Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

Su Wanqing's smile froze instantly. Arrest her? On what grounds? She treated patients, helped with production and construction; she hadn't stolen or robbed anyone. What law had she broken?

Moreover, even if they were to arrest her, she couldn't run away; if she did, she would become a fugitive.

"Excuse me, please make way." She composed herself and pushed her cart through the crowd. "What are you all doing blocking my doorway? Let me in and see what's going on."

The car was very heavy, but the villagers were only busy standing on tiptoe to look and whispering among themselves. No one offered a helping hand, and no one made way for them. Su Wanqing felt helpless. These days, there's no shortage of people who want to watch a show.

At this moment, no one noticed the mountain of goodies piled up in her car; everyone's attention was drawn to what was happening in the yard.

"What did Dr. Su do wrong? Why are there so many police officers here?"

"Look at those uniforms, there are even people from the Forestry Bureau! Quite a show of force..."

"I heard it's related to some kind of 'protected animal'? They say they caught a few birds? Dr. Su is usually very kind, she doesn't seem like it."

"Does catching a few birds require so many people? Is that a crime against nature?"

Su Wanqing finally managed to squeeze to the front of the courtyard gate and raised her voice, "Folks, things haven't been clarified yet, so please disperse for now. I'll go in and check the situation, and we'll talk about it later."

She was also wondering to herself: she had been behaving herself lately, and even if she had made some small moves, they shouldn't have warranted such a big fuss, right?

Several people in police uniforms and dark green forestry uniforms were gathered near the chicken coop, pointing and gesturing at the red-tailed chickens. Uncle Ding, sitting in his wheelchair, was anxiously explaining something, while Zhou's mother watched with a curious expression.

Lin Tingting stood to the side, her eyes shining. As soon as Su Wanqing entered, she immediately shouted in a shrill voice, "She's back! She's back! Officer, this is my cousin-in-law. She's the one who raises the chickens!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than a figure suddenly darted out from behind the law enforcement officers.

It's Jiang Weiwei.

Her face was filled with barely suppressed excitement. "Yes, it's her! I heard it with my own ears when I came here that day. She said she caught the chicken to raise and eat! Officers, and Expert Xie, they illegally captured a Class II protected animal and wanted to slaughter it for food! This is damaging precious national resources, she must be arrested and sentenced!"

Jiang Weiwei crossed her arms, raised her chin slightly, and her eyes were full of triumphant provocation.

Su Wanqing, Su Wanqing, so what if you tripped me up at the planting site? Didn't expect I had a backup plan, did you?

She specifically sought out Li, an expert who was a bird enthusiast, in order to severely punish Su Wanqing's behavior.

Su Wanqing: "..."

A question mark slowly appeared in her mind.

Nationally protected animals?

Comrade Jiang Weiwei, did you mix up the timeline when you were reborn? The reform and opening up hadn't started yet, and the Wildlife Protection Law wouldn't be available for another ten years or so. Where did this clear statement about "national second-class protected animals" come from?

At this moment, the elderly man whom Jiang Weiwei had referred to as "Expert Xie" turned around from in front of the flock of chickens. He was about sixty years old, with gray hair, wearing an old Zhongshan suit. His face was ashen, and he pointed at Su Wanqing, cursing:

"Outrageous! The golden pheasant is such a precious bird, its wild population is extremely rare, and every single one is a national treasure! How dare you capture it without permission, keep it in your own yard, and even slaughter and eat it? Do you know what kind of behavior this is? Ignorant! Foolish!"

He was heartbroken, as if Su Wanqing had committed an unforgivable crime.

Seeing this, Jiang Weiwei couldn't help but smile. Yes, that's it! The angrier Old Master Shen is, the heavier Su Wanqing's guilt will be!

Su Wanqing: "..."

Su Wanqing was speechless for a moment.

She never expected that Zhou Yanshen would catch a chicken on the mountain and bring it back as some kind of rare animal.

In a flash, she recalled Jiang Weiwei's shock when she first saw the red-tailed chicken and the wicked smile she gave after being captured that day. She suddenly realized that Jiang Weiwei had been harboring a mischievous streak and was using it on this.

Her mind raced. First, while there was no "Wildlife Protection Law" at that time, the principle that "rare animals should be protected" was indeed a directive from higher authorities. With experts and forestry departments involved, the matter could be serious or minor. Second, she hadn't even had a chance to eat the animal she captured, so the nature of the situation should be different.

In the few seconds she spent pondering, Jiang Weiwei couldn't contain her smugness.

"Expert Xie, Officer Wang, what are you waiting for? The evidence is irrefutable! These red-bellied pheasants in her yard are solid proof! She's damaging the nation's precious animal resources and must be severely punished!"

With such evidence, let's see how you try to argue your way out!

She was just waiting for Su Wanqing to be arrested so that the planting site quota would become available, and with her father's connections, she could get a quota again!

It was all that damned Su Wanqing who ruined her plans. After she was taken back that day, her father was furious, and that fake heiress even added fuel to the fire, saying that as her father's daughter, she should not only not bring honor to her father, but also tarnish his reputation. The old man was so angry that he almost hit her.

If it weren't for her mother having some conscience and helping her, she wouldn't have been able to get the expert today.

In any case, Expert Xie despises hunters and will definitely arrest and sentence Su Wanqing.

"Comrade Su Wanqing," Officer Wang spoke, his expression serious but his tone relatively calm, "Comrade Jiang Weiwei filed a real-name report, and Expert Xie has also confirmed the rarity of these birds from a professional perspective. Please explain the situation truthfully."

Su Wanqing took a deep breath, put down her bicycle, and walked to the center of the yard.

"Public Security Bureau, thank you, expert. First, I would like to clarify three points."

"First, we did not actively hunt these red-bellied pheasants. About a month ago, my wife, Comrade Zhou Yanshen, found two injured birds in the back mountains. Their wings were bleeding and they were having difficulty moving. If left unattended, they would certainly not survive. We took these two injured birds home to care for them in order to provide medical treatment. This was a rescue, not hunting."

Go ahead and make it up, just make it up now.

In this era without wildlife protection laws, as long as there is no explicit acknowledgment, there is not much of a problem.

"Secondly, to my knowledge, there is currently no explicit national law stipulating that 'personal rescue of injured birds' is a crime. Our actions may have been inappropriate, but they were by no means malicious illegal."

"Thirdly, and most importantly, we not only rescued them, but also successfully helped them survive, adapt, and reproduce in an artificial environment. This can be considered a significant contribution to the recovery of the golden pheasant population, right?"

Xie Rusong's face, which was originally full of anger, only furrowed his brows when he heard the first two points, but when he heard the word "breeding," he suddenly paused: "What did you say? Artificial breeding?"

"Yes." Su Wanqing pointed to the flock of chickens. "Thank you, expert. As you can see, we only brought back two injured adult birds initially. Now, there are two adult birds and nine chicks that hatched in the last few days in the yard."