The county town was not big. Xu Yishu and several educated youth searched separately but could not find any trace of Li Zhigao.
Finally, I went to the police station to report the case.
"Comrade Public Security, I want to report a case! I'm an educated youth from the Dafang Village Production Brigade. One of our educated youth has been missing for a day!"
As if they heard the words "Dafang Village" in the conversation, the police from the police station immediately looked at him.
One of the policemen quickly asked the person to sit down and then began to register and question him.
"May I have your name?"
"Xu Yishu."
"Which commune, which brigade?"
"Dafang Village Production Brigade, Bangshui Commune."
After confirming he had heard the words "Dafang Village", the policeman paused with his pen in hand and then asked:
"What's the name of the missing educated youth?"
"Li Zhigao."
"He left the educated youth site yesterday and has been missing ever since, right?"
"That's right. Yesterday he mentioned some local specialties and said he had asked for leave to go to the county town to mail something. He often sent some local specialties home before, so we didn't take it seriously. It wasn't until today that we realized he hadn't come back."
The policeman took a notebook and wrote something down, his expression becoming more serious. He then asked:
"Has anything special happened to him recently?"
Hearing this, Xu Yishu was confused for a moment, lost in memories, thought about it carefully, and then shook his head.
"Everything was normal. He went to and from work with us every day. He was either in the fields or at the educated youth camp. Except for the occasional trip to the county town, he was with us the rest of the time."
"Did he have any grudges with anyone? Like making enemies or something?"
"Ah, well," Xu Yishu thought for a moment, then organized his words, "He did some wicked things back then."
"He mainly helped educated youth who couldn't find wives to cheat on female educated youth, and helped male educated youth to deceive young girls. A lot of people disliked him."
"Is there any deep-seated grudge?"
Xu Yishu thought for a moment, then looked troubled. "There were two educated youth who had completely fallen out with him. One was Zhao Yuan, and the other was right next to me, Xu Anguo."
Seeing this, Xu Anguo came out and began to complain: "Comrade Public Security, I'm here today to make it clear. That bastard's disappearance has nothing to do with me! What do I want to gain by harming him? I'm here to find him even though we've been together for a long time!"
The police thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "He disappeared yesterday, right?"
Xu Yishu nodded: "That's right."
"Do you know Tian Suyun?"
Xu Yishu was a little surprised when the police mentioned Tian Suyun: "She was also an educated youth before, and later married a villager."
The police officer seemed to be interested and asked, "Generally speaking, educated youth are unlikely to want to marry locals. So, does Tian Suyun's marriage to a villager have anything to do with Li Zhigao?"
Xu Yishu slowly shook his head. "I don't know either. I accidentally discovered that Tian Zhiqing was dating a man from the village, so I let her get married. We don't know if Li Zhigao was the one who introduced her."
An educated youth behind Xu Yishu suddenly said:
"Tian Zhiqing hated Li Zhigao very much. She looked at him with eyes full of hatred. I often saw her glaring at him viciously and cursing him behind his back!"
Xu Yishu turned around with a look of surprise on his face, obviously it was the first time he heard of it.
The policeman nodded, wrote it down, and then said:
"Okay, we got it. We'll investigate immediately. You guys go back first, and we'll let you know when we have any news."
When Xu Yishu and several educated youth were leaving, they saw Tian Suyun standing at the door with a pale face.
He was surprised and asked, "Tian Zhiqing, why are you here?"
Tian Suyun glanced at him, smiled, and then walked into the police station in a daze.
He was muttering something.
Xu Yishu heard it, it was a very soft answer.
"Nothing, I'm here to report a crime."
Tian Suyun walked into the police station in a daze, her face looking as if she had lost all hope.
When she saw the police, she burst into tears.
"Wuwu, Public Security Comrade, I want to report a case. The night before last, I was kidnapped by two men!"
The policeman suddenly stared at her with sharp eyes.
"You didn't say that when I asked you just now."
Tian Suyun's lips trembled as she stammered, "I, I was threatened and I dared not say it out loud. Yes, I'm sorry, I harmed Li Zhiqing!"
She suddenly burst into tears: "Public Security Comrades, please protect me! Now that I've spoken out, those two won't let me go!"
The policeman's face became more and more serious. He looked at her and said:
"That depends on your performance. Please be sure to tell me the whole story in detail."
Tian Suyun began to recall: "After I picked up the cloth bag, I took out the sweet potatoes and threw the bag into the washing pond.
The night before last, two men suddenly broke into our room, pried the lock, knocked my husband unconscious, and then drugged me.
When I woke up, I found myself tied up and taken outside. There was still dew on the grass. Then they asked me where the things in the bag were.
I... I hated Li Zhigao, so I lied to them and said that Li Zhigao was the first one to encounter Budai. Then, they threatened me not to tell anyone about them, and then they let me go home.
It must be them! They must be responsible for Li Zhiqing's disappearance!"
Xu Yishu hesitated at the door for a while, but finally decided to go in and take a look. After all, he was an educated youth, so he would help if he could.
As soon as he walked in, he heard these words.
After hearing this, Xu Yishu was shocked.
He couldn't help but ask, "Did Li Zhigao really make you marry Hua Dazhuang?"
Tian Suyun shook her head: "I was beaten up on the night he and I were dating. There were man's shoe prints next to me. Both the bag and the man's shoe prints pointed to Li Zhigao!
Moreover, if I hadn't been beaten that time, Dazhuang and I wouldn't have gone back to check, and we wouldn't have been caught! I wouldn't have married in the village, so I hate him!"
Xu Yishu finally understood that there was such a relationship, but he still felt something was wrong.
"Why do you think Li Zhigao hit you? Although he's a bad person, it seems he's never hit anyone before."
Tian Suyun closed her eyes and decided to go all out and tell everything.
"Back then, Hua Laizi coveted Zhao Zhiqing, and Li Zhigao accepted money and helped to plot against Zhao Zhiqing. But when Zhao Zhiqing found out, he turned against him.
Later, Li Zhigao, holding a grudge, deceived me, who knew nothing, and took Zhao Zhiqing to an uninhabited chestnut forest under the pretext of reconciliation, but Hua Laizi, who had bad intentions, was waiting there.
Zhao Zhiqing was rescued, but she completely hated me. So, I also fell out with Li Zhigao. Because this matter concerned Zhao Zhiqing's reputation, neither of us spoke out.
The more the educated youth listened, the more frightened they became.
Xu Anguo cursed angrily, "This idiot is such a worthless bastard! He's a scumbag!"
Even the police's eyes changed.
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