When Wang Peng arrived at Wang Village, looking at the old house where he had lived for a lifetime in his previous life and for fifteen years in this life, he felt as if he had lived in another world.
Three dilapidated main rooms, two east rooms, two west rooms, as well as a cowshed, toilet, and kitchen.
There was no grass in the yard, so Wang Peng walked to the well and reached out to touch the well arm.
"I was hit in the face by a well pump when I was seven years old. I think I needed three stitches back then." Wang Peng reached out and touched the wound on his right cheek.
“You can’t touch it, but you can see it if you look closely.” Wang Song pointed to his face and said softly, “I even scolded you for being careless back then…”
He felt a pang of sympathy. A seven-year-old child had his face broken by a well, yet his parents scolded him for being careless. The child must have been in pain and heartbroken.
"How could I have uttered those words back then?" Wang Song felt another pang of sadness.
"In short, we're poor," Wang Peng said. "We have no money at home, and when I get injured and need medical expenses, we're worried about the cost."
Wang Song was taken aback, then gave a smile that looked more like a grimace, because it was indeed because he was poor.
He looked at the deserted courtyard and shook his head. "It used to feel like a home, but now it's broken."
“It’s not broken,” Wang Peng said. “As long as people are still alive, there is a home.”
Wang Song shook his head. "I'll stay. You go back yourself. I'd rather live here. I've lived here for decades and I'm used to it."
"That won't do, I'm not comfortable with that." Wang Peng shook his head. "What if someone gets seriously ill, and there's no one around to help?"
He took out a leather bag from under his arm. "There's 102,000 yuan in the bag. I don't need money right now. You can invest in your brothers or save it for retirement."
“Investment.” Wang Song hurriedly waved his hand. “I don’t need that much money. As long as I have food to eat and a place to sleep, that’s enough.”
Wang Peng nodded. Investing in Brothers Supermarket is like making money from money, which is better than keeping money in the bank.
Wang Song took out his key and opened the door. Wang Peng first looked at the main room, then at his own bedroom, and all sorts of memories flooded his mind.
After looking at it once, he said, "When I make money, I'll build a small villa here, and we'll go back to our hometown for holidays."
"Hey! That's a great idea." Wang Song gave a thumbs up. "This is our ancestral home. No matter when, repairing our ancestral home is always the right thing to do."
Next, Wang Peng drove to visit his uncle, giving him two cases of wine, two cases of biscuits, and two cartons of cigarettes.
After driving back to the provincial capital, at Wang Song's insistence, a house was rented in Wenxin Garden, and Wang Song moved in.
Just then, his phone rang, and Wang Peng answered it, holding it to his ear.
"This is Li Keyong, Xiaopeng. Go to Garden Road to see the spectacle at three o'clock this afternoon, haha." Li Keyong laughed on the phone.
Wang Peng thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Uncle, is it related to Zhang Jinzhu?"
“That’s right!” Li Keyong said. “He was taken back to the provincial capital yesterday and has confessed to the police that he was the one who set fire to the Brothers Supermarket.”
At this point, he gave a cold laugh, "This kid is incredibly stubborn and refuses to reveal the mastermind. Hmph, he won't last long."
Wang Peng nodded. As long as the evidence is right in front of them, keeping quiet won't help.
"Uncle, could you arrange for me to see him?"
“We’ll talk about that later. This afternoon at three o’clock, the police paraded him through the streets on Garden Road. Go and take a look first,” Li Keyong said.
"Okay." Wang Peng glanced at his watch; it was already 2 PM. He then hung up the phone.
It's the 1990s now, and parading people through the streets, public trials and arrests are commonplace. You can even watch death row inmates being executed up close.
When Wang Peng returned home, he learned that his wife was with Hu Qing, so he drove to find them.
Upon learning of Zhang Jinzhu's arrest, Li Mingzhu immediately became excited, "Great! That's wonderful! Let's go watch the parade!"
