Chapter 25.2

The person who had just been arrogant and bullying his father was now reduced to a prisoner. Xu’s face was full of hatred, and he felt very satisfied with his impromptu performance.

Luo Lan got off work a bit late, and by then, Sun Tong had already been locked up. She took a detour to the Sun family’s home and noticed a crowd gathered outside. She dismounted her bike and walked into the crowd, not needing to ask anyone; she already understood from their discussions—Sun Tong had been caught.

“They say it’s a special period now; he’s being held in detention, but it’s managed by the G Committee.”

“There’s a public trial this afternoon. They’re trying several cases.”

“What exactly did he do?”

“I heard he committed murder in secret.”

“No way. He’s just a kid, how could he dare?”

“Who knows? They say it happened at school. It was covered up before, but now some classmates have reported him.”

“School? Hey, last year, that guy, my wife’s co-worker’s younger brother, had something happen at school too.”

As everyone continued to discuss, Luo Lan rode away. As she entered the gate, she bumped into the old lady from the south room, who was rushing out, her face filled with anxiety. When she saw Luo Lan, her expression changed.

“Auntie, where are you in such a hurry?”

“Oh, I heard that Sun… something over there seems…”

“You mean Sun Tong? He’s already been caught.” Seeing that the old lady looked even more anxious, Luo Lan leaned in closer to her: “Confessing will lead to leniency, resisting will lead to severity. Anyone who gets involved with him will be finished. I heard they’re encouraging everyone to report and that rewards will be given for information.”

The old lady was sweating coldly, her expression dazed, and her lips trembled. Seeing that her psychological defenses were about to collapse, Luo Lan pressed further.

“Now that he’s been caught, if they use any methods on him, with his small frame, he’ll probably confess to everything. Those who helped him will be in trouble too; they might even get caught up with him.”

“Ah? What should we do?”

“Report him; that’s how you make up for your mistakes.”

“Oh. Luo Lan, last night, I opened the door for him, but I was deceived. He said he was my son, and being old, I didn’t recognize him and opened the door.”

“That was him last night.”

“Right. I’m just a lonely old woman, and I was afraid of his revenge, so I didn’t dare to speak out.”

Her words were overheard by the two daughters-in-law in the east room. Alright, now they had a witness and didn’t have to worry about her backtracking. That old woman actually colluded with outsiders against them. They would settle the score for this.

If it had just been a minor dispute between neighbors, she wouldn’t have held a grudge. Once it was over, it was over. But this old woman had let outsiders in during the night. She was definitely deserving of punishment.

Hearing wrong? Hmph, who do you think you’re fooling? A three-year-old?

“Auntie, you should hurry and report him. Don’t let him bite back and accuse you of being the mastermind. That would be bad.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go right away.”

The old woman hurried off to report, fearing that if she was a moment too late, someone else would take the lead. She shifted all the blame onto Sun Tong.

“It was him who deceived me into opening the door, it was him who threatened me, and it was him who went to Zhou’s family house. I’m just a poor old woman who was bullied and deceived by a villain.”

“I swear everything I said is true. It was all him.”

System: This ability to shift blame doesn’t seem to be very effective.

Luo Lan: Don’t just eat popcorn, the points for today need to be paid first.

System: Don’t worry, you’ll get what you deserve. By the way, can you find a way to be on-site this afternoon to watch?

Luo Lan: Points?

System: Doubled.

Luo Lan: Stingy.

System: (gritting teeth) I’ll give you five times the points.

Luo Lan: Deal.

When she checked her points, she was taken aback. Oh my, it had been quite a while since she last looked, and she didn’t realize she had accumulated so many. Great! The points spent for Zhou Minshan had multiplied several times, earning her back what she had spent.

To earn points, Luo Lan applied to visit a female comrade’s house for a follow-up visit that afternoon. Director Liu said, “Follow-up visits are usually done by two people together.”

“But Sister Liu isn’t here today.”

“Alright, then you go. Anyway, there’s not much going on this afternoon.”

In these chaotic times, both the workplace and school were lax; this excuse was perfect for her to have the afternoon free.

First, she planned to watch the public trial, and then she would go for the follow-up visit. She had already made her plans and went straight to the trial site as she left work. She arrived just in time; the place was surrounded by three rings of onlookers.

“Zhou Minshan was indeed killed by Sun Tong using a black brick. At the time, I was threatened by his father, so I kept it quiet and said it was an accident.”

In this era of familial betrayal, such mutual accusations were more frequent. The principal easily stated the facts and shifted the blame onto Sun’s father. Everything was because of his threats; it wasn’t my choice; I was powerless.

