RYEY – Chapter 248 The Brave Little Niqiu

Chen Tiezhu and Juhua—and of course Niqiu—were all taken away by the public security officers. Even the body was taken, because it needed to be autopsied to determine whether the child had drowned or was already dead before being thrown into the river.

Xiangyang Village suddenly became famous. Li Huan was also summoned to the commune. As he entered, he felt dozens of eyes shooting daggers at him, as if he were the murderer.

The main leaders of the commune were already waiting in the meeting room. When they saw Li Huan walk in, their faces turned grim, full of displeasure.

Li Huan shrugged. He pulled out the hospital admission papers: his wife had given birth, and he had been in the hospital for three days straight, never returning home.

So, he really had no idea what had happened in the village; otherwise, things wouldn’t have escalated to the point where the body floated in the river before anyone noticed. Of course, as the village chief, he admitted that failing to manage the village properly was his fault.

With a sincere attitude, Li Huan presented his written self-criticism and a letter of guarantee, promising that during his tenure he would actively cooperate with the public security investigation. Finally, he handed over a resignation letter.

When the commune leaders saw the resignation letter, their faces turned green. Ever since Li Huan became the village chief of Xiangyang, these people not only had less work to do but also received various benefits—cigarettes, alcohol, rice, flour, and fabrics or sweets that their wives liked.

They all knew that Li Huan had allowed the Xiangyang Village security team to quietly run small side ventures in the village: gathering herbs to sell, cultivating fields to sell crops, hunting, and collecting wild vegetables and fruits—all of which could be sold.

And who did they sell to? To Li Huan, of course. He paid prices higher than the state procurement station. As for where he sold the goods, the military region covered that.

Whenever any of them needed something their families couldn’t get on the market, they secretly asked Li Huan for it—and he usually delivered.

So if Li Huan suddenly quit, how could that be allowed? Under his leadership, Xiangyang Village had already shed its “impoverished village” label; it was just being kept discreet to balance other villages.

Li Huan saw their anxious faces and felt secretly pleased. His wife had been right: if worse came to worst, he could simply quit—they weren’t living off that salary anyway.

The commune secretary stood up, cleared his throat, and looked at Li Huan with a smile, starting with praise:

“First, we must commend your outstanding work recently. Xiangyang Village is also the only advanced village in Northern County that hasn’t asked the state for help.”

“Secondly, congratulations on the birth of your son. Criminals are extremely cunning and wicked—they took advantage of your absence from the village to commit such a heinous act. No wonder the child floated in the water; heaven sees all.”

“Cough, cough…”

The other leaders coughed twice to politely remind him not to promote superstition. The secretary nodded slightly, acknowledging the lapse.

“Comrade Li Huan, we have accepted your self-criticism and letter of guarantee. The matter is indeed serious, and the case is confusing. Once everything is clear, we will discuss how to proceed.

As for your resignation, I cannot approve it. One cannot just give up when faced with difficulties—that is not the behavior of an outstanding, advanced village chief.”

“Outstanding village chief…” Li Huan was a little stunned. He suddenly remembered the current emphasis on selecting excellent village chiefs and advanced collectives. So now he officially was an outstanding village chief.

“Fine, I retract my resignation and promise to cooperate fully with the public security officers to uncover the truth.”

Seeing Li Huan retract his resignation, everyone quietly breathed a sigh of relief. This rogue village chief may act casually in daily life, but when it comes to action, he was practical.

Li Huan left the commune office and headed to Shouhou’s house. This guy knew people from all walks of life, so it was better to ask for his help to figure out what had really happened.

They say “three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang.” Shouhou didn’t hesitate: he hopped on his bicycle and gathered everyone at his house.

He went to the state-run restaurant to buy some food and drink, and they discussed the matter while eating. First, they ruled out Chen Tiezhu as the murderer. He lived in the old house and would only go to Chen Dazhu’s house if there was a physiological need—he generally didn’t care about the child, so why would he dirty his hands?

As for Chen Tiezhu’s wife, while they believed she mistreated Chen Dazhu’s son, they doubted she had the courage to kill or throw him into the river.

Besides, it was spring plowing season, when everyone worked in the fields. Only under the cover of midnight would people commit crimes—but the villagers were used to rising with the sun and resting at sunset, so they rarely ventured out at night.

With the Chen family ruled out, who else would want the child dead? A name appeared in Li Huan’s mind. Shouhou blurted it out:

“Could it have been one of the educated youth from your work point? The one named… I can’t remember.”

“Chai Jianmin.”

“Yes, that’s him. This guy never forgets a grudge. You even warned me to be careful of him because of what happened with Cheng Qiao.”

“But we have no evidence.”

“Finding evidence is the job of the public security officers; we only provide clues.”

Everyone nodded repeatedly. After eating and drinking, Li Huan and Shouhou went to the public security bureau. As soon as they entered, they heard Niqiu shout righteously:

“My mom isn’t a murderer! She just doesn’t like this little brother. At most, she might have let him go hungry twice. Don’t pin the blame on my mom just because it’s convenient. I won’t accept it! I’m going to tell the teacher—you’re wrong!”

“Niqiu, what are you doing?”

Niqiu was about the same age as Xuhui. Ever since Cheng Qiao sent Xuhui to school, Chen Tiezhu and his wife had followed suit and sent Niqiu to school. It seemed schooling was indeed useful—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to speak like this.

“Comrade Li Huan, do you have new clues?”

“Yes, there is one, though not mature and with no evidence yet. We deduced that it may have been Chai Jianmin from the educated youth point. Originally, Chai Jianmin was dating Xu Laidi, but Chen Dazhu stole her, so…”

“Since he is a suspect and has motive, investigate him. Bring him to the public security bureau. Maintain proper conduct—the person is a suspect, not yet a criminal.”

Niqiu was overjoyed, grabbing Li Huan’s hand and shaking it, begging him to help free his parents, otherwise no one would cook for him.

Li Huan shook his head: “Until the case is resolved, your parents can’t come out. As for meals, go eat at your grandfather’s house. If they dare to refuse you, then come back to me.”