Chapter 64
Lu Damei defended herself: "I am very grateful and respectful to Secretary Zhai. I work in the fields every day, hoping that our farm can grow more food so that our farmers and workers will no longer be hungry. How could I have the time or the courage to steal things from the experimental field? Someone must be dissatisfied with our Liu family and is framing us."
"The facts are right in front of us. It doesn't matter if you Liu family members don't admit it. Think carefully about what your sons of bitches have done!" Han Yongxin waved his hand, "Take away all the people in Liujiazhuang and hand them over to the public security department for handling."
The Liu family panicked, and one by one they said, "Minister Han, you can't just arrest people without evidence? You can't be prejudiced against the people of Liujiazhuang."
"That's right. Even if our children picked the fruits, they are ignorant. We can just give them a beating and teach them a lesson, and then compensate the farm. Why did they arrest us?"
"I think you are just seeking revenge. Don't think we don't know that your wife has a good relationship with Yang Qiujin from the farm. Our children just broke a few corn cobs from her farm, but you made such a big fuss and wanted to kill all the people in Liujiazhuang."
"Let's go find Secretary Zhai and find out who is in charge of this farm, Secretary Zhai or Yang Qiujin? She is using public power to take revenge on her and is forcing us to death."
......
Dozens of people from Liujiazhuang, big and small, were all very excited and clamoring to go find Secretary Zhai.
Chief Wang of the Security Department could not help but say, "Stop arguing. It's useless to argue at all costs. It was Secretary Zhai who asked me and Minister Han to investigate the thief. Even if it wasn't you who did it, it was your brats who did it. You parents cannot escape responsibility."
Do you know what you kids stole? Those were the watermelon seeds that the experts begged and pleaded with Dr. Wu from another large farm. They have been cultivating them for months and are about to bear fruit. If there is really more red soil, fewer seeds, and the watermelon is crisp and sweet, our farm will plant that kind of watermelon on a large scale to sell. You kids stole them in the middle of the night and destroyed the experts' achievements. What's the difference between you and a spy? You don't discipline your kids strictly, you deserve to be caught!"
The people in Liujiazhuang were speechless, but many of them were unwilling to accept the situation and still wanted to make excuses.
Han Yongxin didn't have the patience to waste time talking to them, so he called for his men and directly captured all the people who had been kidnapped from Liujiazhuang. He tied them up with ropes, put them on a tractor, and headed towards the Public Security Bureau near the farm.
As soon as they left, a dozen children emerged from a field of tall cotton.
A child cried to the skinny Liu Dabao, "Our parents have been arrested. What should we do?"
A boy with a simple and honest look said, "I told you before that we should not steal things from the experimental fields, but you refused to listen, saying that the watermelons, grapes, and cantaloupes grown there are big and delicious. Now, our parents have been arrested, and the armed forces must want to arrest us too. Where can we hide?"
"What are you afraid of?" Liu Dabao said stubbornly, "At worst, we can just wander around the farm and engage in guerrilla warfare. The farm grows so many crops, and there are chickens and fish in the farm. We won't starve to death. If they can't catch us, let's see how they can convict our parents!"
When Yang Qiujin arrived at the farm, the arrests were already over. She saw Han Yongxin arresting a long line of people and heading to the police station. She didn't see him arresting the bad guys. She frowned and waited for Han Yongxin to send the people to the police station. When he came back, she asked him, "Why are you only arresting these adults and not the children who did bad things?"
Han Yongxin said: "When we arrested their families, we didn't see the children, so it was difficult for us to arrest them. They were running around the farm like stray dogs, and their parents couldn't control them."
Yang Qiujin said: "These bad guys must be caught and given a severe lesson so that they can repent."
"I know. You don't have to worry. It will be a long time before they are driven out of the farm. Before you catch them, you should be more careful and beware of them."
"It's the only way."
Yang Qiujin rode back to the farm and told Yang Qiuyue and the others about the incident. She asked Fan Sui and his men to keep an eye out for the bad guys when they were on duty at night. If they saw them stealing or causing trouble again, they should arrest them without mercy.
