"Be good and I'll take what's in your mouth. Otherwise..."
Chen Lishu didn't finish her sentence, but Zhang Laiwang was already terrified. With a pale face, he nodded desperately at Chen Lishu.
Chen Lishu raised her hand and took the rag out of his mouth. "Did you sell the fetal-turning medicine?"
Upon hearing her mention the fetal-turning medicine, Zhang Laiwang immediately guessed that she was here about the Chen family's matter.
He had also heard about Wu Chunmei's hospitalization. To avoid accountability, he hadn't visited the Liu family since the incident, but he hadn't expected to escape it after all.
"I'm asking you!" Seeing his eyes darting around, Chen Lishu knew he was thinking of an excuse. Without hesitation, she slapped Zhang Laiwang across the face.
"Do you know what this is? I have photos of you and Widow Liu together. If you don't want me to print them and post them in your brigade, you'd better tell me everything honestly."
If people found out he was involved in illicit relationships, he might not only be criticized but also find it impossible to stay in the village. Thinking of this, Zhang Laiwang didn't dare to hesitate and confessed everything.
As he was speaking, Widow Liu next to him woke up. Hearing him push all the blame onto her, she immediately exploded.
"Didn't you say just give them some medicine for bruises or something, it won't kill anyone? You old bastard, and now you're blaming it all on me."
"Wasn't it you, you slut, who first suggested that the Chen couple was easy to fool? After getting the money, you still weren't satisfied and insisted on tricking them into believing there was a fetal-turning medicine, and then blackmailed them for two hundred."
"Go to hell! If it weren't for you, you son of a bitch, giving me fake medicine, they wouldn't have..."
"Enough!" Chen Lishu, hearing the two of them start arguing, sternly rebuked them.
"If you two don't want your affair to be publicized, I'm giving you a chance now. Write down everything you plotted to harm my mother from the beginning, sign it, and return all the money you scammed. Otherwise, you can wait to be paraded through the village and criticized tomorrow."
"Pah!" Widow Liu suddenly spat at Chen Lishu disdainfully. "You want money? Dream on. Don't think a couple of photos can scare me. Let them parade us, I'm not afraid."
She disagreed, and Zhang Laiwang also hesitated. He wasn't stupid; if their deception of the Chen family became public knowledge, it would be a crime. This matter could be serious or minor, and he couldn't easily admit it in writing.
"Fine, neither of you will write it down?" Chen Lishu looked at them, then lowered her head and took out a drip bottle from her satchel. It contained a pale yellow liquid.
"Do you know what this is? Dichlorvos." Chen Lishu said, removing the rubber stopper and waving it under both their noses. A pungent smell immediately filled their nostrils.
"You, what do you want to do? Chen, you slut, how dare you!" Widow Liu was terribly frightened, her body desperately trying to recoil, but her hands and feet were bound, so she couldn't retreat far.
"How can I not dare? You two were capable of such wicked deeds, so giving you a little dichlorvos would be letting you off easy."
Chen Lishu sneered and placed the bottle on the table. "Have you thought about it? Write it or not. If you don't write it, I'll pour the whole bottle down your throats. By morning, when someone finds you, they'll surely think you two died for love, ending everything."
"I'm illiterate, how can I write?" Widow Liu still tried to argue. Zhang Laiwang beside her, trembling, spoke, "I can read and write. I'll write it, as long as you don't make me drink dichlorvos. I'll write anything."
Seeing that he agreed, Chen Lishu glanced at Gu Xingye, signaling him to untie Zhang Laiwang's hands. Then, she took out the pre-prepared paper and pen from her satchel and handed them to Zhang Laiwang.
Soon, Zhang Laiwang wrote down the entire story clearly. Chen Lishu checked it to ensure nothing needed to be added, then took out the prepared ink pad and had them sign and make fingerprints.
"Can you let us go now?" Widow Liu, reluctantly pressing her fingerprint, glared at Chen Lishu and asked unhappily.
Chen Lishu didn't want to waste any more words and directly asked, "Where's the money?"
Widow Liu stubbornly remained silent.
"Fine, let's see how long you can keep your mouth shut." Chen Lishu stood up, picked up the dichlorvos bottle again, grabbed Widow Liu's jaw, and as she forced her mouth open with her fingers, she raised the bottle of dichlorvos.
"I'll say it, I'll say it." Widow Liu was completely terrified. She shook her head desperately, trying to break free, while quickly saying, "It's in the straw mattress, wrapped in newspaper."
Hearing Widow Liu's words, Gu Xingye immediately went to lift the lid of the straw mattress and soon found the bundle wrapped in newspaper containing the money. Gu Xingye opened it and checked; it was indeed the hundred and sixty yuan left after Widow Liu and Zhang Laiwang had divided it.
Seeing that the money had been recovered, Chen Lishu then turned her gaze to Zhang Laiwang. The latter trembled and pointed to the scattered pants on the kang. Gu Xingye went over and quickly found the other sixty yuan inside.
"Fourth brother, let's go." With the necessary matters mostly handled, Chen Lishu packed her things, put Zhang Laiwang's confession and the money into her satchel, and called Gu Xingye to leave.
...
"Tsk tsk, it's really shameless. If people have no shame, they can do anything. They should be paraded through the streets."
"Parading is too good for them. Back in the day, they would have been put in a pig cage. Truly shameless."
"..."
Early one morning, as the commune members gathered at the brigade headquarters waiting for the brigade leader to assign work, someone with sharp eyes noticed two photos posted on the propaganda wall. In them, two people were embracing nakedly. The woman was none other than the village's promiscuous Widow Liu.
As soon as this news spread, it was like a drop of water falling into a pot of oil, and the villagers immediately erupted in discussion.
Widow Liu thought the matter was over, but she never expected Chen Lishu, that wretched woman, to post the photos at the brigade headquarters. Her face immediately turned as red as a pig's liver. Filled with anger and anxiety, she got up to find Chen Lishu to argue.
Before she could leave, two uniformed police officers entered the brigade headquarters. "Who is called Wang Juhua here?"
Brigade Leader Sun Yuzhu's heart skipped a beat when he saw the police officers. He quickly stepped forward. "Comrades police, I am the brigade leader of this village."
"Hello, we are looking for a Ms. Wang Juhua. Please ask her to come out and cooperate with our investigation."
Sun Yuzhu thought for a moment. The name Wang Juhua sounded familiar, but he couldn't recall who it was. He turned back to the crowd and asked, "Who is called Wang Juhua?"
Everyone looked at each other blankly.
When Widow Liu saw the police officers enter, she knew something was wrong. Upon hearing them ask for Wang Juhua, her legs went weak, and she almost collapsed.