Lu Dan, still obedient, was tugged by Su Xiaonan’s grip, looking sad, and he said, “Mom, this auntie grabbed my private parts.”

Suddenly, everyone at the meeting burst out laughing: “Comrade Xiaogu, no matter how young, a boy is still a boy. You shouldn’t be touching his little ‘niu niu’!”

“I gave birth to a son. If you keep touching his ‘niu niu,’ he’ll be embarrassed. You’re a big girl; why are you touching my child’s ‘niu niu’?” Su Xiangwan tugged and pushed, finally shoving Su Xiaonan under a big locust tree.

“Sis, you’re going too far. Isn’t this too unreasonable?” Su Xiaonan was at her wit’s end, calling out to her, now calling her “sis.”

“Oh, so now you admit you’re my sister?” Su Xiangwan pressed on, reaching into her bag and pulling out a wallet. “Comrade Han, everyone, look! The thief is shouting ‘catch the thief!’ I found a wallet on Comrade Gu Nan. Is this the township chief’s wallet?”

Su Xiaonan suddenly turned around and glared at Li Chengze with venomous eyes. “Li Chengze, you ungrateful wretch!”

Su Xiangwan immediately shoved Su Xiaonan back against the tree. “Xiaonan, you shouldn’t be surprised. You should know that if my family from Xiling wants to steal something, their hands are quicker than anyone else’s. You brought this upon yourself today.”

“Sis, I’m Xiaonan, I’m Xiaonan!” Seeing Su Xiangwan get angry, Su Xiaonan immediately started backing down.

But would it help for her to back down now?

Just then, Song Erhua came forward, trying to mediate, when Song Tingxiu, who had come to the Xinxing Township for a blind date with “Gu Nan,” walked in.

Su Xiangwan immediately raised her voice, “Deputy Director Song, come look! We’ve caught a thief stealing a wallet. Shouldn’t the police handle this?”

If Su Xiaonan wanted to frame someone, Su Xiangwan would give her a taste of her own medicine and frame her back.

But just then, Li Chengze stood up and loudly declared, “I stole the wallet.”

He could have easily slipped it into Lu Dan’s pocket, but he hesitated.

The little girl Zhi Zhi, with her round eyes, had been watching him all along.

Ever since Li Chengze started wandering, he’d done countless immoral things without regret or guilt.

But when that little girl watched him, he hesitated.

He didn’t put the wallet in Lu Dan’s pocket, and instead, it was taken by Gou Dan.

However, not helping his godmother meant that he had to admit his wrongdoings and take responsibility.

In Li Chengze’s mind, even the smallest man should bear responsibility for his actions.

The moment Li Chengze admitted his mistake, Su Xiaonan suddenly felt like she was alive again.

She immediately turned and tried to slap Su Xiangwan. “Did you hear? Li Chengze said he stole the wallet!”

Su Xiangwan immediately grabbed her hand and twisted it. “So what if he stole it? Aren’t you his godmother? Don’t you love him dearly? And you, as his mother, are teaching him to steal? Is this how you raise your children?”

“I didn’t steal it!” Su Xiaonan took a step back, then turned and saw Song Tingxiu standing right behind her.

She raised the wallet and said, “Deputy Director Song, really, just like the wallet yesterday, this one was also stolen by Li Chengze. It has nothing to do with me.”

Song Tingxiu was tall, fair, and handsome.

In the original book, he secretly loved his sister-in-law, Su Xiangwan, but since she was essentially assigned to his older brother by his mother, he kept his feelings silent.

Later, when he saw Su Xianghong, he fell in love with her instead.

But Su Xianghong was eight years younger than him, and the age gap was too large, so Song Tingxiu never dared to confess.

Su Xiaonan was drawn to this character because of his unrequited love and his inability to be with the one he loved.

That’s why, after transmigrating, she decided to marry him, even risking exposure to be with him.

But she never expected that she would be humiliated by the very character she had created.

Song Tingxiu grabbed the wallet and slapped it lightly on Su Xiaonan’s head. “Comrade Gu Nan, yesterday you said the child stole the wallet, and we let you go. Today you say he stole another wallet. What, are you and your son planning to eat wallets?”

He didn’t actually hit her; the wallet kept swinging in front of her face.

Su Xiaonan took step after step back until she was pressed up against the big locust tree.

“Deputy Director Song, Deputy Director Song, my brother is Gu Bei, you must know him.” In a moment of desperation, Su Xiaonan said this.

Song Tingxiu’s hand froze instantly. “Gu Bei? You mean, you’re Director Gu’s sister?”

Su Xiaonan hurriedly nodded. “Yes, Gu Bei, the director of the Qinzhou City Public Security Bureau, is my brother.”

Gu Bei, the director of the Qinzhou City Public Security Bureau, was also Song Tingxiu’s former superior. The two of them had transitioned to civilian jobs together.

Song Tingxiu had a more introverted and conservative personality, so despite Gu Bei frequently inviting him to his home, Song Tingxiu had never gone.

However, even without a personal relationship, for people like them, the superior-subordinate relationship was more important than anything else.

“Then why didn’t you ask your brother to give me a heads-up before you came here to join the work team?” Song Tingxiu said.

Su Xiaonan had crossed over a little later than Su Xiangwan, only about half a year ago.

And when she found out that Su Xiangwan had also crossed over, she had kept a very low profile, not wanting to reveal any clues.

She knew Su Xiangwan’s personality—if anyone bullied her, even a slight provocation would result in her retaliating fiercely. Su Xiangwan wouldn’t back down, and she was much more sensitive to insults.

It wasn’t until recently, when Su Xiaonan felt that with Li Chengze, her “golden finger,” and seeing Song Tingxiu gradually becoming fond of Su Xianghong, that she reluctantly exposed herself.

