That night, around nine o'clock, Uncle Zhong stealthily returned to the Jiang family's old residence, carrying a burlap sack over his shoulder.
What shocked Jiang Si wasn’t the contents of the sack—it was where Uncle Zhong had gotten the sack in the first place.
Uncle Zhong didn’t hide it. He’d long disliked Shen Xiuwen, so he’d deliberately brought the sack when he left the house. Originally, he’d just wanted an opportunity to ambush the man and teach him a lesson, but things had taken an unexpected turn.
"Miss Si, you were absolutely right. That scoundrel really did have another hideout."
"It’s a small, standalone courtyard, looks like it’s been around for years."
"All of this was found in the cellar. When he left, he was carrying a briefcase—probably took a lot with him."
As he spoke, Uncle Zhong opened the sack, revealing the gleaming gold bars inside.
"What’s wrong?"
Seeing her frown in silence, Third Granduncle asked, "Is something off?"
Jiang Si nodded and voiced her suspicion: "He left with plenty of money on him—enough to cover his immediate needs, logically."
"I’m thinking… if he went to retrieve gold in the middle of the night, could he be trying to pull strings to get someone out of trouble?"
Third Granduncle pondered for a moment and agreed it was a strong possibility.
Right now, the bank’s gold buyback rate was 3.04 yuan per gram, and the black market price was at least double. If Shen Xiuwen was serious about protecting Lin Yueru, this amount of gold would be more than enough.
"That can’t happen."
Jiang Si had fought hard to get to this point—she wasn’t about to let him ruin her plans.
"Should I arrange for some men to…" Third Granduncle made a swift, cutting motion with his hand.
Jiang Si considered it but shook her head. She did want to deal with her scoundrel of a father, but not at the cost of implicating those around her.
"Third Granduncle, we don’t need to dirty our hands. I have another way."
With that, she grabbed pen and paper and swiftly wrote a letter of accusation.
The reason didn’t matter—what mattered was that the right people would see profit in acting on it.
"Uncle Zhong, I’ll need you to make a trip for me first thing tomorrow."
"Don’t worry, Miss Si. Leave it to me."
…
By the time Jiang Si woke again, the sun was already high in the sky. She was roused by the sound of familiar, furious shouting.
The voice belonged to Shen Qingqing.
Right now, Shen Qingqing’s eyes were bloodshot, her face twisted with rage as she pounded on the iron gate like a madwoman.
She’d been released that morning.
Her first stop had been the textile factory.
She’d had a bad feeling yesterday, and sure enough, when she inquired, she learned that Jiang Si had already transferred her job to someone else days ago!
On her way back, she’d stopped by the bank.
When she was told that every last cent under her and her mother’s names had been withdrawn, the last thread of her sanity snapped.
"Jiang Si, you lying, backstabbing snake—I hope you rot in hell!"
"Don’t you dare hide in there like a coward! Get out here!"
"If you have a problem with me, face me yourself! Sending this old fossil out—what kind of cowardice is this?"
"If you don’t give me an answer today, I’ll smash my head right against this gate! Jiang Si, come out—!"
"Ah, young lady, calm down! There’s no need for such drastic talk. Let’s discuss this properly."
Neighbors, drawn by the commotion, began gathering in small groups.
Some tried to mediate, while others muttered under their breaths.
Had the Jiang family offended some vengeful spirit lately? Why was there always some new drama?
"Aunties, uncles, you’re just in time. Tell me—is this any way to treat someone?"
Sobbing, Shen Qingqing recounted how Jiang Si had taken her 1,000 yuan but then given the job to someone else.
"If she didn’t want to give me the job, she should’ve just said so!"
"But she took my money and still handed it to someone else! How is that not screwing me over?"
The crowd, swayed by her tears and seemingly reasonable argument, began siding with her.
"If that’s true, then Comrade Jiang’s behavior is downright shameful."
"A thousand yuan is no small sum. If she took the money, she should’ve honored the deal."
"Exactly! After living together for so many years, how could she pull something like this?"
Third Granduncle’s face darkened with fury, and he opened his mouth to defend Jiang Si—
But then Jiang Si stepped out of the house.
In her hands was a megaphone.
After clearing her throat, she cranked the volume to maximum.
"Neighbors, as the saying goes, ‘Don’t air your dirty laundry in public.’ I never wanted to drag these people’s filth into the light."
