven children. But these seven children have had a tragic fate. My eldest son and daughter are both deceased, and my third child, Jiang Daniu, had his leg broken in an argument and has become disabled. He was the one who tried to hit us with a hoe."

Jiang Aqing's three children are now being accompanied and supervised by local cadres to prevent accidents.

"The fourth child is called Jiang Sheng. He's the one who ran out to call the villagers."

"The fifth child is Jiang Qin, the little girl. The sixth child, Jiang Hu, is currently in a juvenile detention center undergoing education and reform."

Chen Yan paused and said, "My youngest daughter is Jiang Yue, she's seven years old, and her whereabouts are currently unknown. Brother Biao will fill in more details later."

Zhou Yi raised his hand and asked, "Is Yang Xiujuan a native of Liyang?"

"We asked colleagues from the Yong'an Township Police Station to help investigate the household registration files. They showed that Yang Xiujuan was 38 years old and registered in Beiqiao Village, Qianjin Township, Liyang County. Both her parents were deceased, and she had no siblings."

Zhou Yi frowned immediately.

Wu Yongcheng asked: "Zhou Yi, is there anything suspicious here?"

Zhou Yi said: "Before and after I rescued her from the pigpen, she kept yelling and screaming, but the problem is that her accent was clearly not local. At least I didn't understand a word she said. Although the accents of the several counties in Hongcheng are somewhat different, at least the basic logic of the dialect is the same. But what Yang Xiujuan said was clearly not local to Hongcheng."

Wu Yongcheng nodded thoughtfully: "We can see if Xiao Qiao has any results from the hospital later."

Director Wang was shocked. Is this how proactive they are? They only held a meeting, but they actually split up into several groups and even went to the hospital.

"Chen Yan, please continue."

"Okay, that's the basic situation of Jiang Aqing's family. Then there's Jiang Baogen, 65 years old, a native of Sanpo Village. He's the village Party Secretary, widower, and has two sons. He lives with his eldest son, Jiang Zhigao. His younger son, Jiang Zhichao, is working in the city, so his details are unknown."

Zhou Yi said, "Village Chief Chen told us a little bit about the situation. Jiang Zhichao is a college graduate and well-educated. He was previously the Party Secretary of Sanpo Village, and the township held him in high regard. However, for some reason, he suddenly quit after just over a year and went to work in the city. That's why his father, Jiang Baogen, took over as Party Secretary. I think we should contact Jiang Zhichao; he should know something."

Wu Yongcheng nodded. "Okay, let's check on Jiang Zhichao's whereabouts. Biaozi, tell me about the interrogation of Jiang Aqing."

Jiang Biao said, "This Jiang Aqing is not only illiterate, but also ignorant of the law. He has no idea that he is committing a crime."

Zhou Yi had seen this before, and he was terribly ignorant.

"So when we interrogated him, he confessed everything without much effort. He just felt that we police officers were meddling in his affairs. These were his own family affairs, and it was not the place for outsiders to comment on them."

Jiang Biao sighed helplessly and continued, "According to Jiang Aqing, he did not sell his little daughter, but gave her to someone else to adopt."

"Adopt?" Everyone was stunned.

"Hey, that's why I said he was legally illiterate. I asked him who he gave the child to for adoption, and he said he didn't know. He gave the child to a woman named Cai Jinhua, who was responsible for finding an adoptive family for Jiang Yue."

Wu Yongcheng frowned. This wasn't an adoption at all; it didn't comply with any legal procedures. "Did he take the money?"

"Yes. He was honest about that. When I asked him, he said Cai Jinhua gave him 2,000 yuan for nutrition. I told him right then and there that he was trafficking children. If he didn't take the money, it would be fine, but if he did, it would be a crime."

Zhou Yi agreed with what Jiang Biao said. In the past, legal education was not perfect, and people in many places did not have a strong legal concept. They only knew that murder, arson, theft and robbery were illegal, but they didn't know much about other things.

So in the past, many people would give their children up for adoption for various reasons, most of which were because their families were poor and could not afford to raise them.

But there are some weird reasons too.

For example, Zhou Yi's mother had a relative whose children died one after another. After three of them died in succession, they consulted a fortune teller, who told them that it was a conflict of fate and they were destined to have no offspring.

