Chapter 39 Chapter 39 Technology Failure
"Come to see Xiaoqiu?"
He Junxia crossed her arms and looked at Zhang Quan unhappily.
Zhang Quan first glanced around cautiously, and after confirming that there was no one else around, he whispered, "Brother, you don't have any guests at home, do you?"
"No."
He Junxia heard something unusual in Zhang Quan's answer. He opened the big iron gate outside the yard and let him in first.
"What's up?"
Zhang Quan pulled out a gray-black children's T-shirt and whispered, "Grandma Chen's grandson is safe. He's been kidnapped. The person in charge suspects the kidnapper is from the village."
He Junxia asked nervously, "Are there any suspects?"
Zhang Quan quickly said, "I'm not sure about that. Captain Wu asked me to ask if you could ask Zhima and Tangyuan to help look for the child. This is a piece of clothing I usually wear for safety. I wore it yesterday and haven't washed it yet."
He Junxia's face was solemn. "Although I have done similar training with Zhima and Tangyuan, those trainings were about finding objects, not people. I'm not sure if they can find people."
After all, he sees the two puppies as guard dogs.
Zhang Quan sighed, "There's nothing we can do. There's no surveillance right now, so we can only try our best."
"By the way, Brother Xia, please don't tell anyone else about this. It would be terrible if the kidnappers found out something was wrong."
He Junxia nodded: "Don't worry, I know, just follow me in first."
The He family was having dinner, and the two puppies were squatting in front of their food bowls, trying hard to eat. They were a little surprised to see Zhang Quan appear.
"Xiao Zhang is here. Have you eaten?"
"Come on, come on, sit down and eat with me. This brand of canned fish is delicious. The bones are soft and melt away easily. It doesn't sting your throat at all."
He Chengcai and Zeng Xiuping warmly invited Zhang Quan to sit down. He Junxia called Zhang Zhichen, who was busy eating fish, aside and asked, "Did you see Anquan when you were out playing?"
Zhang Zhichen scratched his head. "Anquan, Ergouzi, and I played at the elementary school for a long time. Then I said I was hungry and wanted to come back for dinner, so I left."
He Juanxia: "Were Anquan and Ergou still playing in the elementary school when you left?"
"Here I am."
"Xiao Xia, what's wrong? Are they missing?"
He Junxia shook her head: "It's okay, I'm just asking, after dinner, you play at home, don't go out, do you understand?"
Zhang Zhichen was a little unhappy.
He and his two friends agreed to go catch cicada monkeys.
He Junxia threatened, "There have been a lot of strangers hanging around in the mountains lately. It's pitch black at night. If human traffickers catch you and sell you, you'll never see us again."
The last time he was nearly abducted by human traffickers, Zhang Zhichen was beaten by his father until his butt was bruised. When he heard that human traffickers might be abducting children recently, he quickly said, "I'm not going out. I'm not going out. Don't spank me."
He Juanxia laughed: "If you don't go out, I will definitely not spank you."
After confirming that Zhang Zhichen could not provide much useful information, He Junxia called He Junqiu out to explain the situation.
"You and Zhang Quan will follow the dog out later. Follow closely. If Zhima and Tangyuan stop in front of a house, remember the address, but don't rush in."
"It's best to just walk around like you normally would and come back. If anyone asks you two, just say you're walking the dog and act shy."
He Junqiu nodded seriously: "Okay."
He Junxia placed the black children's T-shirt that Zhang Quan brought in front of Zhima and Tangyuan, letting them smell it carefully.
Zhima and Tangyuan sniffed the clothes for a long time. He Junxia took them out of the yard, squatted down and made searching gestures.
The two puppies squatted there motionless.
Zhang Quan asked nervously, "Is it not possible, Brother Xia?"
He Junxia frowned. His previous training method was to let the two puppies sniff the objects first, and then hide the objects for them to find.
It seemed that Zhima and Tangyuan were waiting for him to hide his clothes.
He Junxia thought about it and asked He Junqiu to hide first, then took out a box of freeze-dried meat and a piece of clothing that He Junqiu often wore from the cabinet.
He placed He Junqiu's clothes in front of the two puppies for them to sniff carefully, and made searching gestures again.
The two puppies looked at He Junxia hesitantly. He Junxia gestured and repeated, "Zhima, Tangyuan, go find Xiaoqiu, find Xiaoqiu."
