CHAPTER 132: CHAPTER 132: COLLECTING EVIDENCE OF CRIME

Mother Qiao mused for a moment and said, "Well, that’s not entirely true. There are people in the world like a judge—upright, kind, and unafraid of authority. However, such people are very rare. If one emerges, it would be a blessing for the common folk."

Hearing this, Qiao Muchen pressed his lips together. After thinking for a while, he seemed to understand his mother’s meaning. He understood that the ’judge’ as a specific person didn’t exist, but people *like* a judge did, though such individuals were very hard to find. He took a deep breath. I won’t give up! he resolved.

Then he turned and went back into the study.

Watching her son’s retreating figure, Mother Qiao’s eyes revealed a hint of sadness and worry. She murmured softly, "Would he want his son to follow his path?"

Old Lady Qian, who was nearby, naturally knew that the "he" Mother Qiao referred to was Qiao Muchen’s father. She also knew that Mother Qiao wasn’t actually asking her, so she simply remained quietly by her side without speaking.

Afterwards, Mother Qiao sighed. She turned her gaze towards Old Lady Qian and said with a teary smile, "Chen’er is so much like him, isn’t he?" Looking up at the sky, she then added, "Mama Qian, let’s send some snacks in later. Don’t let Chen’er go hungry."

「 」

Meanwhile, after the Zhao Family had seen Qiao Muchen and the others off, Grandmother anxiously asked what had actually happened.

Zhao Dong and Sun Mei, afraid of worrying her maternal grandfather’s family, didn’t tell them the truth. They only said they had accidentally offended Landlord Qin, who had then taught them a lesson, but that everything was fine now.

Zhao Guifen glared at her daughter and son-in-law, retorting unhappily, "Still trying to fool me? What do you mean, ’fine’? If everything was truly fine, why would Mr. Meng say he’s staying for a few days?"

Sun Mei quickly took Zhao Guifen’s arm and said patiently, "Mother, it’s really alright. Mr. Meng is staying just as a precaution. Don’t worry. Besides, with someone as capable as Mr. Meng here, even if more of their household guards came, he could drive them all away."

Only after Sun Mei’s repeated reassurances did Zhao Guifen return home, still only half-convinced.

After her maternal grandfather’s family had left, Zhao Dong sat in the courtyard, thinking. "Tomorrow, I’ll go find Wang Fuhai," he said. "This matter is definitely not that simple."

Sun Mei nodded. "I was thinking the same. There’s probably a mole within Guang Ju Restaurant."

Once they had agreed, Sun Mei went to prepare dinner. Since Zhao Yu and Meng Fusheng had returned today, she had to prepare a delicious meal.

At this moment, Zhao Zhitong was with Zhao Ya, gathered around Zhao Yu, looking at the small toys he had brought back.

"Look, this is a pellet drum. It sounds wonderful when you shake it." Zhao Yu, as if presenting a treasure, shook the pellet drum, instantly producing a CLACK-CLACK-CLACK sound.

He handed it to Zhao Zhitong. "Here you go, sis."

Being a child, her attention was easily diverted by new things, and the unpleasant feelings from earlier were temporarily forgotten.

Right then, her eyes full of curiosity, she looked at the pellet drum, took it, and shook it gently. Instantly, there was a clear, crisp CLACK-CLACK-CLACK sound.

She played with it for a while, then handed it to Zhao Ya beside her.

"Haha, Sister Yaya, here, you shake it. It’s really fun."

Zhao Ya’s eyes lit up instantly. She took the pellet drum and began to play with it, treasuring it.

Besides the pellet drum, Zhao Yu had also brought back a pair of Xiao Laohu. Of course, these were cloth dolls stuffed with wheat husks.

The Xiao Laohu were about one and a half times the size of an adult’s palm, plump and round, with large embroidered eyes, looking very cute.

Zhao Zhitong fell in love with them instantly, holding hers close. Even while eating, she kept it on her lap.

