Chapter 58
Xia Qingtang shuddered all over, and all sleepiness disappeared instantly, and his whole body collapsed.
There are guards on duty at the main gate and back door of the family compound day and night, and there are regular patrols at night. Xia Qingtang has lived here for a long time and has never heard of anyone prying open the door.
She calmed down for a few seconds, turned off the flashlight, and then stood at the bedroom door and listened carefully to the noise outside the house.
She hardly dared to breathe deeply, but she soon confirmed that someone was really outside trying to pry open their door. From the noise, the door lock had obviously been pried open, but because of the bolt, the other party failed several times and could not push the door open even after the lock was opened.
But door bolts are very easy to open. Xia Qingtang saw adults do this when she was a child. Maybe in another two minutes, the person outside would be able to open the door and come in.
What to do? What to do now?
Xia Qingtang covered his pounding heart, carefully returned to the bedroom, and locked the door.
She was alone at home, and catching a thief was the most unrealistic approach. After all, she couldn't fight and her strength was just average. So what she had to do was very simple. She just had to scare the thief away.
Thinking of this, Xia Qingtang immediately knew what she should do. She quickly pulled open two layers of curtains, opened the bedroom window and shouted to the outside: "Help! Someone is trying to pry open my door! Help! Someone, come! Someone is trying to pry open my door!"
She used up all her strength in shouting, so the sound was very loud and particularly loud in the silent night sky. The nearby neighbors responded almost immediately. Several families turned on the lights, some opened the windows, and some ran out directly, all shouting loudly.
“Catch the thief!”
"Who wants to catch a thief?"
"Someone come!"
"Whose family is it?"
"It seems to be Xiao Xie's family! It's the voice of his lover!"
…
Xia Qingtang breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the noises from her neighbors. She quickly closed the windows, turned on the lights, put on her cotton coat and outer layer, and ran into the living room.
This time, she also turned on the light in the living room. There was no movement outside the door. Obviously, the thief had already run away when she shouted.
But Xia Qingtang still didn't dare to act rashly. She waited until she heard the neighbor's elder sister's shouting outside the yard before she opened the door and walked out.
"Xiao Xia, it was you who called out just now, right?" Sister Chen looked at her nervously through the iron gate.
Xia Qingtang nodded, and then she felt a little blood in her throat, and her voice was tight. She said: "I was the one who shouted. I was sleeping in the middle of the night and heard some noises. When I walked to the bedroom door, I heard someone picking the lock. The lock was opened, but I bolted it, so I didn't push it open. I was startled and quickly opened the window and shouted. Fortunately, you all heard it."
"Oh, your shout scared me too. Old Yuan got up quickly and ran out without even putting on his clothes. He chased over there, and I don't know what happened to him." Sister Chen said, "Are you okay?"
Several neighbors also came over wrapped in cotton-padded clothes. Xia Qingtang opened the yard door and saw that the latch of the yard door was not opened, but these yard doors were not very high. They were the kind that could protect against gentlemen but not villains, and any child could climb in.
"I'm fine, I just got scared. I didn't expect there would be thieves in this family quarters." Xia Qingtang said, "I don't even know if the door lock is broken..."
A man named Hu who lived two doors away said, "Then I'll help you take a look."
"Thank you, Comrade Hu." Xia Qingtang let him in, and other neighbors followed.
Everyone checked the door lock together. Brother Hu said, "This door lock was opened with a tool. This person can open the lock, not pry the door open. There should be no problem with the door lock. However, this kind of lock is indeed easy to open. Just have a little patience."
"Luckily there was a latch on your door, otherwise you would have been in danger today." Sister Chen said, "Xiao Xie was not at home and something like this happened. Fortunately you are fine, otherwise he would have gone crazy if he had come back."
"I just don't know if the thief has been caught." Brother Hu said, "I saw Lao Yuan and the others chased him."
"Our Lao Yuan was the first one to rush out. He was naked. When I chased him out, he was gone." Sister Chen said proudly, "Our Lao Yuan is a kind-hearted person. Oh, and it seems that the eldest son of Lao Wan's family also ran after him."
"And our old man Li also went to catch the thief." Sister Feng said, "If they catch him, it's fine. If not, I won't be able to sleep peacefully at night. I was also startled when I heard the shouting. How could there be a thief?"