After he said it several times, the two puppies seemed to understand, and ran to where He Junqiu was hiding. They squatted in front of He Junqiu and barked at He Junxia.
He Junxia smiled and said, "Well done."
He took out two freeze-dried seeds and fed them to Zhima and Tangyuan. He then followed the same method and asked Zhang Quan to hide, directing them to look for someone.
After trying back and forth several times, He Junxia once again placed the gray and black children's T-shirt in front of the two puppies and made a searching gesture.
This time they finally understood what their owner meant and stood up, trying to sniff the air.
A moment later, the two puppies left the yard, their tails wagging, and headed in a certain direction. He Junqiu and Zhang Quan immediately followed them, chatting and laughing, as if they were chatting.
He Junxia watched the two of them leave with the dog.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to go together, it’s just that the three of them are too conspicuous, and usually it’s He Junqiu who goes out to walk the dog.
Since this concerns He An'an's life, no aspect can be neglected.
…
After leaving home, the two puppies ran towards the village primary school with the same goal.
He Junqiu and Zhang Quan couldn't help but wonder in their hearts, could it be that He Anquan was locked up in the elementary school?
However, before they got close to the primary school, they saw two puppies squatting and sitting in front of a bungalow.
This is Zhang Xialan’s home!
The two of them were in turmoil, but they still had a joking expression on their faces. He Junqiu squatted down and took out two pieces of dried meat to feed Zhima and Tangyuan. Suddenly, the door of the house was opened.
Both sides were stunned.
Zhang Xialan laughed and said, "I was wondering who was outside. Turns out it's you guys."
He Junqiu blushed and lowered her head: "I, Brother Zhang and I came out to walk the dog."
Zhang Xialan's eyes fell on the two people's interlocked hands, and she said mischievously, "Why are you shy? You are both grown women, it's normal for you to have friends."
He Junqiu pulled his hand away as if he had received an electric shock, and patted the two puppies' butts: "Hurry up and go, you two lazy dogs."
She said shyly, "Aunt Zhang, um, um, we'll leave first."
Zhang Xialan said with a smile: "Let's go, let's go, little girls are just shy."
He Junqiu and Zhang Quan quickly left with their two dogs. Zhang Xialan returned home and breathed a sigh of relief, "It's okay. Zeng Xiuping's daughter and Zhang Quan were on a dog-walking date. When they saw me, they got scared and ran away."
After saying that, she couldn't help but sneer, "How old are you? You only know how to seduce men. You can tell at a glance that you are not a good person. Don't look for a wife like this in the future."
He Youqian and He Youshi curled their lips and said nothing.
What's the point of finding an honest wife according to his fucking requirements?
The two imagined a better life after getting the money, but they didn't know that a rescue operation for the kidnapping case had been quietly launched.
——Although all signs indicate that Zhang Xialan's family is the real culprit who kidnapped He Anquan, we cannot be careless about the missing He Youquan. Maybe he is watching somewhere.
In the evening, the sun sets and the temperature drops sharply.
The patrol team patrolled the village back and forth with torches in hand. The night concealed all traces of human beings. Old Mrs. Chen staggered on the road leading to the old house in the back mountain.
Zhang Xialan called out to her, "Anquanna, where are you going?"
Old Mrs. Chen reluctantly said, "I came out for a walk."
Zhang Xialan glanced around imperceptibly, making sure no one was following Old Lady Chen before she smiled and said, "It's so late and you're still out for a walk. Be careful."
Old Mrs. Chen nodded without saying anything.
The two separated, and after Old Lady Chen walked away, Zhang Xialan immediately took small steps to avoid the patrol and slipped back home.
She whispered, "The old lady went to the back mountain. Should we go there secretly?"
He Youqian waved his hand. "I put a piece of paper under the rock and told her to change where to put the money. Let's be alert. Are those police officers on TV lying in ambush nearby?"
Zhang Xialan was surprised: "I don't think she looks like calling the police."
He Youshi: "Mom, just listen to Big Brother. It's better to be careful."
Zhang Xialan hesitated: "Anquan, that kid hasn't had dinner yet. How about I go downstairs and feed him something?"
He Youshi said impatiently: "Eat, eat, eat. Do you think there is any food at home? Your son is hungry, and you are still thinking about a child."
