Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

"Uncle Guo, thank you."

Pan Lianhua didn't say much; her heart had already sunk.

Guo Yongqing is a leader in the county, yet he didn't even know Fang Wei's whereabouts, which shows that those people had no good intentions.

She couldn't wait any longer; every minute felt like torture. So she rushed to the county government, intending to ask Director Yao for her person back. But when she arrived, she found a large crowd standing outside the gate, all there to demand the same person as her.

The county authorities didn't listen to any of that and, when warnings proved ineffective, prepared to make arrests.

Pan Lianhua retreated with everyone else. Now was not the time to fight them head-on; if they wanted to fight, they would need to know where they were. So she returned to the team, and remembering some things her third brother had mentioned before, she went to the brigade headquarters and called Zhu Minghui.

"I understand about this, and I will help, but don't get your hopes up too high."

Zhu Minghui was helpless. His term as acting director was basically over, and he probably wouldn't have a good ending.

But he still planned to try and see if he could find a way to get Fang Wei out, so that his role as acting director wouldn't be in vain.

"Thank you!"

Pan Lianhua hung up the phone in disappointment, and then went to the Yao village to find her grandfather.

Although Grandpa is no longer involved in affairs, he has enough life experience to perhaps give her a useful suggestion.

"Lotus, let's go back."

Grandpa noticed that Pan Lianhua was a little flustered. He didn't say anything, but directly asked Wang Songlin to send a tractor to take the two of them back to Xiatang Brigade.

"Lotus, you need to calm down. Things are far from being beyond repair. Even Songlin and I can't help with this, let alone you. Let's wait and see."

Grandpa was worried that his granddaughter was too impulsive. How could she possibly fight against Director Yao and his group all by herself?
As they were talking, Fang Ping, Tian Guihua, Guan Chongyang, and Sun Daoren arrived, all of them anxious and worried, but they didn't know how to handle the situation.

By this time, Pan Lianhua had completely calmed down.

"Brother, could you please go and invite Yu Hao? He happens to be with the team these days."

"What do you want with Yu Hao?"

"I would like to ask for Wu Tianming's contact information. Wu Tianming, like my third brother, is a national representative. I would like to tell him about what happened in our county and ask him to write a report for Beijing."

Pan Lianhua felt that her third brother's representative status should be useful, but she had no way to speak out herself, so she could only ask Wu Tianming, who also had a representative status, for help.

However, she did not have the other party's contact information, while Yu Hao, who had dealt with the other party before, should know.

"Okay! I'll go now."

Fang Ping stood up to find Yu Hao and quickly retrieved Wu Tianming's phone number.

Pan Lianhua went to the team headquarters and called Wu Tianming. Wu Tianming was shocked to hear that Fang Wei had been arrested and promised to report the situation to his superiors immediately.

At this moment, Fang Wei was still sitting in the interrogation room, drowsy.

"Fang Wei! Stop playing dead, I'm asking you a question. What exactly are you 17th Brigade planning by colluding with each other?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, comrade. Have you never lived in the countryside? Conditions in the countryside are tough. Everyone has to fight against nature and the land. Helping each other is the way to survive. Then tell me, what can a group of farmers do together? Isn't it just farming?"

Fang Wei couldn't let herself fall asleep right now, so she started chatting nonsense with these people.

There were at least five people watching him in the interrogation room. As soon as he closed his eyes, someone would come over and push him, making him feel very uncomfortable.

The tactic of exhaustion is actually quite unethical, as it can easily undermine a person's fighting spirit.

"Okay, you can put it off if you don't want to talk about it. Let me ask you, how much breeding technology have you been hiding? Don't think everyone is stupid, that someone can see through it."

At this moment, the person in charge of the interrogation suddenly asked about breeding.

Sure enough, they didn't believe Fang Wei hadn't been holding back at all. You make a little progress today and a little progress tomorrow, like squeezing toothpaste. It would be strange if there wasn't something fishy going on.

Fang Wei burst out laughing and said, "So the fox's tail has finally been revealed? Don't tell me I didn't hold anything back at all. Even if I did, which rule does this violate?"

"Fine, you're being stubborn, aren't you? Then sit here and reflect on your actions. But I'm telling you, you can't fall asleep, or someone will wake you up immediately."

