Chapter 85: Corpse
In the past, the villagers wouldn’t have taken Shao Nan’s words seriously, but now, everyone knew that the children of the Shao Family were impressive after seeing them publish essays, film advertis.e.m.e.nts, and act in television shows, things that only incredible people were capable of doing. They were all intellectuals.
Since Shao Nan had already taken out the book and Mu Jingzhe hadn’t objected, this couldn’t be wrong.
The curly-haired woman couldn’t figure it out. How had things come to this?
She’d come to question Mu Jingzhe and cause her trouble. How had things backfired so much that she’d ended up being taken to the police station? She knew what she’d done. She’d be finished if she went to the police station.
“Let go of me! You have no right to do this!”
She shouted for the villagers of Little Dong Village to help. “Are you all dead? They’re saying that your daughters didn’t go to work at a factory but have become prost.i.tutes. Hurry up and help!”
In this day and age, reputation was the most important thing. Even if it was true, they could only swallow it down.
This was also the reason she had always been fearless. Even if they found out that she had lied to them, they would help her keep it a secret if they didn’t want to be disgraced.
In the past, this move had been the most effective. This time, it was the same. Many people in Little Eastern Village had red eyes. However, when they heard this, they decided to stop it first.
Only then could their daughters be saved.
They were about to help that woman when Shao Nan spoke again.
“You have to think this through. If you help her, you’ll be covering for her. You might even be considered her accomplices. When that happens, you’ll be finished too. Those who helped will be held responsible too.”
His words made the villagers of Little Eastern Village freeze.
The curly-haired woman had gone there ferociously, but she’d ended up being sent to the police station.
The police took this very seriously. Over the past few years, more than ten girls had been duped into going away one after another. That meant that there were more than ten victims. Furthermore, the curly-haired woman might even have an accomplice.
Though the investigation would take some time, when the villagers saw that the curly-haired woman hadn’t come out after being taken in, they knew that the situation was bad.
The curly-haired woman knew how serious the consequences were. She knew that if she admitted it, she would be dead meat. Hence, she gritted her teeth and stuck to her story, saying that she had merely introduced those women to a job.
However, after being taken to the police station, she was overwhelmed by guilt and fear and couldn’t take it anymore.
The curly-haired woman knew that she was finished, and so did the families of the girls who had gone with her.
They refused to admit that their relatives were there to sell their bodies and insisted that they were there to work in a factory, obstructing the investigation quite a bit.
Those girls were all victims, but at that moment, they were also pinned on the pillar of shame. Even their families felt like they couldn’t lift their heads.
Mu Jingzhe had expected the situation to be bad, but she still felt helpless when she saw this. She had clearly done nothing wrong, but at that moment, she was made to look like the bad guy.
Mu Jingzhe told everyone not to gossip about this, but it didn’t work. She wanted to go see them, but in the end, not only were her gifts thrown out, but she also became the target of plenty of hate.
The kids were also almost angered to death.
Why was their mother hated when they hadn’t done anything wrong? They were clearly helping someone.
Shao Nan regretted it a little. “Should I not have read the law book?”
“Of course not. You did very well, Shao Nan. We did a good deed and saved them, okay? They just find it hard to accept it because it’s all so sudden.”
Mu Jingzhe could understand this. Those who had nearly gone there were very grateful to her, and only a small portion of people hated her.
If they hated her, so be it. Staying alive was the most important thing. If they had really gone there, they might have ended up getting an STD like the original Mu Jingzhe.
Most importantly, they had prevented more victims from appearing, which was enough.
“All we can do is do our best. Everyone is sensible. It’ll get better in the future.”
Shao Nan was still a little angry, but when he woke up the next day, he found a parcel in the courtyard. He didn’t know who had thrown it in.
They originally thought that it was garbage, but when they opened it, they found some things inside. There were also two thank-you notes in it from women that thanked Mu Jingzhe and Shao Nan for helping them escape from their misery.
Although they would be criticized, they could also have a new beginning after being saved.
“See that?” Mu Jingzhe showed it to Shao Nan.
As Shao Nan read the thank-you notes, his tightly-furrowed brows finally relaxed a little.
While Mu Jingzhe had been implicated, Li Fang was the trigger of this matter. In the end, Li Fang wasn’t spared from being slandered. They said that it was actually Li Fang who’d wanted to do something shameful to earn money. After all, even her sister, Li Tao, had run away.
At the mention of Li Tao, the slandering people seemed to find a point to launch a counterattack. They said that Li Tao must have gone to work as a wh.o.r.e. Otherwise, how could she know so much?
Although many people knew that this was slander, there were still people who believed it and harshly criticized her for it.
Li Tao’s name was being attacked once more. Some awful things were being said about Li Fang, so Li Fang was furious.
As Mu Jingzhe was thinking about how to stop the slander, something big happened in Great Eastern Village.
Everyone’s attention was quickly attracted by this matter.
When the weather cleared up, everyone went to the fields to take a look. Instead of seeing how the crops were doing, one of the families was nearly startled to death.
They saw a decayed corpse.
The rain had persisted for a few days. Some spots had collapsed under the rain, flus.h.i.+ng out this corpse that had been buried somewhere.
Their screams broke the silence of Great Eastern Village.
Several of the bolder residents of the village went over to take a look. Because the body was decomposed, it was difficult to recognize the face, but one could tell from the clothes that the corpse was a woman, and a young woman at that.
The clothes were also a little familiar. After taking a closer look, they realized that the corpse resembled Bai Qiang’s wife, Li Tao, whom he had accused of running away.
A stone could create a thousand ripples. The entire Great Eastern Village was shocked.
Mu Jingzhe was also shocked. So Li Tao hadn’t run away? She had died?
Mu Jingzhe’s first reaction was to call the police.
The village leader reacted quickly and immediately sent someone to the police station to report this to the police.
When everyone heard that, they ran over to take a look. Mu Jingzhe was about to take the children to the county art school, but when she heard that, she got the children to go home and quickly rushed over.
She wasn’t going to join in the fun but advise the village chief.
It would be best for them to watch over the corpse. Although it wasn’t the crime scene, the corpse should still be protected. This way, it would be easier for the police to investigate the case.
Besides, it wasn’t good to keep looking at this corpse. Children or timid people would be particularly scared if they saw it.
Also, although no one in the village said anything, all eyes were on Bai Qiang’s family.
Bai Qiang’s presence had been so strong previously that no one could forget him.
The village leader didn’t need to be reminded this time. He secretly asked people to keep an eye on Bai Qiang and catch him if he dared to flee.
Mu Jingzhe heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that the village chief had arranged everything well.
This was her first reaction when she heard about Li Tao’s death.
There was data to support that when a married person was harmed, their other half was the greatest suspect.
A large group of villagers had gathered on the empty plot of land where the collapse had taken place. There was a commotion everywhere. Not seeing the corpse around, they started discussing among themselves. It had been more than ten years since someone had been killed this way in their village.