Chapter 3: Death Throes

“Whether it’s true or not will be clear once we investigate. For now, keep quiet!” After the police officer issued the warning, he turned to the neighborhood committee director, “Please go to the police station and bring two more of my colleagues over.”

He had assumed this was just a common civil dispute, but he hadn’t expected it to involve robbery. It was becoming tricky.

The officer’s words made the hearts of Ma Cuihua and her three companions sink even further.

Liu Li was, at the end of the day, just a spoiled young girl who had never seen the world. She had never encountered such a situation and was already terrified. She hid behind Ma Cuihua, trembling, and cursed Lin Qin incessantly in her heart.

After the officer finished learning about Chen Wenjun’s situation, he asked, “Do you know this woman?”

Chen Wenjun looked at Lin Qin with a gaze that was both strange and blank. Just as he was about to shake his head, the pain made him wince, and he quickly replied, “I don’t know her.”

“He’s lying!” Liu Yongguo said, his emotions highly agitated.

Chen Wenjun felt it was inexplicable and his eyes turned red with anger. “What lie am I telling? I sell fish on this street. I can guarantee I’ve never seen her before—at the very least, she has never bought my fish!

I also never set up a stall in the alleyways. Unless someone calls out to me to buy fish while I’m walking the streets, and since your family has never bought fish from me, how could I possibly know this woman?”

Everyone was a bit dizzy from his explanation, but once they sorted it out, they felt what he said made sense.

Lin Yi cried out, “My daughter has had a soft nature since she was a child. She has no say in her husband’s family, and the family’s money has never passed through her hands. She doesn’t buy groceries or go out on the streets on a daily basis. The clothes she wears are the ones she prepared when she got married. She hasn’t even had a new piece of clothing or a new pair of pants in all these years. How could she possibly be involved with a fishmonger! This Liu family is bullying people too much!”

Li Lian muttered in a low voice, “That’s just because she’s useless. Otherwise, why wouldn’t the Liu family bully the eldest daughter-in-law instead of her!”

“Keep your mouth shut!” Lin Zhi glared at Li Lian as a warning.

In the current situation, anyone with eyes could see which side had the bigger problem. If Li Lian’s words were taken as her being an accomplice to the Liu family, what would they do?

Li Lian curled her lips and subconsciously shook her palm, which was still feeling numb, cursing Lin Qin a hundred times over in her heart.

The officer had a preliminary judgment, and his gaze toward Lin Qin softened with a bit of sympathy.

While waiting for his colleagues, he saw little Liu Yaya standing to the side, covered in dirt, her eyes as swollen as a rabbit’s. He quickly picked her up and asked, “Little girl, tell your uncle, what just happened?”

Liu Yaya knew the officer was there to help her mother, so she began to cry out of grievance, pointing at Ma Cuihua and Liu Li. “Grandma and Auntie hit my mommy. They bullied my mommy together. I wanted to beg Auntie to let mommy go, but Auntie kicked me down.”

The officer narrowed his eyes and looked at Liu Li.

Liu Li turned pale with fright.

Ma Cuihua immediately shielded Liu Li behind her, glaring viciously at Liu Yaya. “What nonsense are you spouting, you money-losing brat! You ungrateful wretch! I’ll sell you off tomorrow!”

“Waaah!” Liu Yaya cried even more heartbrokenly.

The officer was furious. “Trading in human beings right in front of a police officer? Do you believe I can arrest you right now?!”

“I—I was just saying that casually…” Ma Cuihua shrank back. She was very unconvinced, but she didn’t dare continue threatening Liu Yaya.

Lin Qin hurriedly took Liu Yaya into her arms. “Yaya, don’t be afraid. That old hag can’t sell you. If she dares to sell you, I’ll tear her limb from limb. At worst, we’ll all die together!”

Lin Qin didn’t back down, retorting sharply.

She looked at Ma Cuihua as if she were looking at a mortal enemy.

Ma Cuihua also wore a look of venomous resentment; the stance of both sides suggested they couldn't wait to tear each other apart.

What kind of hatred and grudge was this?

The officer kept the situation under control until his colleagues, who had gone to find Old Mother Li San, returned with Chen Wenjun’s baskets, shoulder pole, and weighing rod.

