Chapter 21: Entering the Police Station

Gu Nuannuan could not spare the time to cook. She told Hu Ailian to handle the meal with her eldest sister-in-law, while she and Zhou Xi headed to town to check on the situation.

Hu Ailian dropped her spatula and ran out, exclaiming, "I hope Nuannuan is alright! You must bring Siyue back safely."

Upon hearing that something had happened, the villagers put down their tools, ready to assist. "Everyone, please continue with your work; it's nothing to worry about," Gu Nuannuan said before leaving. As she departed, old Mrs. Wang from next door emerged and walked toward the village entrance, where she joined a group of elderly women already deep in gossip.

At the town’s police station, Zhou Siyue sat on the ground, his face bruised and swollen, while Li An sat at a desk taking a statement. "Explain yourself. Why were you fighting?"

Zhou Siyue stood up, shouting agitatedly, "They demanded my money, and then they beat me!"

Li An barked at him to sit back down, and Zhou Siyue promptly hugged his head and crouched back on the floor. "Street fighting—I should send all of you to reform school."

In truth, this wasn't Zhou Siyue's fault. He had gone to town in high spirits to run errands, following his sister-in-law’s advice to wrap his face tightly with a headscarf before entering the black market. Just as he was leaving with his purchases, a group of thugs blocked his path.

"Brother, lend us some cash," one of the thugs said, tossing a wooden club up and down as if ready to strike at any moment.

Zhou Siyue had never encountered such a situation; he was so frightened he couldn't stand steadily. The thugs shoved him into a corner. "Don't be ungrateful. Will you hand it over yourself, or do we have to take it?"

Zhou Siyue looked at the passersby, hoping for help, but they chose to look away. These were the town’s notorious troublemakers; no one dared to cross them. Zhou Siyue gripped his pocket tightly, determined not to surrender his money.

"You brat, have you never heard of us? You’re asking for trouble!" The thug slapped Zhou Siyue across the face with the sole of his shoe, signaled his group, and they swarmed him in the corner, beating him mercilessly.

Li An, who had just bought some steamed buns, happened to pass by the alley. Seeing the brawl, he intervened and hauled them all to the station. "You’re all young, yet you’ve already learned to fight and cause trouble. Wait here for your families."

Li An felt helpless about the thugs; he wanted to discipline them, but they had influential backers, making it impossible for him to take real action. It was a difficult position, and he could only wait for their families to settle the matter.

When Gu Nuannuan and Zhou Xi arrived, Zhou Siyue was still huddled in the corner, while the thugs sat comfortably on stools. Gu Nuannuan went over to sign the papers.

"Brother, what happened?" Zhou Xi ran over, her heart breaking at the sight of his injuries. As she approached, the group of thugs began to whistle.

"Your sister is quite pretty. Does she have a boyfriend? How about me?" one said, reaching out to grab Zhou Xi.

Zhou Siyue shoved him away. "Don't touch my sister!"

Seeing their leader pushed, the thugs surrounded him again. "Damn you! I took a liking to your sister—it’s her good fortune—and you dare hit me? You’d better stay in this police station forever, or you’ll never make it home alive."

Li An walked in with Gu Nuannuan and, seeing the siblings surrounded, stepped in to pull them apart. "This is a police station! Behave yourselves, or you’ll all be locked up."

Zhou Xi was about to explain, but Gu Nuannuan pulled her back. "Officer Li, if there’s nothing else, we’ll be leaving."

"Go on. Be more careful in the future; it won't be this easy next time," Li An replied.

As Gu Nuannuan led them away, Zhou Siyue couldn't understand why they hadn't let the police lock the thugs up. Gu Nuannuan explained the situation. "These thugs haven't been arrested because they have connections. If we insisted on a result, it wouldn't just be us who suffered; we would implicate Officer Li, too."

Zhou Siyue remained defiant. "So we just let it go?"

