Chapter 37 The Shen Family's Aftermath (Skip if you don't want to read this) Leaving the hospital...
After leaving the hospital, Jiang Can parted ways with Liu Anqi. She found a public phone booth and called Xue Meijia from Henan University. After giving her name, the owner of the phone booth told Jiang Can to call back in ten minutes and then hung up.
Less than ten minutes later, the phone rang. It was Xue Meijia calling.
Xue Meijia was overjoyed. "I've been waiting day and night for your call!" She proactively shared Shen Jiajia's recent situation with Jiang Can.
Shen Jiajia is now famous at school! The principal opened Shen Jiajia's file in front of the entire school and confirmed that Shen Jiajia had impersonated someone else to get into university.
The principal expelled Shen Jiajia on the spot.
Professor Jiang Li, Shen Jiajia's maternal grandmother, protected Shen Jiajia, bribed school leaders and security guards, which was recorded in her file and she was directly expelled.
Shen Jiajia's maternal grandfather, Lin Guoqiang, was still away on a business trip and was unaware of the situation. It is said that he has already gone through divorce proceedings with Jiang Li. Considering Lin Guoqiang's high level of moral character, the school demoted him.
Shen Jiajia is now universally disliked. Her roommates demanded that she immediately clean up her belongings in the dorm. Shen Jiajia didn't dare show her face at school, and her things were thrown outside the dorm.
Students also posted various notes on the door of Shen Jiajia's maternal grandparents' house, along with various satirical poems insulting Jiang Li and Shen Jiajia. This morning, some students saw Jiang Li taking Shen Jiajia away from the school, presumably back to Liaoxian County.
Jiang Can thanked Xue Meijia and told her about some things in Liao County before hanging up the phone.
Shen Jiajia is back?
After paying the phone bill, Jiang Can returned to the restaurant, cut the hot pot base into small pieces, wrapped them in oil paper, and asked Huang Xiaoling to go to the post office to mail them to Zhou Bing.
Fang Yuan cooked the afternoon meals, and Jiang Can watched as he prepared. Fang Yuan's cooking was already quite professional, and the food tasted good. However, when the food was served in the evening, the customers noticed and asked Jiang Can, "Did you change the chef?"
Jiang Can laughed: "Grandpa is amazing! You can even tell the difference just by tasting it. This meal was made by my apprentice. What do you think? Is there anything that needs to be improved?"
The old man couldn't quite put his finger on what needed improvement; it was generally good, just a little lacking, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, so he simply said, "It's not bad either."
Other diners felt the same way.
This is already a very high evaluation.
Jiang Can was also quite happy; his apprentice had already been trained.
The shop hired another dishwasher named Peng Hui. She is very efficient and skilled at picking vegetables and washing dishes. She is from a nearby rural area and came here after seeing the job posting.
Jiang Can asked her where she lived, and Peng Hui replied, "My home isn't far; it only takes an hour or two to get there by bicycle."
Jiang Can nodded, telling her to get on with her work, then gestured for Huang Xiaoling to come over, asking, "How are you doing at your parents' house?"
Huang Xiaoling hesitated for a moment and said, "My parents want me to go on blind dates and get married as soon as possible. I'm planning to move out."
Jiang Can: "The apartment I have at the enamel factory is still empty. I'll use it as a dormitory for now. You can move in and choose a room first. I'll ask Sister Peng tomorrow if she needs to stay in the dormitory."
Huang Xiaoling quickly shook her head: "How can that be! That house can rent for at least forty or fifty yuan a month."
Jiang Can: "It's settled then. I'll bring the keys tomorrow."
Huang Xiaoling was deeply moved and resolved to work hard and study diligently so that she could repay her boss in the future. She also vowed to take good care of his house and ensure he lived comfortably!
At 7:40, Jiang Can told Huang Xiaoling to go to class and "study hard."
Huang Xiaoling nodded solemnly.
Peng Hui asked curiously, "Is Xiaoling off work?"
Jiang Can said with a smile, "Xiao Ling gets off work at 7:30, otherwise she wouldn't be so busy. Can Sister Peng manage?"
Peng Hui: "I can handle this kind of work."
Jiang Can then talked to her about the dormitory, saying, "The hotel has dormitories. If you think the journey is too far, you can stay there."
Peng Hui: "Boss, if I don't live in the dormitory, can you subsidize it in my salary?"
Jiang Can laughed: "No."
Peng Hui: "Then I'll stay!"
