When Chen Hu pushed open the door and entered the room, his legs were trembling.
He kept his head down, not daring to look directly at Li Wei sitting behind the desk, only daring to glance at him out of the corner of his eye.
The new battalion commander, dressed in a crisp Zhongshan suit, exuded an imposing aura. His brow was furrowed, his eyes sharp, making him even more intimidating than Zhang Qiang had been.
"Sit down." Li Wei's voice was flat.
Chen Hu carefully sat down on the chair opposite him, barely touching the edge with his bottom, his hands nervously placed on his knees, his palms sweaty.
"What did Zhang Qiang make you do? Tell me the truth." Li Wei didn't wait for his answer, but stared intently at Chen Hu and continued, "Do you know what those other educated youths said about you?"
Chen Hu opened his mouth, about to explain, but was interrupted by Li Wei.
He picked up the record sheet on the table and slowly read it aloud, “Sun Hao said that you were the one who orchestrated Wang Yanan’s affair, and also Wang Lili’s affair. Zhou Ming said that you often forced the educated youth to do chores for you and even stole their food coupons. Some people also said that you, relying on being Zhang Qiang’s man, acted arrogantly at the educated youth settlement, and made things difficult for anyone who disagreed with you…”
"No! This is all slander! I didn't do it!" Chen Hu jumped up from his chair before Li Wei could finish reading, shouting back, his face flushed red. "They're deliberately framing me! I didn't do any of these things!"
"Sit down!" Li Wei slammed his hand on the table, his voice suddenly rising. "What's the rush? I haven't finished reading yet."
Chen Hu trembled with fright and quickly sat back down in his chair, his lips trembling, but he dared not speak again.
Li Wei picked up the thermos on the table, took a sip of tea, and his tone softened a bit, but it still carried a sense of pressure. "Chen Hu, I know you're panicking, but panicking won't help now. The educated youth before you have said everything they should and shouldn't have said. The evidence is right here, and there's no point in you trying to deny it."
He put down his thermos, leaned forward slightly, and stared into Chen Hu's eyes. "The only way to reduce your punishment now is to tell me everything Zhang Qiang asked you to do. If you confess honestly, I can help you apply to the higher-ups for leniency. But if you try to hide it, once the investigation is complete, you'll definitely be in jail, and no one can save you then."
"Go to jail?" Chen Hu's face turned deathly pale instantly, and his body swayed.
His greatest fear in life is going to jail; the thought of being locked up in a cell makes him tremble.
He remained silent for a long time, looking into Li Wei's eyes, knowing that he could no longer hide it.
He took a deep breath. "I...I really wasn't one of Zhang Qiang's people from the beginning. I was just an ordinary Confucian scholar..."
It turned out that one night a year ago, Chen Hu got up in the middle of the night and had just stepped out of the educated youth dormitory when he saw Zhang Qiang sneaking out of the brigade leader's office and walking towards the back mountain of the forest farm.
He was curious. Zhang Qiang rarely went out, let alone so late at night. There must be something fishy going on.
He hesitated for a moment, but still quietly followed them.
Walking into the grove behind the mountain, he saw Zhang Qiang meet with a strange woman. The two exchanged a few words, and the woman handed Zhang Qiang a cloth bag. After he took the bag and said a few more words, the woman hurriedly left.
Chen Hu was trying to sneak away when he accidentally broke a branch under his feet with a snapping sound.
Zhang Qiang immediately turned around and saw him hiding behind the tree. "What did you see?"
Zhang Qiang's face was very ugly at the time. He grabbed Chen Hu's arm and looked fierce.
Chen Hu trembled with fear and quickly said, "I...I didn't see anything, I was just passing by..."
"You'd better not have seen anything." Zhang Qiang released his arm, then suddenly smiled. "Don't tell anyone about this. From now on, I'll make things easy for you at the forest farm, and no one will dare to bully you, okay?"
Chen Hu was immediately tempted.
He was just an ordinary person at the educated youth settlement, but with Zhang Qiang protecting him, he could finally hold his head high.
Without a second thought, he agreed, "I definitely won't tell! Captain Zhang, don't worry!"
From then on, he became Zhang Qiang's lackey, keeping an eye on the movements of the educated youth and occasionally running errands for him.
Zhang Qiang did indeed give him a lot of benefits, which made him increasingly arrogant in the educated youth settlement.
"That's all I really know!" Chen Hu said, then looked at Li Wei with tears in his eyes. "What exactly is the relationship between Captain Zhang and that woman? What's in the bag? I really don't know! I've even forgotten what that woman looks like... I was only able to work for him because he recruited me!"
Seeing him weeping uncontrollably, Li Wei remained expressionless. He simply picked up a pen and scribbled a few lines on the record sheet. "Whether what you're saying is true or not, we'll investigate. You wait outside for now. We'll contact you if we have any further questions."
Chen Hu nodded, wiped away his tears, and slowly walked out of the office as if he had lost his soul.
Unlike the other educated youth, he was not allowed to leave. Instead, he was led by two soldiers to a small wooden hut in the corner of the forest farm.
This place was originally used to store tools, but it has now been temporarily converted into a detention cell.
The wooden door creaked shut, the sound of the lock clicking shut particularly jarring in the silence.
Chen Hu pressed his ear against the door, listening to the footsteps outside gradually fade away, before collapsing onto the ground with a thud.
The cabin was very simple, with only a wooden bed and a broken chair. The windows were welded shut with iron bars, and the light that came in was dim and cold.
Chen Hu sat on the wooden bed, holding his head in his hands, Li Wei's words replaying in his mind.
He sat there silently until evening, when finally footsteps could be heard outside the door.
Chen Hu looked up and saw Li Wei walking in with a bowl of rice and a plate of pickled vegetables. "Have something to eat."
He placed the food on the chair, his tone still indifferent, "Someone will come to pick you up tomorrow. Go to the town's detention center first."
Chen Hu didn't touch his chopsticks, his eyes fixed on Li Wei. "Captain Li, that's really all I know. I really can't remember what that woman looked like..."
“I know,” Li Wei interrupted him, “but it’s a fact that you were the mastermind behind Wang Yanan’s affair and bullied Wang Lili. Even if you didn’t do anything for Zhang Qiang, you’ll most likely end up in jail, unless…”
"Unless what?" Chen Hu immediately grasped at this lifeline, jumped up from the bed, and asked urgently.
Looking at him, Li Wei slowly said, "Unless you can redeem yourself by providing useful clues about Zhang Qiang. The woman you mentioned earlier couldn't even be described in detail; she's of no help to our investigation. Think carefully again: has Zhang Qiang exhibited any other unusual behavior, or has he been in contact with anyone?"
After saying that, Li Wei turned and left, leaving Chen Hu standing there dumbfounded.
He kicked the wall, wincing in pain, but still couldn't help grabbing his hair and desperately trying to recall the incident.
Zhang Qiang is usually very cautious. Apart from that woman from six months ago, he has never seen Zhang Qiang have any private contact with anyone else.
As for Zhang Qiang burying Wang Yanan, the military already knew about it, so even if he added more information, it wouldn't be considered a valuable clue...
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