These guys are really wicked. They don't hit or scold, but they want to destroy Fang Wei's will mentally.

Fang Wei was too lazy to talk to them. He leaned back in his chair and slowly adjusted his breathing, gradually relaxing his whole body. His eyes were still open, but there was no focus in them, as if he couldn't see anything.

He adjusted his state in the interrogation room using the breathing techniques of traditional Chinese medicine. Since his physical condition was already extraordinary, he looked like he was suffering, but he was actually doing alright.

Although the other 16 brigade secretaries didn't have his abilities, they didn't need to take on the challenge.

The cooperation among everyone is limited to agricultural production; you can't ask them to make up anything else. These people want them to make false accusations, which is definitely not acceptable. If they spread lies, how can they stay in the team afterward?

They were afraid that someone would desecrate their ancestral graves.

Therefore, these people could never get what they wanted, and Fang Wei and the others could only suffer in agony.

For the first few days, Fang Wei barely had any time to sleep; the total sleep time over the three days was less than ten hours.

In just a few days, he looked noticeably thinner, with a stubble beard and dark circles under his eyes, but his overall mental state was still quite good.

No matter how anxious or resourceful outsiders are, they cannot change the current situation of these 17 people.

"We miscalculated. We didn't expect Director Yao and his gang to be so desperate that they would do anything."

Fang Wei simply sighed, but there was nothing to be upset about.

Once the other party goes all out, regardless of whether he goes to the county meeting that day or not, he will still be unable to escape his current fate.

This was his biggest worry: if the other party didn't follow the rules, his life would be in danger.

Of course, given his physical abilities, he still has a chance to escape. At least the railings, which are only as thick as a thumb, can't stop him. If he really wants to leave, he has ways to destroy these things.

If he were even more ruthless, killing a few people before running away, he would have at least a 90% chance of success.

But it's not time yet. He plans to continue playing along with these guys, but the situation could change drastically before long.

Now I just hope my wife won't go to extremes; if she does, there will be endless troubles.

Xiatang Brigade.

Pan Lianhua hasn't been home for several days. Her grandfather and two children have been left in the care of her older sister, and Tian Guihua has also taken leave to help out here almost all day.

Fang Ping was extremely anxious and lost interest in managing the factory, spending all his time inquiring about the whereabouts of his third brother and sister-in-law.

Grandpa rarely spoke from morning till night; only he knew that the rifle and bullets in the house were missing.

In fact, Pan Lianhua did not disappear. She had been active around the county town these days, trying to keep an eye on Director Yao's whereabouts.

She had money and food coupons, so staying in the county for a few days wouldn't be a problem.

However, Director Yao's whereabouts were difficult to track. She always went out in a jeep, and it was very difficult for her to follow her on her bicycle. She lost track of her several times. After a few days, she made a preliminary judgment that her third brother was unlikely to be in the city. He was more likely to have been taken to a place on the outskirts of the county.

This evening.

Director Yao left the county town from the east as usual. Pan Lianhua stared at his car, thinking to herself that this was the fifth time Yao had left the town from this side in the past few days.

Pan Lianhua has changed her appearance, and even acquaintances would find it difficult to recognize her.

She rode her bike along the road, already having a rough idea of ​​what was going on.

The clumsy method she used these past few days was the process of elimination, ruling out suspicious locations one by one, so this time she didn't have to waste too much time.

Two wheels can't outrun four wheels, but that doesn't matter. She'll check each of the places she suspects one by one. Finding the jeep is the same as finding the person surnamed Yao.

Then, it's very likely that the third brother will be imprisoned here.

Pan Lianhua was right; Director Yao came to the farm again after get off work today.

"Did Fang Wei confess? How much breeding technology did he conceal? We must find out this; it will be very useful to us."

Furthermore, these people are definitely involved in some underground illegal organization. We must make them admit it, otherwise we'll be in a very passive position.

Director Yao was very dissatisfied with the progress of the interrogation, but these people were his only confidants in the county, so he couldn't lose his temper.

He's risked everything on this, and if he fails, his fate will be dire.

The overall situation is not good right now, and their group has reached the final stage.

"No, he didn't confess anything. This guy is really difficult to deal with. The other brigade secretaries know only limited information, and they refuse to testify against Fang Wei. It's really troublesome."

