Jiang Ning's left eyelid started twitching as soon as she woke up in the morning.
I thought to myself, it's already afternoon, there should be good news coming from the village by now.
Lin Chen went to work. Even though he was rolling in money, he still had to maintain the image of a three-generation poor farmer. He had to go to work as usual.
She was preparing some mung bean porridge for dinner, and as soon as she started rinsing the mung beans with water, Wang Xiufen snatched the ceramic jar away.
"You go and rest, I'll do it."
Oh dear, she's pregnant; she shouldn't be working so hard.
Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Mom, it's not that exaggerated. When you were pregnant, you probably still had to get out of bed. How could I be so precious that I couldn't cook?"
Wang Xiufen raised an eyebrow and raised her voice eight octaves: "How can that be the same? When I was pregnant, I didn't have a good mother-in-law!"
"In my household, the old wives' tale of 'a daughter-in-law endures years of hardship to become a mother-in-law' doesn't apply. From now on, starting with me, daughters-in-law must be pampered."
Jiang Ning laughed even harder, "Mom, where did you learn that? You've got it all figured out."
"Sigh, I'm just speaking from the heart. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships are like steamed buns; both have to be good to make a good pair. If the dough is delicious but the filling is bad, it won't work. If the filling is delicious but the dough is bad, it won't look good either. You're good to this old woman, how could I not know?"
"Now all I can do are these rough jobs." As Wang Xiufen spoke, she suddenly became emotional, and her eyes welled up with tears.
Jiang Wei smiled and put her arm around her shoulder:
"Mom, I consider you my own mother, but I have to criticize you..."
Who said you can only do manual labor? You're practically our family's breadwinner now!
Wang Xiufen was overjoyed by the praise, and smiled reproachfully at her for speaking so breathlessly.
Just as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were chatting and laughing, Lin Chen and Gao Baoliang walked in one after the other.
"The new house is so much brighter!"
Gao Baoliang entered the house and began to wander around, examining the structure of the house.
He's been busy with a new job recently, and he also had a fight with Meng Jiao, so he hasn't been able to visit Chayuan Village.
Jiang Ning brought him a chair and invited him to sit down.
Gao Baoliang didn't stand on ceremony at all. After sitting down, he asked what he wanted to eat for dinner.
"I was planning to have mung bean porridge, but now that you're here, I'll just cook two dishes."
Wang Xiufen chimed in.
The weather is hot and humid, and people don't have much of an appetite, so sometimes we don't cook dinner.
Of course, they would make a special steamed egg custard for Jiang Ning to supplement her nutrition.
At lunchtime, there was a constant stream of chicken soup, fish soup, and other similar dishes.
As they were talking, Lin Chen took out a piece of smoked bacon from the jar, preparing to make a stir-fried pork with green peppers and a scallion and egg dish, just enough to go with some drinks.
Half an hour later, Lin Chen moved the dining table to the yard, and the group gathered around it, eating and chatting at the same time.
Gao Baoliang was in a good mood. After downing a glass of wine, he started rambling: "Didn't I get transferred to the township police station? Every day it's just trivial matters. Either this family has something stolen, or that family has a fight."
Times have really changed. Before, you didn't even need to call the police; the militia would handle it.
"So nothing major happened on the street today?" Jiang Ning didn't want to hear about that; she just wanted to ask about the situation at the supply and marketing cooperative.
"Something big?" Gao Baoliang picked up a piece of cured meat with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing it continuously.
Under Jiang Ning's expectant gaze, he continued:
"Believe it or not, there really was one. There was a fire at the supply and marketing cooperative."
Lin Chen's chopsticks trembled as he picked up food. "What's wrong?"
"It happened around 5 a.m. When I arrived at the scene, the entire warehouse was burned down."
The head of the supply and marketing cooperative is being attacked by a group of people who are demanding that he deliver the goods!
The person in charge burst into tears, repeatedly saying, "I feel like dying, and you still want the goods from me? How can you be so heartless!"
I'm dying of laughter! A grown man lying on the ground throwing a tantrum...
"And then what happened?" Jiang Ning's smile stretched to the heavens.
Why does she enjoy seeing them on the verge of tears so much?
Gao Baoliang raised his glass, gesturing for Jiang Ning to pour the wine.
Jiang Ning eagerly poured it for him.
"We were just helping with the registration and went back after finding no casualties. But then Director Zhang grabbed me and wouldn't let go, insisting that I find someone."
He said he had a conflict with that person today, and that the person who started the fire must have been the one.
"When asked what the person's name was, where he lived, and what he looked like, he knew nothing," Gao Baoliang continued.
Lin Chen's face stiffened. It seemed that the person Director Zhang was looking for was him!
Even if Gao Baoliang is his good friend, this can't be exposed!
"With such a huge loss from a fire, they definitely need to find a scapegoat. Who could it be? It must be made up," Lin Chen analyzed seriously.
Jiang Ning chimed in, "I think so too. If we don't find a scapegoat, he'll be the one primarily responsible. How are we going to pay back so much money? He'll probably go to jail."
Gao Baoliang glanced at the two of them and chuckled:
“That’s what we police think too. I’ve seen plenty of people like that. Apparently, when the fire started, someone went to call him right away, but he dawdled for half an hour before he arrived. It was clearly dereliction of duty and disregard for collective property.”
So we arrested him.
Seeing that Gao Baoliang was enjoying his drink, Jiang Ning poured him another glass and continued:
"There's another possibility you've considered: Director Zhang said a new batch of Dacron fiberglass was delivered. Did you check the fire scene and see any traces of that batch of goods?"
Gao Baoliang's eyes lit up. "I really hadn't thought about it that much. We only found out by asking the salesperson, who said that the store did indeed receive a truckload of Dacron. But we didn't find any trace of Dacron in the warehouse..."
He paused briefly as he spoke.
Jiang Ning stared at him expectantly, as if waiting for his long-winded talk.
Sure enough, Gao Baoliang slapped his thigh and said:
"That makes sense. He must have stolen the Dacron fabric and then set it on fire."
They wanted to find a scapegoat, but our police are discerning and didn't fall for it.
Otherwise, why would so many people be asking him for goods?
After listening, Jiang Ning gave him a thumbs up.
"With you here, there is hope for the township police station in the future. Maybe the throat-slitting case that has been unsolved for a long time can be solved in your hands."
Gao Baoliang was very pleased to hear this, and his face beamed with a smile. He quickly got up and poured Lin Chen a glass of wine.
"Brother Chen, your wife praised me. I should have another drink."
Lin Chen stopped him:
"Take it easy, drinking will lead to trouble."
However, he was already feeling quite tipsy, and the wine had already been consumed.
Just as he was blushing and clamoring for another drink, Meng Jiao gracefully walked over.
The two haven't seen each other since their last argument.
He didn't even come to check on things when the floods occurred.
During this time, she was filled with sorrow and wanted to have a good talk with him, but she held back when she thought of his heartless and cold-hearted attitude towards her after marriage.
Hearing that he was having dinner at Lin Chen's house, she finally mustered up the courage to come.
He was drinking so happily...
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