The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

"Stop! What are you doing here? Why are you causing trouble at the police station?"

Hearing the shouts outside, Hou Longteng, the head of the police station, rushed out to investigate. Tan Xinmin, the station's instructor, followed behind him.

Bao Ya had vented her anger enough, and seeing two men who looked like leaders come out, she stopped struggling. It was time to reason with them.

I straightened my clothes and spoke first:

"I want to report Li Qiang. He is having an affair with his sister-in-law and is trying to drive his wife to suicide."

"What?"

Bao Ya's words were like a thunderclap, leaving everyone's minds blank. There was such a huge scoop on this.

Hou Longteng nearly fainted; he felt his blood pressure was about to burst through the top of his head.

Tan Xinmin, on the other hand, didn't rush to speak. He went around to the side to find out what was going on from Liu Damei and Liu Erli.

"Bao Ya, don't talk nonsense. It's not true. You're going to drive someone crazy with those words."

Li Qiang also realized that Lin Baoya had come with his mother-in-law and aunt.

He had a fight with his wife yesterday and has been regretting it ever since. He was thinking of going to his mother-in-law's house after get off work to apologize to his wife and bring her home.

"I'm talking nonsense? You beat your wife for your brother's wife, drove her to suicide, and you still dare to say that you didn't have anything going on with her."

What kind of husband's older brother dotes on his younger brother's wife all day long, giving her whatever she wants, while not even glancing at his own wife and children?

She even resorted to violence when things didn't go her way. You're the most shameless person in the world.

We're here today to expose your true colors. I'm reporting you for having an affair with my sister-in-law. Send your whole family of scoundrels to a farm for re-education.

Lin Baoya is known for her outrageous statements, focusing on two key points: one is that Li Qiang's sister-in-law is demanding a share of the house, and the other is that he beats his wife.

If you two aren't having an affair, why do you give her whatever she wants? If you two aren't having an affair, why don't you side with your wife when you argue?

Since things have come to this point, if you want to save face, you have to endure it. If you don't want to endure it, you have to be shameless.

The few words spoken left the police officers at the station speechless. What had they just heard? Li Qiang was actually this kind of person.

Everyone looked at Li Qiang with strange eyes.

"You're talking nonsense! That's not true!"

Li Qiang retorted loudly, so angry that he didn't know how to defend himself.

"Nothing of the sort happened. Yesterday you forced my sister to give up her office job to her, and you even hit her for it."

Bao Ya glanced at him sideways. What did it matter? She just wanted to splash dirty water on him, since he wasn't clean anyway.

"No, it's my sister who needs to work, not my sister-in-law."

Li Qiang didn't have time to think and blurted it out.

What kind of crime is adultery? If we take it seriously, his life might be over.

"Oh, are all your family members robbers? They just steal other people's jobs whenever they want."

You haven't given your wife and children a single penny over the years, and my sister has been supporting her children with her own salary.

Now you even want to steal her job! You heartless bastards, don't you want anyone to live? Aren't you all forcing her to die?

Well, now that he's said it himself, everyone's looking at him even more strangely. The man is siding with his sister-in-law, and the sister is even trying to steal his job. This is leaving no way for him to survive. No wonder he committed suicide.

Li Qiang was increasingly confused. He was still in a state of turmoil, wondering how his wife was doing. Seeing his mother-in-law crying so hard that she could hardly breathe, he felt that something was very wrong.

Hou Longteng couldn't stand it any longer and quickly came over to stop Lin Baoya. If this continued, Li Qiang's whole family would be doomed.

"Young man, please calm down. Let's talk this out. Or shall we go inside and chat?"

"No, we want everyone to bear witness that we need an explanation today. Don't try to cover this up without clarifying the facts."

"Then you can't just shout here and disrupt everyone's work."

"If you won't let me say it here, I'll go to the street and say it, so everyone can see how your police station is hiding corruption."

After saying that, he turned and ran outside, shouting at the top of his lungs as soon as he took a step:

"Come quick, everyone! Look! The police officer at the local station is having an affair!"

Her shout startled everyone. If word got out, what would they be called?

Li Qiang was closest to her, so he grabbed her arm and pleaded:

"Bao Ya, stop making a scene, let's talk this out."

"Discuss what? Who wants to discuss things with you?"

He kept talking and his hands didn't stop. He turned around and punched him in the nose. Although the position was a bit low, it hit him solidly.

Li Qiang winced in pain, released his grip on her hand, and covered his nose. Taking advantage of this moment, Bao Ya tried to find a suitable weapon to beat him up.

She saw the baton but didn't dare pick it up, unsure how assaulting a police officer would be judged. She simply grabbed a broom from the doorway and started hitting him with it.

Li Qiang dared not fight back and could only hide. The two chased each other in the hall, and the house was in chaos again.

Everyone wanted to stop her, but she was a woman, so they didn't dare to touch her. The only female police officer tried several times, but she was always brushed aside by a broom and couldn't get involved.

There was no other way; in order to avoid being affected, they all found an inconspicuous place to watch from afar.

The thief, handcuffed to a radiator pipe, pressed himself tightly against the wall to avoid being caught in the crossfire, while giving Bao Ya a thumbs-up. "She dared to hit the police; she's truly a heroine."

Only when both of them were exhausted from running did Li Qiang grab the broom, giving the policewoman a chance to hug Bao Ya from behind and immobilize her.

Li Qiang, his face covered in grime, sat opposite Lin Baoya, panting heavily, and said:

"Bao Ya, can we make a deal? I know I was wrong. I promise I won't let my sister take over your sister's job anymore."

"No, you have to promise to send her to the countryside immediately."

"That's a bit..."

"Pah, if you don't want to, fine. Your whole family can go to the farm for redevelopment."

Bao Ya spat at him and glared at him.

She didn't realize for a moment that it wasn't time to discuss things, so why was she trying to negotiate with him?

Director Hou shouted himself hoarse, but still couldn't control the situation. His temples were throbbing.

What did this girl eat to grow up like this? How can she be so restless and difficult to control, even more so than the aunties in the neighborhood?

She completely ignores what you're saying, as if she's certain you can't do anything to her.

After learning about the situation from Liu Damei, instructor Tan Xinmin was relieved to know that Xu Huiru was out of danger.

Since no one has died, everything is fine.

"Young man, calm down. Let's talk this out and solve the problem. Beating him up won't do much good, will it?"

"Who says it was useless? I feel much better after beating him up. Are you a leader at the police station?"

Slightly annoyed by her retort, Tan Xinmin remained patient and said, "I still have a good temper."

"I am Tan Xinmin, the instructor of the police station."

"Oh, instructor, right? Li Qiang was able to do such a thing because his thinking was not right. It's your dereliction of duty, so you also bear a lot of responsibility, okay?"

Tan Xinmin was quite taken aback by those words. He glanced at Li Qiang, whose face was covered in scratches, and mentally prepared himself before continuing:

"Yes, it's our fault for not doing our job properly. How about this, let's go to the meeting room and talk about it, and solve the problems one by one, okay?"

Don't worry, we will absolutely not cover up for Li Qiang.

Everything we agreed upon is written down so that it will be easier for everyone to track it down later.