Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Zhao Youliang's wife was cowed by his ugly expression. She saw that besides the production team leader Shen Zhenhua and the Militia Captain Zhao Yongjun, there were three unfamiliar men standing next to her husband.

One was older, dressed in a blue-gray Liberation Suit and had the bearing of a cadre. A younger man wore glasses and had a fountain pen tucked into his shirt pocket, clearly a cadre as well. The other looked somewhat familiar, rather like the commune's Public Security Commissioner.

Zhao Youliang's wife was taken aback and didn't dare say anything more.

The other parents also exchanged uneasy glances. Under Shen Zhenxing's stern glare, they couldn't help but lower their heads guiltily.

Dai Xianghua was on good terms with Shen Guoqiang and also knew Shen Zhenxing and Zhao Yongjun. Glancing at the crowd of adults and children in the yard, he stepped forward to smooth things over: "Kids will be kids, a little roughhousing is inevitable..."

Halfway through his sentence, he couldn't help but frown: "But for you older kids to pick on ones so much smaller really isn't appropriate. The things you said were truly awful. If they hadn't been kidnapped by bad people, why would they have ended up in our Yunling Commune? Their parents at home must be worried sick. Just think, if you or your own family members were in that situation, and someone called you... that word, wouldn't you feel terrible?"

One parent couldn't resist swatting their child on the head: "Exactly, you should be ashamed of yourselves."

Dai Xianghua, an old hand at mediation, waved a hand dismissively: "Just go home and educate them properly. Parental guidance is very important, teaching by word and deed. Especially unfounded rumors must not be spread. These children are all good kids, especially Xiao Yue. She provided us with many valuable clues for our investigation. In fact, our commune's Director Gong came personally to visit and commend them."

He took the opportunity to introduce the two men beside him to everyone. Besides Director Gong, the younger man was Liang Kang, a commune cadre.

Director Gong Anping didn't comment on the conflict between the children. He greeted Wang Guizhi with a smile, shook hands with each child one by one, and personally presented Shen Banyue with a "Little Hero" certificate.

Gong Anping briefly outlined the investigation. Due to swift action and ample clues, most members of the trafficking network had been apprehended, achieving significant results. Both the city and county levels were very satisfied with Yunling Commune's timely and rapid handling of the case, and the commune had received praise from higher authorities.

If Shen Banyue were an adult, the commune might have considered more practical rewards. But as she was only a nine-year-old child, after discussion, the commune leadership decided to award her a certificate along with a cash reward and some food and daily necessities.

Of course, the commune also brought some food and daily items for the other children, primarily to address their immediate needs.

Cadre Liang distributed the items to the children. They looked at each other, then followed Shen Banyue's lead in saying "thank you."

Wang Guizhi invited Director Gong and Cadre Liang to stay for a meal. Xiao Jie, being more familiar with Dai Xianghua, tugged on his sleeve and said, "Sister Yue caught a pheasant! We're going to stew it!"

The men exchanged smiles. Director Gong chuckled and said, "It seems our little hero is indeed extraordinary. We won't stay, you all eat well and recuperate."

Finally, he shook Wang Guizhi's hand firmly: "Auntie, we entrust these children to your care."

Zhao Yongjun saw the three men out. Shen Zhenxing stayed behind and gave the group of parents another stern talking-to, making the women blush with shame as they all promised to give their "little brats" a good thrashing when they got home. Zhao Youliang's wife remained silent, while Zhao Youliang himself said defiantly he would certainly educate both his family member and his son properly upon returning.

Only then did Shen Zhenxing let them leave.

After they were gone, he informed Wang Guizhi that the commune had allocated grain rations for the children, held at the production brigade. They could collect a fixed amount from the brigade each month.

Although the children were entrusted to Wang Guizhi's care, the production brigade still bore supervisory responsibility to ensure the children were properly looked after.

—

All three commune men rode bicycles. On the way back, Director Gong chatted with Dai Xianghua: "Any leads on who tied up those traffickers on the mountain?"

As the commune leader, Dai Xianghua's work required regular reporting to him anyway. Dai Xianghua was upfront, answering truthfully: "Still haven't found the person. But we found some shoe prints around the courtyard that don't match any of the trafficking gang members. The county has analyzed them; likely belongs to a tall fellow, nearly 1.85 meters, weighing around 180 pounds."

"The traffickers' testimonies haven't changed?"

Dai Xianghua looked somewhat amused and exasperated: "Exactly. They insist it was Xiao Yue who beat them."

Director Gong joked: "Didn't they say that child beat up those teenagers? And caught a pheasant? Looking at her strength and agility, maybe it really was her?"

