Amid the thunder, rain, and crying, Lin Miaoyin’s father shouted, “Everyone, calm down! Calm down! Brother Liu, what happened?”
The woman dropped to her knees and cried bitterly.
“My father complained of chest pain this afternoon and said he couldn’t breathe. We hurried to take him to the clinic. On the way, we met Educated Youth Meng. He insisted that we put my father down and then pressed on his chest for a while. At the time, my father seemed a little better. Who would have thought that he would stop breathing right outside the clinic?
“My poor father! He died such a terrible death!”
“Hey, wasn’t Uncle Liu pressed to death? Didn’t they say his chest hurt? Why would he keep pressing on it?”
One of the relatives who had accompanied Old Man Liu spoke up.
Old Man Liu’s daughter-in-law cried and shouted, pointing at Meng Yuanzheng, who was being held by two men.
“You bastard! You’ll never die a peaceful death! Give me my father’s life back!”
Meng Yuanzheng was being restrained by two men. The corner of his mouth was split, and his face and eyes were swollen.
He had originally been accompanying the Liu family to the clinic. But once Old Man Liu died, the furious family members naturally beat up the supposed “murderer.”
His stomach hurt so badly that he could not straighten his back. He was slightly hunched over, with rainwater running from his hair into his eyes. He kept his head lowered and said nothing.
Whatever he said now, they would only think he was making excuses.
It was better to wait until the Party Secretary arrived before explaining anything.
Lin Miaoyin quietly moved around the crowd and went behind her parents.
She looked over the situation in front of her, and she already had a rough idea of what had happened.
There was no reason for Meng Yuanzheng to have killed Old Man Liu.
According to the woman’s story, Old Man Liu had probably suffered a sudden medical emergency. Meng Yuanzheng had tried to help by performing chest compressions, but unfortunately, the old man had still died.
Meng Yuanzheng had ended up taking the blame.
In this backward rural area, who knew anything about chest compressions?
To ordinary people, it simply looked like Meng Yuanzheng had pressed Old Man Liu to death.
This situation was going to be troublesome.
Lin Miaoyin’s parents, as well as her brother Lin Miaojun and his wife Cui Fen, were all extremely anxious.
Why had something happened yesterday, and now there was another problem today?
Lin Miaoyin’s father had at least attended school and had some knowledge. He knew a little about first aid, so he quickly tried to stop the increasingly heated argument.
The Liu family was even starting to talk about punishing Meng Yuanzheng themselves.
“Everyone, please calm down and listen to me for a moment, all right?”
Once Lin Miaoyin’s father spoke, everyone finally quieted down.
After all, the production brigade captain still had authority in the village.
“What did the doctor at the clinic say? What illness did Brother Liu have?”
Old Man Liu’s son answered, “My father is already dead. What’s the point of having the doctor examine him? Wouldn’t that disturb the dead?”
They had not even let a doctor examine him, yet they had brought the body straight to the Lin family’s house to make a scene?
“This is ridiculous! How do you know your father died because Yuanzheng pressed on his chest a few times?” Lin Miaoyin’s father’s forehead throbbed with anger.
But the Liu family showed no fear.
Old Man Liu’s daughter-in-law shouted, “Captain, aren’t you just protecting your son-in-law? Everyone saw with their own eyes that he caused my father’s death today! Don’t even think about denying it!”
Lin Miaojun could not hold back anymore.
“Your father was already having an attack! Why are you blaming my brother-in-law?”
“Then let me ask you this. Did Educated Youth Meng learn from a doctor? Does he even know how to save someone?”
“My brother-in-law was only trying to help! Who knows if your father was already dying?” Lin Miaojun said anxiously.
He had spoken without thinking and said exactly what was on his mind.
That immediately enraged the Liu family.
Old Man Liu’s daughter-in-law nearly spat in his face.
“Listen to that! He’s cursing my father! Is this how the captain’s family was raised? Did your mother give birth to you only to leave you without teaching you any manners?”
Lin Miaoyin’s mother had originally intended to stay out of the argument since these were matters between men.
But now that the woman had started insulting her family, how could she possibly tolerate it?
She rolled up her sleeves and prepared to argue back.
The conflict had already grown from being about Meng Yuanzheng alone into a fight between the two families.
The Lin family had always lived somewhat better than the other villagers. This had long made some narrow-minded people jealous.
