Chen Dazhui nodded imperceptibly. Xu Laidi let out a breath and sneered in his heart, "Chen Dazhui, as long as you help me this time, I will make you live happily every day in the future."
After Chai Jianmin was sent to the county hospital, he survived after careful examination and treatment, but his right leg was shattered. He will still be able to walk, but he will definitely be lame.
Xu Laidie was also personally taken to the police station by the village chief. The village chief took out a thick hemp rope and tied her hands tightly. Xu Laidie was in so much pain that she kept begging him to loosen her rope so that she would not run away.
The village chief ignored him completely. The advanced title of their Xiangyang Village was completely gone from him. If Xu Laidi was found guilty of intentional homicide, then their Xiangyang Village would not be an advanced collective in the next few years.
Chen Dazhu also followed closely behind the village chief. As the closest eyewitness, he was obliged to give a statement. Along the way, Chen Dazhu repeatedly thought about the testimony he had already prepared, checking for omissions and filling in the gaps.
The comrades from the Public Security Bureau were very responsible, and adhering to the principle of not wrongly accusing a good person and not letting a bad person go, they went to the scene where the crime occurred to check.
But when they arrived at the scene, everyone was a little worried. The crime scene had already been trampled into a mess by the villagers, and there was no telling how many footprints there were, messing up the entire scene.
The people at the Public Security Bureau were also helpless. The villagers' habit of watching the excitement had not changed for hundreds of years, and it was impossible to expect them to suppress their curiosity.
“Is this where the stone is?”
"Yes, I didn't see the stone at first, I just saw the protruding soil on top, and I wanted to dig it to make it smoother, but after digging a few times with the shovel, I hit the stone, and before I could react, the stone rolled down."
Xu Laidi answered honestly. She really wanted to say that the stone had been tampered with, but now was the critical moment to clear herself, and she didn't want to create any more trouble.
The comrades from the Public Security Bureau looked around and saw many people looking at each other in bewilderment. In their minds, it was normal for the stones to loosen and fall down, as they didn't see that the soil was already very soft.
Chen Dazhu also tried his best to express that he saw Xu Laidi shoveling the soil with his own eyes, and he did not notice that there was a stone under the soil.
Finally, Xu Laidi was cleared of suspicion. Although the comrades in the Public Security Bureau still had doubts in their hearts, they had no conclusive evidence to prove that Xu Laidi committed intentional homicide.
On the one hand, Chen Weidang trusted Chen Dazhu very much. After all, this man was the most honest and dull person in his village and would never lie. On the other hand, he also spoke well of Chen Dazhu for the honor of his village.
"Village chief, thank you and Chen Dazhu for your help in restoring my innocence. I will learn from Cheng Qiaocheng, the educated youth, and repay you for saving my life with my own body. When the waterway construction is completed, I will go back and marry Chen Dazhu."
The village chief frowned and looked at Chen Dazhui. In his heart, he didn't want Chen Dazhui to marry such a woman, who had a bad reputation, was not good-looking, was sneaky and cunning, and had almost no advantages.
But Chen Dazhu seemed to be possessed by a demon. Xu Laidi was all he could think about. He even saved his own food rations for this woman. He was really stupid.
"Whatever you want."
The village chief has a lot of things to do. Seeing that Xu Laidi's matter is over, his mood has improved slightly. If he can't be rated as advanced this year, he will try harder next year.
After more than twenty days of hard work, the river work was successfully completed and everyone packed up to return home. However, on the way back, there was no laughter or joy, as everyone was still thinking about the big rock with lingering fears.
Especially the few people from other villages who were standing not far from Chai Jianmin were in a daze. It was so dangerous. They would have lost their lives by just a little bit.
The village chief walked home without looking back. He didn't want to talk to Chen Dazhu anymore. He knew that it was useless to force the cow to drink water. Anyway, he had already persuaded them. They would live their own lives in the future. Whether they were good or not had nothing to do with him.
That night, wisps of smoke floated out of the chimneys of every household, and the whole village was filled with the smell of pork. The man who had made a lot of money had returned, so of course he had to prepare some good wine and food to reward him.
Chen Dazhui's home, however, was lifeless. Ever since Chen Dazhui proposed to divide the family, the family's food rations were obviously not enough. When the food rations were distributed this year, Chen Dazhui alone took away one-third of the Chen family's land and food rations.
Of course Chen Shuigen refused and asked Chen Dazhu to give him pension money. But Chen Dazhu pointed to the grove in the distance and said that he didn't get a penny from the family when the family property was divided, so why should he give pension money
Another one third belonged to Chen Dazhu's eldest brother Chen Tiezhu and his wife. When Chen Tiezhu saw that the situation was not good, he also proposed to split the family and specified that he wanted to take his share away.
Chen Shuigen was very angry. If Tiezhu also divided the family property, the remaining one-third of the food rations would only be enough to feed several people, not to mention two boys and three girls. It would be enough for just him and his wife.
So no matter what Chen Tiezhu said, Chen Shuigen just refused to nod. However, Chen Shuigen underestimated Chen Tiezhu's perseverance. He would not work until the family was separated. He just ate and slept every day and did not even go to collect firewood.
Not only did Chen Tiezhu lie down himself, he also forbade his wife and children to work. They were allowed to go out and chat, talking about how his step-mother-in-law abused him and his brothers and sisters after his biological mother-in-law passed away, and how his biological father had become a scumbag.
Chen Shuigen was so angry that he slapped Chen Tiezhu in the face, but Chen Tiezhu turned around and kicked his favorite youngest son Chen Xiaoming hard in the waist.
That kick was definitely meant to kill him. When Chen Xiaoming saw that he was in so much pain that he couldn't even cry, Chen Shuigen knew that he had lost the supreme say in this family.
"Dad, Dazhu and I have grown up. If you dare to do that again, I will make you regret it."
Seeing her own son being kicked, the stepmother, who was about to get angry, saw the coldness in Chen Tiezhu's eyes, and wisely turned around and left without even looking at her little son who was lying on the ground and unable to get up.
Chen Shuigen nodded in agreement reluctantly. Chen Tiezhu took his rations and money without saying a word, then closed the door and started to eat and drink by himself.
During these twenty days, Chen Tiezhu took his son to the mountains. They not only collected a lot of mountain products, but also caught two wild rabbits. They ate delicious food and drank spicy drinks every day. Their life was so good.
Poor his two younger sisters, Big Girl and Little Girl. Big Girl is 18 years old and Little Girl is 16 years old, both of which are old enough to get married.
But the villagers disliked the high bride price asked for by Chen's stepmother. Even if they liked someone, they didn't dare to ask for it for fear of being blackmailed. This made the two girls embarrassed.