Ch 150: Humiliation

“Qin Yun, my young friend, you’ve helped us solve another major case. Thank you!”

Captain Hao, his face full of gratitude, warmly shook Qin Yun’s hand.

“Another major case?” Qin Yun was somewhat puzzled.

“Recently, four cases of extortion and blackmail of the masses by people impersonating police officers, as well as malicious beatings of innocent people resulting in injury, have occurred in our county.

Our investigation revealed that these perpetrators are the culprits, and I’ve long wanted to bring them to justice.

These guys are very cunning, having multiple hiding places and strong counter-intelligence capabilities. The first two times I was about to arrest them, they slipped away. This time, thanks to the clues you provided, I was able to catch them.” Captain Hao explained with a chuckle.

“So these guys are habitual criminals and bullies.” Qin Yun nodded.

“Qin Yun, my young friend, we’ll handle the rest. However, there’s one more thing that needs your and your friend’s cooperation.” Captain Hao said.

“Understood. It’s about giving statements, right?” After the incident with Old Woman Dragon, Qin Yun had a basic understanding of police procedures.

“Yes, it’s our duty, and I hope you understand.” Captain Hao said.

“This is our responsibility as involved parties, of course we understand.” Qin Yun nodded.

Following this, Captain Hao took out a notebook and a pen and personally recorded Qin Yun’s statement.

His subordinates also began to record statements from the onlookers, Ye Xiong, and Li Chunmei.

Qin Yun recounted the whole story: how Liu Shuyin framed Li Chunmei for being involved in the flesh trade, drugged the two men, and used this to threaten Li Chunmei into giving up her cornea and tofu recipe.

After Captain Hao finished recording, his subordinates, having also finished recording statements, approached him to review their work.

After reviewing the villagers’ statements, Captain Hao frowned.

Almost all the villagers believed that Li Chunmei had sold her body, and Liu Shuyin’s subordinates also insisted on this.

Only Qin Yun and Ye Xiong believed Li Chunmei was innocent.

Their testimonies alone would not be enough.

“Qin Yun, don’t worry. After I bring these guys back to the station and interrogate them thoroughly, we will definitely clear Ms. Li Chunmei’s name. However, before we get the results of our interrogation, Ms. Li Chunmei must remain in the county town and cooperate with our investigation.”

Captain Hao trusted Qin Yun and knew that Liu Shuyin and her accomplices were not telling the truth.

The only problem was the statements of the more than a dozen villagers who witnessed the event.

These villagers all unanimously believed Li Chunmei had sold her body, which Captain Hao had to take seriously, as selling one’s body is also illegal.

“Captain Hao, I really didn’t sell my body.” Li Chunmei bit her lip, her face looking terrible.

For a normal woman, selling one’s body is a shameful thing. If the villagers of Peach Blossom Village found out, she and her mother, Zhang Xiuhua, would never be able to hold their heads up again.

“Sister Chunmei, don’t worry, Captain Hao will definitely find out the truth and clear your name.” Qin Yun, believing in Captain Hao’s ability, softly comforted Li Chunmei.

“Yunzi, as long as you believe I didn’t do that, I’m relieved.” Li Chunmei sighed in relief after hearing Qin Yun’s words.

“Of course I believe you’re not that kind of woman.” Qin Yun said.

“Since you believe me, why did you look unhappy when you saw me before, and why did your tone sound like you were blaming me?” Li Chunmei asked in confusion.

“I believe you didn’t sell your body, but why did you do those unwise things, causing yourself to lose your virginity?” Mentioning this, Qin Yun frowned again.

“I…I…” Li Chunmei was very shocked, her face flushed red. Qin Yun had only taken her pulse, yet he could tell she was no longer a virgin and even knew about the unwise things she had done.

Ye Xiong also wanted to comfort Li Chunmei, but seeing her whispering with Qin Yun, her face flushed red, he quickly shut his mouth and wisely stepped back two steps.

Li Chunmei must be flirting with Qin Yun, and as Qin Yun’s good brother, he couldn’t be a third wheel!

Captain Hao was arranging for his subordinates to handle the case and didn’t notice Li Chunmei’s expression.

After giving instructions to his subordinates, he turned to Li Chunmei and said:

“Ms. Li Chunmei, please believe us. After we interrogate these thugs, we will definitely clear your name.”

Li Chunmei naturally believed Captain Hao.

She nodded, about to respond, when suddenly a dozen elementary school students wearing red scarves ran in from the outer edges of the crowd.

These students wore tattered clothes and looked malnourished; their clothes were also covered in mud and leaves.

They all carried bamboo baskets filled with wild herbs; sweat covered their foreheads, and they were out of breath.

Seeing these children, Li Chunmei immediately frowned and said angrily:

“Xiao Wei, Yingzi, didn’t I tell you that the final exams are coming soon? Don’t go collecting herbs these days, stay home and review your lessons. Why don’t you listen?”