Zhao Yu had brought back a pair, so Zhao Ya and Zhao Zhitong each got one. To tell them apart, Zhao Zhitong suggested embroidering a character on each Xiao Laohu’s ear.

So, this task fell to Zhao Ya, while Zhao Zhitong was responsible for writing their names on paper.

Zhao Ya handled the embroidery. The character ’Tong’ was embroidered on Zhao Zhitong’s Xiao Laohu, and the character ’Ya’ on Zhao Ya’s Xiao Laohu.

Zhao Zhitong stood by, watching Zhao Ya embroider, her words sweet. "Sister Yaya, your hands are so deft! The embroidery is beautiful."

Then, after Zhao Ya finished, Zhao Zhitong grabbed her Xiao Laohu and ran out to show it to her parents.

「 」

After the unpleasant events of the day, the family washed up and went to bed early that night.

Because her father was injured, Zhao Zhitong didn’t want to leave him, so she pestered them until they let her sleep in the same bed with Zhao Dong and Sun Mei.

The next morning, as Zhao Zhitong headed off to school with her luggage box, Zhao Dong went directly to the marketplace to find Wang Fuhai.

When Zhao Zhitong arrived at the school gate, she happened to meet Qiao Muchen, who was waiting for her there.

Upon seeing Zhao Zhitong, he jogged over to her side and asked, "Tongtong, are you okay?"

Zhao Zhitong blinked. Looking at Qiao Muchen, she pointed at his eyes after a moment and, instead of answering his question, asked, "Qiao Jiaojiao, did you stay up late?"

Qiao Muchen was taken aback and said, a little embarrassed, "How did you know?"

Zhao Zhitong said, "Aren’t you silly? Don’t you look in the mirror before leaving the house? Look at you, you’ve practically become a panda!"

Zhao Zhitong knew Qiao Muchen had likely stayed up all night to help her find the ’judge.’ She felt both happy and a little bad about it, so she said disapprovingly, "Staying up late is bad for your health, you know. Don’t do it again, okay?"

Qiao Muchen obediently nodded. "Okay, I won’t."

If Mother Qiao had seen this, she certainly would have laughed in exasperation. She had lectured her son all morning about not staying up late, but he stubbornly hadn’t listened. Now, at a single word from Zhao Zhitong, he obediently complied.

Qiao Muchen had something he wanted to tell Zhao Zhitong, so he eagerly pulled her to the side of the road. "Tongtong, I know where the ’judge’ is!" he said. "My mother said ’judge’ is just a term for those especially upright, kind officials who do good deeds for the people. But, they are very hard to find."

He thought for a moment, then added, "But don’t worry. Since a ’judge’ is an official, he must be in the County Government Office."

Hearing this, Zhao Zhitong’s eyes lit up. Qiao Muchen’s reasoning makes a lot of sense, she thought. It’s just like the police in my previous life; they were all in police stations. Therefore, she declared she would go to the County Government Office on her next day off to find the ’judge’ and file a complaint!

"No, no," Qiao Muchen said.

She had just voiced her idea when Qiao Muchen immediately rejected it. "You can’t go looking for the ’judge’ like that."

Zhao Zhitong blinked, puzzled. "Why not?"

Qiao Muchen explained, "Haven’t you read in books? A judge needs evidence to arrest someone. We need to find proof that Landlord Qin is a bad person, write it down as a Charge Sheet, and then give it to the ’judge’."

Hearing this, Zhao Zhitong thought he made a lot of sense. "I think you’re right," she said. "Then I’ll start by gathering evidence that the landlord is a bad person!"

Qiao Muchen nodded. "Mm-hmm, I’ll go with you!"

"I’ll go with you too."

Just then, Wei Shulan’s voice suddenly came from behind them.

Zhao Zhitong was startled. Turning around, she saw Wei Shulan standing there and said happily, "Lanlan? When did you get here?"