The Sea Guard member who had escorted them over, A-Ming, immediately stepped forward and pointed at Pei Zhikuan’s nose.
“Show some respect to our captain! If Captain Song hadn’t made a special exception, suspicious people like your family would never have been allowed to leave the office so easily! He let you come here because he was concerned about your health, and this is how you repay him? Barking orders at him?”
Song Zhuowei merely smiled good-naturedly.
He stopped A-Ming with a hand on his arm, then looked at Pei Zhikuan with a faint smile.
“You keep insisting your family lost a large amount of property. Exactly how much are we talking about? Did you prepare a list of the missing items?”
“We did. I brought it with me,” A-Ming immediately replied, handing over a sheet of paper.
Song Zhuowei unfolded it and skimmed through it.
The smile on his face gradually faded.
“Hmm. That is indeed quite a lot.”
Pei Zhikuan regained his arrogant attitude.
“Exactly! With this many valuables, this ought to be the biggest case your Sea Guard handles all year, shouldn’t it? So what are you standing around for? Hurry up and recover our property!”
Song Zhuowei ignored his shouting completely.
Instead, he asked A-Ming,
“What about their identification documents? Did you bring those too?”
“Right here.”
A-Ming produced a stack of crumpled papers.
After reading through them, Song Zhuowei’s expression turned even colder.
“So your entire family are registered residents of Pearl City.”
“Yet you’ve suddenly packed up all these belongings and planned to relocate your whole family to Hong Kong City.”
“What exactly were you planning to do?”
He tossed the identification papers back to A-Ming.
“Take all these documents to the commune immediately.”
Then he deliberately paused for two seconds before looking at the Pei family.
His eyes were icy.
Like the Grim Reaper holding an executioner’s blade, calmly watching the final struggle of the condemned.
“Tell them…”
“…that we’ve apprehended a group of fleeing capitalists.”
“Ask the commune to immediately organize a special investigation team to conduct a thorough inquiry.”
“Capitalists?!”
Leaning against the rusty iron hospital bed, Pei Zhikuan shuddered violently.
He frantically waved his hands.
“No! We’re not capitalists! You’ve misunderstood!”
“We’re just an ordinary family running a small business in Pearl City!”
“How could we possibly compare to real capitalists?”
Song Zhuowei lightly shook the inventory list in his hand and sneered.
“Whether a small business family is legally capable of owning this amount of property isn’t for me to decide.”
“You can explain that to the commune’s investigation team when they arrive.”
The Pei family instantly turned pale.
They huddled together like frightened quails.
In his panic, Pei Zhikuan suddenly remembered that before entering the ward, Song Zhuowei had been standing beside Lin Xizhi’s bed.
The dead girl truly was breathtakingly beautiful.
Her skin was as flawless as jade, as graceful as a lotus emerging from water.
Exactly the kind of beauty a rough, uncultured man like Song Zhuowei had probably never encountered.
If he wanted to avoid being branded a capitalist…
He had no choice but to play his trump card once more.
“Xizhi! Xizhi!”
Turning around, Pei Zhikuan grabbed Lin Xizhi’s blanket and cried pitifully,
“Please explain everything to Captain Song!”
“Those belongings all used to belong to your family!”
“Your father entrusted them to me!”
“You have to testify for your uncle!”
Lin Xizhi laughed inwardly.
Pei Zhikuan really is a coward.
To avoid being labeled an evil capitalist, he was finally willing to give up claiming those possessions.
Since he’d said that…
Things had just become much more interesting.
If Song Zhuowei later recovered any valuables from the pirates…
None of them would belong to Pei Zhikuan anymore.
They would all belong to her.
The thought of such a profitable bargain immediately brightened her mood.
Turning toward Song Zhuowei, she said,
“Captain Song, may I see that list?”
Song Zhuowei handed her the wrinkled paper.
Lin Xizhi studied it for quite a while before picking up a pen and crossing out part of it.
“Captain Song, the items I’ve marked are indeed mine.”
“The rest belong to the Pei family.”
She smiled faintly.
Song Zhuowei accepted the list and looked it over again.
Lin Xizhi had only claimed ownership of some of the solid wood furniture.
Everything with obvious monetary value had been crossed out.
As though, in her heart, those valuables meant nothing.
Only the large furniture connected to her parents mattered.
Song Zhuowei secretly thought she was a little foolish.
It was almost as if she couldn’t tell which possessions were truly valuable.
