Chapter 46 Chapter 46 The melon is coming
Lin Anran really wanted to investigate and do things on her own, but she was very self-aware and could only think about it in her head. She left all the investigation and reporting to Li Ming and Zhang Yan. If she joined them, she would be a serious drag. It would be good for her to be a mascot to cheer them up.
The three of them agreed to conduct an anonymous investigation and report anonymously. Whether it was Lin Anran, Zhang Yan or Li Ming, none of them liked to be high-profile and flamboyant. Instead, they were cautious and low-key.
The decision to investigate and report the underground casino had to be done quietly, because the Lin family would still have to live here in the future. Once Lin Anran and the others were too high-profile and attracted hatred, it was hard to guarantee that it would not bring disaster to the Lin family. Even those gamblers, who didn't have one or two relatives?
Lin Anran watched as Li Ming disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye. He turned to look at Zhang Yan beside him and said, "Are you really not going to help Li Ming? I'm safe at home. Nothing will happen to me."
Zhang Yan said firmly, "No! If either Li Ming or I leave your side, we'll be derelict in our duty. Li Ming must leave, and I absolutely cannot. I'll stay to protect you and provide support for Li Ming."
Lin Anran was helpless but understood: "Okay, I hope Li Ming is safe and sound."
Zhang Yan was not worried about Li Ming and just asked Lin Anran to relax. If everything went well, Li Ming would be able to complete this unexpected task tonight. Li Ming's task was not difficult for him. He only had to collect evidence, find out the location of the casino and the relevant personnel, and finally make an anonymous report.
Thinking about busting the underground casinos and sending Wu Shun to jail, Lin Anran lay in bed that night, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. However, her biological clock was there, and she soon drifted off to sleep.
Then I dreamed until the next morning.
Lin Anran looked at the tiled roof above him, stunned for a moment, then suddenly sobered up. He jumped out of bed, quickly changed into his clothes and shoes, pulled his hair down with his hands, and walked to the door: "Zhang Yan?"
"Anran, I'm here." Zhang Yan heard Lin Anran calling her and quickly responded.
Lin Anran looked at Zhang Yan. She was fine, all in good shape, just like yesterday. She looked around and didn't see Li Ming. She whispered, "Has Li Ming come back?"
Zhang Yan smiled and nodded. "He did find time to come back and let me know. Don't worry, everything went smoothly. Or rather, it went too smoothly."
"Yeah!" Lin Anran made a "V" sign with both hands and laughed heartily. "The casino guys weren't prepared, and we weren't prepared either, so we just charged in. Now it all depends on who's stronger."
It must be Li Ming, hahaha!
Could a bunch of thugs compare to Li Ming, a former professional soldier? Even after retiring and becoming bodyguards, being a bodyguard wasn't easy. Lin Anran knew that Li Ming and Zhang Yan still had to hone their skills and learn more about how to protect their employers. Their skills grew as they practiced, making them stronger than any of the thugs Wu Shun had gathered.
"Anran looks so happy this morning." Seeing Lin Anran laughing, Lu Xiaoye also laughed.
Lin Anran turned around with a smile: "Good morning, sister-in-law."
Lu Xiaoye: "Good morning, Anran, I've got breakfast warming up in the pot for you."
"Okay, I'll wash my face and brush my teeth and then go eat." Lin Anran hummed a song happily.
While eating breakfast, Lin Anran listened to Zhang Yan reporting to her the news brought back by Li Ming. It turned out that Wu Shun was not the biggest fish. To be more precise, Wu Shun was the small fish on the line. There were many piranhas above Wu Shun. Things involving casinos, gambling, and gambling were not something ordinary people could get involved in.
After hearing some dark secrets, Lin Anran just listened without commenting. Finally, he said, "The prerequisite for us to do good things is to protect our own safety first. Zhang Yan, you and Li Ming know this, right?"
Zhang Yan smiled at her and said, "I know. Li Ming and I won't act rashly."
Lin Anran nodded. It was good to be a good person and do good things, but one should not sacrifice oneself. She always put herself first before turning her attention to others.
After breakfast, Lin Anran had nothing to do. Lin's mother and Lu Xiaoye had been studying how to make beautiful hairpins these days. She ran over to give some suggestions based on future aesthetics. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law suddenly realized something and got inspired. They worked together to design beautiful hairpins and didn't pay attention to Lin Anran. Lin's father and Lin Anshan's work was not easy and they were running around outside, so Lin Anran didn't know what to do for a moment.
She didn't plan to go out today because it might be a bit chaotic outside, so she didn't want to cause herself trouble.
