Chapter 1 Arrest
While Li Chunlian was working, she suddenly heard a commotion. Looking up at the sounds of the crowd, she saw the militia captain leading his men, with an old woman tied up, walking past the shore.
Because they were too far apart, Li Chunlian couldn't see the old woman's face clearly, and asked the woman next to her, "What did that old woman do wrong?"
"Who would know?" the person next to her asked doubtfully. "Are you saying that someone from our brigade is one of them?"
“It wasn’t our brigade, could it have been one of our brigade’s militiamen who took her away?” Li Chunlian said, already mentally calculating who in the brigade had gotten into trouble.
Could it be Granny Chen from next door?
Granny Chen is a formidable woman. All she does is torment her daughter-in-law, and that's not all—she constantly brags to her mother-in-law about how filial her daughter-in-law is, causing her mother-in-law to frequently lash out at the two women. If Granny Chen gets arrested, I'll buy two firecrackers and set them off at their house!
Before Li Chunlian could finish laughing, she heard someone say, "Chunlian, why does that look like your mother-in-law?"
“Your mother-in-law is the one who got into trouble!” Li Chunlian’s face fell upon hearing this. She thought to herself, “What’s wrong with this person? Is she cursing the Lin family?”
But other people in the area said, "I also think it looks like Weimin's mother. Was she wearing a navy blue padded jacket this morning?"
"The figure looks similar too."
"What did she do wrong?"
Hearing everyone's discussion, Li Chunlian became flustered and confused. "You really...you really saw my mother-in-law?"
“I’ve lived in this brigade for decades, how could I mistake you?” an old woman said. “You should hurry home and check, lest something has happened.”
Li Chunlian panicked completely. She dropped her hoe and rushed into the group of men with her husband, Lin Weiguo, and cried out, "Something's happened! Something's happened! Our mother's been tied up by the militia captain!"
The man was further from the shore, and no one had seen the people who had just passed by. Lin Weiguo was displeased upon hearing this and said, "What are you saying, woman? What did my mother do to deserve being kidnapped by the militia?"
Lin Weimin was right beside her, and upon hearing this, he anxiously asked, "Sister-in-law, did you see clearly?"
If Li Chunlian had seen it clearly, she wouldn't need anyone to tell her. She spoke somewhat hesitantly, "Just now, an old lady was indeed tied up by the militia captain. All the wives of us who work with her saw it."
"I'm telling you, you old hag—" Lin Weiguo raised his hand to slap Li Chunlian, but before he could do so, Lin Weimin stopped him, rolled his eyes, and said irritably, "You see an old lady being tied up and you claim she's my mother? What? You're hoping my mother gets tied up, aren't you?"
Lin Weimin said, "Sister-in-law, are you sure you're not mistaken? Our mother didn't do anything wrong, so why was she tied up and taken away?"
Lin Weimin felt that although his mother liked to take advantage of small things, she was much better than many old ladies in the village. At least she didn't mistreat her daughter-in-law and even helped her daughter study and become successful. In the middle of the year, their family was even recognized as a "Five-Good Family"!
Besides, the old lady was perfectly fine when they left this morning. How could she have committed a crime and been arrested in just a few hours?
The more Lin Weimin thought about it, the more he felt that his sister-in-law had made a mistake. Seeing the two brothers' confident statements, Li Chunlian also became doubtful. Could it really be that they had made a mistake?
As Li Chunlian was thinking, she heard a voice coming from afar, "Father! Mother! Something has happened to our family!"
Li Chunlian turned around and looked up, only to see her nephew Lin Chunhe running from the edge of the field, panting and shouting, "Father, Mother, Second Uncle, Second Aunt! Grandma's been arrested—"
The Lin brothers, Weimin and Weiguo, were both taken aback upon hearing this. Weiguo frowned and asked, "What exactly happened?"
Lin Chunhe came up to this piece of land, put his hands on his knees, panted heavily, and said with a mournful face, "I don't know! I only saw Uncle Haisheng leading people to tie up Grandma, saying that he was going to send her to the commune for investigation!"
These words stunned not only the Lin brothers, but everyone else as well.
