"Hello, we are from Changlan Public Security Bureau. We are looking for Liao Sigui."
Su Qingci's pupils contracted; as expected, she had gotten herself into trouble.
With red eyes, Su Changzhi stood up shakily, leaning on the table for support. "Officer, what business do you have with Si Gui?"
"Sir, please don't be nervous. We heard that Liao Sigui went to sea with the 'Ghana' ship and returned last night. We are involved in a case here and would like to talk to him to find out more about the situation."
Seeing that Su Changzhi looked like he was about to collapse at any moment, the other party emphasized again, "Don't worry too much, just ask him to find out what's going on."
At this moment, Liao Fengmei and Liao Sigui also came out from the backyard.
The police officer who arrived at the door had his eyes light up. "You're Liao Sigui?"
Si Gui looked nervous. "Yes, it's me, it's me."
"Hello, you are involved in a criminal case. Please cooperate with us to go to the police station."
Si Gui had only ventured into the deep sea once in his entire life. Most of the time, he had been circling around the small fishing village in the surrounding waters. In addition, he was still young, so when he saw the police coming to take him away, he panicked.
"Dad, I... I don't want to go to the police station."
"Mom~"
Liao Fengmei was also terrified. "Officer, is there something you can't ask here?"
“I, my Sigui, am the most honest and kind-hearted man. He, he never does anything illegal or against the law.”
“He’s a good boy.” Although Liao Fengmei was also scared, she still mustered her courage and protected Sigui behind her.
Su Qingci quickly stepped forward.
"Auntie, the police officers didn't say that Si Gui broke the law. They're not here to arrest anyone. They said they have some questions to ask Si Gui."
"Once we've understood the situation, we'll send Sigui back, right, officer?"
Hearing Su Qingci's words, Su Changzhi and Liao Fengmei looked nervously at the police officers who had come to their door. "Is that so, officer?"
"Yes, that's right, old man, don't worry."
Liao Fengmei and Su Changzhi breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the police officer's definite reply.
"Sigui, don't be afraid. The police officer wants to ask you some questions. Dad will go with you."
No sooner had Su Changzhi finished speaking than a deep voice came from outside.
"Dazhitou, you stay at home. Sigui and I will go together."
Su Changzhi looked up and saw Xu Dasheng, who had returned with him, standing at the door.
At this point, Su Changzhi didn't ask too many questions, so he just patted Si Gui on the shoulder and said, "Okay, okay, stick close to your Uncle Dasheng. It'll be alright. Come back soon after you're done."
Xu Dasheng also looked at Su Qingci sitting at the table. He nodded to her without making a sound, which was his way of greeting her.
The police officers quickly led Xu Dasheng and Si Gui away. Although they had already explained, a lot of villagers still gathered at the door, pointing and whispering among themselves.
Su Qingci raised her eyebrows. As an illegal immigrant, she was hesitant to stand out at this moment.
He could only console himself that Si Gui and the others were innocent and that this matter probably had nothing to do with them.
The one who's really in trouble might be yourself.
If they confess, the local government is unlikely to ignore them.
Seeing Su Qingci's worried expression, Liao Fengmei and Su Changzhi assumed that the girl's appearance had frightened her, so they quickly tried to lighten the mood.
"Don't worry, Uncle Dasheng went with him, so he should be fine."
"Let's wait for news at home!"
"By the way, Grandma, how are you feeling? And how did you find out about Sigui?"
...
On the other side, Xu Dasheng and Si Gui were separated and questioned at the police station.
"What's your name?"
"Liao Sigui".
How old are you this year?
"She's already 16."
"Two months ago, you went to sea on the Ghana, right? How did you get back? What about the others? What about the Ghana? Tell me what happened during that time?"
Si Gui didn't know why the other party was asking these questions, but he honestly began to recount what had happened. Thinking about the deaths of the captain, the tall man, and the other two, he subconsciously blurred out some things that happened after they were rescued.
"They said they would sign a three-month contract for going to sea and would give a total of 2,000 yuan. They would give 1,000 yuan before going to sea and another 1,000 yuan after returning."
"I'm young, so they didn't want me, but I'm a good swimmer."
"I didn't expect them to lie to us. They said they were there to help with fishing, but they asked us to go out to sea and set nets."
“We didn’t want to go down, so they shot and killed people on the spot. We had no choice but to go down, but nine people didn’t come back up on the first trip.”
At this point, Si Gui's voice choked with emotion.
“We thought we were safe, but they went into the deep sea and forced us to go down a second time. This time, only 27 people came up.”
The officer's expression instantly darkened. "You mean all the others who didn't make it up are dead down there?"
"right!"
The officer slammed his hand on the table, yelling, "Damn it! This is outrageous! What do they think of human lives and the law?!"
Another officer quickly calmed him down, "Chen Dong, calm down."
"Liao Sigui, please continue."
Si Gui sniffed. "On the second trip, we finally filled the ice storage. They didn't let us go down, saying it was time to head home. The captain was very happy and even gave us canned food and steamed buns."
"In the evening, he said he would hold a victory celebration banquet, with wine and meat, and we could eat as many white flour buns as we wanted."
"Everyone was having a great time and getting along well with the crew. But things quickly turned sour. Many people were being pulled toward the stern. Uncle Dasheng and I became suspicious because we felt the captain wasn't the kind of person who would be so generous."
“We secretly followed them and discovered that they were enticing the surviving sailors to gamble and lending money. We learned from a sailor named Da Niu that they were treating unequal treaties as IOUs for everyone to sign.”
"They said that if you borrow money and can't pay it back, you have to go to sea and work for them to pay off the debt."
"For the next few days, everyone was playing cards. Then one day, a sudden gale arose at sea, and the ship seemed to have hit something."
"Then the ship sank..."
"Uncle Dasheng, Qianfu, and I clung to a door panel and drifted at sea for a night. The next day, a passing cruise ship picked us up, and it had a red flag with stars on it..."
"When they learned of our plight, they felt great sympathy for us, treated our injuries, and gave us food."
"When we passed by the island later, they even gave us a small boat. The three of us rowed at sea for a very long time before we got home. Luckily, we didn't encounter any wind or waves."
Chen Dong gradually calmed down and scrutinized Liao Sigui. "Have you met anyone else?"
"Never seen it before."
"The Ghana?"
"A few of us watched it sink."
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