"It's not unsafe. Our house is full of people. If there's any noise, we can beat the thief to death. Xiao Xia lives alone and is pretty, so it's not safe." Sister Chen said, "If you ask me, you should go back to live over there when Xiao Xie is on a business trip. It's not safe for you to be alone."
Brother Hu said, "That's not the case. Our compound has always been quite safe. Besides, Xiaoxia has closed the doors and windows. If it's not safe to sleep at home, then where else can you sleep?"
"That's true, but Xiaoxia looks like this. If she doesn't pay attention, and if she really suffers, won't Xiaoxia be the one who suffers?" Sister Chen said seriously.
Xia Qingtang said: "It's not necessarily that they are coming for me, maybe they want to steal money."
"If they wanted to steal money, why didn't they just steal the bicycle? It would be so dangerous to pry open the door," said Sister Chen.
"Because this bicycle is marked in many places, and there are not many ladies' bicycles. If he steals such a big thing in the middle of the night, won't it arouse suspicion when he goes out through the guard? Since he can't get it out at night, he can only leave it at home. But my bicycle is gone, and I will find out in the morning. By then, everyone will know about it. It will be very conspicuous if someone has a brand new ladies' bicycle at home. Wouldn't he be caught immediately? So when it comes to stealing things, you can only steal money and small things. Stealing bicycles is too unrealistic." Xia Qingtang said slowly.
She has calmed down now. Because she was too panicked at the beginning, she subconsciously wondered whether the other party was coming for her.
But after calming down, she felt that the other party was more likely to come to steal things. After all, their family did have a lot of good things, and they were not short of money to spend.
Sister Chen smiled and said, "Xiao Xia, if you think the other party is here to steal things, that's fine, but I'm doing this for your own good. You're such a pretty lesbian, and if you don't pay more attention, won't you be the one suffering if something goes wrong?"
Xia Qingtang also knew that her appearance could easily cause prejudice, so she said, "Comrade Chen, you are right. Thank you for your concern. I will go to my grandparents in a while."
"Right, you should have lived there a long time ago. If you lived there, this wouldn't have happened tonight. Look at you, it's the middle of the night and you're disturbing everyone. Look..." Sister Chen said, "I don't know how our old Yuan is doing. He's not young anymore, and it must be painful for him to run."
As they were talking, they saw several neighbors who had chased out came back together. Everyone walked out of the yard again and watched them come back.
"Have you caught the person?" asked Brother Hu.
"No, I could still see him when I chased him out, but I lost him when I chased him to the bungalows across the street." Lao Yuan said, "In my opinion, the man must live there, otherwise why can't we find him after searching for him all over? He must have hidden back home, and we can't search door to door."
The bungalows over there are all small houses with two bedrooms and a living room, and there is no yard. The people living there are of lower status, so there are more houses. Since he is hiding over there, it is certain that we will not be able to find that person.
"What should we do now? Should we tell the police and then go door to door in that area of bunk houses and search?" asked Brother Hu.
Old Yuan said, "Xiao Xia, was your door pried open? Was anything lost?"
Xia Qingtang said: "Nothing was lost. There was a latch behind the door, so even though he opened the door, he couldn't get in."
"Since nothing was lost, there's no point in telling the police. It can only be considered a false alarm."
Sister Chen asked, "Who is that person? Did you see him clearly?"
"How could I see clearly? He was a man, quite thin, and about the same height as me. The street lights were not very bright at night, and he ran very fast. I saw that he was wearing dark blue clothes. But everyone wears dark blue clothes now, so how can I recognize him?"
"Then there's nothing we can do. We can only forget it." Brother Hu said, "Xiao Xia, how about you pack up and let us take you there? It would be better for you to live with Xiao Xie's parents."
"Okay, I'll listen to you. I'm sorry for disturbing everyone's sleep today. And thank you for your help." After Xia Qingtang said this, he went into the house to pack some things, then locked the door and came out carrying a cross-body bag.
Several neighbors took her to the small western-style building. Xia Qingtang stood outside the courtyard door and called out. After a while, Aunt Liu came out wearing a cotton coat and opened the door. She was shocked when she saw what was outside: "What happened? Qingtang, what happened to you? Are you okay?"
"Before anything happened," said Sister Chen, "we were sleeping soundly in the middle of the night when we heard Xiao Xia yelling that someone was trying to break the door. Old Yuan from our family rushed out first and chased after the person for a long time but couldn't catch him. But it would be dangerous for Xiao Xia to live alone, so we decided to send her here together. But it was late at night and Old Xie would definitely be alerted. If Xiao Xia had lived here from the beginning, wouldn't this have happened?"
