"It seems you know everything." Xiang Hongjun chuckled.

"Two choices: go to the farm or squat on the fence!"

Jiang Wenli kept his head down and didn't say a word the whole time, afraid that he might make any move that would completely enrage these peasants.

Jiang Wenming glanced at the fierce-looking villagers, then at his younger brother who was about to be overwhelmed by anger.

I closed my eyes.

He knew that at most he would suffer for a year or two at the farm.

He went to the police station... The world is cracking down on hooligans, so the younger brother only got one outcome: being forced to eat peanuts.

He opened his eyes, his heart filled with despair. "Let's go to the farm for reform!"

The villagers' anger subsided somewhat. "Pah! What a load of rubbish!"

The two were almost overwhelmed by a deluge of filthy, foul-smelling saliva. Jiang Wenming felt nauseous but held back, not daring to vomit.

Two police officers approached from a distance, shouting, "What are you doing?"

The villagers looked at the sky, some at the ground, and others were curious about how beautiful Ruan Xianxian's bamboo pajamas were, saying they looked just like the curtains at her relatives' house in the city.

Ruan Xianxian: ...

I should have known better than to use the leftover curtain fabric to sew a vest and underwear!

When the police approached, they raised their voices to ask what had happened, but none of the villagers answered. The look they gave the Jiang brothers conveyed the same message:

Speak up! If you have the guts, tell me the real reason why you got beaten up.

If you dare, we'll risk our reputation to send you peanuts.

Jiang Wenming, who met his gaze, understood. He spoke with difficulty, "A few months ago, we owed money to Ruan, a educated youth, and couldn't pay it back, so we volunteered to go to the farm for reform."

Police: ? ? ?

There are idiots every year, but this year there seem to be more than usual!

"How did you get that head injury?"

Under the intense gaze of two sharp eyes, Jiang Wenli dared not even raise his head, let alone answer, trembling with fear.

Jiang Wenming: "My younger brother tripped and fell while walking. The villagers said they were disinfecting him with their saliva and were helping my brother!"

The police responded again: ? ? ?

The person involved admitted that he had accidentally fallen. The police stopped looking at them and waved to the Red Army, telling the villagers to take the two away.

He turned back and asked, "Is there any progress in the case, or are you here to visit the village?"

The policeman waved his hand, refusing the cigarette offered to the Red Army soldier. With a long stride and a large hand, he grabbed Ruan Xianxian by the back of the neck as she tried to escape.

This time, without the two of them saying it, she uttered her line with tears welling up in her eyes, "It's me again!"

The policeman grinned menacingly. "You know that too? Asking for two cigarettes isn't too much to ask, is it?"

Ruan Xianxian was very unhappy. He stingily took out a pack of Qinjian cigarettes from his pocket, thought for a moment, and then took out two cigarettes.

He turned his head away from the Red Army, too ashamed to look at them.

Let's not even talk about where this guy got five-cent packs of thrifty cigarettes from, and he only gave him two.

If he were a policeman, he would arrest this guy right now.

The police officer waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Pass it down to your descendants, and keep it to offer as tribute to yourselves during festivals."

This wasn't the place to talk, so the four moved to the side of the educated youth settlement. Everyone stopped joking around, and Ruan Xianxian asked, "Have you got any leads?"

The long-legged policeman nodded. "That kid surnamed Ye is indeed a sent-down youth who went to school for two years. He insists that he taught Hu Dabao to kill so that he could do chores for him."

He vehemently denies teaching someone to kill.

Xiang Hongjun glanced at the two men and sneered, "Is that all the tricks you've got?"

"No way!" the police officer replied. "There isn't enough evidence to take strong measures."

"So, what brings you here?"

"Hu Heshuo accused the Hu family father and son of harming his wife and daughter, and provided several names. We are here to take people back for investigation."

As they were talking, the brigade's loudspeaker blared, and the accountant told Ruan Xianxian to go to the brigade office to answer a phone call from the provincial capital looking for her.

Nodding to the three of them, Ruan Xianxian headed straight for the brigade office.

The person who called was an unexpected one: "Xianxian, this is Jia Yongjun."

"Director Jia?" Ruan Xianxian asked in surprise.

Jia Yongjun's voice was serious, "Did you reopen the Pingtou Brigade murder case from many years ago?"

With just one sentence, Ruan Xianxian understood the whole story: the murder of Hu Heshuo's wife and daughter involved a leader and his daughter.

When Jia Yongjun called her at this time, he guessed that the leader was either a colleague of Jia Yongjun's or someone he knew.

In a flash, she smiled and said, "It really wasn't me. The suspect from back then is involved in another murder case, and the case from many years ago has been brought up again."

What? Uncle Jia is interested too?

Jia Yongjun was a smart man. He realized that the case might not be as simple as the file showed—that the mother-in-law killed her daughter-in-law—and that the person had lied to him.

After a long silence, he said, "It's nothing. Someone I know asked me to inquire, and when I found out you were involved, I called to find out more details."

Ruan Xianxian: "We haven't reached a conclusion on the details yet, but it's roughly about a leader's daughter forcibly taking another man's husband, and in doing so, she conspired with local villagers to commit murder."

Afterwards, the facts were misrepresented, and the serious matter was downplayed.

Will Uncle Jia understand what I'm saying?

The breathing on the other end of the phone noticeably quickened, and after a moment a deep voice came back: "Understood. Investigate thoroughly, and make sure no innocent person suffers an injustice."

After hanging up the phone, Ruan Xianxian chuckled and raised her eyebrows. Had they gone to great lengths to pull strings and get to her Uncle Jia?

If she hadn't gotten involved and been questioned by Jia Yongjun, the case would most likely have been halted again.

Back at the former educated youth settlement, several villagers who were walking with unsteady gait followed the police officers toward the village entrance.

Xiang Hongjun stood at the threshold of the educated youth settlement, puffing out welding smoke, his gaze fixed intently on Ruan Xianxian as she approached. The latter said:

"They've all been taken away? I've brushed off anyone who might have intervened. Old Hu is finally going to be exonerated!"

"Who says it isn't!"

...

public security bureau--!

A blinding incandescent light pierced the eyes, causing an elderly member of the Hu family clan to tremble with fear.

The police officer sitting behind the lamp slammed down the files he was holding.

"Hu Tiezhu, male, 58 years old, was involved in the murder of Shen Ling many years ago. Hu Bin publicly acknowledges that you are the mastermind and the murderer. Do you plead guilty?"

"Bullshit." Hu Tiezhu tried to get up and argue loudly, but his shoulders were firmly held down by two policemen.

The interrogator tapped the table again. "Hu Bin has already confessed, saying that you raped and then murdered Comrade Shen Ling. The evidence is conclusive. Are you still not willing to plead guilty?"

"Nonsense! Hu Bin is talking nonsense!" Hu Tiezhu's emotions ran high, his eyes bloodshot. "It was clearly him! He ordered my son to rape and then kill him!"

With a tap of the pen on the table, the interrogators exchanged glances, and one of them spoke, "Is that so? Tell me more."

Hu Tiezhu slumped into a chair, his expression dejected, his voice hoarse as he recounted:

"Back then, the Shen family's daughter was the most beautiful girl in the surrounding villages. Even though she was frail and sickly, matchmakers still flocked to the Shen family's doorstep."

Who would have thought that the man rejected all the matchmakers who came to propose marriage, and instead took a liking to that boy from Heshuo.

And you know what? The Shen family girl has exceptionally good taste.

I still remember the day the two young people got married, how many young men from both villages went crazy and died drunk at home.

My son, Hu Yang, was among them.