Chapter 84: The Witness

These two security officers looked a bit familiar—they’d been here before.

“Because someone has accused you of murder for profit!”

Chu Xuan’s sleepiness vanished instantly. That was a serious accusation—who hated her enough to frame her like this? Feng Chunhua? Chu Zhi? Chu Dashan? Sheng Damei?

It was probably connected to one of them.

“I need to go inside and change my clothes, is that okay?”

She was wearing gray cotton pajamas—not exactly suitable for going out.

The officers nodded their approval.

Chu Xuan hurried back to her room, changed into black pants and a shirt with flat cloth shoes, and when she came out, she saw her younger brother standing in the courtyard, looking worried.

“Jie…”

Chu Xuan reassured him, “Don’t worry. Go tell Grandpa Wang and Grandma Gao. If I haven’t done something, no one can pin it on me. Today, keep making the dried fish as planned, settle the wages as usual, and starting tomorrow, we’ll take a break. Got it?”

Chu Feng nodded vigorously. “Got it.”

The security officers were fairly polite to Chu Xuan. Of the two bicycles they’d ridden, they let her use one.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at the town security office.

Chu Xuan was brought into a room for questioning.

“Sheng Damei says that after ten last night, you had a conflict with her, robbed her, pushed her over, and caused her to miscarry…”

Hearing this, Chu Xuan immediately understood what Sheng Damei was up to.

After ten last night, she’d been at home and hadn’t gone out at all. Her little brother could testify, but in situations like this, family testimony didn’t count for much.

“Comrade, I didn’t have any conflict with her, didn’t rob her, and definitely didn’t push her. After ten last night, I was at home.”

“Who can prove it?”

“My brother, Chu Feng.”

“Anyone else?”

Chu Xuan was silent for a moment before replying, “And who can prove that I went out and pushed Sheng Damei?”

“Wen the accountant’s neighbor, You Daping.”

As soon as she heard the name You Daping, Chu Xuan recalled something from her previous life.

You Daping had bragged to others that he was having an affair with Sheng Damei.

Could they already be involved now?

But You Daping was a married man.

Sheng Damei’s private life was really a mess.

Whether or not You Daping and Sheng Damei were together now, Chu Xuan decided to claim she’d seen them being intimate.

“You Daping? Isn’t he Sheng Damei’s lover? I’ve seen the two of them kissing in the grove! Can you really trust the testimony of a man in an illicit relationship? Sheng Damei is framing me on purpose. Just because I accidentally disrupted her plan to drug Accountant Wen, she sees me as a thorn in her side and is using this as an excuse to set me up!”

After she said this, the security officers stopped questioning her and left the room.

Sheng Damei’s private life was so messy, and there was so much information to process, that the security chief was just about to send someone to investigate further.

At that moment, Liu Dapeng hurried in.

“I can testify that Chu Xuan didn’t harm Sheng Damei. Sheng Damei was walking in the dark and accidentally fell, which caused her miscarriage!”

Last night, just before ten, when Sheng Damei passed by his house, she was cursing under her breath, every sentence mentioning “that fatso Chu Xuan,” and saying she wouldn’t let her off.

He’d taken notice and quietly followed her.

He saw with his own eyes that Sheng Damei went to Accountant Wen’s house, found the gate closed, and left unwillingly. When she reached You Daping’s house, it was dark and the road was uneven—she tripped and fell.

It was You Daping who took her to the town hospital.

This morning, when Liu Dapeng heard that Chu Xuan had been taken to the security office, he immediately swapped shifts with another tractor driver and came to testify on his way to town.

With Liu Dapeng’s testimony, Chu Xuan was quickly released by the officers.

But Chu Xuan wasn’t about to just let it go.

“Comrade, I want to accuse Sheng Damei of slander and for causing me to lose income. I demand she compensate me fifty yuan for lost wages.”

The officers immediately agreed to pass this on to Sheng Damei, and said that once there was a result, they’d call the village office to inform Chu Xuan.

Only then did Chu Xuan leave the security office.

She spotted a tractor parked not far away, with Liu Dapeng standing beside it. She walked over, gratitude on her face. “Thank you!”

Liu Dapeng blushed. “No need to thank me. I just happened to see Sheng Damei fall.”

“If you hadn’t testified, I wouldn’t have been released so quickly.” Chu Xuan patted the tractor’s cargo bed. “You still have bricks to haul, right? Go on! Once this is all over, I’ll come thank you in person!”

“Really, there’s no need! For me, it was just on the way and a few words. You don’t need to worry about it. If anyone should be thanking someone, it’s me thanking you. Thank you for the chicken legs you gave me and your advice. I’ve already invested in the village’s dried fish factory. I’ll give you a ride to the carriage stop—the cargo bed is empty, you can sit in the back!”

“No need. You go haul your bricks! I want to look around town a bit.”

Just then, Wang Depin rode up on his bicycle.

He gave Liu Dapeng a meaningful look.

This kid had rushed over faster than anyone when he heard Chu Xuan had been taken away.

Wang Depin had originally wanted to hitch a ride on the tractor to town, but ended up having to pedal his bike all the way here.

When Liu Dapeng saw Wang Depin, he reacted like a mouse seeing a cat. “Village Chief Wang, I’m off to the county to haul bricks.”

He cranked the starter, jumped into the driver’s seat, and drove the tractor away.

Wang Depin looked Chu Xuan up and down, concern on his face. “The security office didn’t give you a hard time, did they?”

“No.” Chu Xuan looked relaxed. “Grandpa Wang, it was Sheng Damei and You Daping who conspired to frame me for murder for profit. Luckily, Liu Dapeng came to testify.”

“Those two are getting bolder! Xiao Xuan, wait here. I’ll go to the security office. Take my bike and ride home first. I’ll have the security officers give me a ride back later. They’ll definitely come to our village to investigate further.”

“Grandpa Wang, do you know about You Daping and Sheng Damei’s relationship?”

“I do. After this, I won’t let them off easy!”

Wang Depin wanted to stand up for Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan felt a warmth in her heart. “Thank you, Grandpa Wang!”

“What’s there to thank? I’m just going to tell them what I know. Go on home! There’s a lot to do at your place, and everyone’s worried about you!”

“Okay!”

Chu Xuan didn’t argue, and rode the bicycle home…

Ten minutes later, she arrived home. Everyone had been working as usual, but as soon as she wheeled the bike through the gate, before she could even park it, they all crowded around her.

“Jie, are you okay?”

“Xiao Xuan, what happened?”

“Who’s so evil?”

“Was it that shrew Feng Chunhua?”

“Was it that bastard Chu Zhi?”

…

Chu Xuan parked the bike and answered everyone’s questions, explaining what had happened in detail.

Only then did everyone relax.

Chu Xuan didn’t let this incident affect her mood. Next, she soaked her herbal medicine, ate breakfast, cleaned up, boiled and drank her medicine, and prepared lunch…

At noon, everyone ate together: stewed duck soup, stir-fried kelp, and mixed-grain steamed buns.

After lunch, Chu Xuan slung her basket on her back and went out to forage by the sea, while the others kept working overtime.

Half an hour later, she arrived at her secret spot. A large stretch of beach was already exposed, with some small clams and crabs, but she didn’t bother picking those.

The tide pools were exposed too.

Chu Xuan headed straight for them.

She looked over a dozen tide pools, but there was nothing big—just a few scattered green-scaled fish and noodlefish.

She wondered if her luck had run out.

She stood up and looked toward the sea in the distance.

Maybe she’d try her luck over there.

She’d only taken a few steps when something soft in the sand underfoot suddenly poked her…"