Aunt Six was so frightened that her face turned pale. She quickly came over and grabbed Xia Qingtang's hand, and asked anxiously: "Qingtang, are you okay? Are you really okay?"
"I'm fine. I heard someone prying the door open, so I immediately shouted and the neighbors all ran out, and the man ran away. There is a latch on the back of our door, so it takes some time to open it, and the thief couldn't get in. I'm fine too." Xia Qingtang said quickly.
Aunt Liu quickly helped her thank the neighbors. The neighbors said that it was their duty, and then they all went back to rest.
Xia Qingtang and Aunt Six returned to the house, and grandparents also came out wearing clothes. Soon, Xie Chengye and the other three also came down from the second floor. Xia Qingtang recounted what had happened in detail.
"I'm fine. Our house has latches not only on the front door but also on the bedroom door. It's very safe." Xia Qingtang said, "It just alarmed the neighbors in the middle of the night, and also alarmed you. Comrade Chen was not wrong. If I had come back to live here from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened."
Xie Chengye said, "What are you talking about? If you had come back to live there at the beginning, wouldn't the things over there have been stolen tonight? It's because you live there that you were able to hear the thief prying open the door and stop him in time."
Xie's mother patted him and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Losing something is a small matter, but Qingtang being frightened is a big deal."
"At least you're okay. Luckily Qingtang was alert when he was sleeping and heard the noise. If I were home alone, I might not know that the house was emptied." Grandma patted the back of Xia Qingtang's hand. "You must be scared, right?"
"It's okay. I've calmed down now. Think about it and it's nothing serious. This is inside the family compound. Could he commit a crime?" Xia Qingtang said calmly.
Aunt Six said, "I don't know when Jinxuan will come back. I'll go upstairs and make your bed now. You can stay at home and wait for Jinxuan to come back."
"Okay." Xia Qingtang said, "I really didn't expect there would be thieves in the compound."
"Although this kind of thing rarely happens in our compound, I remember that there was a theft of bacon two years ago, and the culprit was not caught. At that time, several families lost their bacon, and they cried bitterly." Xie's mother said: "No matter how safe the compound is, it can't resist someone who really can't make ends meet."
"Anyway, everything is fine. Qingtang, was the yard door locked when you came out?" Xie Chengye asked.
"Everything is locked, the doors and windows are closed, and I have taken out the passbooks and other things at home." Xia Qingtang said: "But our things are hidden deep, and thieves may not be able to find them."
Grandpa Xie said: "We still need to take this matter seriously. I will tell the security department to patrol more at night. Also, we need to ask which families in the compound are in financial difficulty. For example, the theft of bacon was clearly caused by hunger."
"Dad, you're right. We really need to take this matter seriously." Xie Chengye agreed.
Grandma didn't care about what they said, she was only concerned with calming Xia Qingtang's emotions.
"Just stay at home for a few days and let grandma stay with you. That way you won't be afraid."
Xia Qingtang said, "I'm not afraid anymore, grandma, don't worry. We originally agreed to have lunch at my house tomorrow, so what should we do now?"
Xia Qingtang had originally agreed with Aunt Liu that he would go shopping for groceries with her on Sunday morning and then come back to cook a good lunch for the whole family.
Grandma said, "When can't we eat? There's no rush. Besides, Jinxuan isn't at home, so don't get too tired by yourself. We can talk about eating later. Xiaoliu will cook tomorrow, so just eat and rest well."
"Yes, just eat well and rest." Xie's mother poured Xia Qingtang a cup of hot water. After she drank it, she felt calmer.
After Aunt Liu made the bed, she went up to sleep.
It was already past three in the morning, and the thief had been trying for an hour. A little after two in the morning is indeed the time when people sleep the deepest. The thief was quite experienced.
I haven't been back to live here for a while, so the house has become a lot quieter, but it's spotless everywhere, and it's obvious that Aunt Six has been cleaning it carefully.
Xia Qingtang thought about what happened in the evening. He was a little upset at first, but he finally fell asleep.
When she woke up the next day, it was already past nine in the morning. She rarely woke up at this time, but she felt quite energetic. She washed up and went downstairs, where she saw her grandmother and Aunt Six doing needlework in the living room.
When Aunt Six saw her coming down, she immediately stood up and asked, "Did Qingtang sleep well?"