But there is a way around this. The method is very simple: if you have another child, after the child is born, find a family with a different surname and give the child to them for adoption, giving them their surname. During this period, the couple can see the child, but cannot actually raise the child. They can only take the child back after the child is twelve years old and has undergone the ceremony of coming of age.

But the surname cannot be changed. If the child has children in the future, he or she can change the surname back.

It sounds quite outrageous, but when the relative became pregnant again and gave birth to a child, she did all the things he said. The fortune teller said this is called "hosting a name."

As a result, the child grew up healthy and strong. According to seniority, Zhou Yi had to call him cousin.

This cousin never changed his surname throughout his life, but his son took his grandfather's surname.

This happened when Zhou Yi was a child. After he learned that his cousin and his uncle did not have the same surname, he asked his mother about it. His mother told him the story in a serious manner.

Zhou Yi didn't know what the reason behind this was, but he could see that in the past, such adoptions and foster care were very common among the people, and no one would think about any legal procedures.

Although it is already 1997, it is still difficult to determine whether such an act in an economically and culturally backward place like Sanpo Village is truly a crime of human trafficking.

But the premise is that no money is collected.

Now that Jiang Aqing accepted the money, the nature of the matter has completely changed.

"Is this Cai Jinhua from Sanpo Village?" Wu Yongcheng asked.

Jiang Biao shook his head. "That's for sure not, but Jiang Aqing doesn't know exactly where he's from. All he knows is that he walks around the streets doing this."

Director Wang said, "That's easy. I'll have someone check the household registration files first. Find the files of everyone named Cai Jinhua in Yong'an Township, and then do some information matching and screening."

Wu Yongcheng: "Okay, thank you for your hard work. This Cai Jinhua probably isn't the first time doing something like this. She might be a repeat offender."

Upon hearing this, Director Wang immediately perked up. This was a chance to make a name for himself. He immediately assigned his men to follow up, "As long as we find Cai Jinhua, we'll know Jiang Yue's whereabouts."

"Yes. Biaozi, what did Jiang Aqing say about Yang Xiujuan?"

"Captain Wu, here's the story about Yang Xiujuan. Jiang Aqing said that because of his disability, and of course, his family's poverty, he'd never been able to find a wife. When he was almost 30, a matchmaker introduced him to Yang Xiujuan. The matchmaker said that Yang Xiujuan had a mild mental retardation and didn't have many family members. Marrying her would provide her with a living and carry on his family line, so the two of them got married."

"Jiang Aqing said that everything was fine for the first few years after their marriage, but then, for some reason, Yang Xiujuan became mentally ill. One time, she nearly strangled her child to death, so Jiang Aqing had no choice but to chain her up. As Yang Xiujuan's illness worsened, and she became violent, he locked her up in a pigsty, saying it was for the children's good."

These words made people feel heavy-hearted, especially Chen Yan, who had seen the scene. His face was very solemn. He couldn't imagine how these children felt every day when they faced their mother who was locked in a pigsty and was worse than an animal.

Wu Yongcheng asked, "Is there any medical record proving Yang Xiujuan's mental illness? How can Jiang Aqing prove that what he said is true?"

"I asked him if he had taken Yang Xiujuan to the hospital. Jiang Aqing said he didn't have money to go to the hospital and only consulted a barefoot doctor in the village, but that barefoot doctor died five years ago."

Everyone frowned. They hadn't been to the hospital, and the only witness was dead. That meant there was no evidence, so it was all up to Jiang Aqing.

Wu Yongcheng thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see how Xiao Qiao is doing before we discuss this matter."

"No, Captain Wu, Jiang Aqing is lying." Zhou Yi said suddenly.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Zhou Yi. Jiang Biao asked, "How did you know?"

Zhou Yi said, "Think about it, have you ever heard of someone with intellectual disabilities or mental illness?"

Everyone was stunned.

Zhou Yi: "Mental illness is a serious psychological disorder. Whether it's schizophrenia or something else, the symptoms share some common features, such as affective disorders, hallucinations, delusions, and mental instability. It's an acquired disease."

"But what is intellectual disability? It is a low intelligence caused by problems with brain development, which leads to cognitive and processing difficulties in life, learning and social interaction."

Zhou Yi slapped the table and said, "How can a person with intellectual disabilities be mentally ill if they can't even perceive normal things? These two things are fundamentally contradictory, so Jiang Aqing must be lying!"

(End of this chapter)