Zhang Xialan moved her lips but didn't say anything.
The conversation between the three of them was heard clearly by the security soldiers who sneaked into their yard under the cover of night.
It seems that He Youquan was not involved in this kidnapping case?
But where will the child be hidden?
“Tap tap tap…”
The patrol's footsteps sounded at the right moment, and one man took the opportunity to climb out of the yard. His movements were light and agile, like a silent ghost messenger, making almost no sound.
He repeated what he had heard verbatim. The person in charge pondered, "The hostages must be hidden at home, otherwise they wouldn't have said they were going to feed them. But where are they going?"
"Is their house on the first floor?"
Captain Wu nodded: "Only one floor."
He Juanxia thought for a moment and said, "Is it possible to hide the person in the cellar?"
Zhang Xialan's house, like his, is an old-style bungalow with a small courtyard. This kind of old house basically has a cellar to store grain.
The person in charge said excitedly, "It's very likely. If it's hidden in the cellar, then 'going down' makes sense."
He asked, "Where is the entrance to Zhang Xialan's cellar?"
He Qiangguo immediately replied, "It's in the yard, blocked by an iron plate with some debris piled on it."
Captain Wu frowned, "It's going to be difficult to rescue the person without alerting the criminals."
He Junxia said, "We can control the person first. It's unlikely that He Youquan would stay in the cellar with Anquan. Besides, the cellar is not well ventilated. I'm afraid something might happen to Anquan if we stay there for too long."
——A person’s reputation depends on his dog. With the help of sesame and glutinous rice balls, He Junxia also gained some say in the kidnapping case.
He Qiangguo echoed, "Xiao Xia is right. Staying in a cellar for too long can kill people. A few years ago, someone from the neighboring village died in their own cellar. The doctor said it was poisoning."
He Junxia added: "Carbon dioxide poisoning."
He Qiangguo nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, it's carbon dioxide poisoning."
The person in charge thought for a while and decided, "Okay, we'll send someone to apprehend the criminal first."
Things went unexpectedly smoothly. Zhang Xialan's family was quickly apprehended by the security soldiers, and the missing He Anquan was hidden in the cellar as He Junxia had guessed.
Fortunately, He Anquan was conscious and not affected by the cellar environment. After the cloth in his mouth was taken out, he immediately cried loudly and wanted to see his grandmother.
Zhang Xialan's family also kept crying out that they were wronged.
The noise woke up many people, and one after another, they put on thick clothes and came out to watch the excitement. When they learned that it was Zhang Xialan's family who kidnapped Old Lady Chen's grandson He Anquan, they were immediately shocked.
"Is there any mistake?"
Someone saw Zhang Xialan crying pitifully and couldn't help but ask.
"What's wrong with that? Look, the person in charge and the two captains are here, and there are so many people from the security department. Who would go to such trouble to wrongly accuse her?"
"Her three sons are always bad students, stealing and doing things everywhere. I told you that sooner or later they would cause a big disaster, but you didn't believe me."
"Alright, alright, I know you're smart, so just say less."
"Hey, why isn't He Youquan here? Has he done anything wrong?"
"You think those three won't get shot? Hey, I heard they killed a bunch of robbers and murderers a few days ago."
He Junxia looked at Zhang Xialan who was crying bitterly and shook her head slightly.
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have done it in the first place.
The three of them did not cause any casualties. In the past, they would have been sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of at most five years but not ten years, but now it is hard to say.
The government has recently cracked down on illegal and criminal activities, imposing numerous death sentences to deter criminals. Furthermore, due to extreme weather, most farms have experienced a complete crop failure, and the county's grain reserves have dwindled dramatically, leaving no surplus to support criminals.
…
Early the next morning, the three were sent to the county police station by the security department along with various evidence and testimonies.
The evidence is irrefutable; no matter how Zhang Xialan's family tries to argue and evade charges, they cannot escape legal sanctions.
This incident caused an uproar in Hejia Village and its surrounding villages and towns. In order to prevent others from following suit, the county attached great importance to it. The next day, a meeting was held to ask all villages and towns to carry out legal education activities, and to ask village and town canteens to provide free rice porridge to families in financial difficulties.
Three days later, Zhang Xialan and the other two were sentenced to death and executed immediately.
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