CHAPTER 121: CHAPTER 121: THE WHEREABOUTS OF ZHU FUGEN AND HIS WIFE

Huang Yuezhen really didn’t have so many thoughts, but with Lin Qin’s suggestion, she was instantly enlightened and gratefully grabbed Lin Qin’s hand, "Good cousin, you’re still the smart one, thinking ahead. You’re right, I have to consider the long term. I’ll listen to you; at the end of the year, I’ll bring back a batch of goods to set up a stall. If my eldest son can take responsibility, I’ll let him do this work and I’ll continue cooking!"

Xu Dahai also greatly benefited from Lin Qin’s words and praised her, "That’s why they say knowledge is power. My sister-in-law, having gone to school, has such different awareness!"

Lin Qin felt a bit embarrassed.

After seeing Xu Dahai off, she continued to live her days methodically.

In the blink of an eye, it was the lunar October, and it was frosting in their area.

The sweet potatoes and calla lilies that Lin Yi planted could be harvested. This year, he planted as much as four acres of calla lilies. As long as they are not dug up, they can remain in the ground until the new year.

Lin Yi didn’t plan to dig up the calla lilies now, he only asked Huang Yuezhen to help harvest the sweet potatoes.

Every household grows sweet potatoes, especially in the coastal fishing villages, where sweet potatoes are in abundance, so selling them won’t fetch a good price. They can be kept for the family to eat or sold cheaply to the Dang people.

Dang people don’t have land and don’t farm; they have to buy their grain or exchange it with villagers, often being at a disadvantage.

Chen Wenjun just needed to call out at the port and mention a price lower than the market rate, and nearby Dang people would all sail over to Nanyu to buy sweet potatoes, not only in large numbers but in considerable quantity.

Lin Yi planted eight acres and sold eighty percent of it in just three days, earning just under three thousand, leaving the rest for the family to eat.

With this sum of money, the financially strained Lin Yi stood taller and worked with extra vigor.

It was also at this time that Shen Wenfeng finally tracked down Zhu father, who left the village to deliver grain to his son and daughter-in-law, and followed the trail to find the rental place of Zhu Fugen and his wife.

The couple were hiding in the suburbs of An City during this time, and coincidentally, there was government construction to build roads, so they were working on the construction site.

When the police showed up, Li Lan was so scared she couldn’t speak, and Zhu Fugen was both shocked and frightened.

The two officers exchanged glances and then spoke about the abandoned baby at the city hospital, "We now suspect you of abandoning the child. Please come with us to the police station to cooperate with the investigation."

The couple was utterly terrified.

Zhu Fugen vehemently denied, "No! We didn’t abandon a child!"

One officer grew stern and said seriously, "Whether you did or not is not for you to say. There were so many nurses at the city hospital who saw the child’s parents. As long as they identify, we’ll know if it was you. Cooperating with the investigation is the duty of every citizen."

Zhu Fugen insisted they didn’t have a child, let alone abandon one, and stubbornly refused to cooperate.

The officers conducted inquiries at the construction site and with nearby people, who only knew Zhu Fugen and his wife hadn’t been there long and were completely in the dark.

Later, the officers could only contact colleagues at the police station to have the relevant nurses from the city hospital brought over for identification.

A group of nurses came over together, accompanied by the officers, and after closely inspecting the couple, they excitedly exclaimed, "It’s them! It’s this couple! Their medical bills aren’t even paid yet!"

"Really heartless, to leave the child at the hospital, caused us to be scolded by the director."

"I know, such a young child, doing such a heartless thing without fearing divine retribution!"

...

A group of nurses indignantly accused, leaving Li Lan pale and trembling, while Zhu Fugen was so furious his eyes were bloodshot as he crazily drove the nurses away.

The officers immediately got angry and went forward to restrain Zhu Fugen, "Take him away!"

The previously silent Zhu father finally couldn’t sit still, and yelled at Li Lan, "Useless thing! If my son gets caught, you go jump in the river! The Zhu family can’t keep such a useless daughter-in-law! Go to the river now!"

Everyone’s expressions changed upon hearing this.

Li Lan, forced by Zhu father, cried pitifully, her eyes filled with terror.

The officer lashed out at Zhu father, "Forcing someone to die, do you also want to go to the police station?"

Zhu father, however, sat down on the ground decisively, "Anyway, if anything happens to my son, she will be responsible. It’s all her fault! It has nothing to do with my son!"

The officer wasn’t shaken by threats, so they took Li Lan as well, ignoring Zhu father’s theatrical outbursts.

When Zhu father saw his son and daughter-in-law both caught, he had no choice but to go to Nanyu to seek help from Lin Yi.

Lin Yi opened the gap in the yard gate and, upon seeing Zhu father, instinctively wanted to ask about Zhu Fugen and his wife, but Zhu father immediately interjected, "Brother-in-law, Fugen and Li Lan were taken by the police, and I only know you in the city, can you help think of a way?"

Lin Qin had already come over by then.

She overheard Lin Yi say angrily, "Brother-in-law, I have to say, Fugen didn’t handle this properly. They left the child at the hospital after it was born without even paying the medical bills. Even if they didn’t want to raise a girl, they should’ve paid off the bill and found a good family for the child instead! Who does things like this?"

Zhu father stomped his feet anxiously, becoming impatient and not even pondering how Lin Yi knew about these matters.

"Talking about this is pointless now. Our Fugen is a good child. If Li Lan hadn’t failed to carry a boy, Fugen wouldn’t have done this! He was forced! Brother-in-law, do you have any connections to help..."

Before Lin Yi could reply, Lin Qin coldly stepped forward, "Uncle, what you’re saying! My husband is Dang, my father has been farming his whole life. If we had any connections with the police station, we wouldn’t have to struggle our whole lives. It shouldn’t have come to this if cousin and cousin-in-law had listened to advice. Now it depends on how they handle it. If they sincerely admit their mistake, pay off the hospital bills, and take the child back, maybe nothing will happen.

If they’re stubborn and insist on their way, not even gods can help them! After all, the hospital can easily check if cousin-in-law has given birth or not. Can they deny it? Besides, so many medical staff saw them, it’s impossible for everyone to conspire against them! Their only option is to voluntarily admit it!"

Seeing Zhu father’s expression change unpredictably, Lin Yi hurriedly tugged at Lin Qin’s clothes to shut her up, and turned to Zhu father with a soothing tone, "Brother-in-law, Ah Qin speaks her mind, don’t take it to heart. But she’s not wrong; the only thing to do is confess, not to mess with the police station and provoke them. What if they really press charges?"

Zhu father gnashed his teeth in resentment, cursing angrily, "It’s all that girl’s fault! I should have thrown her into the river and drowned her, saving us from future trouble!"

Seeing Lin Qin about to burst with anger, Lin Yi quickly covered her mouth and urged Zhu father to hurry to the police station to get his family.

Only after Zhu father boarded the fishing boat did Lin Yi close the yard gate with a sigh of relief, and, meeting Lin Qin’s murderous glare, Lin Yi repeatedly needed to console her.