RYEY – Chapter 124 The Public Security Bureau Came to Arrest Someone

“Brother Huan, Brother Huan, open the door…”

“Xiangyang, why are you here, what’s the matter?”

“Hurry, the village head wants you to go to Accountant Chen’s house. Chunhua came back, and the whole place is in chaos.”

Li Huan shook his head impatiently. That had nothing to do with him. His family had just finally reunited happily, where would he find the time to meddle in other people’s business?

Seeing Li Huan unwilling to go out, Wang Xiangyang also turned and left. He had thought it was just a trivial quarrel among villagers, but on the first day of the new year, officers from the Public Security Bureau arrived at Xiangyang Village.

Chen Weidang sat carelessly in the main hall of his house, the table covered with sunflower seeds, peanuts, and steamed buns—snacks prepared for New Year’s visitors.

But instead of visitors, his younger brother Chen Weimin came scrambling in, almost falling over, gasping that the Public Security Bureau wanted to arrest Chen Chunhua—for murder.

Chen Weidang jumped to his feet in shock. Before the New Year he was still receiving commendations, and now right after, his family produced a murderer. How could he accept that?

“Murder? Who was killed, and why?”

“Don’t know who exactly… but they say it was… Chunhua’s adulterous lover.”

Cuihua clutched her chest in fright, not knowing what to do. In that critical moment, she thought of her good-for-nothing son and hurriedly told him to fetch Li Huan.

When Li Huan and Cheng Qiao heard the news, their faces turned pale. Chunhua’s adulterous lover—wasn’t that Liu Yong? Could it be that Chen Chunhua had actually killed Liu Yong? How could she have such courage? Unless…

Cheng Qiao quickly bundled up in her thick cotton coat and shoes, ready to go into the county town to check, but Li Huan stopped her. He pulled her into the room and whispered: “Qiao, we can’t go. We can’t go anywhere right now, otherwise we’ll be suspected too.”

Cheng Qiao closed her eyes, breathing deeply until she calmed down. He was right—they couldn’t act rashly. If it really was her uncle who killed the man, and the suspicion was pinned on Chen Chunhua, then surely her uncle had already covered his tracks.

“Lele, Lele, is your second brother home? Hurry, the Public Security came to my house!”

From outside came the panicked voice of Wang Auntie’s little daughter, Wang Xianghua.

“Xianghua, what on earth happened?”

Neither Cheng Qiao nor Li Huan could sit still anymore, and even Li Bing and Mother Li rushed out nervously.

“Brother Li Huan, the Public Security people said Wang Tuozi was arrested. They asked if my family was hiding benefits. What are the benefits?”

At last, Cheng Qiao understood—the so-called “benefits” had been nothing more than a trap. How could a petty greedy man like Wang Tuozi be a match for Liu Yong? Clearly someone had planned to get rid of him openly and thoroughly.

The group hurried to Auntie Wang’s house. The moment she saw Cheng Qiao, she lunged at her, but Li Huan quickly blocked her. His wife was pregnant—if this human “fighter jet” knocked into her, even if nothing happened, something might.

“Cheng Qiao, come and testify for me! Our family and Wang Tuozi’s are only distant relatives, we don’t normally have any dealings at all.”

Cheng Qiao was dumbfounded. How could she prove such a thing?

The Public Security officers turned toward her. Embarrassed, she could only step forward and first state her own identity. Once they learned she was merely a neighbor, their tone softened.

Encouraged by Cheng Qiao, the Wang family’s eldest sister-in-law finally spoke. Back when Wang Tuozi had just been promoted to head of the logistics department, he had brought over two jin of pork to show off.

At that time, their family had been very proud too. Though Wang Tuozi was just a distant relative, he still shared their surname—of course it was an honor.

So they had gone around the village boasting, praising Wang Tuozi to the skies. Who would have thought they’d be slapped in the face so quickly?

Thus, when the Public Security asked where Wang Tuozi’s relatives lived, some villagers readily led them over, and others stood at the doorway watching the commotion, each adding their own comments.

At first, Auntie Wang didn’t even know what was happening. When she learned Wang Tuozi had been reported for stealing and reselling state property, she nearly collapsed. They had only ever received two jin of pork from him!

“Auntie Wang, this is nothing more than normal interactions between relatives and friends. If that pork was stolen goods, you had no idea. The law says ignorance is not a crime. Just reimburse the money and tickets.”

The Public Security officer gave Cheng Qiao a long look—she was right. Two jin of pork exchanged among relatives was reasonable. And since she now knew it was stolen, paying the money and ticket made it no crime.

“I’ll pay, I’ll pay right now! I just don’t have meat tickets, will cash do?”

Panicking, Auntie Wang dug a ten-yuan note from a hidden pocket in her undergarments. Seeing how she had hoarded it so secretly, the officers couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry.

Who knew how long she had saved that note, only to be forced to hand it over now. But rules were rules—they collected the meat money at market price, asked a few more questions, and determined Wang Duocai hadn’t colluded with Wang Tuozi before finally leaving.

As soon as they left, Auntie Wang collapsed on the ground, wailing—not so much over the trouble, but for the ten yuan. Yes, they only took ten yuan, but besides reimbursing the meat and ticket, there had been a fine too.

Cheng Qiao whispered something into Li Huan’s ear, then Li Huan whispered into Wang Xiangyang’s. Xiangyang covered his mouth in shock, then ran up to the weeping Auntie Wang and said something.

Her sobbing stopped instantly. She looked at Cheng Qiao and Li Huan with an embarrassed, evasive expression, then ran into the house.

Wang Duocai gaped in confusion and grabbed Xiangyang, asking what he had said. Scratching his head, Xiangyang admitted—it was about the missing ten yuan that Xu Laidi had lost. Their mother had stepped on it.

Wang Duocai blushed crimson. Cheng Qiao and Li Huan didn’t linger, turning instead toward the village head’s house. They needed to learn more.

When Chen Weidang saw Li Huan, he sighed and told them everything he knew.

It turned out that yesterday morning, Wang Tuozi had already been taken away by the security section of the Meat Union Factory.

The charge was, of course, stealing pork from the factory and speculating. Wang Tuozi denied it—he hadn’t even warmed his chair yet, how could he be stealing pork already?

But when the evidence was presented, he realized he had been framed. Those pork thefts and resales had happened who knew how many years ago.

Why had it not been exposed earlier or later, but precisely half a month after his promotion? If he couldn’t see through the trick, he’d be an idiot.

The newly established canteen logistics department, not even a month old, was shut down because all three people involved had histories of theft. The Meat Union Factory expelled them and handed them over to the Public Security Bureau.

With Wang Tuozi arrested, the factory’s security section also came to the workers’ dormitory building. Since the building had been built by the factory, anyone no longer employed there could no longer enjoy its benefits.