Sent to the commune for investigation? This must be a big deal! Someone immediately asked, "What did Auntie do to deserve investigation?"
"Send them to the commune? Will they be able to come back later?"
While they were discussing this, the Lin brothers, Weimin and Weiguo, took off running towards the brigade, and Li Chunlian quickly followed.
When they returned to the village, the militia had already left with the people tied up. Lin Weimin and the other two discussed it and decided to split up. Lin Weiguo went to chase after the people, Lin Weimin went to the brigade headquarters to inquire about the situation, and Li Chunlian went home to see what had happened.
After parting ways with the two brothers, Li Chunlian hurried home.
To be honest, Li Chunlian didn't really like her mother-in-law, Old Lady Lin. She thought she was mean and biased. Although she didn't mistreat her daughter-in-law like Old Lady Chen next door, Old Lady Lin wasn't exactly kind to her either. But no matter how much Li Chunlian cursed her mother-in-law, she never imagined that one day her mother-in-law would be taken away by the militia.
They were taken away for questioning! They must have committed a crime!
The Lin family has been poor farmers for three generations, and only through this means can they live a stable life. If something happens to Old Mrs. Lin, will it affect the family's class background? Will it affect the children's future?
Li Chunlian felt a chill run down her spine just thinking about it, and quickened her pace to get home.
Upon arriving at her doorstep, Li Chunlian immediately spotted the man in military uniform standing in the yard. She strode in and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing in my house?"
The man was Xie Wei. After Old Lady Lin was taken away by the militia, Lin Qingqing naturally could no longer stay at the Lin family's house. Secretary Zhou then arranged for her to stay at the commune's guesthouse and arranged for Xie Wei to accompany her back to pack her things.
Standing in the courtyard, Xie Wei looked around the Lin family's house.
The Lin family's house was laid out similarly to other houses, a traditional courtyard house with a main hall in the center and two rooms on either side. The east room connected to the kitchen, and the west room connected to the woodshed. The house was made of adobe, but it was clear that it had only been built a few years ago, yet Lin Qingqing did not live in any of the newly built rooms.
Lin Qingqing's house was in front of the woodshed. The house was shorter than the other houses, the roof was thatched, the walls looked older, and there was a big hole in the bottom of the wooden door.
Judging from the accommodations, one can imagine what kind of life Lin Qingqing lived in the Lin family.
Xie Wei's gaze darkened slightly, so he did not answer Li Chunlian's question.
His attitude infuriated Li Chunlian. She heard the wooden door to Lin Qingqing's room open and heard noises coming from inside. She was convinced that Xie Wei was the wild man she had brought back. With her hands on her hips, she scolded, "Well done! Lin Qingqing, you've really made something of yourself! You dare to bring a wild man back before you're even engaged!"
Li Chunlian always liked to make trouble, and Lin Qingqing usually ignored her. However, Li Chunlian's words were too outrageous. She didn't care about herself, but she didn't want to ruin Xie Wei's reputation. She tied up her bundle and walked out of the house, saying, "They say that the lewd see lewdness and the wise see wisdom. I didn't understand this saying before, but after seeing Second Sister-in-law, I understand now."
Li Chunlian hadn't read many books and didn't know that Lin Qingqing was using the phrase "different strokes for different folks" to mock her, but she knew that "lewd" wasn't a good word, and immediately her face turned pale with anger: "You dare bring a wild man home but you don't dare let me say anything?"
As she spoke, Li Chunlian noticed the bundle Lin Qingqing was carrying and, in a flash of inspiration, pointed at Lin Qingqing and said, "Why are you packing your bundle? Are you going to elope with this wild man? Lin Qingqing, do you have any shame at all! You can actually do something like eloping!"
If it weren't for Xie Wei's presence, Lin Qingqing would have rolled her eyes and said, "Who said I wanted to elope? I just want to leave your Lin family."
"Leaving the Lin family doesn't count as eloping?" Li Chunlian thought Lin Qingqing was making excuses and said gloatingly, "Lin Qingqing, you're finished! If I catch you, you'd better run far away! Otherwise, when Mother comes back and finds out about this, she'll definitely beat you to death!"
