Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 108 - 105: Police Visit, 300 Monthly Tickets for Additional Release

Chapter 108: Chapter 105: Police Visit, 300 Monthly Tickets for Additional Release

Li Xianglu’s Shanghai incident hadn’t settled down even by the twelfth lunar month.

During this time, Ge Sanmei wanted to make a fuss, but on her way, she was discovered by Liu Aidang who scolded her back home, and just like that, the matter was dropped. To Li Xianglu, who learned about this later, the gifts she had sent seemed well worth it, almost like protection money, and she felt Liu Aidang’s support was very strong.

Then, Qu Yeyu lent her red clothing to Li Sanwang from the village accounting family for his granddaughter’s wedding.

Instantly, it caused a sensation all over again; the color of the dress was so bright it dazzled the eyes, making Sanwang’s granddaughter the center of attention, and making Li Xianglu, who had purchased the red clothing in Shanghai, the talk of the town for a while.

Unexpectedly, girls who were getting married in the surrounding villages all wanted to borrow the dress, causing Qu Yeyu endless headaches. She hadn’t worn it much herself, and continuously lending it out just didn’t seem right.

The most interesting thing was that Qu Yeyu’s aunt thought of making money by renting the dress out, charging one yuan per day. If twenty people got married, that would be twenty yuan, which made Li Xianglu, hearing of it later, burst into laughter, immediately thinking of wedding dress rentals from her past life. Qu Yeyu’s aunt was truly ingenious.

By the end of the twelfth lunar month, the food and New Year’s goods were all prepared. Grandpa Li had his quota and bought everything, including melon seeds, peanuts, and candies, as he had enough money.

The team butchered four sheep and two pigs, distributing some meat to each household. Grandpa Li spent four yuan buying pig trotters back, as Li Xianglu had been clamoring several times to eat pig trotters to ’fatten up’ certain parts of her body.

On the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, as each household was cleaning and dusting off their ceilings for the New Year, an unfamiliar jeep arrived at the Li Family Village Production Team.

The vehicle stopped under the beam at the entrance of the village, and four men in military coats and white police caps got out, inquired where the team leader’s house was, and headed straight towards Erdaoliang.

Villagers might have limited exposure, but they knew about the police; when the commune had previously escorted a large group of re-education-through-labor prisoners to other camps, many police were escorting them, dressed just like this.

As the news that police had come to the Li Family Village Production Team spread instantly, everyone grew extremely anxious, not knowing who had gotten into trouble, and many people came over with their food bowls in hand.

Li Dafu was discussing with his wife about the New Year’s gifts they planned to give to her mother’s house when his eldest son rushed in frantically. Li Dafu frowned and asked, "What’s wrong, got a wolf chasing you? How many times have I told you, don’t panic when something happens, this way....."

Before Li Dafu could finish lecturing, Li Jianxin anxiously interrupted his father, "Daddy, stop talking, hurry up and get off the kang, police have come to our house!"

Hearing this, Li Dafu dropped the pipe from his hands, which landed right on his ankle bone. It hurt, but he didn’t stop to rub it, picking it up while asking as he got off the kang, "What, what did you say, the police came? Where are they? Where?"

Li Jianxin was at a loss for words. What happened to staying calm?

Li Dafu didn’t wait for his son’s response, slipped on his shoes, and dashed out, with Liu Aidang and Li Jianxin following closely behind.

As they went out, they saw four police officers with big caps standing in their courtyard, and instantly everyone was too scared to even breathe.

The middle-aged man at the front stepped forward with a smile, "Hello, I am Wang Xin, the Chief of the County Public Security Bureau. We’ve come to inquire about some matters."

Li Dafu took quite a while to regain his composure and said, "Good, good, Comrade Director, please come in, have a seat inside." Saying this, he quickly lifted the straw curtain to let the guests inside.

Once everyone had entered, he hastily addressed Liu Aidang, who was still in shock at the doorway, "Quick, go pour four bowls of water and remember to add sugar."

Liu Aidang hurried off to do so, while Li Dafu rubbed his hands together, took a deep breath, and walked in. He noticed that two of the four people had already taken seats on the heated brick bed and quickly urged, "Quick, Public Security comrades, come sit on the heated brick bed, it’s warm!"

Seeing this, the Director removed his shoes and got on first, while another, who wore glasses, climbed up and sat at the edge. The other two sat by the side of the bed.

Li Dafu felt a slight sense of relief seeing this. Being able to sit down and chat meant that the matter couldn’t be too serious. But how could it not be serious if the Director himself had come?

With these doubts swirling in his mind, Li Dafu, sitting sideways on the edge of the brick bed, smiled and said, "Comrade Director, I am the head of the Li Family Village Production Team, my name is Li Dafu. I know a bit about the affairs of each family in the team."

Wang Xin nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this. By then, Liu Aidang had brought in the sugared water with his eldest son and placed it on the table by the brick bed, saying, "It’s cold, have something warm to drink."

Nobody was bashful, and they took the bowls and started drinking.

After taking a big gulp of the sugared water, Wang Xin finally asked, "Do you have a girl named Li Xianglu in your team?"

The pipe in Li Dafu’s hand fell to the ground with a clatter, which, fortunately, did not hit his foot this time.

Liu Aidang also froze upon hearing his niece’s name. Seeing her husband’s shocked reaction, she quickly interjected, "Look at you, if there’s something to say, just say it, don’t be so jumpy."

Liu Aidang spoke cautiously. If Li Xianglu had broken the law, they couldn’t cover up or protect her just because she was their niece – that could bring trouble to the whole family.

Being married for so many years, Li Dafu understood his wife’s intent and glared at her, "Go out, there’s no matter for women to be involved in here."

After watching his wife roll her eyes and leave, he apologetically said, "Yes, Li Xianglu is the fourth daughter from my second brother’s family. She was adopted out last April. She’s a very obedient child. I don’t know what could have happened?"

Wang Xin and the others exchanged glances, and one of the younger ones sitting on the edge of the brick bed curiously asked, "Adopted out? Why?"

Li Dafu, seeing that someone had asked, pursed his lips. Family shame should not be aired in public, but these were public security officials inquiring into the situation. It wouldn’t be good not to tell the truth, so he awkwardly recounted the events, and then concluded, "After something like that happened, there was a rift between the mother and daughter. Some elders in the clan considered adopting the child out as the best solution. Coincidentally, an uncle from the third branch, childless and a retired soldier for the country, was getting old and needed someone to care for him, so Xiangxiang was adopted by him."

What Li Dafu spoke of was, indeed, the incident where Ge Sanmei and her maternal family planned to marry their daughter to an idiot and the subsequent adoption – meaning that Li Xianglu was no longer part of their branch of the family.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the young Public Security officer who had asked the question earlier chimed in, "No wonder! So there’s a whole story behind it."

Li Dafu was taken aback and asked, "What?"

ps: There’s one more update coming.

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