Now they finally had an opportunity.
The captain’s son-in-law had supposedly killed someone, and the Lin family was defending him.
That accusation could be serious enough to get Lin Miaoyin’s father removed from his position as brigade captain.
Lin Miaoyin and Cui Fen quickly grabbed Lin Miaoyin’s mother from both sides.
When her mother saw Lin Miaoyin, she shifted her attention and comforted her.
“Yinyin, don’t be scared. Don’t be scared.”
She was worried that her daughter would be frightened after seeing the corpse.
But Lin Miaoyin had worked in a hospital in her previous life for a long time. Several patients who had shared her ward had already died, so she was no longer frightened by dead bodies.
She had already noticed something suspicious.
She shook her head at her mother.
“Mom, I noticed something.”
“What?”
“Let me talk to them.”
She took off her bamboo rain hat, walked past her parents and into the crowd, then called out twice toward the Liu family.
“Auntie Liu. Brother Liu.”
The Liu family looked at the young married woman who had suddenly stepped forward, wondering what she was trying to do.
Was she trying to plead for her husband?
Even Meng Yuanzheng raised his head when he heard her voice and looked at her.
Lin Miaoyin wiped the rainwater from her face and walked forward a few steps.
Then she crouched down and examined Old Man Liu’s body.
She even squeezed his arms and neck.
Everyone was shocked by her actions.
Who had ever seen a woman this bold?
“Miaoyin! Come back quickly! You crazy girl, what are you doing?” her mother shouted anxiously.
“What are you trying to do?” Old Man Liu’s daughter-in-law stared at her suspiciously.
Lin Miaoyin stood up.
She gave her family a reassuring smile before turning back to the Liu family.
“You just said that you didn’t want the doctor to examine Uncle Liu to find out what illness he had because you were afraid of disturbing the dead, so you brought him straight back here?”
Her long question took the other side a moment to process.
The woman answered aggressively, “Yes! Why would we let outsiders touch a dead person?”
Lin Miaoyin smiled.
She pointed at Old Man Liu’s body lying on the ground.
“Then why are you letting your father lie here in the rain? If I were him, I’d be so angry tonight that I’d come back to life just to drag all of you down with me.”
Her smile was eerie.
The Liu family was already feeling guilty, and her words suddenly sent chills down their spines.
Still, they put on a brave face and shouted, “If your husband hadn’t killed my father, would we be doing this? If we don’t get justice for my father, he won’t be able to rest peacefully!”
Lin Miaoyin was disgusted by them.
Her expression immediately turned cold, and she shouted back,
“I think your father is the one who won’t be able to rest peacefully because he has descendants like you!”
“You! You foul-mouthed woman! What did you say? I think you’re looking for a beating!”
Old Man Liu’s younger son was a local troublemaker.
After hearing Lin Miaoyin’s words, he stepped forward, intending to hit her.
“What are you doing? You want to hit someone too?”
Lin Miaojun immediately stepped forward to block him.
He was tall and strong, and Old Man Liu’s younger son looked like a frightened chick standing in front of him.
The man could only swallow his anger and step back several paces.
The woman glared at Lin Miaoyin’s family and said sarcastically,
“Captain Lin, aren’t you going to control your daughter? She’s so young, but who knows who she learned this from? She’s got quite a sharp tongue!”
“What’s it to you? Does my daughter need you to teach her a lesson?” Lin Miaoyin’s mother shot back without backing down.
“People have already come to our doorstep to cause trouble. It’s already kind of you that we haven’t let the dogs loose on you!”
Old Man Liu’s daughter-in-law shouted, “You, Yuan Wencui! Don’t get too pleased with yourself!”
Seeing that they were about to start arguing again, Lin Miaoyin spoke up.
“Auntie Liu, weren’t you just crying like the sky was falling? How did you recover so quickly?”
Old Man Liu’s daughter-in-law: “I…”
Lin Miaoyin continued,
“Your eyes aren’t even red. What happened? Were you just making a lot of thunder without any rain?”
The woman froze after being exposed.
Lin Miaoyin looked around at everyone.
“And all of you—I just took a look. Not one of you is genuinely grieving. You’re all freaking pretending!”
She swept her eyes over the crowd and said coldly,
“You want to pin this on my family? Not a chance!”