RYEY – Chapter 94 Li Huan is Arrested

“You’re Li Huan. Please come with us; there’s a case that requires your cooperation. Oh, and your wife, Cheng Qiao, will also need to come for questioning.”

Li Huan’s heart skipped a beat. It seemed the two people who had died from snake bites had been discovered. But at that time, there had been no one around—who could have reported it?

“Officers, you must be mistaken. My son and daughter-in-law just returned from Huizhou. How could they have committed any crime? Besides, my daughter-in-law is pregnant. The doctor said her fetus is unstable; she absolutely cannot go with you.”

Hearing the commotion, Li Huan’s mother ran out. Seeing that someone was trying to take Li Huan and Cheng Qiao away, she burst into tears. The police officers exchanged glances and unanimously decided to take Li Huan along. If something happened to his wife or the baby, they couldn’t bear the responsibility.

Cheng Qiao, anxious, tried to follow, but Li Huan quickly stopped her, giving her urgent signals with his eyes. Cheng Qiao understood that today there were too many urgent matters, so she could only nod and step back.

“Li Huan’s Mother, Cheng Qiao, don’t worry. Sometimes, these things might turn out for the better.”

Seeing Li Huan’s mother, Li Le, and Cheng Qiao all extremely worried, Chen Weidang quietly offered some reassurance. Li Le shot him a glare—“If it’s a ‘good thing,’ why don’t you go?”

“Qiao, what actually happened?”

When Li Huan’s mother saw Chen Weidang chasing after the police, she quickly grabbed Cheng Qiao and asked anxiously.

Cheng Qiao thought for a moment and decided to tell Mother Li part of the story. On their way back that day, they had encountered bandits. Li Huan had fought them off, and after knocking them down, they left. She didn’t know what happened afterward.

“Oh, it was just a fight.” Mother Li felt relieved. Li Huan had been fighting since childhood; she didn’t even know how many things he had broken over the years. Looks like it was time to prepare money for rice and grain again. That kid—when he comes back, he’ll need a good scolding.

“Mom, I’ll follow behind for a bit, and I’ll go to the county to buy some things to send to Dad.”

“Hey, are you going alone? Should Lele come with you? Lele, go borrow the cart from Uncle Niu.”

“No need. I can ride my bike faster alone. Don’t worry, Mom. The baby’s fine. Everything will be okay.”

Mother Li trusted Cheng Qiao completely. She took off the green headscarf from her own head and wrapped it around Cheng Qiao’s head, at least to block the wind. Cheng Qiao glanced at the scarf and shrank her neck, not daring to comment.

Pushing her bicycle, Cheng Qiao slowly made her way forward. This part of the road, close to the back mountain, was rugged, so she didn’t dare ride. Not far from the village entrance, she saw many people whispering among themselves.

“Cheng Qiao’s here!”

Miao Qing suddenly shouted.

The villagers immediately gathered around, chattering:

“Cheng Qiao, your good-for-nothing husband killed someone!”

“Cheng Qiao, your husband was taken away by the police. Did he really kill someone?”

“Cheng Qiao, your husband…”

“Shut up!”

Aunt Wang rushed out and blocked Cheng Qiao, glaring fiercely at Miao Qing with her slanted eyes. Pointing at Miao Qing, she said to Cheng Qiao: “Cheng Qiao, this is Miao Qing. She’s the one saying your man killed someone.”

Miao Qing puffed up her chest. She had anonymously reported them. Although she hadn’t seen Erlizi kill anyone, she had seen him and Cheng Qiao taking a cart to the county, and two people had died on that road that day.

The police in the county had even posted a missing person notice, saying someone had died on that road and anyone who saw anything should report to the station. She had anonymously written a report, and now finally, they were coming to arrest him.

Cheng Qiao squinted, stepping toward Miao Qing. The villagers, seeing Cheng Qiao’s almost murderous expression, quickly cleared a path.

“What, scared now? Want to hit me? Come on, try hitting me and see how long your bravado lasts!”

Miao Qing felt a little scared but thought that since Erlizi had already been arrested, what could a delicate girl like her fear?

Cheng Qiao grabbed Miao Qing by the collar, ready to give her a lesson. Miao Qing quickly clasped Cheng Qiao’s hands, trying to push her away.

Cheng Qiao wanted to struggle further, but a faint pain in her belly caused her to pause. She quickly let go and slowly sat on the ground. Aunt Wang, seeing this, shouted: “Miao Qing hit someone!”

Miao Qing was furious: “Aunt Wang, your eyes are blind! Cheng Qiao hit me first. Why say I hit her?”

Qian Longkun appeared from somewhere and pointed at Miao Qing, shouting: “It’s you who hit her and knocked Cheng Qiao to the ground! I saw it with my own eyes.”

Among the educated youth, all came out except Chai Jianmin. Zhang Yuefang, Xiao Fang, and Xiao Qin, four women, grabbed Miao Qing’s arms, intending to take her to the police.

Zhao Xiaobao pulled Jiang Guangrong to stand firmly in front of Cheng Qiao, worried someone might take advantage of the situation. Amid the chaos, a cow mooed—Uncle Niu had arrived with his ox.

“Aunt Wang, help put Erlizi’s wife on the cart and take her to the hospital. Don’t let her get hurt.”

Aunt Wang and Han Chunmei helped Cheng Qiao onto the ox cart. Zhao Xiaobao even placed her bicycle on the cart.

“I’ll go with her,” Han Chunmei quickly climbed up and said.

Miao Qing struggled to break free from Zhang Yuefang and the others, running back to her house without looking back. She suddenly remembered that when Chen Chunhua had smashed Cheng Qiao’s head, she was also taken to the hospital.

At the police station, a male officer looked at Li Huan kindly, pointing at a black-and-white photo of the deceased: “Comrade Li Huan, do you recognize this person?”

Li Huan immediately recognized the man carrying the knife. Seeing the dead man again gave him a shock—his face was completely blackened, showing how deadly the red-headed viper’s venom was.

“I saw him once. That day, my wife and I were returning home. He and another man blocked us, trying to rob us. We ordinary people had only a little money; I couldn’t let them take it, so I fought him.”

The officer nodded and then pointed to the wound on the man’s arm:

“Comrade Li Huan, did you cause this injury?”

Li Huan examined it closely. This was likely from the bullwhip he had used. He hadn’t expected the wound to remain even after the man’s death.

“I remember whipping him once with a bullwhip. He had a long knife in his hand, so I didn’t dare confront him directly.”

The officer nodded again and asked if Li Huan had been injured, and what exactly happened to the two men.

Li Huan shook his head. He only remembered hitting one man with the whip. The other man suddenly ran for some unknown reason, and the first man followed. So he drove the ox cart back.

“We’ve investigated. The deceased died from snake venom and had obvious snakebite marks. You and your wife were lucky not to be bitten.”

“Oh, that explains why they ran so fast. Officer, can you tell me how you knew I passed that road that day?”