Of course, Sun’s father was subjected to denunciation, and as the instigator, Sun Tong was immediately bound up. Previously, he had been close friends with the people who now held whips and began to beat him.

“Crack!”

The man beating him was not very old, probably around twenty. However, he was ruthless and increasingly excited, his triangular eyes sparkling with viciousness. Sun Tong gritted his teeth and endured in silence, he knew this man well. On the surface, he looked ordinary, but he thrived on the screams of others—the more you screamed, the more excited he became.

“Mmm…” He couldn’t hold it in any longer and let out a soft sound. The man beating him grew even more exhilarated, his eyes turning bloodshot.

“Murderers deserve to be beaten to death on the street.”

Luo Lan spotted her mother-in-law and Zhou Junhui in the crowd. Seeing that her mother-in-law looked about to faint, she hurriedly squeezed her way over and supported her.

“Why did you bring Mom here?”

Mother Zhou was on the verge of collapsing but shook her head stubbornly. “I insisted on coming.”

“Mom, let’s go home. I’ll help you.”

Mother Zhou felt weak and frail but still struggled to refuse. “No, I won’t go. I want to see the person who killed Minshan get the punishment they deserve.”

“Since you already know, we won’t hide it from you anymore. But you must hold on! Don’t blame yourself; this is not your fault.”

The woman nodded at her daughter-in-law. She had always been afraid of violence, but today she had to witness the punishment of the person who secretly killed her son.

One sheltered the criminal, another protected their own child, and a small boy who was so wicked that he hit people in the most vulnerable place with a brick. None of them were good people. Watching them get beaten brought her satisfaction.

“Wait!” Sun Tong had already been beaten to the point of bleeding when Zhou Qingshan appeared, holding a report in his hand. “Sun Tong snuck into my house last night and poisoned our water tank. Here’s the test report.”

The man beating him took a quick glance at the report; he wasn’t concerned with the details but was stirred up by Zhou Qingshan’s words. He raised the whip high and brought it crashing down on Sun Tong again. The pain caused Sun Tong to tremble all over, his muscles twitching.

“Good! You little punk are nothing but a social scum. First, you secretly hit people with a black brick, then you poisoned a family in the dead of night. Tell me, what other inhumane things have you done?”

“N-No, really…” Sun Tong was trembling all over, tears and snot streaming down his face. “There’s nothing else.”

“Ha!” The man sneered, his eyes red with excitement and cruelty. “Not going to talk, huh? I don’t believe you won’t spill.”

“Crack, crack!”

“Ah, just shoot me! Please, ah…”

Seeing the person who killed her son begging for death, the woman covered her mouth with tears on her face. Luo Lan and Zhou Junhui supported her; Luo Lan had never met her brother-in-law, so she remained calm, while Zhou Junhui, as the older sister, gritted her teeth with hatred.

“You’ve finally gotten your retribution. The heavens are watching.”

“Ah!” Sun Tong screamed in pain once more and suddenly yelled at the crowd, “It was her, it was her! It was this old woman who told me to deal with the Zhou family! It was her!”

The old woman from the south room instinctively wanted to run, but as soon as she turned around, someone pulled her back. The man grabbed her and dragged her back like a sack.

“It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me!”

The old woman was so frightened by Sun Tong’s pitiful state that she collapsed, her whole body turning soft. The man released her, and she fell to the ground, repeatedly insisting it wasn’t her.

“Look at you, you’re clearly not a good person. Tell me, what other bad things have you done? Did you ever do anything indecent in your youth?”

Well, as soon as this man opened his mouth, he went straight to that kind of thing, clearly not a good person. A person with prejudice against women can only be said to have a filthy mind. Luo Lan and the others had never joined in on this kind of excitement; they actually disapproved of these people. But today, they were dealing with real villains, and it was still quite satisfying to watch.

“There’s nothing, no! It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!”

The old woman was now so frightened that she was dazed, her words and logic confused. However, the man wouldn’t ask any further; he directly tied her up with rope.

“Since you’re older, let’s not use the whip. Just kneel here properly.”

Kneeling under the blazing sun, the old woman trembled like a sieve. Today, because of Sun Tong’s exposure as a murderer, the others had barely been beaten at all. As the sky gradually darkened, the crowd began to disperse. The others were sent home, awaiting summons at any time.

“Sun Tong and his father deliberately killed someone and later tried to poison a family. They’ll be shot in the south big ditch the day after tomorrow. Everyone, come to watch!” They were promised fairness and justice. In this period, there was no juvenile protection law; both murder and poisoning were punishable by death. The special methods of handling during this special period left future generations feeling both incredulous and satisfied.