As soon as Chen Wenjun saw his belongings, he was so excited he wanted to get off the ground. “That’s right, these are my baskets, shoulder pole, and weighing rod. One of the baskets had a bamboo slat stuck to the bottom, and it was covered with a piece of torn fishing net.”

The officer inspected them and found that there was indeed a bamboo slat stuck to the bottom of one basket. He didn’t see any torn fishing net, but there were net hooks along the edge of the basket, indicating that a net should have been attached to it earlier.

“Where is the thing that was on top?”

“When I went over, Old Mother Li San denied it. It was only after I explained the situation that she got scared and hurriedly gave me the things. They were already like this.”

Both officers were speechless, feeling deep sympathy for Chen Wenjun’s plight.

When Chen Wenjun got his things back and saw the baskets were damaged, his face fell. He said miserably, “Comrade Police, I can repair the things, but you must help me get back that fifty-three yuan and twenty-five cents! What should I do? Should I go to the police station with you to file a report?”

The officer signaled for Chen Wenjun to stay calm and walked over to Liu Yongguo with his hands behind his back. “Hurry up. Whatever you took from him, return it now, and I can still handle this. If you don’t admit it, we can only transfer this to the criminal investigation brigade as a robbery case. By then, it won’t just be a matter of mediation; you might go to jail, or even be sentenced to death!”

Liu Yongguo was terrified and began to cry tremblingly, “We really didn’t rob his money!”

The officer lost his patience and raised his voice. “The witnesses and physical evidence are all here. Those two are clearly innocent. If you didn’t rob him, how could he have been knocked unconscious by a club and brought into your house?

Don’t give me any nonsense about illicit affairs! I see it as you being blinded by greed, and since you don’t like Comrade Lin Qin for giving birth to a daughter, you pulled this stunt. Killing two birds with one stone—you people are really something!”

Liu Yongguo knelt down on the spot, weeping bitterly. “Comrade Police, I admit we don’t like Lin Qin and wanted to drive her out, so we framed her. I was just about to go out and find some hoodlum to come over when I happened to see Chen Wenjun lying on the ground halfway there. I thought I could save some money, so I brought him back.

But we really didn’t steal Chen Wenjun’s money. I swear, if I stole his money, may I die a horrible death!”

“Pah! Do you think I’ll believe your nonsense?” The officer glared angrily.

Xu Manzhi hurriedly defended herself, “Comrade Police, it must be Old Mother Li San! When my husband found Chen Wenjun, he was already knocked out. Old Mother Li San found Chen Wenjun’s things; she must have taken the money while she was at it!”

“Bullshit!” Old Mother Li San stormed in, furious. “Xu Manzhi, you shameless bitch! It’s one thing for you to be in cahoots to frame Lin Qin, but how dare you splash dirty water on me? I’m not someone to be bullied!

Everyone, judge for yourselves. Although I’m greedy for small gains, am I not a warm-hearted person? Does anyone in the neighborhood have trouble that I don’t help with? If I saw a living person lying on the ground, would I go and touch his money? I would have been scared to death and screamed for help!

Besides, someone saw me when I picked up the things. It was already dark then. Was this person knocked out at that time?”

Chen Wenjun nodded in agreement. “It wasn’t completely dark yet when I was knocked unconscious.”

“Hear that! Hear what he said! Comrade Police, if you ask me, it was Liu Yongguo who did it! A bunch of old hags and women wouldn’t dare target a man!” Old Mother Li San was adamant, insisting that the Liu family had stolen the money.

Xu Manzhi was completely panicked. Knowing the situation was extremely unfavorable for them, she gritted her teeth for a final struggle. “Comrade Police, you can’t believe his words just because he was beaten. What if he’s lying to us? What if he didn’t have any money on him to begin with?”

(As for the male lead, Chen Wenjun, his behavior is consistent with the status of the Tanka people at that time. In the 1980s, the Tanka people were always looked down upon. People living on land even gave them derogatory nicknames and cursed them very harshly. In such a situation, showing weakness to gain sympathy is the most correct approach; being stubborn and confrontational makes it easy to be targeted.)