Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 3 Death Struggle
"Whether it's true or not will be clear after our investigation. Now, you all need to keep quiet!" After giving the warning, the police officer turned to the street director and said, "Could you please go to the police station and find two more of my colleagues?"

I thought it was just a regular civil dispute, but it turns out it involves robbery, which is quite tricky.

The police officer's words made Ma Cuihua and the other three feel even more uneasy.

Liu Li was, after all, a spoiled young girl who had never experienced anything like this before. She was already scared and hid behind Ma Cuihua, trembling and cursing Lin Qin in her heart.

After learning about Chen Wenjun's situation, the police officer asked, "Do you know this woman?"

Chen Wenjun looked at Lin Qin with a strange and blank expression. He was about to shake his head when he winced in pain and quickly replied, "I don't know her."

"He's lying!" Liu Yongguo was extremely agitated.

Chen Wenjun was completely baffled and his eyes turned red with anger. "What lie did I tell you? I sell fish on this very street. I can guarantee that I've never seen her before, at least she's never bought any of my fish!"

I've never set up a stall in the alleys, unless someone calls out to me to buy fish while I'm walking around the streets. Your family has never bought fish from me, so how could I possibly know this woman!

Everyone was a little confused by his words, but after they understood them, they realized that what he said made sense.

Lin Yi cried and complained, "My daughter has always been meek and mild-mannered. She has no say in her husband's family, and none of the family's money has ever passed through her hands. She never buys groceries or goes to the market. The clothes she wears are the ones she received when she got married. She hasn't had a single new piece of clothing in all these years. How could she possibly be associated with a fishmonger! This Liu family is just too much of a bully!"

Li Lian muttered under her breath, "It's all because she's useless. Otherwise, why would the Liu family bully her instead of their eldest daughter-in-law?"

"Say less!" Lin Zhi glared at Li Lian warningly.

In the current situation, it's obvious to anyone with eyes to see which side has a bigger problem. What if Li Lian is mistaken for an accomplice of the Liu family for saying such things?
Li Lian pursed her lips, subconsciously shaking her still numb hand, cursing Lin Qin a hundred and eighty times in her heart.

After making a preliminary assessment, the police officers looked at Lin Qin with more sympathy.

While waiting for his colleague, he noticed that Liu Yaya was covered in dirt and her eyes were swollen like a rabbit's. He quickly picked her up and asked, "Little girl, tell Uncle what just happened?"

Liu Yaya knew the police officers were there to help her mother, and she started crying in grievance, pointing at Ma Cuihua and Liu Li, "Grandma and my aunt beat my mother. They bullied my mother together. I wanted to beg my aunt to let my mother go, but my aunt kicked me down."

The police officer squinted at Liu Li.

Liu Li turned pale with fright.

Ma Cuihua immediately shielded Liu Li behind her, glaring fiercely at Liu Yaya, "What nonsense are you spouting, you good-for-nothing! You ingrate! I'll sell you off tomorrow!"

"Wah!" Liu Yaya cried even harder.

The police officer was furious. "You're buying and selling people right in front of the police! Believe me, I can arrest you right now!"

"I...I just said it offhand." Ma Cuihua shrank back, feeling very unconvinced, but dared not continue to threaten Liu Yaya.

Lin Qin quickly took Liu Yaya from her, saying, "Yaya, don't be afraid. That old hag won't sell you. If she dares to sell you, I'll tear her to pieces. We might as well all die together!"

Lin Qin retorted without backing down, looking at Ma Cuihua as if she were an enemy.

Ma Cuihua also looked resentful, and both of them seemed to want to tear each other apart.

What kind of hatred is this?
The police officers kept the situation under control until Li San's colleague returned with Chen Wenjun's basket, carrying pole, and some scales.

Upon seeing the items, Chen Wenjun excitedly wanted to get down to the ground. "That's right, these are my baskets, carrying pole, and scales. One of the baskets has a bamboo board stuck underneath, and a tattered fishing net is also attached to it."

The police inspected the basket and found a bamboo board stuck underneath. They didn't see any broken fishing net, but there were fishing net hooks on the side of the basket, indicating that it had been covered with a fishing net before.

"Where are the things up there?"

“When I arrived, Li San’s mother denied it. I explained the situation to her and she got scared and quickly gave me the things. That’s how it is now.”

Both police officers were speechless and deeply sympathized with Chen Wenjun's plight.

When Chen Wenjun got his belongings back, he discovered that the basket was damaged. His face fell, and he said miserably, "Officer, I can fix the broken things, but you must help me get back that fifty-three yuan and twenty-five cents! What should I do? Go to the police station with you to report it?"

The police officer gestured for Chen Wenjun to calm down, put his hands behind his back, and walked up to Liu Yongguo. "Hurry up, return what you took now. I can still handle it. If you don't admit it, we can only transfer you to the criminal investigation team for robbery. At that time, it won't just be a matter of mediation. You may go to jail or even be sentenced to death!"

Liu Yongguo was terrified and cried, trembling, "We really didn't rob him of his money!"

The police officer lost his patience and shouted, "The witnesses and evidence are all here. They are both innocent. You didn't rob anyone. How could you knock him unconscious with a stick and bring him into your house?"

Don't tell me about messing around with women! I think you guys were just after money and didn't like Lin Qin because she had a daughter, so you pulled this stunt to kill two birds with one stone. You're really something!"

Liu Yongguo immediately knelt down, weeping bitterly, "Officer, I admit that we framed Lin Qin because we didn't like her and wanted to kick her out. I was just about to go out and find some thugs when I saw Chen Wenjun lying on the ground. I thought I should save some money, so I brought him back."

But we really didn't steal Chen Wenjun's money. I swear, if I had stolen his money, may I die a horrible death!

"Pah! You think I'd believe your nonsense?" the police officer glared angrily.

Xu Manzhi hurriedly explained, "Officer, it must have been Li San's mother. My husband was already knocked unconscious when he saw Chen Wenjun. Li San's mother picked up Chen Wenjun's things, so she must have taken the money!"

"Bullshit!" Old Lady Li stormed in angrily. "Xu Manzhi, you shameless bitch! It's one thing for you snakes and rats to frame Lin Qin, but you even dare to smear me! I'm not someone to be bullied!"
Everyone, please be the judge. Although I may be greedy for small gains, I'm not exactly a kind-hearted person who would lend a hand to anyone in need. If I saw a grown man lying on the ground, would I touch his money? I would definitely scream for help!
Besides, someone saw me find the item; it was already dark then. Was the person being attacked around that time?

Chen Wenjun nodded in agreement, "When I was knocked unconscious, it wasn't completely dark yet."

“Listen to what they’re saying! Officer, if you ask me, it was Liu Yongguo who did it! Women wouldn’t dare to lay a finger on a man!” Old Lady Li said with absolute certainty, insisting that the Liu family stole the money.

Xu Manzhi panicked completely, knowing that the current situation was extremely unfavorable for them. She gritted her teeth and made a last-ditch effort, "Officers, you can't believe him just because he was beaten. What if he's lying to us? What if he didn't have any money on him to begin with?"

The male lead, Chen Wenjun, acted in a way that reflected the status of the Tanka people at that time. In the 1980s, the Tanka people were looked down upon, and people living on land gave them nicknames and used very offensive language. Under these circumstances, showing weakness to gain sympathy was the most correct approach, as being confrontational would only make him a target.

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(End of this chapter)