The government officials leaned out of the car window and looked at the wooden planks blocking the road ahead.
"Who has blocked the road with wooden planks? Move them immediately, don't obstruct our official business."
Song Yinhua immediately said, "Police officers, it was Grandma Zhou's family who blocked this place and demanded a toll from us. They said we couldn't leave without paying and they even threatened to hit us!"
Old Mrs. Zhou's three sons and tenth daughter-in-law were surrounding Song Yinhua, poised to attack.
Upon hearing Song Yinhua complain to the authorities, he quickly let go of her hand.
Grandma Zhou said to the police officer with utmost respect, "We were just joking."
"Spreading rumors, slander, defamation, seizing other people's vegetable gardens and stealing their old hens, blocking the way and not letting them pass, and even threatening to fight—is this a joke?"
"You think it's a joke to take down anyone you don't like, and use Old Man Zhou's connections from his time as a militia captain to bully the villagers?"
"Song Yinhua, don't make false accusations!" Zhou Xiaojiu warned, "Your parents gave us the old hen willingly; they begged us to accept it!"
Song Yinhua pointed at Zhou Xiaojiu, "And him, he broke into my house in the middle of the night with malicious intent."
Zhou Xiaojiu panicked and hurriedly explained, "That's not how it is! She's making false accusations! I was drunk and mistook the house for hers. Look, she splashed boiling water on me and burned my face like this! Officers, you have to stand up for my family!"
Zhou Xiaojiu is now grateful that the windows on the back wall of Song Yinhua's house were small and there were a few iron bars that blocked the view, otherwise it would have been so serious.
"Since you have a dispute here, let's start with your family." The police officers got out of the car. "Who is Zhou Baozhu to your family?"
Grandma Zhou said, "My fourth son's daughter is getting married soon. My granddaughter Baozhu is marrying into a wealthy family in the city. It's all thanks to me."
"Did you spend three hundred yuan to have a fortune teller perform an exorcism for your granddaughter?"
“It’s me, police officer. Let me tell you, that master is incredibly powerful and his predictions are very accurate. Ever since he blessed my Baozhu, she has found a wealthy husband in the city. Besides Baozhu, my other granddaughters have also had rituals performed by the master. It won’t be long before my other granddaughters also send us good news.”
Grandma Zhou was overjoyed.
"Call all your granddaughters over. We have some questions for them, so please cooperate."
"Cooperate, of course we'll cooperate!" Old Mrs. Zhou was extremely devout and respectful, thinking that her granddaughters had been blessed and that something good was about to happen.
Zhou Xiaoba asked, "What do you want to ask Baozhu and the others?"
"Official business."
Song Yinhua didn't linger and went home with her basket on her back.
The police officer on duty glanced at Song Yinhua as she left; he recognized her the moment the car stopped.
I went to the police station to report the case early in the morning.
On a single sheet of paper, Wang Pizi's numerous fraudulent activities were meticulously recorded.
-
At noon, in the fragrant kitchen, Song Yinhua was arranging stir-fried wild vegetables and meat slices onto a plate when she heard voices outside.
"Is this Song Caixing's home?" the police officer asked from outside the yard.
Song Caixing ran out, but was terrified when she saw the police car. She ran straight towards Song Yinhua.
"Big sister, there are government officials involved."
Song Yinhua came out wiping her hands and saw that it was a police officer, so she guessed what it was about.
"Caixing, don't be afraid. Just answer whatever the government officials ask you."
The police officers learned about the scammers' methods from Song Caixing and also asked Song Yinhua some questions. After understanding the situation, they left for the next location.
In Songzhuang Village, Song Yinhua kept a complete record of how many families Wang the scoundrel had cheated, how many people he had performed rituals to increase their fortunes, and how much ill-gotten money he had collected.
After the police visited the villagers, they initially all admitted that the master's rituals would bring them good fortune and that their families would become rich. However, when the police revealed that the master was a swindler hired to deceive them, almost all of them immediately changed their stories, denying that the rituals would bring them good fortune and denying that any sexual relations had occurred.
