Chapter 35: Arrest

Fang Mingyi, seeing that Li Donghai had insisted on keeping the money, reluctantly put the banknotes back in his pocket.  

“Uncle, let’s head to the guesthouse first. I’ll call Zhu Lijian and Hu Zhisheng so we can all go back together,” he suggested.  

“Alright, let’s go then,” Li Donghai replied, finally feeling relieved after the money was returned. He nodded in agreement to Fang Mingyi’s suggestion.  

The two made their way to the guesthouse, where Fang Mingyi asked the receptionist for Zhu Lijian’s room number. They then went to see him.  

Li Donghai, having changed into a new set of clothes, joined them just as the three others were waiting outside. Together, they made their way to the bus station and boarded a bus back to the town. From there, they transferred to another vehicle to the commune.  

“Uncle, I’ll go get the bicycle. You wait here for a moment,” Fang Mingyi said as he prepared to leave.  

Once he returned with the bicycle, he suggested, “Li Donghai, you can ride the bike with Hu Zhisheng while Zhu Lijian and I will walk back.”  

Li Donghai shook his head, refusing, “No need. Let Zhu Lijian take Hu Zhisheng on the bike. You come with me to the police station.”  

“Alright, then. Zhu Lijian, you ride the bike with Hu Zhisheng, and I’ll go with Uncle to the police station,” Fang Mingyi agreed, handing over the bike key to Zhu Lijian.  

At the police station, they quickly found familiar faces and explained the situation. After some discussion, they made arrangements with the police to return to the commune together.  

Fortunately, the police had bicycles, so each of the officers rode with one of the two men to avoid them walking all the way.  

Meanwhile, in the Ma family commune, Liu Lan had become increasingly paranoid since the incident with Li Lin. The slightest sound would make her jump in terror.  

Zhang Jun, the commune leader, noticed her behavior and had no idea how to handle it.  

A few days ago, Fang Mingyi had borrowed bicycles, and Zhang Jun had gone to the fields to inquire about the situation. He had heard nothing substantial from the team members, so he decided to visit Liu Danniang at the pigpen to gather more information.  

When he heard Liu Danniang’s account of what had happened, Zhang Jun couldn’t help but gasp.  

He knew that Liu Lan was a schemer, but he never imagined she would go as far as to attempt murder in broad daylight.  

Now, with Li Lin still in the hospital and her condition unknown, Zhang Jun felt uneasy. Meanwhile, Liu Lan’s erratic behavior made it difficult for him to figure out the next steps.  

He feared that if anything happened to Li Lin, the commune would be held accountable. According to Liu Danniang, Li Lin had been covered in blood when she was found.  

If Li Lin didn’t survive, the entire commune would likely face serious consequences.  

The commune accountant, noticing the leader’s growing concern, finally spoke up to offer a little comfort.  

“Don’t worry too much. We can’t do anything about Liu Lan until Li Lin is discharged. We’ll have to wait until then to figure it out.”  

“I know, but since these young people came to the countryside, we’ve already had a few incidents. This can’t keep going on!” Zhang Jun groaned, his head pounding at the thought of all the recent issues.  

Just then, the sound of a bicycle approaching interrupted their conversation, and the accountant paused, swallowing the words he was about to say.  

Zhu Lijian arrived at the commune headquarters, cycling up to the open door. He walked in and greeted, “Comrade Leader, Accountant, I’m back with Hu Zhisheng. Here’s the key to the leader’s office.”  

Zhang Jun, distracted by his own worries, barely acknowledged the key as he quickly asked, “Zhu Zhisheng, was it just you and Hu Zhisheng who came back? What about Li Zhisheng? How is she? Is she alright?”  

“She only woke up yesterday. Right now, she’s fine, but the doctors in the county say that her lung was injured, so she won’t be able to do any physical labor in the future,” Zhu Lijian replied, his face solemn.  

Zhu Lijian sighed and added, “Li Zhisheng’s parents heard about what happened and came over from Kyoto. Right now, her father is at the commune police station. They should be arriving soon.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jun felt a sense of relief. He muttered to himself, “They’ve finally arrived… It’s a shame, though. Their daughter came to the countryside with such good intentions, and now she’s been injured so badly in just a few days. Anyone in their shoes would be furious.”

“Well, Leader, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back now. I’ll be working in the fields this afternoon,” Zhu Lijian said, giving his usual respectful nod before heading out.

When he returned to the youth station, he saw Liu Lan squatting at the entrance. His eyes filled with disdain, and without a word, he walked past her and headed to his room.

Liu Lan, upon seeing both Hu Yingying and Zhu Lijian return, assumed that Li Lin must have been okay and let out a sigh of relief.

However, her brief moment of peace was shattered when the one person she dreaded most approached her.

“Li Uncle,” Liu Lan stammered, trembling at the sight of Li Donghai.

Li Donghai, hearing her call him “Li Uncle,” felt disgust well up in his chest. He glared at her and coldly responded, “Don’t call me that. We’re not close.”

His expression darkened as he continued, “Don’t think you can escape just because Li Lin is in the hospital. Now that I’m here, you won’t be able to hide from this.”

Liu Lan’s face turned pale. She began to tremble and, with her eyes red, pleaded, “Li Uncle, I didn’t mean to hurt Li Lin. That day, I don’t even know what got into me. I didn’t realize what I was doing when I hurt her.”

Realizing that Li Donghai wasn’t going to let her off so easily, Liu Lan’s body went weak with fear.

Li Donghai’s expression hardened. “You’ll pay for what you did to my daughter. If you’re asking me not to hold this against you, then you should take the same punishment you gave Li Lin. Otherwise, don’t blame me for what’s coming.”

Liu Lan staggered, almost collapsing to the ground. She tried to grab hold of Li Donghai, but he pulled away from her, disgusted by her touch.

She didn’t give up. She crawled toward him, pleading desperately, “Uncle, please, I really know I was wrong. Don’t treat me like this. I grew up under your care, you know me!”

Li Donghai couldn’t bear to hear any more. He turned to the two officers beside him and ordered coldly, “Officers, take this person into custody for questioning.”

The officers, having heard enough, quickly grabbed Liu Lan and began to take her away.

Liu Lan, in her panic, began to scream and struggle, but her efforts were futile. Her fate had been sealed.

Fang Mingyi watched the scene from the side, his expression unreadable. As Liu Lan was led away, he turned to Li Donghai and asked, “Uncle, Liu Lan’s been taken. Should we go back to the youth station and check on things?”

“Let’s go,” Li Donghai replied, his voice stern. He didn’t want to leave so abruptly, so he followed Fang Mingyi to the youth station.

“Uncle, this is Li Lin’s room, but I don’t have the key, so we probably won’t be able to get inside,” Fang Mingyi said, gesturing to Li Lin’s room as they entered the courtyard of the youth station.

Li Donghai, after a quick glance, waved his hand and said, “That’s fine. We’ll check it when Li Lin is discharged. No need to rush.”

“Alright. Let’s head to my room then. I’ll clean up a bit and make some food. After we eat, we can head to the commune,” Fang Mingyi suggested, leading Li Donghai to his own room.