"Director Zhou," Huo Rou nodded and greeted him.
The village chief quickly stepped forward, "Director Zhou, why didn't you let us know you were coming? This..."
The village chief glanced at the car blocked by the crowd, feeling ashamed, "I'm really sorry."
"It's just that your villagers are quite something, slandering Teacher Huo. That won't do," Deputy Director Zhou looked at Liu Cuihong, who had just gotten up from the ground, with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Come, tell me, what exactly happened?" Deputy Director Zhou called over his accompanying staff to take notes.
Facing Deputy Director Zhou's stern gaze, Li Dayong was the first to crack, "It's none of our business, Director!"
Liu Cuihong vigorously patted Li Dayong's arm, never expecting him to admit it so easily.
"Why are you hitting me, you old hag? It wasn't us who decided to say this." Li Dayong spilled everything, "A woman called us and told us to make trouble for Huo Rou."
"She told us to ruin Huo Rou's reputation, preferably to the point where she'd be too embarrassed to show her face. The longer she's kept from going back, the better."
As Li Dayong finished speaking word for word, everyone understood. It was all fabricated by the couple.
"Why would you listen to a stranger for no reason?" the village chief found it strange. This couple never did anything without a motive; why were they so obedient?
"She gave us a sum of money and promised to find a good school for our Qinghua after this was done!" Li Dayong, afraid Deputy Director Zhou wouldn't believe him, even showed the mobile payment confirmation message.
Liu Cuihong was filled with regret. This man was truly incapable of handling pressure. Now, their son's schooling was ruined.
After hearing the entire story, Huo Rou took his phone and glanced at the transfer time and account information without saying a word.
"Don't cause trouble again next time!" the village chief pointed at the two and lectured them.
With the matter cleared up, people dispersed. Deputy Director Zhou chatted with Huo Rou for a few more words, and not wanting to delay her further, he drove into the village first.
Huo Rou and Old Zhang got into the car. Before the car could move, Shenfeng, who was lying in the back, suddenly sat up.
"Woof!" It looked anxiously out the window, barking incessantly.
"What's wrong?" Huo Rou hadn't seen Shenfeng like this in a long time.
"Woof woof woof!" Shenfeng kept barking frantically in one direction outside the car window.
Huo Rou followed its gaze. It was Li Qiang, who had just come out of his house, looking excited and gossipy, probably here to watch the show.
Li Xiaohua followed him from a distance, not daring to approach because he had just been beaten.
Shenfeng was still restlessly shifting its paws. Seeing that Huo Rou didn't understand its meaning, it simply jumped to the front seat and leaped out of the car window, which was not fully closed, beside Huo Rou.
"Shenfeng!" Huo Rou immediately opened the car door to check on it.
After jumping out of the car, Shenfeng ran straight towards Li Qiang with such speed that afterimages could be seen.
Li Qiang, startled by the sudden appearance of Shenfeng, turned and fled.
"Whose dog is this? Why is it chasing me?" Shenfeng's ferocious demeanor scared Li Qiang into running at top speed.
Huo Rou followed behind, watching the abnormal Shenfeng and the refreshed Li Qiang, her brow furrowed in thought.
Seeing that Huo Rou wasn't following, Shenfeng barked several times at her while running.
Huo Rou tentatively uttered the name of a prohibited substance.
Shenfeng barked twice.
Huo Rou's expression instantly turned grave. She stated the category of the prohibited substance.
Shenfeng barked once.
This meant that Li Qiang had this substance on him, or had recently come into contact with it!
Huo Rou ran over quickly. The seemingly delicate young girl ran surprisingly fast, catching up to Li Qiang in an instant.
With two quick steps, Huo Rou pushed Li Qiang to the ground.
"Little beauty, why are you tackling me in broad daylight?" Li Qiang was clearly excited, completely different from his agitated state at the entrance.
"Let go of my dad!" Li Xiaohua, still protective of his father, immediately came forward to pull Huo Rou's hand when he saw Li Qiang being pinned down.
Old Zhang had also gotten out of the car when Huo Rou did, but he wasn't as fast, so he only arrived now.
Old Zhang stepped forward, "Miss Huo, what's... going on?"
Huo Rou, without a word, pinned him down with a single move. Old Zhang couldn't understand what was happening.
"Uncle Zhang, call the police." Huo Rou turned, her eyes flashing with coldness that struck Old Zhang, and her voice was chilling.
Old Zhang, hearing the perfunctory questions from the other end of the phone, finally realized he had been intimidated by Huo Rou's aura and instinctively complied.
"Miss Huo, calling the police is...?" The call was already connected, so he had to ask for clarification.
"Tell them to hurry over, there's a drug dealer." Huo Rou stated coldly.
Old Zhang was stunned and couldn't react. He looked at Li Qiang, who was being held down by Huo Rou, and decided to follow her instructions regardless of the situation.
Soon, the police car arrived.
"Who called the police?" a young man asked, getting out of the car.
"I did!" Old Zhang raised his hand.
"A drug dealer?" The young policeman looked at the man on the ground being held by a young girl, unable to get up, and asked with some disdain, "Him?"
"Yes. I searched him, and he has nothing on him, so he must have just used some, and perhaps spilled some." Huo Rou explained the situation.
"I didn't!" Li Qiang protested, "Officer, please save me! This woman has been holding me here for so long for no reason. And now she's framing me!" Li Qiang wriggled on the ground, getting covered in dust.
"You said he has nothing on him, so how can you say he used it?" The policeman felt that a young girl holding down a grown man looked like playful banter.
"My dog is a police dog." Huo Rou gestured towards Shenfeng beside them, "It smelled it."
There were no police dogs in such a small place, so the policeman eyed Shenfeng suspiciously. If an ordinary person had a police dog, it must be retired.
However, this dog didn't look old at all. Was this person making a false report to trick them?
Seeing his disbelief, Huo Rou said helplessly, "You can take us all back for questioning. Apply for a search warrant to check his house; there will definitely be more."
She then remembered something and added, "Shenfeng can be lent to you to assist with the search."
"Alright, young lady, did you have a fight with your boyfriend? Making a false report is wrong, especially with such an excuse." The policeman then advised Li Qiang, "Okay, you don't need to pretend to be knocked down. Can this little girl hold you down? Get up now. We won't pursue this this time."
Huo Rou hadn't expected young people nowadays to have such active imaginations and what was in their minds.
"Officer, I can't get up, she's holding me down!" Li Qiang, seeing that the policeman didn't believe him, breathed a sigh of relief.