Chapter 75 - "What happened? How did she go crazy just like that?" (1)
Tong Yanliang was about to blow up from anger. “What are you talking about, Grandma?! Quick, tell the comrade cops that you are not crazy. Everything was done by Tong Xuelu to set us up!”
If Grandma was “crazy”, who else could attest that the *@)#* Tong Xuelu was setting him up?He could not allow for that to happen!Tong Sanzhuang, too, was shocked. “Mom, when have you gone crazy? How come I didn’t know that?”Jie Jinhua: I didn’t know that either!Mother Xu suddenly let out an “Eh” and whispered to Aunty Cai, “I thought she was crazy before but then she didn’t really look it. Other crazies would laugh and cry and drool. Some would even hit themselves. But look, she didn’t do any of those. She didn’t look crazy to me.”Jie Jinhua’s body stiffened when she heard that.She smiled like an idiot the very next second. Then, after a little while, she started to weep. Drool came out of the corners of her lips.The way she looked…... was very difficult on the eyes.This was the path that she had chosen, she must follow it all the way through even if she had to crawl down it on her knees.Everyone, “…………”This craziness seemed so arbitrary.As Jie Jinhua had gone “crazy”, she was no longer qualified as a witness.Truth was, even if she hadn’t gone crazy, with the way that she was back and forth with her words and constantly denying what she had said before, she would not have become a witness anyway.Because Jie Jinhua had fallen, Tong Yanliang’s accusation could not be established.There was, however, evidence that pointed toward him stealing underwear and threatening Mother Xu that he would kill and burn houses down.Tong Yanliang was locked up right away.His hands were clenched into fists with their veins showing when he was taken down.Giving Tong Xuelu deathly glares, he mouthed the words to her, “Just you wait, #@()*!”Meeting his eyes, Tong Xuelu felt that she was being stared at by a cold and poisonous snake. It gave her goosebumps on her arms.She did not back down, however: Okay, I’ll wait.She was able to send Tong Xuelu to prison this time partly because of luck but also mostly because of the special political situation during this era.It's a pity that this is not the period of the crackdown in 1983. At this time, the crime of hooliganism had not been written into the criminal law. In Tong Yanliang's case, he would be sentenced to two or three years at most.He would be a headache all over again in 2 ~ 3 years.Jie Jinhua bawled when she saw her precious grandson being taken down. Tears and snot kept coming out of her.When Sun Guilan, waiting outside, found out about it, her eyes rolled and she passed out.Finally, Tong Sanzhuang carried Jie Jinhua, who had wet herself earlier, back home. Tong Erzhu also carried his wife on his back after he gave Tong Xuelu a stare.Witnessing the scene, Chen Dani asked worriedly, “It looks like your Grandma and your uncles are very upset at you.”Tong Xuelu said with her eyes reddened. “My siblings and I were so happy when we learned that they were coming. My parents are gone and they are our only family left. I have no idea how all this happened……”Chen Dani was worried when she saw Tong Xuelu crying, “Don’t cry. This is not your fault!”Aunty Cai, too, came over to comfort her. “She is right. This is not your fault. You have been so nice to your grandmother and the others. We have all witnessed that. If anyone dares to say one bad word about you, I will be the first to unleash on him!”“Exactly, you and your siblings had been waiting on them hands and feet day in and day out. They turned around and committed such shameless crimes and tried to pin that on you. They were the shameless ones!”Mother Xu was very appreciative that Tong Xuelu had sold them the stevedore position to them for cheap. Now that they were able to swap positions, her daughter-in-law would be starting in the fabric factory in a few days.They would have two workers at home by then and that would greatly alleviate their financial pressures. All of this was Tong Xuelu’s credits.