"Don't get excited," Wang Peng said with a smile. "Sister Qing, do you want to come along?"
Hu Qing nodded immediately and turned to go to the bedroom to change her clothes.
Although she had only been out of the hospital for a day, Wang Peng noticed that she was already in much better shape and her eyes were full of life.
"Honey, call Mom and Dad quickly, let's go see it together," Li Mingzhu said urgently.
At 3 p.m., traffic control began on Garden Road, and the streets were packed with people, with onlookers everywhere.
There were so many people that Li Mingzhu was surrounded by her father-in-law, mother-in-law, Du Lei, and others, who were worried that others might bump into her.
Wang Peng gently touched her protruding belly and said softly, "Would you like to go to the car?"
"No!" Li Mingzhu sneered. "I want to see with my own eyes what the bastard who set fire to our store looks like!"
"Don't be angry, honey," Wang Peng said with a smile. "What else could I look like? Just a nose and two eyes."
“Husband, when he is executed, let’s go to the execution ground to see him off,” Li Mingzhu said through gritted teeth.
Wang Peng was a little confused; it turned out that his wife hated Zhang Jinzhu to the core.
At this moment, a commotion broke out in the crowd, and Wang Peng's hand was grabbed by Hu Qing, who was standing next to him.
Following her gaze, I saw Wang Cheng standing across the street.
Hu Qing held Wang Peng's hand tightly. Wang Peng could feel her trembling and couldn't pull his hand away, nor could he comfort her in front of his wife.
The crowd rioted again, and sirens sounded in the distance. A police car slowly drove up, followed by a military truck.
Zhang Jinzhu stood on the train carriage, his body bound hand and foot, with a sign hanging on his chest that read "Major Arsonist of 915".
Behind him was a vehicle full of heavily armed military and police personnel, and further behind were more military and police trucks, the cargo compartments of which were also filled with prisoners.
These guys were tricked by Zhang Jinzhu; they were just brought out to make up the numbers for Zhang Jinzhu.
The convoy moved slowly, and Zhang Jinzhu kept his head down, allowing Wang Peng to see his face more clearly.
That's right, it was the same person who, on the morning of the arson incident, deliberately asked the female shop assistant how to use a condom, then slapped her, and was kicked by Wang Peng.
There was a lot of discussion in the crowd, and some people even started cursing.
"That damn bastard, why did you have to burn down Brother's Supermarket of all things?"
“That’s right. I’ve been on tenterhooks these days when I buy things, afraid of buying counterfeit goods. I never worried about counterfeit goods when I bought things from Brothers before.”
"This kind of bastard should be shot, damn it."
For a moment, all sorts of foul language and insults were hurled at Zhang Jinzhu. Wang Peng smiled slightly, and for the first time, he thought that even swear words sounded pleasant.
Amid a chorus of curses, the convoy slowly drove by, and staff began to disperse the crowd.
"Wang Peng," Wang Peng whispered, "How are you feeling? Are you feeling better now?"
"I feel better now." Li Mingzhu's expression softened slightly. "Honey, why don't you give Mengjiao a call? Otherwise, she'll call you again."
"Uh." Wang Peng blushed slightly. "No rush, let's get in the car first."
Li Mingzhu's family helped her into the car. She sat in the back seat, with Hu Qing sitting next to her.
Just as Wang Peng started up the computer, the phone rang. He answered and heard Li Mengjiao's voice, "Brother, Zhang Jinzhu has been arrested?"
"Okay," Wang Peng said. "We just finished watching the parade. I'm in the car. There are a lot of people on the street. I'll call you later."
“Li Mingzhu is in the car too, right? Your daughter wants to talk to you,” Li Mengjiao said.
Soon, his daughter's voice came through the phone, "Daddy, I miss you, Daddy..."
"Hey! I miss you too!" Wang Peng dropped the pretense and said with a smile, "I'll call you later, okay?"
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