No one was familiar with the other deceased, so Chu Jingqiu drew portraits of them. Zhou Yiming immediately organized police forces to conduct an investigation and released news on television, newspapers and other media to find the relatives of the victims.
Gu Weimin and Xiao Dong were going to Qingshan Brigade to investigate Hu Mingyue's situation. When Chu Jingqiu came, Du Yueming and Zhang Pingping asked her to help bring some things home.
Chu Jingqiu had been busy these days and hadn't had time to go to Qingshan Brigade, so he took a bus with Gu Weimin and came to Qingshan Brigade.
When the car entered Qingshan Brigade along the newly built road, Chu Jingqiu could still see the villagers busy weeding corn in the fields.
The weather in summer is extremely hot. In order to avoid the high temperature at noon, many members get up early at four or five o'clock to work in the fields.
Around ten o'clock in the morning, when the sun was high in the sky and scorching the earth, everyone finished work and went home.
Chu Jingqiu, Gu Weimin and their group arrived at Qingshan Brigade at around 9:30, when the people working in the fields were walking back.
The men were shirtless, and the women mostly wore small vests, not even underwear, and walked home with hoes on their shoulders. This simple and real rural life scene made Chu Jingqiu feel familiar and intimate.
Chu Jingqiu and the others went straight to the home of the old Party branch secretary, Du Jianguo. Du Jianguo had just returned from working in the fields, his face sunburned and red, and was washing his face in a basin in the yard.
His granddaughter Cuixia was serving him food. He had not had time to eat breakfast because he had gone to work in the fields early in the morning.
Beneath a large tree in the courtyard, a square table held a large bowl of mung bean soup. Next to it was a small basket made of sorghum stalks, filled with a few steamed buns. There was also a plate of stir-fried beans with tomatoes and a dish of smashed cucumbers.
Gu Weimin greeted with a smile: "Secretary Du, are you having breakfast now?"
Du Jianguo looked up and saw that it was Gu Weimin and Chu Jingqiu. He jumped up from his stool in surprise. "Hey, Director Gu, Chu Zhiqing, why are you two here? What rare guests! Come in!"
Gu Weimin quickly waved his hand, "Don't go in, just sit in the yard for a while! You haven't eaten yet! We can talk after you finish your meal!"
Du Jianguo grinned, "Have you eaten yet? If you don't mind, you can have a simple meal here!"
Chu Jingqiu also smiled, "Old Party Secretary, we've all eaten. Don't be polite with us. You can eat first!"
Du Jianguo smiled and said to Cuixia, "Hurry up and pour a cup of tea for the guests. Take out the ice watermelon from the well so that the uncles and aunts can cool down!"
Gu Weimin stood up hurriedly. "Old Party Secretary, please don't be polite. Let's eat first! Don't starve!"
Du Jianguo nodded. "Okay, I won't be polite. Please wait a moment. I'll finish eating soon."
Cuixia quickly brought a large pot of cold tea and some watermelon cut into small pieces. Chu Jingqiu and Gu Weimin took the tea, thanked them, and sat down.
Gu Weimin looked around and exclaimed, "Secretary Du, your yard is so clean. It's quite cool sitting under the shade of the tree."
Du Jianguo smiled and waved his hands, "No, no, this is an old courtyard in the countryside. It can't compare to the conditions in your city. However, living here is quite comfortable."
Chu Jingqiu took the watermelon, took a bite, and praised: "This watermelon is really sweet. It feels really cool after being frozen in the well!"
After taking a few bites of his meal, Du Jianguo put down his bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a towel, and then turned to Gu Weimin and Chu Jingqiu and said, "Director Gu, Chu Zhiqing, something big must have happened when you two came here this time, right?"
Gu Weimin nodded. "Old Secretary, this is what happened. We found Hu Mingyue's remains in the stinking ditch in Hongqi Town, so we want to learn more about her..."
Du Jianguo interrupted Gu Weimin in surprise, "Who? Hu Mingyue? Didn't Hu Mingyue return to the city a long time ago? How could she die in a stinking ditch?"
Chu Jingqiu said with a serious expression: "Old Party Secretary, there is no mistake. I personally performed the skull reconstruction. Hu Mingyue has indeed been murdered!"
Xiao Dong quickly interrupted, "Old Party Secretary, could you tell me in detail about her return to the city?"
Du Jianguo said with a serious expression: "It was the winter of 1978. Hu Mingyue saw that most of the educated youth had returned to the city, and she wanted to go back too, but there was a regulation that educated youth who got married locally could not return to the city.
So, she filed for divorce from Qingmin. Qingmin even knelt down in front of her and asked her to stop making trouble for the sake of their four children.
But Hu Mingyue was determined to go back, and in the end they divorced.
After the divorce, Hu Mingyue took some of her belongings and returned to the city. At that time, we all thought she would never come back.
Gu Weimin frowned, "Old Party Secretary, has Hu Mingyue ever come back since her divorce? Or, has she ever had any contact with anyone in the village?"
Du Jianguo shook his head and said, "No, she never came back after her divorce, and I have never heard of her having any contact with anyone in the village.
She left so resolutely, without even saying goodbye to her children. Everyone thought she was heartless, abandoning four children like that!"
Xiao Dong continued to ask, "After Hu Mingyue's divorce, what happened to her ex-husband Yu Qingmin?"
Du Jianguo sighed, "Qingmin, he's a good man. He's been taking care of four children since his divorce. Over the past few years, he's been both a father and a mother, which has been really difficult."
Chu Jingqiu knew that Hu Mingyue had been thinking about returning to the city since she went to the countryside, but she failed to plot against Yu Qingmin and was instead plotted against by Yu Shujie.
Yu Shujie thought that by having a few more children, he could keep Hu Mingyue in this mountain valley, but he didn't expect Hu Mingyue to be so determined to return to the city.
In order to return to the city, she abandoned her husband and children, but for some reason she failed to return to the city and instead died tragically in a stinking ditch.
Could it be that the Yu family had killed Hu Mingyue? Logically, the Yu family had a motive, but they had four children after all. For the sake of their children, they would not have killed Hu Mingyue.
Thinking of this, she looked at Du Jianguo and asked, "Old Party Secretary, is Yu Qingmin still working in the county?"
Du Jianguo shook his head helplessly: "Alas, he was fired a long time ago! Back then, he and Li Ziqiang were hired together.
That year, Liang Hongrao cheated in the college entrance examination. As a result, the authorities not only found out clearly that Li Ziqiang replaced Jiang Zhiqing with a job quota, but also discovered that the two job quotas in our village were obtained through improper means!
Qingmin's quota was actually obtained by Yu Shujie through connections and backdoors. It was all Liang Hongrao's father who manipulated it behind the scenes.
So, after Liang Hongrao's father was dismissed from his post, Qingmin was also fired, and Yu Shujie was directly dismissed from his post. Their family's life is getting worse day by day!
If it weren't for this, perhaps Hu Mingyue could still live with Qingmin, but ever since Qingmin returned to the village, they have been having a small quarrel every two days and a big fight every three days.
Hu Mingyue has been threatening to divorce several times, and our villagers have stepped in to mediate and persuade her many times...!"
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