"I slept well. I didn't expect to sleep so late." Xia Qingtang said, "Is everyone out?"
Today is Sunday, and normally everyone would have a day off, but Grandpa Xie often works on Sundays, and Xie Chengye and Mother Xie occasionally do the same, and when they are not working overtime, they will take Xie Jinyun out.
"Your grandfather and your father are out at work, and your mother took Xiaoyun out to buy things. She said she wanted to buy a pencil case and comic books, and they won't be back until lunch." Grandma said with a smile.
Xia Qingtang felt a little embarrassed. She had originally promised Xie Jinyun that she would take him to buy comic books, but now she broke the promise.
Aunt Six said, "I left breakfast for you, go and eat it."
Xia Qingtang followed her to the kitchen, only to see a large bowl of millet porridge and a coarse flour steamed bun left in the steamer.
Aunt Six said, "If you eat so much, you will be almost hungry by noon, so you can eat more. If you eat too much now, you won't be able to eat good food at noon. I'm going to make stewed fish at noon, so you must eat more."
"Thank you, Sixth Aunt." Xia Qingtang took breakfast to the dining table and ate slowly while chatting with her grandmother.
In the morning, she helped her sixth aunt cook at home. At noon, neither Grandpa nor Xie Chengye came back. Mother Xie and Xie Jinyun came back in time for lunch. As soon as they came back, they washed their hands and sat at the dining table.
Seeing that no one was paying attention, Xia Qingtang whispered, "Xiao Yun, I said before that I would go shopping with you today, but I didn't do it. I'm so sorry."
Xie Jinyun smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. I bought the comic book I wanted, the whole set, and my mother didn't say anything to me. I just didn't eat at the state-owned restaurant, but we have fish to eat at home today, so why would I need a state-owned restaurant?"
Xia Qingtang smiled slightly: "Then I will take you to a state-owned restaurant alone next time to eat mutton soup, what do you say?"
"Okay, I've had the mutton soup there before, it's delicious." Xie Jinyun smiled, "Thank you, sister-in-law."
"What are you two whispering about?" Xie's mother asked, "Why don't you eat such delicious food?"
"Eat now!" Xie Jinyun quickly grabbed the chopsticks and started eating.
After lunch, Xia Qingtang continued to accompany her grandmother to do needlework, and then strolled around the courtyard.
It would have been fine if I hadn't gone around, but once I did I realized that everything that happened last night had been spread out, and it was spread in a very unpleasant way.
"They said Xiao Xia was almost raped?" Grandma's good friend Comrade You said, "This is too scary. I think we should call the police."
Grandma was so angry that her face turned red: "Who is spreading these nonsense? It was clearly a thief who tried to break into the house but failed. We Qingtang are not hurt at all!"
"Ah? He's a thief? Not a rapist?" Comrade You said, "That person's statement is very convincing."
"Who said that?"
"Anyway, I heard it from Du Cheng from the old Du family."
Grandma and Xia Qingtang looked at each other, and Grandma said sternly: "Take me to the Du family, and I will slap Du Cheng in the face!"
Comrade You quickly said, "Forget it, forget it. Maybe he heard it from someone else."
"You don't know, this Du Cheng has been a hooligan to us Qingtang before. He has bad intentions. This time he must be deliberately using the theft incident to ruin our Qingtang's reputation! If I don't slap him a few times, what am I doing?"
My grandmother is usually gentle and elegant, and looks like a lady from a noble family. But if you really offend her, she will definitely fight back. The time when she hit Tian Guoqiang with a stick showed her violent temper.
Comrade You's face changed when he heard this and he said, "I understand. I'll take you there now! This matter of deliberately ruining someone's reputation really needs to be sorted out as soon as possible!"
The two old ladies walked hand in hand in front, and Xia Qingtang followed behind with a calm face, but she was very moved in her heart.
Her grandmother always defends her first and will actually help her beat people up. Even her own grandmother can't do that.
Soon, they arrived at the door of the Du family, and grandma shouted loudly: "Is Lao Du home? Where is Du Cheng? Call Du Cheng out to me!"
Lao Du was not at home, but Lao Du's wife was at home. She ran out and saw several people with aggressive and ugly expressions, and immediately said, "Did our Du Cheng do something again?"
"Yes, your Du Cheng is slandering my granddaughter-in-law. I must have a fight with him today!" Grandma said loudly, "He is not at home. Where did he go?"
"Even if he went out, I don't know where he went!"