Jiang Can: "The furniture is provided, but you have to bring your own bedding and such. You can only live here by yourself and cannot bring your family. If the furniture is damaged, it will be deducted from your salary."
Peng Hui is more cunning than Huang Xiaoling, but she is very efficient at her work.
Jiang Can didn't care whether someone was cunning or not. She was the boss; why would she be afraid of an employee with a lot of cunning?
Xu Rao rushed in from outside, leading a young man, and introduced him to Jiang Can: "This is Wu Shuai, the designer from the decoration team. Let's finalize the renderings."
The restaurant was less busy, and some tables were empty. The three of them sat down at a corner table by the window and began to discuss the design drawings.
Hot pot lovers are mostly young people, so the design style should also appeal to them; the private rooms are a must-have.
Wu Shuai, a graduate of the Henan Academy of Fine Arts, had produced many interior design drawings. Upon hearing Jiang Can and Xu Rao's words, he provided a design proposal.
Jiang Can compared the decoration styles of the hot pot restaurants in the provincial capital and thought that Wu Shuai was quite capable. The design plan was very good. She made a few small requests, but the changes were minor.
The two finalized the plan, and Xu Rao immediately asked Wu Shuai to get the contract. They signed the contract today and started construction tomorrow.
Xu Rao: "Tomorrow is the second day of the Lunar New Year, an auspicious day for breaking ground. If we miss tomorrow, we'll have to wait another four days. Let's hurry up and get things done."
Jiang Can: "Tomorrow!"
Sister Peng cleared away the dishes and mopped the floor. Seeing that Jiang Can was still in the restaurant, she didn't dare to leave. Jiang Can flipped through his notebook of wrong answers: "Sister Peng, you can go home after you finish your work. You don't need to wait for me."
Only then did Sister Peng take off her apron and mask and go home after get off work.
After Sister Peng left, Jiang Can called Fang Yuan over and asked, "How much spare cash do you have?"
Fang Yuan: "It's a few thousand yuan, but my mom has money. Does Master need money? I'll borrow it from my mom."
Jiang Can: "Your brother thinks the enamel factory has good feng shui, and I think so too. If you have some spare money, why don't you buy one too, and we can be neighbors in the future."
Fang Yuan: "I'll ask my mom for money tomorrow."
Jiang Can laughed: "Go ahead, don't practice any other dishes. Make some spicy shrimp and stir-fried pork, and cook a bowl of hot and sour egg soup. Your brother should be here soon."
Fang Yuan happily went into the kitchen and soon smelled the delicious aroma.
Jiang Can was also happy. Her apprentice was about to graduate and could now order whatever he wanted to eat, which made her much more relaxed and gave her more freedom.
She continued working on the questions she had gotten wrong, until Shen Lang arrived on his bicycle.
Jiang Can: "Try it."
Fang Yuan stood to the side, also looking expectant.
Shen Lang glanced at the two of them, picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of the stir-fried pork, and said, "Not bad, Fang Yuan is ready to graduate."
Jiang Can: "Great, you can tell right away with just one bite."
Shen Lang: "I can tell whether you did it or not just by looking at it!"
Fang Yuan was overjoyed and ran off to the kitchen to get busy.
Jiang Can: "Thank you so much for introducing me to such a good apprentice."
Shen Lang said, "He's suited for this. If he isn't, I'll take him to sell clothes." He ate his rice and vegetables quickly, and Jiang Can ate some too. Then he started talking about Shen Jiajia.
Shen Lang: "I know. She and her maternal grandmother went back to Liaoxian at noon. Shen Jiajia went to play with her cousin in the afternoon. Because of the crowd, they were pushed and fell into the Xihe River. The two almost drowned, but were rescued by some kind people on the roadside. They performed CPR and artificial respiration. After they woke up, they were taken to the hospital. They are still receiving IV fluids at the hospital now. It's so cold, they probably have a fever."
Jiang Can was shocked and remained silent for a long time.
She was also pushed into the West River, but she could swim, so she immediately swam to the other side. The old widow who jumped into the river to try to save her swam after her for a long time, but she couldn't catch up with her. After she reached the other side, she smashed the old widow into the West River with a brick.
Now Shen Jiajia has also fallen into the river, but has been rescued.
Jiang Can reached out and grabbed Shen Lang's hand, a smile playing on his lips. "What an accident! You fell into the West River on such a cold day. It must have been freezing. Luckily, your savior pulled you out. I wonder if this life-saving grace is worth repaying with your body."