It just so happened that some familiar people from Lin Village came to visit. Everyone had some snacks like peanuts and melon seeds in their hands. Lin Anran pulled Zhang Yan and simply chatted with everyone while eating melon seeds.
Lin Anran had given everyone a lot of advice in good faith before, and many people listened to it, so they all came to him again today just to learn more information from him.
"Everyone treats me to some melon seeds, and I help answer questions as a reward." Lin Anran bit the melon seeds with his teeth.
"Hahaha, we're welcome then."
Lin Anran didn't mind: "Ask whatever you want. As long as I can answer, I won't give you any perfunctory answers."
Lin Anran wasn't a professional job seeker, so after she'd said everything she needed to say, she changed the subject: "Does anyone want to ask anything else?"
"An Ran, you said before that you were going to night school to prepare for the college entrance exam, right? Is this reliable?" Some people were curious. In the 1980s, it was already popular in cities to go to night school to get a college degree, but there were no such convenient conditions in rural areas. Just sending ordinary children to school was a heavy burden on the family. Many people didn't know that there were night schools for adults in the city.
Lin Anran's eyes lit up unexpectedly when someone brought up the topic of schooling. She happily declared, "It's absolutely reliable! Night colleges are a government initiative to help urban workers improve their skills. Graduates can still receive a state-recognized university degree." As for the potential decline in the value of night college degrees in the future? That's a point that shouldn't be raised at this point, as the value of university degrees will generally decline.
"After attending night school, you usually have to work and study at the same time, which is very hard. Taking the regular college entrance examination is easier."
Someone sighed, "Going to school and working at the same time is better than farming in the fields."
"We can't compare with city people now. If we send our children to college, they will be the same as city kids in the future. So when we go home, we have to supervise our children's studies."
"You have five children, right? If you send them all to school, you'll have to sell everything you have to support them."
"So I'm thinking of letting the boys go to school, and the girls just need to learn a few words. Girls will eventually marry into other families, and boys can learn good or bad things, but they're still ours anyway..."
"Ahem!" Lin Anran had to interrupt abruptly to draw everyone's attention, then said, "Today I don't want to tell you about not favoring boys over girls. I want to talk to you about something practical."
Lin Anran understood very well that she couldn't change people's preference for boys over girls, and she didn't intend to do such a thankless task. How could she change people's mindsets formed over decades with just a few words? If she had to talk, she would talk from the perspective of practical benefits.
Although family planning has been very strict since 1983, many people in Lin Village are not so willing to abide by it in recent years. They don't enforce it so strictly. Many families get pregnant and give birth secretly, and then pay a fine. In other words, every household in Lin Village basically has several children. Single-child families? Too few.
When there are many children, there are limited resources at home, and many parents are only willing to take care of the boys in the family. Girls are often neglected, sacrificed, or even drained of their wealth.
"Let's talk about something practical? What practical?" Everyone's curiosity was aroused.
Lin Anran explained, "A family has a girl and a boy. If the girl studies well, she can get into university. If you support her in school, she has a high chance of becoming a successful person in the future. Investing in her will definitely not lose money, but may even make money. The boy is a poor student and will definitely not get into university. But if the family supports him, the more money they spend, the more they lose. Who would you choose to support in school?"
Everyone was stunned and didn't react for a moment.
"If it were me, I would definitely choose a girl. At this time, it doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl. As long as a family puts all their efforts into supporting a college student, it will definitely benefit the whole family." Lin Anran said very confidently. In this era, if you can get into college from the countryside, you can't change your family background, but you can definitely reap the benefits of the times.
Lin Anran wasted no time in saying all this, not for anything else, but because if there was a girl in Lin Village who was good at studying and whose family was willing to send her to college, even just one would be fine, and her words wouldn't be wasted. But if there wasn't even one? Just assume she was bored and wanted to lecture others.
"This, this, this girl will marry into another family sooner or later. There's no point in training her to become a successful person." Some people didn't understand.
"Having said this, this is what I think. You can do whatever you want. You don't have to follow my instructions." Lin Anran was straightforward and stopped talking. If you talk too much, people will still be unhappy to hear it.
Everyone looked at Lin Anran in astonishment, wanting to say, "You're being a jerk! You've just finished talking about such a crucial point! Shouldn't you have given us a few more words of advice?"
Lin Anran asked curiously, "Is there anything new in the village?"
Now it's her gossip time!
As a result, there was a lot of gossip, especially a lot of dramatic events, such as the love-hate relationship between the five men and women in Lam Village, who was cheating on their husbands, and who was having an affair with their uncle and sister-in-law...