Grandma immediately took Comrade You's arm and walked out: "Where did you meet him just now? Let's go find him now!"
A few people walked around the compound for a few times and actually found Du Cheng near the tube-shaped building. He was standing downstairs, surrounded by five or six people, both men and women, all in their thirties. Everyone was listening carefully to what he was saying.
Grandma strode over and shouted, "Du Cheng!"
Du Cheng, who was surrounded by people, trembled all over and his face turned pale.
He subconsciously wanted to run away, but Xia Qingtang blocked his way: "Why are you running? Are you feeling guilty?"
Du Cheng said with a pale face and stiff neck: "When did I run away? Why should I feel guilty? I'm not the one who was raped..."
Xia Qingtang slapped him in the face before he could finish. She used up all her strength in this slap, so the force was so great that Du Cheng's mouth became swollen almost visibly.
"You..." Du Cheng was frightened and looked at Xia Qingtang as if he were a monster.
The five or six people were also frightened silly, and they all stood there motionless, looking at this side.
Grandma shouted, "Keep beating him! Slap him hard! Such a shameless person actually slandered the innocence of a female comrade with empty words. Beating him to death is a good thing!"
A short-haired female comrade standing over there immediately said, "Is it fake? Comrade Xiao Xia, didn't someone do that to you last night?"
"Of course not. Our neighbors all saw the thief. He even went in through the door." Xia Qingtang asked, "What did Du Cheng tell you?"
The short-haired lesbian said, "He said that you were sleeping alone at home last night, someone broke into your house, and then... did that to you..."
Du Cheng covered his mouth, his eyes red as he said, "Am I talking nonsense? Everyone says so! What are you doing? You usually seduce people everywhere, but now you've been raped and you don't dare to admit it? Oh, that's right, if you admit it, Xie Jinxuan won't want you anymore!"
"Which big family? We just walked around the compound three times and met a lot of people. They all said that you told them that I was raped last night. Did you see it with your own eyes?"
"Do you need to see it with your own eyes? That's what everyone says!" Du Cheng was still arguing, "You were raped. No matter how many times you say it, you are still being raped! You didn't even dare to tell the police. Aren't you afraid that Xie Jinxuan doesn't want you anymore?"
Xia Qingtang said coldly: "Last night, a thief broke into my house without prying the door open, but you swore that I was raped. Does that mean that you are the one who sneaked into my house? I know, it must be you! Because only the rapist knows what he went to my house for! Oh my God, everyone help me catch Du Cheng! I found the murderer who pried the door open last night!"
Du Cheng was stunned and dropped his hand from his mouth: "What are you talking about? I have never done such a thing!"
"How can you say a thousand times that I was raped when you didn't do it? Only a murderer would say such things! Don't run, come with me to the police station now!" Xia Qingtang grabbed Du Cheng's clothes tightly to prevent him from running away.
She thought about it and decided that instead of letting the rumors spread more and more in the compound, it would be better to just make a big deal out of it, until it was out of control. In this way, the truth would come out in the end, which would be the best clarification. So she made a prompt decision and sent Du Cheng to the police station as the rapist he was talking about.
The three men standing over there also came to their senses. They reacted quickly and immediately surrounded him to help control Du Cheng.
Du Cheng was really panicking this time. He struggled desperately: "What are you doing? It has nothing to do with me! I won't touch this bitch! Let me go!"
"You can hear the dirty words he says. If he weren't a bad person, would he say such things?" Xia Qingtang said loudly.
The short-haired lesbian agreed very much: "That's right, who would call someone a slut? This Xiao Du is very problematic. Let's go and send him to the police station together!"
Du Cheng struggled and screamed, and said a lot of dirty words to insult Xia Qingtang. Grandma slapped him hard, and Du Cheng's mouth was crooked.
This time, he couldn't shout out, and could only mumble something that no one could understand, and then he calmed down.
So, with the help of several people, everyone dragged the struggling Du Cheng to the security room at the gate.
This alarmed many people along the way. Everyone gathered around with wide eyes asking what had happened. Xia Qingtang explained loudly to everyone along the way.
The guard on duty at the security room was also shocked: "Then we need to send him to the police station immediately."
"He revealed that he was a rapist. It's not enough to just send him to the police station. We have to send him to the police station." Xia Qingtang said, "I will personally send the criminal there to report the case!"
The man immediately said, "Okay, wait, I'll get ready!"