Shen Lang: "Whether it's worth it or not, I don't know. Anyway, the two families who saved her are waiting at the hospital. They're saying they're kissing, hugging, and touching her breasts, and they absolutely have to marry her. How can we just take advantage of her and leave? How can Shen Jiajia and the other two face people like that?"
Both Shen Jiajia and her sister are college students. Shen Jiajia's older cousin just graduated and is now working at the Education Bureau.
If they could marry both of them, they would be marrying golden phoenixes. How could two good-for-nothings miss such a good opportunity?
If Jiang Can were to see that scoundrel, she would recognize him. He was the one who surrounded her and drove her to her death. Later, Shen Lang kicked him so hard that he lost his fertility. Now, he has no choice but to hold onto Shen Jiajia and her sister tightly.
The two of them made a big fuss about it, so everyone knows about it.
The Shen family offered them money, but they refused, insisting on getting married instead. With such a huge appetite, how could the Shen family be easily trifled with? They might even lose their lives this time.
Let's tell Jiang Can after the two of them die.
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The task force acted swiftly. Armed police from the Provincial Public Security Department, led by Director Liang, arrived in Liao County, with the county public security bureau cooperating in the operation.
The county's No. 1 Middle School suspended classes, and school leaders and teachers were taken to the police station for investigation. Jiang Can, Liu Anqi, and Qian Mo cooperated with the investigation.
All three were victims; their university places were taken by others.
Qian Mo also provided new evidence that Zhang Wenlong, the principal of the county's No. 1 High School, was reselling university places. He charged between 10,000 and 50,000 yuan per student, depending on their academic qualifications. The fees differed between junior college and university. After paying, he would help resolve issues such as student records and name changes.
Qian Kun pretended to be a student's parent, offering to buy a university spot. After repeatedly giving gifts and treating Zhang Wenlong to meals, he finally gained Zhang Wenlong's trust. Qian Kun spent 20,000 yuan to buy a spot in a second-tier university, where he could attend after the college entrance examination next year.
Following Zhang Wenlong's lead, they found his ledgers. They discovered that a large portion of the money ended up in the pocket of Shen Boxiong, the director of the Education Bureau. His job was simple: to reward the cooperating teachers with promotions and other incentives.
Zhang Wenlong kept a small portion of the money for himself. In addition, he also received a lot of money from school teachers who wanted promotions or asked others to help them find jobs, all of which were recorded in the ledger.
Some people can even be sent to work at the education bureau.
Over the past eight years, nearly fifty university places have been sold.
This year, besides Jiang Can, another male student who was a recent graduate, along with three other students from the repeat-year class, also had their university places stolen. The male student chose to repeat the year, but fell into a river and died on his way home one week; he is suspected of being murdered. Two of the repeat-year students came from impoverished families, and since they didn't pass the exam, they didn't have the opportunity to repeat the year. Two were preparing to get married, and one went out to work.
However, Jiang Can's spot was used by Shen Boxiong's daughter, Shen Jiajia, which was definitely free. The other four university spots were sold for a total of 150,000 yuan.
Of course, the price wasn't this high a couple of years ago; it could have been sold for five or ten thousand.
Qian Mo also provided recordings of meals with school leaders and recordings of payments being made.
Faced with irrefutable evidence, Zhang Wenlong and others could no longer refute it. Shen Boxiong, who had been criminally detained, was brought out for questioning again. He was furious when he saw the account books.
Is Zhang Wenlong crazy? Why is he keeping accounts? The worst part is he got caught for doing it!
He looked at the total amount of money sent to him, 430,000 yuan. He resolutely refused to admit that it had nothing to do with him, that he didn't do it, and that he was just negligent in his supervision, allowing such a corrupt official to exist in Liaoxian County. He also claimed to know nothing about his daughter's affairs, that he knew nothing at all.
With irrefutable evidence, he has no choice but to speak.
The police had plenty of ways to get him to talk. They wouldn't let him sleep or give him water. After a couple of days, Shen Boxiong finally opened up.
Shen Boxiong couldn't remember exactly how much money he received. Zhang Wenlong would send money every year, and part of the money was given to Lin Huixue for business purposes, while the rest was used for his daily expenses.
The car he usually uses was bought three years ago for 110,000 yuan.
The school leaders of the county's No. 1 Middle School were not promoted based on seniority, but on sacrificing students.
Zhang Wenlong is very skilled in teaching, and his college entrance examination pass rate has always been good. Otherwise, if students couldn't get into university, how could he sell university places? In his eyes, top students from poor families are all gold nuggets that can generate money, so he will definitely take good care of them. He gets anxious and upset if a student doesn't do well on a test.
