After the director and Fan Zijian parted ways, An Moxue returned to the cabinet committee and stayed there all night before leaving at dawn.
Finding no further useful clues, An Moxue went directly to the state-run restaurant in town for breakfast, packed a few more portions, and then rode her bicycle home.
Around 8 a.m., An Moxue was catching up on sleep on the kang (a heated brick bed) when she heard a knocking sound at the door.
An Moxue put on her shoes and went outside. She saw Li Laitou.
When Li Laitou saw An Moxue come out, he hurriedly said, "An Zhiqing, we've found out about these seven people. Five of them are from the town, and two are from the countryside. They've all done a lot of beatings, smashing, and robbing, but they haven't killed anyone. The longest they've worked is over a year or two, and the shortest is only four months. Here, these are their names and home addresses." He handed An Moxue a piece of paper.
An Moxue took the paper, looked down, and saw seven names and addresses written crookedly on it.
After An Moxue finished reading, she continued, "An Zhiqing, that's all I found. I don't know if there's anything else. Should we investigate further?"
"No need for now. Please keep an eye on Wang Zhaodi when you get back. I suspect she's involved in this report. Just a heads up, think carefully about what she might have on you. Be careful she doesn't use it to threaten you one day."
"Well then, An Zhiqing, I'll head back now. Please feel free to ask me anything if you need anything."
"good."
...
The investigation of An Moxue by the Red Guards did not stop after An Moxue returned to the village; on the contrary, it seemed to be escalating. That's how rumors are; they don't stop just because the person involved returns. People only want to believe what they want to believe.
As for the facts, do they sometimes matter?
Nothing beats gossip and speculation!
The rumors eventually reached Hongqi Village and eventually reached Old Man Li's ears. When Old Man Li heard about it, he went home and told Aunt Li and Wu Sicheng.
Everyone was very worried, especially Wu Sicheng, who couldn't sit still after hearing the news. He told Old Man Li and his wife, and then hurried to An Moxue's house.
...
An Moxue was holding the note and thinking about the ins and outs of the matter when there was another knock on the door. When she went out, she saw Old Ma and Aunt Ma.
"Uncle Ma, Auntie, why did you two come together?"
The two elderly people looked her over carefully, and only when they saw that she was unharmed did they feel relieved.
The three of them talked as they walked into the house.
"I heard you were searched by the Red Guards, so I came over yesterday because I was worried, but you weren't home," Aunt Ma said.
An Moxue looked at Old Ma, her eyes asking him, "Didn't you tell Aunt Ma that I'd be alright?"
Old Ma gave her a look that said, "What's the use of telling you? I won't feel at ease unless I see you, so I have to drag you here."
She reassured Aunt Ma, saying, "Auntie, others may not know how capable I am, but my Uncle Ma knows. You can trust my Uncle Ma without making a mistake. Don't worry about this kind of thing next time."
Aunt Ma held her hand, and upon hearing her say that, she slapped her arm with her other hand, muttering, "Oh dear, what unlucky things are you saying! Quick! Spit! Spit! Spit! Get rid of all the bad luck." After saying that, she looked at An Moxue.
Helpless, An Moxue could only follow suit, spitting out the words, "Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"
Afterwards, he asked Aunt Ma, "Auntie, is this okay?"
Aunt Ma, acting like a thief, said "Okay."
This made An Moxue laugh. "Auntie, you know it's superstition, yet you still ask me to do it!"
"Keep your voice down, my little darling, it's just between us, okay?"
Uncle Ma stood quietly to the side, watching the mother and daughter perform for themselves without saying a word.
Once inside, Uncle Ma finally spoke: "How's the investigation going?"
See, this old man hit the nail on the head. He knows she must have been investigating something when she wasn't home yesterday.
“Uncle Ma, the situation is roughly clear now. It’s that tall guy from Kyoto I told you about last time, the one who’s now at the lumber mill in town. His name is Fan Zijian. He orchestrated everything. He killed Jiang Shi, who died last time. I heard this from someone who was following him last night. The director of the town’s cabinet committee is in cahoots with him. On the surface, they have no contact and don’t know each other. On the surface, it was a tip-off letter, but behind the scenes, it was all their doing, including the time they arranged for me to be arrested after showing a movie.”
"It seems these people haven't given up their wicked intentions."
"That's how it is, that's right."
You'll have to be careful from now on.
As the three were talking, there was another knock on the door. An Moxue went out to see what was happening and found Aunt Meihua and several other aunties from the neighborhood. As she walked out, An Moxue said, "What brings all of you aunties here? Come in quickly."
As he spoke, he invited the women into the house. When Uncle Ma saw so many people, he went out and said to An Moxue, "We'll talk more at home when you have time. I'm leaving now." Then, Old Ma said goodbye to the women and went out.
An Moxue invited the group of people inside to sit down and chat.
"Mo Xue, you're back now, so everything's alright, right?" Aunt Meihua asked with concern.
An Moxue replied cheerfully, "Don't worry, ladies! It's all fine now. It was wrong of those people to come to my house directly without investigating after receiving the report. They are currently under investigation at the county public security bureau."
The aunties all looked dejected.
Aunt Gui said, "You don't know, we ordinary folks have never seen anything like this before! It was really scary. It was my Uncle Gui and Uncle Hua who went to find the village chief."
"I really have to thank you both, uncles and your family. If the village chief hadn't arrived in time, I don't know what I would have done."
The two women repeatedly said that they were all neighbors and there was no need to worry about it; they were just looking out for each other.
Then, several aunties from the neighborhood began their fascinating descriptions—
"You wouldn't believe it, we were all asleep when we were woken up by this sudden banging on the door."
"That's right, it's the same at our house. As soon as we heard that shouting, something was wrong. 'An Moxue, open the door quickly!' It was like calling out to a ghost, shouting at the top of their lungs. It even woke up my little grandson."
"Especially that banging on the door, it was so loud it sent chills down my spine!"
"You tell me, these Little Red Guards are even worse than those bandits back then. Whose kids are these? They're so morally bankrupt. Why don't their parents do anything about it?"
"Why should we interfere? Who knows, maybe those parents are just like that!"
"That's right, there's one in Gala Village alone. Now the villagers are afraid to talk to his family, for fear that they might raid their home. It's terrifying."
"I know that. Their family is really arrogant in the village now because their son is a Red Guard."
"If we're talking about wisdom, our village chief is the one! If he hadn't stopped those troublemakers in time, our village might be in a mess now, with a couple of Red Guards around, making our village a complete mess."
"If we're talking about village cadres, our village is the best. They're all excellent, unlike the scheming cadres in other villages."
...
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