The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Face-Plant, Blind the Eyes

Hearing the miserable screams from outside, Han Xiaorui hurried into the courtyard to listen closely.

The voice was familiar.

Brother Wolf!

The man who was having an affair with Yu Lanlan, Song the Second’s wife!

Han Xiaorui ran back inside and quickly called the police. ”Hello, this is Han Xiaorui. I live in Jinshan Bay. In the orchard next to my courtyard, two men are screaming for help.”

”They sound like they’re in real trouble, but I’m a woman here with two children. I don’t know if it’s real or a trap, so I’m afraid to open the door. Please come take a look quickly.”

The operator on the other end of the line, upon learning the caller was Han Xiaorui, immediately reported it to Director Ye.

Ye Feng had just returned from a mission when he received the report that there was trouble at Han Xiaorui’s place.

He thought about the strange things that had been happening at the bureau recently. He suspected there were saboteurs at work.

But they hadn’t caught anyone yet.

Since Han Xiaorui had provided the bureau with salvage information twice, she was now under their protection to prevent retaliation from any infiltrating forces.

As the police officers were rushing over, the agonized cries for help from Brother Wolf and his lackey woke not only Han Xiaorui but also people who lived farther away.

But in the dead of night, the sounds were too terrifying. Even those who woke up didn’t dare to go outside.

Eventually, the men from a few households called out to each other and went out together, armed with flashlights.

But the cries for help were growing fainter. It took them some effort to find the two men lying on a small path in the Peach Garden.

The two men’s faces were pale and contorted, and the areas around their wounds were red and swollen.

”They’ve been bitten by venomous snakes! Quick, get a flatbed cart and take them to the hospital,” one of the villagers said. Any more delay, and they’d probably be dead.

”What are these two doing here so late at night? This is the edge of the village!” another villager asked, looking puzzled. He saw that both men were covered in tattoos; they didn’t look like good people at first glance.

One villager sniffed the air. ”I smell pesticide. Do you guys smell it?”

”I do. Who would be spraying pesticide in the middle of the night? What are these two really up to?” The villagers began to murmur among themselves, their enthusiasm for helping the two men waning.

Just then, two jeeps pulled up at the gate.

Han Xiaorui heard the vehicles, instructed her younger sister to watch the children, and locked the door.

”Officers, they’re over there. But it’s quiet now. I don’t know if they left or what happened.”

Seeing the frightened look on Han Xiaorui’s face, Ye Feng couldn’t help but reassure her. ”Comrade Xiao Han, don’t worry. We will do our best to eliminate any danger around you.”

Han Xiaorui froze. ’His attitude seems a little off!’

’Have I become a protected person by the police?’

’If that’s the case, then I won’t hold back!’

’I’ll have to search for more listening devices and turn them over to the state!’

”Thank you!” Han Xiaorui said with a grateful expression. ”Now that you’re here, I feel much braver. Let’s go over there quickly.”

’I don’t really care if those two get poisoned to death!’

What Han Xiaorui was worried about was her Peach Garden, her peaches!

Her former father-in-law, Yang Zhigang, had paid a high price for these authentic honey peach saplings, and they had been meticulously cared for for three years.

This was the fourth year, and the trees were bearing more fruit. Plus, thanks to the improvements from her Water Ability, they tasted even better.

There were so many peaches that she couldn’t eat them all; she had to sell them.

If someone died here, it would be bad luck. No matter how good the peaches were, they wouldn’t sell for a high price.

Ye Feng followed Han Xiaorui, heading toward the voices, and arrived at the small path on the other side of the Peach Garden. ”Don’t move! Police business.”

A few villagers were in the middle of carrying Brother Wolf. Hearing the police, they jumped in fright and immediately let go.

THUD! Brother Wolf was dropped onto the ground.

Face first!

Right onto several sharp little rocks!

His already somewhat vicious face now had several bleeding holes in it, and one of the sharpest rocks had pierced Cao Lang’s eye.

The villagers didn’t dare to be careless. They immediately raised their hands to show they weren’t armed.

”Officers, we haven’t done anything wrong. We heard screaming outside, found these two men had been bitten by venomous snakes, and were just about to take them to the hospital.”

”Comrade Xiao Han, come take a look. Are these villagers from your Jinshan Bay?” Ye Feng didn’t know the people of Jinshan Bay, but Han Xiaorui probably did.

Han Xiaorui stepped forward to get a better look. ”Comrade Ye Feng, these are all my neighbors to the west. They don’t live too far from here, so they probably heard the screams too.”

”Yes, yes, Xiao Han is right. We heard the screams and came out together to check,” a villager replied. ’We shouldn’t have come out,’ he thought.

Now look what happened. They tried to save some shady characters of unknown origin and ended up attracting the police.

Even if they hadn’t committed a crime, they’d still have to go give a statement.

Ye Feng sniffed the air. ”What’s that smell? It seems like a pungent chemical odor.”

Han Xiaorui, holding a flashlight, ducked into the peach forest and discovered two pesticide sprayers.

”These scoundrels, were they trying to poison my peach trees? I have no grudge against them. Someone must have put them up to this!”

Ye Feng understood. ”Load these two unconscious men into the vehicle, and bring the evidence as well. As for you gentlemen, please come to the county police station tomorrow morning to give a statement.”

”Alright, Officer. We’ll definitely cooperate with the investigation. We can’t let these destructive bastards get away,” the men declared one after another. Someone’s perfectly fine Peach Garden, with flowers blooming and about to fruit, and they come to ruin it.

”Comrade Xiao Han, you should go home too. Please come to the station tomorrow as well,” Ye Feng instructed.

Han Xiaorui glanced at the overcast sky. She wouldn’t be able to go out to sea tomorrow. ”Alright. I’ll go over with the other men from the village tomorrow morning.”

After Ye Feng had taken the men away, her next-door neighbor, Uncle Liu, asked Han Xiaorui, ”Xiao Han, did you know those men? Did you offend someone for them to come and vandalize your Peach Garden?”

Han Xiaorui forced a wry smile. ”Uncle Liu, I don’t know those two at all! As for offending people, the only ones I can think of in the village are my former mother-in-law, and...”

”Oh, right, there’s also Song the Second. I wouldn’t sell him the Big Yellow Fish, so he and his wife instigated my former mother-in-law to come and argue with me.”

Uncle Liu scratched his head. Song the Second was the type to act recklessly. ”Well, it’s a good thing those two were caught on the spot. The police will definitely interrogate them, and we’ll find out the truth then.”

”You’re right, Uncle Liu,” Han Xiaorui agreed. ”Then let’s all take the bus over together tomorrow after breakfast.”

”Sounds good!” Uncle Liu and the others agreed before heading back to their own homes.

The two children were sleeping soundly and hadn’t been woken by all the noise outside.

Han Xiaoqing asked in a low voice, ”Sis, what happened?”

Han Xiaorui recounted the events from outside. ”...Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

Han Xiaoqing sighed, her eyes filled with sympathy as she looked at her sister. ”Sis, you’ve suffered so much just to settle down here.”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui pursed her lips into a smile and reached out to pinch her sister’s cheek. ”This is nothing. Real suffering is having nothing to eat or drink. I wouldn’t want to live a single day like we did back home.”

Thinking about their life back home, Han Xiaoqing’s expression turned bitter. ”You’re right, it was much harder back home, and the worst part was that you couldn’t earn any money. Back home, I almost never had enough to eat for dinner.”