Two police officers arrived at the Lin family’s door.
“Comrades, please come in. My father suddenly fell ill and fainted yesterday, so he was rushed to the hospital. His condition was critical, and our whole family stayed at the hospital to look after him. When we came back this morning, we found the house like this. The kitchen had been completely ransacked, and every place in the house that could be opened had been searched. A lot of clothes and other things were stolen.”
“Did you see anyone?”
“No. However, I suspect it might have been a distant relative who was staying at our house. She’s a relative of my husband’s. She and her children were the only ones at home yesterday, but when we returned this morning, the house was completely empty. Even their quilts and pillows were gone.”
Originally, Lin Shu had only wanted to teach Yang Guifen a lesson and make her suffer a little.
Who could have imagined that Yang Guifen would practically deliver herself to her doorstep?
This had indirectly given Lin Shu a second chance to get her revenge.
The two police officers went to the room where Yang Guifen had been staying and discovered that there was indeed nothing left inside except the bed frame.
“Tell us her personal information. Besides here, where else might they go?”
Lin Shu genuinely had no idea.
After cooperating with the police and filling out the necessary information, Lin Shu spotted a familiar face outside the courtyard gate.
“A-Qing, what are you doing here? Hurry up and leave.”
The man called A-Qing was the same man who had performed the knife-throwing act the previous night.
“I’m going to the train station.”
Lin Qing quickly left.
Lin Shu hurried back inside and discreetly informed the police officers who were still investigating the scene.
“Comrade, they came here to seek refuge with a relative. If they want to leave, they’ll most likely go to the train station, or perhaps wait outside the military academy for my husband.”
“Alright. We’ll return to the station first and send people out to search for them. Take another careful look around your house and see if anything else is missing. Someone will come and notify you if there are any developments.”
Lin Shu escorted the two officers to the gate. She watched them ride away on their bicycles and finally breathed a little easier.
That A-Qing was really bold.
However, Yang Guifen had most likely been frightened badly enough that she wouldn’t dare come back. She probably wouldn’t have the courage to identify them.
At that moment, Yang Guifen was already on her way to the train station.
After what she had experienced the previous night, she was now terrified of every little thing. She kept looking over her shoulder every few steps.
After walking for more than an hour, she finally managed to hitch a ride for part of the journey and eventually arrived at the train station.
“Da Mao, Er Mao, stand properly and line up to buy the tickets.”
Because there was a huge line to buy tickets that day, it was already ten in the morning by the time the mother and her two sons reached the ticket window.
“Hello, comrade. Please show me your identification. Where are you going?”
“Here. We’re getting off at Shan’ai Kouzi.”
The ticket seller glanced at the woman, then looked at the name on the letter of introduction.
She remembered what her superior had just told her.
She quickly wrote a note and handed it to the colleague beside her.
Her colleague stood up and glanced at the woman outside the window.
At that exact moment, he met Yang Guifen’s gaze.
Yang Guifen was puzzled, but before she could think about it, the ticket seller interrupted her.
“How many tickets?”
“Three.”
“That’ll be fifteen yuan and sixty cents in total.”
Yang Guifen reluctantly took the money from her pocket. She counted it coin by coin and handed it through the window.
The moment she put the money down, railway police officers rushed over and apprehended her.
The two children were also restrained.
“Hey! Hey! Comrades, what are you doing?!”
“You’re suspected of breaking into a residence and stealing property. You’re coming with us.”
The moment the police said this, the surrounding crowd erupted in an uproar.
“I didn’t! I didn’t steal anything!”
Once the handcuffs were put on her, Yang Guifen continued struggling desperately.
“These were all given to me by my relatives! I didn’t steal anything!”
But the police had already found the stolen property. They had no intention of listening to her excuses and took her away within just a couple of minutes.
Yang Guifen was handed over to the local police station, and soon the Lin family received the news.
Lin Shu did not go there herself. Instead, she sent her eldest brother, Lin Hui.
Lin Hui looked at the many familiar items laid out on the interrogation room table and confirmed them with the police.
