“Hurry up and ask her to give back the money that she stole from me; it’s what I have saved over the years. Old Three, you must bring it back to your mother! She stole your mother’s money, which meant that she practically ripped out your mother’s heart—”
Han Qingsong just stood quietly as the Uncle Secretary Head mentioned that there was no evidence to prove that her claims were true.
In the end, she said that Lin Lan found the remittance slip and forced the youngest siblings to write an IOU.
“Old Three, your son is so evil. How can he be so bad when he’s just a child? He truly followed in his mother’s footsteps. Ah, what a waste to feed him all this time!”
Upon hearing her distorting the facts, Han Qingsong frowned. His facial expressions darkened, but he remained silent.
He had already interrogated Zhao Jianguo, and also asked Sanwang and the other children about things to better understand the situation. He also chatted with the Secretary Head, the Security Director and some others. Uncle Secretary Head would basically be a peacemaker, trying to minimise the big issues as much as possible. Even so, the fact that the fourth child went to provoke Lin Lan, smash the Third family’s tank, scolded others and beat up Sanwang was something that could not be covered up. After being arrested, the Public Security Bureau also issued detailed documents about the incident. He was arrested not because he beat Sanwang, but because of his reactionary thoughts and actions.
“Mother, I have to go to the commune, so I’ll be taking my leave first.”
“Wait, bring the fourth child back first. Your fourth brother has suffered so much. Even when he was a child until now, he hasn’t suffered as much as he currently is before— my poor son!” The old lady Han started to snot as she cried in grief again.
She was crying— for her son’s suffering, for her grievances, for the Old Three’s complete disobedience towards her own words and the fact that he gave all the money to her daughter-in-law.
The eldest sister-in-law, “Third brother, you go do what you need to do. Mother, it’s time to eat!”
It was going to be noisy all day long. Last time, it was due to the Third Family’s existence that would always be the source of the ruckus. But now that the Third Family was no longer present at home, this truly proved to everyone that Old Lady Han was a menace.
Han Qingsong had to leave as he had official businesses to report to, so he left first.
As soon as he left, Old Lady Han felt even more saddened, feeling that she had lost her son completely.
Han Qingsong headed towards the Brigade, but on the way, he was stopped by another woman.
With tears in her eyes, the woman said, “Brother Han, please raise your hand and let my brother go? H-he was just confused for a while and made some mistakes. We will take good care of him so that he won’t ever do this sort of thing again. A long as you’re okay with it, anything can be talked about,” She took a step forward and reached out to grab Han Qingsong’s sleeve.
Han Qingsong immediately ducked away, “Sister-in-law, if you have something to say about that, you should go to the village cadre.”
Sister-in-law was a general term for married women in the countryside. It had nothing to do with seniority or age, so he addressed her as such since he didn’t know who it was.
Seeing the back of Han Qingsong leaving relentlessly, Liu Chunfang covered her face and cried as she walked away.
Yu Wuzi was still crying non-stop at the Brigade, trying to get Han Qingsong to let go of her son. No one knew who gave her the idea, but she actually went to find Lin Lan to beg for mercy.