Wang Laowu also emphasized the description of the man and woman's clothing, which matched exactly what Xu Ningyan and Cao Yang were wearing this morning, confirming that it was indeed the two of them.
Gu Zhiyuan asked a few more questions: Were there any other people nearby at the time? Or did you see any other people?
Did you see anything strange today? Or meet any strange people?
Looking at the remaining banknotes in Gu Zhiyuan's hand, Wang Laowu didn't quite understand why Gu Zhiyuan was asking these questions. But for the sake of money, he scratched his head and thought carefully for a while before saying, "Speaking of which, there is something strange. Yanchi Brigade has little land, so their work points are worthless and they don't have much work. Unlike our Wangqiao Brigade, we have production tasks every day."
“Before, there were a few teenagers from Yanchi Brigade who would sneak over to our Wangqiao Brigade every day to do chores for a few lazy bums in exchange for a steamed bun. But today, none of those teenagers came. I even heard that bum Wang Qidao muttering something like, ‘We agreed on it yesterday, but why didn’t we see them today?’”
This was news that the commune leaders were unaware of before.
One of them couldn't help but frown: "How can the Wangqiao Brigade act so recklessly?"
It's ridiculous to make people from other brigades work for people in your own brigade to earn work points.
Gu Zhiyuan's eyelids twitched, and he pulled out a two-yuan bill, handing it to Wang Laowu: "Besides this, is there anything else strange?"
Someone nearby couldn't stand it anymore and muttered, "This irrelevant news is worth two dollars? Isn't this just grasping at straws in desperation?"
He was pulled by someone else and shut his mouth, but he still looked a little unconvinced.
Upon hearing this, Wang Laowu quickly stuffed the two yuan into his pocket, nervously watching Gu Zhiyuan, afraid that he would take the money back.
Gu Zhiyuan casually swept his gaze across the entire room, and those whose eyes met his couldn't help but swallow hard and take a step back.
Coming to their senses, they realized what they had done and looked at Gu Zhiyuan with a mixture of fear and shame, no one daring to speak anymore.
Gu Zhiyuan then looked at Wang Laowu again, his tone calm: "Think about it again—"
Wang Laowu scratched his head so hard he almost broke it, but he couldn't come up with any more useful clues. He looked at the remaining five and ten yuan bills with great regret.
After hesitating for a moment, he tentatively asked, "Sir, how about I go back to our brigade and ask the others? Maybe someone else saw something! If their clues are useful, sir, shouldn't we give them a reward too?"
Gu Zhiyuan nodded decisively: "Of course! I have other things to arrange right now, but I'll have someone lead the way to the roadside next to your brigade in a bit. If anyone has any clues, I will definitely reward them handsomely!"
Wang Laowu nodded excitedly, "That person should go back now—" Ignoring the darkness, he took off running towards the brigade.
Gu Zhiyuan had other things to arrange at the moment, so he let Wang Laowu leave first.
Although the people in the commune felt that Gu Zhiyuan was overbearing and disrespectful to them as soon as he arrived, they could understand that he was anxious about losing such a grown woman and his slight overreaction was understandable.
Of course, there were also those who didn't understand, but at this moment they only dared to mutter to themselves and didn't dare to say it aloud.
Gu Zhiyuan's glance just now still left them with lingering fear.
Li Jianguo wasn't idle either; he discussed the situation with Director Zhang.
In other words, he took the questions that Gu Zhiyuan had asked him earlier in the car and asked them to Director Zhang.
Director Zhang was overwhelmed by the questions, but he answered them honestly.
Seeing that Gu Zhiyuan was free at this moment, Li Jianguo hurried over and explained the situation.
Yanchi Production Brigade is located near the mountain, but its brigade doesn't have much farmland. The closest brigade is Wangqiao Brigade, and it's not far from Tuanjie Brigade either, separated only by a small hill.
Apart from this bachelor, no one has reported seeing Xu Ningyan and Cao Yang yet.
The commune has already sent out several production teams in the vicinity to search, mainly in the woods, rivers, ponds, and mountains.
The Tuanjie Brigade also learned of the news, and all the adult men in the brigade went into the mountains to search for them.
Not to mention the Yanchi Production Brigade, where it is said that the entire team, including men, women, and children, mobilized.
Gu Zhiyuan rubbed his temples and suddenly asked, "Where is Cao Yang from?"
Director Zhang was taken aback and looked at Secretary He.
Secretary He frowned and thought for a moment: "Cao Yang seems to be from Matang Brigade, but his mother seems to be from Yanchi Brigade?"
However, he wasn't quite sure, so he turned to look for someone in the personnel department.
The personnel department staff were also present. After thinking for a moment, they confirmed: "Cao Yang's family used to be from Matang Brigade. His mother was from Yanchi Brigade and married into Matang Brigade. However, later his mother went to work at the county supply and marketing cooperative, and Cao Yang lived with his mother in the county. He also studied at the county high school. After graduation, he was assigned to our commune."
County supply and marketing cooperative?
Something flashed through Gu Zhiyuan's mind: "Which supply and marketing cooperative in the county does Cao Yang's mother work at?"
The personnel department couldn't be sure, so they quickly unlocked the door and went to look through the personnel files.
It says "Changning Street Supply and Marketing Cooperative of the County" on it.
Isn't this the supply and marketing cooperative where Xu Zhenzhu works?
A flash of ferocity suddenly appeared in Gu Zhiyuan's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
He looked up and said coldly, "The people from the Yanchi Brigade are lying! My wife has probably either been captured and hidden by them, or she's hiding in the mountains!"
Everyone was stunned, wondering where Gu Zhiyuan had come to this conclusion.
Director Zhang stammered, "No, really? What would the Yanchi Brigade do with Comrade Xu? And why would they lie? Could it be that you're overthinking it?"
Gu Zhiyuan snorted coldly: "According to your plan, Cao Yang should have taken my wife to Matang Brigade today, but Wang Laowu saw the two of them go to Yanchi Brigade instead. Wangqiao is not far from Yanchi Brigade, there is only one main road between them, so they must have been to Yanchi Brigade!"
"Since you went to the Yanchi Brigade, why did the Yanchi Brigade insist that they had never seen the two people? If they said they had seen them but the people had left, or if some of them said they had seen them, I might not have doubted them."
"But in a production brigade with no production tasks, two living people entered the brigade and both said they didn't see it! Isn't that strange?"
"So, the Iwachi Battalion must be lying! And the entire battalion is lying! Why are they lying? Naturally, they don't want anyone to know what they're doing! Do I need to say the rest?"
Gu Zhiyuan's analysis alarmed several leaders of the commune.
If it were just a simple case of someone getting lost, that would be one thing, but this has suddenly escalated into the production team being suspected of kidnapping government officials, which has really taken a serious turn for the worse!
Director Zhang truly never expected that what was originally a good thing would turn into such a terrible incident.
Since Gu Zhiyuan's analysis made sense, the police officer from the nearby police station nodded repeatedly, took a deep breath to steady his swaying body, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Take the men and prepare to go to the Yanchi Brigade—"
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