“Do we really need to arrest him, is’nt this punishment too severe?” asked the captain of the third team, his voice laced with apprehension.
The village party secretary’s face hardened, his gaze unwavering. “What’s serious? Fortunately, there has been no heavy rain recently. If it had, the consequences would have been disastrous! If the dam breaks down, the lives of our entire village will be in danger, and the people nearby will also suffer.” The village party secretary, older and more weathered than the others, had personally experienced floods in his childhood. He understood the peril intimately. Xu Jiangmin dared to shirk responsibility for this matter, showing a blatant disregard for their very lives. Even if he were merely caught, he wouldn’t be let off easily.
The men in the room debated for another half an hour before the village party secretary finally announced the meeting’s conclusion. As they dispersed from Xu’s house, Xu’s mother, brimming with curiosity, immediately questioned her husband about the conversation. Only then did Xu’s father reveal the news of Xu Jiangmin’s arrest.
Xu’s mother’s face split into a wide grin. “He deserves it! Who asked him to take the money and not work hard?”
Xu Ying echoed her mother’s sentiment. In her past life, the dam had indeed been breached, almost causing a catastrophic flood. Though not overwhelmingly severe, it had claimed lives. The subsequent loss of water from the dam, coupled with a prolonged drought, had led to a year of devastating famine for the villagers. To Xu Ying, merely arresting such a person was too lenient; he should have been shot.
Before Xu’s mother could even wipe the smile from her face, a commotion erupted outside. Unable to resist, she dashed out to witness the spectacle. Officers in crisp police uniforms were heading straight for Xu Jiangmin’s home. Moments later, Xu Jiangmin was forcibly escorted out by the police.
Zhou Huiru’s face was awash with tears as she cried and begged, “Please let my man go! These things were not done by him, but by his relatives! This matter has nothing to do with him; he doesn’t know about it at all! You can’t arrest my man!”
Xu Jiangmin, now utterly terrified, spotted Xu’s mother in the crowd. He wept, pleading, “Aunt, I beg you to save me! Please tell the captain to save me!”
At this, Xu’s mother spat on the ground, a look of utter disgust on her face. “Bah, Xu Jiangmin, don’t think I don’t know! You were the one who wrote a letter to report that there were old society things hidden in our house! We’re all from the same village; where did such hatred come from? Besides, their families are all farmers; how could they have those things? This guy has no good intentions and dares to frame their family. For now, it’s okay if he doesn’t add insult to injury; if you help him, it’s a waste of help.”
As soon as Xu’s mother uttered these damning words, Zhou Huiru’s expression shifted dramatically. She raised her head, immediately attempting to clear the air. “Auntie, please don’t talk nonsense! My parents are from capitalist backgrounds, but I have already severed ties with them. Our family is clean and has nothing. The person who reported your family is not my man at all.”
The moment Zhou Huiru spoke, Liu Haiyun suddenly became agitated, shouting loudly, “Sister-in-law!” After her outburst, she rushed to Zhou Huiru’s side. “Sister-in-law, you have to be careful with some words. Now your man’s sin is a foregone conclusion, and there is no room for redemption. If you don’t say anything, my man and I can still take care of you, but if you say something, your life will not be easy in the future.”
Zhou Huiru shot Liu Haiyun a vicious glare. “What you said is true. If my man is arrested, will you really take care of our family?”
Liu Haiyun nodded, her face grim.
Zhou Huiru asked suspiciously, “Then how do you take care of me? My man still earns more than ten yuan a month as a deputy captain. Now that he has been arrested, our family only has food and drink, but no one can rely on it. If you agree to support me and my children, I will not report you. Otherwise, everything will be dead, and our family will have a hard time, and neither will you.”
Liu Haiyun was furious, but she was trapped. It was all because she had been careless before, sometimes revealing her family’s affairs to Zhou Huiru, including how her husband made money. Now that this secret was out, their family would face even more severe punishment than Xu Jiangmin. Liu Haiyun had no choice but to nod.
Seeing this, Zhou Huiru sealed her lips, then rushed to her husband. “Jiang Min, there is no other way now. You’ll be miserable inside for a while, and Liu Haiyun promised me that as long as we don’t mention that matter, he is willing to raise our children. If this matter gets bigger and they are arrested, how can I earn money to support myself and my children?” Zhou Huiru’s eyes were red. Yes, Zhou Huiru was pregnant, already two months along. Xu Jiangmin had been longing for this child for a long time. In the end, he endured this hardship for the sake of his children.
Xu Ying had been back for only a few days, but she had coincidentally witnessed a grand spectacle. The accountant of Xujiacun also failed to escape this sweeping investigation. When the village party secretary led his team to inspect, he discovered that the team’s food and collective money had been drastically reduced. Before the Xujiacun accountant could be apprehended, he was frantically packing his belongings, preparing to flee. Unfortunately, the village party secretary was a step ahead. The accountant of Xujiacun had embezzled a substantial sum: a full fifty yuan and two hundred kilograms of grain. These were the hard-earned resources of the villagers of Xujiacun, yet this old scoundrel had pilfered so much.
When Xu Jiangmin was arrested, everyone had merely watched the excitement. But when it was the Xujiacun accountant’s turn, the villagers of Xujiacun were absolutely furious. When their own interests were directly threatened, these people went wild, relentlessly beating the Xujiacun accountant. Even after the accountant was arrested, Xu’s mother, standing in the crowd, felt a lingering sense of unfulfillment.
“Oh, I’m so comfortable these days,” Xu’s mother sighed dramatically. “I watch the excitement every day. It would be great if I could watch it every day.” Winter had always made Xu’s mother restless, and without a television at home, boredom often set in. She didn’t enjoy sitting in the village and gossiping with others; after all, her identity as the captain’s wife carried a certain weight. If she went out every day to chat and gossip about her husband, she would surely incur his wrath. Xu’s mother still afforded her husband some respect.
“Mom, go back quickly! My aunt and sister-in-law are here!” Xu Ying rushed out in a flurry, half-pulling, half-dragging her mother back into the house. Fortunately, the second and third aunts of the Xu family were already busy preparing the meal, otherwise the birthday banquet would have been far from ready.
At noon, Xu Ying took charge of the kitchen, meticulously preparing several elaborate dishes. However, she focused on foods with less oil and salt. Her grandparents were elderly and couldn’t tolerate overly rich food, as it would be difficult for their digestive systems. Most of the ingredients had been magically produced from Xu Ying’s personal space after a quick bicycle ride.
Of course, longevity noodles were an indispensable part of the birthday celebration, an essential dish symbolizing peace and long life. Though the noodles themselves were plain, adding fried eggs, green vegetables, and other side dishes made them light, delicious, and utterly satisfying. Stir-fried beef, stir-fried meat with tomatoes and beans, mutton with radish, steamed fish… the table groaned under the weight of the feast.