Gu Nuannuan smiled without answering and bought two sodas from a street stall. "Here, drink this to calm your nerves. In the future, avoid trouble if you can. Today, you were lucky to run into Officer Li; otherwise, you might be a corpse by now."

Zhou Siyue shuddered at the thought. "They wouldn't actually kill someone, would they?"

"They might not murder you, but if they beat you until you're crippled, they’ll just pay a bit of money to make it go away, and you’ll be the one left suffering." After lecturing Zhou Siyue, she looked at Zhou Xi, who was already a fifteen-year-old girl—she would need to be watched closely. "Let's go home."

Zhou Siyue followed behind her with his basket, watching his sister-in-law. Since she had fallen into the river, she seemed like a completely different person—as if she suddenly understood everything. Zhou Xi, still terrified, held her brother’s hand tightly, fearing the thugs might reappear.

Back home, Hu Ailian had finished dinner. The workers had eaten and gone home to rest; the foundation was already half-finished, and it wouldn't be long before the house was complete. When Hu Ailian saw Zhou Siyue's bruised face, she was furious. "You brat! You go to town and get yourself beaten up? How can you be so spineless?"

Zhou Siyue hid behind Gu Nuannuan. "Mom, there were too many of them, I couldn't fight them off."

Zhou Qing brought out the warmed-up food. "Mom, don't be angry. Let's eat. Little brother hasn't been to town much; it's natural he panicked."

Hu Ailian regretted pampering them so much. Zhou Siyue and Zhou Xi were twins, born during the strict family planning era, which had cost a fortune in fines. Their father had gone to work in the mines to pay it off and never returned. The twins had been born as small as kittens, and she had been terrified they wouldn't survive, so she had spoiled them, leaving them lacking in independence.

"Eat. In the future, go out and see the world with Brother Zhou Jinsheng. Don't just hide behind your parents when trouble arises; we can't protect you forever."

Feeling humiliated, Zhou Siyue went to bed early after dinner. Gu Nuannuan sat in the courtyard, looking at the red bricks. There were too many thieves in this era; if you left anything valuable in the yard, it would be gone in a flash.

After eight o'clock, when it was fully dark, Gu Nuannuan woke Zhou Siyue and told him she was going to her brother's house to check on the children. Zhou Siyue didn't suspect anything and stayed to watch the yard.

Gu Nuannuan picked up her pace toward town. She had asked Li An for the thugs' address earlier, and now it was time for revenge. Arriving at the home of the gang leader, she heard shouting inside.

"I let you go out and mingle, and this is what you learn? Do you want that commune director's position or not? If you don't want it, I'll give it to your brother!"

Gu Nuannuan realized the boy was the son of the commune director—no wonder he was so arrogant.

"Dad, you think just because you say you'll give it to me, I'll get it? Yu Hao told me his father became town mayor through an election!"

"He’s the mayor, he has the power, but I still have authority as the commune director. Keep a low profile for a while and stop hanging out with those thugs."

Gu Nuannuan understood now: they treated public office like their personal property. There was likely corruption involved. She decided to test the new ability her "space" had unlocked that afternoon—a treasure-hunting feature.

Gu Nuannuan scanned the room and found several valuables, all of which she promptly tucked away into her space. Finding nothing else of interest, she left quietly, visited the homes of the other thugs, knocked them unconscious, and slapped them dozens of times with the soles of their shoes until she felt satisfied. On a whim, she returned to the commune director’s house.

The next day, the commune director felt for the watch on his nightstand, but after searching for a long time, he realized much of his property was missing. Just as he prepared to call the police, he found his son was also gone. Thinking it was an inside job, he prepared to give his son a harsh lesson.

Meanwhile, the thug had been stripped naked and dumped on the Great Green Mountain. A pack of wolves began to circle the naked human, ready to feast. The thug was licked awake by a wet tongue, and upon seeing the wolves, he scrambled down the mountain, falling and tumbling until he was discovered with only a single breath left in him.