"Officer Tu, has there been any progress on my case?" Zhang Liunian stepped forward, asking about Hong Fei's situation.
Officer Tu smiled and turned to Zhang Liuxing, "Are you Zhang Liuxing? Hong Fei is suspected of robbery, murder, and possession of contraband. Yesterday, he suddenly claimed that all his actions were at your instruction. Please come with us to the bureau for questioning."
"Impossible, I have nothing to do with him." Zhang Liuxing's face instantly turned pale. He never imagined that the person he had saved would try to drag him down and blame him to escape punishment.
But how did Hong Fei provoke Zhang Liunian again and get himself sent in?
This idiot was truly useless.
"Whether you are involved or not is not for you to decide. Please come with us, or we will have to take you by force."
"..."
Looking at the team of officers and realizing he was alone, Zhang Liuxing understood that there was no room for negotiation.
If he didn't cooperate, they would still take him away, and he would suffer. It was better to cooperate willingly.
However, seeing Zhang Liunian witness him being taken away made him feel extremely humiliated.
"Only the wicked can subdue the wicked. Zhang Liuxing, you should cooperate with the investigation. Only then can your innocence be proven," Zhang Liunian said with a half-smile, his face full of mockery.
Innocence? Did Zhang Liuxing have any innocence to speak of? Impossible.
However, Hong Fei doing this had greatly exceeded Zhang Liunian's expectations. If Hong Fei succeeded in shifting the blame, Zhang Liuxing would never be released.
Zhang Liuxing was so angry he wanted to shoot Zhang Liunian, but he was incapable of it. In the end, he could only grit his teeth, utter, "Don't celebrate too soon," and was then taken away.
As soon as they left, Zhang Liunian immediately went to attend to his business.
However, before entering the tea house, he deliberately took several detours and entered through the back door.
"You're looking for your wife? The educated youth from Jiangcheng?" The barefoot man dug at his nose again, saying casually.
Zhang Liunian paused for a moment and nodded, "That's right."
"She's no longer in Nancheng. I'll just take two hundred yuan from you!"
Not in Nancheng? Zhang Liunian was about to ask, but he took out the money first. The barefoot man happily accepted it and replied, "Yesterday, one hundred and two people came to Nancheng from Jiangcheng. Three of them, two men and one woman, went to your county town. This morning, they took a car back to Nancheng, reportedly with another woman accompanying them."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Liunian immediately asked excitedly, "Who are they?"
Great, Qingqing wasn't in the hands of the Tang family. This put his mind slightly at ease, but then he thought that she was already in Jiangcheng, a place he was not very familiar with, and began to worry if Qingqing might encounter someone more troublesome than the Tang family.
"Use your brain and you'll figure it out!" The barefoot man glanced at Zhang Liunian with disdain.
Zhang Liunian choked and forced himself to think calmly. Soon, he realized that Jiang Qingqing was from Jiangcheng, and those people were from Jiangcheng. It was very likely that her in-laws had taken his wife away.
But it didn't make sense. If they came, why would they secretly take her away?
And in the middle of the night. Were they treating him like a man-eating tiger?
At this moment, Zhang Liunian did not know that Jiang Qingqing had not told her parents about her marriage to Zhang Liunian. However, Jiang's parents had learned about their affairs not long ago and unanimously considered Zhang Liunian to be mud from a sewer, not even wanting to see him, let alone have him find the Jiang family. Therefore, they had planned this trick.
However, since it was the Jiang family who took Qingqing away, they wouldn't harm her. This relieved Zhang Liunian, but thinking about how he had only recently learned about Jiang Qingqing's situation at home, he decided to set off immediately to bring his wife back.
"Thank you."
With a direction, Zhang Liunian was about to leave when he seemed to remember something, stopped, and said, "Watch out for the Tang family."
After speaking, Zhang Liunian walked away.
He didn't see that when the barefoot man heard his four words, his eyes flickered, and then he smiled silently.
"Conscience-less black-hearted merchants, no conscience! You bought pigs with swine fever and made them into braised meat for us to eat, causing my grandson to be poisoned and on the verge of death. Your boss must give me an explanation, otherwise I'll lie down at your shop's doorstep."
Zhang Liunian was not far from the new shop when he noticed that the entrance was crowded with people, and a loud, elderly voice could be heard from inside.
Hearing this, it seemed like trouble was brewing.
Zhang Liunian's heart sank. He pushed through the crowd and saw an old woman with white hair lying at his shop's entrance with a motionless child.
Grandpa Tang kept trying to explain to the unreasonable person, "Our pigs are live pigs slaughtered fresh. There is no swine fever at all. You are spouting nonsense and trying to extort us."
What he said was reasonable; they were indeed trying to extort them. But the old woman sitting on the ground would never admit it. She slapped her thigh and wailed, "There's no justice, no heart! Black-hearted boss, buying sick pigs for us to eat and making my little grandson sick. You must pay with your lives! I want my grandson's life."
Zhang Liunian understood what was happening. These were people deliberately trying to ruin his reputation and extort money. He had seen many such people.
"Elderly lady, your grandson's complexion looks ruddy. He is not at the point of being terminally ill and beyond help.
Since there is still time, take him to the hospital quickly. What's the use of shouting here?
If you delay too long and he truly dies, you'll have nowhere to cry." Zhang Liunian examined the child and saw that his complexion really didn't look like he was dying.
He wondered what methods this old woman had used on the child to make him lie there motionless. At first glance, he really thought he was dead.
What a greedy old woman, doing such an immoral thing for money. Wasn't she afraid of having money but not the life to spend it?
"Bah, what do you know? The doctor already said my grandson is beyond saving, and it would be a waste of money to take him. That's why I brought him here to seek justice for him." Seeing that someone was meddling, the old woman immediately cursed, showing no desire to save the child.
Zhang Liunian's mouth twitched speechlessly, "It seems you don't care about your grandson at all. He's like this, and you're still dragging him out and displaying him here. Fine, if you don't go, I'll help you find a doctor, alright!"
As Zhang Liunian spoke, he really intended to find someone.
The old woman immediately grabbed his leg, "Why are you meddling in other people's business? Is your family so idle that you have nothing better to do? Scram, get out of here and stay out of my way. My family's affairs don't require your interference."
As soon as she said this, the crowd finally began to understand. This old woman seemed to genuinely not want to save her grandson. Could it be that she wanted her grandson to die here, or perhaps this wasn't even her grandson?