Finally, the police car stopped outside Tang Suxiang's yard.
The villagers would follow the police car to whichever house it went to watch the spectacle.
“Wang the rogue from Wangjia Village said in person that your father’s family hired him to come to Songzhuang Village to swindle people, frame Song Erzhuang’s family, and falsely accuse Song Erzhuang’s eldest daughter of having the fate of a concubine. How much do you know about this?”
When the police asked this question, Tang Suxiang was immediately stunned.
"Wang Xiaowei is your nephew, right?"
“It’s my nephew, Xiaowei, the second son of my sixth sister, Su’e.”
"Wang the scoundrel said that your nephew Wang Xiaowei wrote him notes and told him to memorize everything on them to make it easier to scam people. Wang Xiaowei also told him in advance about the situation of each household in the village. Were you involved in any of these things?"
"I wasn't involved, I don't know anything about it," Tang Suxiang quickly denied, terrified.
She genuinely didn't know.
Seeing so many villagers gathered around the yard watching the spectacle, if she did that, and things were exposed, she would be skinned alive by the villagers.
"Are Song Erzhuang and your man brothers?" the police officer continued, taking notes in a small notebook.
They are brothers.
"What is the relationship between your two families? Why would your nephew and your father's family hire a thug to impersonate a fortune teller to swindle people in the village and frame Song Erzhuang's daughter?"
"I don't know. I have a very good relationship with my brother-in-law's family. I've never framed my brother-in-law's daughter! Look! My brother-in-law's wife has been staying at my house these past few days." Tang Suxiang quickly pulled Qiao Guilan, who was holding a child, over. "We sisters-in-law have a very good relationship."
Some of the cheated villagers were furious, saying, "You were the one who talked the worst about Erzhuang's daughter behind her back, calling her a jinx. You stole the jade pendant that Yinhua found, and then you turned around and accused her of being dishonest! Wasn't that you?!"
Some villagers chimed in, "That's right, there were many people there at the time, and your son Hanwen even slapped Erzhuang across the face in public!"
"Erzhuang is his own uncle, and he even lent money to his child for medical treatment."
"And Erzhuang's fourth daughter was defiled by a swindler, and you went around telling everyone about it. I heard you laugh at Caixing for becoming a slut."
Hearing the villagers' discussions, the police officers helped Song Caixing prove her innocence. "We also learned about Song Caixing's situation. Wang Pizi confessed that he failed to succeed because Song Yinhua appeared in time. He said that Song Caixing was the only one in Songzhuang Village who failed to succeed."
Among the villagers who were watching the commotion, some started cursing.
"Tang Suxiang, you heartless bastard! Erzhuang's family has been good to your family, lending you money for medical treatment, and Guilan even helped your daughter take care of her child. Yet you and your family have conspired to harm Erzhuang's family, and you've even harmed us! We have no grudge against you!"
Many villagers were scammed.
Some villagers were cheated out of money, while others who sought the master's services were cheated out of their money and sexually assaulted. In particular, the villagers who sought the master's services for their unmarried daughters hated Tang Suxiang the most.
"I really didn't know about this." Tang Suxiang wasn't afraid of offending her uncle's family, but she couldn't afford to offend the whole village. "My dad went back to Tangzhuang a long time ago. I've been in the village the whole time. How would I know that my dad did this?"
She asked the police officer, "Could there be a mistake?"
“No mistake, we’ve caught Wang the scoundrel. He’s confessed to everything he did, saying that your father’s family hired him but refused to pay the remaining balance, and that he made your niece, Wang Yunyun, stay with him for one night to settle the matter. We have a list of the people he scammed in Songzhuang Village, and we’ve already confirmed it. There’s no problem.”
Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast.
That evening, the whole village and even neighboring villages spread the word that the so-called fortune teller was hired by Tang Suxiang's family to swindle people, with the aim of framing Song Erzhuang's eldest daughter. In the end, Song Erzhuang's eldest daughter failed to frame them and instead caused great harm to other families.
That very night, some angry villagers threw excrement into Tang Suxiang's yard.
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