When Old Man Su and his eldest son heard that the two women in their family were at their second son's house, Old Man Su knew something was wrong. He had waited until after 10 p.m. last night, but he was so tired that he fell asleep and didn't notice whether his wife had returned. But the eldest son was completely unaware. He had gone to bed early last night and slept like a log, so he had no idea that Zhao Xiaohua hadn't come home all night.
Several people met at the Su family's door. Upon entering the house, they discovered that Old Mrs. Su and Zhao Xiaohua were tied up. Everyone looked at each other awkwardly, as a son tying up his mother was a violation of filial piety. The village chief coughed a few times, then turned his back as if he hadn't seen anything.
Old Man Su and his eldest son were furious, their faces turning black. "Second son, you've gone too far! One is your mother, and the other is your sister-in-law. How dare you tie them up? Even if she did something wrong, you can't treat her like this!" Old Man Su pointed at his father and questioned him.
Father, do you mean that you know what Mother did, and it doesn't matter even if she's wrong? Even if she did something against the rules, do you think I should ignore the rules and act cruelly? Or do you think that we are above the rules and can trample on them at will?
The old man was silenced by his father's words. His face was flushed red, whether from anger or fear of what his father had just said.
Seeing that Old Man Su had quieted down, Father Su began to recount the events of the previous night: the cause, the process, and the outcome. After Father Su finished speaking, everyone present changed their expressions.
Superstitious practices include hiring shamans to perform rituals, drugging people, secretly using keys to enter houses and leave superstitious talismans, breaking into houses to kidnap people, and finally, administering drugs to induce mental incapacity. All of these combined could warrant multiple bullet charges.
I called you here to resolve this matter—whether to settle it officially or privately. If we settle it officially, I'll call the police to take her away. If we settle it privately, let's discuss how we'll do it. Village Chief He, Aunt He is a villager in your village, and she lives alone, so how do you plan to handle this? Father and Elder Brother, you can also choose how to handle this matter.
Village Chief He spoke first, saying, "Nephew Su, I'm truly sorry. I never imagined that such a huge oversight would occur under my supervision, almost leading to a disaster. I think we should settle this privately. Although Aunt He may be mentally impaired after waking up, she still has a house. The village can compensate your family for some of the losses on her behalf, and then use her house as collateral in the village. After she leaves, the house will belong to the village."
"Alright, considering that Aunt He has already been punished, we won't hold it against her. You compensate for her losses, and I won't make things too difficult for you. One hundred yuan, you take one hundred yuan to exchange for Aunt He, consider it a private settlement. We'll sign a document later stating why you're paying this one hundred yuan." Su's father repeated what Su Xingran had taught him.
Upon hearing the amount of one hundred yuan, Village Chief He swallowed hard. He knew he couldn't refuse; if Su's father called the police, he would be implicated. For a village chief to fail to notice a reactionary element violating discipline was hiding in the village was a dereliction of duty. He would be held responsible if the commune investigated, so he had to pay the one hundred yuan. He would then go back and see if Aunt He had any savings. If so, he would use the money to offset the debt; otherwise, he would sell the house to someone else after she left to settle the matter.
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