Chapter 902: The Numb Li Brothers

After Li Xiuyu finished speaking, she took the lead and ran in the direction she had just pointed. Wang An and the others didn't use the car; they simply quickened their pace and followed her.

In a short while, the group arrived at the home of Li Xiuyu's second older brother.

Actually, it was said that the Li surname of Li Xiuyu's family and the Li surname of Kaoshan Village were the same.

By "the same," it meant that if one traced their roots back, they likely shared the same ancestor, or their ancestors were brothers.

However, by the present day, so many generations had passed that there was practically no blood relation left.

Nevertheless, the Li families between these two villages indeed did not intermarry.

Li Xiuyu's three older brothers were named Li Dashan, Li Dajiang, and Li Dahe.

Speaking of which, Li Dahe was actually a classmate of Wang An's, though they had been in different classes during school, so they only knew of each other and had no real interaction.

At this moment, the courtyard of Li Xiuyu's second brother—Li Dajiang's home—was basically no different from Li Xiuyu's own. The entire yard was a mess, and it was obvious at a glance that someone had thoroughly ransacked the place.

When Wang An, Wang Li, Sun Nian, and the two company commanders—five people in total—entered the house, Li Xiuyu was crying while holding a woman who looked to be in her fifties.

If he guessed correctly, this woman should be Li Xiuyu's mother.

At the edge of the kang bed, a young man with a strip of cloth wrapped around his head lay half-reclined. The cloth on his head wasn't gauze, but fabric cut from old clothes, still featuring several shredded patches.

It was clear that in order to bandage his wound, someone had ruthlessly cut up a piece of clothing.

Aside from the bandaged head wound, the young man's entire face was bruised and swollen. It was obvious he had been beaten, and beaten quite severely.

If Wang An wasn't mistaken, this young man should be Li Xiuyu's second brother, Li Dajiang, because Wang An knew Li Dahe, and Li Dashan should be older.

Besides him, Wang An's classmate—Li Xiuyu's third brother, Li Dahe—and another person, likely the eldest brother Li Dashan, were sitting on stools on the floor with their heads lowered, seemingly lost in thought.

However, a closer look revealed that their faces were also mottled with blue and purple bruises, and their clothes and pants were filthy.

It was clear these two had been pinned to the ground and beaten, and not lightly.

Behind the two brothers were three women, each either carrying or leading several children on their backs or in their arms.

Among these children, the oldest looked to be over ten, while the youngest was still in swaddling clothes.

Obviously, these three women were Li Xiuyu's sisters-in-law, and these children were her nephews and nieces.

Judging from the women's faces and clothes, it wasn't hard to see that they had also been caught up in it—specifically, they had also been beaten, though it appeared less severe.

It had to be said that these loan sharks were truly beasts; they could practically be compared to the Japanese devils.

After the five of them scanned the room, just as Wang An was about to speak, Sun Nian asked the people in the room with a dark expression

"Where are they? When did they leave?"

At this moment, Sun Nian was nearly exploding with rage at the scene before her.

As a righteous police officer, Sun Nian believed that protecting the lives and property of the common people was the inherent duty of the police.

Yet such an insane thing had happened, and until now, no one had intervened.

Mainly, this was no longer a simple matter of debt collection; this was the behavior of bandits and tyrants.

Because the phrase "death cancels the debt" was a legal definition.

Furthermore, gambling was illegal in China, and debts incurred at a gambling table were not recognized by law.

Of course, no one lending money would allow the borrower to write "gambling" on the IOU, so some things were indeed difficult to define.

But regardless, these loan sharks had gone far too far.

Driving Li Xiuyu's father to death, attempting to kidnap Li Xiuyu, looting her home, and injuring her family—were these things a human being could do?

After Sun Nian asked, Li Xiuyu's three brothers merely glanced up at her, but none of them spoke. It was as if they had become numb, completely disillusioned with the "hat-wearing brothers" or "hat-wearing sisters" in uniform.

From this, one could tell what the police in the township had done previously to make the three Li brothers hold such an attitude toward all officers.

Seeing no response, Sun Nian frowned and said urgently

"We are here to get justice for you. Why aren't any of you speaking?"

At this point, one of the company commanders looked at Li Dashan and his brothers and said

"We don't know the beginning or end of the story. How are we supposed to solve the problem for you? Which one of you is in charge? Speak up."

It was evident that this company commander had experience in grassroots work and knew how to find a breakthrough in a conversation.

After he spoke, Li Dashan said in a toneless voice

"Our family has no more money, and we can't pay it back. The debt was incurred by my father. If you're so capable, go find my father."

Having said that, Li Dashan lowered his head again and stopped talking.

As soon as Li Dashan spoke, Wang An, Sun Nian, and the other three were momentarily stunned.

Mainly, what the hell was he talking about?

Besides, Li Dashan's father was clearly dead; why the fuck would they go find his father?

However, Wang An quickly realized that among those who had come to Li Xiuyu's house to collect debts, there might not have been only the loan sharks.

Most importantly, the Li family still didn't know why Wang An and Sun Nian were there, nor did they know whose side they were on.

Having figured this out, Wang An immediately shouted at Li Xiuyu, who was crying her eyes out

"Xiuyu, stop fucking crying! All you do is cry all day; can't you see what's going on right now?"

Wang An's sudden shout immediately snapped Li Xiuyu back to her senses.

However, Li Xiuyu's mother was still unconscious, looking as if she might go join her husband at any moment, so Li Xiuyu had been overwhelmed by grief and hadn't noticed what was happening around her.

Looking at the bewildered expression in Li Xiuyu's eyes, Wang An really wanted to slap her awake.

But considering she was young and not very capable, and that she was currently with her family, he understood why she was acting so uselessly in the face of the situation, so he restrained himself.

(End of Chapter)