novelraw Chapter 148
Chapter 148
Song Nianchu didn't try to comfort Meng Yingying, simply allowing her to cry in silence.
Meng Yingying's sobs shifted from stifled whimpers to full-blown, agonizing wails.
It wasn't until she cried so hard she began to dry heave that Song Nianchu finally stepped forward and gently rubbed her back.
"Do you realize what you did wrong?" Song Nianchu asked, her gaze intense and unwavering.
"I was wrong. I'll never do it again," Meng Yingying nodded between sobs.
"And will you ever call yourself damaged goods again?" Song Nianchu pressed.
Meng Yingying shook her head frantically.
Only then did Song Nianchu's taut expression soften slightly, her voice following suit.
"Does your head hurt? Should I take you to the city to get it looked at?"
Hearing Song Nianchu's deep concern, Meng Yingying knew she was no longer angry. She threw her arms around Song Nianchu, the tears she had just managed to stop falling freely once more.
"Chu, I'm so sorry. I betrayed your trust."
Meng Yingying cried even more brokenheartedly than before.
"Alright now, didn't I say I'm not angry anymore? Why are you crying even louder? If anyone hears you, they'll think I'm bullying you," Song Nianchu said, a hint of helplessness coloring her tone.
"You would never bully me. You are the absolute best person in this world!" Meng Yingying said with unwavering certainty.
"If I'm really that good, then take my words to heart from now on. You must never do anything to hurt yourself again, or I truly will never forgive you." Song Nianchu spoke with absolute seriousness.
Meng Yingying nodded vigorously.
"Alright, stop crying. You're already injured, and crying like this will only make it worse," Song Nianchu coaxed gently.
"But... I can't stop..." Meng Yingying gasped between hiccups.
Song Nianchu truly didn't know what else to say to that, so she simply got up and poured her a glass of water.
"Have some water. It will make you feel better."
"Thank you." Meng Yingying's voice was terribly hoarse as she took the glass and took small, tentative sips.
Sure enough, by the time she finished the water, she had calmed down considerably.
"Just stay home and get some proper rest for the next couple of days. Don't worry about going to the workshop for now." Song Nianchu took the empty glass from her hands.
"I'm fine, really. I just bumped my head. I was prepared for it, so I didn't let them get their way," Meng Yingying said hastily.
She was slightly terrified that Song Nianchu was going to give up on her.
"That's not what I meant. Since you've already set up this trap, we need to play the part of the victim perfectly. You need to act utterly devastated, maybe even threaten a hunger strike or suicide every now and then. That way, I can have Uncle Zhenggui go raise hell at the production brigade. We must get rid of Zhou Ziqiang and his gang once and for all. Otherwise, after the trap you've set for them, it will be a massive hidden danger if they ever get released." Song Nianchu's gaze was resolute.
"Okay, I'll do whatever you say!" Meng Yingying nodded emphatically.
"By the way, you mentioned before that Zhou Ziqiang and his group committed some atrocious acts while they were fleeing as refugees. Do you know exactly what they did?" Song Nianchu asked.
Meng Yingying thought for a moment, taking a long while before she finally spoke.
"On the road, they had nothing to eat or drink. Just to fill their stomachs, they... they would snatch up children and use them as..." Meng Yingying trailed off, unable to bring herself to finish the sentence.
But Song Nianchu already understood what she meant, her face darkening grimly.
"Is there anyone who can testify to this?" Song Nianchu asked.
"Some of the villagers should know something about it, though I'm not sure if the refugees who settled in our village do." Meng Yingying remembered that in her previous life, when Zhou Ziqiang's crimes were finally exposed, a few people had stepped forward to testify against him, people who had fled alongside him back then.
"I understand. I'll go ask around," Song Nianchu nodded.
"They also preyed on the vulnerable, assaulting both men and women. So many people suffered at his hands, but I doubt anyone would be willing to admit to something like that," Meng Yingying added.
"Mm." Song Nianchu nodded. "That doesn't matter. As long as we can prove that he... murdered those children, that alone will be enough to get him the firing squad."
"Right!" Meng Yingying agreed with a nod.
"You get some good rest now. I'll let you know as soon as I find anything out," Song Nianchu reassured her.
"Okay." Meng Yingying nodded, allowing Song Nianchu to help her lie back down.
Song Nianchu waited by her side until she drifted off to sleep before finally quietly getting up to leave.
After leaving Meng Yingying's house, Song Nianchu went straight to look for Wu Zhenggui.
As she approached his gate, she happened to spot him returning and immediately quickened her pace.
"Uncle Zhenggui," Song Nianchu called out.
"Chu, you're back." Seeing Song Nianchu, a hint of relief finally broke through Wu Zhenggui's dark, stormy expression.
"Yes. As soon as I got back, I heard about what happened to Educated Youth Meng. I just went over to her place to check on her," Song Nianchu said.
"How is she doing? I was just out dealing with Zhou Ziqiang and his gang," Wu Zhenggui asked.
"Not very well. She's still deeply distressed. You know what she went through with Third Wu before. She had finally started to move past it, only for something like this to happen. I think she might even be having suicidal thoughts." Song Nianchu deliberately painted a bleak, pitiful picture.
She didn't actually want to deceive Wu Zhenggui, but it was all for the good of the village.
"Those animals. They really think we're easy targets. Don't worry, I will follow this through to the very end. I absolutely won't let them get away with this!" Wu Zhenggui ground his teeth in fury.
Meng Yingying had lived in their village for years now, and Wu Zhenggui had long since considered her one of their own.
Zhou Ziqiang was an outsider they had been reluctant to take in to begin with. Now that an outsider had dared to lay a hand on one of their own, it was an insult no one could swallow.
"By the way, Village Chief, I've also heard some disturbing rumors. They say that while fleeing the famine, Zhou Ziqiang and his group committed some truly depraved acts..." Song Nianchu vaguely relayed what she knew about Zhou Ziqiang's past crimes to Wu Zhenggui.
Wu Zhenggui was so enraged by what he heard that he nearly passed out.
"Animals! They aren't even human, to be capable of such things!" Wu Zhenggui's fingertips trembled with rage.
"No one has ever stepped forward to report Zhou Ziqiang and his gang before, likely out of fear of retaliation and a desire to avoid trouble. But now that they've been arrested, if we go around asking questions now, we might get a very different response," Song Nianchu pointed out.
"Chu, don't you worry. I'm going to go interrogate them right now. If the refugees in our village want to keep living here peacefully, they won't dare lie to me. And even if our village's refugees don't know anything, I can go ask the ones who were assigned to the neighboring villages. As long as they actually committed those crimes, I will find someone who knows about it! This time, I'll see to it that they face the firing squad!" Wu Zhenggui was a man with a strong sense of justice; hearing such horrors, he naturally couldn't remain calm.