Li Guixiang was stunned by this sudden "triumphant return home".
The gazes of the surrounding villagers felt like needles, making her feel uncomfortable all over. Especially Aunt Zhang's loud voice, with her constant refrain of "returning home in glory," felt like slaps to her face.
She thought it was Shu'er returning, someone who could finally hold her head high in the village, but who would have thought it would be Zhou Qiqi, that ungrateful wretch, who came back...
Not only did they fail to show off in front of the villagers, they also lost face so badly!
She glared fiercely at Zhou Qiqi, her triangular eyes darting around, and then she tried to slip into the half-collapsed courtyard gate.
This is too big a fuss; she needs to hide first.
"etc!"
Just then, the jeep's rear door was suddenly pushed open with a loud bang!
A figure stumbled down the stairs—it was Zhou Shuhua!
Her face was as white as a sheet of paper, her lips trembled incessantly, and her bloodshot eyes were fixed on Li Guixiang's face.
Just now in the car, Political Commissar Lei and Lei Yuhua tried their best to persuade her to stay calm and watch Shen Huaichuan and Zhou Qiqi catch up with the villagers and find out the situation before showing up.
But she's been waiting for over twenty years, and with the clue right in front of her, how could she possibly wait any longer!
"Wait! You stop right there!"
She took a few steps forward and grabbed Li Guixiang's arm with a frighteningly strong grip.
Li Guixiang was pulled so hard she stumbled, her arm throbbing with pain. Her temper flared instantly, and she yelled at the top of her lungs:
"Ouch! Where did you come from, you crazy woman? Let go! Let go right now!"
Zhou Shuhua hadn't slept well for several days, looking extremely haggard with messy hair. She was like a string stretched to its limit, completely ignoring Li Guixiang's cursing.
"A jade pendant! This jade pendant!"
She gripped Li Guixiang's hand tightly with one hand, and with her other hand trembling, she pulled the jade pendant from her inner garment, waved it in front of Li Guixiang, and asked in a shrill voice:
"Tell me! Where did you get this jade pendant?! Where did you get it from?!"
The moment Li Guixiang's gaze fell upon the jade pendant, her eyes narrowed sharply, and she immediately recognized it as the one she had sold on the black market before!
She felt a sudden pang of fear, but she remained defiant:
"What a piece of junk! I don't recognize it! Who knows what kind of broken thing you crazy woman are trying to extort money from me with! Let go! If you don't let go, I'll hit you!"
"You don't recognize me?!"
Political Commissar Lei also walked over quickly at this moment, his face ashen.
He stood beside Zhou Shuhua, pulled her trembling body into his arms, and swept his sharp, knife-like gaze over Li Guixiang and the shrunken-necked Xu Laonian.
"Didn't you and your husband sell this jade pendant on the black market in S City a little over a month ago? You received it for three hundred yuan, and you clearly remember it! Now you're saying you don't know?"
Li Guixiang's face turned pale instantly, her lips trembled even more violently, and she instinctively wanted to deny it:
"Nonsense! What evidence do you have to prove I sold it?! You think you can frame an innocent person with just your bare words? I..."
"cinnamon!"
Xu Laonian, who had been silently huddled to the side, suddenly tugged hard at Li Guixiang's sleeve and whispered:
"Look! Open your eyes and look carefully! Isn't that the women's director of the military dependents' area? Our daughter-in-law, Lin Yao, said her husband is a high-ranking official! A political commissar! We...we need to speak properly!"
"Director Zhou and our daughter-in-law have a great relationship; we're all on the same side!"
As Xu Laonian spoke, before Li Guixiang could react, he quickly put on a fawning smile that looked more like a grimace, and bowed as he approached Political Commissar Lei and Zhou Shuhua:
"Um, sir, madam, please calm down! This jade pendant, it really is ours..."
"Idiot! Shut up!"
Before he could finish speaking, Li Guixiang kicked him hard, making him stagger and almost fall over.
"You know nothing! What nonsense are you spouting!"
She was extremely anxious.
That stupid old man!
Of course she recognized who the two people in front of her were!
I guessed that they probably came for this jade pendant.
The problem is, that jade pendant doesn't belong to the Xu family at all!
Admitting to selling jade pendants is tantamount to contradicting oneself, isn't it?
The three hundred yuan from selling the jade pendant was all given to Shu'er as capital to get married!
If we admit it now, won't these people force us to pay back the money?
Three hundred yuan! Even if she and her husband sold their bones, they couldn't scrape together that much!
And... if they keep asking where the jade pendant came from... that would be a huge problem!
The amount to be compensated or repaid will likely be more than just three hundred yuan!
Absolutely not! We absolutely must not admit it, not even if you kill us!
She stiffened her neck and emphasized again, "We don't recognize this jade pendant, and we didn't sell it!"
Lei Yuhua was furious. She couldn't help but take half a step forward, point at Li Guixiang's nose, and scold:
"What's wrong with you, old woman?! One minute you're saying you sold them, the next you're kicking people! You're lying through your teeth, your face changes faster than turning the pages of a book!"
Li Guixiang's face flushed red and then turned pale as she was being scolded by a younger person, but she gritted her teeth and stubbornly said:
"Who, who changed their tune? It wasn't us who sold it! You...you're bullying us honest farmers because of your high positions! Without any evidence, why are you blaming us?"
As she spoke, Li Guixiang plopped down on the ground, slapping the yellow earth with her hands, sending dust flying up and covering her head and face.
She wailed in a hoarse voice, her face covered in tears and snot, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
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