Du Jianshan sneered: "You're not a bad guy? Where did you get the No. 3 animal trap? Did you make it yourself or buy it? Did you trap a muntjac or one of our company's hunting dogs?"
"No, no..." the man cried out, "I didn't trap the dog, I really didn't! I just wanted to hunt some wild rabbits and badgers to exchange for some money, I..."
"Enough!" Chen Jianshan waved his hand and shouted, "Stop making up lies after you've made a mistake! Do you think we soldiers can't tell the truth from your words? Every part of your outfit was carefully prepared, and you're even carrying a knife!"
Wang Tieniu kicked the man in the butt: "That sounds nice, but what kind of good person sneaks into the military dependents' forest in the middle of the night carrying a sharp knife?"
"I really have no other choice..." The man slumped to the ground, tears welling in his eyes. "My mother has been coughing up blood for over a year, and the county hospital won't even let her in the door. They say she needs a deposit for hospitalization, but I can't come up with eighty yuan... I..."
"Shut up!" Du Jianshan shouted, turning to look at Chen Jianshan. "Company Commander Chen, how often have you heard this kind of talk?"
“Too many,” Chen Jianshan said expressionlessly. “There are mothers coughing up blood, children with rotten lungs, and wives suffering from difficult childbirth… But this is no excuse for poaching or trespassing. We are the Production and Construction Corps, not a charity!”
As he spoke, he took out his pistol from behind his back and said in a deep voice, "Tie Niu, Jian Shan, you two have been a great help today. But this man needs to be detained tonight. I'll take him back to the company barracks, and you two can go back to the camp to rest. Tomorrow morning, we'll escort him to the Corps' duty team together."
Du Jianshan nodded: "I'll keep this bag of evidence." He carefully wrapped the oil paper package, the grain coupons, and the half-rusty dagger, and put them into a clean cloth bag.
"When we register tomorrow, I'll write a statement, and you just need to sign it, Company Commander Chen."
“Okay.” Chen Jianshan said decisively, “We have to follow the procedures. The Corps is very strict now, and we can’t afford to make any mistakes.”
"By the way, did you ask for this person's name?" Wang Tieniu asked.
“I asked.” Du Jianshan took out a crumpled household registration paper from his sleeve, opened it, and said, “Zhao Guangming, from Nanping County, thirty-six years old, was originally a railway loader, but was laid off due to illness.”
Wang Tieniu frowned: "Why did the railway loading and unloading crew come to this corner of the country?"
Du Jianshan sneered: "They might really be short of money, or they might be human traffickers or smugglers. Let's not speculate for now, take them back for questioning, and then let the higher-ups decide."
"Sigh." Wang Tieniu sighed, "Is his mother really coughing up blood, or is she lying to deceive me? I'm a little confused."
“I didn’t lie…” Zhao Guangming murmured, “How could I dare to lie to you…”
"You better not lie." Chen Jianshan walked over, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and dragged him while cursing, "I'm giving you a way out because you haven't committed murder yet. If you really cause any more trouble, don't blame me for shooting you on the spot!"
Watching the two figures leave, Wang Tieniu turned to Du Jianshan and asked, "With this incident, do we have to have a meeting tomorrow?"
“Definitely,” Du Jianshan said in a low voice. “This isn’t the first time someone has sneaked into the woods. I found some freshly buried ashes by the roadside before, which looked like barbecue marks. It’s probably a poaching den.”
"You knew all along?"
"I have my suspicions. If we really knew, we would have arrested them already." Du Jianshan looked at the dark forest. "There might be someone else behind them. We need to investigate further."
As the two walked back to the camp, the sky was already beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn. Du Jianshan suddenly stopped and said, "Tie Niu, you go to sleep first. I'll go to Dongpo again."
"What?" Wang Tieniu asked in surprise. "Didn't you say you were going back to camp?"
“I’m not at ease. Zhao Guangming’s household registration paper… the paper is new, but the handwriting on it is very old, like it was copied, not officially stamped.” Du Jianshan frowned. “I want to see if he’s acting alone.”
"I'll go with you!"
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