About forty minutes later, many police officers came to the quiet village.

The villagers were in a panic and didn't know what was going on. They followed the police all the way to the Qian family's door.

When we arrived at the Qian family's door, we saw a huge crowd of people.

Aunt Qian felt ashamed to see so many people coming to her house to watch the fun, but she couldn't care less about that now. When she saw several police officers walking towards her precious son, she rushed over and started crying, her cry was so aggrieved.

"Public Security Comrade, my son has done nothing. You can't arrest him. If you arrest him, I will die." Aunt Qian cried with snot and tears. She no longer needed to pretend to be pitiful. There were two big slap marks on each side of her face. She looked pitiful even without pretending.

She said aggrievedly, "Besides, my son didn't commit any crime. Ding Ling came to our house of her own accord and she ran away of her own accord. Can you blame us?"

The police had already understood the situation before they came, and said, "Don't worry, Auntie. We are not going to arrest him. He has committed no crime, but it is wrong to bring someone else's girl home. We just want to criticize and educate him."

Another police officer also said: "The girl is only a little girl, she is still young and sensible, you just brought her back like this, and now she has escaped, do you think this is right?"

When Aunt Qian heard that her son had not been taken away, she felt relieved. She stammered, "It can't be considered wrong, right? She did it voluntarily."

When the ex-boyfriend heard the police say he had committed no crime, he became proud again and agreed, "That's right, she said it herself. She was unhappy and unhappy staying at home, so she was willing to be my wife."

Several police officers were speechless when they heard this. The girl was only 15 years old, and maybe she was unhappy with her family, so she said that. You are already in your twenties, and your brain is not so smart?

A lot of people gathered at the door of the Qian family's house. Those who had nothing to do in the village came to watch the excitement. After listening to the conversation between the Qian family's mother and son and the police, everyone guessed what had happened.

Qian Jianjun tricked a city girl into coming to his home and asked her to be his wife, but then her relatives came to find him.

The villagers gathered together and chattered about the Qian family's excitement. Suddenly, an old lady muttered in a low voice: "This is not right. You still remember my Xinghua, right? She is my niece."

The husband of this lady is a brother of the village chief. The villagers suddenly remembered: "Remember, Xinghua is very pretty and speaks softly, but she is not generous and a little timid. Usually when we go to the village chief's house, she won't come out to see people. What does this have to do with Xinghua?"

The eldest mother said, "During the Chinese New Year, I heard from my sister-in-law that Xinghua seemed to be dating Jianjun, but my family didn't agree, so they didn't make it public. It's only been a short time since the Chinese New Year, how come Jianjun is dating a girl from the city again?"

Suddenly someone squeezed in, "Did you remember it wrongly? Jianjun said he wanted to date my daughter, how could he be with Xinghua?"

Another person also squeezed in and was stunned: "What do you mean, isn't Jianjun talking about a date with my sister?"

Some people started to laugh and tease, "If you say Xinghua and another girl, I would believe it, but forget about your sister. She is too big and rough to even look at. Although Jianjun doesn't have a job, he is good-looking. How could he be interested in your sister?"

"Are you looking for a fight? Although my sister is not as pretty as Xinghua, she is capable. She got full work points in the early years. Can you get full work points? Besides, what's so good about Xinghua? She is just pretty. She has a village chief as her father. Who would want her if she is so incapable? Isn't it the purpose of marrying a capable wife in the countryside?"

"Hey, hey, hey, did my Xinghua offend you? It's weird that you're talking about other people's children for no reason." The mother was not convinced and pushed her, "Your sister is so shameless that you dare to compare yourself with my Xinghua. Don't make me laugh to death."

The other woman was even more aggressive. She slapped the aunt on the back and said, "Don't think I'm afraid of you just because you're older. If you dare to scold my sister, you'll be beaten."

At first, it was just the families of the two girls who were quarreling, and then the family of the other daughter also joined in. The three families pushed each other and spit at each other. People who usually didn't treat each other well when they saw each other were now fighting each other.

The people around tried to stop the fight and got punched in the head, so they finally gave way to give them room to fight.

Soon, the noise attracted the attention of others. Everyone was far away and didn't know what was happening, they only knew that a fight had broken out over there.

"What's going on? Why are you guys fighting for no reason?"

The person who knew the situation best at this time was Aunt Cao.

After all, she had been at the scene the whole time and knew about Lingling being taken away. More importantly, she loved to watch the excitement. She had sneaked over as soon as the three families started quarreling, and had been hiding in the crowd and eavesdropping.

