Chapter 67: Chapter 67: It’s Not Easy to Get Justice
Ma Qiang and Fang Ming had just stepped out of the medical office when they were stopped by Ma Zhuzi.
“Police officers, please wait a moment.” He caught up to them, fumbling in his coat pocket and pulled out two slender city cigarettes, stuffing them into their hands.
Fang Ming replied coldly, “I don’t smoke.” and returned the cigarettes to him.
Ma Qiang, on the other hand, took one but simply rolled it between his fingers, eyeing Ma Zhuzi with a meaningful look.
“What do you want with us?”
Ma Zhuzi seemed to recognize Ma Qiang, smiling all over his face, “I didn’t realize until I got closer, you’re Ma Liu’s son, aren’t you?”
In Jinshan Village, most of those surnamed Ma knew each other, and their relationships could be traced back several generations.
Hearing Ma Zhuzi’s words, Ma Qiang said with a half-smile, “Yeah, should I be calling you ‘Uncle’ according to our seniority?”
Ma Zhuzi grinned, looking honest, “You’re working for the government; I couldn’t possibly accept you addressing me like that. I just wanted to ask how Xiaofang is doing?”
Despising him in his heart, Fang Ming thought this man was nothing but a hypocrite shedding crocodile tears.
With a subtle turn of his eyes, Ma Qiang sighed, “The situation isn’t looking good. When we arrived, she was still unconscious and we didn’t get any useful information.”
Immediately Ma Zhuzi put on a sad face, “Ah, it’s our family that has wronged her.”
Ma Qiang raised an eyebrow, “Oh? How so?”
“It hasn’t been easy for her, a woman from outside the village, marrying into our family. There were some misunderstandings before and she didn’t get along well with us, but since she became pregnant, we’ve been extremely careful with her, almost worshiping her.”
“She was always frail and encountered danger when giving birth. We couldn’t save the child, and she fell into a coma. It was with great difficulty when she finally woke up, and as we broke the news to her, Xiaofang just couldn’t bear it. She kept shouting for all of us to accompany her child in death.”
With his eyes downcast, Ma Zhuzi seemed genuinely sorrowful, “If I could exchange my worthless life or my wife’s for the child’s, I would die content.”
“It’s understandable why the Yue Family is upset. The child was healthy and now… Ah, I really don’t know how to face the mother-in-law with this old face of mine.”
His words sounded so heartfelt they nearly brought one to tears.
If it weren’t for the fact that the two police officers had already learned the situation from Yue Xiaofang’s account, they might have prematurely sided with the Ma Family, deeming the Yue Family as the unreasonable party, and sympathized with Ma Jinbao’s family instead.
“We will investigate the real situation. Besides, we’re not allowed to accept things from the public while we’re working.”
Ma Qiang gave back the cigarette he had been fidgeting with to Ma Zhuzi and, along with his partner, walked towards the bicycle parked nearby.
Jinshan Village was expansive, and in their line of duty, they would often rely on the bicycles uniformly provided by the government.
With a push on the pedals, the two officers quickly vanished from Ma Zhuzi’s view.
He stood up straight and looked in the direction the police had left, with a faint smile emerging at the corner of his mouth.
After riding a great distance, Fang Ming couldn’t help but comment, “This man seems honest enough on the surface, but I didn’t expect him to be so articulate.”
Actually, before questioning Yue Xiaofang, they had learned about the situation from Ma Shulin and some other villagers of Jinshan Village.
They were well aware of how Ma Jinbao’s family had mistreated Yue Xiaofang.
From their experience in handling cases, discerning right from wrong wasn’t difficult; just by asking several villagers and observing the behavior of those involved, they could make a quick judgement.
Ma Qiang’s demeanor changed from relaxed to serious as he looked into the distance.
“I have a premonition that Ma Zhuzi’s family might be even smarter than we think. It won’t be so easy for Yue Xiaofang to get justice.”
Their voices were lost in the wind as the wheels continued to roll on the ground, dissipating into a sigh behind them.
Cases were not unique. In these times, it was all too difficult for girls to be born safely.
What was even more unfathomable was that those who often snatched away their lives were family members tied by the same blood.