Chapter 11

The more Wang Heizi thought about it, the sadder he became, and he started to cry.

"Shut up! What's the point of crying? You're too old."

Zhai Hongyi took out a biscuit box from his backpack, took out a biscuit from it, crushed it and stuffed it into Tang Qingqing's mouth, then took out a water bottle and gave her a sip of water.

After feeding her the remaining biscuits in the biscuit box, he took out a White Rabbit from his pocket, peeled off the sugar coating and stuffed it into Tang Qingqing's mouth.

Tang Qingqing's complexion gradually improved. The cold sweat on her face stopped, her body stopped shaking, and her eyes slowly opened.

"He's awake, he's awake! He's not dead, he's not dead!" Wang Heizi shouted excitedly.

Zhai Hongyi rubbed his ears and said unhappily: "Can you speak a little more quietly?"

"Thank you, thank you." Tang Qingqing still felt a little weak, but she had recovered.

If it had been any later, she would have completely passed out.

Zhai Hongyi: "You may have fainted from hypoglycemia. I'll take you to see a doctor."

Tang Qingqing struggled hard to get out of Zhai Hongyi's arms.

"No, no, I'm much better now. It's okay, I'll just take it easy."

She has always had this problem. If she eats something in time, it won't be so serious.

I was observing the footprints too carefully just now, and then I stood up suddenly, and I couldn't bear it anymore.

Zhai Hongyi had no choice but to go. There was no regular doctor in the brigade, so he had to go to the town to see a doctor.

The villagers would not go to the health center easily unless they really couldn't bear it.

Tang Qingqing's problem is probably caused by irregular diet and insufficient meals, which leads to malnutrition. As long as she pays attention to regular dietary supplements, she does not necessarily have to go to the hospital.

"Remember to eat on time, and if possible, get checked."

Tang Qingqing agreed and asked, "Did you catch the sheep thief?"

"We caught them and took them to the police station. They all confessed everything. Not only did they steal sheep, they also gambled. We caught them and busted their gambling den."

Wang Heizi was very excited: "That's great! It's a pity that I didn't see it, otherwise I would have thrown a cabbage stick at the thief."

Zhai Hongyi was curious: "Why are you here if you don't go herd sheep?"

"Something bad happened to our brigade last night! Someone burned down the granary."

Zhai Hongyi was shocked; he had just returned and didn't know the news.

Wang Heizi told Zhai Hongyi in vivid detail about the fire and the incident between Tang Chuanfang and Cao Zhigao.

"This is too immoral!"

"That's right. I was so blind that I actually thought Cao Zhigao was a good man! I even thought it would be nice for Sister Chuanfang to be with him."

The more Wang Heizi thought about it, the angrier he became, and he wanted to slap himself.

"When I just came, I had already gathered people to go to Caojiazhuang to seek justice. I came back specially to ask you to go to Caojiazhuang with me, Brother Yi, you should come too.

This is a major event for our brigade, and both members and educated youth should work together to seek justice."

Tang Qingqing frowned: "The matter has not been investigated yet, why is there a commotion? Did the captain tell everyone?"

"The truth will come to light sooner or later. We are not stupid. Of course we have guessed it."

Although the relationship between Tang Chuanfang and Cao Zhigao was secret, it could not be hidden from everyone.

Especially since Tang Chuanfang was about to be married to a crazy man in his forties, the two of them had been in closer contact. Although they were not caught directly, now that Tang Chuanfang is missing, everyone has guessed what happened.

Wang Heizi saw the two men standing there motionless, and he stamped his feet anxiously:

"Let's move quickly. If we delay any longer, we will fall behind the main force."

Zhai Hongyi grabbed Wang Heizi's collar and pulled him back.

"It's not your place as a kid to get involved in this kind of thing. Stay in the village and don't try to sneak away."

Wang Heizi was exposed and quickly changed his strategy.

"Just take me with you. I also have a responsibility for this matter. If I don't arrest Cao Zhigao myself, I will let our team down. I should do more work."

Tang Qingqing suddenly asked: "What does Cao Zhigao look like?"

"Just a pair of eyes, a nose and a mouth."

Tang Qingqing took a deep breath and asked patiently, "How old is he, how tall is he, is he fat or thin?"

"He's a little shorter than Brother Yi, about this height."

Wang Heizi used his palm to gesture near Zhai Hongyi's temples.

"He is thinner than Brother Yi, dark-skinned, and seems to be two years older than Sister Chuanfang."

"Since Sister Chuanfang is 18 years old this year, he would be 20 years old."

"That's about right."

Tang Qingqing used her tongue to push the candy in her mouth around, and a small bulge appeared on her face from time to time.

"Whether Cao Zhigao was the arsonist or not needs further investigation."

————

Zhang Suo was very anxious as he saw that the members of Rongshan Brigade were becoming more and more angry and clamoring to go to Caojiazhuang to seek justice.