When she rode back to the farm hospital, Chen Tianyou had already woken up and Li Xiu'e was taking care of him in the ward.
"Come, Tianyou, open your mouth and let me feed you milk." Li Xiu'e held a bowl of porridge in her hand and picked up a spoon to feed Chen Tianyou's mouth.
At some point, Wang Songyue came with Li Xiu'e to visit Chen Tianyou.
With her in the ward, Chen Tianyou was too proud to care about his appearance. He turned his head away and said, "Grandma, I'm not a child anymore. I can eat by myself."
"How old are you? You are not a child. Who is the child? In my heart, you will always be my precious grandson." Li Xiu'e said this, but she knew that her grandson had grown up and had his own ideas. She did not force him, but put the porridge in his hands and let him eat it by himself.
Chen Tianyou was outnumbered thirteen people at once. No matter how good a fighter he was, he was still just a child. In addition to the injury to his head, he also suffered multiple soft tissue injuries in his hands and feet. He grimaced in pain every time he moved and couldn't even hold the bowl steadily.
Wang Songyue saw that he was holding the bowl with shaking hands, so she quickly reached out to help him hold the bowl and said, "How about I feed you?"
"I can eat by myself." Chen Tianyou raised his head stubbornly.
Yang Qiujin slapped him in the face and said, "I gave you the face, but you don't want it. Eat it if you want."
Chen Tianyou: ...
What happened to his mother that made her so angry? She doesn't even feel sorry for him getting hurt.
"Tell me what it was like when you fought with those kids." Yang Qiujin asked while sitting beside the hospital bed.
Chen Tianyou quickly recounted the fight, "Mom, I strictly followed the fighting techniques my dad taught me. I only hit them on their arms, legs, stomachs, and legs. I didn't hit them anywhere else. I only hurt them, but didn't cause them fatal injuries. I was forced to fight back by them, I didn't take the initiative to provoke them."
"I know." Yang Qiujin reached out and touched his cheek, which had been disinfected by the nurse and then painted with purple medicine, and said with some heartache: "If only your father was at home, with him, the bad kids would have been caught long ago and they would have been asked to pay their respects and apologize in front of you."
Unfortunately, she could only fantasize, because Chen Shengqing had been gone for three months and there had been no news of him.
I finally got news from him today, but it was a bolt from the blue.
"Political Commissar Liao, what did you say? What do you mean Chen Shengqing is missing and his whereabouts are unknown? He may be dead?!" Yang Qiujin slammed the table in excitement, unable to believe the news she heard.
"Comrade Yang, calm down." Political Commissar Liao said with a heavy heart: "Three months ago, Chen Shengqing took the initiative to ask our department to go to the Soviet Union to track down the Chinese elements in the Soviet Union that Riemann had provided, to extract useful information from them, to send it back to our department, and to kill their superiors, and to deal with Anna's matter by the way. Originally, Chen Shengqing would contact our Communications Department in a special way every month to convey information. However, half a month ago, Chen Shengqing suddenly conveyed a garbled code to the Communications Department. After the communications soldiers cracked it, it said, 'I have been surrounded and it is very likely that I will not be able to come back. If I don't reply to the message in a week, please treat my family well.' Now half a month has passed, and he still hasn't delivered any new information. We have reason to suspect that Comrade Chen Shengqing has sacrificed himself."
Yang Qiujin felt dizzy and her heart skipped a beat. She fell backwards with her body stiff.
"Comrade Yang, be careful." Li Zhiyong and other military officers nearby noticed her abnormality and rushed forward to support her.
She didn't know where she got the strength from, she grabbed Guo Shengrong's arm and said, "Captain Guo, this is not true, tell me, what Political Commissar Liao said is not true, didn't Chen Shengqing receive special training from you, and worked as a spy in the Soviet Union for several years? With his skills, how could he die!"