“Teacher Li, you were wronged as a dirty woman because you helped us raise tuition money. You were looked down upon by the villagers and dismissed by Principal Lu. We are so sorry.”

“We heard you were bullied again, so we ran all the way from the mountain. Today we must help you get justice.”

“…”

The children spoke firmly in their childish voices.

After speaking, without waiting for Li Chunmei to speak, they quickly looked towards Captain Hao.

“Uncle, Teacher Li is a good person. She has never done anything dirty.”

“Teacher Li knew that our families were poor and couldn’t afford tuition, so she used her meager salary to buy soybeans, working overtime at night to make tofu. She used the money from selling tofu to pay for our tuition.

Her tofu is delicious. After these bad guys tasted it, they would send two people to Teacher Li’s house to buy tofu every day. They always bought a lot, almost buying all of Teacher Li’s tofu.

For the first two times, they paid on time, but later they used various excuses to delay payment. Teacher Li urged them many times before they suggested buying her tofu recipe.

At first, Teacher Li refused to sell the recipe, so they sent people to persuade her. Later, for our tuition fees and to buy new desks and chairs for the school, she agreed to their request.

But after agreeing, they started to lower the price, wanting to buy Teacher Li’s tofu recipe at the lowest price.

They sent people to persuade Teacher Li to accept their price every day, staying in Teacher Li’s house for half an hour each time. That’s how Teacher Li was framed as an unclean woman…”

After hearing the children’s account, Captain Hao quickly walked to the two men who had pretended to faint and sternly said:

“I’ll give you a chance to atone for your crimes. Is what the children said true? As long as you tell the truth, I will definitely give you credit. If you continue to cover up, your crime will be aggravated…even if you don’t say anything, I can quickly find out the truth.”

At this point, the two men realized that Liu Shuyin was about to be finished.

After only a moment’s hesitation, the two men honestly confessed the truth.

What they said was exactly the same as what the children had just said.

Li Chunmei worked hard making tofu to earn money to help the children raise tuition fees and buy some extracurricular reading materials.

Liu Shuyin targeted her tofu recipe and cornea, deliberately having her subordinates harass her every day, and spreading rumors that she was running a flesh trade in her house to ruin her reputation.

Finally, she had people impersonate police officers to arrest Li Chunmei, so that Liu Shuyin could easily obtain her cornea and tofu recipe.

If Qin Yun hadn’t uncovered it, Liu Shuyin’s scheme would have succeeded.

The onlookers were awakened from their daze, finally understanding the truth.

It turned out that it was all Liu Shuyin’s scheme.

Li Chunmei was not a dirty woman; on the contrary, she was a rare good person.

She was willing to sell her ancestral tofu recipe to help the poor children in the village.

Yet the villagers believed Liu Shuyin’s lies, insulting, slandering, and even ostracizing Li Chunmei.

After understanding the truth, everyone was ashamed.

“Teacher Li, we’re sorry, we wronged you!”

“It’s all our fault for being so foolish, we were actually deceived by that bad woman Liu Shuyin!”

“Teacher Li, we won’t say anything else. From now on, we’ll provide all the soybeans you need for making tofu, free of charge!”

“…”

The villagers gathered around Li Chunmei, sincerely apologizing and offering free help.

“No, no, how can I accept your soybeans for free?” Li Chunmei was very moved, but she absolutely couldn’t accept the villagers’ soybeans for free.

“These children are all from our village. You are willing to sacrifice everything to help them go to school, so we should do this even more.”

“Teacher Li, if you don’t agree, we’ll be ashamed to see people in the future.”

“…”

Under the villagers’ strong request, Li Chunmei finally accepted their soybeans.

In return, she made an agreement with everyone that she would give everyone a large bowl of tofu for free in the future.

At this time, a middle-aged woman wearing a tube skirt and a white shirt, wearing glasses, and looking cultured and refined walked out from the crowd.

Behind her was an old gentleman with a somewhat bald head.

Qin Yun immediately recognized the old gentleman as the gatekeeper of the Migrant Workers’ Children’s School.

Seeing the middle-aged woman, Li Chunmei quickly stepped forward and asked in surprise: “Principal Lu, why are you here?”

This middle-aged woman was indeed the school’s Principal Lu.

“Teacher Li, I’m sorry, we all wronged you…From now on, you are a formal teacher of our school.” The Migrant Workers’ Children’s School wasn’t far from here, and after learning the truth, Principal Lu immediately rushed over to sincerely apologize to Li Chunmei.

“A formal teacher?” Li Chunmei was very excited. She never dreamed that she could actually become a real teacher.

“Ms. Li Chunmei, congratulations. Now that the truth is clear, I withdraw what I said earlier; you are free to go.” Captain Hao said with a smile.

Qin Yun and Ye Xiong also smiled and congratulated her.

“Sister Chunmei, congratulations!”

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