Auntie Zhang had a naturally loud voice. After she shouted at them, the hooligans thought someone had recognized them from one of their previous crimes and immediately turned tail and ran!
To the police officers, their sudden escape was an obvious sign of guilt. They immediately gave chase.
“Stop right there!”
“Catch the thieves! Hurry, catch them! Don’t let them get away!”
The neighbors ran after the police officers, pointing and shouting at the fleeing hooligans.
When passersby heard the commotion, several of them stepped forward to help. With their assistance, the police officers quickly caught the young men.
“Officer, w-we… what did we do wrong? Why are you arresting us?”
One of the hooligans, pinned to the ground, craned his neck and protested his innocence.
They had indeed followed Brother Biao and committed plenty of petty crimes over the years. But their last burglary had been half a year ago! Things had already quieted down long ago, so why would the police suddenly arrest them now?
“You know perfectly well what you’ve done! Tell us, where did you hide the Song family’s belongings? Who are your accomplices? Confess everything immediately!”
The hooligans stared at them in complete bewilderment.
“Huh? Officer, isn’t there some misunderstanding? We didn’t steal anything from the Song family!”
“Bah! You’re still trying to deny it?”
Auntie Zhang, who had finally caught up, immediately interrupted him.
“I saw you with my own eyes! You were sneaking around under that old locust tree, staring straight at the Song residence. If you weren’t planning to steal something, then what were you doing there?”
She had already decided that these men were the thieves who had robbed the Song family.
“You rotten scoundrels! Hurry up and return everything you stole!”
“No! We really didn’t steal anything! We were just passing by. Officers, you’ve arrested the wrong people! Please let us go!”
Hearing their excuse, the female police officer gave a cold snort.
“Just passing by? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You returned to the scene of the crime afterward because you wanted to admire your own handiwork, didn’t you?”
Their station had just handled a case exactly like that, so she knew the type very well!
The hooligans were speechless.
What?!
Did she really think they had that kind of courage?
Whenever they committed a crime, they would immediately flee Shanghai and only dare to return after things had settled down.
Sneaking back to the crime scene to admire their own handiwork?
Officer, you’re giving us way too much credit!
“Officer, we’re innocent! Even if you gave us a hundred and twenty times the courage, we still wouldn’t dare break into someone’s house and steal from them in broad daylight!”
“That’s right, Officer! We really were only passing by. Please, just let us go!”
The hooligans were on the verge of tears.
Who would have thought that they had merely come to watch the excitement, only to end up becoming part of the excitement themselves?
Although they hadn’t stolen anything from the Song family, they had indeed committed plenty of petty crimes in the past. The moment they heard they were being taken to the police station, panic set in.
“Enough nonsense. Whether you’re innocent or not, we’ll find out once you come back to the station with us.”
No matter how desperately the hooligans tried to explain themselves, the police officers insisted on taking them back for questioning.
“Miss Song, don’t worry. We’ll question them as quickly as possible and do our best to recover your missing belongings.”
Song Jinyue looked at them gratefully.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you, officers. Our household registration booklet was inside one of the cabinets that was taken. In a couple of days, I need to withdraw some money and go to the capital to find my fiancé and break off our engagement, so I urgently need it.”
Hearing this, the female officer immediately replied, “That’s easy enough. If you urgently need your household registration booklet, you can come back to the station with me now and apply for a replacement.”
“Really?”
That was exactly what Song Jinyue had been waiting to hear.
She excitedly grabbed the female officer’s hand.
“Officer, you’re such a wonderful person! Thank you so much!”
The female officer smiled.
“It’s nothing. We’re here to serve the people. It’s our duty.”
In the end, Song Jinyue returned to the police station with the officers and the captured hooligans and applied for a replacement household registration booklet.
But she didn’t only replace her own.
She also had the household registrations for Lu Weiguo, Shen Yurou, and the other two members of their family reissued.
Song Jinyue had already severed all family ties with Lu Weiguo, so naturally, she wanted to establish a household of her own.
While replacing the registration documents, she transferred her scumbag father and the other three ungrateful wolves out of the Song household.
Now, Song Jinyue had a household registration booklet of her own, while Lu Weiguo, Shen Yurou, and the other two shared a separate one.
The moment she got her hands on the new household registration booklets, she headed straight for the Educated Youth Office!
“Hello, Comrade. I’m here to register for the countryside.”
As soon as Song Jinyue arrived, she announced that she wanted to sign up.
The woman responsible for arranging educated youths’ countryside assignments was in her forties. A screw had fallen out of her nearsighted glasses, and when Song Jinyue entered, she was in the middle of trying to fix them.
Hearing Song Jinyue’s words, she quickly set her glasses aside and smiled warmly.
“Hello, Comrade! Please, have a seat. Where would you like to go? I’ll register you right away!”
The woman was extremely enthusiastic.
These days, many people were unwilling to go to the countryside. Even after repeated urging, they refused to leave, forcing the authorities to assign them according to regulations.
Someone like Song Jinyue, who voluntarily came forward to register, was truly rare!
“We’re a family of four, and I’d like us registered separately. I’ll go to Yunnan Province, my younger brother will go to Gansu Province, my father will go to Tibet, and my mother will go to the Great Northern Wilderness!”
Hearing the four destinations, the woman at the Educated Youth Office nearly dropped her jaw.
All four were known for harsh environments, difficult living conditions, and grueling workloads!
“Comrade, are you sure you want all four members of your family assigned separately—and to these four places?”
The woman repeatedly asked Song Jinyue for confirmation.
Because she was extremely nearsighted, she narrowed her eyes until they were almost slits, trying to get a clearer look at Song Jinyue’s expression.
Song Jinyue nodded without the slightest hesitation.
“Yes, Comrade. I’m certain!”
“Young comrade, would you like to consider Heilongjiang instead? There are plenty of crops there, and the winter season is long. People spend nearly five months of the year staying indoors because of the cold, so compared with many other places, life there can be somewhat easier.”
Seeing that Song Jinyue was so ideologically committed, yet also looked like a delicate young woman, the official couldn’t resist giving her another warning.
Traveling from Shanghai to a farm in Yunnan Province alone would take several exhausting days.
The mountain roads there were rugged, mosquitoes and insects were everywhere, the food and sleeping conditions were poor, and there was endless work to do every single day. Even many young men sent there became so exhausted that they cried for their parents, let alone young women.
And it wasn’t only Yunnan.
Gansu, Tibet, and the Great Northern Wilderness—the other three places this young woman had named—were all dreaded assignments among educated youths sent to the countryside.
Why on earth had she deliberately chosen these four places?
Song Jinyue patted her chest and declared with unwavering determination, “It’s fine! My family and I aren’t afraid of hardship. The leaders have said that ambitious young people like us should go wherever our motherland needs us most. The countryside is a vast world where we can accomplish great things!”
“My younger brother and I have already agreed that we won’t waste our youth idling away in the city. From now on, the countryside will be our home! We’ll work until our hands are covered in calluses, temper our hearts with devotion, and dedicate our lives to becoming new socialist farmers!”
“Although my parents are getting older, they also want to contribute to building a new countryside through the Down to the Countryside Movement. After all, working people are like bricks—we go wherever we’re needed!”
The moment she finished speaking, the woman from the Educated Youth Office couldn’t help but applaud.
“Well said! To possess such dedication at such a young age is truly admirable!”
She looked at Song Jinyue with approval.
“Did you bring your household registration booklets? I’ll arrange countryside assignments for your entire family right now!”