Throughout the second half of the night, all members of the Li family, except for a few children who could not yet speak or walk, were tied up and taken to the village granary and the abandoned canteen.
Shen An Ning woke up at dawn, with something on his mind, and he didn't know what was going on outside. When he was fast asleep, he heard a few dogs barking, and he didn't know if they were the village dogs or military dogs.
As soon as Shen Anning got dressed and went out, she saw a man in army green uniform standing outside the courtyard wall. She had seen him in white police uniform so many times that she was stunned when she saw him in military uniform.
"What's wrong? I haven't seen you for a few days. Don't you recognize me?"
Knowing that he was not serious, Shen Anning rolled her eyes at him and said, "How is it outside? I heard a few dogs barking at night. Is anything wrong?"
Cao Jingheng didn't say anything. He dragged the person to the back of the house and buried his head in Shen Anning's arms. "Let me lean on you for a while. I've been working all night and I'm tired."
Seeing him like that, Shen An Ning knew clearly that he was pretending, but still raised his hand and rubbed his head, "Let me massage you, did you go to the mountain, are you hurt?"
"There's no injury. Feel it and check it out."
"Stop being so naive, what's going on?"
Hearing her question, Cao Jingheng stood up straight and said seriously, "Many members of the Li family were bandits who used to run rampant in southern Sichuan. When they were busy, they farmed, and when they were free, they engaged in robbery."
"Then why did they settle here? Is there something on the mountain?"
"It was purely coincidental that they settled here. They were indeed planning to flee famine, but before they did, they stole the belongings of several wealthy families and the relief grain sent by the government to the disaster area."
Shen An Ning's breathing stagnated. Relief food, these people from the Li family were so audacious that they actually intercepted the government's relief food. You have to know how many people were waiting for a bowl of rice to survive at that time. They were cutting off the victims' way of life!
"The food must have been eaten up. Are the things hidden in the mountains the property of the wealthy families they robbed?"
"Well, there were two or three hundred members of the Li family who fled the famine, and they had weapons in their hands. In a particularly secret cave on the mountain, there were seven or eight boxes of gold and silver jewelry hidden. There were also some items that must have been obtained from somewhere during the chaos a few years ago."
After staying with Cao Jingheng for a while and asking some questions, Shen Anning did not return to Zhao Dayou's house, but went directly to the educated youth site.
The educated youths had just gotten up and were shocked to see Shen Anning push the door openly. Xie Yue ran over and closed the door, "Anning, you..."
"Xiao Yue, it's over. All the evildoers in the Li family have been arrested. The army came last night and arrested them all. No one was spared. From now on, the door here can be opened..."
Before Shen An Ning finished speaking, several educated youths hugged each other and started crying, especially the girls, who hugged each other and cried until they were convulsing. Shen An Ning looked at them and didn't say anything to comfort them. They had been suppressed for too long, and it was better to cry than to hold it in.
It wasn't until Fang Yuan came to find Shen An Ning that everyone's emotions slowly calmed down.
"Little Sister, was the operation smooth last night?"
"I was wondering, I just woke up and I felt something was different about the village. It's already this late, so logically there should be people working in the fields on the road. Uncle Zhao was just saying that the village loudspeaker wasn't on today."
As soon as Fang Yuan finished speaking, a crackling sound came from the village loudspeaker.
"Good morning, fellow villagers! I am Wang Changchuan, the head of the county armed forces department. Please gather at the threshing ground immediately after hearing the announcement. I repeat, please gather at the threshing ground immediately after hearing the announcement."
The Zhao family in the village were puzzled. Why was the county's armed forces chief here so early in the morning? On the way to the threshing ground, everyone felt even more uneasy. How could anyone from the village surnamed Li be gone? Village chief Li Dazhu had been a decent guy, but he'd dealt with the county's visitors for the previous ten years. Now that he was gone, the Zhao family had almost thought about their own affairs after their death.
In fact, everyone made quite a lot of noise when they arrested people last night, but it was because the Li family was so close-knit. They built their house and were surrounded by their own people. The Zhao family was some distance away from them, so they didn't hear anything.
Shen Anning and Fang Yuan followed the main force to the threshing ground, and saw a scene where soldiers with guns surrounded the barn and the canteen.
Zhao's brother and sister Xiaofeng and Xiaowei looked at Shen Anning coming over and ran to them.
"Don't be afraid, Xiaofeng. These are PLA soldiers. They are here to catch the bad guys."
Wang Changchuan saw that most people had arrived and stood on a rock holding a loud speaker. "Fellow villagers, don't be nervous. We've gathered everyone here today to firstly understand some of the situation and secondly to tell you about the crimes committed by the gang in the village, led by Li Dazhu."
The people who were caught last night were interrogated overnight. What about not beating people and winning people over with virtue? In Wang Changchuan's opinion, it was all bullshit. So many lives were lost. It would be too easy to give them a chance to atone for their sins instead of just killing them directly. Therefore, the people he sent to interrogate were the troublemakers with bad tempers in the team.
"My fellow villagers, I want to tell you that Li Dazhu, who has been the village chief for over a decade, originally came from a bandit village in southern Sichuan. All the Li families in Liujiawan, like Li Dazhu and his family, are from the same village. For so many years, they have oppressed the vulnerable groups and abused old comrades who were sent down to the cowshed, causing their deaths. They have also persecuted educated youth and forced female educated youth to marry, resulting in the deaths of four educated youth who came to our village. They have also secretly replaced the educated youth's university places and even sold Li Lei, an educated youth, to an illegal kiln factory. They are involved in human trafficking and have done all kinds of evil things. They have no conscience at all!"
When Wang Changchuan said this, the faces of the Zhao family members standing below became even more frightened. Aren't they the targets of bullying by the Li family? They usually work in the fields and do the dirty and tiring work. During the New Year, the pork and lean pork ribs and leftovers are also theirs. Over the years, with all these things happening, they still thought Li Dazhu was too kind.
"Okay, everyone, be quiet!"
"The crimes of Li Dazhu and others must await judgment from above. I implore everyone present to bravely stand up. The Li family has fallen and can no longer bully you. If any of you have evidence of the Li family's wrongdoings, please speak up."
When Zhao Dayou heard that the Li family had collapsed, he could no longer hold back his tears. The emotions that this man in his thirties had suppressed for years finally erupted. "Chief, Li Dazhu is a terrible person. When they settled in our village, the disaster hadn't even ended yet. They embezzled half of the relief grain given to us by the county, and only distributed the rest to us. Several of my uncles in the Zhao family starved to death!"
Before Zhao Dayou finished speaking, the Zhao family members below burst into tears. They were all from the same village, so how could they not know the bad things done by the Li family? But they were numerous and powerful, and they even threatened their own children, so when the educated youth were bullied, they could only pretend not to see it. They felt guilty!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