The conflicts between these two brigades were already deep, and they would have several fights almost every year.

I don't know how much work the police station has done over the years to prevent any major incidents from happening.

If the arson case is really related to Caojiazhuang, violent conflict is inevitable, and if a fight breaks out, the situation will be difficult to control.

This is directly burning someone's food and making him unable to survive. This is a deep hatred, and he would not be able to swallow this.

Just now, there was even an auntie who had participated in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and wanted to transport the mortars out of the brigade.

The militiamen were also carrying guns, looking like they were going to fight.

"Captain Wang, you can't let your team members do whatever they want. You have to control them! If they start to make trouble, it won't be a simple punishment. This is an illegal and criminal act. If it's serious, you will lose your head!"

The captain squatted in the corner and smoked a pipe. Unlike usual practice where he just held the pipe in his mouth without lighting it, this time he lit it and was completely immersed in the smoke.

"Captain Zhang, if this was done by someone from Caojiazhuang, it would be useless for you, a captain, to pin your head on this."

There is so much food, it's fatal!

This year's harvest is unprecedentedly good, but we are left with no food, just like during the three years of disaster and famine. No one can accept this.

"I'm still investigating this, who knows if it's a coincidence or not."

The captain didn't believe it. How could it be such a coincidence?

Not only was Tang Chuanfang missing, but when Meng Changqing went to Caojiazhuang to find out what was going on, Cao Zhigao was also missing.

They took all their belongings and it was obvious that they were leaving home.

The members searched for a long time but couldn't find the two people. They didn't know where they had gone.

The granary was burned down and the two men disappeared. Who else could have done it if not them?

Zhang Suo saw that the captain did not agree, so he tried to persuade him earnestly:

"Even if they were involved, we all know the situation and we can't just put the blame on Cao Zhigao."

Everyone in the Rongshan Brigade felt that it was all Cao Zhigao's fault, and that the people of Caojiazhuang disliked them and that was why they sent him to do such a thing.

As for the fact that he was in a relationship with Tang Chuanfang, it was Cao Zhigao who forced Tang Chuanfang and abducted her.

In order to leave smoothly, he deliberately set a fire to attract attention.

Tang Chuanfang's sister-in-law even came forward to confirm this statement.

They said that Cao Zhigao had intended to do something unfaithful to their Tang Chuanfang before, but their family disagreed and he even threatened to burn down their entire house.

The captain had already reprimanded Tang Chuanfang's sister-in-law, but the rumor had already spread and was difficult to stop.

The captain said nothing. If he was not a cadre of the brigade, he would not care so much. This was all the fault of the people in Caojiazhuang.

"Well, give me ten days, no, five days to investigate. I will give your team a satisfactory answer in five days. Once we are sure, we will not let the fire starters off lightly."

The captain exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Three days."

Zhang Suo was a little angry: "You have known me for so many years, and now you are bargaining with me on this matter?"

The captain took out his pipe and knocked it on the ground to knock out the burnt tobacco.

"It's not that I don't give you face. We're all angry now, and I can't control myself. Three days is the maximum time limit I can impose. People in our team are not the kind of people who like to cause trouble, but this is worse than shitting on our heads, so we have to take action."

Zhang Suo had no choice but to agree.

The team leader then came out of his house, and the members rushed over.

A big man spoke in a deep voice: "Captain, if you give the order now, we will go to Caojiazhuang immediately!"

Behind him was a group of young men with weapons, each with angry looks on their faces.

There were other members standing in three layers inside and outside the group behind them, each holding a weapon, ready to strike.

The captain cleared his throat and said, "The country has its own laws, and the family has its own rules. We cannot break the law."

"What the hell, are you going to let Caojiazhuang go?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone sighed and expressed their dissatisfaction.

"Nonsense! We need evidence when we do things. Director Zhang promised us that the truth will be revealed within three days. If it was really done by Cao Jiazhuang, let's show them that none of us in the Rongshan Brigade are idiots!"

The captain has spoken, so no one can say much even if they feel aggrieved.

But inevitably some people murmured: "It's obvious that Cao Jiazhuang did it, why are we investigating it? It's like taking off your pants to fart, it's a waste of time."

"Quickly disperse, disperse! There is still a lot of work to do in the fields, hurry back."

The captain hurried the members away. Although they were reluctant, they believed in him and left one after another.

Some of them were so angry that they said they would only wait for three days, not even a minute longer.

Meng Changqing said with a bitter face: "Director, what should we do?"

"You go back and report later." Zhang rubbed his brows, "We'll work overtime to investigate these few days and see if there are any new discoveries."

Meng Changqing: "Don't you think it was Cao Zhigao who did it?"

"He is a major suspect, but we cannot rule out other possibilities. We can never be careless or perfunctory in this line of work."

"So what do we do next?"

Director Zhang put his hands behind his back and looked into the distance: "Let's go visit a capable person first. Whether this case can be solved depends on him."