Many teachers were aware of the situation; some didn't participate, while others were scrambling to get promoted. Some who vaguely sensed something was wrong were dismissed.
In addition, six teachers from the county's No. 1 Middle School have died in the past eight years. Some died in accidents while on business trips, while others died suddenly.
Which school doesn't have teachers who die? This didn't attract much attention.
Zhang Wenlong admitted to receiving money, but he denied that he had tried to kill someone for money. Can you blame the school for someone's short life?
Following the ideas provided by Jiang Can, Director Liang investigated the household registration of students at the county's No. 1 Middle School and discovered that dozens of students had died unexpectedly, all of whom were students in the review classes.
Director Liang was shocked by the numbers. The methods were too ruthless. These were all innocent students, eighteen or nineteen-year-old children.
Those six teachers who passed away were all young teachers who had only graduated one or two years ago.
Jiang Can felt extremely distressed. He took a breath and calmed himself down: "If I hadn't been lucky, I would be dead by now."
Qian Mo pointed to his leg: "I can't run too fast, or I'll stumble. This leg was broken when I left Liao County."
Liu Anqi was also terrified. If she had insisted on repeating the exam, would she still be alive? She would probably have been killed or maimed.
Shen Lang: "Investigate Lin Huixue! She can hire ruthless thugs, and she can hire other people too. People who can do this kind of thing can't be clean."
Upon investigation, it was discovered that Lin Huixue was not in Liao County, and even Shen Jiajia, who was being guarded by the police at the hospital, was no longer there. Two policemen were still standing guard outside the hospital, and a nurse who had fainted was lying on the hospital bed.
Lin Huixue left Liaoxian with his mother, Shen Jiajia, and two adopted sons.
Director Liang immediately issued an arrest warrant, ordering police from various regions to cooperate in searching for Lin Huixue at airports, especially those on flights to overseas destinations. He also instructed the provincial public security bureau to apprehend Shen Jiajia's maternal grandfather, Lin Guoqiang.
On the other side, they urgently led people to seal off the dance hall.
The dance hall is still operating normally, but everyone who could speak with them has left, and they've taken all the dance hall's revenue.
Does this mean they're abandoning even nightclubs?
The murder and arson must have been committed by Lin Huixue and her gang; otherwise, she wouldn't have run away so quickly. She was scared and felt guilty!
Liao County has become like this. Shen Boyang, the police chief, rushed over, took the initiative to cooperate with the investigation, and gave several addresses where Lin Huixue might go back. He also requested that Shen Boxiong be severely punished.
He looked remorseful. "It's my fault for not supervising properly; this happened. I don't have a brother like this!"
Director Liang then sent people to investigate based on these addresses.
Finally, they caught Lin Huixue and her family at Xushi Airport. Lin Huixue and her family were about to fly to R country. Several people had already boarded the plane, which was less than ten minutes away from takeoff.
Lin Guoqiang was also on this flight, and his whole family was together.
Lin Guoqiang is still under investigation and demoted by the school, but he is still a professor in the mathematics department. He is indeed very capable in the field of mathematics. In addition, he divorced Jiang Li in time to distance himself from her, and the students believed that Lin Guoqiang was unaware of the situation.
After all, Lin Guoqiang is indeed very busy. Out of the thirty days in a month, he spends twenty-eight days at school teaching students.
But now, Lin Guoqiang and Lin Huixue's family are on a plane to R country, and he is by no means innocent.
Lin Huixue and her family were taken back to Liaoxian County. When they got off the car, their legs were shaking. Lin Guoqiang was covered in sweat. The plane was about to take off, just ten minutes away! Now it was all over.
His future is gone.
Jiang Can also met the two adopted sons of the Shen family, one thirteen years old and the other eleven years old, who were obviously children of the Shen family.
With strict family planning policies in place, and wanting a son, Shen Boxiong decided to raise his biological son as an adopted son.
This won't affect his work.
Jiang Can stared at the two children and said, "Let's do a paternity test."
Lin Huixue held the child's hand, "No need for a paternity test, he's my son. My husband is a public servant and can't have more children than allowed, so I secretly gave birth to him."
Jiang Can pointed to the smaller children and said, "Check if this one is the child of [illegible]".
Shen Boyang only has one daughter, who is currently in junior high school.
Of course, it could also be Shen Boxiong's child; his nephew, Uncle Xiao, would also be a possibility. But what if it is!
Is it possible that Shen Boyang is so innocent and has such a clean past?
