Speculation is a felony

I just finished a big deal and have been free for only two days.

According to the original plan: On weekends, the fourth brother Shen Tiannan, who is in charge of accounting, will come to the county town with the second brother and the master to verify the general ledger of the monthly income.

However, Shen Roujiao rose from the sun and waited until the sun set, but she still couldn't wait for them to appear. While waiting, time seemed to be maliciously stretched and lengthened, and uneasy thoughts arose, making her even more anxious and unbearable.

Brother Huzi saw that Shen Roujiao's face was full of worry, and comforted her, saying that they might be delayed by something, so don't worry, they might come tomorrow.

After nodding her head in self-deception, she returned to school with a shaky heart, but unexpectedly ran into her father and uncle Shen Shanhe at the school gate.

Although she didn't know why they came, her mood was like a roller coaster, climbing from the bottom to the middle of the sky. Shen Roujiao almost flew up with joy, calling out from afar: "Dad, uncle."

She ran to their side, and before she could even stand firmly on her heels, Father Shen rushed over and grabbed her hand, trembling uncontrollably, conveying the old man's fear, "Jiao Jiao, something big has happened!"

This sentence pushed Shen Roujiao from the sky into the abyss. Her mind was blank. She had no time to think or react. She asked unconsciously, "What?"

"Your second brother, third brother, eldest brother, as well as the educated youth and the village chief, have all been arrested by the city police!" Father Shen's voice was filled with uncontrollable tears, and his shoulders were shaking more and more, which was a physiological reaction of excessive fright.

"police?"

"Your father is scared. Let me tell you." Shen Shanhe patted his brother on the back as if to comfort him.

…

In the morning, a police car drove into Hedong Village. Four policemen in uniform were in the car. They first went to Shen's house and took away Shen Tiancheng and Shen Tiannan. Then they went to the uncle's house and took away Shen Rushan. The village chief who heard the news hurried to inquire about the reason and was also taken into the police car on the spot. Finally, in the educated youth yard, the police took Zhou Huaiyue away.

This incident frightened the entire village, and they had no idea what they had done wrong. Even the village chief was arrested.

Mr. Shen followed the police, begging them to find out what was going on. He said that they were all from the countryside and had not done anything illegal. They had always been honest people and worked diligently.

The leading policeman wore a white police cap, a white top and blue bottom police uniform, two red collar patches, a belt around his waist, and a serious and frightening expression. "Behave yourself? Do you know that reselling food is illegal?"

"Police comrade, are you sure? Even if they had ten heads, they wouldn't dare to sell food!" Father Shen was so scared that his legs went limp, and Shen Shanhe supported him as he continued to chase after him.

"Are we mistaken? Why are there so many police officers?" The team leader pushed Shen's father's hand away, and was suddenly hugged by a woman's legs. "Comrade, please, don't arrest them. We really don't have any food to sell!"

Aunt Zhao burst into tears and rolled around holding onto the lead police officer's legs. The village chief's wife also joined in and hugged his other leg, "Comrade, my old man is the village chief. How could he break the law? He fought for the revolution all his life, how could he be guilty?"

The wailing with snot and tears was deafening, it was heartbreaking to smell and tearful to see.

They clung to the leading policeman's legs tightly and refused to let go no matter how he dragged and threw them, crying their hearts out.

Other villagers also came over to plead for them, willing to testify that they did not resell grain.

"Do you know that speculation and selling grain are capital crimes? How dare you beg for mercy?" the policeman next to the team leader threatened.

capital offense!

Father Shen was so frightened that he collapsed on the ground. Aunt Zhao and the village head's wife cried even harder, howling, "Oh God, why don't you open your eyes and see that there is no justice and no law. How can a good thing become a capital crime of selling grain? This is more unfair than Dou E, wuwuwu..."

The leading police officer was not completely unkind. He comforted the two women and called Shen's father aside. "We have official duties to perform. Someone reported them for reselling grain. Such a big matter must be handled by the Municipal Police Department. Believe us, we will definitely investigate it thoroughly. We will not let a bad guy go, and we will never wrongly accuse a good person. You can rest assured about this."

Zhao Ye, who had sharp ears, heard someone report it and jumped three feet high, cursing directly: "Which thief is so conscienceless and vicious that he wants to kill people. All the virtues accumulated by your ancestors have been wasted, and you will not die a good death...."

She spitted and cursed out all the anger and resentment in her heart.

The villagers who were watching looked at Aunt Xu and her sister with cold faces. They had no time to hide the smugness on their faces, but were crushed by the big pot that fell from the sky. Their faces turned black and they waved their hands in panic, "Why are you all looking at us? It's not us, it's really not us. Whoever did this immoral thing, the whole family will die!"

I cried and made a fuss, but the person was still taken away.

…

"Jiaojiao, what do you think we should do about this?" Shen Shanhe is older after all and tends to remain calm when faced with situations.

"Uncle, let me think about it." Shen Roujiao's mind was still blank at this moment. She kept repeating in her mind, "Be calm, be calm," but her clenched hands still couldn't stop shaking.

This matter must be related to digging Rehmannia.

The person who reported it did not report it when the Rehmannia was being dug up, but instead reported it after all the Rehmannia had been taken away. This showed that he was deliberately trying to frame someone.

And what was reported was not fresh Rehmannia root, but grain.

It is necessary to prove that what they took away was Rehmannia root, and at the same time, to prove that they did not take away a single grain of food.

