"Don’t blame your oldest brother," Mother Bai choked out, defending her son. "You two were still young back then, but he went through it. It was too terrifying. He was probably traumatized by the scare."
Bai Jiu sighed. "My oldest brother is too stubborn and tends to back himself into a corner. I was thinking of finding him someone open-minded and a bit more assertive so he wouldn’t get taken advantage of. Plus, the two of them actually have feelings for each other."
Bai Jiu didn’t want to say anything more. Those who knew, knew.
"Let him think about it. He went to sleep alone tonight, didn’t he? Maybe there will be good news tomorrow," Mother Bai said, wiping away her tears. What mother wouldn’t want her children to live well? But she also didn’t want to force her son into anything. If he remained unwilling, she wouldn’t push him.
"If he doesn’t agree, he’s going to regret it in the future," Bai Jiu said helplessly.
The next day.
Before Bai Xingguo could give his answer, a commotion broke out next door.
"Comrade Bai, we’ve thoroughly investigated yesterday’s incident. The leadership has given the order to show no leniency, so they sent us to make the arrests." The people who walked in were the two female comrades who had escorted Bai Jiu home yesterday.
Bai Jiu was a bit confused. She pointed next door. "What’s going on?"
"The instigators are from the family next door, so the leadership sent us to arrest them," one of the female comrades explained.
Bai Jiu knew that the family next door wouldn’t be the only ones at odds with the Bai family; there had to be more. Hearing that they were only arresting people from the Wang family next door, she frowned.
The female comrade had been involved in the case the entire time and understood what she was thinking. She discreetly shot her a look. "Don’t worry, Ms. Bai. You have to trust the country and the leadership."
Her voice was very soft. Aside from the three of them, no one else heard her clearly. Even Xiuxiu and Zhengyang, who were hiding behind Bai Jiu, didn’t know what secret words their mother was sharing.
Bai Jiu smiled. "Yes, I trust the country, and I trust the leaders."
"Then please come with us to the bureau, Ms. Bai." The female comrade deeply admired Bai Jiu. With her husband gone, she was raising two children all on her own. Just yesterday, the leadership had even called to ask about the hero’s deeds. Ms. Bai hadn’t told a single lie.
"Alright." Of course, Bai Jiu was going. How could she miss out on punishing the bad guys? "But please wait a moment. My father is severely ill in bed, and the other adults aren’t home. Let me go inside and tell him." She needed to go, but she couldn’t take the children with her; there was still an elderly person at home to consider.
"Alright, we’ll wait for you here."
Bai Jiu didn’t delay. She took the two children by the hand and went inside. As soon as they entered, she said to Father Bai, "Dad, there’s a resolution to what happened yesterday. No one will dare bully our family anymore. Stay home and watch over Xiuxiu and Zhengyang. No matter who knocks on the door, don’t open it. I’ll be back soon."
After giving her instructions, Bai Jiu spoke a few words to the children, telling them to take good care of their grandfather and that she would return shortly.
When she came back out, she had stuffed her pockets full of the children’s milk candies. She sneakily pressed a few pieces of candy into each of the female comrades’ hands.
The two women looked down and immediately panicked. They couldn’t possibly accept something so precious.
"There’s no need for this, Ms. Bai."
"Don’t try to push them back. I saw that you liked them, so I’m giving them to you. If you don’t accept them, it means you look down on me and think I’m a bad person, just like those other people." Bai Jiu spoke seriously as she pressed their hands down to keep the candy.
Who would dare argue with that? Besides, they didn’t mean that at all; they actually quite liked this independent and resilient woman.
"Then thank you, Sister Bai." The two women exchanged a glance and stopped trying to return the candy. They would just report it when they returned. Organizational discipline couldn’t be broken.
When Wang Pozi saw Bai Jiu approaching, she struggled to lunge at her. "You bitch, what nonsense are you spouting?! When did our family ever sabotage unity?!"
Wang Pozi wasn’t completely ignorant. If this charge was finalized, how could their family survive in the future? Therefore, she absolutely could not confess to this crime. She didn’t dare to act out in front of the public security officers, but naturally, she wasn’t afraid of the Bai family. She opened her mouth to curse and hurl slander.
"Then tell me, what exactly did our family do?! If you can’t list it out clearly, I’m not done with you!"
Seeing the crowd of onlookers growing, the public security comrades knew they couldn’t let her continue causing a scene, otherwise who knew how many people would get dragged into it. The leadership had explicitly ordered them not to blow the matter out of proportion. Arresting these people was merely to give the Bai family an explanation—or more accurately, to give Bai Jiu, the widow, a proper resolution, because her identity was simply too special.
Wang Pozi still wanted to speak, but she was forcefully held down, not given a single chance to utter another word.
"Enough, take them away." The squad leader’s head was throbbing with a massive headache.
Wang Pozi still wanted to yell at the public security comrades, but there was at least one person in the Wang family who understood the situation. For instance, the old man of the Wang family.
He worked as a gatekeeper for the town government and knew a lot more than his wife. "Enough, shut up! Haven’t you humiliated us enough?"
This matter wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either. It all depended on what the Bai family decided to do. If they refused to let it go, then no one in his family would have an easy time. However, he wasn’t someone to be easily bullied either. If the Bai family really insisted on pursuing it, he wouldn’t mind dragging a few other people down with them.
Wang Pozi opened her mouth to cry and argue back, but when she saw her husband’s fierce glare, she snapped her mouth shut.
Bai Jiu smiled.
So there was someone sensible in their family after all. She just wondered if he had been ignorant in the past, or if he had simply let things happen. Considering how much they had taken advantage of the situation, it was unlikely he didn’t know. He had deliberately allowed it. In that case, she didn’t mind teaching him how to act like a decent human being.
By the time they arrived at the Public Security Bureau, sounds of crying and arguing could be heard from inside.
Bai Jiu knew it had to be the Li family. The female public security comrade had also told her about the Li family’s situation on the way over.
As soon as Bai Jiu walked in, she was met with death glares from the Li family. If looks could kill, she would have died countless times over by now. She paid them absolutely no mind, fully intending to follow the female comrades inside.
But unexpectedly, trouble struck in the blink of an eye.
"I’ll beat you to death, you bitch! I’ll teach you to spout nonsense!" An old woman from the Li family lunged forward.
No one expected her to dare get physical right inside the Public Security Bureau.
Bai Jiu had been on guard all along, so there was no way she would let herself get hurt. As the woman rushed at her, Bai Jiu simply tilted her body slightly to the side. To outsiders, it just looked like she had been startled and taken a step back. Only she knew the truth of what really happened.
Bai Jiu let herself be knocked straight back by the old woman’s charge. Right behind her was a propaganda display rack set up by the Public Security Bureau.
CRASH! BANG!
The clattering sound rang out for more than ten seconds before finally stopping. It was obvious just how much force the old woman had used.