87: Chapter 87 Family Misfortune 87: Chapter 87 Family Misfortune “When you have trouble, seek help from the police,” Chen Hai’s teachers had told him during his elementary school years.
After leaving Jinyuan Hotel, he pondered briefly before heading straight in the direction of the nearby police station.
Taking his exam scores, was it a criminal matter or a civil matter?
Chen Hai was utterly unclear.
At the county education bureau, he couldn’t even get through the main gate now.
After thinking it over, apart from the police station, he could think of nowhere else to go to find justice!
In his era, communication was inconvenient, information was opaque, and transportation was even worse.
Should he take the matter to the city or province?
Not just Chen Hai, but most people in the entire county probably didn’t even entertain the thought.
If truth be told, people of that era generally settled matters privately with friends and relatives, finding it too troublesome to even call the police, and most were reluctant to do so.
“Officer, I’m here to report a crime.”
“My name is Chen Hai, a recent graduate of class 103, senior year, Wuyang Town Middle School.
My college entrance examination scores were stolen by Liu Jian, the son of Liu Dagui from our town…”
“Do you have any evidence?”
“No, officer, isn’t it your police station’s duty to investigate and gather evidence?”
“Your case has been recorded.”
“Whether it is true or not, we will investigate thoroughly.
You can go home for now, and we will inform you if there’s any news!”
Chen Hai spent over half an hour at the police station.
At first, when he said he wanted to report a crime, the female officer taking his statement seemed quite polite.
Later, when he mentioned the name Liu Jian, son of Liu Dagui, a fat police officer with a beer belly took over the questioning, presumably to show that they were taking the matter seriously and asked the female officer to step aside.
Somehow, Chen Hai felt something off about the way the fat police officer looked at him. Dıscover more novels at novel•fire.net
It was an indescribable feeling.
For the next two or three days, he visited the police station daily to inquire about the progress of his case.
However, the results were not very promising.
With the number of times he’d inquired, the officers seemed somewhat displeased.
A powerless, rural kid like him going to the police to report and ask them to investigate the Liu family?
Chen Hai had anticipated this response.
His visit to the police station was more out of habitual thinking.
On the third day, with no real hope left, Chen Hai took a bus and returned to Wuyang Town.
Considering he had been away from home for several days, Chen Hai didn’t linger in town and headed straight to his home in Chenjiaping.
“Damn it, those people are robbers, outright robbers…”
The doors to his family’s house were wide open.
As Chen Hai approached the entrance, the wailing cries of his mother, Jiang Meixian, reached his ears.
On the main room floor, Jiang Meixian, hair disheveled, sat on the cold ground; her face still bore several fresh and clear fingerprint marks.
Cabinets, chairs, tables were overturned; the entire house was in complete disarray.
“Mom, what happened here?
Who did this?” Seeing the scene, Chen Hai’s eyes reddened.
He took three steps with every two, hurrying to his mother Jiang Meixian’s side, and carefully helped her up.
“Hai, you’re finally back!”
“Just now, Chen Erleng came with a bunch of people, saying our family had not fully paid last year’s reserved funds.”
“I said I’d pay, but those damn dogs didn’t give us a chance.”
“Without further ado, they just started moving things.
They even took the TV you bought a few days ago, and not just that, they emptied the rice from the rice barrel using a snake skin bag.”
“Since becoming a village official, that dog Chen Erleng does not act like a human at all…”
With tears streaming down uncontrollably, Jiang Meixian lamented, and her tears surged again.
Naturally, she fought to prevent others from moving their belongings, but as a woman, how could she stand against a group of strong men?
Moreover, among the people, Chen Erleng brought, apart from himself and one other from the village, the remaining men were all robust and experienced fighters.
The fingerprint marks on Jiang Meixian’s face were left during the scuffle.
“Isn’t it just July or August?
In past years, haven’t they always pressed for payments at the year’s end?” Chen Hai asked gravely, his eyes fierce as if they could devour someone.
“Indeed, collections are usually at the end of the year!” Jiang Meixian nodded.
She clenched her teeth and continued, “We really haven’t fully paid last year’s reserved funds and agriculture taxes, we still owe some.”
“Using this pretext to collect now, what can we, poor and powerless commoners, do?”
“I and your father have always told you, staying in the countryside, facing the loess and turning our backs to the sky, one can only be poor and suffer for a lifetime.”
“For a rural kid to rise above, to make something of himself, the only way out is through education.”
“We bear hardships, unwilling for you to endure the same, we’re willing to sell our blood to support your studies.”
“But you, boy, you’re just not making enough effort…”
Jiang Meixian sighed, and after a few sentences, with a look of disappointment directed at Chen Hai, she began to lecture him.
Hanging his head, Chen Hai remained silent, at a loss for words.
This month, with Chen Erleng suddenly coming to collect, not even giving his mother the chance to repay, was very abnormal.
Without much thought, Chen Hai knew this must be connected to Liu Dagui.
With Liu Dagui’s status, a mere word from him would have Chen Erleng scurrying at top speed.
However, to avoid worrying Jiang Meixian, he wouldn’t be straightforward with his mother about his suspicions.
After helping Jiang Meixian to a chair and pouring her a glass of cold water, Chen Hai silently began to clean up the mess in the house.