Chapter 34 : Public Security Comrades, I’ll leave this jade to you

Su Ranran was a little surprised when she heard Li Xueqiu’s name.  

Had she been released so soon?  

Just as this thought crossed her mind, she saw two uniformed officers escorting Li Xueqiu toward her from a distance!  

“It’s really Li Xueqiu!”  

The team members had never seen Li Xueqiu in such a miserable state before, and they couldn’t help but curiously follow behind.  

“Look, she’s wearing shackles. She must have committed a serious crime, right?”  

Hearing this, everyone dropped their work and gathered around, forgetting all about the harvest.  

Since her rebirth, Li Xueqiu had never experienced such humiliation. At this moment, she was filled with hatred and anger! If she could use the explosives from her space, she would have blown them all to pieces without hesitation.  

But there were no “ifs” in reality.  

Right now, she was struggling just to retrieve anything from her space.  

Li Xueqiu was panicked over the possible loss of her space and didn’t even care about her dignity anymore. However, while she didn’t mind, the sisters-in-law of the Li family couldn’t bear it.  

When they heard Li Xueqiu was back, they initially thought the Li family had been exonerated, so they rushed out in excitement. They hoped to restore their family’s reputation and show those who had laughed at them. But as soon as they approached, they saw Li Xueqiu being escorted back by two police officers, shackled and in disgrace.  

Seeing her in such a miserable state, the sisters-in-law felt so humiliated that they wanted to crawl into a hole. How could they step forward to acknowledge her now?  

Li Xueqiu, however, was unaware that the sisters-in-law who used to dote on her were now avoiding her like the plague.  

At this moment, her eyes were locked onto one person, the thin woman under the tree!  

Under the gazes of scorn and mockery from the crowd, Li Xueqiu was led to the edge of the field.  

“Li Xueqiu, your request has been fulfilled. I hope you will explain everything and strive for leniency,” Qi Hongyuan said seriously.  

They had brought her here to recover the stolen money.  

After all, 10,000 yuan was no small amount, and if they found it, it would be a major achievement!  

But Li Xueqiu acted as if she hadn’t heard him, her resentful eyes locked on the thin woman sitting under the tree.  

The more she stared, the more convinced she was that Su Ranran had taken her space!  

Noticing Li Xueqiu’s hateful gaze, Su Ranran calmly drank from her water kettle, discreetly pouring half of it into the soil in her space. Only after ensuring that no traces of leakage remained on her body did she set the kettle down.  

“It’s her! The money is with her!” Li Xueqiu accused with a face full of resentment.  

If Su Ranran hadn’t taken her lotus jade, how could she have ended up like this?  

“What money?”  

The onlookers were puzzled.  

What did this have to do with Su Ranran?  

Before they could make sense of it, the lead officer escorted Li Xueqiu closer to Su Ranran.  

“Hello, Su Ranran, we need your cooperation with the investigation regarding Li Xueqiu’s case. Is it convenient for you now?”  

Hearing this, the crowd’s gazes grew even stranger.  

What did this matter have to do with Su Ranran?  

Feeling the weight of everyone’s stares, Su Ranran showed a hint of confusion but nodded after a brief pause. “Okay, comrade officer.”  

Seeing her cooperation, Qi Hongyuan let out a sigh of relief. However, discussing the matter in public wasn’t ideal, so he sought out Wang Fulai and arranged for a quiet location.  

At that moment, Wang Fulai, feeling guilty about previous incidents, quickly agreed to anything.  

As soon as Qi Hongyuan made the request, he immediately led them to the brigade office. Not only that, but he also drove away all the curious members who wanted to eavesdrop!

But he himself did not leave instead, he stood guard at the door, quietly listening.  

“Li Xueqiu, if you have anything to say, just ask directly.”  

Even inside the office, Qi Hongyuan remained cautious. He and Xiao Qin each held onto one of Li Xueqiu’s arms.  

Li Xueqiu, firmly restrained, stared intently at the woman sitting at the opposite table.  

“It was you, wasn’t it? You picked up my jade?”  

Although it sounded like a question, anyone could hear the certainty in her voice.  

“Jade?”  

Su Ranran’s expression turned a little strange, neither confirming nor denying it.  

Her ambiguous attitude instantly ignited Li Xueqiu’s anger.  

“Stop pretending! I lost the jade at the restaurant that day. You and I sat at the same table, who else could have picked it up if not you?”  

Hearing Li Xueqiu repeatedly mention the jade, Qi Hongyuan guessed that the missing money was likely connected to it. He remained silent, simply observing the two women.  

Upon hearing this, Su Ranran’s expression grew even more peculiar. However, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a lotus-shaped jade.  

The moment Li Xueqiu saw it, her eyes widened in shock.  

“That’s it! Give it back to me!” she shouted, her face twisting with desperation as she lunged forward.  

However, since she was already being restrained, Qi Hongyuan and Xiao Qin immediately pressed her down against the table before she could move any further.  

“Let me go! I need to get my jade back!”  

Even as she was pinned to the table, her eyes never left the lotus jade.  

Su Ranran held the jade up and examined it carefully in front of her, seemingly on purpose.  

“I did pick up this jade,” she said slowly.  

Li Xueqiu’s eyes instantly lit up with hope.  

“Give it back to me! Please, just give it back to me!”  

She screamed and struggled so violently that even the two men holding her had difficulty keeping her restrained.

Her crazed reaction only made Qi Hongyuan more certain that the jade held some kind of secret. But how had she managed to smuggle such a large amount of supplies without anyone noticing?  

Qi Hongyuan didn’t believe in magic instead, he suspected that the jade must be an important tool for communicating with enemy operatives.  

“You say this jade belongs to you? What proof do you have?”  

Su Ranran spread the jade out in her palm and displayed it to everyone in the room.  

The jade’s smooth, warm glow indicated that it was no ordinary piece.  

Li Xueqiu immediately recognized it as her precious space jade. She was certain that such a rare item couldn’t possibly have a duplicate.  

“This jade is mine! Even if it turned to ash, I could still recognize its texture!”  

Hearing this, Su Ranran’s lips curled slightly in a faint smile. She paused for a moment before saying,  

“That’s quite interesting. I didn’t find this jade in the restaurant. I actually picked it up while catching snails in the stream today. There are still water stains on it. I was just about to hand it over to the public security officers when they happened to arrive.”  

As she spoke, Su Ranran placed the jade on the table, within Li Xueqiu’s reach.  

Sure enough, the jade still had traces of water droplets on it, indicating it had recently been pulled from the water.  

But Li Xueqiu wasn’t thinking about that, her entire focus was fixated on the jade. Her eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets, and her breathing became ragged, looking extremely eager.  

Her unusual expression made Qi Hongyuan frown.  

“Comrade Public Security, I’ll leave this jade with you.”