At this time, Aunt Cao remained calm and walked back to the team in the alley to look for people. She raised her head and answered loudly, "Oh, this Qian Jianjun is dating three girls at the same time. Oh, including our Lingling, there are four. Now that people know about it, they are arguing about it. They all think that their own girls are worthy of dating Qian Jianjun. Let me say that Qian Jianjun is a rotten cabbage, you can pick up a lot of it on the street for a penny, and you are still fighting over it, is it that serious?"

Aunt Cao couldn't help but sneer: "He's a young man in his twenties, he doesn't have a job, and his character is a mess. You guys are still fighting for this kind of person. Apart from other things, the guys around me are well-known for their warm-heartedness in the alley. When Lingling got into trouble, they came to help. Aren't they better than Qian Jianjun? If there are suitable girls in your village, you can take a look at them. Why would you fight for such a rotten cabbage?"

The young men were stunned. They had heard that Aunt Cao loved to act as matchmakers, but they never thought that such an occasion would give her the opportunity to take advantage of it!

However, this remark did enlighten the three families. They all showed a hint of disgust on their faces. "Who wants to snatch him away? He has no job and is smooth-talking. He has an old lady at home, and she is not a worry-free person."

As they spoke, the villagers couldn't help but follow Aunt Cao's words and turned their attention to the young man in the alley. Their eyes lit up when they saw him.

Although these guys are not as good-looking as Qian Jianjun, they all have regular facial features, and they also have bicycles.

Several of the young men had never dated anyone, and when they were looked at like this, they all blushed and moved closer to each other, looking shy.

When the villagers saw him, they thought the young man was pretty good, better than Qian Jianjun, that rotten vegetable leaf.

Then he looked at the rotten vegetable leaf Qian Jianjun with disdain: "Talking about four targets in one breath, if it were a few years ago, you would be considered a hooligan, ugh."

"That's right. I thought you orphans and widows were quite pitiful, but I didn't expect you to be so worthless."

Qian Jianjun didn't think it was a big deal at all, and said confidently, "What's wrong with talking to four people? I'm not being a hooligan. They all volunteered."

He glanced at the other guys, looking a little unconvinced: "Besides, I've talked to someone before, do you think they haven't?"

Several guys were upset. “You think everyone else is like you. We haven’t talked to any of you.”

As they were talking, the village chief came over and shook hands with the public security comrades to understand the situation.

The village chief knew that Qian Jianjun was dating his young lady and he didn't agree at first. But after talking to the police, he found out that Qian Jianjun and his mother Qian's ability was so great that they could even deceive a young girl.

The police criticized and educated Qian Jianjun, telling him not to do that again and that the rest of the matter would be left to the village chief to handle.

After the police left, the village chief coughed lightly, looked at the Qian family mother and son coldly, and said: "The matter outside has been resolved. Now let's talk about the good things your family has done. Come in with me."

Qian's mother walked in front, she was so upset that she could not even cry.

Their family fled here due to famine, and the house they live in now is a rented house in the village. When her husband left, she raised her son with great difficulty and never thought about building a house.

Now, even if others don't pursue the matter, the villagers' hatred towards them alone is enough for them to drink a pot of wine.

Maybe the village chief would order the mother and son to leave the village immediately.

After leaving the village, no one was interested in hearing about the fate of the Qian mother and son. What everyone was most concerned about now was the whereabouts of Ding Ling.

Almost everyone in the alley had not slept the whole night and was now so sleepy that they really didn't have the energy to look for anyone anymore. Fortunately, their work last night was not in vain as they had found some clues about Lingling. The rest of the matter was left to the police.

The people in the alley wanted to go back, but Yan Li didn't want to go back. He handed his bicycle to Lin Minjun and said, "Do you still have the strength? If you can still ride, ride my bicycle back. If not, let me take you back."

"I didn't do anything last night, so I have no energy at all." Lin Minjun looked up at him, "Aren't you going home? Aren't you tired?"

Yan Li looked a little tired, but he smiled when he heard this: "I can't go back for now. I know the whole story. I have to find Ding Ling first. I'm not tired, I'm just sleepy."

Lin Minjun pulled him with concern: "Then go back and have a good sleep after you are done, I will go back and make chicken soup, and we will both have a good rest."

"Go back quickly and be careful on the road." He originally wanted to touch her face, but suddenly found a bunch of colleagues around him looking at him gossipingly. He shifted his hand and helped her pin a strand of hair behind her ear.

Yan Li said, "Go back."

Lin Minjun walked out a few steps and turned back, "Did you find it? I think Mrs. Xu is not in good condition. She almost fainted just now."

