Qiao Qingqing rode her bicycle back into the city; it was already afternoon.
It was early June, and the heat was rising. After all the running around, she was drenched in sweat and had to change and wash in her space.
She had barely eaten a quick egg sandwich all day and felt too hot to have much appetite. But since it had been four days since she sent out the denunciation letter, and she sensed that the Lin family could be investigated at any moment, she made sure to eat a proper meal to maintain her strength.
She hurried to the west side of the city to pick up the cotton clothes from the tailor.
Making 20 sets in a few days meant the craftsmanship couldn’t be great—the stitching was crooked, and the tailor was nervous, smiling the whole time, afraid she would refuse to pay and start arguing.
Qiao Qingqing didn’t mind. After checking, she saw that although the clothes were ugly, they were sturdy enough. Satisfied, she paid the remaining balance without complaint.
With everything prepared, she returned to the Lin residence.
As soon as she entered, Li Xiulian started scolding:
“Where have you been all day? Don’t you know what you’re doing? There’s nobody in sight. If trouble comes, you clean it up yourself; nobody will help you!”
Qiao Qingqing turned her head and saw Lin Chaohai standing at the doorway, his expression grim.
“Qingqing, I heard you’ve been gone a lot these past days. Where have you been?”
Qiao Qingqing straightened herself and replied firmly, “The Qiao family isn’t nonexistent. When such a big matter happened, I went to relatives for help. Isn’t that allowed?”
Lin Chaohai’s suspicion faded slightly. “Did anyone help you?”
Qiao Qingqing curled her lips. “Of course everyone was avoiding me. Happy now? I know no one dares to be involved, but do you expect me to sit at home doing nothing every day?”
Lin Chaohai was about to say something more when a commotion came from outside, followed by a loud pounding on the door.
Qiao Qingqing’s heart leapt.
She knew—it had finally come!
“Who is it?” Li Xiulian opened the door, stunned at the dozen or so people standing outside. “Comrades, what’s the matter? Are you in the wrong place?”
One of the men asked, “Is this Lin Chaohai’s house?”
Lin Chaohai stepped forward. “Yes.”
“Then it’s the right place!” The group surged forward and stormed inside.
“What are you doing? Stop!” Li Xiulian shouted.
She saw them heading straight for her bedroom. One man yanked the bedding off the bed with a loud sweep, exposing the straw underneath, and shouted, “Search quickly!”
Li Xiulian trembled and lunged at them, rolling on the bed like a madwoman to prevent them from touching her belongings.
“Kill me then!” she screamed. “I’m just an old woman! My family has been peasants for three generations, all model workers! What do you want to do? Are you challenging the peasants?”
The group was used to this kind of performance and paid her no mind. A few of them moved her aside quickly, letting her thrash about while the others lifted the straw and bedboards.
It didn’t take long before they found the hidden gold.
The bright yellow bars, each weighing about a pound, totaled 30 pounds, dazzling everyone.
The crowd was excited. “Caught red-handed! Let’s see how you explain this!”
“Keep searching!”
Lin Chaohai stood stiffly at the doorway, his heart sinking. He knew it was all over.
He forced himself not to rush in and fight, trying to avoid making the situation worse, and could only watch helplessly.
Amid the chaos, he saw his mother rolling on the ground, crying desperately.
Several people came forward, pointing at him and accusing him of one charge after another.
For a long time, Lin Chaohai couldn’t speak, unsure what he could even say.
When his gaze fell on Qiao Qingqing, he realized that this woman was different from everyone else in the room. From start to finish, she had no extra reaction—just stood calmly as if observing from afar.
Suddenly, he stepped forward, grabbing Qiao Qingqing’s arm, his eyes blazing with fury.
“Is it because of you? Tell me, did you leak this?”
Qiao Qingqing shook him off forcefully. “Are you insane? What does this have to do with me?”
Lin Chaohai’s finger nearly poked her face as he shouted angrily, “Qiao Qingqing, if I find out you did this, I’ll kill you!”
He shouted, and Qiao Qingqing shouted back:
“What do you mean, you’re going to silence me? Everyone saw it—Lin Chaohai is threatening me! He’s going to kill me in broad daylight!”
Her terrified face and shrill cries echoed, and neighbors peered over cautiously from a distance. Many people were secretly watching the spectacle, which infuriated him further.
Lin Chaohai’s temples throbbed violently, as if punched, and he wanted to question Qiao Qingqing further—but the crowd surged in, dragging him away.
It was over.
Lin Chaohai felt a cold chill from head to toe. His future, his career, his great prospects—it was all gone.
A wave of dizziness and panic nearly made him collapse.
…
When Lin Chaohai finally regained some composure, he had already been sent to a temporary detention center under the Revolutionary Committee, also called the “study class.”
Because of his military rank, the military commission had to take over him; the Revolutionary Committee had no authority to interrogate him. They could only detain his mother and fiancée and demand his cooperation.
Lin Chaohai remained silent the entire time, until late at night when Lin Jianjun finally appeared.
The tungsten light bulb flickered weakly as the door closed.
Lin Jianjun was tall and broad-shouldered, somewhat resembling Lin Chaohai, but heavier and looking more menacing.
“You’ve been set up by that woman!” he said immediately after closing the door.
Lin Chaohai’s expression hardened as he gritted his teeth. “It must be Qiao Qingqing!”
Lin Jianjun was taken aback. “I said Xu Peiling.”
Lin Chaohai froze. “Who?”
“I mean that woman Xu Peiling!”
Lin Jianjun slammed the table. “Didn’t you tell me she reported her own in-laws? We just happened to have people at Shuangxi Brigade. This afternoon, I went there with them.”
He pulled out a torn piece of paper to show Lin Chaohai.
Lin Chaohai hesitated as he took it. At first glance, he thought he was imagining things.
The letter he had thrown into the river was now suddenly intact and in front of him?
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t the same letter.
The content was different—this denunciation was aimed at him!
The paper, the ink, and the handwriting were all the same. Lin Chaohai trembled with anger, asking Lin Jianjun, “Was this found at the Cui family’s house?”
His brother had been messed with by a woman, and now he was in trouble too. Lin Jianjun was equally furious.
“That woman, after breaking up with you, married a fool—she must hate you.”
Lin Chaohai’s fists clenched, cracking with tension.
Lin Jianjun added, “But how did she know about the gold bars? Even I didn’t know you collected so much gold.”
Lin Chaohai fell silent for a long time. “I don’t know either… maybe she was following me.”
But in his heart, he knew that reasoning was shaky.
He knew Xu Peiling’s capabilities well enough; tracking him without being noticed seemed unlikely.
Perhaps she had followed his mother.
According to Xu Peiling, after arriving in the city, she had been hiding near the alley of the Lin family’s rented house. She could have run into Li Xiulian, or maybe…
Lin Chaohai’s mind flickered with Qiao Qingqing’s name.
No concrete reason, just an inexplicable intuition. These past days, she had been acting strangely—very different from before.
Yet he couldn’t imagine why Qiao Qingqing would betray him. After all, they were on the same “stranded boat,” so to speak. That much was undeniable.
Lin Chaohai shook his head, dismissing the thought, and asked Lin Jianjun, “What do we do now?”