Lin Anran was stunned. It was outrageous, too outrageous. Where were the simple villagers you were promised? Turns out, you guys have already gone so far in your emotional life.
Most of the gossip she heard was about love. Oh, people in Lin Village don’t talk about love or not, they just like to talk about who is having an affair with whom.
"Anran, can I say that Wu Shun still has his current wife?" An old lady looked at Lin Anran mysteriously.
Lin Anran's eyes sparkled, and she waved her hand nonchalantly, "Speak! Auntie, please speak quickly. Don't stop just because you feel tired!"
The old lady slapped her thigh excitedly, and under everyone's scorching gaze, she chattered, "You don't know, Wu Shun has several lovers outside. I heard he has other families in the county and in the town. This is absolutely true, I'm not lying to you! And Wu Shun's current wife also has a lover outside. I once saw Wu Shun's wife and her stepbrother hugging each other as they entered a small house!"
Everyone was shocked.
"This couple is cheating on each other?!" Lin Anran's eyes widened. There's even an incestuous relationship going on. Are the Wu Shun couple so adventurous? Are they cheating on each other?
The old lady said indifferently, "Wu Shun is a homeless man, and his wife is also a homeless man now." As she spoke, the old lady turned her head to look at Lin Anran with a puzzled expression, "Anran, why were you so well-behaved before? It's good that you are like this now. You will definitely not be fooled around by others and help others count money."
Lin Anran curled his lips: "Who dares to lie to me now?"
The old lady agreed: "You owe 120,000 yuan, no one dares to cheat you."
Instead, he was afraid that Lin Anran would extort money from him.
Everyone urged the aunt to tell us the details quickly, we want to hear them!
So the old lady told everyone everything she heard and saw, satisfying everyone's desire to eat melons. Lin Anran was very full after eating the melons. In one word, it was great.
Lin Anran was enjoying the melon in the morning, and in the afternoon Li Ming brought back good news - the underground casino was shut down, and Wu Shun was caught red-handed because he was in the casino at the time!
Lin Anran cheered: "We are celebrating the New Year in advance, hahaha!"
Zhang Yan asked, "Is the efficiency so high?"
Li Ming explained, "Because the Public Security Bureau has already set up an investigation team, they've already found clues. Sooner or later, they'll be able to bust the underground gambling den. The things I sent just sped things up. That underground gambling den isn't just in Lin Village; there are many more hidden beneath the surface. I've discovered at least ten people who have lost everything to gambling, and there are even young women being forced into it... There are even lives involved."
"Human lives?" Lin Anran suppressed his smile. "So brazen? Yeah, a bunch of gamblers who value money over lives."
Zhang Yan consoled him, "Those people will definitely be punished by law."
The county public security bureau arrested so many people at once that the nearby villages were alarmed. Even in the freezing weather, people were still running around to eat melons.
All those who participated in gambling were arrested. Some people whose family members gambled were relieved, while others wanted to spend money to redeem their loved ones. In short, there are all kinds of people in different situations.
Lin's mother and father were overjoyed, with smiles stretching from ear to ear all day long. They said to Lin Anran, "Wu Shun's retribution has come," and then said that it was a pity that they didn't see Wu Shun being arrested with their own eyes, otherwise they would have laughed even more happily.
Lin Anran was also very sorry. She didn't expect that this matter would end so smoothly and quickly. It was a pity that she didn't see the climax. But it was also a good thing that she didn't have to see Wu Shun himself. She didn't want to see this scumbag at all. Knowing that the scumbag had a hard time, she was happy, as happy as New Year's Day.
"Hearing others describe it just doesn't compare to witnessing it with your own eyes," Lin Anran asked Li Ming to recount the scene of Wu Shun's arrest, shaking his head and saying, "How many years would Wu Shun be sentenced for?"
Li Ming shook his head: "Wait until the verdict comes out."
Zhang Yan guessed: "Given his crimes, he'll have at least ten years."
Lin Anran said openly: "Ten years, haha ......"
Wu Shun did a lot of bad things, but he didn't kill anyone, so he doesn't deserve the death penalty. Although there's no severe crackdown at the moment, he will definitely be behind bars for many years.
In such a lively atmosphere, Lin Anran took Li Ming and Zhang Yan to the town police station. Her household registration transfer procedures were finally completed. The two happy events happened at the same time, adding insult to injury.
She was preparing to return to Shenzhen. Lin Anran had already missed her orchids and aloe vera. She had been away for so many days and wondered how they were growing. They must be doing well.
"An Ran is back!"
Lin Anran looked at the crowded house without any surprise on her face. She was used to having so many people at the Lin family every day.
