Xi Mufan nodded. "Then let them in and make our stance clear one last time."
Baiyun replied, "I'll go open the door."
She turned and went outside. In the courtyard, Che Wang and Lü Amei were refusing Director Ma on behalf of the two young people.
Upon seeing Bai Yun emerge, Director Ma immediately spoke, his voice pleading, "Comrade Bai, Wang Xing and Wang Neng's family... they've brought their children, and they want to apologize to you in person!"
Che Wang wanted to say something, but Bai Yun shook his head at him and then said coldly, "Come in and talk."
Director Ma was overjoyed, thinking there was hope.
He brought in two young women who looked haggard and had red, swollen eyes.
One person was holding a baby a few months old in their arms, while the other was tightly clutching a two- or three-year-old boy who was sobbing uncontrollably.
The two women lowered their heads as soon as they entered, avoiding eye contact.
Director Ma looked troubled, sighed, and said, "Comrade Xi, Comrade Bai, Regiment Commander He, Comrade Xiao Guan... this... this is Wang Xing's family, this is Wang Neng's family."
They...they were truly at their wits' end. Their elderly relatives were ill, and with the pillar of their family collapsing, the sky seemed to fall...and their children were still so young..."
Director Ma gestured to the crying child.
Wang Xing's wife suddenly knelt down, clutching her child. "Comrade Xi! Comrade Bai! Please! Spare Wang Xing! He knows he was wrong! He was forced to go by Li Shouye that day; he didn't mean to hurt anyone! The child can't be without a father!"
The baby in her arms was so frightened that it cried loudly.
Wang Neng's wife also knelt down with the child, crying and begging, "Yes! Please, have mercy! Wang Neng is just a fool, running errands for Li Shouye, how could he dare to have such thoughts!"
"Our family is full of elderly and sick people, and our youngest is so young. If he goes to jail, how will we, his mother and the rest of us, survive? Please, I beg you!"
The little boy was pulled to his knees by his mother, and he cried even harder.
Xi Mufan, half-lying down, had an icy expression as he looked at the woman and child kneeling on the ground. His voice was completely calm as he said, "When Li Shouye pointed a gun at me and Comrade Bai Yun that day, Wang Xing and Wang Neng were right there."
When Li Shouye used foul language and tried to lay a hand on Comrade Baiyun, they stood by and watched, and even helped to block his way.
My leg still aches, reminding me of what happened that day. Can a simple "I was forced," "I didn't mean to hurt anyone," or "I didn't have that intention" erase the fact that a gun was pointed at a comrade and that crime was condoned?
Bai Yun's mind flashed back to that day, her face turning pale. She gripped Guan Wenru's hand tightly, "Director Ma, Wang Xing's family, Wang Neng's family. If the county leaders hadn't arrived in time that day, what would have happened? Have you thought about it?"
The gun in Li Shouye's hand is real! The blood flowing from Comrade Xi Mufan's leg is real!
They really want to do something to me!
Now you're begging us to "show mercy"? Did they show us any mercy that day?
Director Ma wrung his hands anxiously, "Oh dear, you can't say that... Things haven't reached the worst point yet, have they? The county has already severely punished them, they've lost their jobs, and their reputations are ruined! Isn't that a lesson enough? Let's be lenient, for the sake of the child being so young..."
Guan Wenru suddenly stepped forward, blocking Xi Mufan and Bai Yun, her voice like a knife chilled to the bone, "Save that for Li Shouye! Save that for that beast who tried to ruin someone's reputation with a gun that day! Now you realize the child is young, the elderly are sick, and the pillar of the family can't fall? Where were you before!"
Her sharp gaze swept over the two women kneeling on the ground. "You keep saying that Wang Xing and Wang Neng were forced into it, that they didn't really mean to hurt anyone, that they didn't have that intention? Bullshit!"
They followed Li Shouye to Dahewan, making them accomplices in this violent revenge! They watched Li Shouye raise a gun and injure people, intending to do something sinister, without stopping him; they were complicit!
If the county leaders hadn't arrived in time, my sister Baiyun's innocence would have been ruined! Xi Mufan might have suffered more than just a gunshot wound to the leg!
You're crying now about your young children and family difficulties? But who will compensate them for the lives and health that were almost ruined?!
Guan Wenru pointed to the door and said, “If you do something wrong, you have to take responsibility! The law is not a game! Injuring someone with a gun, attempted rape, slandering a comrade—which of these isn’t enough to land them in jail?”
Just because you're holding your children and crying and kneeling, do you think you can erase their sins by kneeling?
Would that have prevented the near-tragedy from happening?
This is outrageous! Take your children and go back! The law will decide the verdict! There's no such thing as 'leniency' here!
The two women were stunned by Guan Wenru's imposing manner and words. Their sobs choked in their throats as they looked at Director Ma blankly, holding their children.
Director Ma's face turned ashen. He opened his mouth, but ultimately couldn't utter a single word.
Only the child's intermittent sobs could be heard in the room.
He Yanzhi spoke in a deep voice, “Director Ma, please take them away and don’t bother Comrade Xi and Comrade Bai again. The organization will deal with this matter seriously in accordance with the law and regulations. I will follow up on the whole process of this incident in the commune. Instead of pleading for leniency here, Director Ma should go back and think about how to write the report and how to explain it to the organization.”
Director Ma's face paled. "This...this whole mess was made by Li Shouye alone, I..."
“You failed to supervise properly!” He Yanzhi interrupted him. “It’s getting late, everyone please go back.”
Director Ma's mind was in turmoil; the thought of what He Yanzhi might say to his superiors made him panic.
He didn't care about the crying women and children at that moment, and forcefully pulled them away.
...
After seeing off the troublemakers, Guan Wenru and the others talked for a few more minutes inside the house.
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