While the man was preparing, a large number of onlookers were whispering about it. Grandma took Xia Qingtang's hand and whispered in her ear, "Qingtang, is this okay?"
"This is the only way to be alright. We have to make a big deal out of this, until it's out of control, then it will be useful." Xia Qingtang whispered.
Grandma responded: "What else should we do?"
"I will go with them to send Du Cheng to the Municipal Police Station. Grandma, can you help me tell Grandpa and Dad?" Xia Qingtang said.
"I see. I'll go find them right away, and then we'll go together to help you."
So, they split into two groups, and Xia Qingtang followed the security department's people in a car to take the speechless Du Cheng to the Municipal Police Station.
Knowing that they were people sent from the provincial party committee compound, the police took them seriously and questioned them separately.
Xia Qingtang was under the charge of two female police officers. They were very serious and asked many questions in detail.
"So, your house was only pried open last night, but the door was not opened, the criminal did not enter the house, and you were not in any trouble."
"Yes, nothing happened to me, but that Du Cheng swore to more than a hundred people in the entire compound that I was raped. So I have only one guess, that he is the prisoner from last night, and what he wanted to do was rape, but he failed." Xia Qingtang said calmly.
The female police officer said, "Let me confirm with you again. Are you sure you are not hurt? If you are hurt, don't be afraid. Tell us and we will help you."
"I'm sure I wasn't hurt, but even if it's an attempted crime of molestation, he still has to be sentenced, right?" Xia Qingtang said, "He even tried to pry open my door, this is a clear case of molestation!"
At that time, there were no laws regarding reputation rights, but the punishment for molestation was very severe. The lighter punishment was imprisonment for more than ten years, and the heavier punishment was execution. That was why Du Cheng was so panicked just now.
The female police officer continued to ask some questions. Then someone knocked on the door and came in, saying that it was Xie Chengye who came.
Not only Xie Chengye came, but also Grandma, Xie's mother, and Sixth Aunt came. Even Xia Qingtang's neighbors were called over to take statements and asked many questions.
What is certain now is that someone did try to pry open the door last night, the neighbors also saw a fleeing figure, and Xia Qingtang is indeed fine, so it can be considered an attempted homicide.
Du Cheng kept shouting that he was innocent, and the police also called his family over, asking if anyone knew where Du Cheng had been last night.
His parents, siblings and brothers and sisters were all terrified. His parents were sleeping soundly and had no idea whether Du Cheng went out in the middle of the night.
When I asked my younger brother and sister, my sister was also asleep, but my younger brother said he got up at around 2:00 a.m. to go to the bathroom, where he met Du Cheng and he also went to the bathroom.
That time did overlap with the time of prying the door open, but it was not completely impossible. Besides, the testimony of relatives would not be used casually. Therefore, Du Cheng was locked up and was questioned until he confessed.
It was not until before dinner that Xia Qingtang and others left the police station.
Sister Chen said: "Look, I told you, it wasn't a thief at all, he was targeting Xiao Xia, luckily Xiao Xia is fine."
Old Yuan said, "But Du Cheng doesn't live in the bungalow area. I still feel that it's not right. He should be from the bungalow area."
"Maybe he is hiding over there in the bungalow. It's dark and you can't see him clearly," said Sister Chen.
Lao Wan's eldest son said: "But from the back of that man last night, he seemed to be a little taller than Du Cheng. But it was too late, and I was a little panicked at the time, so I couldn't be sure."
Xia Qingtang and the others didn't say a word along the way, they just followed everyone back to the compound.
At this time, the focus of discussion in the compound had shifted from Xia Qingtang to Du Cheng's arrest.
After all, a young wife being bullied is just a romantic story, but if the crime of adultery is established, the prison sentence will be at least ten years. There hasn't been such a person in this compound for many years. Isn't every household talking about it?
When they got home, Aunt Six whispered, "Is everything okay? I'm really worried. Why didn't the old man go today?"
Xie Chengye said: "They know who my father is, and they will definitely handle the case seriously. You don't have to worry."
"Oh, I'm not worried about this, I'm worried about Qingtang..." Aunt Liu said and sighed again.
Xia Qingtang said: "Sixth Aunt, don't worry about me. This incident is most likely not done by Du Cheng. I made a big fuss about it so that Du Cheng can go door to door to clarify his slander against me."
"Ah..." Aunt Six's eyes widened, "Not him?"
"Xiao Wan said that the thief was taller, and brother Du Cheng probably wasn't lying." Xia Qingtang said, "If we investigate carefully, we should be able to catch the real thief."
