After finding the “item” they were looking for, Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief.
However, instead of staying at the Yan residence to continue assisting Xiao Zhanwu and the others with the investigation, he took Zhang Ziqiang straight back to Liu Juanjuan’s home.
As soon as they walked in, they noticed two teenagers—a boy and a girl—had appeared in the room.
The boy was older, around fifteen or sixteen, tall but somewhat thin—perhaps because he was still growing, or perhaps due to malnutrition.
The girl was only eleven or twelve, quite pretty, and bore a strong resemblance to Liu Juanjuan.
Seeing Li Yi push open the door and walk in, Liu Juanjuan immediately said to the two children, “Sanchun, Sini’er, this is your sister Xue’er’s husband. Call him ‘brother-in-law’!”
The two children obediently greeted Li Yi and called him “brother-in-law” in unison.
Li Yi responded immediately!
No sooner had she spoken than Li Xiaoyan, standing nearby, looked at Li Yi and asked, “I just saw a lot of people from the village running toward Yan Minsheng’s house. They said Yan Minsheng had been arrested. Is that true?”
“It’s true,” Li Yi replied.
“Did you have the police arrest him?”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Yes. When we went out earlier, we noticed some items were missing from the car, and that woman from the Yan family was the only suspect, so I called the police to come over and investigate the situation…”
Before Li Yi could finish, Liu Juanjuan asked, “Did you find the items?”
Li Yi shook his head and said, “We don’t have time to look for them!”
“What do you mean?”
Li Yi immediately gave a brief account of what had just happened at the Yan residence!
When they learned that they had actually discovered a body in the Yan family’s cellar, everyone in the room was stunned.
It took a while before Li Xiaoyan snapped out of it and said, “You… you mean that runt Yan Minsheng and that scheming bitch Zhou Shuxia actually killed someone?”
“Yeah, and not just one person!” Li Yi said.
“Good heavens! How… how dare they…”
It wasn’t just Li Xiaoyan who looked utterly shocked; Liu Juanjuan and the others were just as stunned.
Although the Yan couple had a bit of a bad reputation, they certainly didn’t look like the type who’d dare to kill anyone!
Besides, given their physical build, they probably couldn’t even beat a random adult. How on earth did they manage to kill someone?
At the same time, Liu Juanjuan and the others felt a chill run down their spines. They never imagined they’d be living in the same village as murderers.
And their relationship with them wasn’t exactly friendly. What if one day the couple harbored ill intentions toward them?
With that thought, Liu Juanjuan immediately asked, “Son-in-law, what about Yan Minsheng and his wife now…”
“They’ve already been taken into police custody. And based on the current situation, it’s highly likely they’ll be facing serious consequences. Aunt Juan, you all shouldn’t worry too much!” Li Yi said.
“Well… that’s good…”
Then, still somewhat in disbelief, she added, “What on earth were those two thinking? Why on earth would they kill someone out of the blue?”
“That’s anyone’s guess—we’ll have to wait for the police investigation!”
Li Yi then glanced at his watch and saw it was nearly six o’clock. He immediately turned to his mother-in-law, Ye Lingyun, and said, “Mom, it’s getting late. Shouldn’t we head back? The mountain roads are treacherous after dark!”
“Alright!”
Ye Lingyun then turned to Liu Juanjuan and said, “Juanjuan, we’ll head back for now. I’ll come by again before I leave. Next time, I’ll bring Sister Chunfang along, and we’ll have a nice chat!”
Liu Juanjuan had wanted to invite her close friend to stay the night, but considering her own circumstances, she simply couldn’t accommodate so many people.
She immediately wiped away her tears and said, “Wanwan, I’d love to stay up all night talking with you, but there’s simply no room in the house. Sigh…”
“Don’t cry. I understand. Besides, I’ll be back in a few days!” said Ye Lingyun.
“Okay, then you have to come!”
“I definitely will!”
Then, with Liu Juanjuan and the others seeing them off, Li Yi, Ye Lingyun, Jiang Xue, and the others left Wangli Village!
By the time they returned to the county seat, it was already past seven in the evening. To thank Factory Director Yang and the others for keeping them company all afternoon, Li Yi specially treated everyone to a meal at the state-run restaurant in town.
It wasn’t until past eight o’clock that Li Yi and the others returned to the guesthouse.
As for Xiao Zhanwu and the others, they were still hard at work in Wangli Village!
………
It was late at night, and all was quiet!
On the makeshift bed in the guesthouse, Jiang Xue tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep no matter what.
Just as she rolled over for the umpteenth time, Li Yi, lying beside her, finally couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“What’s wrong? Is something on your mind?”
Jiang Xue paused for a moment, then said, “I just can’t quite accept it!”
“You mean the thing with Tang Bing and Tan Cheng?”
Li Yi could see right through his young wife’s thoughts. Don’t let her usually gentle and delicate demeanor fool you—deep down, she’s fiercely independent and has a mind of her own, even possessing a fiery spirit rarely found in ordinary women.
In this regard, she had taken after her father-in-law, Jiang Shiying, completely.
Although she had told her mother she didn’t want to dwell on the matter involving Tang Bing and Tan Cheng, she hadn’t been able to let it go.
“Hmm, given what they did, that punishment was far too lenient!”
After saying this, Jiang Xue turned around and wrapped her arms around Li Yi’s waist. “I… will you hate me for saying this? I’m not a malicious woman, it’s just…”
Li Yi gently stroked her hair and said softly, “No need to explain. I understand how you feel. Actually, I want to punish those two scumbags even more than you do!”
“But this kind of thing can’t be rushed. We can’t dirty our own hands over those two disgusting creatures. Thankfully, I’ve already found a lead in their case files!”
“Really?”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Once Captain Xiao wraps up the case in Wangli Village, we’ll have him help us investigate this lead. Barring any surprises, we should be able to send those two scumbags back to prison. It’s just that…”
“But what?”
“It’s just that the Wangli Village case is a big one. I don’t know when Captain Xiao and his team will finish it, and since you and Mom are about to start school, I’m not sure if we can wait that long…”
Before he could finish, Jiang Xue said, “That’s no problem. I don’t need to see them sent to prison with my own eyes—as long as they get the punishment they deserve!”
“You can rest assured on that front!”
Then Li Yi asked again, “By the way, does Mom have any plans for the next couple of days?”
“Mom and Aunt Fang have plans to visit her house for lunch tomorrow. In the afternoon, I plan to take Mom to see that movie you mentioned, *Shaolin Temple*. If we have time, I’ll take her to visit our school. As for the rest, we’ll just take it one step at a time!” Jiang Xue said.
Li Yi nodded and said, “Sounds good. It looks like we’ll be staying here for a while. You know your way around here, so we’ll go with whatever you arrange!”
“Okay…”
Just as they were talking, Jiang Xue suddenly felt a tightness in her chest as a pair of large hands slipped inside her clothes and wrapped around her breasts!
“You… didn’t we just… you know… yesterday? Don’t you need to rest a bit…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Xue was silenced.
Then, with flower-adorned hairpins and a golden hair ornament, they spent a warm spring night in the hibiscus-patterned canopy…
However, while Li Yi and his wife were rolling around in bed, enjoying themselves immensely, Xiao Zhanwu was facing a situation that made his hair stand on end…
………