“Joining the work team is an honorable thing, and as female educated youths, we don’t need special treatment,” Su Xiaonan quickly said.

At this, Song Tingxiu hesitated for a moment, then walked over to Su Xiangwan and said, “Sister-in-law, you probably don’t know, but the Gu family is well-known in our province’s military district. Gu Bei is my former superior. Is there a misunderstanding here?”

Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?

Su Xiangwan rolled her eyes at Song Tingxiu and said, “No matter how high-ranking your superior is, even the leader or the prime minister, if they make a mistake, they’ll criticize themselves. There’s a policy in the country called the rectification line. I don’t care. Her godson stole the township chief’s wallet. Either arrest her or arrest her godson.”

Li Chengze was only a ten-year-old boy.

In situations like this, even if the police arrested him, all they would do is give him a good talking to.

So, Song Tingxiu said, “Alright, I’ll take this child back to the station and give him a lesson. Comrade Gu, what do you think?”

Su Xiaonan, feeling quite smug, looked at Su Xiangwan. “How about this, Deputy Director Song? I’ll go with you. After you’ve lectured him, let him go. Deal?”

Li Chengze kept his gaze fixed on Su Xiangwan, his expression filled with complicated emotions.

“Su Xiaonan, don’t think I’ll let you off the hook.” Su Xiangwan pulled Su Xiaonan to a corner and said.

Su Xiaonan had a sincere look on her face. “Sis, you can’t act like you did in the past. Don’t you know who my father is? Gu Zhengshan, a division-level military officer! My brother Gu Bei is the head of the Qinzhou Public Security Bureau. And now, our Qing Shui and Xiaozhai village will be a national demonstration area starting from 1970. We’ll be the first to get rich. When I become county mayor, what do you think will happen? Won’t your three useless kids rely on me?”

Su Xiangwan let go of Su Xiaonan’s hand. “Oh my, your family is really a dynasty of three distinguished scholars! I’m scared now. Are you going to be county mayor and maybe even provincial governor?”

Su Xiaonan had often used historical processes as a reference when writing her book, so many things that happened in history were also reflected in her story.

For instance, Song Qingshan and the career he was in were based on real-life figures. It was real history, just rewritten with some characters’ fates altered.

Of course, getting rich first was still possible.

She once again tried to reason with Su Xiangwan. “Just go back to Xiao Songzhuang, okay? In the past, you were so good to me. Whenever there was something good to eat, you’d share it with me. Whenever you got new clothes, you’d give them to me. I’ll treat you just as well in this life. It’s just a stolen wallet. My family gives me a lot of subsidies. If you want anything, just tell me, I’ll send it to you.”

In Su Xiaonan’s view, falsely accusing someone’s child of stealing a wallet wasn’t a big deal.

And besides, was she trying to send some money to shut her up?

Nothing was better than money. Su Xiangwan immediately stretched out her hand. “Give me three hundred first. Your sister is really in need of money right now.”

Su Xiaonan had many brothers, and with her father’s high rank, their monthly family subsidies were quite substantial.

After grinding her teeth for a while, Su Xiaonan finally took out her wallet, from which she pulled out a thick wad of bills. After much reluctance, she counted out two hundred and handed it over. “Sis, this is all I have left. Take the two hundred for now, okay?”

Su Xiangwan grabbed it immediately. “Thanks for remembering your sister. Alright, I won’t hold this against you today. As for your godson, let the police handle it.”

Su Xiangwan gave one last glance at Li Chengze, the little boy standing there, his lips white from holding back his emotions.

Many people at the meeting were criticizing him. “Where did this little brat come from, and he’s really a thief.”

“It’s such a pity, such a tiny kid.”

“Who cares about pity? I’ve been saying the law is too lenient. The police just give a scolding. If it were me, I would beat him up first.”

Su Xiangwan secretly felt pleased, thinking to herself that the little villain deserved it for bullying her Zhi Zhi in the future.

Just as Su Xiaonan was about to hand over the money and leave, the sound of a tractor engine roared from outside the venue.

It was none other than Song Qingshan.

As soon as he entered the venue, he saw Song Tingxiu and noticed that Song Tingxiu was holding a half-grown child by the hand.

Song Qingshan recognized the boy at once when he saw his photo. This was none other than Li Chengze, the grandson of Li Shizhang.

They briefly exchanged a few words. Of course, Tingxiu had already assumed that the wallet had been stolen by Li Chengze. When he told Song Qingshan, he placed all the blame on the boy.

He also introduced Su Xiaonan, saying that she was the daughter of the division commander Gu Zhengshan and the younger sister of Gu Bei, the head of the Qinzhou Public Security Bureau.

Song Qingshan didn’t care about these details. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Li Chengze.

“Gu Nan, leave. Let’s keep Li Chengze here.” He suddenly said.

“Why? This is my godson.” Su Xiaonan retorted. “If you don’t believe me, ask him. Would he rather go with you or stay with me?”

Song Qingshan said nothing more, just replied, “Leave Li Chengze here. As for the wallet stealing, I’ll take responsibility.”

Saying this, he took the wallet from Song Tingxiu’s hand and yanked Li Chengze’s hand, dragging him to the township chief’s office. “Comrade Han, this child is a relative of mine, and you could consider him my child. What do you think? Should I pay for the wallet or discipline the child?”

Township Chief Han said, “Such a young child? I heard from Comrade Su earlier that he hasn’t just stolen once. He deserves a few good slaps, at least. He can’t just get away with it.”

Everyone in the venue was watching, waiting to see what Song Qingshan would do to discipline the boy. Someone even handed over a whip, saying, “Here, take this to strike him, let the township chief vent a little.”

Li Chengze was still clenching his lips tightly, knowing he was about to be punished. He held tightly onto the waistband of his pants, which were almost torn.