"Are you Song Yinhua? We have investigated and found out that your wonton shop was reported and shut down. It was Tang Dafei who sent people to your shop to eat wontons to deliberately frame you, in order to extort money and then report you to force you to close down. In addition, he also burned down your orchard."
Song Yinhua was both surprised and expected to hear this result.
Who could possibly have such a deep grudge against her?
Who else could it be besides my great-uncle's family?
The police officer continued, "Tang Dafei had been staking out your orchard for over half a month. He obtained a shotgun from the black market and first shot and killed two dogs guarding the orchard, resulting in one death and one serious injury. Then he set fire to the orchard. Tang Dafei has now been arrested, and you can sue him for civil damages."
Song Yinhua did not speak.
Since all of this was done by Tang Dafei, she didn't believe that such a simple thing had taken a year or two to be discovered.
Officials declined to comment on further details of the case.
The next morning, Song Yinhua went to the wonton shop in town, tidied up a bit, and prepared to continue operating.
She had rented the shop for five years, and the lease expired last year. However, because the shop was under seizure, it could not be rented to anyone else, which caused losses to the landlord. So she bought the shop from the landlord.
Now the shop belongs to her personally.
During the period when the wonton shop was shut down, her repeated attempts to rectify the situation were to no avail.
Just when she had given up, things suddenly took an unexpected turn and were resolved.
The arsonist who burned down the orchard was also apprehended.
The next morning, Song Yinhua went to the county town to find a lawyer to consult on civil compensation and entrusted the lawyer to sue Tang Dafei for compensation.
After the wonton shop reopened, customers continued to flock to it.
Life is slowly getting better again.
That evening, when the wonton shop closed and Song Yinhua returned to the village, she saw several police cars parked in front of Old Huo's house.
Grandma Huo, her fifth son Luo Shixiong, and her youngest son were all handcuffed and put into a police car.
The villagers who were watching were discussing it animatedly.
"Back then, the Huo family's adopted son was murdered by the old lady and her three sons, the fourth, fifth, and sixth sons, in a conspiracy."
"I heard that Huo Jinfeng was also arrested. She must have been involved too. She has the same temper as her mother. They both like wives and children and drove their first wives to their deaths. Her son has married several wives but still can't have children. He did too many immoral things, and now he's getting his comeuppance!"
"That old lady is truly ruthless. She drove the old man's first wife to the point of drowning herself and her unborn child. She also treated her adopted son like a human being, and together with her sons, she caused his death and drove his wife insane. She's committed such a terrible sin!"
"I heard from the village elders that on the day her adopted son died, someone passing by the old lady's front door heard the cries for help from the madwoman and the heart-wrenching cries of a baby coming from inside the house. The old lady's five-year-old grandson happened to be playing in the yard and said that his uncle had died and his aunt was very sad. His fourth, fifth, and sixth uncles were inside comforting his aunt and said that they saw his fifth uncle riding on his aunt's back."
"When Huo Jianguo's father died, he was only two or three years old. The old lady's sons used Huo Jianguo's life to blackmail his mother into submission, driving a normal person insane. Huo Jianguo was not able to protect his mother until he was fourteen or fifteen years old. Before that, his mother was bullied a lot. Unfortunately, Huo Jianguo also died young, in his early twenties, even younger than his father. This family of three was so pitiful..."
"Shh! Don't say anything, Jianguo's wife is here."
Song Yinhua walked through the crowd of onlookers and went home.
After Song Yinhua left, the villagers started talking about it again.
"You didn't say this person had been dead for twenty years, so why was he suddenly arrested now? Who called the police?"
"I heard it was Huo Jinfeng's daughter-in-law who called the police."
"Jin Feng's daughter-in-law?"
"That's right. Xie Daguang has married three wives in the past few years, but none of them have had children. The Xie family has tried all sorts of remedies and even forced his wives to drink horse urine. His third wife couldn't take it anymore and got together with Luo Tianba to try and conceive a child. When Xie Daguang's father found out about this, he wanted to have a child with his daughter-in-law, but she was unwilling, and a conflict broke out. Huo Jinfeng also stepped in to help her husband and beat her daughter-in-law so badly that she ended up in the hospital. The daughter-in-law then called the police and accused them, as well as Huo Jinfeng, her mother, and her three brothers of causing the death of the Huo family's adopted son. Luo Tianba accidentally told her about this when he was drunk one time."
Song Yinhua returned home, and the lights were on in the main room.
Several black wolfhounds happily ran over to greet them.
Little Flower was doing her homework in the main room, while the crazy old woman was drawing incessantly beside her.
"Mom, this afternoon the police came to our house looking for Grandma. They wanted to ask her some questions, but when they saw that Grandma couldn't speak, they left."
"Go do your homework." Song Yinhua turned and went to the kitchen to start a fire and cook dinner.
My parents and my younger brother, Song Baogen, and his wife arrived when we were only halfway through dinner.
Tang Youliang and Zhou Qiaoyun also came along.
As soon as Song Erzhuang entered, he said, "Your Uncle Liang and Aunt Qiaoyun have come to apologize to you."
"Tang Dafei hired people to falsely accuse my shop of hygiene problems with fingernails, hair, and rat heads, causing my wonton shop to be shut down. He also caused my dog to be beaten to death and injured, and burned down my orchard. I have already hired a lawyer to sue him for civil compensation."
“Dafei is still a child. He was just confused for a moment. Yinhua, please, for the sake of our family, write a letter of forgiveness. We promise you that Dafei will never harm you again.” Zhou Qiaoyun pleaded politely.
"Back when Tang Dafei burned down my parents' house in the middle of the night, you promised that he wouldn't do bad things again. Later, when Tang Dafei beat my father into a vegetative state with a chair, your family apologized and promised that it wouldn't happen again. Now you're doing the same thing?"
"Yinhua, please trust us just this once. This is really the last time."
"Whether this is the last time or not, I will not issue a letter of understanding. Things will be handled as they are." Song Yinhua's attitude was firm.
Tang Youliang looked at Song Erzhuang and said, "Erzhuang, can you help me out?"
Song Baogen tried to persuade his father to stop, but his father, Song Erzhuang, wouldn't listen and instead pleaded with Song Yinhua on behalf of Tang Youliang and his wife to be lenient.
“Yinhua, Uncle Liang is a relative of our family. It won’t take you long to write a letter of understanding. If Dafei has a letter of understanding, he can get a few years off. Please help Dafei out. I’m begging you.”
Song Yinhua asked Song Erzhuang, "Dad, when their son framed me and got my shop shut down, killed my dog and burned down my orchard, why wouldn't they let me off the hook?"
"Yinhua, why are you so vengeful? Your uncle's family has cut ties with us now. If you keep holding a grudge, we'll have no relatives left." Song Erzhuang pulled Song Yinhua aside. "I'm begging you, I'm begging you this once. If Dafei ever harms you again, I won't care!"
“A life for a life, a debt for a debt. Tang Dafei brought this upon himself. I gave him many chances, but he brought it on himself. This time, no amount of pleading on his behalf will help.”
"Can't I even beg you? Just give me some face. Uncle Liang and Aunt Qiaoyun have been pleading with me for over half an hour. Don't make me lose face. This is the last time. I won't get involved in this matter again!"
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