Two police cars stopped in front of a hotel in Guitang County, and five or six policemen got out.

The person leading the charge this time was a deputy director of the Dongfang City Public Security Bureau.

He took the witness statements from Li Xiangdong and carefully read them from beginning to end, page by page. It took him more than an hour to finish reading them.

After reading it, he slammed his hand on the table, his chest heaving for a long time before calming down. He then sincerely extended his right hand to Li Xiangdong.

"Young comrade, I have received these testimonies. We will need to conduct further investigations. Thank you for your report."

Li Xiangdong grasped the outstretched hand, "I hope you will uphold justice and give these educated youths the justice they deserve!"

"Of course!"

The deputy director's voice was firm and powerful.

When they arrived, Mayor Zhang specifically instructed them that the return of educated youth to the city was a major political event, and they had to treat it with utmost care.

This major case in Guitang County must be investigated thoroughly and swiftly to bring the perpetrators to justice, restore fairness to the victims, and serve as a deterrent to other counties.

Therefore, the matter was investigated and clarified in less than three days.

Hou Zhonghe, as the director of the educated youth office, not only abused his power to rape women, accepted bribes on a large scale, and acted in violation of regulations, but was even involved in a murder case.

I heard that when Hou Zhonghe was taken away by the police, he tried to get close to the police who arrested him, saying that his uncle was the head of the armed forces department in the county. He asked why they were arresting him and whether they had arrested the wrong person.

The city police officers, with dark faces, ignored him completely and simply shoved him into their police car.

He was unaware that his powerful uncle-in-law had also been arrested.

Zhou Erkui, an accomplice in the same case, tried to escape by sneaking away, but was caught red-handed by Zhou Hongsong, who tied him up and handed him over to the police.

The bad things this kid did with Hou San have been thoroughly investigated—rape, murder—he probably won't have a good ending.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the entire city of Dongfang became more orderly, and the educated youth were finally able to return to the city in an orderly manner according to the policy.

The home of Zhou the Cripple.

Li Xiangdong was invited to the seat of honor, and Zhou the Cripple personally poured him a glass of wine. "Xiangdong, you really gave the people of Guitang County a chance to vent their anger!"

He really didn't expect that this young boy would know city leaders. What kind of background did he have?

Zhou Hongsong tilted his head back and downed a glass of baijiu. He said bitterly, "It's a pity I can't kill this beast with my own hands!"

Zhou the Cripple advised him, "You need to change your temper. You're so impulsive and straightforward! If you kill him with your own hands, you'll get yourself killed! You should learn from Xiang Dong; it's much better to solve problems without bloodshed!"

"How am I supposed to learn? I don't know the mayor!"

Zhou the Cripple choked, then secretly nudged him, "That's why I told you to stick with Xiang Dong!"

What an idiot!

After settling matters concerning the educated youth, Li Xiangdong was about to leave.

Zhou Hongsong packed a small bundle, ready to go with Li Xiangdong. He had said long ago, "If Xiangdong says go east, he will never go west, even if it means going through fire and water."

Just as the two were about to set off, a brother Zhou Hongsong had met in the labor camp came to their door.

"Brother! Your house is so hard to find! I had to ask several people before I finally found it... Hey, who's this?"

The newcomer was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties. He had a scalp, a long, sharp face, squinty eyes, and a long scar running from his eyebrow to his right eyelid.

The three of them, with one foot inside and one foot outside the door, bumped heads together.

Zhou Hongsong exclaimed in surprise, "Scarface, what brings you here? Come inside quickly!"

The three men sat inside the room, and Zhou Hongsong introduced Li Xiangdong and Scarface to each other.

After hearing about how Li Xiangdong and Zhou Hongsong met, Scarface felt a sense of closeness to them. He stood up, patted Li Xiangdong on the shoulder, and said, "Brother, I respect you as a true man. From now on, we're brothers. Just call me Brother Scarface!"

Li Xiangdong laughed too, "Scarface!"

Zhou Hongsong went outside to boil some water. After burning a few pieces of firewood, the room became warm. He ladled a bowl of hot water for Scarface, saying, "Warm yourself up!"

Seeing Scarface holding a bowl and slurping down hot water, Zhou Hongsong finally remembered to ask him, "What happened? Why did you come to my house?"

Upon hearing this, Scarface grinned, "Brother, our village has disbanded its production team! We're now working individually in small groups!"

Both Li Xiangdong and Zhou Hongsong were taken aback by these words!

What's going on?

Disband the production team?

Going solo?

Zhou Hongsong picked at his ear in disbelief, "You wouldn't dare joke like that!"

Li Xiangdong was also surprised, not because of anything else, but because he remembered the famous Eighteen Arhats of Xiaogang Village in his previous life.

Back in the winter of 1978, in Xiaogang Village, Xiaoxihe Town, Fengyang County, Chuzhou City, Anhui Province, the hometown of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, eighteen people secretly signed a "life-or-death contract," pressing their red handprints on the agreement to divide the land and farm individually, thus beginning the reform of rural China.

From then on, the household contract responsibility system, which was spurred by the Eighteen Arhats, became the most basic management system in rural China.

However, if you do the math, this secret reform was carried out last winter, and there has been no bumper harvest yet, let alone the fact that this matter has reached the ears of the emperor and triggered reforms.

Li Xiangdong was slightly startled. Could it be that history had changed?

Just as he was filled with doubt and suspicion, he heard Scarface say again, "It's true! Our Nanling Commune in Yuxian County, Zhangjiakou, is what..."

Two pairs of eyes were fixed on him. Scarface swallowed hard, his mind racing. He slapped his forehead and finally remembered, "Pilot program!"

"Yes! The higher-ups said our commune was dirt poor, and the whole family couldn't even afford a pair of pants. They said we should be the first to try individual farming."

After Scarface finished explaining, he said enthusiastically, "Brother, now when we hunt wild animals in our Nanling Mountains, we don't have to hand them over to the brigade anymore. They all belong to the individual! You're a good shot, and now that it's winter and you have nothing to do, let's call a few more brothers and go hunting in the mountains together!"

That was the real reason he took the train for several hours to find Zhou Hongsong.

Zhou Hongsong had a sudden thought: hunting was indeed a quick way to make money!

When they were in the labor camp, the brigade leader often led people to hunt wild animals in the mountains, including foxes, roe deer, wild boars, badgers, and all sorts of animals.

However, he didn't know why Li Xiangdong wanted him to go to Huichuan. He had already agreed to help, and he couldn't let personal gain cloud his judgment!

Li Xiangdong watched as Zhou Hongsong's big eyes first darted around randomly, then fixed firmly on him. He couldn't help but find it amusing; those big eyes were far too revealing of his thoughts.

"Fifth Brother, if you want to go, then go ahead. There's no rush here. I'll come to Yu County to find you after I'm done with my work!"

Zhou Hongsong confirmed with him several times before giving Li Xiangdong the address of Scarface's house.

Soon, the three arrived at the train station and went their separate ways.