Su Jin nodded, her voice choking as she said, “Yes… my father, Hong Jianguo… he long ago betrayed our family.
Hong Xiuxiu… she is my father Hong Jianguo’s biological daughter…
He secretly took all of our family’s precious things and money and gave them to his other household.
These are the pieces of evidence my mother left behind.
Also…
Correspondence from more than a decade ago between Hong Jianguo and his current wife, Zhou Yuehong.
Everyone already knows that our family donated all our property to the state. The authorities were generous and even gave us three days to move.
If it weren’t for wanting to take some of my mother’s belongings with us, I wouldn’t have… discovered all this.”
She didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone understood.
Once they realized, they were utterly shocked. Who was Hong Jianguo? Everyone knew him.
A son-in-law of a major capitalist family, many envied him. Although his first wife had passed early, he remarried a second time, bringing along two stepchildren, and eventually had a son with her.
The first woman to react felt even more sympathy for Su Jin. She took the letters from her hands, and before she could say a word, Su Jin handed her a ledger.
“Today, when he found out that our family—my grandfather—had turned over all the family assets to the state,
he came to scold us, claiming all those things were his and should not have been handed over. He accused the state of seizing his property.
Also, my uncle went to the factory today to sort the ledgers and found one that documented Hong Jianguo’s embezzlement of public funds.
I… I really don’t know what to do, so I came to you for help.
My grandfather was so furious that he almost fainted.”
With that, her restrained tears finally fell.
The officials at the street office, after hearing Su Jin’s account, immediately grew serious.
Looking over the irrefutable ledgers and letters, their expressions darkened further.
They had initially thought it was just minor trouble, but it turned out that Hong Jianguo not only had a questionable lifestyle and improper relationships, he also embezzled state assets and expressed discontent with the government.
Previously, his background was already problematic. Now, with these charges, each one alone was enough to ruin him.
One staff member, appearing to be a senior official, said sternly to Su Jin, “Comrade Su, rest assured, we will absolutely not tolerate acts that harm national unity, embezzle state property, or involve inappropriate relationships.
Please also convey this to Comrade Su Tingyun—we will support your family.”
After speaking, he and his colleagues, carrying the evidence, headed straight for Hong Jianguo’s house.
The Revolutionary Committee, having caught wind of the situation, followed closely behind.
One female officer remained at the street office—she had been the first to speak with Su Jin. Seeing Su Jin’s tear-streaked face, she comforted her for a while.
Su Jin thanked her, “Thank you. With you here, I feel reassured. I need to go back to check on my grandfather—he’s so old and so upset…”
“Comrade Su, don’t worry too much. Good people are rewarded, and your grandfather is a good man. Everything will turn out well.”
Su Jin wiped her tears. “Thank you. I’ll go back now.”
“All right. Don’t be too sad. If anything comes up, come here and tell us.”
“Thank you so much.”
On her way home, Su Jin walked with her head down, occasionally rubbing her eyes, looking as if she had been crying.
Once inside and the door closed, her expression instantly changed—a small, satisfied smile tugged at her lips.
Hong Jianguo’s Western-Style House
Hong Jianguo ran desperately toward his home. Before reaching the door, his vision darkened—he saw numerous uniformed staff carrying things out of his house.
They were moving chairs, boxes, even porcelain he had secretly taken from the Su family.
He lunged forward, eyes bloodshot, shouting, “Stop! Put it all down! Put it down!”
He grabbed a small, delicate box from a young staff member—it contained his collected watches. “This is mine! My collection! This is my property, you bandits!”
The staff member, grabbed by Hong Jianguo, scowled and replied righteously, “Comrade Hong Jianguo, please pay attention.
These were handed over to the state by Mr. Su. We are lawfully taking state property.
You are now trying to disrupt—”
At that moment, Zhou Yuehong screamed miserably from inside, “Don’t move that! That holds our entire family fortune!”
Hong Jianguo, realizing something, abandoned his struggle with the staff and ran inside.
Seeing people moving the cabinets in his room, he lost all rationality. Grabbing a stick, he swung it wildly. “Get out! Get out, you thieves!”
The staffers moving the cabinets froze—Hong Jianguo wasn’t just obstructing them, he was verbally assaulting them.
One, apparently a senior staffer, signaled the two nearby colleagues and pinned Hong Jianguo down.
The senior opened one cabinet. It appeared empty; the bedding and clothes had already been removed.
Using the stick Hong Jianguo had wielded, he tapped around and discovered a secret compartment. Inside was a package wrapped in oiled paper.
Inside were ten large yellow croakers, a bundle of large bills, and two bankbooks.
The bankbooks contained more than a hundred thousand yuan—one with 100,000 in Su Qingli’s name, the other 80,000 in Hong Jianguo’s name.
The senior staffer’s face darkened. He glanced at Hong Jianguo. “Move it quickly.”
Seeing his hidden assets exposed, Hong Jianguo collapsed to the floor as if he had no bones, muttering, “It’s over… it’s over.”
Zhou Yuehong looked at the yellow croakers and money being taken. She cried, “Those are ours! We earned them by scrimping and saving!”
The staffer snorted. “Yours? And how exactly did you ‘earn’ it?
You’ve got quite the skill—hundreds of thousands earned just like that?”