Chapter 11: Why Didn’t You Report to the Police?

Wu Dazhuang and Wu Jun were on their way to report to the police.

The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable Wu Dazhuang felt. Jingxi had stolen so much money, and after giving him 500, there was still so much left. So, could he threaten Jingxi? If he didn’t divide the money equally with him, would he expose her?

After all, Jingxi had no evidence, and no one else knew that they were working together, right?

Wu Dazhuang thought more and more that this was the right way to do things. A young girl like that couldn’t cause any big problems, could she? If she didn’t listen to him, he could even rape her.

The two of them quickly arrived at the town, and because the amount of money involved was quite large, the police station sent two officers to follow them down to the village.

After the two officers had understood the situation and inspected the scene, they frankly said that if the perpetrator didn’t commit another crime, it would be very difficult to find out who did it.

However, at the same time, they also highly suspected that the theft had occurred on the day of the fire, as the Zhang family had forgotten to lock their door when they went out.

Additionally, they had spent several hours putting out the fire, giving the thief ample time to commit the crime.

But due to procedural issues, the officers still asked, “Have you recently offended anyone?”

Zhang Qiang shook his head.

While Wang Cuihua stood up and said, “Comrades, I highly suspect Jingxi! That little girl! I think it’s very likely that she’s the one who took it. We’ve had some unpleasantness with her recently!”

Wang Cuihua quickly finished speaking, and Zhang Qiang’s face turned black. Even Wu Dazhuang, who was standing beside him, felt a bit uncomfortable, thinking that if the police investigated and suspected Jingxi, how would he be able to threaten her into giving him money?

Zhang Qiang’s face was already completely black with rage.

“Shut up! Don’t talk nonsense!”

“It’s okay, comrades, my family member is just talking nonsense. Don’t believe her.”

Wang Cuihua heard Zhang Qiang say this and became even more agitated. She started yelling and throwing a tantrum, not caring that the police were present. “You’re still protecting that little slut, are you? Are you and she really having an affair and just pretending in front of me?”

“Oh, comrades, I’m so wronged! To say something that doesn’t sound good, my family member’s private life is not decent. He’s having an affair with a village girl who doesn’t have a father or mother! You’re just in time to give me justice today!”

“They’re shameless, and they even hugged and kissed on our kang! Oh, I’m so embarrassed to say it! A man almost 50 years old, and he’s still messing around with a young, unmarried girl! He doesn’t care about his family’s wife and children at all!”

“I’m starting to suspect that my family’s money might have been taken by our family’s good-for-nothing head and given to that little tramp! You must go to Jingxi’s house and search it! My money is definitely there!”

The two police officers had thought that there wouldn’t be any more developments in this case, but they didn’t expect to uncover such a big scandal with just one question.

“Who is Jingxi, and what’s going on?”

As soon as the police officer spoke, Zhang Qiang’s face became even darker. “Comrade, may I have a word with you in private?”

“Why do you need to go elsewhere to talk? You can say it right here! You must have something to hide since you want to go outside to talk!”

Wang Cuihua stood up and pointed at Zhang Qiang, who suddenly became bold and slapped her in the face.

The slap was so hard that it made Wang Cuihua stumble backward.

The police officers were initially caught off guard. “What are you doing? Why are you hitting people? You dare to hit people in front of us?”

Zhang Qiang was grabbed by the police, and it was only then that he realized what he had done. However, it was too late for regrets. As a man, he needed to save face. “You nasty woman, all these years I’ve really given you too much face. If you don’t want to live a good life, let’s get a divorce! You always have a big mouth!”

Then he turned to the two police officers and explained, “Comrades, don’t believe her. She’s just talking nonsense.”

Wang Cuihua let out a loud wail and started crying.

Zhang Jianjun saw his father hit his mother and became even more annoyed with him. “Dad, you’re really too much!”

He turned to the police officers and said, “Comrades, I’ll tell you about Jingxi’s situation.”

Zhang Jianjun explained everything, but it was all from his own perspective. In his words, Jingxi was a sneaky and cunning fox who had caused trouble in their family.

The two officers took down their statements and looked at Wu Jun. “Take us to Jingxi’s house for a visit.”

Wu Jun and Wu Dazhuang escorted the police comrades out of the Zhang family’s house, and the sky had already darkened.

When the four of them arrived at Jingxi’s house, Jingxi had just finished pickling vegetables in her room and was exhausted, with sweat all over her head. She was about to boil some water to take a hot shower.

