The moment the box was opened, the supervisors in the room, including the police officers present, couldn't help but gasp.
Inside the box were gold ingots, jade, jade pendants, silver coins, and various gold and silver jewelry.
"This...this...?"
Aunt Yi was so frightened that her hands and feet were ice-cold and her lips were trembling. She felt that her husband was really going to be finished this time.
Seeing so much valuables, Officer Li had a hunch that this must be Yi Zhonghai's motive for murder.
The police searched for a while longer but found nothing new, so they began to register the information.
After the registration was completed, Officer Li glanced at it and then handed it to Sun Dajiang.
"I would like to trouble you all to sign and confirm this, as a form of proof."
"no problem."
Sun Dajiang took the list, glanced at it, and only after confirming that everything was in order did he sign his name before handing it to Grandpa Li next to him…
At the same time, Officer Li did not forget to give a word of advice to Aunt Yi, who was already pale with fright.
"Don't worry, ma'am. Once our investigation is complete, if it's your property, we'll definitely return it to its rightful owner."
However, we need you to go to the police station now to cooperate with our investigation and give a statement.
Aunt Yi was completely stunned. She nodded repeatedly, agreeing with everything others said.
After the entire search was completed, Officer Li did not forget his other tasks. He turned around and went outside to start taking attendance.
Where is Liu Haizhong?
"Here it is!" Liu Haizhong raised his hand to indicate.
Thinking to myself, "Damn it, after waiting outside for ages, the police officer finally remembered me, his second uncle. Now it's my turn, Old Liu's turn."
The thought of how powerful and imposing he would be made him walk out of the crowd with joy.
“You’re Liu Haizhong,” Officer Li glanced at the fat man and then said.
"Please come with us to the police station to cooperate with the investigation into the Zhou family's murder case."
"Ah~!" Liu Haizhong was dumbfounded. This wasn't how the script was supposed to go! "Officer, I don't know anyone named Zhou. Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"
"Oh! That's right, Zhou is the deaf old lady in your backyard."
Officer Li then explained further before continuing to call out names.
Who is Xu Damao?
"This way."
Although Xu Damao didn't know what was going on, he didn't dare to resist law enforcement and quickly and obediently stepped forward.
Who is Qin Huairu?
Hearing Officer Li calling her name, Qin Huairu was furious. After hiding for so long, she still couldn't escape.
But this was not the time to hesitate. She calmed herself down and stepped out from the crowd.
"Officer, may I ask what you need me for? I have three children at home! They can't be left alone."
"Don't worry, it's just to cooperate with our investigation. Someone from the neighborhood committee will come over later and will make proper arrangements for the child."
Seeing this, Qin Huairu dared not ask any more questions, fearing that saying too much would lead to trouble.
Having completed his task, Officer Li handed over the remaining work of calming people down to Lin Wencui, and then the group left the courtyard in a grand procession...
After he left, the neighbors in the compound were in an uproar.
"Tsk tsk tsk! Unbelievable! No wonder the old lady in the backyard died such a gruesome death. Turns out she was murdered."
"Sigh! Do you guys think it might be Yi Zhonghai? But what would he be after?"
"You're really blind! Didn't you see how many treasures they took from their house just now? They were after money and wanted to kill you!"
"That's not right! That old lady is just a lonely old woman, where would she get so many treasures?"
"You'd better not! This city of Beijing is full of hidden talents; who knows, she might have been a wealthy lady before!"
"..."
Lin Wencui listened to her neighbors' gossip, shook her head, and stood up to speak.
"Alright, everyone, stop speculating. The police won't wrong an innocent person, nor will they let a guilty person go free. Until the truth comes out, these are all rumors. Everyone, please disperse!"
After hearing Lin Wencui's words, the neighbors dared not say anything more and left in twos and threes.
However, there will definitely be plenty of behind-the-scenes gossip.
Then, Lin Wencui told the children from both families to stay inside and wait for the neighborhood committee to come and handle the situation.
After dealing with all of this, Lin Wencui finally saw her son-in-law's family chatting with her son not far away.
So she stepped forward and said, "Zhengguo, Weimin, I'm afraid we can't take a family photo today. How about we wait until next weekend?"
When Sun Zhengguo heard that his mother was still thinking about taking photos, he just smiled faintly and indicated that it didn't matter.
Zhou Weimin was fine and said with a smile, "It's okay, Mom. The important thing is what we need to do right now. We can take the photos anytime. Just have my older brother let me know when the time comes."
Just then, Lin Wencui clapped her hands and was about to reach out to hug her grandson when she saw Section Chief Liu from the Subdistrict Office and Officer Zhang hurrying in from outside.
Alright! Lin Wencui quickly put her hands down again and walked towards the two of them.
"Director Lin, I'm so sorry, it's the weekend today. I rushed here as fast as I could after receiving the message, but I'm still late..."
As soon as the two met, Section Chief Liu greeted them apologetically.
"It's alright, Section Chief Liu. Let me explain what just happened!"
Immediately afterwards, Lin Wencui recounted the police search and then began to talk about the children of the Jia and Yi families.
Because it was uncertain whether Qin Huairu and Aunt Yi were involved in the case, or whether they would be able to return.
Therefore, the decision regarding the children must ultimately be made by the neighborhood committee.
Upon hearing this, Section Chief Liu frowned. After all, with five extra children, it wouldn't be appropriate to leave them to anyone.
After a brief and urgent discussion, a temporary solution was finalized.
First, the children of these two families were entrusted to two households in the courtyard respectively, and their food, drink, clothing and other necessities were temporarily taken from their own households.
Of course, the person in charge of the hospital is responsible for supervision to prevent any over-appropriation or misappropriation.
Secondly, the subdistrict office will apply for funds to subsidize these two households. The preliminary budget is to provide each household with a subsidy of 60 cents per day.
However, this is only a temporary solution, and the duration of the care will ultimately depend on the specific circumstances of the case.
After discussing the resettlement issue, Lin Wencui already had someone in mind. She first approached Qin Jingru, hoping she could help take care of the Jia family's children, since the two families were relatives after all.
To everyone's surprise, when Lin Wencui explained, Qin Jingru immediately refused.
“Auntie, I don’t agree to this. My husband, Da Mao, doesn’t want me to have anything to do with the Jia family. I’m sorry, I can’t help you with this.”
"Alright then! I'll go ask around at other places."
Lin Wencui didn't even try to persuade her; she went straight to the front yard and found Aunt Yan.
After the situation was explained again, Aunt Yan's eyes lit up.
"He's an old lady, I think you shouldn't bother looking anymore. Just leave both families' kids to me! My husband and I can each take care of one family, what do you think?"
“Aunt Yan, are you sure your family can handle it? You can’t end up pleasing neither side just to earn an extra 60 cents,” Lin Wencui confirmed again.
"Don't worry, she's an old lady. If I can't handle this properly, you can beat or punish her as you please."
Aunt Yan was really going all out to earn more money.
Lin Wencui then looked at Section Chief Liu and saw him nod, so she readily agreed.
The rest was much simpler, under the supervision of the street office staff.
They took two days' worth of food rations for the children from both the Jia and Yi families, and then waited for further instructions...
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