Narrowing his sharp eyes deliberately, he raised an eyebrow.
“Oh?”
“So you’re actually the daughter of a capitalist family.”
Lin Xizhi lifted her delicate face.
Her pretty features were filled with determination.
“I wouldn’t dare call myself the daughter of a capitalist.”
“At most…”
“I’m simply an educated youth from the city who has ended up here.”
She continued calmly,
“Captain Song, I know the country is actively encouraging educated young people to go to the countryside and help develop rural communities.”
“You already have all my household registration documents.”
“So I’d like to apply for a placement as an educated youth in the countryside.”
“Is that possible?”
Go to the countryside?
That meant staying here for the long term.
Song Zhuowei immediately frowned.
“That won’t be easy.”
“I’ll have to submit a report to the commune first.”
He looked as though the whole matter was a nuisance.
“You think farming is that simple?”
“The output and quality of our fields directly affect whether every commune member has enough food.”
“It concerns the commune’s reputation and honor.”
“So not just anyone can decide to come here as an educated youth.”
After saying that, he glanced at the four members of the Pei family.
“What about you?”
“Are you still planning to leave?”
“Or do you have other plans?”
The rest of the Pei family all looked to Pei Zhikuan.
Still sitting on the cold floor, Pei Zhikuan felt as though someone had carved a deep wound into his heart.
It bled endlessly.
Now he didn’t have a single cent.
Even if he somehow made it to Hong Kong City, he’d only end up working himself to the bone for others.
It seemed his only option was to remain here temporarily.
At least he could survive by becoming one of the educated youths.
Once those country bumpkins in the Sea Guard defeated the pirates and recovered the valuables…
He would find another opportunity to coax Lin Xizhi into helping him obtain more money.
Then they could still go to Hong Kong City later.
Forcing a smile uglier than crying, Pei Zhikuan weakly said,
“We’re also willing to join the educated youth program… and help develop the countryside…”
“Fine, fine.”
Song Zhuowei impatiently cut him off.
Looking thoroughly unwilling, he took the identity documents belonging to Lin Xizhi and the four members of the Pei family before striding out of the ward.
Lin Xizhi watched his retreating figure disappear like a gust of wind.
Then she turned toward the dejected Pei family.
She nearly burst into laughter.
Adopting a weak, gentle tone, she comforted Pei Zhikuan.
“Uncle Pei…”
“Don’t be too upset.”
“The most important thing now…”
“…is simply staying alive.”
Zhang Lirou helped Pei Zhikuan to his feet before glaring angrily at Lin Xizhi.
“Xizhi! That’s enough!”
“Can’t you see how upset your Uncle Pei already is?”
“Will you only be satisfied if you anger him to death?”
“We were supposed to be living comfortable lives in Hong Kong City!”
“And now look at us!”
“We’re stuck farming in this poor backwater village!”
Lin Xizhi gave a cold laugh.
Song Zhuowei wasn’t here.
A-Ming had also stepped outside.
There was no one else in the ward.
She no longer had any interest in continuing the act.
Her voice turned icy.
“Aunt Rou…”
“That’s not quite fair, is it?”
“Did Uncle Pei really end up like this because of me?”
“If I hadn’t helped all of you just now, your family would’ve been branded capitalists based solely on that property inventory.”
“And being labeled a capitalist…”
“…is far worse than becoming an educated youth.”
“So if Aunt Rou doesn’t want to be an educated youth…”
“…does that mean you’d rather experience what it’s like to be denounced and reformed as a capitalist?”
“When Captain Song comes back…”
“I’ll let him know he doesn’t need to go through the trouble after all.”
Zhang Lirou was left speechless.
“You !”
Pretending to feel unwell, Pei Zhikuan stopped Zhang Lirou before she could point at Lin Xizhi and curse her.
The husband and wife quickly exchanged a glance.
They decided not to argue anymore.
What was the point?
It would only damage their relationship with her.
They still had use for that wretched girl.
This small conflict…
Could be endured for now.
The Pei family made no further attempt to confront Lin Xizhi.
Instead, they called for a doctor to examine Pei Zhikuan.
Lin Xizhi couldn’t have cared less whether he lived or died.
She had already recovered what belonged to her.
She had also successfully trapped the entire Pei family in Shajing Commune.
This was her home ground now.
There would be plenty of time ahead.
She had countless opportunities to deal with them.
There was no need to rush.
At this moment…
There was someone else she wanted to see much more.