Xiao Xueqi conceded, "You were right that year, and you're right now. But your words always leave one with endless speculation."
"The items in the hidden room of the courtyard house were discovered missing after you moved into the courtyard house."
"Chen Yao Shi disappeared after coming to find you."
"And your fiercely threatening words to my father back then are still vivid in my memory."
"We suspect you did something to Chen Yao Shi. The back mountain is a place you frequented, isn't it?"
"Heh heh."
Tian Jing sneered, "I've said it before, you're not a police officer, and you have no right to ask me any questions."
"I don't know how you intend to frame me."
"First, Chen Guang Fu didn't call the police and directly suspected me. Then, you didn't call the police and directly slandered me."
"I will tell the police that I suspect you colluded to kill Chen Yao Shi and then framed me."
"Because your actions are too suspicious. Since you had suspicions, why didn't you call the police? This is not how a normal person would act, it's very suspicious."
"I'll give you a day to discuss this amongst yourselves."
"If the police don't show up by tomorrow morning, I will call the police myself, on grounds of defamation."
Discuss amongst yourselves?
How would Xiao Xueqi dare?
Back then, whatever they discussed, this woman would know.
"Let's not mention Chen Yao Shi. Let's just talk about our Xiao family's affairs."
"If you didn't take those things from the hidden room, where did you get the money to develop this dilapidated mountain village?"
Tian Jing looked at Xiao Xueqi in surprise, "Mr. Xiao, would you generously contribute your Xiao family's assets to help a group of disobedient farmers get rich?"
Xiao Xueqi nodded, "For the sake of my political career, it's not impossible."
Tian Jing shook her head, "Regardless of the reason, I can't do it. You know what the villagers were like before."
"Since you're prepared, you must know that my husband took out a two million interest-free loan from the bank, right?"
"What excuse is needed to condemn someone? Stop making excuses to frame me. Once the police are involved, everything will be clear."
"You should leave, or I'll use a broom to show you out."
Xiao Xueqi and Xiao Xueping stood up, "Then we'll take our leave."
Tian Jing nodded, "Farewell."
After the six people had all left the Li family's courtyard, Tian Jing chased after them and stopped the four people behind Xiao Xueqi and Xiao Xueping.
"Take out your recording devices from your bags. You've infringed upon my personal rights, and I will sue you using these devices."
Xiao Xueqi and Xiao Xueping turned around, "Are you going to search us?"
"Threatening me?"
Tian Jing curled her lips, "Then I'll show you."
With that, she raised her hands and struck three times in quick succession. Soon, several small children ran onto the village road.
Before Xiao Xueqi and Xiao Xueping could understand what these children were doing, Tian Jing waved her hands at the children.
The children immediately pounced on the six people.
Naturally, the six people protected their backpacks and dodged to the side.
For some reason, the children who pounced and the adults who dodged all fell together.
The items in the backpacks were scattered.
For those that didn't fall out, the children's kicks pried open the backpacks, and the recording devices rolled out.
Several vines appeared and coiled the various instruments and equipment that had fallen out, drawing them towards Tian Jing.
The children lay on top of the Xiao family members, crying loudly, "Daddy, Mommy, save us! Someone knocked us down and hit us."
"Who?"
"Who dared to hit you?"
A voice answered, and soon a group of villagers holding brooms appeared.
"Where are they? Where are the people who hit you?"
The children's chubby hands pointed at the Xiao family members lying beneath them.
The villagers waved their hands, and the children immediately rolled off the Xiao family members.
Various styles of brooms immediately began to sweep down upon the Xiao family.
The Xiao family members were beaten without regard for their dignity.
Tian Jing had already gathered all the recording devices.
Good heavens, recording pens, recording microphones, portable recorders, dual cassette recorders, and two laptop computers.
Such a large number of recording devices, were they afraid of missing her original voice and unable to cut out enough criminal dialogue to make her irredeemable?
Li Zhengguo brought out several basins of water and, with his wife, began to wash the equipment.
The couple worked quickly, breaking tapes, crushing recording pens.
The laptops were not only split in two but their hard drives were also removed.
The removed hard drives, with a "whoosh" sound, flew from the roof to the back of the house and burrowed into the soil like earthworms.
After everything that could be destroyed was destroyed, the couple fished the items out of the water basins.
The damaged equipment, still dripping water, was thrown back onto the ground.
The basins of water were then tipped over, drenching the clothes of the people lying on the ground.
The Xiao family members, who had been protecting their heads, finally remembered the instruments in their bags.
They forcefully swatted away the fallen brooms and saw the scattered equipment and instruments in the puddles on the road.
Xiao Xueqi felt like he could kill.
"Chen Jing, you will pay for the damaged items."
Tian Jing acted 'innocently', "You were walking on a public road, not paying attention to safety, and you knocked over the children, then broke your own things."
"Not only did you not apologize, but you also wanted to hit the children, and you want me to pay for your things. Where is your shame?"
"Trying to pull a con? Your skills are still a bit lacking, go out and learn before coming back."
"Chen Jing!"
Everything meticulously planned had gone to waste, and Xiao Xueqi became somewhat hysterical.
"You're teaching the children to do bad things, you're leading the whole village in committing crimes, I'm going to report you to the Women's Federation."
Tian Jing lowered her head and asked the children, "Is this old grandpa right?"
Old grandpa? Xiao Xueqi, who had just gotten up, almost fell down.
The children shook their heads in unison.
"No, no, this old grandpa is lying. Our village roads follow the rule of keeping to the right. They were facing east, walking on the north side of the road, which is going against traffic, and they should be fined. Have the security team fine them."
Plop!
Xiao Xueping, who had his limbs braced in the puddle and was preparing to get up, fell back into the puddle.
Pedestrians going against traffic should be fined?
The children's evasive answers made Xiao Xueqi grit his teeth.
"Pedestrians going against traffic should be fined, so should throwing water at the main entrance be fined?"
The children looked at Xiao Xueqi with pity in their eyes.
A boy, about five years old, spoke, "Old grandpa, your brain might not be working well, you should go see a doctor."
"Our village roads have a sanitation responsibility system assigned to each house. After throwing water, we are supposed to clean it up."
"If you weren't lingering in the puddles, Section Chief Tian and Village Chief Li would have already come out with brooms to sweep the village road."
"Ignorant people are truly terrifying."
As the boy said his last sentence, he complemented it with a head shake and a sigh.
"No, no," a boy, about four years old, chimed in, "You're wrong, it should be 'ignorant people are fearless'."
The five-year-old boy retorted, "You're talking nonsense, it's ignorant people who are terrifying."
The four-year-old boy continued to object, "No, no, it's ignorant people who are fearless, Grandpa Xiao taught us so."
"You're talking nonsense."
"You're wrong."
"You're talking nonsense."
"You're wrong."
The two children started arguing and, pulling at each other, walked eastward.
"Let's go ask Grandpa Xiao, who is right."
"Let's go, who's afraid of who?"
All the children followed them eastward.
The villagers, carrying their brooms, also left.
Li Zhengguo came out with a broom, "Make way, make way, sweeping the floor, sweeping the floor!"
The few people in the puddles looked at each other.
Should they get up or not?
If they got up, the matter would be forgotten.
If they didn't get up, then, as the children said, they would truly be lingering in the puddles.