After her initial gloating, Li Chunlian remembered that Old Lady Lin had been arrested, and her expression turned serious. "Do you know what your mother was doing at home? Why was she arrested by the militia? And what about Yingzi?"
As soon as Li Chunlian finished speaking, Lin Ying and her husband Zhao Liye ran back from outside. As soon as they entered the door, they asked, "Lin Qingqing, didn't your mother go looking for you? How could she have been taken away by the militia?"
Lin Ying ran into the yard, saw Xie Wei, frowned, and asked, "Who is this?"
"Who else could it be? Qingqing's lover!" Li Chunlian said irritably. "Didn't you see she was carrying a bundle? She was preparing to elope with her lover!"
Upon hearing Li Chunlian's words, Lin Ying looked Xie Wei up and down for a moment, her brows furrowing slightly. Why hadn't she heard her mother mention that Lin Qingqing had a boyfriend?
When Lin Ying's husband, Zhao Liye, saw Xie Wei, his eyes lit up and he stepped forward to shake hands with him. "You must be Comrade Xie Wei? Hello, my name is Zhao Liye, and I'm Qingqing's brother-in-law."
Upon hearing the words "brother-in-law," Xie Wei lowered his eyes to look at the man in front of him.
Zhao Liye was tall and thin, with a refined and scholarly demeanor, but his obsequious smile made him appear somewhat fawning. Xie Wei frowned slightly and asked Lin Qingqing, "Are you ready?"
"Mm," Lin Qingqing nodded.
Let's go.
After Xie Wei finished speaking, he turned to leave, but Lin Ying grabbed Lin Qingqing's hand and pressed her for an answer, "You still haven't told me why Mother was arrested? What did she do wrong?"
Li Chunlian also came to her senses and asked, "Does Mother's arrest have anything to do with you?"
"Why was Mother arrested?" Lin Qingqing asked, turning to look at Lin Ying with a slight smile. "You should ask Third Sister that."
"What does this have to do with me?" Lin Ying frowned.
Seeing Lin Qingqing's expression, Li Chunlian was certain that the matter was related to her. She imagined a whole series of scenarios and said, "I know! Mother must have known about your affair with him, which is why you framed her and arrested her! Mother has always been so good to you, how could you be so vicious!" As Li Chunlian spoke, she shouted and pounced on Lin Qingqing to hit her.
Xie Wei grabbed Li Chunlian's hand, shielding Lin Qingqing behind him, and said, "Comrade, please show some respect."
"Why should I respect a lover like you!" Li Chunlian wailed. "This is outrageous! The lover is hitting me!"
"Second sister-in-law," Lin Qingqing said, standing behind Xie Wei and looking at the wailing Li Chunlian, "Stop pretending to be crazy and throwing a tantrum. Don't you want to know why Mother was arrested? You shouldn't ask me this, you should ask Third Sister."
Lin Ying's expression changed. "What does this have to do with me?"
Lin Qingqing's gaze swept across Lin Ying's face and landed on Zhao Liye.
While reading the original novel, she was often so angry at the despicable behavior of Lin Ying and her daughter and the cowardice of the original owner that she almost vomited blood, but the person she hated the most was Zhao Liye.
In the original novel, he is portrayed as an innocent victim who suffers pain and confusion after being schemed against by Old Lady Lin. In their later interactions, he also shows pity for the original owner of this body. However, Lin Qingqing believes that he is one of the culprits who pushed the original owner into the abyss.
He felt sorry for the original owner of this body, yet for the sake of his wife and family, he made her pregnant with one child after another. His cowardice and selfishness made him unable to help but pity the original owner, but because he couldn't hide it well enough, Lin Ying was extremely wary of her. When the original owner was arranged to marry a violent cripple, he knew that the man was no good, but he chose to compromise for the sake of family stability, even comforting himself by saying that the original owner would be happy if she left the Zhao family.
She wanted to see how he would stop the family feud and bring peace back after this incident.
Lin Qingqing lowered her eyes and said, "Didn't Third Sister say that she couldn't have children and persuaded Mother to force me to have your child? When Secretary Zhou, who was visiting the countryside, found out about this, he said that Mother's behavior was very bad, so he had the militia kidnap her and send her to the commune for investigation."
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