"Then they won't talk nonsense anymore," said Aunt Six.
Xia Qingtang said: "I look like this, people with bad intentions will definitely think there is something wrong with me, and sooner or later they will make up a lot of stories about me. But I have nothing to fear because I am upright, and I will be more careful in the future. And I have thought about it, no matter who makes up these stories in the future, I will slap them in the face, and I will see who dares to continue to spread rumors."
Grandma nodded and said, "That's right! Since ancient times, beautiful women are easily slandered by those who covet but cannot get them. But if you are upright, you have nothing to fear. As long as you are tough and beat everyone you see, no one will dare to talk nonsense after a while!"
Xie Chengye said: "Yes, as long as our whole family supports Qingtang, no one will dare to say anything nonsense later."
"Can the thief really be caught?" Aunt Liu asked again.
"I think it's okay. Before, it was a failed attempt to break into the house, which was a small matter so no one would take it seriously. But now it has been classified as a crime of vagrancy. Du Cheng will never admit it. I think they will start from the bungalow and ask every household." Xia Qingtang said, "We just need to wait."
Just as Xia Qingtang had expected, the police station sent people to question the thief door to door during dinner time that evening.
They finished the questioning that day and continued the next morning. By Monday night, they finally got a clue.
At the third house from west to east of the bungalow, a female comrade said that she got up at night to drink water and saw through the glass window a figure swaying in front of the door next door for a few times, and then went into the house.
This time matched the time when Lao Yuan and his men were chasing the suspect, so the police immediately questioned the family. Perhaps because he was guilty, the family's eldest son soon knelt on the ground and cried and admitted it, and begged the police to let him go. He just wanted to steal money and definitely didn't intend to be a hooligan.
After catching the person, the police immediately came to Xie’s house to tell them.
"Is it a child?" Grandma asked. "In middle school?"
"He's in the first year of high school, 17 years old, a young boy." The police said, "He's also quite tall, and it's hard to say whether he has that kind of intention. But now it's confirmed to be him. Comrade Yuan and the others saw his back and said it was him. In this way, Du Cheng has to be released, because the real murderer has been found."
Grandpa Xie said seriously, "Du Cheng cannot be released like this. He told more than a hundred people in our family quarters that our female comrade was raped. This is no small matter. This is the greatest slander against a person. Not only will it destroy someone's reputation, it will also destroy someone's family. It is extremely bad in nature."
"Then...how should we deal with this?" The middle-aged policeman was very serious. He also felt that Du Cheng's behavior should not be let off so easily.
Grandpa Xie said: "This is also a great harm. You must have arrested people like this before, right?"
"There are similar cases, but they are only held for a few days before being released. After all, no real harm was done to anyone, and he didn't do it."
Grandma said, "Just ignore it if it causes psychological harm."
The policeman smiled bitterly: "We can't do anything about this..."
Grandpa said, "Let's put it this way. The kid who tried to pry open the door failed. You police can handle it. We won't care. As for Du Cheng, just follow the old cases you handled directly. After he has been locked up for a certain period of time, let him go. But we have two requirements. First, Du Cheng must apologize to Qingtang in public in front of all the people he spread rumors about. This means all the people he spread rumors about, not one less. He must notify them one by one and set a time to apologize to Qingtang publicly on the basketball court. No one less will count. Second, we want him to write a letter of guarantee. After apologizing, he must go door to door in our family compound to clarify the matter in person to the comrades who spread the rumors about him, and he must be accompanied by his family members. As long as there is still someone in our family compound saying the rumors he spread, he must continue to clarify the matter door to door until the rumors he spread are completely gone."
The police nodded: "There is definitely no problem with this. Is this all that is needed? Don't you need to make other compensation or something?"
"No need. This is the most important compensation. Compensation for reputation is the most difficult. He must completely quell the rumors he created." Grandpa Xie said seriously.
This was the request that Xia Qingtang had discussed with him, especially the letter of guarantee to go door to door to clarify things one by one, which was proposed by Xia Qingtang.
This is also done to make an example of someone. In the future, if anyone dares to talk nonsense, Xia Qingtang will hold that person accountable. After a few times, no one will dare to spread rumors again.
Many people think that making up a little gossip is no big deal, but if things really get out of control, the consequences can be serious.
Xia Qingtang had the support of his entire family. If it were someone else, he might have jumped into the river that very day.
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