Zhang Yuping's heart skipped a beat, and she swayed slightly.
Lu Yuan helped her up and continued speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Young lady, do you think the brigade leader is thinking that you buried these things under the ground?"
Zhang Yuping stared wide-eyed in horror, realizing that Sun Changsheng had truly misunderstood her.
He shook his head instinctively, muttering to himself, "It wasn't me."
Seeing her lip movements, Sun Changsheng felt that she was trying to cover up her true intentions, and became even more certain that this was her doing.
He also mouthed to her, "You just wait."
Zhang Yuping trembled again, trying her best to prove herself, shaking her head repeatedly.
Lu Yuan sneered inwardly and deliberately said to Lu Guoqing,
"Father, what's wrong with Mother? She keeps shaking her head at the brigade leader."
Lu Guoqing's face was as dark as ink; he had seen it just now without being reminded.
Zhang Yuping paused in her head-shaking motion and subconsciously looked at Lu Guoqing.
"Old Lu..."
She wanted to explain, but didn't know how to begin.
Lu Guoqing snorted, "Go back."
As soon as he finished speaking, he walked out first.
Zhang Yuping glanced at Sun Changsheng one last time, then left helplessly.
Lu Yuan looked at Sun Changsheng with a playful and provocative smile.
That seemed to mean telling the other party that this whole thing was a scheme orchestrated by their family to frame him.
Seeing Lu Yuan's smugness, Sun Changsheng became even more certain of his suspicions. He mentally cursed Zhang Yuping's ancestors for eighteen generations.
He had also made up his mind that if he really died, he wouldn't let Zhang Yuping get away with it.
After the items were found, he kept protesting his innocence.
"Gentlemen, this is something someone is trying to frame me by planting in the back of my house. I have never seen these things before. If these things were really mine, I would definitely hide them inside the house, not outside."
"Leader, it must be because I offended someone in the way I handled the affairs of the brigade. Someone framed me. You must find out the truth and clear my name."
The brigade leader's wife was also crying and shouting, constantly proclaiming that she was wronged.
The four members of the Revolutionary Committee are currently unable to determine whether someone has framed them, but the items were indeed found in the back of the house, so they can only assume for the time being that they were hidden by Sun Changsheng.
They also thoroughly searched the house.
The Revolutionary Committee members were indeed professionals; they searched the house and found all the valuables, no less than Wen Moxue's valuables back then.
Not to mention rice and wheat flour, there are also cigarettes, alcohol, malted milk powder, candy, canned food, biscuits, and other similar items.
There weren't many receipts, but the amount of money was over a thousand yuan.
Many dual-income families in the city don't even have that much savings, so no one would believe that Sun Changsheng is innocent.
Wen Moxue could tell where the items came from, but Sun Changsheng and his wife couldn't.
Now, he can't escape the charge of taking bribes by abusing his position as battalion commander.
"Hmph, the leaders said we can't take even a needle or thread from the people. Look how much you've taken."
The leader of the Revolutionary Committee, surnamed Qian, said angrily.
Sun Changsheng fell silent.
Everything was confiscated, and they took everyone away. The brigade leader's wife felt like the sky had fallen.
Sun Maodou excitedly pulled Lu Yuan to a secluded corner.
"You're the one who reported this, aren't you?" he asked with absolute certainty.
Lu Yuan glanced at him sideways, resolutely denying it.
"Don't accuse me wrongly, I didn't do anything."
Sun Maodou didn't need his admission; he was already convinced that he had done it.
"Yes, yes, you didn't do it."
One second she was agreeing with him, the next second she asked a question.
"Tell me, how did you know there was something hidden under the woodpile in the back of the brigade leader's house?"
"I told you I know nothing."
Seeing that he had nothing important to do, Lu Yuan took a step to leave, but was stopped again.
"Hey, don't rush off, tell me about it."
Lu Yuan reminded him, "I remember it's your turn to guard Uncle Liu's place today, right? It's already this late and you still haven't gone. He Zhiqing might think something happened to you."
Sun Maodou slapped his forehead. "Oh no, I really forgot about that."
He then ran off in a flurry of activity.
Lu Yuan watched the retreating figure and chuckled softly. This person seemed to be different from the rumors.
They strolled leisurely to the cowshed.
"Old man, I need to borrow an oxcart."
The old man in the cowshed didn't even look up. "Borrowing the oxcart requires the brigade leader's permission."
Lu Yuan said gloatingly, "The brigade leader has been arrested by the Revolutionary Committee and may not be coming back. Now we don't need his permission to borrow the oxcart."
The old man in the cowshed suddenly looked up, his eyes asking: Has the brigade leader really been arrested?
Lu Yuan smiled and nodded, "Yes, he got arrested."
Then he lowered his voice again, "Now you can tell me exactly when the brigade leader left the commune on the day Old Liu had the accident."
The old man in the cowshed looked complicated and said truthfully, "That day, the brigade leader came to drive the oxcart before going to work."
Lu Yuan was stunned. How could this be?
If the oxcart was driven away before work, it means that the person that day was not Sun Changsheng.
The timing doesn't match at all.
The two of them were having an affair in the abandoned house during work hours that day. If it were Sun Changsheng, he would have hurriedly fled and taken an oxcart to the commune.
This should be the time to start work.
So, were all his suspicions and conjectures wrong?
How can he and the police carry out their plan then?
"Why didn't you tell me the truth that day?" Lu Yuan asked.
If the captain was innocent, why didn't he just say so that day, instead of deliberately saying he didn't know to deepen his suspicions?
The old man's eyes darted away. He knew what kind of person the captain was. If others suspected something and investigated him more, and if they found a problem and replaced the captain, their lives might be a little easier in the future.
Of course, he wouldn't tell this young man about the filth in his heart.
"I didn't have time to say it that day."
Lu Yuan could tell he wasn't telling the truth, so he didn't make things difficult for him. He took out two more steamed buns and stuffed them into the other man's pocket before leaving.
The old man shakily reached his rough hands into his pocket, felt the softness of the bun, and his eyes immediately filled with tears.
Lu Yuan arrived at the commune with something on his mind, went straight to the police station, and found Song Minghao.
"Perhaps my previous guess was wrong, and it wasn't Sun Changsheng who hurt Grandpa Liu."
Song Minghao asked, "What new discoveries have you made?"
Lu Yuan repeated what the old man in the cowshed had said.
"Based on this calculation, Sun Changsheng did indeed leave the village long ago and had no time to commit the crime."
Song Minghao also fell into deep thought.
The case was shrouded in uncertainty, sometimes seemingly without any leads, sometimes offering new breakthroughs, only to soon return to square one. It left him utterly exhausted.
"Sun Changsheng was arrested by the Revolutionary Committee?"
The police station just received the news about this.
Lu Yuan nodded, "Yes, he was caught possessing contraband."
Although Lu Yuan had informed the police of his suspicions beforehand and they had also come up with a plan to lure out the murderer.
However, the step of having Sun Changsheng arrested by the Revolutionary Committee was something that was not discussed beforehand.
Since it wasn't a legitimate method, Lu Yuan wouldn't let the police know.
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