Of the ten bodyguards at the nightclub, six were captured, while the whereabouts of the other six remain unknown. Three of them were wanted criminals from other provinces: one was a thief who had robbed a jewelry store; one was a murderer who had killed an entire neighboring family; and the other was a human trafficker who had abducted dozens of women and children.
This dance hall has become a hideout for wanted criminals.
No wonder he knew those ruthless bandits.
Jiang Can also recognized the murderer. When she was pushed into the Xihe River, it was this man who went into the river to try to save her, but he couldn't swim out of her way and was even knocked into the river by her with a brick. Now that she thought about it, maybe he wasn't there to take advantage of her; he probably wanted to suffocate her in the river.
Jiang Can was still terrified: "I know him. I was pushed into the West River before, and he jumped in and chased after me, trying to suffocate me in the river. I swam fast and escaped."
The bodyguard grinned and said, "Why would I hurt you? I just need a wife to warm my bed."
Jiang Can said to Director Liang, "They must have killed them!"
Director Liang detained and interrogated the bodyguards separately, and the paternity test results were also released.
The second son was Shen Boyang's illegitimate son, and was given to Shen Boxiong to be raised as an adopted son.
Director Liang was so angry he laughed. He continued his investigation, starting with the bodyguards.
These bodyguards are truly good dogs raised by Lin Huixue; they are wholeheartedly devoted to Lin Huixue's good and take all the blame upon themselves.
But conducting a reverse investigation is much easier.
A concerned citizen reported that he once saw a bodyguard push a young man into the river on Binhe Road. He was too afraid to cause trouble at the time and didn't even dare to call the police. A few days later, a student was found dead in the river.
Even after several years, he still can't sleep well when he thinks about it.
Now, I can finally say this.
More reports followed, all pointing to the bodyguards of the Shen family.
Those bodyguards had already committed crimes, most of which were capital offenses, so now they were practically dead. They weren't afraid at all, claiming they did it themselves and that Lin Huixue had nothing to do with it.
They are not afraid of death, because they have never died before.
After enduring three days without eating or sleeping, I watched as others were shot. The bullets entered their heads with a 'boom,' passing through their skulls, and the people fell to the ground, dead, with blood and brain matter spilling all over the ground, their eyes still open.
Not all of them died. One unlucky guy was shot off course by a bullet, and half of his head was gone. He was still alive, but after he fell to the ground, he was panting heavily. Then he was shot again, and his head was gone too. Only then was he truly dead.
These bodyguards were imprisoned separately, and by sowing discord among themselves, they provided more useful information, which led to their sentences being reduced from death to life imprisonment, then to fifty years, and finally to twenty years.
Director Liang sat across from me, munching on a fried chicken leg and noodles with soybean paste: "Ge Liu said that the youngest son of the deputy secretary of the county party committee was trafficked by Dali. This news reduced his sentence from twenty years to fifteen years. It's a pity he doesn't know where he was trafficked to, otherwise he could have had his sentence reduced by another five years. Do you know where he was trafficked to?"
From a death row inmate to a fifteen-year prison sentence, good behavior in prison can lead to a further reduction in sentence!
Director Liang and the other two policemen were eating. The fried chicken legs were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and you could see the juice inside when you took a bite. The fried noodles with soybean paste were Cui Mazi's favorite. He hadn't eaten for three days, so his mouth was watering and he kept swallowing.
What tempted Cui Mazi was not just food, but also life itself.
Lin Huixue had been kind to him all these years, and that was enough. Now, he wanted to live.
Ge Liu didn't know where Deputy Secretary Zhou's youngest son had been sold, but Cui Mazi did, and he gave him the exact location.
Once he opened his mouth, the rest was much simpler.
Shen Lang guessed correctly. He saw Shen Boyang's file and guessed the inside story. Shen Boyang had done a lot of dirty work behind the scenes to get to his position. As long as his position was affected, he would make sure that the other party's family was in trouble.
With their son gone, how could they possibly concentrate on their work?
Ge Liu also revealed the story of his teacher, Shen Boyang. The reason why Shen Boyang was able to be valued by his teacher was because he had once saved his teacher's family.
His teacher's car was involved in an accident, and the car rolled over and plunged into the river. Shen Boyang appeared in time, jumped into the river, smashed the car window, and rescued his teacher.
Thanks to this kindness, Shen Boyang became the teacher's most favored student.
It was Lin Huixue who hired someone to do it.
With the support of his mentor, who was a member of the provincial standing committee, Shen Boyang's career progressed even more smoothly.
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