Reborn in the 1980s: Nine Stunning Beauties Get Pregnant Before Marriage

Chen Yongqiang kicked the axe aside and waved the gun at Jin Lao Er: "Get up, let's go."

Jin Lao Er clutched his bleeding wrist and staggered to his feet.

Sirius followed at his feet, occasionally baring his teeth, which scared him so much that his calves cramped.

The two young helpers had already loaded the wood back onto the oxcart and followed behind dejectedly.

The oxcart turned around and went back, the load of timber remained untouched, only the direction had changed.

As they walked onto the dirt road leading to Shimen Village, they quickly attracted the attention of many villagers.

Yang Dahai was eating at the door when he saw this commotion and immediately put down his chopsticks: "Yongqiang, what's going on...?"

"These three men stole trees; they sawed down seventeen red pines from our Shimen Village's contracted forest." Chen Yongqiang pushed Jin Lao Er forward.

Yang Dahai's face darkened instantly. He circled the cart of wood, then squatted down to examine the saw cut. When he straightened up, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Jin Lao Er, are you fucking tired of living?"

"It's just a matter of sawing down a few trees in your village, what's the big deal? How about we settle the score for Chen Yongqiang setting his dogs on me?" Once in the village, Jin Lao Er became much more assertive.

Just now, in the desolate wilderness, he was genuinely afraid that Chen Yongqiang might impulsively kill him.

"What's the big deal? Even if you don't die, you'll be skinned alive," Chen Yongqiang said coldly.

Yang Dahai quickly convened a village meeting.

The responsibility forest belongs to the village collective, so naturally, we have to explain this to everyone when something like this happens.

At the village office, people gradually gathered.

The men squatted down smoking their pipes, while the women chatted amongst themselves in small groups.

Jin Lao Er was tied to the millstone, and no one bandaged his bloodied wrists.

Yang Dahai cleared his throat: "I called everyone here today because something happened to our village's contracted forest. Seventeen red pines, which had been growing for over twenty years and were just about to mature, were sawed down by these bastards."

The crowd erupted in a buzz. Some stood up and cursed, some spat at Jin Lao Er, and some children threw stones at him.

"Seventeen trees! How much less will that cost in coffins?"

"These bastards, if we catch them, we should beat them to death!"

Yang Dahai waved his hand to quiet everyone down: "Caught red-handed, it was Yongqiang who chased after them with his dog. Now that the man is in custody, I called everyone here to discuss what to do."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than someone shouted, "Take him to the police station!"

Others disagreed: "Sending them to the police station is too lenient; let them pay! One hundred per tree, seventeen trees would be seventeen thousand!"

"What good is 1,700? Can you afford to wait another twenty years for the tree to grow?"

As the village office courtyard erupted in chaos, Chen Yongqiang suddenly stepped forward and pointed to the oxcart parked beside him:

"There were only three pieces of wood on this truck enough for one tree. Seventeen trees were cut down, so where did the other sixteen go?"

All eyes turned to the cart of timber. The three sections of red pine, totaling only about ten feet in length, were indeed enough for just one tree.

Yang Dahai walked up to Jin Lao Er, grabbed his hair and pulled it upwards: "Tell me, where's the rest of the wood?"

Jin Lao Er grimaced in pain, "It's...it's gone...it's been taken away..."

"Where was it taken?"

"A truck came and took it away last night, how am I supposed to know where it's going..."

The crowd stirred again: "Don't listen to his nonsense! He definitely has another hideout!"

The mountain god's task was to retrieve the wood, but so far only one piece has been recovered; the remaining sixteen pieces are yet to be retrieved.

Chen Yongqiang stared at Jin Lao Er: "If you don't tell the truth, you might not be able to leave Shimen Village."

Jin Lao Er remained defiant: "Do you dare to kill us?"

The two young helpers were a bit timid, and one of them couldn't help but speak up: "Second Uncle, how about..."

"Shut up!" Jin Lao Er turned his head and roared.

Chen Yongqiang walked up to Yang Dahai and said, "Village chief, don't rush to send them to the police station. Let them go hungry for a few days first."

Yang Dahai immediately understood. He turned around and waved to the surrounding villagers, "Everyone, disperse. I'll handle this. Unload the timber into the village warehouse first, and we'll deal with it all once it's recovered."

Chen Yongqiang led the people to the village office. There were three mud-brick houses, one for each person.

"Stay put, all of you." Chen Yongqiang made sure the doors were securely locked before turning to leave.

Yang Dahai walked over: "What should we do now?"

"Keep them locked up for now; one of them will eventually give in." Chen Yongqiang had plenty of ways to get them to talk.

Yang Dahai took a puff of his pipe: "Do you think you can get anything out of them?"

"The two younger ones are weak-willed and won't last more than two days. Jin Lao Er is stubborn, but once he finds out that the two younger ones have confessed everything, he won't be so stubborn anymore." Chen Yongqiang naturally chose the two weaker ones as his breakthrough point.

After this incident, Chen Yongqiang was no longer able to go hunting in the mountains.

After leaving the village office, he remembered the promise he had made to Gao Yuanyuan the day before, so he took a bag of Rouge Rice and a dozen or so farm eggs from his spatial storage and headed towards the school dormitory.

When Chen Yongqiang arrived at the village primary school, he saw Gao Yuanyuan walking out of the classroom carrying several books.

"Teacher Gao, I brought you something." Chen Yongqiang stepped forward and handed over rice and eggs.

"The rice is homegrown, so you can cook porridge. The eggs are also laid by our own chickens."

Gao Yuanyuan looked much better today, and was even able to teach the children: "I can't accept this, always making you deliver things..."

"Don't mention it. You're the only teacher at the school, so you need to take care of yourself." Chen Yongqiang's gaze lingered on her face for a moment.

Gao Yuanyuan took the bag of rouge rice and eggs and carried them into the house. If someone else had given them to her, she might have refused.

But after eating the eggs Chen Yongqiang gave her recently, her health has improved somewhat, and she doesn't want to die in the countryside.

Chen Yongqiang watched her retreating figure, feeling a little itchy inside.

A highly educated person like her speaks and acts with great refinement, unlike someone like Widow Liang who would easily loosen her belt for a bite to eat.

Gao Yuanyuan came out of the house, carrying an enamel mug: "Brother Chen, would you like some water before you go?"

Chen Yongqiang took the jar, drank some water, and handed it back to her, saying, "Okay, I'm leaving. Let me know if you need anything."

As he left the school gate, he couldn't help but look back one last time.

Gao Yuanyuan was still standing at the door with her enamel mug. When she saw him turn around, she nodded to him.

Chen Yongqiang felt much more at ease: "It's no longer cold and aloof, it seems there's hope."

If Gao Ai'ai continues to act indifferent, he can't keep trying to win her over. He should consider cutting his losses and ending things as soon as possible.

Chen Yongqiang returned to his homestead. Unable to go into the mountains, he checked on the progress of the house construction.

While Zhao Fugen was laying bricks, the two naturally started talking about the illegal logging incident in Jinjiatun.

"Yongqiang, the people of Jinjiatun are not to be trifled with! Our Shimen Village and Jinjiatun have had several conflicts over water issues in the past, and we always came out on the losing end," Zhao Fugen said, recalling old stories.

"That was before. This time, Jin Lao Er's illegal logging is not in the right." Chen Yongqiang handed him a cigarette.