Chapter 21: Guaguagua is the same, he is desperate and very hungry...
"You know nothing! This little thief, he, he stole my chicken!"
Old man Hu was so angry that he was puffing his beard and glaring, his face was red and he was breathing rapidly.
What?
Stealing chicken?
Now the aunts were silent. They looked at Guoqiang, who was still silent, with suspicion in their eyes.
This kid's family doesn't treat him well. People who live nearby can hear the sound of his father He Liuzhi beating people every few days.
He Liuzhi was born with this name because when he was born, the midwife counted his fingers and toes and found six fingers on one hand. The country people named him casually, so they just called him He Liuzhi.
He Liuzhi is a well-known bully in Xiangjiawan. He is submissive in public but violent at home. Both men and women in the team look down on him.
But his son He Guoqiang was often hungry and cold, and was beaten every now and then. Sometimes, this made the women feel sorry for him, and they would collect some rags and worn clothes at home and give them to his mother Zhang Xiaoxi, who would mend them for her son.
But although Zhang Xiaoxi looks pretty, he is actually a lazy guy and doesn't take care of his children at all.
He Guoqiang looked the same before the New Year as he did before the New Year. He didn't even grow much taller and was much shorter than his peers.
But no matter how pitiful they are, everyone hates people who steal and cheat.
These days, most families don’t have enough to eat all year round. Due to policies like cutting off capitalist tails, a family can’t raise many chickens and has to follow regulations.
After finally raising chickens, you just wait for them to lay some eggs, either to nourish the elderly and children at home, or to save some and exchange them for things. After all, they are precious things that you have carefully cared for.
Being robbed now is like the sky falling.
No poultry had been stolen in Xiangjiawan for several years. When Old Man Hu said this, the anger of everyone present was instantly ignited.
Someone confirmed, "Old Man Hu, did you really lose a chicken? Maybe you didn't clip its wings and it flew away?"
Old Man Hu said confidently, "We've clipped the wings of both of our chickens. There's no way they could have flown away! My wife and I have been searching for them for two days now, even all over the back hill, but we can't find them! They must have been stolen!"
Someone else said angrily: "You damned little thief, you even stole chickens. I'm afraid you never ate meat in your previous life!"
Some people looked at He Guoqiang who was silent and said with pity: "It can't be that the child stole it. After all, you didn't catch him in the act."
Old Man Hu glared and shook the arm he was holding. "It's not about who he is, he's been sneaking around my house for the past few days. My chicken was missing these two days, but he didn't come. If this isn't because he's guilty about something he did, then what is it?"
When he said this, many people felt that it made sense.
If you don't want to steal chickens, why are you wandering around other people's houses?
Why is it that when someone lost a chicken these two days, you stopped posting?
Some people looked at He Guoqiang with unfriendly eyes, and secretly counted their own things in their hearts, fearing that something would be stolen accidentally.
Immediately, Aunt Cui, who lived close to He Liuzhi's family, said to He Guoqiang, "Guoqiang, please say something. Is it you? Tell the truth."
After hearing this, He Guoqiang looked up at Aunt Cui who was speaking, then lowered his head and remained silent without saying a word.
This attitude made Old Man Hu feel even worse.
"Oh, if he hadn't stolen it, would he be like this?" He sneered.
Anyone who is wronged and doesn’t immediately and angrily refutes the accusation without saying a word has really done something bad!
Now no one spoke for He Guoqiang because everyone thought the same.
No one would be willing to be wronged, especially a child. If they really didn't do it, they would probably have started crying a long time ago.
"You kid, how come you can't even get a fart out of me? If you stole it, you stole it. If you didn't steal it, you didn't steal it. Can you at least say something?"
If you don't say anything, it means you're admitting the matter clearly!
Aunt Cui felt so disappointed when she saw how silent he was.
As for neighbors, speaking of which, He Guoqiang also grew up under her care. When He Liuzhi's family beat their children in the past, it was not that no one said anything about it, but the couple would just say "okay" to her face, but turn around and beat her even harder.
When He Guoqiang was younger, he would cry and scream, but in the past two years, the sound of the child crying has disappeared.
It's not that he doesn't fight anymore, it's that he doesn't make any noise anymore.
If He Liuzhi knew about what happened today, he would definitely beat the child up again. Regardless of whether the child did it or not, Aunt Cui still felt a little sorry for him.
She even came up with some excuses for the child: He was treated too harshly at home and there was no other way.
Just like a few years ago, when everyone was the hungriest, some people even stole seeds mixed with pesticides to eat!
No one would do such a thing unless they were pushed to a certain point.
If people hadn't gotten sick from eating the seeds later, and the team hadn't repeatedly warned people not to eat them to death, there might still be a lot of people stealing the seeds to eat.
If it was really him, then he must have been desperate and extremely hungry...
But at this moment, He Guoqiang was like a clay doll without life or soul. He clenched his teeth and said nothing.
Xiang Yao thought about what he heard last night, and felt that this child was most likely just feeling despair and numbness towards the world.
She has never experienced domestic violence, but when she was a child, her parents were not around and she lived with the elderly. Some people have wronged her because of this.
What was she thinking at that time?
Anyway, mom and dad won’t care, and grandparents will just say it’s her fault in front of others.
They will not seriously seek the truth about this matter, they just want to keep the peace.
She at that time was no different from He Guoqiang today.
After thinking for a while, Old Man Hu was no longer ready to waste time here, so he pulled He Guoqiang and changed direction.