Guo Shengrong wanted to comfort her, but in the end he couldn't bear to keep her in the dark, and sighed, "In fact, there were other comrades accompanying Chen Shengqing on this mission to the Soviet Union. One of the comrades who escaped unscathed contacted us and said that Chen Shengqing had a complete fallout with Anna's organization and was ambushed by the enemy. In order to cover the retreat of other comrades, he took the initiative to expose his identity and led the enemies to flee to the northern border of the Soviet Union. At that time, he had been shot and injured."
Yang Qiujin felt as if her heart was stabbed with a knife. She couldn't breathe due to the pain. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she forced herself to calm down and asked with a trembling voice: "Then what? The other comrades have all retreated safely. No one went back to save him, and the organization didn't send a rescue team back to save him?"
"Comrade Yang, all comrades who go to other countries to act as spies must be prepared to sacrifice themselves in other countries without anyone to rescue them. The situation between our country and the Soviet Union is currently tense. Not to mention that Chen Shengqing went to the Soviet Union to complete his mission with some personal grudges, even if he went to the Soviet Union normally without special circumstances, we would not send people to the Soviet Union to rescue him and cause disputes between the two countries."
Tears fell silently, and Yang Qiujin seemed to have lost all her energy. She sat paralyzed on the chair, muttering to herself in pain, "I don't believe he died like this. He said that as long as there was a glimmer of hope for survival, he would definitely come back. He would definitely come back."
No one around spoke, everyone listened to her murmurs silently. Several officers who had fought side by side with Chen Shengqing couldn't help but shed tears in their eyes. They wanted to comfort her but didn't know where to start.
Finally, Political Commissar Liao said, "Comrade Yang, we called you here today not only to inform you of this matter, but also to inform you of another matter. That is, after Comrade Chen Shengqing dies, according to the regulations of the army, he will be issued a martyr's certificate, and your family will also be issued a martyr's certificate. You, Sister Li, and your children..."
"We what?" Yang Qiujin glared at Political Commissar Liao, "We want to see him alive or dead! How can you be sure that Chen Shengqing has died without even seeing his body? You can issue a martyr's certificate to our family, but I must see the body, even if it's just his relics. Otherwise, I won't accept your so-called martyr's certificate, and I will wait for him to come back!"
Political Commissar Liao was speechless. Li Zhiyong next to him wanted to say something, but Guo Shengrong stopped him, "Let Comrade Yang have a good rest. We can talk about other things after she calms down."
Li Zhiyong sighed and left the Chen family compound with a group of military officers.
As soon as they left, Yang Qiujin could no longer hold back and covered her face with her hands, crying silently.
She could not accept the fact that Chen Shengqing was dead. In her eyes, the word "missing" meant the possibility of survival.
She always firmly believed that Chen Shengqing would come back alive, even if a group of border defense officers came to tell her that Chen Shengqing was dead, but as long as she didn't see Chen Shengqing's body, she still had hope in her heart.
In fact, Yang Qiujin understood that without 90% accurate information, it was impossible for Political Commissar Liao and other border defense officers to come to her collectively and tell her about this matter.
I suddenly felt sad. Could it be that Chen Shengqing was really dead?
The presence of so many border defense officers soon attracted the attention of the neighbors. Although Yang Qiujin wanted to hide it, she couldn't. She sent the neighbors away perfunctorily at any time. She also did not hide the fact when facing Li Xiu'e and Chen Tianyou, who she had deliberately sent away before.
Li Xiu'e's grief-stricken cries were soon heard in the room, and Chen Tianyou also cried in disbelief.
The Chen family was in grief, and Yang Qiujin couldn't sleep for several days.
On this day, she couldn't hold on any longer and fell into a half-drowsy sleep, having nightmares the whole night.
After a while, she dreamed that Chen Shengqing was lying in a pool of blood, and he told her to take care of his mother and children, and they would see each other in the next life.
After a while, she dreamed that Chen Shengqing came home safely, stood in front of her and smiled at her, asking her why she didn't get up yet when it was almost dawn.
She threw herself towards him madly, but missed him. Then the feeling of weightlessness woke her up from her dream. She gasped for breath and realized that she had been dreaming.