“Comrades, aside from these fruits and vegetables, which we can’t be completely certain about, all these rice, flour, cooking oil, clothes, watches, and shoes belong to our family. These food items do as well. There are even stamps from our work unit on some of them. You can take a look.”
Knowing that Lin Hui worked at a research institute, the officers took a closer look.
Sure enough, there were indeed official stamps.
“These were distributed by my work unit for the holiday. I had only brought them home a few days ago.”
One of the officers glared angrily at Yang Guifen, who still refused to admit anything.
“What do you have to say now?”
“Hmph! Why can’t I take things that belong to my nephew? To put it bluntly, those capitalist stinking members of the Five Black Categories don’t deserve to eat such good things. In the future, all of this will belong to the Shen family!”
Seeing that she was still so stubborn, the police officer had no choice but to explain the value of the stolen property to her.
“Madam, if you really don’t know, then let us explain it to you right here. I don’t know the exact total value of everything, but this Seagull-brand watch alone costs around one hundred yuan. According to the law, you could face a prison sentence of up to five years.”
“You haven’t shown even the slightest remorse. On top of that, you’ve repeatedly insulted police officers during the investigation. Do you know that this is also a crime?”
“That will only add to your punishment. With your refusal to admit wrongdoing and your terrible attitude, those two factors alone could make your sentence much more than five years!”
The moment Yang Guifen heard that she could go to prison, she fainted.
The two children were taken to a separate interrogation room.
They hadn’t eaten anything that morning. After a female police officer gave them two steamed buns, they told her everything.
“Little boy, did your mother take these things from the Lin family while no one was home?”
“Yes… I remembered those people from last night. I don’t want to get beaten with sticks again.”
Da Mao swallowed hard.
“Auntie, my mother took all of these. She said we could sell them for money and buy delicious food for us after we returned to the village.”
“Things belonging to capitalists should be taken.”
The younger Er Mao was still too young to understand things properly. He had simply been brainwashed by the words Yang Guifen constantly repeated.
The officers conducting the interrogation saw that the child kept repeating the same thing over and over, so there was no need to question him further.
Just from looking at the child, they already knew that the adults were deeply involved.
In any case, Yang Guifen wasn’t going anywhere today.
But she still had two children with her. The older one was already over ten years old, while the younger one was only four or five.
The police were worried that this might affect her sentencing.
Lin Hui spent the entire morning dealing with the matter, but there was still no resolution.
After Yang Guifen woke up, she began making a scene, demanding to see the leaders and demanding to see Shen Huai.
After Lin Hui explained the situation to the police, they also decided to contact the military side.
When Lin Hui returned to the hospital, he told his wife and daughter the basic details.
Lin Tianlun had already woken up.
The two little dogs really were a pity. Even if they might not have lived for more than another couple of years, he still couldn’t accept the fact that someone had killed and eaten them.
“Dad, I know you regarded those dogs as your companions. But you should also understand our family’s current situation. There are some things we simply can’t do anymore. As for Yang Guifen, evil people eventually suffer the consequences of their own actions. Please don’t make yourself sick with anger.”
“Yes. I was just too angry to accept it. But I feel much better now. I’ll probably be discharged later.”
The three of them exchanged glances and smiled.
It seemed that Lin Tianlun really had come to terms with it.
“Forget about going home for now. You should rest properly for another couple of days. The leaders at the research institute said they’re coming to see you later. Just stick to the explanation we agreed on.”
“Yes, I know.”
Lin Tianlun forced down the sadness in his heart.
At least, the Lin family could finally be considered to have made it through the worst of the darkness.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Staff Officer Wu’s expression turned grim when he received the phone call.
He had personally arranged for these people to be sent to the Lin family.
Now that something like this had happened, how was he supposed to face Shen Huai?
They had claimed they were coming to seek refuge with Shen Huai and had even entrusted the children to him.
But now it seemed they had all been deceived.
Staff Officer Wu no longer had the face to go there himself. He could only have someone notify Shen Huai and ask him to return.