Chapter 98: Kang Qiang and Chu Ling Are Taken Away

Coming up from the cellar, the women squinted for a while before their eyes adjusted to the brightness outside. Lin Xiaodou asked where they planned to go. They all agreed to head to the police station and expose the crimes of those scoundrels. Some of the women were from other provinces and could only rely on the police to help them return home.

“Comrade benefactor, don’t worry, we absolutely won’t reveal anything about you,” one of them assured her. They had already agreed on their story: a masked stranger had saved them.

“Take care. I hope you’ll all be well,” Lin Xiaodou said.

After escorting them near the police station, she turned back toward the courtyard she had just left. The authorities would certainly search the place soon; she might as well look around herself and see if there was anything valuable.

Meng, who had been in the cellar, was nowhere to be found. She wondered how he managed to escape when he had been barely clinging to life. But Lin Xiaodou was not worried; before leaving earlier, she had slipped a miniature tracking device into his pocket—she would find him soon enough.

She searched the cellar thoroughly. By chance, she brushed against a plate in the cupboard and discovered a hidden door in the wall. Inside was a pitch-dark storage room with several large chests. Lin Xiaodou’s eyes lit up as she opened them. One was filled with gold bars, another with precious jewelry and ornaments. Of the remaining two, one held stacks of cash—probably over a hundred thousand yuan. The last was full of ration tickets, valid nationwide, likely numbering in the thousands.

Without bothering to count, Lin Xiaodou swept her hand and stored everything in her space. There was nothing else of value in the cellar, so she went upstairs. In the kitchen, she found several hundred pounds of potatoes and rice, along with some white flour and brown sugar. She took them all, wasting nothing.

When she had finished, Lin Xiaodou hurried back to the village. She did not go straight home but took another path into the back hills. By the time she reappeared, half an hour had passed and it was already noon.

Seeing her emerge from the woods, the auntie waiting at her doorstep immediately stood up, exclaiming, “Comrade Lin, you’re finally back—two major things happened this morning!”

Lin Xiaodou feigned surprise. “What happened?”

The auntie quickly recounted the morning’s events. The first was that the scoundrel Chen Guang had been found thrown into the pigsty.

Not only were both his legs broken, but part of his face had been bitten off by the vicious pigs.

“You can’t imagine—old Liu, who went to feed the pigs this morning, nearly fainted when he saw a person lying in the sty,” the auntie finished, then moved on to the second incident. “And what happened to the Han family is even bigger news. No one knows who Han Guoqiang provoked, but his wrist was broken, his chest was fractured, and he passed out. Comrade Chu was also injured. The three of them were sent to the town clinic by the brigade leader, but there’s something else I need to tell you…”

At this point, the auntie hesitated. Lin Xiaodou could more or less guess what she wanted to say, seeing as she had waited at her door since early morning.

Lin Xiaodou said, “Go ahead.”

“Well, before leaving the village, Comrade Chen and Comrade Chu kept shouting that you were behind this, so the village chief asked me to fetch you. But I waited all morning and only just saw you come out of the mountains. Did you go into the hills early this morning?”

As she spoke, the auntie watched Lin Xiaodou closely, searching her expression for any hint of guilt.

Lin Xiaodou remained calm and unflustered. “No, I went into the mountains last night,” she replied, opening her basket to reveal two wild pheasants, a hare, and two plump bamboo rats. “I hunted these last night—I was searching the mountains all night.”

At the sight of the game, the auntie couldn’t help but swallow. “You really are a brave girl, daring to go into the mountains at night.”

If that were the case, the girl’s suspicion could certainly be ruled out.

Lin Xiaodou took one of the bamboo rats from her basket and offered it to the auntie. “Auntie, you’ve been very kind and waited all morning for me. Please take this bamboo rat as a thank you.”

“Oh, how could I possibly accept—what a good girl you are,” the auntie said, protesting, but soon accepted it with a broad smile. “Go on, put your basket away, let’s go to the brigade leader’s house. Don’t worry, these incidents have nothing to do with you—I’ll explain everything!”

Lin Xiaodou’s eyes curved in a smile. “Thank you, auntie.”

...

At the brigade leader’s house, he was sitting at the table, sighing heavily. When he saw Lin Xiaodou arrive, he quickly stood up. “Xiaodou, you’re here.”

“Uncle, where are auntie and Yan’er?” Lin Xiaodou asked.

“I issued the divorce certificate for them. They took it to the town clinic; they'll probably be back this afternoon,” he replied.

News of the brigade leader’s son and daughter-in-law’s divorce had already spread throughout the village early that morning. There were many reasons behind it, but the brigade leader’s wife hadn’t shared the details, not wanting to be laughed at. She merely said that the couple didn’t get along, so the family had decided on a divorce.

It had only been half a day, yet the gossip was already flying.

Upon hearing that the divorce certificate had already been issued, the auntie who had come with Lin Xiaodou immediately chimed in, “It’s good they’re divorcing. That woman was never considerate—she’s been in our village for years and never once greeted us.”

The brigade leader sighed, saying no more.

The auntie then recounted the morning’s incidents, emphasizing, “Brigade leader, Comrade Lin is definitely innocent—she was in the mountains all night, there’s no way she could have done it.”

The brigade leader nodded. “Alright, I understand.”

He certainly trusted Lin Xiaodou.

After sending the auntie off, the brigade leader said, “Xiaodou, let’s go to the town clinic. I’m worried they might report this to the police—I’ll go and explain.”

“Alright,” Lin Xiaodou agreed.

They hurried to the clinic by ox cart, only to be met with startling news: Han Guoqiang and Chu Ling had been abducted by a gang of masked men.

“They burst into the clinic brandishing knives, threatening to cut down anyone who got in their way—it was terrifying!” the nurse on duty said, still shaken.

The police happened to be present as well. The brigade leader immediately went over to clear Lin Xiaodou of suspicion.

The police officer was familiar with Lin Xiaodou. When the educated youth Zhang Lian died months ago, Lin Xiaodou had spent a day in the detention center. Everyone had a good impression of this beautiful and polite young woman.

After hearing the brigade leader’s account, the officer nodded. “Alright, I understand. This likely has nothing to do with Comrade Lin. It’s become a complex criminal case.”

That morning, their precinct had received a shocking report of human trafficking. When they rushed to the scene, the courtyard was already ablaze, and the bodies had been completely destroyed.

“Perhaps the injuries to Han Guoqiang and his companions were also the work of that gang. Our superiors have already assigned people to investigate, but who knows when they’ll be found.”

...

At the same time, inside a mountain cave.

Han Guoqiang was awakened by Chu Ling’s sobbing and pleas for mercy. He had been unconscious ever since being beaten the night before. Now, as he regained consciousness, he was confronted by a scene that made his eyes nearly burst from their sockets: his wife, whom he had always cherished, was lying on the ground barely clothed. And on her body—a man...