It was still dark outside and the yard was quiet. In the dark room, Yang Qiujin seemed to still smell the scent that Chen Shengqing left in the house before he left. Her heart was filled with sadness and her hands unconsciously tightened the quilt as tears fell like rain.
Chen Shengqing, where are you? Are you still alive?
In a certain border village in the north, there lives a group of ancient nomadic people. They have made a living by reindeer herding for generations and live in the northernmost and coldest border forest in our country.
In a pine forest, there is a wooden house where a family of seven lives. They are the Oroqen people. They have lived here for generations, raising and training reindeer. They make a living by hunting with hunting dogs and guns.
It is winter now, and the border forest has long been covered with thick snow. Last night, there was a heavy snowfall all night, which froze the windows and made it impossible to see the scenery outside.
An eighteen-year-old girl named E Yiran, with a round face and lovely looks, wearing a thick leather coat, a leather hat, and thick velvet shoes, got up early in the morning and started cooking in the house.
The breakfast she made was very simple. She would cook a pot of yellow rice in a round hanging pot, and add wild boar, fish, wild duck and other meat that they had hunted and stored at home before winter. She would cut a little of each and put it in the pot, then add water and salt and cook them together. When they were almost 70% cooked, she would use a spatula to mash the rice and meat, and then use chopsticks to stir them into a paste. This became the lala rice that they often eat here. It was especially soft and easy to eat for both the elderly and children.
When she finished cooking, her family members got up one after another. After a simple wash, the family gathered around the stove under the hanging pot and ate breakfast in a warm atmosphere.
After breakfast, E Yiran's grandmother said to her, "Nier, the traps in the forests of East Lake Bay have been set for almost a month. It's time to go to the place where the traps are set to see if there are any martens. If not, reset the traps to prevent squirrels from destroying them."
Before the 1980s, most of the Oroqen people made a living by hunting. Their favorite animal was the sable. The mink coats made from this kind of sable are warm and comfortable, and can be sold at a good price. Every winter, Oroqen's family would set unique simulated tree traps in the northernmost forest of our country.
Because minks have a keen sense of smell, they usually set a trap for more than a month. After the natural wind blows and the trees have grown, the smell of humans is erased. The minks are extremely hungry and want to eat the various baits in the trap, so they may fall into the trap.
"Okay, grandma, I'll be right there." E Yiran took a hunting rifle from the wooden wall, put on his hat and scarf, and was about to go out.
Her mother said worriedly, "Yi'ren, can you go alone?"
The place where the marten traps were set was quite close to the Soviet border. Although the Soviets had to pass through the dangerous ancient forests to come to our country, E Yiran's mother was obviously not at ease letting her daughter go to collect prey alone.
"Just let her go." E Yiran's father picked up an axe and prepared to go out to chop dead trees. He said, "She is already an eighteen-year-old girl. All the girls of our Oroqen ethnic group are good hunters, no worse than boys. Let her go out and practice more. When she gets married, she will be able to take charge of the family."
E Yiran's mother knew that what he said was reasonable, so she repeatedly told E Yiran, "Take two more dogs with you. If you encounter a blind bear, don't hesitate, just shoot, shoot at its eyes, don't turn around and run, you can't outrun a blind bear. Only by hitting its eyes, making it feel pain, making it afraid of you, and then slowly retreating, will you have a chance to survive. If you encounter other wild animals, or people from the Soviet Union, don't hesitate, just shoot, self-protection is important!"
"I know, Mom. Don't worry. I'm not a three-year-old kid anymore. You forgot that when I was five years old, I followed you and my grandparents to hunt in the mountains. I'm very familiar with the surrounding terrain."
E Yiran confidently brought the two smartest and youngest of the four hunting dogs in the house and opened the frozen wooden doors. A gust of cold wind blew in from the door, almost blowing her hat off.
She held her hat on her head with her hand and went out in the wind and snow. When the wind outside died down, she put her hand down, called the two hunting dogs, took up her gun, looked for the direction, stepped on the thick snow, and slowly walked towards the distant forest where the marten traps were set.