"But when someone’s so shameless they’d rather flaunt their disgrace right at my doorstep, I won’t spare them any courtesy!"
"Two days ago, as you all know, our home was robbed."
The crowd nodded—yes, they’d heard.
Rumors said the thieves had cleaned the place out.
Jiang Si took in their reactions and continued.
"Only yesterday did we learn from the police that the mastermind behind it was Lin Yueru—Shen Qingqing’s own mother!"
"She colluded with her nephew from her maiden family and stole everything from our house!"
What?
Before the crowd could even digest the first bombshell, Jiang Si swiftly dropped a second one.
"Also, Shen Qingqing’s aunt admitted yesterday that Lin Yueru used underhanded means to climb into my father’s bed back then."
"Calculating the timing, my mother was less than six months pregnant at the time."
"In other words, Lin Yueru knowingly became the other woman, seducing a married man."
"And Shen Qingqing and her brother are the illegitimate children born from that affair!"
At this point, Jiang Si locked eyes with Shen Qingqing. "The fact that I haven’t beaten you to death is out of my kindness. How dare you bark at me like this?"
"And you just mentioned giving me 1,000 yuan. May I ask where that money came from?"
"Don’t forget, when your mother married into our family, her side didn’t even contribute a single pair of socks as dowry."
"All these years, your mother hasn’t worked a single day. Every bite she ate, every penny she spent—it all came from the Jiang family!"
"And now, you’re using our family’s money to buy my job? Your whole family really knows how to scheme!"
"Everyone, I’ve said all I needed to say. It’s true I didn’t give her the cotton mill job, and I admit that. But my conscience is clear!"
With that, Jiang Si put away the loudspeaker, walked straight up to Shen Qingqing, and slapped her hard across the face.
"This slap is for my mother."
"Blame your mother for sleeping with a married man. As her daughter, you deserve this!"
Slap!
"And this one is for me."
"All these years, you’ve snatched so much from me, openly and secretly. You know exactly what you’ve done."
Two slaps later, Shen Qingqing’s face was swollen. Yet no one in the crowd spoke up for her. Instead, they looked at her with disdain or disgust.
She had brought this upon herself.
Having vented her anger and cleared her name, Jiang Si ignored the murmurs around her and helped Third Uncle back inside.
"Jiang Si, you bitch! I won’t let you get away with this!" Shen Qingqing clenched her fists, glaring at Jiang Si’s retreating figure.
But Jiang Si didn’t even turn her head.
What good were empty threats?
Shen Qingqing had been pampered in the Jiang family for years. Sent to the countryside, she wouldn’t last a second. It was only 1968—if she wanted to return to the city, she’d have to endure a long, hard wait.
"Sis—"
After some time, Shen Qingyue and his brother found her.
Seeing Shen Qingqing dazed, with two vivid slap marks on her face, their eyes turned red with rage.
"Did that wretched girl hit you?"
"Sis, say something!"
Finally, Shen Qingqing snapped out of it, her emotions erupting. "Where’s Dad? Where is he?"
Her father doted on her—he’d surely find a way to keep her in the city.
If all else failed… she’d flee south to Hong Kong tomorrow!
As for her mother, from what the police said, she’d be locked up for at least ten years.
They were in no position to help her now. She’d just have to endure it for a while.
But her brothers’ next words shattered her hopes.
"Sis, Dad’s been arrested!"
"This morning, a group from the Red Committee raided our place. They found ‘gold bars’ in his bag…"
"They accused him of hoarding gold, calling him a ‘capitalist roader’—proof he exploited the working class."
Shen Qing'an burst into tears. "They took everything we had."
"How could this happen…" Shen Qingqing’s legs gave way, nearly collapsing.
Shen Qingyue remembered Shen Xiuwen’s last instructions and quickly added,
"Dad told us to stay at Uncle Liu’s old house for now. There are still some things hidden there."
"He said if he doesn’t return in three days, we should call Uncle Liu."
Hearing that Shen Xiuwen had a backup plan, Shen Qingqing calmed slightly.
The Liu brothers were her father’s most trusted allies. They wouldn’t abandon her.
"Let’s go!"
The three followed the address.
But after searching from noon till dusk, they found nothing Shen Xiuwen had mentioned. Instead, they were taken away by the local police.
An elderly neighbor near the Liu residence had reported them.
Hearing noises in the courtyard, he assumed thieves had broken in—and immediately called the authorities.
