Sold into a ghost marriage? Four-year-old and his thuggish father go on a killing spree.

"This matter cannot be left unresolved!"

In the meeting room of the Chengjiawan Brigade Headquarters, Cheng Tiezhu slammed his hand hard on the table, making the enamel teacup jump.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the team leaders of several production teams and veteran Party members from the village sat there, their faces solemn, and no one spoke.

The burning of the promotion station weighed heavily on everyone's mind like a boulder.

This wasn't just a room or a few documents that burned.

This burning represents the hard-won hope of Chengjiawan, and the face of all the members of the brigade!

"Tiezhu, that's true, but like you said the other day, we didn't catch them in the act, we don't have direct evidence." An old captain sighed, took a puff of his pipe, and said, "Gu Yanchun's family is just a bunch of scoundrels. If you don't have evidence, they can keep lying to you until dawn."

"Yeah, we can't really arrest people and torture them, can we? That would be like those political movements we do!"

"Moreover, the police have also come to check. The scene was burned to a crisp; apart from the kerosene can and the strip of cloth, there were no clues left. Gu Yanchun and his wife are vehemently denying it, but his little brat Gu Mingyuan did indeed sleep in the old lady Wang Guifang's room that night and has an alibi. This is a difficult case!"

Listening to everyone's discussion, Cheng Tiezhu stubbed out the cigarette in his hand on the sole of his shoe.

He knew that what everyone was saying was true.

Dealing with a scoundrel like Gu Yanchun head-on would be a bad idea.

But are we just going to let him get away with it?

Cheng Tiezhu couldn't swallow this insult, Gu Yanqiu and his daughter couldn't swallow this insult, and neither could the men and women of the entire village!

He remained silent for a long time, his mind replaying Gu Niannian's words from that day.

"We'll make them regret it in another way."

In another way...

Cheng Tiezhu's eyes lit up suddenly, and an idea instantly formed in his mind.

Three days later, Chengjiawan Brigade held a general meeting of all commune members.

The meeting was held in front of the promotion station, which had been burned down to ruins.

This charred ruin, like an ugly scar, silently testifies to the arsonist's evil deeds.

The entire village, young and old, men and women, had arrived, forming a dense, dark mass.

Gu Yanchun and Sun Xiufen were also among the crowd, heads down, eyes darting around, avoiding eye contact.

These past few days, as they walked through the village, they were surrounded by the sharp, unsettling backs of their families.

Although no one said anything to his face, the contemptuous and disgusted looks were even more unbearable than being pointed at and cursed.

Cheng Tiezhu stood behind a makeshift table, holding a tin megaphone, his face so serious it looked like it was about to freeze.

"Comrades, commune members!"

"I've called everyone here today to discuss one thing!"

He pointed to the ruins behind him.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 20 ...

"The agricultural technology extension station is the face of Chengjiawan Village, the lifeline of our brigade's development! But just three days ago, some heartless, despicable beasts tried to burn down our hopes with a single fire!"

"I, Cheng Tiezhu, am incompetent; I haven't been able to bring this beast to justice yet!"

"but!"

He abruptly changed the subject, his voice rising sharply and filled with unquestionable authority.

"Starting today, our Chengjiawan brigade is establishing a new rule!"

"Any act of intentionally damaging public property, including but not limited to equipment at the promotion station, water pumps, tractors, and grain warehouses, will be immediately reported to the county public security bureau upon verification and prosecuted as a crime of disrupting production!"

"At the same time!" Cheng Tiezhu's gaze, like a searchlight, slowly swept across the crowd, finally settling on Gu Yanchun's pale face.

"The person who committed the crime, and his entire family! From the oldest to the youngest, all of them will have all their work points revoked for that year! They won't receive a single grain of food!"

"boom!"

These words caused an uproar in the audience!

Cancel the entire family's eligibility for allocation? That's even more ruthless than simply arresting and imprisoning them!

In those days, the absence of food rations meant the end of the family's livelihood!

This is a ruthless and destructive strategy!

The color drained from Gu Yanchun and Sun Xiufen's faces instantly.

They can cheat and deny their debts, but they can't go without food and they can't go without life!

Cheng Tiezhu sneered at their reaction and continued to raise the stakes.

"Also, I went to a meeting at the commune yesterday and took the opportunity to make a phone call with Officer Liu from the county public security bureau."

He deliberately cleared his throat and said slowly, "Officer Liu said that although our case is small, its nature is too heinous!"

They are taking this very seriously, and they will likely send a special task force down in the next couple of days to conduct door-to-door investigations.

"As everyone knows, the police are very thorough in handling cases. They not only ask about arson, but they might also... go through those old grudges from petty theft, falsifying work points, and staged accidents..."

With each word he uttered, Gu Yanchun's body trembled.

Sun Xiufen's legs went weak and she almost couldn't stand up.

They know better than anyone how much filth is under their own backside!

If the police were to investigate, they might not be able to find solid evidence of arson, but any one of their past misdeeds would be enough to give them a run for their money!

These words were meant for the whole village, but even more so for their own family!

This is a warning shot!

It was like a guillotine hanging over their heads, ready to fall at any moment!

After the conference, Gu Yanchun and his family were like wilted eggplants, completely deflated.

They didn't dare to jump out and make a fuss again, nor did they dare to cause any more trouble for Gu Yanqiu.

Back home, Gu Yanchun slapped himself twice across the face and then gave Sun Xiufen a thorough dressing-down.

They didn't have a change of heart; they were utterly terrified.

Gu Niannian stood at the gate of her own courtyard, watching all this with a calm expression on her small face.

She opened her account book and, on the page following "Gu Yanchun," carefully wrote a line in pencil:

To deal with bad people, you don't need to fight violence with violence; just let them know that the price will be high.

The ruins of the promotion station were quickly cleared away.

Under Cheng Tiezhu's leadership, all able-bodied men in the village volunteered their labor.

In less than half a month, a larger and brighter brick house was rebuilt.

Gu Yanqiu painstakingly reorganized and transcribed the burned documents from memory, bit by bit.

This time, he wrote two copies. One was placed at the promotion station, and the other was wrapped in oil paper and locked at the bottom of a box at home.

Sunlight streamed back into the small courtyard, and it seemed that the father and daughter had finally settled down in Chengjiawan.

Gu Niannian knew that this was only the beginning.

Gaining a foothold is only the first step in a long journey.

This impoverished yet complex village is merely a small microcosm of this vast world.

In her notebook, besides her enemies, there was a long list of names for whom she needed to repay favors.

The road ahead is still long.

She raised her head and looked at the rolling mountains in the distance, her heart filled with anticipation.

First, will it be an unexpected "family search" controversy? Or should it be time to put her long-treasured list of gratitude into action?