The road in the mountains was difficult to walk on because it had snowed and blizzard last night and the forest had already changed its appearance. E Yiran had to carefully identify the surrounding trees and terrain to avoid getting lost.
In order to make the road easier to walk on, E Yiran let two dogs walk in front of her. With them wading through the snow, she would not sprain her ankle by walking into a cave entrance covered by snow or into a dark ditch or sewer.
Everything around was white, with thick, cotton-like snow hanging on the trees. When the two dogs and she passed by, occasionally some snow would fall from the branches and hit them on the head.
E Yiran has gotten used to it. Every year, her family sets traps in the nearby mountains and forests within a hundred miles. Family members go to different directions to collect prey in batches at regular intervals.
Before this year, she had always come with her family to collect prey and was often hit by snow accumulated on the trees.
She thought it was fun when she was little, but now her mood is different. This is the first time since she became an adult that she has been walking alone in the dangerous forest to collect prey. She must stay alert at all times to avoid being eaten by wild beasts.
The two dogs thought it was interesting and fun at first, and would run around and play with the snow on purpose. But after being hit so many times, they became numb and just obediently led the way.
A man and two dogs walked along the winding mountain path, passing one peak after another.
Two hours later, they arrived at the forest where the trap was set. When E Yiran was about to find a place to rest, a yellow hunting dog seemed to have discovered something and started barking wildly towards a big tree in the north.
E Yiran immediately picked up the gun, put his finger on the trigger, and looked nervously at the big tree covered with snow, which was big enough for three people to hug.
Time passed, and there was no movement behind the big tree. The yellow hound barked a few times and then gradually became quiet. The other brown hound ran directly behind the tree to check what was going on.
After a while, the brown hunting dog came back intact, barking at E Yiran in a low voice and scratching her legs with its front paws, obviously trying to tell her that it had found something.
As long as it is not a ferocious beast like a blind bear, E Yiran is not afraid.
She relaxed, but still held the gun in her hand, and followed the hound to the tree. She found that the snow under the tree was faintly red, which looked like blood.
E Yiran frowned, squatted down, reached out to grab a handful of bloody snow, put it between his nose and smelled it. There was no strange smell, and it didn't sound like the blood of a beast.
So what animal's blood is this?
While he was thinking about it, the brown hound suddenly used its claws to scratch the snow under the tree, and the hounds next to it also joined in the scratching.
Soon, a piece of clothing was exposed from where they were pulling. E Yiran was shocked. There was a person covered under the snow? !
E Yiran quickly reached out and pushed away the snow, revealing a person underneath. She was a very beautiful woman with short hair and facial features that looked both masculine and feminine.
She was wearing a Soviet-style women's Lenin suit, which was stained red with blood and dried into blood clots. Her face was frozen blue and purple, and her eyes were tightly closed. It was unclear whether she was dead or alive.
E Yi still stretched out his finger and put it under the woman's nostrils to feel the breath to see if she was still alive.
Soon, she detected a faint breath of air.
Such a beautiful woman, lying here with such serious injuries, could she be a spy who escaped from the Soviet Union?
E Yiran frowned, wanting to ignore the woman's life or death, but he couldn't bear to turn a blind eye.
She hesitated for a moment, then reached out to pull the woman, wanting to pull her to a place with many trees, so that she could get some tree bark and dig some dead grass under the snow to keep her warm.
Just as her hand grasped the frozen woman's hand, the woman suddenly opened her eyes, her eyes were sharp and vicious, as if she was going to jump up and kill her.
But in the next moment, she seemed to see clearly who was in front of her, and asked in a hoarse voice: "Is this the Chinese border forest?"
E Yiran was stunned. Why did this woman's voice sound so rough, like a man's?
She said, "Yes, this is China's northernmost primeval forest. You are in our Oroqen people's territory. Who are you? How did you get here and be so badly injured?"
"It's Chinese territory." The woman smiled weakly, "Qiu Jin, I'm back to our country alive."
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