Old Man Guan's life was actually quite simple. Born and raised in Guanjia Village, he had several brothers. When he was six or seven, his family was so poor they couldn't afford food. His parents contacted a local human trafficker and wanted to sell one of their sons. When they arrived to claim the children, they hadn't yet decided which one to sell. The trafficker then broke a stick into seven long pieces and one short, and had the brothers draw lots. Whoever drew the right one would go with the trafficker. Finally, Old Man Guan won the lottery, and the trafficker took him away.
Then, sometime in the 1930s, one day, Old Man Guan suddenly returned, bringing his wife and two sons with him. At the time, the world was in turmoil, with wars raging everywhere. He told the villagers that the chaos outside was too much, so he returned. About six months later, Old Lady Guan gave birth to another premature baby girl. Four more sons and a daughter followed, making his family a large one. However, according to the villagers, the children had been corrupted by his wife, becoming lazy and greedy. Of the daughters-in-law he married, only the second wife was filial and sensible, while the others didn't seem very good. Filial piety aside, when things got tough, they all backed away.
What was special was that after returning to the village, Old Man Guan had no other source of income except farming. However, apart from his second wife, who was picked up without spending any money, he married his five daughters-in-law with great expense. The dowries of the two daughters were also very large.
As for the sons and grandchildren, all of them went to school, except for the second wife's son and two daughters. They used to attend private schools, and the sons lived with their teachers in the county. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, private schools were banned and replaced by the village primary school. Once again, a large group of children were rushed off to primary school, a sight that was common in the village every morning. In those days of food scarcity, tuition was 80 cents per child. Who could afford to send so many children to school? The old man Renguan was willing to do so, but where did the money come from?
After discussing the investigation into Old Man Guan, the two comrades moved on to the clues leading to their investigation into Director Jiang's fourth brother. They explained that Old Man Guan's second son was the child they had stolen. When Old Lady Guan returned to the village, she'd excused herself for the long journey and lacked milk, saying how could she have milk without a child? The child had only been a month old when she returned, and six months later, she'd given birth to another child, making the timings inconsistent. Furthermore, the discrepancy between the two children over the years was stark; how could biological parents treat their own children this way? All signs pointed to this Guan Huashu as Director Jiang's fourth brother. They then recounted what they'd heard from the locals about how the second child had been treated over the past thirty years, including the story of the three of them fainting from hunger while foraging for wild vegetables. Their leader, a man of impressive stature, known for his decisiveness and invincibility on the battlefield, now clenched his fists and burst into tears.
Director Jiang decided to urgently arrest Old Lady Guan the next morning. The arrest process would take time and effort, so it would be best to do it early the next morning. He couldn't wait any longer, and only his strong willpower kept him in check, otherwise he feared he would kill Old Lady Guan.
Suihe brought the bank president and driver Xiao Liu back to the bureau. After handing over the matter to his colleagues, he went up to the third-floor office. When he entered, he heard the last few words about his second uncle, so he took over and asked, "Are you talking about Guan Huashu from Guanjia Village?"
"Yes, do you know him?" Director Jiang asked.
He nodded casually: "I know him, he's my second uncle, he's been very kind to me since I was a child!"
Upon hearing that Director Jiang had become interested, he joined in the conversation. Then, remembering that the woman who had delivered lunch that morning was probably the one delivering it to him, he told him about it. Suihe was very surprised to be chatting with his idol. He answered every question, then started answering questions first, and then even answered questions without being asked. His active attitude was completely different from his usual aloof persona.
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