After they finished eating, Tingting had already explained everything she needed to. Ruan Xianxian helped her up.

"I've told everyone I saw. I'll take the kids home now. They shouldn't stay up late at this age, or they won't grow tall."

Before leaving, she turned back and smiled sweetly, "Investigate however you need to. If you find out who tipped off whom, I don't mind taking a few with me before I go."

I know that she's leaving Heilongjiang Province.

If you didn't know better, you'd think they had some incurable disease and were being taken to the underworld.

The police officers rolled their eyes in unison.

"Take my message to your bureau chief. No need to see me off, goodbye!"

Watching the two figures, one big and one small, walk away hand in hand, the police officer really wanted to say: Who wants to see you again? Meeting you is never a good thing. Let's never see each other again, okay?

The relaxed atmosphere lasted only a moment. As soon as the door closed, the three of them returned to analyzing the case.

As Ruan Xianxian and Tingting walked down the corridor, they happened to run into Hu Heshuo and Ye Guo, who had been brought to the station for investigation.

Hu Heshuo appeared calm and collected, but upon closer inspection, a storm was brewing in the depths of his eyes, ready to break free of his cage at any moment.

In contrast, Ye Guo was much more alarmed.

She rushed over, somewhat distraught, and demanded, "It was you! You reported me, weren't you? I never instigated Hu Dabao to kill anyone."

Before he could even get close, a policeman grabbed him by the shoulders.

Ye Guo struggled desperately, his face contorted in rage, but his eyes pleaded, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me! Ruan Xianxian, I beg you, please explain to them that it really wasn't me."

As if he had just thought of something, his eyes lit up. "Oh right, I still owe you money. If you promise to help me, I'll pay you back the two thousand yuan I owe you."

Ruan Xianxian quietly gazed at this face, overflowing with the will to survive, filled with greed and longing for life.

Ye Guo's current expression was reminiscent of that of the man from her past life who coveted her money and went so far as to maliciously spread rumors throughout the village to obtain it.

This is no different from Ye Guo, who was ruined and had nowhere to turn for help, and was almost destroyed by Hu Dabao.

A meaningful gaze swept across the man's bloodshot face, and Ruan Xianxian thought, this man is completely finished.

As they brushed past each other, their eyes met. Ruan Xianxian raised her eyebrows, indicating that she had repaid the favors she had received with the letters of introduction multiple times!

Hu Heshuo isn't a good person, except that he's much more efficient than Lao Xiang when it comes to getting letters of introduction.

Otherwise, Tian Tian's return to Beijing wouldn't have been so smooth.

After sending the little girl home, Hu Ting's parents looked anxious. "This child didn't say anything she shouldn't have, did she?"

"No!" Ruan Xianxian smiled gently as she touched the girl's rather dry and yellow hair.

"She was very well-behaved. She said she saw Hu Dabao cut off Hu Bin's arm, but she didn't say anything else."

"Don't worry, we made an agreement with the bureau before we left. Tingting will remain completely out of the loop during this incident, and nothing will implicate her afterwards."

The couple breathed a sigh of relief, thankful they hadn't said anything they shouldn't have!

Ting's father rubbed his hands together, smiling awkwardly, "What about our duck-raising business?"

"Don't worry." Ruan Xianxian nodded. "Once the matter is resolved, I will talk to the captain and add your family's name to the list."

Without promising them any benefits, would these parents have allowed Tingting to become a witness?

Throughout history, the interests of the clan have been paramount; they can be understood as being in the same boat.

If a murderer comes from the Hu family, people from all around will gossip about the Hu family and curse them as murderers.

In other words, if a member of the Hu family becomes an official, the entire clan benefits; at the very least, they will be looked up to when they go out.

But no matter how big a clan is, it can't be bigger than its own interests. Money can make the devil turn the millstone, and power can make the millstone turn the devil!

After Ting's parents thanked her repeatedly, Ruan Xianxian turned around and took only two steps before Tingting caught up with her.

"I'll go see Sister Ruan off."

They walked in silence. After walking about a hundred meters, Ruan Xianxian stopped. "It's getting dark, let's stop here."

Tingting, who had been silent the whole way, suddenly looked up and asked a question that had been on her mind for a very long time:

"Was it really just a mistake in my perception when I was in a panic and fell?"

"I don't know!" Ruan Xianxian touched her nose guiltily, then, as if remembering something, she said righteously again.

"But if it were me, I would definitely trust my gut feeling."

After saying that, he waved his hand and didn't look back.

It wasn't that she was inciting children to be superstitious, but rather that she was telling Tingting that she wasn't alone, and that her grandfather was always watching over her from afar.

Ruan Xianxian didn't expect her parents to have much affection for their daughter, since they would sell Tingting to them for a duck-raising quota.

I only hope that "Grandpa's gaze" will give this girl more strength when she encounters difficulties in the future!

Because...Grandpa is watching!

"Oh, right!" Ruan Xianxian didn't turn around; only her voice could be heard as she walked away into the distance.

"Our commune is going to build a school. If you don't want to be held at knifepoint again, remember to go to school!"

Tingting opened her eyes wide. "Can reading prevent someone from pointing a knife at your nose?"

Ruan Xianxian didn't know either, but she knew that studying was the only shortcut for the unfortunate girl to get out of her predicament.

"Remember what I'm telling you, and don't tell anyone else. It's a secret between the two of us!"

“I will,” Tingting shouted.

I don't know if she promised to keep it a secret, or if she would go to school, or both.

Ruan Xianxian doesn't like to publicize things that haven't been put into practice.

Although the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) was not directly reinstated after the UN General Assembly, educational reforms were quietly underway, most notably resulting in an increase in the number of available places for primary schools in rural areas.

Ruan Xianxian heard rumors that once the quotas were implemented in Ping'an County, Dingziku Commune would definitely get a share.

No... whoever objects, she'll pack her bags and sleep at whose house.

...

The former educated youth settlement was unusually quiet tonight.

Jing Xuan and Tian Tian returned to Beijing.

Wenrou was abducted by a man and taken to a farm.

Ye Guo entered the fence.

Most of the grudges from our past lives at this educated youth settlement have been resolved.

Only the Chiang brothers remained.

Unable to find any fault with the two for the time being, she figured that as long as she stayed in the village, the two of them would stay in their shells all day!

He had the desire but not the courage to force innocent girls in his past life.

Think of a way to get them both away before we leave.

Ruan Xianxian glanced in the direction of the boys' dormitory with a dark and unreadable look in her eyes.

The snow stopped the next day, and everyone was preparing for the winter. The gossip they were talking about was all about Hu Dabao's murder case.

Shen Meihua, in the crowd, crawled on all fours, surrounded by a group of people. She took two steps like a dog and shouted: "Stupid!"

"I saw it with my own eyes. Hu Dabao turned into a beast on all fours and pounced on his parents. His canine teeth were so long!"

She gestured to her chin, which captivated the villagers who had missed the show the day before.

Suddenly, a man came running up from the foot of the mountain, shouting as he ran, "They're being indecent! The Jiang brothers are being indecent in public!"

Help!

Everyone turned around abruptly and saw Li Dazui scrambling and rolling towards them. As he ran, one of his shoes flew off and landed on a tree branch.

"Help! The Jiang brothers have gone mad! They're exhibitionists. They took off their pants on the mountain and flung their genitals at me, insisting I see how big they are!"