Ever since hearing the strange noise outside the door, Shen Fujuan and her family had been on edge.
Sitting by the bed, they appeared to be going about their own tasks, but in reality, they were all anxious, worried that someone might come looking for trouble.
Zhao Xiaorou held a shoe sole in her hand, trying to learn shoemaking by following Shen Fujuan’s example. In a moment of distraction, the needle nearly pricked her hand.
Su Jianqiang reacted quickly, snatching the shoe sole from Zhao Xiaorou’s grasp.
“Don’t be too nervous.”
The fact that Shen Fujuan possessed a Dimensional Space was known only to their family, and only Shen Fujuan herself could access it.
Strictly speaking, it was absolutely safe.
Shen Fujuan sighed as well. “It seems someone is secretly watching us. We’ll have to be even more careful next time.”
Every day when they returned home, they carefully checked to ensure no one was tailing them.
But there was no guarantee that someone else might be as meticulous as they were, catching them off guard.
Just then, the front door was pounded with loud, urgent knocks.
The sound of the knocking seemed to strike at everyone’s hearts, jolting them to full alertness.
Su Jianjun pretended as if nothing was wrong and walked over to open the door.
He saw the village chief leading a group of angry, burly men waiting at the entrance.
Su Jianjun put on an appropriately surprised expression. “Village Chief? What brings you to our house so late at night?”
“What brings us?” someone on the side sneered. “Someone has filed a real-name report accusing your family of hoarding grain and secretly cooking meals at night. Isn’t that a big deal?”
Su Jianjun was taken aback for a moment before loudly protesting his innocence.
“Heaven and earth bear witness! Not a single grain of rice has ever been pocketed by anyone in our family during harvest time. Secretary Huang from the commune can vouch for us!”
“What credibility do your words have? Your brother once secretly took collective grain to feed your sister-in-law!”
The village chief and the leading men stepped aside in unison, revealing Huang Wenqiang, who had been hidden behind the crowd.
If they hadn’t received permission from the commune leadership, they wouldn’t have come to search the Su family’s home with such fanfare.
The village chief chuckled, adopting an almost cautious posture toward Huang Wenqiang.
Throughout the entire village, everyone feared Huang Wenqiang the most.
Everyone knew that the commune was currently in a position of power. If this high-ranking commune leader ever felt displeased and reported them to higher-ups, it would be impossible to guard against.
The village chief felt that, although he was only a minor official, he bore great responsibility at this moment.
“You’ve all been sent down here, so you know the rules. Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one go. Let us take a look inside. If there’s no problem, we’ll leave.”
Su Jianjun reached out to stop them, but he was only one person, no match for seven or eight strong men.
The commotion at the door drew Su Jianqiang and Su Jiaxuan, who also came out.
“The collective’s interests come before everything else. We must, of course, obey the orders of our leaders.”
Su Jianqiang pulled Su Jianjun aside, clearing a path for the commune men.
“But I believe we are all reasonable people. It’s often said that poverty doesn’t diminish one’s dignity. If this matter were to spread, where would our family’s reputation be? Secretary Huang, we cannot bear the label of class enemies.”
Su Jianqiang’s tone was not harsh; it could even be described as amiable.
Huang Wenqiang was about the same age as Su Jiaxuan, yet he always felt his presence was weaker than that of these two younger members of the Su family.
Huang Wenqiang forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“If we didn’t have evidence, would we have searched your home without reason?”
“Zhaodi, come and explain what happened.”
The moment Huang Wenqiang called out the name Zhaodi, the Su family froze.
They had no memory of this person at all.
Zhaodi…
Why would she report them?
When another, more petite figure emerged from behind Huang Wenqiang, the expressions on the faces of the entire Su family turned icy cold in an instant.
They never imagined that the Zhaodi Huang Wenqiang referred to was Su Lina.
Even more unexpected was that Su Lina had betrayed them once in Beijing, and now she was doing it again in Heihe Village.
Was it simply because they refused to take her back?
Understanding the cause and effect, Shen Fujuan’s expression became as cold as ice in the depths of winter, chillingly terrifying.
Su Lina was already feeling guilty, and under the family’s piercing gaze, she couldn’t help but shrink back.
“What are you looking at? If you hadn’t done anything wrong, why would you be so guilty? I’m doing this to protect the collective’s interests!”
Huang Wenqiang was greatly pleased by these words. After hearing them, he laughed heartily, placing a hand on Su Lina’s back and gently stroking it.
“See, this is a comrade with high ideological awareness, the kind of young fighter we need, a true revolutionary!”
With these words of praise, Su Lina proudly straightened her somewhat sunken chest, which had suffered from lack of food.
Due to the poor peasant status granted by her birth family, Su Lina, seeing no benefit for herself, once again separated the Su family from her own world.
The group swaggered into their nearly empty home.
There wasn’t even a proper table inside. The family had to do everything by the edge of the kang. Aside from two quilts piled on the bed and some luggage, there were hardly any valuable items.
Seven or eight burly men searched high and low, even wanting to flip over the kang’s heating chamber.
They found no trace of the grain Su Lina had mentioned.
“Didn’t you say you saw them cooking with your own eyes?” Huang Wenqiang felt embarrassed and turned to question Su Lina.
Su Lina grew nervous, but the smell and sounds she remembered couldn’t be wrong!
“I definitely didn’t misremember. The family was steaming rice and chopping vegetables inside the house! Could they have thrown the food somewhere else?”
“Didn’t you say you were very careful when you came and didn’t alert anyone? How could they have had precognition, knowing you would bring us here to inspect?”
Su Lina’s claims were quickly refuted by those who had come with them.
They meticulously searched the entire house again, as if combing through it inch by inch.
Still, they found nothing.
Not a grain of rice, not even a mouse hole.
How could they possibly have hidden any grain?
Some still refused to believe it and actually opened the kang stove to take a look inside.
The result was still disappointing.
The group instantly lost their earlier arrogance and no longer faced the Su family with such righteous indignation.
Huang Wenqiang, after all, was an old hand, having likely participated in many such searches.
He quickly regained his composure and, as he passed by Su Jiaxuan, gave him a heavy pat on the shoulder.
“This time, you’ve been honest. From now on, keep your heads down and behave yourselves. Don’t let me catch you doing anything out of line!”
The group marched off in a grand procession.
Just as Shen Fujuan was about to let out a sigh of relief, the village chief, who had been silent at the back of the line, suddenly turned and walked back.