In Liujiagou of the East Mountain, the night was thick and the romance was lingering.
Meanwhile, Wangjiazhai on the other side had long devolved into a chaotic mess.
As Zhou Dana headed to the production brigade headquarters and passed by Zhou Zhijun's gate, he saw two uniformed police officers coming out of Aunt Zhou's house, followed by an old man.
They were definitely here about the report letter written by Liu Cuilan. Just thinking about Liu Cuilan's family gave Zhou Dana a headache.
He didn't want to meddle in their family's affairs anymore, but as the village party secretary, he couldn't just ignore it.
"Comrade officers, you've been working hard!" Zhou Dana greeted them with an ingratiating smile.
He quickly pulled out some Maolu cigarettes from his pocket and offered them to the men.
They all declined. Zhou Dana gave a dry laugh, "Comrade officers, what important instructions do you have for us today?"
The older officer looked at him with a stern expression and sharp eyes.
"Go to the brigade headquarters and call all the women in the village aged fifteen to thirty for a meeting!"
Zhou Dana was surprised but didn't dare to ask too much. He could only lead the men to the brigade headquarters.
Only then did he cautiously inquire, "Comrade officers, what kind of meeting are we holding?"
The two officers were unwilling to say much. "Use the loudspeaker. Tell them to come to the meeting as soon as possible!"
The police had come this time specifically to find the person who wrote the report letter.
As it turned out, after Liu Cuilan was taken to the police station, she stiffened her neck, glared, and absolutely refused to admit that she wrote the report letter.
She shouted at the top of her lungs, "Comrade officers, I'm innocent! Someone is intentionally framing me!
I can't even write my own name, let alone a report letter. This must be those black-hearted people intentionally trying to harm me!"
"You keep saying someone is framing you. Then who is the person framing you?"
The officer's gaze was as sharp as a knife, staring straight into her eyes, making her hair stand on end.
Without a second thought, Liu Cuilan said in a shrill voice, "Zhou Zhaodi! It must be her!
That slut! She made me lose the baby in my belly, and I made her compensate me with half a sack of wheat. She holds a grudge!
She spreads rumors in the village every day, saying that Zhou Zhijun and Li Chuntao are having an illicit affair. She must have written the letter to report them, but claimed I wrote it.
This damn barren woman, her heart is thoroughly rotten..."
Hearing her words, the police also started to have their doubts, so they brought along the old man who guarded the commune's gate.
They first went to Aunt Zhou's house to ask who in the village had a grudge against Zhou Zhijun.
Aunt Zhou pondered for a long time and suddenly remembered what happened that night.
Zhou Zhaodi had been sneaking around, squatting outside her gate eavesdropping!
Slapping her thigh, she said decisively, "It must be Zhou Zhaodi! Other than her, I can't think of a second person!"
Both Liu Cuilan and Aunt Zhou firmly insisted it was Zhou Zhaodi. With that, Zhou Zhaodi's suspicion level immediately shot up.
The police figured that even if the letter wasn't written by Zhou Zhaodi herself, she probably got someone to write it for her.
The police didn't rush to find Zhou Zhaodi. Instead, they planned to find Zhou Dana and call the women aged fifteen to thirty for a meeting at the brigade.
In reality, they wanted the old gatekeeper of the commune compound to identify the person who delivered the report letter on the spot.
As long as they found the person who delivered the report letter, wouldn't the truth of who wrote it come to light?
Unexpectedly, just as they walked out of the Zhou family's gate, they bumped right into Zhou Dana.
The police didn't want to say much, and Zhou Dana couldn't ask further, so he just followed their orders.
"Listen up! Listen up! All women in the village aged fifteen to thirty, hurry and gather at the brigade headquarters! Meeting!
Anyone who doesn't come will be fined five yuan!" The voice from the loudspeaker exploded through the village air, making people's ears ring.
"Oh my, what is this about now? Meetings every day, never-ending meetings!"
A young wife holding a child at the village entrance muttered softly while coaxing the baby in her arms.
"I just saw two police officers enter the brigade headquarters. I'm afraid it's nothing good!"
An older woman next to her leaned in, lowering her voice, her face showing a hint of worry.
"What's there to be afraid of? A straight foot isn't afraid of a crooked shoe! We haven't done anything wrong, can the police just arrest people for no reason?" someone retorted stubbornly.
In no time, a crowd of young girls and wives flocked to the brigade headquarters.
Zhou Dana had a team leader call roll one by one. When someone's name was called, they stepped forward for the old commune gatekeeper to identify.
The old man squinted and looked at each of them, shaking his head and rejecting them one by one.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Party Secretary! Why isn't Zhou Pandi here? She's within the age range too!"
Although the police didn't specify what it was about, Zhou Dana had long guessed that it must be related to the report letter.
He also knew Liu Cuilan was illiterate, couldn't read a single character, and certainly couldn't write a letter.
Wang Xiaoming protected Chuntao and wouldn't help her write it. So the person who wrote the report letter might be someone else...
Zhou Dana was just pondering this when he heard someone mention Zhou Pandi, and his heart skipped a beat.
He quickly tried to smooth things over, "It's noon, Pandi is busy at the workers' canteen! Special circumstances, special circumstances!"
The two police officers exchanged a glance. One of them looked at Zhou Dana and said sternly, "Secretary Zhou, take us to the workers' canteen to have a look."
Zhou Dana was dumbfounded. He suddenly clutched his head, cried "Ouch," and slumped into a chair.
Squeezing a pained expression onto his face, he said, "Comrade officers, my old headache is acting up again!
It hurts terribly. I'm afraid... I'm afraid I can't take you there!"
Frowning, he turned his head and shouted into the crowd, "Zhou Xiaoying! Run quickly and go to the workers' yard to call your Aunt Pandi to the brigade headquarters! Just say the police comrades have something to ask her!"
Zhou Dana felt uneasy. He knew Zhou Pandi's temper too well.
Having Zhou Xiaoying go call her and say the police were looking for her—if she hadn't done anything wrong, she would definitely come openly and generously.
If this matter was related to her, she definitely wouldn't come, and doing this was equivalent to tipping her off.
The two officers exchanged a look, took the old man, and prepared to leave.
Zhou Dana clutched his head, reluctantly stood up, and blocked their way. "Comrade officers, it's so hot today, why don't you sit down, cool off, and have some water! She'll be here in a moment..."
The two officers weren't falling for his trick at all and insisted on going to the workers' yard.
Zhou Dana then turned to pull the old man, smiling apologetically, "Brother, don't go over there. Sit down, drink some tea, and cool off!"
One officer swept a cold, harsh glare over him. Zhou Dana shuddered inwardly, gave a dry laugh, and didn't dare to block them anymore.
The two officers and the old man walked in front, while Zhou Dana followed behind with a bitter face.
Before they even reached the workers' yard, they saw Zhou Xiaoying running over, stumbling and flustered, her face smeared with a mix of tears and sweat.
Her voice was hoarse, "Grandpa Dana, this is bad! Aunt Pandi... she... she..."
