Bai Jiu smashed the shelves to the ground. Although she had braced herself and emerged unscathed, the sight of the crash was absolutely terrifying.
The surrounding comrades from the Public Security Bureau immediately rushed forward to help her.
"I... I didn’t mean to." Granny Li hadn’t expected her own hands to have so much strength. Shaking her head, she stared at them and muttered a subconscious defense.
But who would believe her? No one did.
"Where do you think you are, daring to act so brazenly? It seems the Li Family truly is guilty of bullying and vandalism." Hearing the commotion, the director walked out of the room.
Seeing the Li family gave him a massive headache. He had wanted to keep things quiet, but these people were just too much trouble. The higher-ups were currently conducting purges, so it wasn’t a good idea for him to handle this matter too severely. He had planned to suppress it and have them resolve it internally. However, before the mediation could even begin, a riot had broken out right here.
Bai Jiu scrambled up from the floor. Without another word, she charged at Granny Li and started throwing punches, raining blow after blow onto the old woman.
"WAHH! You’re bullying people! Everyone bullies this widow! I can’t live like this anymore! Why did you have to die so early? Why didn’t you take all three of us—mother and children—with you?
"Why did you have to go and protect others? Look what’s happened now! They’ve turned around and started bullying your wife and children! You’re free from all your worldly cares, but you left us behind to be tormented by the very people you protected! WAHH! How could you be so cruel?"
As she struck Granny Li, Bai Jiu continued to cry and curse. She didn’t curse anyone else—she only cursed her own dead husband. No one could find any fault with that.
The director was now dealing with a truly pounding headache. He hurriedly ordered his officers to pull Bai Jiu away. If she kept hitting the old woman, she might actually beat her to death.
Granny Li was definitely in a bad state. She hadn’t expected a young woman to possess such immense strength. She had long heard that the Bai Family married their daughter off to the countryside; little did she know that instead of wearing away her looks, the rural life had gifted her brute strength.
Several people tried to pull Bai Jiu away but failed. It wasn’t until two male comrades stepped in that they finally managed to restrain her.
"Sister-in-law Gao, please don’t be angry. The director is right here, and he will definitely seek justice for you," comforted the two female comrades who had received creamy candies from her earlier. One rubbed her back while the other held her hand, terrified she might charge forward and start throwing punches again.
Granny Li had taken a solid beating. She wanted to throw a tantrum, but the officers were already standing guard over her. Seeing their fierce glares, she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
"Alright, that’s enough!" The director felt entirely overwhelmed. The Li Family was causing even more of a ruckus than the Wang family, so he decided to haul the Li family in for interrogation first.
Before long, cries of injustice from the Li family rang out from inside the room. But the public security officers were not easily fooled. Initially, the director only wanted to give Bai Jiu and the Bai Family a graceful way out, not wanting to blow the matter out of proportion. Yet the Li family had to go and attack the victim the moment they arrived, showing absolutely no respect for the authorities.
"Stop yelling! You haven’t spared the Bai Family from your bullying all these years. Confess and receive leniency! If you keep screaming, you’ll be punished for multiple charges combined!"
Originally, the Li Family had planned to use Father Bai’s illness as leverage to extort a job for their youngest son. Now, it seemed that plan was ruined. If things went south, their entire family might be implicated. Naturally, Old Man Li felt deeply conflicted.
He never imagined the Bai Family would actually see the day they could turn their luck around. He knew some of the inside story: the official who used to pull strings for the Bai Family had been transferred away. Otherwise, he never would have dared to do such a thing.
Ultimately, the Li Family confessed to the charge of bullying the Bai Family. It wasn’t the most severe crime, nor was it the lightest—it all depended on how the Bai Family wanted to pursue it.
The Wang family was even more cowardly, failing to measure up even to the Li Family. Whether it was Granny Li or Liu Zhaodi, they confessed at the first opportunity. They might have wanted to scream injustice, but considering where they were, they didn’t dare utter a single lie.
The director informed Bai Jiu of the results. Now, it was entirely up to her discretion.
Bai Jiu naturally wasn’t going to let these people off easily. If she did, others would dare to try the same thing in the future.
"I will not forgive the instigators. I can forgive the rest, but they must compensate my family for our losses." She wanted to send the culprits to jail, and she wanted money, too.
The director looked at her, realizing he had underestimated her.
"Acceptable." Since the victim was making demands, he had to take a step back. Though it didn’t completely match his ideal outcome, it was still manageable overall.
"The instigator for the Li Family is Li Gen Sheng, who currently works as a gatekeeper for the government. For the Wang family, it is Mrs. Wang, Lin Xiangcao. We will issue a town-wide notice of criticism against them," the director stated, detailing the punishments.
Giving them a public notice of criticism was already a light sentence. If Bai Jiu had refused to let it go, it was entirely possible they would be treated as enemy agents.
Bai Jiu remained silent, merely listening and watching.
"Of course, your family has suffered grievances for so many years and deserves compensation. The Li Family and the Wang family will each pay your family one hundred yuan." One hundred yuan wasn’t a small sum, but it wasn’t a fortune either—just a bit more than half a year’s wages.
"Out of respect for you, Director, I agree to this punishment. But let me say this upfront—if they dare to offend again, I won’t be polite anymore," Bai Jiu choked out through her sobs.
Seeing her relent, the director also relaxed. "Rest assured, we will report both families to the neighborhood committee so they can be monitored. If they offend again, speak directly to the committee, and they will handle the disciplinary actions."
"Alright. Thank you for your trouble, Director."
Bai Jiu’s act of borrowing the authorities’ power to assert herself had concluded perfectly. Now, all that was left was to wait for the Public Security Bureau and the neighborhood committee to issue their public criticisms of the two families.
It wasn’t that Bai Jiu was soft-hearted, but rather that the higher-ups’ stance was currently unclear. No one knew what the consequences would be if the matter was blown out of proportion. Furthermore, the public security director had his own considerations; if the punishment was too severe, the town might descend into chaos again. Thus, he had to handle it with a light touch.
Naturally, people were selfish. As the political winds began to shift, he didn’t dare make too many enemies for himself. With Bai Jiu convinced, he went off to make the arrangements. The members of the Li Family and Wang family were either detained or released accordingly. He also had to visit the respective work units of the Bai Family to clear their names.
Both families were indignant upon hearing the verdict, but they understood that making a further fuss would only implicate more people. Li Gen Sheng was willing to take the fall, provided he didn’t outright lose his job—it was to be transferred to his youngest son. The director agreed to this condition; after all, he couldn’t push people to a dead end.
The Wang family received a similar punishment. However, Mrs. Wang, Lin Xiangcao, was unwilling to shoulder the blame and wanted her daughter-in-law to take the fall alone. It was true that Liu Zhaodi usually feared this mother-in-law of hers, but when it came to matters concerning her own life, she faced off against her without a shred of hesitation.
In the end, it was Old Man Wang who stepped forward, ordering his elderly wife to accept the blame. Only then did Old Mrs. Wang shut her mouth. However, Liu Zhaodi’s life wouldn’t be easy moving forward, as this whole ordeal had started because of her. If she hadn’t been so petty and shallow-sighted as to covet other people’s belongings, none of this would have happened.
Bai Jiu couldn’t care less about their family drama. Once she received the compensation money from both families, she took it and left.
However, she was tactful and knew how to conduct herself. Although she had already verbally thanked the comrades who helped her, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought the most fashionable pastries and candies available, gifting them to all the public security officers to express her gratitude. As for the good comrades who had helped her the day before, she managed to find out their work units from the public security officers. Even though there were quite a few people, she was more than willing to part with a little bit of money for this gesture.