Cao Yang's eyes narrowed: "You... what do you mean by that?"
"Slap—" Another slap landed on her face. Xu Ningyan sneered, "What I mean is, your story is well-made, but unfortunately it's full of loopholes!"
Cao Yang pretended to be naive: "Comrade Xu, I'm telling the truth, woof—"
He never had the chance to say the rest of his words; he writhed and crawled on the ground like a maggot.
Xu Ningyan walked between Luo Hanlian and another sober man, scratching her head in distress: "So, who's next to speak?"
Luo Hanlian and the man both changed their expressions.
Xu Ningyan stood between the two men, deliberating for a while before finally pointing at the man: "Alright, you're the one!"
The man was still throbbing slightly down there. Seeing Xu Ningyan approach, fear filled his eyes, and he stammered, "I...I don't know anything! I just...I just came to help, really! I don't know anything, ah—"
Upon seeing Xu Ningyan raise her foot, he immediately changed his tune, tears streaming down his face, "I know, I know, I'll tell you—"
In this man's account, the earlier part about Luojiazhai, the predecessor of Yanchi Brigade, and the Luo family was pretty much the same as what Cao Yang had said.
However, there are different opinions on how to deal with Xu Ningyan.
According to this man, their plan was to bring Xu Ningyan to this cave and keep her under guard, and then have Cao Yang go down the mountain to report the news the next morning.
The two were supposed to be on an inspection trip, but halfway there Xu Ningyan asked about the situation of several brigades under the commune. Cao Yang mentioned Yanchi Brigade, and Xu Ningyan felt sorry for him and wanted to go and take a look.
Cao Yang tried to stop him but failed.
Cao Yang had originally planned to take Xu Ningyan for a walk around the area near the brigade, but Xu Ningyan insisted on going up the mountain for an on-site investigation. Cao Yang couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he had to take her up the mountain via a side path. As a result, they encountered wild animals on the way and the two got separated.
Cao Yang searched for Xu Ningyan in the mountains for half a day, then hid in a tree all night before coming down the mountain at dawn.
After descending the mountain, they confused the direction of the government rescue efforts and led the search elsewhere.
When someone goes missing deep in the mountains, they are usually searched for two or three days. If they can't be found, everyone assumes that they either fell into a valley or were carried off by wild animals, and the matter is dropped.
At most, Cao Yang will receive a disciplinary action or a verbal warning.
As for Xu Ningyan, she will be locked in the cave for a month before the other members of the Yanchi Brigade find her and rescue her.
Using the life-saving grace as an excuse, Xu Ningyan was persuaded to work for the Yanchi Brigade to restore their qualification to sell medicinal herbs.
Hearing this, Cao Yang, who was standing nearby, became furious: "Shut up! Why did you say everything?"
Luo Hanlian also said angrily, "Er Gouzi, you spineless coward! You just blurted everything out because someone scared you—"
The man called Er Gouzi shrank back guiltily and muttered, "You guys are so tough! You all have families and descendants, but I haven't even had a son yet. What if this little miss kicks and breaks my precious heir, ending the family line? Who will compensate me then?"
Cao Yang and Luo Hanlian remained silent.
Looking dejectedly at Xu Ningyan, Luo Hanlian finally said after a long while, "Since you already know, you can do whatever you want with me! If I, Luo Hanlian, beg for mercy, I'll be your grandson!"
Xu Ningyan smiled slightly: "Grandson, you're being too polite. Whether you beg for mercy or not, your grandmother can't dislike you!"
Luo Hanlian: ...
Xu Ningyan left those words behind, picked up a few stones, and stuffed them into the mouths of Luo Hanlian, Cao Yang, and Er Gouzi.
Then they kicked one of the remaining two people awake.
Using the same footwork he had used to interrogate Cao Yang and the others, he skillfully extracted another confession.
The two men's accounts of Luo Family Village were almost identical, and their explanations of why Xu Ningyan was kidnapped sounded similar to Er Gouzi's, with only minor differences.
After listening, Xu Ningyan thought for a moment and then dragged Luo Hanlian over: "Let's play a quick question and answer game! The rules are: I'll ask you a question, and you have to answer within three seconds. If you're even one second late, your little brother will get kicked! If your answer is inconsistent, you'll get kicked too, okay?"
Luo Hanlian wanted to say no, but Xu Ningyan didn't give her the right to say no at all.
The first thing he asked was, "What's your name?"
Luo Hanlian couldn't care less about objecting; she reflexively replied, "Luo Hanlian!"
Xu Ningyan's next questions were very tricky, repeatedly jumping around the answers given by Cao Yang, Er Gouzi, and the other two men, asking Luo Hanlian questions in turn.
Luo Hanlian was extremely nervous, afraid of mishearing a single word or giving a wrong answer.
Despite the freezing weather, beads of sweat rolled down my forehead.
If she answered a question incorrectly, Xu Ningyan would kick her without any expression.
Luo Hanlian was drenched in cold sweat, her clothes completely soaked. The way the people next to her looked at Xu Ningyan changed from being full of anger to being full of fear.
No one expected Xu Ningyan to be so ruthless, showing no intention of letting them off the hook.
After finally finishing asking questions, Xu Ningyan took out a water bottle from her bag, took a sip of water, and said, "Alright, let's ask someone else!"
Luo Hanlian collapsed, completely exhausted.
The others immediately tensed up.
Xu Ningyan spoke up: "Luo Hanqin!"
Luo Hanlian subconsciously agreed.
Silence reigned in the cave.
The faces of the several grown men changed.
Xu Ningyan laughed: "Luo Hanqin, since you are Luo Hanqin, that proves that everything you said before was a lie! You thought you could fool us, right?"
Luo Hanqin and Cao Yang remained silent.
Xu Ningyan didn't mind and stretched her arms and legs: "Since that's the case, shall we do it again?"
As he spoke, he walked towards Er Gouzi.
Er Gouzi's mental defenses were completely shattered. Family, who understands the pain in your testicles? It's not just a one-time pain, but a recurring, agonizing pain!
The pain was one thing, but he was worried that if his testicles broke, he would truly be unable to have children!
The grown man burst into tears on the spot: "I told you, I told you, please stop kicking me! If you keep kicking me, my balls will be crushed! I'm really going to be childless! Waaah..."
Cao Yang, who was standing to the side, opened his mouth to say something, but Xu Ningyan gave him a look and said, "Looks like you want to go first?"
Cao Yang swallowed hard: "No, no need, he should speak first, he should speak first—"
Er Gouzi sobbed as he confessed everything.
The events at Luo Family Village are all true, but Luo Hanlian and Luo Hanqin didn't tell the truth here.
Luo Hanqin did indeed hide in the deep mountains and forests, but he knew how to process medicinal herbs and was not afraid of poisonous snakes and insects, so he planned to come out when things calmed down.
Luo Hanlian was his younger brother. When he went into the mountains to look for him, he accidentally fell off a cliff and died.
So he simply assumed the identity of Luo Hanlian. Anyway, the two brothers looked alike, and no one in the village would go around talking about it.
He took Luo Hanlian's identity and had been trying to overturn the case and restore the Yanchi Brigade's qualifications.
I tried many methods and spent a lot of money, but no one dared to agree to help.
Until the year before last, someone suddenly contacted Cao Yang through his mother, Luo Jinman, saying they could point him in the right direction.
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