Chapter 11: Public Security Comes to Take Them Away

“You even need to ask? Of course I know!”

Lu Mianmian’s mind was a mess. She had never experienced anything like this before, but right now, only she could possibly save their parents, so she had to pull herself together.

To make her act more convincing, Jiang Tangtang pretended to think for a moment before offering a suggestion.

“Sis, what you said makes sense. I think it’s normal for Mom and Dad to have offended some people after doing business for so many years. How about this: let’s split up and ask around to see if anyone can help them. You go west, head to Liu Wenjing’s place, and ask Uncle Liu. I’ll go east and talk to a few other uncles.”

Lu Mianmian, whose thoughts were completely scrambled, hesitated but eventually nodded.

After all, she couldn’t come up with any other ideas.

“Let’s do as you said—but remember, don’t make it too obvious. After all, this is a family matter. Be subtle. If word gets out, our family might not survive this!”

After giving Jiang Tangtang a warning in a threatening tone, Lu Mianmian ran out the door without even eating.

Seeing that there was no one else at home and that the timing was about right, Jiang Tangtang also left.

But she wasn’t really going to look for help. Instead, she retraced the small path she had walked yesterday, heading to the place where everyone had buried their antiques.

It was already dark, and there wasn’t a single soul on the road.

Once she arrived, she took a shovel out of her space and began digging, just like she had yesterday.

After more than half an hour, she had unearthed the antiques others had buried. Without even checking them, she dumped them all into her storage space.

She stuffed several burlap sacks’ worth of antiques into the space and was utterly exhausted.

But before taking a break, she made sure to refill the hole with dirt, even stomping it down to make it look like no one had touched it.

“All done!”

After two days of digging, she felt like her shoveling skills had improved a lot. Still, no matter how skilled she got, she would eventually run out of strength. Drenched in sweat, she went into her storage space to rest for a while.

Only after estimating that Lu Mianmian should be home by now did she lazily exit the space and sneak back home in the dark.

Sure enough, just as she reached the front door, she saw Lu Mianmian sitting at the windowsill.

From her expression, it was clear that she had been snubbed and came back empty-handed.

Jiang Tangtang immediately put on a rejected, dejected expression as she opened the door weakly.

“Sis, how’d it go on your end?”

Once inside, she didn’t sit down but instead walked over to the tea table, poured herself a glass of water, and spoke while drinking.

Seeing that Jiang Tangtang had come back later than her, Lu Mianmian looked a bit hopeful.

“What about you? You were gone for so long—did you manage to find anyone?”

After finishing her water, Jiang Tangtang wore a miserable expression.

“Don’t even ask. All those uncles who used to eat and drink with Dad and Uncle—none of them would even open the door for me today when I went to ask for help. It’s outrageous!”

“Sis, do you know what they said? They said the government’s cracking down on capitalism now, and they’ve got to keep a low profile. No way they’re going to stick their necks out—they’re all afraid of being implicated.”

Hearing the same excuses that she herself had encountered earlier, Lu Mianmian was so furious that she smashed the ashtray beside her onto the ground.

“I’m so angry! Back when they needed help from Dad and Uncle, they were never like this. What a bunch of ungrateful backstabbers!”

Speaking of ungrateful backstabbers, a subtle smirk flashed across Jiang Tangtang’s lips. She thought Lu Mianmian wasn’t any better—just the same kind of person.

Even though she had made all that up, it wasn’t completely fabricated.

In her previous life, she had begged everyone for help too, only to be shut out nine times out of ten. The only exception had been Old Man Deng, who even invited her to stay for dinner before letting her go home.

“So what do we do now?”
Having done all she needed to, Jiang Tangtang just wanted to rest.

“What else can we do? Just wait and see.”

After that, Lu Mianmian stormed back to her room, fuming.

All she could do now was hope for divine intervention.

Once she was gone, Jiang Tangtang picked up the ashtray that hadn’t broken and placed it back where it belonged, then returned to her room to rest.

In the capital police station, Lu Zhicai and the others had been locked in three separate interrogation rooms.

The officers had left them alone after locking them up. The rooms were dark and cold. Lu Zhicai, being a grown man, could manage.

But Bai Shuiniang, worried about her child, couldn’t hold up and kept crying silently.

As for Lu Yaozu, since he was still a minor, the police didn’t do anything to him. They just kept him in a separate room.

Six hours passed before three officers finally arrived, entering each of the rooms to begin questioning.

This timing had been carefully chosen by the police.

They were aiming for a point when the detainees would be mentally exhausted.

According to the report, this couple had incited their child to commit a crime.

In the first room, Officer Wu sat upright at the table and began the standard questioning.

The atmosphere was solemn enough that an ordinary person would probably crack after just a few hours.

But Lu Zhicai wasn’t an ordinary person—he was a lunatic.

To become a live-in son-in-law in the Jiang family, he had, in his mind, endured years of humiliation. He believed he had finally achieved success.

But in reality, the Jiang family had never mistreated him—it was outsiders who looked down on him. Yet, he didn’t dare speak up to them and instead vented all his resentment on his own family. It was absurd, really.

It was already late, though he had no idea how much time had passed—he only knew that stubble had begun to sprout on his chin.

The officer looked at him sternly and said, “We now require you to truthfully explain your whereabouts, activity timeline, and your relationship with the deceased Jiang Yan on the day of his death, as well as any knowledge you have of the crime scene.”

“You have the right to make a statement or defense, but everything you say will be recorded as evidence.”

He had rehearsed this scene in his head countless times, so he remained unfazed.

“He was my father-in-law. When the incident happened, I was in the study upstairs cleaning his vases…”

From his tone, it sounded like the whole thing had been a complete accident—he knew nothing.

The officer, prepared for such an answer, didn’t press further. He just took notes and left.

Elsewhere, Bai Shuiniang gave the same response.

They had gone over their story so many times that even the details had been ironed out, so she wasn’t afraid.

Her only worry was her son.

As she had feared, in the third interrogation room, the officer used a different tone when addressing Lu Yaozu.

“How old are you?”

Lu Yaozu pressed his lips together and stared at them, not saying a word.

Long ago, his parents had drilled into him that if he was ever with strangers, he should say nothing. As long as he kept quiet, no one could do anything to him.

After all, he wasn’t legally an adult yet.

Seeing the kid stay silent, the two officers exchanged glances and tried a more serious tone.

“Lu Yaozu, didn’t you steal an old man’s cane when you were little and cause him to fall down the stairs?”