It was easy to prove that the Rehmannia root had been dug. Shen Roujiao had the order agreement, the cash and money order slips, and the fat boss's transportation permit as evidence, but how could she prove that the grain had not been touched?

It is easy for people to prove that they have done something, but it is difficult to prove that they have not done something.

Once you start racking your brains to find evidence for yourself, you will talk more and more, and the more you talk, the more confused you become, and you will fall deeply into the trap of self-evidence.

"Dad, uncle, don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I won't let them suffer an unjust accusation. But there's something I may need you to do." Shen Roujiao's calm and composed attitude was like a reassurance pill, giving the two old men hope of solving the problem.

As it was late, Shen Roujiao arranged for them to stay at the county guesthouse. She returned to the south alley entrance, and Hu Zi was just about to lock the door.

The two of them calmly sorted out their thoughts, and Shen Roujiao specifically instructed Hu Zi to do a few things before returning to school.

That night, she lay on the hard bed in the dormitory, unable to sleep all night. All the scenes went through her mind over and over again, including Wang Jianxin's evil eyes.

Finally, when the daylight came, Shen Roujiao changed her clothes, washed her face with cool water, and went to the cafeteria to have a nice breakfast. She put on her schoolbag, asked for leave because she had an emergency at home, and left the campus.

When she arrived in Xiaonanchuan City, Shen Roujiao did not go directly to the Municipal Public Security Bureau, but asked around and found the entrance to the Municipal Post Bureau.

At the entrance of the post office, she found a ghostwriting booth. It had an old-fashioned desk with peeling paint. Along the front of the desk was an old, yellowed cloth sign. At the top were two large characters written from right to left: "Ghostwriting". Below that were six vertical rows of Chinese characters: "Correspondence, Telegram Information, Tombstone Contracts, Weddings and Funerals, Couplets, and Appeal Materials".

The old man wearing round-frame glasses and a blue worker's hat took out a pen from the pen holder on the table, uncapped it, and was pinching the forked tip of the pen. Feeling that he was being watched, he raised his eyelids and glanced at Shen Roujiao, who didn't take it seriously, and continued to lower his head to adjust the pen.

"Master! Please write something for me." Shen Roujiao, who had already walked to the front of the booth, leaned on the edge of the desk, revealing her two eyes, staring straight at him.

"What materials?" The old man closed his pen, placed the paper in front of him, and showed some interest.

"Materials for complaint." Defeat magic with magic.

Although Mrs. Song said that she could not sue Wang Jianxin, she originally thought that she could only swallow her anger, but she did not expect that he would not give in, and his malicious intentions repeatedly harmed people, even the village chief.

Come on then, let’s fight.

The fish dies but the net remains unbroken!

The old man raised his eyebrows, pushed his glasses up and down, and asked, "Do you want to sue alive or dead?"

"What's the difference?" Shen Roujiao stood up straight with a serious expression. She didn't know that this saying existed in that era.

The old man tapped the paper under his arm with his fingers, "To sue for life means to leave more ways for the suspect to survive, or to open more loopholes; to sue for death means to leave no way out, and to sue until death."

He seemed somewhat proud when he said the last sentence.

Oh, so that's what you mean.

Treat your comrades as warmly as spring, like Zhou Huaiyue and Brother Huzi; treat your work as passionately as summer, such as setting up a stall and digging medicinal herbs; treat your enemies as cruelly and ruthlessly as the severe winter, such as Wang Jianxin and Aunt Xu.

"I'm going to die." Shen Roujiao's eyes were firm.

The old man looked at her deeply, not daring to believe that the little girl was very cruel. How deep must the hatred be? "It's expensive to sue for death? It costs fifteen yuan. It's cheaper to sue for life, five yuan."

Wow, it's so expensive. "Can you bargain for a lower price?" Shen Roujiao blurted out, then she noticed that the old man didn't quite understand the word "bargain", so she changed the subject and asked, "Can you make it cheaper?"

The old man chuckled, his face full of pride, "Little girl, I have written more than a dozen live lawsuits, and I won all the cases. I also wrote six death lawsuits, four of which were sentenced to death by shooting, and two were sentenced to life imprisonment. Fifteen yuan for you is considered cheap."

The highest fee for ghostwriting is for writing a complaint, and the most expensive complaint is a fatal complaint, which requires harsh words, fierce accusations, and points directly to the opponent's weak points.

"Okay!" Shen Roujiao took out fifteen yuan from her schoolbag and slammed it heavily on the table. "I must sue my mother's murder until her death."

…

In the small interrogation room of the Public Security Bureau, Shen Tiancheng, Shen Tiannan, and Shen Rushan squatted together, and the village chief and Zhou Huaiyue squatted together.

When they first came in, they were asked a few simple questions separately, mainly asking whether they sold food. Several people answered in unison that they were digging the medicinal herb Rehmannia glutinosa, and the villagers, young and old, could testify to this.

After that, no one paid any attention to them. At mealtime, each person was given two steamed buns.

As the sky gradually darkened, the village chief became anxious. He shouted to the outside: "Boss! Officer! Sir! Is anyone here?"

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you yelling about? We are the people's police. Call us comrade!" The man in the police uniform was a young man. He spoke with confidence and in a loud voice.

"Oh, comrade. When can we go home? It's getting dark now. My wife is afraid of the dark at night, so I have to go back to accompany her." The village chief was lying on the iron railing with his head stuck between the two railings, with an expression that did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Hmph, going home? Your problem is quite serious and has been reported to the city leaders. Stay still and think about how to explain the problem when you have time." He slapped the iron railing, and the village chief's face turned pale with fright.