So many of them have been searching for a whole day and night but still can't find the whereabouts of the person. If they can't find the person, Mrs. Xu will probably not be able to hold on.

"Don't worry, we can. We had no clues before, but now we have clues. First, ask around in the village to see if anyone has seen Lingling, and then look for her footprints. There are villages everywhere around here, and Lingling can't walk far by herself, so we'll be able to find her anyway." Yan Li said.

Lin Minjun felt relieved when she heard this. She got on her bike, took one last look at her partner, and then headed back to the city in the morning light.

When I got home in the morning, the yard was quiet and everyone was sleeping.

Fortunately, the rice noodle shop is now closed and is waiting to move to the restaurant. Lin Minjun took a nap, and after waking up, she went to the vegetable market to buy an old hen to make chicken soup.

The clay pot made a sizzling sound, and the aroma wafted out along the edge of the pot, and the chicken soup was cooked.

Lin Minjun drank a bowl herself, gave a bowl each to Aunt Cao and Erwa, and finally gave a bowl to Aunt Xu, leaving the rest in the casserole.

Mrs. Xu was halfway through drinking her chicken soup when someone came over and said, "Found it, Lingling found it!"

The spoon clanged off her hand and landed in the bowl of chicken soup. Mrs. Xu stood up and asked, "Where is it? Where is my girlfriend?"

The young man who came to report the news said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. Lingling is fine. It is said that she ran out in the middle of the night and fell into the snow. She was frozen and her legs were frostbitten. Fortunately, she met a kind-hearted person and was rescued by an old lady and taken home. The child was frightened and has been running a fever for the past two days. The police happened to come and look for her. Now I want you to pack up, put on some thick clothes and bring Lingling back."

When Mrs. Xu heard that the child had frostbite, she cried and laughed at the same time, not knowing what to do: "Okay, I'll pack my clothes now and go pick them up. Wait for me."

As she spoke, she opened the door of the closet and took out a summer short-sleeved shirt.

Lin Minjun said, "Sister-in-law, it's winter now, you need to wear thick clothes. I'll help you pack and then go with you."

She quickly took a pair of thick cotton trousers, a thick cotton jacket, a pair of socks and cotton shoes, and pulled Mrs. Xu out the door.

****

Ding Ling was found in a village outside Sangongli. I don’t know whether to say that this girl was lucky or unlucky.

She ran out of her ex-boyfriend's house at around midnight. It was snowing at the time. She ran with one foot deep and one foot shallow. She didn't know how far she had run after she left the village. She was so tired that suddenly her eyes blurred and she fell into a ditch on the side of the road. The ditch was full of snow.

In previous years, many people fell in with their heads down and their legs up, unable to breathe, and suffocated to death. But Ding Ling was different. She fell with her legs down and her head up, like a scallion on the snow. She was discovered by an old lady who passed by and was taken home.

"You don't know. When I found her, her face was blue from the cold and her legs were numb from the cold. I quickly took her home and put her on the kang to keep her warm. I also called the village barefoot doctor over. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with her, prescribed some frostbite and went away. But she had a high fever again at night and kept talking nonsense. I stayed with her all night before I fell asleep." The aunt who rescued Ding Ling was describing the situation to Mrs. Xu.

As Mrs. Xu listened, her eyes turned red. She wanted to cry but couldn't. She suddenly stood up and was about to kneel down: "Sister, I really don't know what to say. I can only say thank you. Fortunately, you saved my daughter. If anything happened to her, I really wouldn't be able to survive."

The eldest sister was shocked. "Hurry up, isn't this just a matter of convenience? There's a person on the roadside. If we don't help him, and he dies later, we won't be able to live with our conscience. Forget it, eldest sister, I won't say anything to you. You should go in and check on the child."

Lin Minjun followed Mrs. Xu into the room. In just two days, Ding Ling had visibly lost weight.

Lin Minjun was shocked when she saw it, let alone Mrs. Xu.

She walked up to Ding Ling, and before she spoke her voice was already filled with tears. She said, "Mom promises that she will not force you to do anything in the future. You can do whatever you want. It doesn't matter if your grades are good or not, as long as you are fine."

She no longer wanted to find out why the girl ran away from home.

Lin Minjun stood at the door and saw the mother and daughter hugging each other and crying loudly, and she felt emotional in her heart.

When children are fine, parents always have various demands on them, such as good grades, success, and politeness. But when children are in danger, all they want is their health.

After a while, Mrs. Xu stopped crying and asked, "Lingling, you went home with Qian Jianjun before, why did you run out again in the middle of the night? It was so dangerous. You were saved by a kind person. If you hadn't met a kind person, I don't dare to imagine what the consequences would be."

