This… Qian Aifen couldn’t imagine what was going on in Zhang Qinfang’s mind.

How did she know if Ning Shu would bring meat? “Why don’t you go ask?”

Zhang Qinfang: “…What am I supposed to ask? Let your Haicai go. Third Brother’s wife seems to like Haicai, doesn’t she?”

Hearing this, Qian Aifen’s heart skipped a beat.

She remembered how Zhang Qinfang instigated Yibao and Erbao to change their mother.

She worried that Zhang Qinfang might say something to Haicai because Ning Shu liked him.

So she quickly said, “Don’t you dare scheme against Haicai. He’s young and doesn’t know any better. If you call him over and make him do something, don’t blame me for turning hostile.”

This made Zhang Qinfang very uncomfortable. “What am I supposed to say to him? Aren’t you being unreasonable? Don’t you accuse me without evidence. When you speak and act, you need evidence.”

Qian Aifen didn’t care about evidence or not.

She had no such concerns. “How am I being unreasonable? Haven’t you said things to Yibao and Erbao that shouldn’t have been said?”

She wasn’t afraid of Zhang Qinfang and didn’t care. As the eldest daughter-in-law of the Lin family, she had three sons.

The second son, Lin Guoliang, was just a farmer. Did she need to fear Zhang Qinfang for anything?

But she was indeed a bit afraid of Ning Shu.

Compared to men, Lin Guodong was more promising than Lin Guofeng.

Compared to children, Ning Shu had already given birth to three sons. Compared to herself, Ning Shu was a high school graduate from the city, while she was illiterate.

So her fear of Ning Shu partly stemmed from inferiority. It was a common feeling among rural people facing city dwellers.

“That’s all in the past. Why bring it up now? I’ve already apologized to Third Sister-in-law and Yibao and Erbao. I’ve also had a good harvest of sweet potatoes from them. That matter is already water under the bridge. Big Sister-in-law, why do you bring it up again? Isn’t that too much?” Zhang Qinfang felt aggrieved.

She had only said it casually at the time.

If Ning Shu wanted to hold a grudge, fine, but now her sister-in-law was bringing it up again.

This family was becoming increasingly unbearable.

Luckily, they would be splitting up after the New Year.

Hmph, she knew her big sister-in-law was proud of having three sons.

Let’s see if her sons could come up with a dowry in the future.

If it were up to her, it would be better to have more daughters.

She could collect dowries from daughters and ensure her sons’ good lives.

Three sons… all walking around in torn pants with their butts showing.

As Zhang Qinfang kept complaining inwardly, two policemen arrived at the village entrance.

“The police are here. Why are the police here?” A child who recognized them shouted.

At the village entrance, many children were playing.

Suddenly, they saw the police arrive, and some of the previously noisy children quieted down. “Kids, do you know where Zhuang Teigen’s house is? Can you tell us?” one of the policemen asked, smiling at the children who were staring at them.

“Who’s Zhuang Teigen? We only know Zhuang Xiaopang’s house,” the children replied.

In front of the police, they felt more nervous than when they saw their parents or teachers.

Naturally, they wouldn’t dare to lie to the police.

“Yes, yes, Zhuang Xiaopang’s house,” the police said.

They had checked Zhuang Teigen’s household registration, and there was a grandson named Zhuang Xiaopang.

“Um… we know… know it…”

“Could you please show us the way?” the police continued to ask.

“Ye… yes…” So, a group of children led the way, with the two policemen following behind.

In a procession.

Yibao had finished his water and had just arrived at the village entrance to play with Erbao and Sanbao when he came across this scene.

“Guangzong ge, where are you guys going? Aren’t you playing anymore?” Erbao ran over and asked, constantly glancing at the police.

Erbao had never seen the police before, but seeing the police dressed similarly to his father, he couldn’t help but look more.

Actually, in the eyes of a five-year-old child, police uniforms and military uniforms did indeed look quite similar.

“We’re going to Zhuang Xiaopang’s house. Erbao, do you want to come with us?” Lu Guangzong asked.

Erbao didn’t like Zhuang Xiaopang and didn’t want to go, but he enjoyed watching commotions, so he looked at Yibao.

Yibao nodded, and so the three brothers joined the procession.

Erbao continued to size up the police, and he even walked up to one of them, looking up at him openly.

The police felt a bit puzzled by the child’s gaze.

He smiled and asked, “Kid, why are you staring at me?”

Erbao, feeling unreserved, replied, “Your clothes are the same as my dad’s.”

The police thought there must be something about him that attracted the child’s attention or that he had some problem.

It turned out it was because of their similar clothes.

Wait a minute, similar clothes? “Which police station does your dad work at?” None of their colleagues at the police station were from Qinglin Bay Production Brigade, so it should be another police station.

They were all part of the same system, serving the people, right? They wanted to know about Zhuang Teigen’s situation, and having someone from the village help would make it easier.

Er Bao shook his head, “I don’t know.”

The police officer thought for a moment and gestured to his colleague, “You go with them first, I’ll go find this kid’s dad to understand the situation.”

His colleague heard Er Bao’s words and nodded, “Okay.”

