The two of them were still talking when a commotion erupted outside. Looking down through the second-floor window, they saw a group of police officers riding up hurriedly on old-style bicycles. Before long, they had the entire crowd below under control.
“Shi Xiaoli, come out!” the middle-aged man leading the group shouted toward the window.
Shi Xiaoli gritted her teeth, her hands gripping the window frame so tightly they turned white.
“Don’t worry. This will definitely be resolved.” Xiao Mandong pulled her back from the window……
It was almost noon when Gu Jianghan finally came through the door, bringing a chill with him. He was also carrying several food containers from the state-run restaurant.
“You’re back. How did things go?” Xiao Mandong took the containers from Gu Jianghan and carried them into the kitchen to warm up. It would probably take the police some time to question all those people.
As she heated the food, she listened to Gu Jianghan explain what had happened that morning.
No one had expected that someone had escaped from the scene that day. After running back, he told Wang Tiegen, the village brigade leader of Wangjiawa Village, what had happened. Wang Tiegen then joined forces with all the villagers to give false testimony, claiming that Shi Xiaoli really was the wife Wang Dashan had married in a formal wedding ceremony.
When the police first went to investigate, the entire village gave the same false account, leaving them temporarily with no way to proceed. But the next evening, the village accountant, covered in blood, came to the police station to report the case. He said Wang Tiegen had deliberately retaliated against him. When the police arrived, the accountant’s son was barely clinging to life.
The police tried to take Wang Tiegen away, but every villager—more than a hundred people—came out to stop them. They acted as though they were above the law, and one of the police officers was even injured in the assault.
In the end, the army had to join forces with the police to handle the case before they could arrest Wang Tiegen and the people causing the disturbance.
Among those arrested were several villagers who lacked the courage to keep lying. They revealed the truth and exposed many of Wang Tiegen’s vile deeds. The circumstances were extremely serious, and the police had opened a formal investigation.
Wangjiawa Village was located deep in the mountains, in an isolated and inaccessible valley. Oversight from higher authorities had always been difficult, and even the village brigade leader was chosen solely through recommendations made by the villagers themselves. That was how Wang Tiegen had managed to remain in the position for ten years.
He was the local emperor of the village, making all the decisions and allowing no one to oppose him. Anyone who dared talk back would be slapped on the spot—not even the educated youth were spared. Over the years, he had abused six female educated youths. Four of them had borne him children, while the other two, unable to endure the humiliation, had ultimately taken their own lives.
After he was arrested, many villagers who had been exploited and bullied finally found the courage to come forward and testify. The evidence against him was overwhelming. He would never be walking free again in this lifetime.
As for Wang Dashan, he had committed the serious crime of human trafficking. So far, investigators had confirmed that he had sold a total of seventeen people into forced labor in coal mines. The circumstances were exceptionally grave, and the case had already been designated as a model case. The army and the police would conduct a thorough investigation and impose the severest possible punishment. There was no chance that he would ever leave prison.
As for the people outside the building, they still knew nothing about what had happened in the village. They had been sent out to find Shi Xiaoli that very day. After being escorted back, they probably would not come again.
At this point, Gu Jianghan let out a deep sigh. He truly had not expected such a vicious and horrifying case to exist in such a remote rural area.
Gu Jianghan finished explaining all the developments in the case, hoping to give Xiaoli some peace of mind. He glanced at Shi Xiaoli and continued:
“The police have already contacted Cui Lijuan. Since she is your brother’s only legal guardian, raising Bowen is her responsibility. Prepare yourself mentally—you’ll see her tomorrow.”
The tension had only just eased from Shi Xiaoli’s face, but now it furrowed again. She could not describe the emotions churning inside her. Was it fear? Expectation? Whatever it was, it made her miserable, and she barely ate.
Xiao Mandong did not say much. She had never been good at comforting people. After tidying up a little, she left with Gu Jianghan. Only after seeing Cui Lijuan would Xiaoli be able to let go of the knot in her heart.
On the way, Xiao Mandong and Gu Jianghan asked about Cheng Qiming. Since he and Lu Ming had served together, Gu Jianghan should know something about him. It was not easy for a woman to raise a child alone, and they only hoped Qi Yuqing would not marry the wrong man again.
What Gu Jianghan said about Cheng Qiming was more or less the same as what Qi Yuqing had told Xiao Mandong. He was a responsible man. The divorce had indeed been caused by his wife. She had even gone to the army and knelt before Cheng Qiming, begging him to let the other man off. If Cheng Qiming refused to speak up, that man would be sentenced for the crime of sabotaging a military marriage.
Gu Jianghan drove Xiao Mandong to the entrance of the family compound and then left. She had only just reached the gate when the guard called out to her.
“Doctor Xiao, Dean Cao said he needs to see you about something urgent. He asked you to come to the hospital as soon as you returned.”
After thanking the guard, Xiao Mandong hurried straight to the hospital. It was not far away, and she arrived within a few minutes. Even though it was Sunday, Dean Cao was waiting for her in his office. Two strangers were there as well.
“Doctor Xiao, you’re here.” Dean Cao stood up.
“These two are Factory Director Zhang and an engineer from the machinery plant. A newly installed machine at the plant has malfunctioned, but the instruction manual is in a foreign language. They heard that you understand foreign languages and wanted to ask whether you could help translate it.”
As he spoke, the engineer handed over the documents he was holding.
In her previous life, Lu Ming had studied mechanical engineering. Because his English pronunciation was poor, he would practice reading the professional terms with her before giving academic presentations. As long as she could understand the terminology, translating the manual would not be a problem.
She accepted the documents and studied them carefully. She remembered all the terms.
“I can give it a try. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Dean Cao found her a notebook, and Xiao Mandong sat down beside his desk. There were thirteen pages in total. She spent more than forty minutes translating them, repeatedly checking her work before handing the documents to the factory director.
The factory director rubbed his hands together excitedly.
“Thank you so much! With this Chinese manual, we’ll be able to solve problems much more quickly in the future. Don’t worry—we’ll apply for a payment to show our gratitude.”
They truly had been at their wits’ end. The machine had been broken for four days, and the factory’s technicians could not figure out what was wrong. They had also contacted several translators, but each could translate only part of the manual because they did not recognize many of the technical terms. When they contacted the foreign manufacturer, the company demanded that the factory pay travel expenses for someone to come in person. A few pages of instructions would cost more than ten thousand yuan, and there was no way the factory could afford that.
One of the workers had a wife who worked at the hospital. She had mentioned that a machine at the hospital had once broken down, and one of the doctors there, who knew English, had managed to fix it within minutes. The factory director had come with little more than a hopeful try, never expecting that the manual would actually be translated.
“No need. I’ll just consider it—”
“Ahem.” Dean Cao interrupted Xiao Mandong. “Doctor Xiao, you should at least accept something for your hard work. It will ease the factory director’s mind, and then he won’t feel embarrassed about coming to you again if they need help in the future.”