The stove had just been lit, and the water in the pot had not yet boiled when the knocking at the door started.

As soon as she opened the door, there were four people standing there, two of them wearing big hats, and Wu Dazhuang and Wu Jun with strange expressions. She smiled and asked, “What brings you all here?”

The two police comrades looked at Jingxi, a beautiful and slender girl, clean and tidy, and unconsciously softened their tone. “Sorry to disturb you, are you Comrade Jingxi?”

Jingxi nodded, “I am.”

“It’s like this, have you heard about the Zhang family losing money?” one of the police officers asked.

Jingxi nodded, “I heard about it this afternoon. The two of them were arguing at home and made a lot of noise. I think the whole village should have heard it. But why are you all here?”

The police officer explained, “We also heard that you had some conflicts with the Zhang family recently, so we came to understand the situation.”

Jingxi understood, “So, I’m a suspect now? You’re here to see if I have a motive?”

The police officer thought that her words were rough but reasonable, and still said, “We’re just following procedure.”

Jingxi nodded and noticed that the Zhang family had also followed them.

Zhang Qiang’s expression was a bit guilty and worried, probably afraid that she would expose the dirty things he had done.

The police officers entered Jingxi’s house, and she closed the door behind them. The Zhang family tried to eavesdrop, especially Zhang Qiang, who was afraid that Jingxi would reveal his secrets.

The two police officers looked around Jingxi’s small house and saw that it was very simple, with no partitions. The kang was separated by a curtain, and the rest of the room was open. They could see that the living conditions were not good, but it was very clean.

There was a pot of rice cooking on the stove, and it smelled good.

“Sorry, I only have two chairs. Please sit on the stools for now,” Jingxi said.

After everyone sat down, Jingxi got straight to the point. “Please ask me any questions you have.”

Jingxi’s attitude was good, and she was neither humble nor arrogant, which left a good first impression on the police officers.

The police officer introduced himself, “My surname is Yu, and my colleague’s surname is Li. We’re both police officers from the town. We came here today to investigate the Zhang family’s lost money. This case is quite important, and the police station is paying close attention to it. The national government is also cracking down on social crimes, so we’re taking it seriously.”

Jingxi nodded, not expecting the police officer to explain things so thoroughly.

The police officer asked, “Do you have any conflicts with the Zhang family? What happened?”

Jingxi replied, “It was half a month ago. Zhang Qiang wanted to take advantage of me, but his son and Wu Dazhuang discovered him. They thought I had an improper relationship with Zhang Qiang, so they tied me up and poured cold water on me.”

The police officers were shocked and couldn’t believe what they were hearing. This was completely different from what Zhang Jianjun had told them.

The police officer asked, “Can you tell us more about what happened?”

Jingxi stirred her fingers and was silent for a few seconds before speaking. “I don’t have parents, and I’ve been relying on doing odd jobs for the villagers to make a living. That day, I had just finished working and met Zhang Jianjun. He asked me to help him deliver some potatoes and promised to pay me.”

“I didn’t think much of it and went to his house at the agreed time. I had done jobs for his family before, like shelling corn in the autumn. I had shelled two mu of land for them and earned two yuan. So, when he asked me to deliver something to his house, I didn’t think much of it.”

“After I arrived at his house, I found the door was locked, so I knocked. Then his father came out and pulled me into the house without letting me finish speaking. He wanted me to be his mistress and started undressing me. He wanted to force himself on me.”

“I refused, and then Zhang Jianjun and his mother came back. They didn’t listen to my explanation and said I was seducing Zhang Qiang. Zhang Qiang also turned the tables and said I had given him a love potion and called me a fox spirit. I was so angry that I fainted.”

“After Wang Cuihua poured cold water on me, I woke up and found myself tied to a wooden stake, with my clothes soaked and a crowd of people laughing at me.”

“Then the village leaders came, including the village head and the accountant. They all knew what had happened. The village head mediated, and the villagers sent me back home. After that, I didn’t have any contact with the Zhang family until one day, when Liu Ayi asked me to help her with cooking at the village office. That’s when I met Zhang Qiang again, and he tried to bully me again. Everyone at the village office saw it!”

Jingxi finished speaking, her voice still shaking with tears.

The police officer looked at Wu Jun and Wu Dazhuang, “Is what Jingxi said true?”

Wu Jun nodded after a moment.

The police officer looked at Jingxi with some confusion. In this era, a woman’s reputation was extremely important. “Why didn’t you report to the police?”