Qian Laoyuan was pinned against the wall by the neck by Rong Zhaonan, the pain so intense it felt like his bones were about to crack, causing him to struggle desperately—
"I don't know you... I don't know what you're talking about, who are you! Help! Help!!"
Rong Zhaonan curled his lips coldly: "Qian Laoyuan, it doesn't matter if you don't know me, you just need to remember the girl who broke your nose! You need to remember—you and your three childhood hunter friends disappeared after that night, but someone never gave up on the hunt!"
His eyes were bloodshot: "Ten years, that's really not easy. Shall we go back and talk?"
Qian Laoyuan had been on the run for so many years, but I never gave up on finding him!
Just then, a blind old woman carrying a stick slowly groped her way out of the house, looking around and calling out, "Yuan'er, Yuan'er, what's wrong? What happened?"
Qian Laoyuan froze instantly, suddenly daring not to shout anymore, and said with difficulty, "Mom, the people from the commune want to talk to me about something, I won't be back for the next few days."
The blind old woman was stunned. After a long while, she suddenly sighed, plopped down on the ground, and began to weep.
“Yuan’er, you left for ten years, even sending me and the child to your cousin’s house. I knew you had done something wrong. I knew this day would come sooner or later when you came back to me!”
As she spoke, the blind old woman began to grope herself all over: "Comrades... officers, what has my Yuan'er done?"
The blind old woman began to kowtow: "He sent money to me and my grandson every year. Was this money stolen? We'll return it, we'll return it all... Please spare his life. Ten years ago, his wife died, and he did something stupid to support his child..."
Watching his mother kneel on the ground taking out money, randomly kowtowing in all directions while muttering to herself.
Qian Laoyuan's eyes also reddened: "Mother..."
Rong Zhaonan suddenly spoke up: "Chen Chen, go and help Grandma up."
Chen Chen immediately went up to help the blind old woman up and put all the loose change she had taken out back into her hand.
Rong Zhaonan said, "Mr. Qian was involved in a major case from many years ago. We need him to go back and cooperate with the investigation. Only by confessing can we have a chance to be treated leniently."
The blind old woman, trembling and shedding tears, excitedly spoke towards her son and Rong Zhaonan—
"Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely. Yuan'er, tell the truth, tell the truth! Cooperate with the police officers! That way, you can go home sooner. Mom and the dog are waiting for you at home!"
Seeing his mother's expression, Qian Laoyuan felt as if he were being roasted over a fire. His eyes reddened as he lowered his head and said, "Yes... Mom... I understand..."
Rong Zhaonan glanced at Chen Chen, signaling him to help the blind old woman back into the house, while he carried Qian Laoyuan outside.
Qian Laoyuan glanced back at his elderly mother and suddenly whispered, "Thank you, comrade..."
In the end, he was dragged out of the house, dejected.
Plainclothes officers were already waiting for them outside. As soon as they came out, someone took over Qian Laoyuan and put him in a police car.
Chen Chen got out and excitedly got into the driver's seat: "We finally caught Qian Laoyuan! He was really good at hiding. And those guys who were with him that night, they'll probably be caught soon too!"
Brother Nan has been keeping an eye on this for many years!
As soon as he got into the car, he noticed that Rong Zhaonan was leaning against the passenger seat, his eyes closed with a cold expression, and his shoulders looked tired.
Although Chen Chen was a bit of a simpleton, he understood that his captain had seen Qian Laoyuan's mother and was reminded of his own mother.
Chen Chen thought for a moment, then stepped on the gas and drove the car out of the village.
Their surveillance and ambush here are relatively quiet, but when they arrest and take people away, it causes a huge commotion.
The people in the town all came out to see.
A group of people fishing on the mountain by the reservoir not far away could also see the hustle and bustle of the town in the distance.
"What's going on? It looks like they're arresting someone?" Ning Yuan asked curiously.
"Hey hey hey!! The fish's taken the bait, pull it up!" Ou Minglang shouted as soon as he saw the float move.
Ning Yuan was startled and quickly turned back to pull the fishing rod!
"Look at the size of this fish! It must weigh seven or eight pounds! Let's help!" Several young people excitedly chimed in.
Ou Minglang rushed over to help Ning Yuan pull the fishing rod.
Sure enough, a big silver carp was pulled out of the water in an instant!
Several people were overjoyed, gathered around the big fish, and busied themselves getting nets and taking pictures.
There were also a few elderly men and women fishing nearby, looking at the group of young people with a hint of indulgence in their smiles.
These kids all look clean, neat, and happy; it's a pleasant sight to see them.
Ning Yuan looked at the jumping fish with a sense of感慨, then glanced at the small shrimp swimming in the bucket, and her gaze drifted to the large fields nearby: "It's such a pity, there are too many fields here."
An old woman nearby asked curiously, "Young girl, it's a pity you have so much land? This year is going to be a bumper harvest; without land, people will go hungry!"
Ning Yuan hesitated for a moment, but still said, "When I was at Fudan University, I hosted many foreign experts. They said that there shouldn't be farmland or factories, or even villages, near the reservoir."
"Otherwise, it will seriously pollute the reservoir. Drinking this water will make people sick, increase the burden on the medical system, and trigger a series of economic problems."
The Tingguan Reservoir, where they fished and shrimped, was once a major water source for the capital.
However, by the late 1980s, the area had become severely polluted due to farming activities and factory emissions.
By the late 1990s, it had been completely withdrawn from Beijing's drinking water system.
The old woman exchanged a surprised glance with the old man beside her upon hearing this.
“We’ve seen similar statements in Soviet materials. I didn’t expect this little girl to know so much.”
Ning Yuan took the bait that Aheng handed her and nodded: "It's already a world miracle that we can feed over a billion people."
She cast the fishing hook back into the reservoir: "If we can make advance plans for environmental protection when developing in the future, we can save a lot of medical investment and trouble caused by pollution control in the future, and we can also better integrate into the international community."
She was just saying it casually, but she didn't expect that several elderly people nearby would actually take it to heart.
The elderly people exchanged thoughtful glances, their gazes towards her becoming increasingly kind and gentle.
The elderly people chatted happily with Ning Yuan, exchanging a few words here and there, and surprisingly... there was no generation gap at all.
Ning Yuan inexplicably felt that her mindset had become—kind and compassionate again.
She really is an old lady pretending to be young!
As the sun set, someone came over to help the elderly people pack their things and then helped them down the mountain, chatting and laughing.
A secretary-like person handed Ning Yuan a bag full of shrimp: "These are a gift from some elderly people, young lady. We heard you like to eat shrimp."
Ning Yuan couldn't refuse, so she politely returned a large fish she had caught herself, and waved to the elderly people who were walking away.
Ou Minglang leaned closer curiously and quietly asked, "Do you know these elderly people?"
Ning Yuan shook her head: "I don't know him. We just chatted casually for a bit while fishing next door. What, you know him?"
Ou Minglang looked at them and muttered, "I don't know them, but the teacups they're using look like they're from a retirement home."
Not all retired cadres live in large compounds; many others live in collective retirement homes or sanatoriums.
The group of young people didn't think much of it, and happily went to Ou Minglang's maternal grandfather's house to cook after cleaning up today's catch.
Ah Heng glanced at the small town not far down the mountain.
Judging from the timing, it's highly likely that the commotion was caused by our team leader setting up a checkpoint to arrest people in the afternoon.
I don't know if it will go smoothly.
...
In one of the interrogation rooms, eight large red characters were written on the back: "Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely."
However, the atmosphere was not tense; in fact, it was somewhat subdued.
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