"Okay, since you don't admit it, then I'll go find your parents and tell them. I just don't believe it. We can't get any information from them, and your father He Liuzhi can't tell us either!"
Xiang Yao looked at the child who had lost his balance because of the forceful pulling and hanging by him, and felt that she could no longer just focus on eating melons.
It is enough to eat the melon that the child's parents borrowed to grow. There is no need to harden your heart and eat the child's melon.
After considering it for a moment, Xiang Yao smiled and called out to Old Man Hu: "Uncle Hu, please wait a moment."
Old man Hu raised his arm high and pulled He Guoqiang, but suddenly he heard a crisp sound, stopped, and turned his head to look over.
Recognizing Xiang Liangsheng's daughter, Old Man Hu softened his tone a bit: "Yao girl, why are you calling me?"
Xiang Liangsheng is a good captain, and Xiang Yao also smiled brightly, so the old man Hu's anger subsided a little.
Xiang Yao glanced at He Guoqiang, who looked like he was at your mercy, and said with a smile, "Uncle Hu, I know your family must be very worried about the missing chicken, but since you didn't see the child stealing it with your own eyes, let's not go looking for his parents for now."
After she said this, everyone nodded secretly, thinking that it made sense.
Although the kid has this attitude now, Old Man Hu really didn't catch him in the act. As they used to say in operas, a confession cannot be made by torture.
If He Guoqiang admitted it after being beaten, who can say that it was not a confession under torture?
But some people thought Xiang Yao was meddling in other people's affairs: "What do you know, little girl? He hasn't said anything yet, so he must have done it. If you don't bring up his parents, he's not afraid at all."
Xiang Yao was still smiling, not angry at all. She ignored the others and patiently spoke to Old Man Hu: "Uncle, the child is stubborn. Now he doesn't want to talk. It's useless to force him. Why don't we go to your house first and see if we can find any clues?"
Old Man Hu was skeptical: "What clues can we find in my house? What clues can you find?"
Do educated people have more powerful eyes?
Xiang Yao made up an excuse in a gentle voice: "When I was studying in the county, I saw police officers working on a case! Maybe they can find something."
Old Man Hu believed this, and the others also believed it a little.
There were only a few people in the entire team who could get into the county high school. The Xiang family produced two of them, and Xiang Yao was always at the top of the class every semester. Maybe she really learned some skills in this area!
Old Man Hu cursed harshly, but he was also decisive. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "That's fine. Uncle sees that you are a cultured person, so I believe you can help me today."
Xiang Yao sighed, and happily stepped out of the paddy field. He washed his hands and feet in the canal, then walked up to Old Man Hu, gently held He Guoqiang's arm, and "rescued" him from Old Man Hu's shackles.
Old Man Hu didn't stop her. He squinted his eyes and let go of her hand, but he still warned He Guoqiang: "Don't even think about running away. Come with me!"
Xiang Yao touched the child's dirty head and smiled: "Don't worry, Uncle Hu, I'm leading him, he won't run away."
She looked at He Guoqiang and met his eyes: "Guoqiang, don't you agree?"
He Guoqiang stared at her blankly, then hurriedly looked away to see a group of children watching the fun on the other side of the hill.
After a long while, he nodded reluctantly, and finally uttered the first words since the incident in a hoarse voice: "I won't run away."
There is no point in running. Where else can he run to except Xiangjiawan?
It's just the difference between being beaten one more time or one less time.
Old Man Hu glanced at He Guoqiang in surprise. He didn't expect this stubborn guy to actually speak. He snorted coldly, "Okay, you're better than your father. You're not a bad guy."
Xiang Yao followed Old Man Hu home, followed by three adults, including Aunt Cui who was worried.
Most people wanted to follow along and watch the girl from the Xiang family "investigate the case", but the work in the fields was urgent and it was not time for a meal or a break, so of course they couldn't all follow her like a swarm of bees.
No one spoke along the way, only the sound of footsteps.
As expected, He Guoqiang did not run. He followed Xiang Yao closely, slowing down his pace from time to time to avoid overtaking her.
Fortunately, Old Man Hu’s house was not far away, just on the side of the valley, and it only took a few minutes to walk there.
Xiang Yao wasn't sure, actually. She had never actually seen police officers solve cases. At most, when she was in college and had lots of free time, she'd watch suspenseful crime dramas every day...
However, she still couldn't bear to see He Guoqiang being taken to his father like this, and then watch him being beaten by He Liuzhi in front of everyone.
In any case, it's worth it if I can calm down Old Man Hu's anger.
Several people entered from the front yard. Old Man Hu invited everyone to go into the main hall to drink some cold tea, but everyone refused.
"Let's see if Miss Yao can figure it out first. We won't drink tea anymore." Aunt Cui was impatient. Seeing that Old Man Hu had relaxed after arriving home, she hurriedly urged him, "We haven't finished our work in the fields yet. We've taken some time to come and take a look."
Saying "take a look" was just a courtesy. In fact, Aunt Cui was worried about He Guoqiang, while the other two aunts were half curious about how Xiang Yao was going to investigate, and half wanted to know whether it was He Guoqiang who stole the chicken.
Xiang Yao had never expected that she, a person who loved to watch other people's fun, would now be the one being watched.
Fortunately, she was not a timid person. Seeing these pairs of eyes staring at her, she did not panic and still smiled sweetly.
"Let's go to the chicken coop first, okay, Uncle Hu?"
Old Man Hu nodded: "Okay, let's go, I'll take you there."
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