"Xiao Chu, you're back."
Wang Ziwen shook her head, stood up, took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, and handed one to her brother-in-law.
"The commotion over there has reached here. The neighbors were all running out to discuss it, wondering what happened and why they said they killed all three families in that row."
Li Chu said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "Who spread this rumor? It's just the Fu family of six; the families of the two neighboring families aren't here."
"I knew it! How could it be so exaggerated?" Wang Ziwen struck a match, lit it for his brother-in-law first, and then lit it for himself.
slkslk.
"Jiadong's busy?"
"Of course, it's an entire family wiped out. He probably won't have time to come back until this case is solved. A few leaders from the municipal bureau just came over, and the leaders from the brigade also came over."
"Sigh, these people are all crazy. They kill people at the drop of a hat, even wiping out entire families."
From the 1980s to the late 1990s, for more than a decade, society was indeed not very peaceful due to the impact of the early opening up.
The opening of the country allowed people to see more of the dazzling lights and bustling nightlife outside, and dance halls, which sprang up all over the country, flourished during this period.
This has also impacted many people's views, and it seems that overnight everyone has become focused on money.
The standard for measuring a person's success has become whether or not they can make money.
It is precisely because of this shift in mindset that many people have begun to take risks.
How to make money quickly? It's definitely about doing business with no initial investment!
Even if you work diligently in the factory and are a model worker every year, how much money can you earn?
It was during these past ten years or so that many sensational criminal cases broke out across the country.
Most importantly, due to the backwardness of criminal investigation technology, many cases take many years to solve.
Cases like the armed robbery by five old men in Northeast China weren't solved until 1999.
Five old men, starting from 1984 or 1985, committed more than forty crimes and killed more than twenty people. If they hadn't been caught in the end, they probably wouldn't have lived much longer.
"I guess they're all just after money. The Fu family is quite wealthy," Li Chu said, plopping down on the steps in front of his sister's house and taking a drag of his cigarette.
"Yes, you're right. When they donated that year, everyone knew they must have kept some, but it was just to make it look good on the surface and set an example, that was enough."
Sure enough, as soon as the market opened up, the Lou family responded to the call by contracting out canteens and opening restaurants. Now, their two restaurants are doing better than those state-owned ones.
Everyone knows he's rich, but he deserves it.
Actually, there have been people who have tried to take advantage of their family in the past two years. However, because of the goodwill they showed when they donated incense back then, many people who benefited from it will inadvertently lend a helping hand.
Otherwise, their family would have been eaten to the bone long ago.
"By the way, Xiao Chu, what's wrong with you lately? I've noticed you seem a bit down."
"Suddenly I lost interest in going to work. I go to the clinic for a while every morning and spend the afternoon at home with my child. I think this is pretty good."
Wang Ziwen gave his brother-in-law a deep look; there must be something going on, but he didn't ask.
The level my brother-in-law is at now is something he can't reach even if he works for another ten years, let alone retire.
"Won't this have any impact on you?"
"Don't worry, brother-in-law, it won't have any impact. I won't shirk my work, and I've already reported it to my superiors."
"That's fine. I can't help you much right now, as long as everyone in our family is safe and sound."
"How can I not be of help? Brother-in-law, weren't you just helping me?"
Li Chu stubbed out his cigarette and gestured with his chin towards his home.
Why isn't Wang Ziwen sleeping in the middle of the night? He just said there was a lot of noise outside, so he came out too.
Take that with a grain of salt. The reason he'd rather doze off on the steps in front of his house than go back to bed is because he's worried about his younger siblings next door.
Although Wenhui is there too, how big is the difference between two women and one woman? If there's a real problem, trouble will still happen.
That's why he stayed up late at night and sat by the door.
"What kind of help am I? I'm just guarding the door." Wang Ziwen shook her head with a smile: "I'm getting old, time waits for no one."
My brother-in-law has indeed aged, and so has my sister; her hair is gray, and she walks with a slight hunchback.
The medicine Li Chu provided could only improve their health and reduce their ailments, but he didn't have the ability to stop aging.
As for himself, this is a result of the system modification, which is why he looks like he's in his thirties even though he's in his early fifties.
Ding Qiunan can always look like she's in her twenties or thirties because of the nurturing he's provided for her over the past twenty years.
"Brother-in-law, I don't know about your mindset, but I know your health very well. Don't worry, our family members all live to be a hundred years old."
"Hehe, it doesn't matter whether I live to be a hundred or not, as long as I can live to see Hao Hao get married and have children."
"Alright, that's enough. You should go back and rest too; you have work to do tomorrow." Wang Ziwen waved her hand with a smile.
"Brother-in-law, you should go back and rest too." Li Chu stood up and patted the dirt behind him twice.
"Yes, I can rest easy now that you're back."
Li Chu stood at the door and watched his brother-in-law go inside and close the door before he walked towards his own home.
As soon as he opened the door and went inside, the light in the west wing of the front yard came on, and Shen Yi walked out yawning as he opened the door.
"Dad, you're back."
"You didn't go back to your place?"
"No, I was worried about Mom and Huihui, so I decided to move to the front yard to keep an eye on them. Dad, is everything alright over there?"
"The rest is a matter for the police. Go to sleep now, Xiao Yi. We can talk about it tomorrow."
"Okay, Dad, you should get some rest too."
"Okay, I understand."
After Shen Yi went inside and turned off the lights, Li Chu quietly walked through the corridor to the central courtyard.
It was pitch black and he couldn't see very well, but by the moonlight he saw several dogs run up to him.
He knelt down and patted each dog's head before returning to the front yard.
With these dogs at home, he wasn't actually worried about the safety of his house.
If you really encounter a situation that even several dogs can't solve, then even if he's there, he's just a freeloader.
As if sensing something bad had happened that night, Xiao Hei didn't sleep under the eaves at the main house entrance. Instead, it followed its owner to the front yard and lay down under the eaves near the gate.
Li Chu stood at the pharmacy entrance and was stunned by what he saw. Suddenly, he didn't want to look at that piece of land in Mentougou anymore.
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