So, the police officer said to Er Bao, “Hey kid, I need to find your dad for something. Can you show me the way?”

Er Bao looked at Yi Bao, “Bro, I’ll take him to find Dad. Can you guys go to Zhuang Xiao Pang’s house?”

Yi Bao nodded, “Okay.”

Since they were dressed like their dad and were brought into the village by someone they trusted, Yi Bao wasn’t suspicious of Er Bao’s words.

So, Er Bao took the police officer home.

Er Bao ran fast, and the police officer couldn’t even ask him anything.

When they reached home, before entering the yard, Er Bao shouted, “Dad, there’s someone here dressed like you, looking for you. Dad…”

Lin Guodong was slicing fish by the well in the yard.

Hearing Er Bao’s loud voice and understanding his words, he wondered if someone from the army was looking for him.

But when he saw who Er Bao brought, he felt helpless.

Lin Guodong stood up.

“Hello, comrade. I’m Zhengzhou from the Rainbow Commune Police Station. This kid said you’re also a police officer. I need your help with something. Which police station are you from?” Zhengzhou politely asked.

Lin Guodong hesitated.

What surprise was Er Bao giving him this time? He had to apologize, “Comrade, I’m really sorry, I’m not a police officer, nor do I work at a police station. I’m a soldier. It seems your uniform is similar to mine, which caused the misunderstanding between you and my son.”

Zhengzhou understood.

The uniforms were indeed different, but the colors and styles were similar, leading the child to mistake him.

But if the person was a soldier, it was even better. He said, “I have a case here and would like to get information from a local. Could I see your military ID? I’d like to request your help.”

Lin Guodong naturally couldn’t refuse such a request. “Of course, I can help.”

When Ning Shu heard Er Bao’s loud voice, she came out of the kitchen and said, “You go help the police comrade. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Zhengzhou recognized Ning Shu and recalled, “Comrade, it’s you! You came to our police station for household registration a while back, and I handled your paperwork. Do you remember?”

Ning Shu didn’t remember, but she smiled and said, “Oh, it’s you! No wonder you looked familiar. I just couldn’t remember where I’d seen you. I haven’t thanked you for helping with the registration last time. I’m really grateful.”

“That’s my duty, serving the people. You’re too kind,” Zhengzhou replied.

After Lin Guodong washed his hands, he fetched his military ID from the room and handed it to Zhengzhou.

After examining it, Zhengzhou returned the ID to Lin Guodong and said, “Comrade Lin, can we find a place to talk?”

“Please, this way.” Lin Guodong led Zhengzhou to the study room.

Zhengzhou didn’t expect to find such a room here, but it was suitable for their discussion.

“Comrade Lin, here’s the situation. A homicide occurred in X City a few days ago. The victim was a man, and a letter of introduction was found on him. The letter mentioned Zhuang Taigen and his wife, Ren Xiaolan, going to the hospital. But here’s the twist: Zhuang Teigen is alive, and Ren Xiaolan is missing. The local police asked for our assistance based on the address in the letter. Lin…”

“Please wait a moment.” Lin Guodong interrupted, “Zhuang Tiegen and his wife, Ren Xiaolan, have been in the village all this time and haven’t left. Zhuang Tiegen is alive; just a few days ago, he was with us when we went fishing and even helped slaughter a pig later.”

“What?” Zhengzhou was shocked. “How is that possible? Look, this is the information sent by X City Police Station. Although it’s a copy, is there any problem with this introduction letter? Moreover, the police who delivered the information are still at our station.”

Lin Guodong took the copied introduction letter. “This introduction letter is fine. It’s Chief Hongfa’s handwriting.”

He remembered Chief Hongfa from when he and Ning Shu went to the county to buy a house and got paperwork done.

So, he recognized his handwriting.

“But… how did their introduction letter end up in X City?” Zhengzhou was perplexed.

Lin Guodong thought for a moment and came up with a possibility. “Zhuang Tiegen has a son named Zhuang Daming… He hasn’t been seen in the village for over a month, and no one knows where he went.” He explained the incident with Zhuang Daming getting spanked in the woods.

Bringing up this incident, Zhengzhou naturally understood what might have happened. “So, Zhuang Daming took Zhuang Tiegen’s introduction letter and ran off? It’s quite simple. If someone recognizes Zhuang Daming, they can go to X City to identify the body. Or, if you describe Zhuang Daming’s appearance, the police from X City can make an identification.”

“That’s right. It shouldn’t be hard to confirm if the deceased is Zhuang Daming,” Lin Guodong agreed.

Zhengzhou stood up. “Thank you very much, Comrade Lin.” He thought it would be a complicated homicide case, considering a villager from Qinglin Bay Production Brigade died so far away in X City.

But if it involved Zhuang Daming, then the case would be very straightforward. However, “I still need Comrade Lin to accompany me to Chief Hongfa’s house. I need to ask him about the introduction letter.”

“Please,” Lin Guodong agreed.

As they left the house, Lin Guodong and Ning Shu exchanged words. “I’m going to Chief Hongfa’s house.”

Ning Shu replied, “Okay, go ahead.”