His subordinates seemed helpless; after all, they were not professionals, but merely a group of petty people who dreamed of rising to prominence overnight.

After hesitating for a long time, Director Yao's expression turned ferocious.

"Then let's use some tricks. I'm not afraid Fang Wei won't talk. I must get the core secrets of breeding so that I can be invincible."

"Okay, if it were this intense in the morning, we could have finished the mission much earlier."

"You talk too much nonsense! I'm going to check on that guy; hopefully he'll realize the situation."

Director Yao and his men were determined that if Fang Wei didn't confess, they would use every means to get him to talk.

Now that things have come to this, they have nothing left to worry about.

At this moment, Fang Wei was lying in the cramped room, analyzing his current situation. Judging from the overall picture in his memory, the situation should soon reverse.

The specific timeframe is likely before the end of the year, meaning there are only a few months left.

He couldn't guess how long they had detained him. But given the extent of their recklessness, he wasn't optimistic about his personal safety.

Based on his interactions over the past few days, he discovered that these people were not professionals, and the place he was in was not a heavily guarded prison.

Therefore, he was fully confident that he could escape at the critical moment, but what about the 16 brigade secretaries?
We've bumped into each other in the hallway these past few days, but we're not allowed to talk.

However, Fang Wei was convinced that Director Yao and his group were mainly targeting him this time, and that the brigade secretaries were just there to accompany them.

So if he manages to escape, those people will probably become worthless.

In the end, they will most likely be released.

He was deep in thought when the door suddenly opened, and Director Yao and others walked in from outside.

Fang Wei jumped out of bed, and someone immediately scolded, "Sit down, don't move around."

“Secretary Fang looks much more haggard, but there’s really no need for that. If you hand over the core secrets of your breeding technology, I’ll spare your life, how about it?”

Director Yao dropped the pretense and stated his purpose directly.

For him now, uncovering Fang Wei's secrets is the top priority; the rest is getting her to confess.

"What kind of core secrets would I, a mere farmer, possess? As for saying you'd spare my life, that's probably an inappropriate statement. I haven't committed any crime, so why should I be asked about life or death?"

Fang Wei answered calmly and unhurriedly.

To be honest, given the distance, even though they outnumber each other, Fang Wei could easily kill Director Yao with a single move.

There's no need for that. If he really did that, he'd probably be finished himself and his family would be implicated as well.

As for this guy surnamed Yao, someone will deal with him later.

"A wise person knows when to yield. Someone as smart as you can understand what I mean, so there's no need to pretend to be stupid. That's true, people don't cry until they see the coffin. Let's talk again next time we meet."

Director Yao clearly lost patience, and after saying that, he turned and walked out of the room.

Fang Wei was then taken to the interrogation room.

When he looked, he was surprised to see that all sorts of things were prepared, including wooden sticks, belts, bamboo strips, and whips. He wondered why he hadn't seen the tiger bench.

This was obviously a joke, which shows that he has a very good attitude.

Needless to say, these guys are preparing to use violence, but their work is so sloppy! This little thing won't scare him.

In the dark night.

Pan Lianhua had already reached the front of the two-story building.

This is a farm, and this two-story building used to be the farm's office. After being modified by Director Yao and others, it has become their secret hideout for abusing their power.

The farm looks ordinary from the outside, but the small building is heavily guarded. Not only are there sentries standing guard at the entrance, but there are also patrols around the building.

Pan Lianhua, lurking in the darkness, estimated that there were about four guards on the first floor. She didn't know if they were armed, but she guessed they probably were.

The patrol team consists of three people and conducts a patrol every hour.

Steel bars have been installed on the windows on the first and second floors. It's rare to see windows with these kinds of bars nowadays, so you can tell at a glance that this isn't a good place.

The weather is still very hot and humid, and most of the windows in the rooms are open.

Most of the rooms on the first floor were dark, while most of the rooms on the second floor were brightly lit, and you could see people standing in front of the windows, but you didn't know what they were doing.

But Pan Lianhua had a keen eye and immediately recognized that the person was Secretary Qian from the next brigade.

However, she didn't act rashly. Instead, she moved to another spot and imitated a few bird calls. This was her talent; most people couldn't tell the difference between the real and fake calls, but her third brother could definitely tell.

This was a signal the two had agreed upon in the mountains before, used to indicate their identities and locations. (End of Chapter)