The man chuckled, scratched his head, and remained silent.
They soon arrived at the Yanchi Brigade. There were patrols near the mountain, and when they saw people coming down from the mountain, they immediately split into two groups.
They came to meet Gu Zhiyuan and his group, and then went to the brigade to deliver the message.
Director Zhang, Li Jianguo, the militia captain, and several commune leaders and clerks also stayed up all night. It wasn't until dawn that they learned from the people who had searched down from the mountain that Gu Zhiyuan and his men had found Xu Ningyan.
They were told to come down into a cave first, and then they would lead the people down the mountain when it got light.
The militia captain opened his mouth as if to say something, but Director Zhang gave him a look, and after thinking for a moment, he stepped aside.
Everyone was exhausted and hungry after the night, and now that they had come back down the mountain, they didn't care about anything else. They sat down on the ground in the brigade headquarters of Yanchi Brigade and became so sleepy that they slumped over.
Fortunately, there was Li Jianguo. He had already discussed it with Gu Zhiyuan. Gu Zhiyuan would go up the mountain to find people, while he would stay behind to provide logistical support.
The driver secretly took the money and went to the neighboring Wangqiao brigade to buy some mixed noodles, a few cabbages, and some old ginger.
They even borrowed two pots from Wangqiao Brigade, paying them 50 cents a day for each pot they used.
The firewood was already on, ginger soup was simmering in one pot, and water was boiling in another. When the people came back, they started adding dough balls to make dough ball soup.
On a cold day, a bowl of noodle soup not only fills you up but also warms you up from head to toe.
Seeing that everyone had returned, Li Jianguo invited each of them to drink a bowl of ginger soup first, so as not to catch a cold.
After drinking the ginger soup, each person received a bowl of noodle soup with chopped cabbage leaves.
The conditions were rudimentary; only salt was added, not even oil.
But everyone was already quite satisfied.
Even Director Zhang and his colleagues couldn't resist having a bowl.
After eating and drinking their fill, the militia captain did not dare to let his guard down. He arranged for people to take turns on duty, firstly to prevent the people from the Yanchi Brigade from leaving, and secondly to wait at the foot of the mountain for Gu Zhiyuan and his group to come down.
When they finally saw people, everyone got excited.
Upon receiving the news, Director Zhang and his team rushed down the mountain. As soon as they arrived, they ran into Gu Zhiyuan and his group.
The first thing Director Zhang saw was several people who were tied up, one of whom was Cao Yang.
Li Jianguo followed behind, and the first people he saw were Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan, who were lagging behind.
Seeing that Xu Ningyan was safe and sound, Li Jianguo finally felt relieved after a night of worry.
Director Zhang wanted to ask something, but after looking around, he saw that the militia members were nearby, and the Yanchi Brigade members were peeking out from the trees and behind the doors in the distance.
After the incident yesterday, none of their team members were allowed to set off.
The captain and secretary of the Yanchi Brigade, who were following behind them, turned pale when they saw Luo Hanlian and the others tied up, and they didn't dare to breathe.
Director Zhang knew this wasn't the place to talk, and he couldn't even stay long.
He immediately gave the order: "Now that the person has been found, let's go back to the commune first!"
At his command, the five burly men first loaded the five tightly bound rice dumplings onto the vehicle, then whispered something in Gu Zhiyuan's ear.
Gu Zhiyuan frowned, helped Xu Ningyan into the car and sat down, then turned and walked to Director Zhang's side, whispering a few words to him.
Director Zhang's expression changed. He looked up and glanced around, then saw the brigade leader and the party secretary of Yanchi Brigade hiding to the side. He beckoned them to come over before asking, "Does Luo Hanlian have a distant niece who has come to seek refuge?"
At this moment, the Party Secretary of Yanchi Brigade dared not hide anything and hurriedly replied, "Yes, I just came here not long ago and am still staying at Luo Hanlian's house."
"You lead the way, and you bring a few men with you to bring that niece over!" Director Zhang waved his hand, and immediately the militia captain pointed out three or four people to stand up.
The Party Secretary of Yanchi Brigade dared not ask too many questions, probably guessing that he was implicated by Luo Hanlian.
Hurry up and take the militia to arrest them.
Gu Zhiyuan gave him a look, and one of the five burly men immediately followed behind.
Not long after, the militiamen brought over a young woman, and the group looked rather disheveled.
The militia captain had a bad temper and a bruise on his face. He cursed and said, "Let me tell you, if you weren't a woman, I would have given you a good beating!"
Walking up to Director Zhang, he complained angrily, "We had just knocked on the door when we heard noises behind us. Luckily, we left two people outside, and with this comrade's help, otherwise they might have gotten away!"
Xu Ningyan saw that he had caught the girl who was going to be his substitute, and curiously leaned out of the car window.
Just then, the stand-in was still unconvinced and looked up when he heard this, which Xu Ningyan saw right in front of him.
Indeed, she does look somewhat similar to me, especially her nose and profile.
Director Zhang glanced at the man, signaled him to tie him up, and then threw him into the carriage.
While others didn't notice, Xu Ningyan did. The man who had gone with the militia hadn't returned. It wasn't until everyone was fully prepared to leave that Xu Ningyan saw in the rearview mirror that the man had an extra bag in his hand and was following behind.
On the way back to the commune, Director Zhang showed concern for Xu Ningyan, asking if she was injured anywhere, and said that the murderer must be severely punished and that Xu Ningyan would be given an explanation.
After thanking Director Zhang, Xu Ningyan looked exhausted.
Director Zhang wasn't oblivious to people's feelings, so he naturally signaled for Xu Ningyan to rest.
She turned to ask Gu Zhiyuan what had happened. Besides those five people, were there other people involved? And a woman at that?
Director Zhang, being a veteran revolutionary, quickly realized something was amiss. Considering the current domestic situation, he immediately suspected enemy spies.
He was in a real bind. What should have been a good thing—an ordinary inspection trip—had taken a series of unexpected turns. First, the inspectors went missing, then it turned into a premeditated kidnapping by the Yanchi Brigade, and now that they had been caught, they were linked to enemy agents.
If he weren't a staunch materialist, he would have gone to burn incense and pray to see if he was just having a run of bad luck.
Gu Zhiyuan shook his head at Director Zhang and gave him a wink.
Director Zhang immediately understood that if he really had connections with enemy agents, the people around him might not be trustworthy, so he immediately shut up and stopped asking questions.
Everyone remained silent all the way to the commune. As soon as they got off the bus, they dragged the six suspects into the interrogation room.
Xu Ningyan was taken directly to the commune health center for examination, even though she felt that she was fine and did not need to be examined.
Gu Zhiyuan had other considerations and insisted that she get checked before he would feel at ease.
Upon entering the health center and seeing such a large setup, coupled with the supervision of the commune leaders, the staff of the health center dared not slack off.
Xu Ningyan underwent all possible tests, and the final conclusion was that apart from being a little weak and anemic, there was nothing wrong with her.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; it was great that the person was alright!
"Nothing happened at all?" After his initial excitement, Director Zhang came to his senses and looked at Xu Ningyan suspiciously.
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