CHAPTER 574: CHAPTER 556: AN INCIDENT

Lin Guozhi had already internally cursed himself ten thousand times, unable to understand the grievances his wife and child had suffered over the years.

The ones he felt most sorry towards were the two elders who were no longer alive. The family only had a cherished daughter, hoping to find a dependable son-in-law to support the household, yet he had unexpectedly left for more than ten years.

It was him, he indirectly caused their deaths, and he felt guilty!

"Is Li Fugui still alive?"

"Very much alive, the heavens don’t have eyes, wicked people run rampant, and I just heard he’s meddling with the town leaders to reclaim the mountain we contracted. This scoundrel!"

Lin Guozhi furrowed his brow; such scum dying would at least be beneficial to the people.

"Xiao Shao, Xiao Zhou, could you make a trip to the town for me? See what’s happening."

"Yes, sir."

With one word from Old Mrs. Liang, Lin Guozhi decided to send two people to resolve the issue.

He was called "sir" by the son-in-law, which surprised everyone inside the house.

The two people in military uniforms drove out of the village, and everyone was curious. They asked Cha Zhenfang, who came out to prepare food.

"Ah Fang, did that Guozhi from Hongmei’s family really become a soldier back then? Why did it take so many years for him to return? Does he have a family out there?"

"Saozi, you shouldn’t speak thoughtlessly. Didn’t you just hear Guozhi say he was injured in battle, unconscious for years, and even lost his memory?"

"Oh my, there really is such a thing? Sounds like something from a play, very high-end, with memory loss as well. We haven’t heard of such a thing in our village for years. Could it be a bluff?"

"Whether it’s a bluff or not, my Guozhi is back. Afraid he’d lie? Saozi, if you don’t believe it, you can go inside and ask directly." Cha Zhenfang rolled her eyes at the nosy saozi and said to the two families close to her, "Saozi, Auntie, today I’ll need your men to help entertain the guests and ask you to help me out. I can’t manage everything on my own."

"Alright, alright, no problem."

"Ah Fang, looks like Hongmei’s man has reached quite a rank, huh? Driving a military vehicle, with three people in military uniforms following behind. What’s his position? Tell us about it; let us broaden our knowledge."

"I only heard those few people call Guozhi their superior. Specifically, I don’t know. And, there’s someone in the village wanting to go after our mountain, so I advise to give up soon. Did you see? The military vehicle just drove off, heading to the town." Cha Zhenfang hinted.

Most people present understood who she was talking about.

Someone secretly remarked that Li Fugui was in big trouble now. The man’s back, and he’s formidable.

Now, even if he has two in-laws from the county, he probably can’t compete.

All at once, Lin Guozhi’s matter spread throughout the village, even reaching the village chief and the village party secretary.

Li Fugui was originally at home, waiting for people from the town to come and sort out the Liang Family, but unexpectedly Lin Guozhi burst in.

This really scared Li Fugui; last time, Hongmei’s son-in-law only made him feel somewhat intimidated, nothing else.

But Lin Guozhi was different; in his youth, he had seen Lin Guozhi’s prowess. Before he and Hongmei were married, he had once harassed Hongmei, and Lin Guozhi saw it.

He came up and beat him badly; that guy must have been trained, hitting specifically where it hurt, making him howl in pain, yet afterward there was no visible injury anywhere.

He could only suffer in silence.

The Liang Family people would definitely tell Lin Guozhi what he did to Hongmei’s family over the years. Lin Guozhi would surely make trouble for him, and possibly send him to a labor camp, what should he do then?

Li Fugui seized the moment while the Liang Family people were busy, secretly took a few clothes and money, and fled the village planning to find his son in the county town.

Lin Guozhi was now eager to quickly return to S City, but thinking about it, now that he’s back, he ought to pay respects to his in-laws.

Plus, the villagers’ warmth left him unable to decline.

He planned to stay here for a day and leave for S City tomorrow. He wished to see Nannan soon.