Dai Xianghua shook his head: "There's quite a difference between a few half-grown boys and those burly traffickers. The county also leans more towards the owner of the shoe prints being responsible. Things have been chaotic everywhere these past couple of years. Someone might have done a good deed but doesn't want to be known, or perhaps is afraid of being targeted by the gang."

As for the traffickers' testimonies, who knows what those scumbags were thinking? Maybe they were just deliberately messing with the police.

Scum destined for the firing squad, causing trouble even after being locked up – people in their line of work had seen plenty of that type.

Even if, by some remote chance, it really was that little girl, then giving her a "Little Hero" certificate would be entirely fitting.

Director Gong said seriously: "What's urgent now is to find these children's biological parents as soon as possible."

Dai Xianghua felt another headache coming on at this topic. He had previously taken statements from the children. The others could provide some information – which province, geographical features of their hometown, village names, parents' nicknames...

But when it came to Xiao Yue and Xiao Dizi, one said she couldn't remember anything except her name, Xiao Yue, and being nine years old. The other only knew she met the bad men when she went to buy candy with her "sister," and the little girl stubbornly insisted Xiao Yue was her sister.

Forget their appearances – one skinny, one chubby – even the fabric of their clothes was clearly worlds apart.

Dai Xianghua privately felt the chances of finding these two girls' biological parents were slim, especially for Xiao Yue. He even somewhat suspected the child had been abandoned.

—

Shen Banyue had no idea that the shoe prints she deliberately left while circling the courtyard before descending the mountain had, as anticipated, successfully diverted the public security's attention.

Even if the police suspected her, she wasn't afraid. So what if her combat ability was a bit high? She hadn't committed any crime. Her main reason for not wanting to admit it was simply to avoid trouble.

While Dai Xianghua and the others were discussing her, she was busy inventorying the items from the commune with the others.

Besides the certificate, Director Gong had given her a brown paper envelope containing six ten-yuan notes and two meat ration coupons.

The other items, which everyone received, were a toothbrush, towel, enamel mug, lunchbox, a packet of sugar, and a piece of fabric. Shen Banyue received an extra tube of toothpaste, a bar of scented soap, a bar of regular soap, a thermos flask, and a jar of malted milk.

Shen Banyue: "..."

These were probably meant for all of them to share, right? Otherwise, how to explain everyone getting a toothbrush but no toothpaste?

Still, Shen Banyue was quite satisfied. This was a decent haul of supplies even in the post-apocalyptic world.

"My dad got a commune 'Advanced Worker' award a few years back, and all he got was an enamel mug printed with 'Serve the People'," Shen Wenyi remarked, indicating the commune had really splurged this time; he'd never heard of such generous rewards.

The children showed little interest in the non-edible toothbrushes and towels. After each took a piece of candy, Shen Guoqing put the rest away. Their attention quickly shifted: "Stew the pheasant, stew the pheasant! Grandma Wang, shouldn't we start stewing the pheasant?"

"We also picked wild vegetables, Brother Wendong gathered mushrooms, and we have eggs, *slurp*~"

Wang Guizhi said cheerfully: "Stew it, stew it. Wendong's mushrooms will go perfectly in the pheasant stew. Guoqing, go cut some chives from the private plot. We'll make scrambled eggs with chives, then prepare some radish and greens, that should be enough."

Shen Zhenhua laughed: "Sister-in-law, then we'll shamelessly stay for dinner."

Wang Guizhi: "Call Wenkai over too, and your wife. As for Wenyi, forget it, a bachelor with a full belly worries no one. Oh dear, you and Guoqing are quite the pair, bachelors for so many years now."

The barely twenty-something Shen Wenyi: "..."

He hurriedly followed Shen Guoqing out the door: "I'll go fetch water. If you're freeloading a meal, you should at least do some work."

While the Shen household joyfully prepared the pheasant stew, some homes in the village erupted with howls and cries. Every single one of those boys got a taste of "bamboo strip fried pork" (a beating).

At Zhao Youliang's house, the grandparents and mother tried to intervene, but Zhao Youliang was furious: "The commune leaders came to deliver a 'Little Hero' certificate, and what did you two do? One called them bastards, the other said 'steal a needle young, steal gold when grown'! You're really something, slapping the commune director right in the face! This isn't just about the kids, this is aimed at me! You want me to lose my accountant position, is that it?!"

Hearing this, the old couple realized the severity and immediately stopped trying to intervene.

Zhao Youliang's eldest son, Zhao Jinyu, grinned and handed his father a thicker bamboo strip.

Soon, Zhao Jinshun followed in his friends' footsteps, emitting heart-wrenching wails.