“Xiao Douzi, as long as you tell the truth, Officer Uncle definitely won’t arrest you. He’ll even praise you for being an honest child.
Think about it—you’re about to start school soon. If everyone finds out you lied, will the teachers and classmates still like you? Will they still want to play with you?
But if you earn Officer Uncle’s praise, your teacher will surely reward you with a little red flower when school starts, and the other children will look up to you as a role model.”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s true.”
Xiao Douzi hesitated, then finally seemed to make up his mind. In front of everyone, his voice trembling slightly, he said: “It was Big Cousin who pushed her!”
“Whoa~”
As soon as these words were spoken, the surroundings instantly erupted in uproar.
“Xiao Douzi, don’t talk nonsense!
Your big cousin is your own flesh and blood! Every time he comes back from school, he brings you treats. If you falsely accuse him like this, your uncle won’t let you off!”
When Xiao Douzi’s uncle heard his nephew name his own high-school-aged son as the culprit, he instantly exploded.
“Waa, Dad, I’m scared…”
His uncle’s furious roar frightened him so much he burrowed into his father’s arms.
“Big brother, Douzi is so young—how could he possibly lie!”
“How couldn’t he lie! Didn’t he just say Third Aunt Zhou fell by herself!”
“That was only because your son threatened him first!
Douzi, don’t be afraid. Your dad’s here. Don’t hold anything back—speak the truth. I’ll stand up for you!
If anyone dares to hit you, I’ll hit them right back!”
Held securely in his father’s embrace, Xiao Douzi regained his courage.
“It really was Big Cousin who pushed her. He told me not to tell anyone, or he’d beat me to death.”
“Is this true?”
“I’m not lying—I saw it with my own eyes!”
“Your cousin usually attends high school in the county town and only comes back once a month. Why would he push Third Aunt Zhou for no reason?”
Everyone found this puzzling.
“I think it was because Third Aunt Zhou saw Cousin steal a bag of rice from the warehouse. Then she asked him for some kind of ‘hush money’—I didn’t hear clearly.
Cousin refused to give it, so he pushed her.”
“Stealing rice from the warehouse?”
This statement made all the onlookers restless.
“Heavens! That’s stealing from all of us!”
“Yes, Wang Jun, hurry to the warehouse and check!”
“Don’t all go to the warehouse—someone go check if the rice is still at Liu Dazhu’s house!”
“Damn it! How dare he steal from all of us! If we catch him, I’ll beat him to death!”
The crowd that had been gathered around Wen Nianxin watching the spectacle instantly scattered.
Some ran toward the warehouse, while many others rushed in the direction of Xiao Douzi’s uncle Liu Dazhu’s home. The scene descended into chaos instantly.
The noisy atmosphere, combined with her existing headache, became too much for Wen Nianxin to bear. She fainted outright.
……
“Grandma, Auntie is awake.”
When she opened her eyes, a delicate-looking young girl came into view.
“Nian Xin, you’re awake! How are you feeling? Are you doing better?”
Zhou Mu, seeing her open her eyes, hurried over to check on her.
“A little better. Where is this?”
She was still somewhat disoriented, her mind in a fog.
“This is the clinic. You fainted at the village entrance.”
“Ouch~”
“Don’t move. You’ve got a big gash on your head. The doctor stitched it up and gave you a tetanus shot.”
After recognizing the face before her, she finally snapped back to reality—she had truly traveled through time.
“What happened with that matter? Was the person caught?”
“They caught him. Xiao Douzi wasn’t lying—it really was Liu Jiaxiang who pushed you. The stolen bag of rice was also recovered. The Production Team leader had him sent to the police station. He’ll probably face…”
Before Zhou Mu could finish speaking, Wen Nianxin spotted two uniformed police officers at the doorway of the hospital room.
“Excuse me, does Comrade Wen Nianxin stay in this ward?”
“Yes, that’s her.”
“We’re officers from the town police station. We need to ask you a few questions. Are you physically able to answer now?”
“I am.”
Zhou Mu gestured for them to sit on the chairs beside the hospital bed.
“Liu Jiaxiang admitted to pushing you, but he claims you tried to extort him first by demanding hush money. Is this true?”
Wen Nianxin gathered her thoughts before replying, “That’s correct. I did ask him for hush money, but it wasn’t for extortion. At the time, I used it as an excuse to buy time, hoping to wait for other Production Team members to arrive at the village entrance. After all, what he stole was collective property belonging to all our team members. To protect everyone’s shared interests, I had no choice but to resort to this.”
Wen Nianxin spun her fabricated tale with a straight face.
Extortion was exactly the kind of thing the original host would have done, but the original host was gone now. From here on, she, Wen Nianxin, would be living in her place. If the label of extortion were pinned on her, she’d likely end up behind bars as soon as her head injury healed.
The officers nodded after hearing her explanation.
“Regarding the theft, we’ve already discussed it with your team leaders. As punishment, he’ll compensate ten yuan. According to his family’s wishes, they’d also like to settle this privately with you. What are your thoughts?”
“The Liu family wants to compensate me?”
“That’s correct.”
“How much?”
“Twenty yuan.”
Wen Nianxin chuckled.
“Twenty yuan probably isn’t even enough to cover my medical expenses, is it?”
“How much do you want, then? We can help mediate on your behalf.”
“Anything less than two hundred is off the table.”
As the officers seemed about to persuade her otherwise, Wen Nianxin added, “If they don’t want to pay, that’s fine—I can forgo the money. But I absolutely refuse to settle privately. If I recall correctly, intentional harm causing injury carries a sentence of at least six months for minor cases, one year for moderate cases, and one and a half years or more for cases nearing severe injury. Oh, and by the way, I’m a Jun Sao. I wonder if that status might lead to a longer sentence for him. Since we’re all from the same Production Team, I don’t want to make things unnecessarily difficult. Let the doctors determine the severity of my injuries.”
She had no intention of sending Liu Jiaxiang to jail over this incident. After all, based on the novel’s plot, he wasn’t far from ending up behind bars anyway. For now, securing compensation was her priority.