...

"Mom, is Little Star behaving?"

"Behaving, alright. Over the past couple of days, Little Star’s been able to walk a few steps with support. It’s been such a long time without a call home; your brother and I worried for two days. How’s Xiao Yi doing?"

"He’s out of danger now, aside from being a bit low on energy, everything else is good. The doctor said after a period of recovery he’ll be fine."

"Low on energy?"

"Due to excessive blood loss from the previous injury, he needs to replenish his blood, and he’ll be fine."

"Excessive blood loss?...Was he so badly injured it bled that much?"

"It was a gunshot wound, hit the left leg’s main artery. Fortunately, resuscitation was timely, otherwise, it would have... Mom, it terrified me." With the image of Han Yi’s injury, Lin Wan’s eyes reddened, and her words carried a hint of sobbing.

"Oh, I knew this day would come." Liang Hongmei’s eyes reddened too; her son-in-law was always on assignments, being in the shooting squad, it must have been gun-related. Injury was inevitable, her greatest fear was that he’d disappear just like Lin Wan’s dad.

"Alright, alright, don’t be sad, and don’t worry. I’ll take care of him here for a while; the doctor said when he can be discharged, we’ll head back. Mom, please take care of Little Star."

"No need to worry about the household, as long as you’re well there. Got enough money?"

"Yes, yes, I brought a thousand dollars when I came. Nutrients, meals don’t cost much, and the military has meal tickets, allowances, lots of supplements. Hardly spend anything."

"Alright then."

After speaking with her daughter over the phone, Liang Hongmei’s mind was finally at ease.

For two days she hadn’t gone to the store; checking the time, she planned to take Little Star to visit it now.

Just as she prepared to step out, she encountered Xiao Yu rushing in hastily.

"Xiao Yu, what’s the matter?"

"Aunt Liang, the store, something happened at the store!"

Liang Hongmei’s heart skipped, hurriedly following the frantic Xiao Yu to the store. Once there, she saw a crowd gathered outside, and she had Xiao Yu watch Little Star, while she squeezed her way forward, seeing people in uniform arguing with Xiao Gu.

"What’s going on?" Xiao Gu seemed to have been hit.

Seeing Liang Hongmei arrive, Aunt Gui excitedly pointed at the people in uniform and said, "They want to seal our store, first claiming to check food safety, then fire safety, and finally our documentation, nitpicking. Basically, everything was fine, but they found tons of faults and claimed our documentation wasn’t complete."

Liang Hongmei went up and comfortingly patted her shoulder, turning to Xiao Gu, "Did they hit you?"

Xiao Gu nodded and said, "They said we lacked documentation, insisted on sealing our store, I argued with them, and then one started hitting me." Xiao Gu pointed to one of the staff members, and Liang Hongmei furrowed her brow, speaking to the leader, "Our documentation is complete; we consulted on it specifically when we registered. We considered everything needed, and our documentation is more complete than the nearby ones, including sanitation, fire safety. You’ve checked it before too, someone came to review it just days ago. On what grounds are you sealing our store? Also, while enforcing the law, hitting is wrong. We demand a proper explanation today."

"Your store has been reported for exceeding the worker limit; we have regulations that private businesses can’t exceed 8 workers. Your store currently exceeds eight, and this is exploitation. Beyond eight, it’s not ordinary individual economy, but capitalist economy. They say Shuxiang Pavilion earns thirty to forty thousand a year." The officer impatiently explained upon seeing Liang Hongmei arrive.

"Bah, where are we exploited? We earn what we deserve through labor, do less, get paid more. You can’t even imagine we chefs earn over forty dollars a month, more than specialized technical workers in regular units. We aren’t rebelling against exploitation, yet you’re meddling in our business." Aunt Liu firmly positioned herself in front of the store, looking righteous.

Liang Hongmei quickly tried to calm them, knowing the immediate need was to send these people away. Clashing with them was useless for ordinary folks like herself.