Ding Ling pursed her lips and looked at Lin Minjun somewhat embarrassedly.

"Sister, remember you told me before that the whole family was lying to me. They were nice to me on the surface, but they actually wanted to keep an eye on my mother's house. Do you remember this?"

"I remember, what's wrong?" Lin Minjun stood up straight and asked curiously.

Ding Ling smiled sarcastically. "The reason I ran away that night was because I accidentally overheard him talking to his mother. His mother asked him to sleep with me that night, and it would be best if I got pregnant. Then my mother would definitely compromise and they could live together in my mother's house. I ran away in the middle of the night because I heard this."

"This mother and son are nothing but beasts. If I had known this earlier, I should have given them another beating before leaving today." Mrs. Xu was so angry that she was shaking all over. "Why don't I take some time to go back and talk to the people in their village about this."

Ding Ling was very open-minded. "Forget it, Mom. I've figured it out. Just think of it as a bite from a dog. Can I bite it back? Don't worry, I won't run away again."

When Mrs. Xu heard this, she felt sad and upset. After thinking about it carefully, it would be more harm than good to get involved with such a person. It would be better to take good care of the young lady first.

She immediately cheered up, ran out to borrow a donkey cart from the villagers, put thick clothes on Ding Ling, and took Ding Ling back to the city in the donkey cart.

Originally, she wanted to go home and rest for two days before going to the police station to settle the matter. But halfway through the journey, Ding Ling insisted on going to the police station. "Mom, let's get everything done today. I don't want to waste any more time. I'll go back and rest well and prepare for the high school entrance exam."

Mrs. Xu: "Are you physically able? If you are, I will take you there."

Ding Ling: "It's OK, don't worry."

This child really grew up in a short time. Mrs. Xu and Lin Minjun looked at each other, then turned around and took Ding Ling to the Public Security Bureau.

After that, Mrs. Xu took Ding Ling in, and Lin Minjun waited outside. For a moment, she didn't know what to do. Today she just came here to get soy sauce.

She first stared blankly at the slogan on the opposite wall, then she saw a nest of ants in the corner of the wall, and she counted them one by one. When the last ant passed by, Lin Minjun became completely bored.

Fortunately, Yan Li came over at this time.

Lin Minjun was a little surprised: "Why are you here?"

"My colleagues told me you were here, so I came to take a look. Are you cold?" Yan Li held Lin Minjun's hand and frowned. "Why is it so cold?"

Lin Minjun whispered, "It's a bit boring. I'll get cold if I sit here without moving."

Yan Li pulled her up and said, "It will probably take a while inside. Come on, I'll take you to dinner."

“Can I eat here?”

Yan Li said, "It's okay to have a meal once in a while. We have braised pork today. The braised pork in our unit is very delicious. I'll prepare some for you to try later."

"Um."

The two of them walked side by side on the way to the cafeteria. Lin Minjun looked around and saw that it was not yet time for lunch, so there were not many people on the road.

She looked around and suddenly took Yan Li's hand.

Yan Li: “What’s wrong?”

"Nothing, I just think it's great to have you."

Lin Minjun sincerely thought that this love affair was truly happy.

When they reached the cafeteria door, they let go of each other's hands in tacit understanding. After all, the current atmosphere is still conservative, and who knows what others would say if they saw them.

After entering, I asked and found out that the braised pork was not out of the pot yet, so I made shredded pork with green peppers and stir-fried cabbage first, and took a full spoonful of rice and ate it first.

Lin Minjun took a bite of the shredded pork with green peppers. "Not bad. The green peppers are crispy. Delicious! Huh?"

Yan Li looked up at her, "What's wrong?"

Holding the chopsticks that were broken into two pieces, Lin Minjun felt innocent. "The chopsticks are broken, but I didn't do anything. It just broke on its own."

"I'll go get you a new pair." Yan stood up.

"Forget it, forget it. You sit down and I'll get it myself. It's only a short walk."

Lin Minjun saw that he had been busy for a whole day and night and was still busy, with dark circles under his eyes, so she quickly stood up and went to get it herself.

She walked to the window and saw that the chopstick basket was empty, so she continued walking inside.

When I walked to the back kitchen, I saw the two aunts sitting in front of a large basin, washing iron plates and chopsticks.

Lin Minjun was just about to ask, but when she listened carefully she realized that the two ladies were chatting, and they were talking about Yan Li and his girlfriend.

Lin Minjun was stunned.

Isn't it yourself?