Chapter 16: Cruel Yang Zhaodi

She saw Yang Zhaodi return home and trick Yang Jinbao, telling him his girlfriend, Xiao Hui, was waiting for him in the park for a walk.  The gullible Jinbao chuckled, looking lecherous, and ran off.  Zhaodi then tricked her mother, Liu Guizhi, into going out to find out about Yang Zhong.

With no one home, she found the household registration book and stole it.  She then went to the educated youth office and registered her mother and brother to go to the far Northwest as educated youths, specifically instructing the clerk to send them to the most difficult location.  After learning that Yang Mumu was assigned to a commune in northern Shandong province, she breathed a sigh of relief.  Feeling ashamed to face her cousin, she registered herself to go to the countryside as well, choosing a location in the Northeast that was closest to Shandong.

Leaving the educated youth office, Zhaodi walked around the streets, gathering information and photos. She became excited, almost manic. Everything was going exactly as Mumu had planned.

To Mumu’s surprise, Zhaodi, at her hiding spot, pulled out several sheets of paper and letters – correspondence between Li Yuhua and Yang Zhong. The letters discussed plotting to seize their family’s property.  Zhaodi then wrote a long letter of complaint, gathered the evidence, and rushed to the police station.  She shouted as soon as she saw someone.

“I want to report them!  Comrade police officer, I, Yang Zhaodi, the daughter of Yang Zhong, am formally reporting Yang Zhong, Zhao Bing, Xu Qiang, Zhang Cuilan, Li Yuhua, Yang Qianqian, and Zhao Yitian for illicit affairs. I saw it with my own eyes. They are shameless; it wasn’t just once or twice, it was many times.”

As soon as she said this, nearby onlookers, smelling gossip, rushed over, excitedly finding the best seats to watch the drama unfold. Mumu, watching from the spinning wheel, pulled out a handful of melon seeds and watched with relish.

Zhaodi raised her voice.  “It started with Yang Zhong and Li Yuhua. Then Li Yuhua’s ex-husband joined in. Later, Zhang Cuilan joined in, and more and more people joined.  They all coveted my cousin’s belongings.”

The police officer’s eyes lit up, as if seeing a chance to serve the people, achieve success, and get a promotion and raise. He called a colleague to bring a glass of water and invited Zhaodi to sit down.  “Please sit down and tell us slowly.”

Zhaodi organized her thoughts and continued her righteous report. “I also want to report that these eight people plotted against my cousin to get her house, the money my uncle left her, the compensation from the machinery factory, and her job. They wanted to make her make a mistake so she’d break off her engagement, so they secretly registered her to go to the countryside.”

The police officer’s pen flew across the page, barely keeping up with Zhaodi’s speed. “Comrade, please slow down.”

Zhaodi, understanding the officer’s difficulty, slowed her pace.  She became more confident as she spoke. “Comrades, you don’t know, yesterday they planned to set up my cousin. They specifically found Wu Erliu and got that medicine.  But the foolish Yang Qianqian grabbed the wrong water pot. Not only did she drink it, but she also poured a cup for Wu Erliu and Zhao Yitian.”

“Then, she and Wu Erliu, whom she liked, and Zhao Yitian, whom she liked, ended up together. These people are usually debauched, and when they saw it, they excitedly joined in without thinking.”

“But time passed, and my cousin was about to return from work.  The effects of the medicine were too strong, and Yang Qianqian, Zhao Yitian, and Wu Erliu hadn’t woken up yet. To avoid being discovered by my cousin and ruining their plan, they sent Zhang Cuilan and Li Yuhua to stop her, to keep her occupied, while they had enough time.”  Zhaodi laughed.  “But man proposes, God disposes. They underestimated the effects of the medicine. My cousin hadn’t even been gone long before they were discovered by my cousin. The three were caught in the act.  She yelled and wanted to report them. They tried to stop her, but luckily the neighbors came in time to support her and call you, otherwise, they might have hurt her.”

“You know the rest. To avoid being implicated, they threw Yang Qianqian and the others under the bus. These people are extremely vicious, full of lies and schemes, always shifting blame. You must eliminate this harm to the people.”

The police officer asked, “Comrade, do you have any evidence?”

“I am the witness. I saw and heard everything myself. I also have their written evidence, their letters, and drafts they used when they were plotting. I found them when I was following my father; I stole some when he was burning them.” Zhaodi pulled out several letters and drafts from her pocket. “Comrade, look, the contents of these letters and drafts prove they were planning to harm my cousin.”

The police officer, excited to see solid evidence, took them and put them in an evidence bag. He looked at Zhaodi again and casually asked, “Yang Zhong is your father. Why are you reporting him?”

“If they dare to do it, why can’t I report them? Because he’s my father, I should stand up. They are harming heaven and earth. I am eliminating harm for the country.  Country first, then family. Without a stable country, how can there be family happiness? With witnesses and physical evidence, and they were caught in the act.”

Yang Zhaodi answered loudly, righteously and confidently, earning the respect of the police officers and the onlookers, who applauded and cheered.  “Good! Well said! Those people are the country’s cancers; they must be eradicated!  Eliminate harm for the people!”  “Eliminate harm for the people! Eliminate harm for the people!”

In this era, family members reporting each other wasn’t uncommon; everyone was used to it.  Zhaodi had evidence and her report aligned with everyone’s expectations, exciting them to chant slogans.

“Before, I was cowardly and afraid of getting into trouble, and afraid that no one would believe such a bizarre story, so I didn’t come forward immediately. I’m sorry.  But this time, you caught them in the act, and I had the courage to come forward. Thank you.”  Zhaodi handed over her written report. “Comrade, I also wrote a report myself, including everything I just said, word for word.”

“Zhaodi, what are you doing?!” Liu Guizhi stormed in, eyes blazing, and slapped Zhaodi.  “Stop!”

The scene became chaotic, ending with Liu Guizhi being reprimanded and Zhaodi cutting ties with her family.  Mumu watched from the screen, clapping excitedly.  Zhaodi was indeed ruthless and clever, mixing true and false, guessed and heard information, reconstructing 90% of the truth.  The report was thorough and reasonable, exceeding expectations.

Mumu looked away and took out the confession letters they had signed. It was time to send them to the police.  Taking advantage of the crowd at the police station, she slipped three confession letters into the station.  Soon, she saw an officer discover them, excitedly taking the five confession letters to Officer Liu.

Mumu glanced at the spinning wheel and saw that Zhaodi had completely changed. She had gone to the Revolutionary Committee, bringing along a crowd of onlookers, and was reporting to the director.