Some neighbors who were resting at home even gathered around and stood not far away, pointing, talking, and whispering.

"Hey, isn't that Director Lin's house? Why is the Qi'an car here?"

"Looking at this posture, it doesn't seem like a small matter..."

"What's the crime?"

"Isn't it... arresting someone?"

The voices of these discussions were neither too loud nor too low, just loud enough for the Lin family to hear.

Chen Wu held the still naive Xiaohu tightly in his arms, took a deep breath, walked to his daughter, patted her arm with forced composure, and whispered comfortingly:

"Xiaoxue, don't be afraid. We have nothing to worry about as long as we are upright."

"And Mom thinks this must be a misunderstanding! Think about it, Yu Bai and that girl Yuning are cousins, so it's normal for them to be close to each other. It must be someone with poor eyesight who saw them from afar on the street and didn't see them clearly, so they mistook them for Yuning, and that's why this happened! When we get to Qian'an later, we'll explain the situation clearly, and everything will be fine after we talk it out."

Lin Jianxue turned her head and looked at her mother, a complex and indistinguishable emotion flashing in her eyes.

Finally, she lowered her eyes, curled the corners of her lips in cooperation, revealed a faint smile, and nodded gently: "Yes, Mom, I understand."

She obediently followed her mother and got into the back seat of one of the jeeps with her father, Lin Yuefeng, who also had a solemn expression on his face.

Tong Caihe was arranged to get into another car in a daze.

The car door slammed shut, blocking out the curious, inquiring, and even gloating gazes from outside.

The police car started slowly and drove out of the familiar tube-shaped building compound.

There was silence in the carriage.

Chen Wu lowered his head, gently patted Xiaohu's back, and teased him softly, trying to dispel the depressing atmosphere.

Little Tiger blinked his big eyes, looked here and there, and seemed to sense something unusual. His little mouth pursed, but he didn't cry.

Lin Yuefeng sat in the front passenger seat, his back straight, his hands neatly placed on his knees, but his sullen face and tightly pursed lips revealed his extreme unhappiness.

For a state cadre of his rank, the director of a steel plant, being "invited" away by Xi'an in a police car like this, no matter what the final result is, in front of everyone, this is a complete loss of face...

Even though I didn't know it might be a misunderstanding, I still felt very upset.

Lin Jianxue didn't look at them. She turned her head slightly and looked out the car window.

It was early spring of 1976, and there were not many pedestrians on the streets. Most of them were wearing monotonous colors such as gray, blue, and green, and they were walking hurriedly.

The trees on both sides of the road have just sprouted new buds, with a hint of light yellow and green, and the air is still filled with the chill of spring.

The wind blew in through the gaps in the car window, carrying with it a bit of the dryness and coldness unique to the north, blowing on my face, causing a slight sting.

The street scene is familiar, with gray buildings, the occasional bicycle passing by, and walls hung with slogans... everything bears the unique mark of this era.

This day was the day she had carefully planned and waited for for a long time, and was about to reach the critical moment of closing the net.

In her heart, she should have been nervous, expectant, and filled with the pleasure of revenge.

But for some reason, looking at the slowly receding, familiar yet unfamiliar street scene outside the window, her thoughts drifted away without warning.

That distant figure, which seemed out of place with everything before her, gradually became clear in her mind.

Fu Zhewei...

She sent him a registered letter, he should have received it... in time, right?