"Come quickly, Anran. You probably don't know what happened to Wu Shun's family again!" Mother Lin could now mention Wu Shun in front of Lin Anran without any hesitation. She said excitedly, "Wu Shun's wife planned to run away with the money, but was caught by the police. In order to distance herself from Wu Shun, Wu Shun's wife said that the son and daughter she gave birth to were not Wu Shun's, but her stepbrother's! Wu Shun's wife said that since Wu Shun couldn't have children, she found someone else to have them, and she used Wu Shun's money to support a man outside!"
"Ah?" Lin Anran was so shocked that his mind went blank.
Mother Lin: "It's true! Wu Shun can't have children!"
Others joined in the discussion, saying, "No wonder Wu Shun found so many children, but only his wife gave birth to a pair of children. It turns out they weren't Wu Shun's either. So, is Wu Shun really infertile?"
"Then Lin Anran..."
"Lin Anran can have children, but Wu Shun can't. We misunderstood him before!"
"No, how can a man not give birth? Isn't giving birth a woman's job?"
"Bullshit! Is giving birth to a child none of your business as men?"
As the argument went on, everyone started fighting.
Lin Anran calmly watched the farce in front of him, enjoying it very much.
"Anran, it's good now. It's not that you can't have a baby. You can. Let's go see a doctor and confirm it again." Mother Lin's eyes turned red with excitement.
Lin Anran: “Ah…”
She remembered the checkup she had done in the hospital and whispered in Lin Ma's ear that she was very healthy.
Mother Lin's tears suddenly fell. While comforting her, she cursed the damn Wu Shun. She suddenly asked, "Anran, why didn't you tell your family that you went to the hospital?" "I forgot." Lin Anran said naturally. In fact, she felt that there was no need to make this matter public. Even if it was the Lin family, she didn't want others to stare at her uterus.
Now I'll just let it go and say it out loud, so that Mother Lin can feel at ease.
"Mom, don't prove it to others one by one. It's useless and unnecessary. The more you explain, the more people will think we are covering up. I was happy and relaxed like before." Lin Anran reminded Lin's mother.
Just as she was about to announce it, Lin's mother silently shut up: "You're right. If you don't give birth to a child, people will doubt your ability to have children."
Lin Anran continued jokingly, "And then introduce me to a marriage partner, but I'm 120,000 yuan in debt and divorced, so the ones they introduce me to will probably be some ugly ducklings."
Mother Lin: “…”
This is the reality.
Mother Lin thought the group of people at home were too noisy, so she sent them away.
Lin Anran took the opportunity to tell the Lin family that he was planning to return to Shenzhen the day after tomorrow. The Lin family was stunned when they heard it.
Father Lin looked at Lin Anran with a look of reluctance on his face: "The New Year is almost here..."
"I definitely won't be able to go back for the New Year this year. It's always hard to get train tickets during the New Year. If Anli and Anhua can't get train tickets, they probably won't be able to come back. The three of us can just spend the New Year together in Shenzhen." Lin Anran was not disappointed. Rather, she was looking forward to going back. Shenzhen was the place she was most familiar with.
Mother Lin choked up and said, "Alas, the three of you left your hometown. I can't see you even if I want to."
Lin Anran: "You can come to Shenzhen to see us, but you must bring a few more people with you."
Lu Xiaoye pulled Lin Anshan and said, "Anran, we must go to your house to take a look later."
Lin Anshan was stunned. Seeing Lu Xiaoye looking at him firmly, he smiled at his wife and said, "Anran, we are very curious about your house."
"Come on." Lin Anran said generously.
Before leaving, Lin Anran, Lin's mother and father went to the Yang family, Lin's mother's family. The two elders of the previous generation of the Yang family had passed away. Now the eldest of the Yang family was Uncle Yang. The four brothers of the Yang family had already separated, but the brothers had a good relationship and their houses were built in one place. The Yang family was a big family with three generations living under the same roof. Together, the population was prosperous and every day was very lively.
Uncle Yang was a soldier in his early years. After retiring, he returned to Yang Village and became the mainstay of the Yang family. When Lin's father and mother were undecided, they would come to the Yang family to ask Uncle Yang's opinion.
In the living room of Uncle Yang's house, Lin Anran sat next to Lin's father and mother, looking at the relatives in the room. There were so many people that she could hardly recognize their faces and names. However, she didn't need to. She greeted everyone roughly, and soon there were only her uncle, aunt, and the four oldest cousins from each family in the living room.
When Lin Anran heard Uncle Yang say that his second cousin was going to take several members of the Yang family to Shenzhen for development, he was surprised for a moment, but the next second he was filled with joy. It would certainly be better to have family members in Shenzhen.
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