Chen Mianmian really was making baseless accusations.
Because all those bruises were from the female supporting character herself—she punched herself, one blow after another.
She believed Chen Jinhui’s lies, thought Zhao Lingcheng really didn’t want his own child, so she kept punching herself, trying to get rid of the baby.
But who could have imagined a woman would be so cruel to her own body?
Just now, Jing Jing Wu, who had been sulking, helped her wrap up her clothes and brought over a stool.
“Hurry, hurry, sit down.”
Wiping her tears with bitterness, she asked,
“Does your stomach hurt? Do you want to go to the hospital?”
The onlookers also began to curse,
“Absolutely inhuman, completely heartless!”
The women all poked Chen Jinhui’s head.
“You really are something else.”
Lao Gong’an looked at the divorce certificate, but went straight to the heart of the matter: “You’ve been divorced for half a year. How long have you been pregnant? Who’s the father? Can you contact him, or do you want us to help?”
Jing Jing Wu finally snapped out of her daze and rushed to answer: “I’ve already sent a telegram to the child’s father.”
The telegram only had one sentence: I’m pregnant, the child is Zhao Lingcheng’s.
The rest was a matter of time.
Chen Mianmian could only wait.
She was even more concerned about how the Police Officer would handle Chen Jinhui.
She asked,
“Will my brother go to jail?”
Lao Gong’an closed the divorce certificate and said,
“We’ll take him away and give him a serious lecture.”
Chen Jinhui, with no way to defend himself, still had to try: “I swear to the leader, those injuries were all self-inflicted.”
Chen Mianmian retorted,
“And the rope around your waist, wasn’t that to tie me up and control me?”
Chen Jinhui argued with a straight face,
“I have to go to work, the rope is for tying up goods.”
He looked at the Police Officers: “On the Railway, goods fall off all the time, so you have to use rope to secure them.”
Xu Xiaomei also said,
“I saw it with my own eyes, all those bruises were from Chen Mianmian hitting herself.”
Lao Gong’an let out a cold laugh, but countered,
“As a family member, you saw her punching her own belly and just watched? Weren’t you afraid she might rupture her liver, spleen, or uterus, and both mother and child would die?”
Xu Xiaomei was at a loss for words, and Chen Mianmian almost wanted to applaud on the spot.
No wonder he was an old Comrade—his perspective was sharp.
But Lao Gong’an’s discerning eyes saw through the little tricks; nothing ordinary could fool him.
He closed the divorce certificate and quietly said to Chen Mianmian,
“If your brother really hit you, you’d have lost the baby already.”
If a man had really beaten her, not only would she have miscarried, her uterus might have come out as well.
Lao Gong’an saw through her lie, but just wanted to give Chen Jinhui a lecture and a verbal warning.
Chen Mianmian searched her memory and added,
“I also want to report Chen Jinhui. Back when he took the Iron Pipe Patrol Officer exam, his marksmanship wasn’t up to standard, so I shaved my head and took the test for him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made it into the Iron Pipe Bureau.”
The Police Officer taking notes paused, giving her a sidelong glance,
“You, you know how to shoot?”
But Lao Gong’an said,
“Comrade Xiao Li, eight thousand Xiangnu Shang Tianshan, women can hold up half the sky.”
This was the great Northwest in the 1960s—everyone was a soldier, and hunting was legal.
Her father died early, her mother had bound feet, and Chen Jinhui only knew how to play.
All the farm work at home was done by the female supporting character and her eldest sister.
The Minbing duties at home were handled by the female supporting character, who trained at shooting every day.
She was great with homemade guns.
Just as the Iron Pipe Bureau was recruiting, and marksmanship was the only criterion—only good shooters could make it.
Back then, there were no photos in the files, so the female supporting character shaved her head and took the test for him.
Out of all the applicants, she scored second-best, helping her brother land an Iron Rice Bowl.
No one expected the second sister to blurt out about the exam fraud, but now Chen Jinhui’s marksmanship had already improved.
He simply said,
“How about we get a gun, and I compete with my second sister? Let’s see whose marksmanship is better?”
Police Officer Xiao Li wanted to pull out his gun, but Lao Gong’an stopped him and asked Chen Mianmian,
“Why did you help him cheat on the exam?”
He added,
“Don’t you know the law? Don’t you realize if you get caught, you’ll go to jail?”
Chen Mianmian replied honestly,
“My mother knelt and begged me to help my brother.”
The female supporting character was just a sibling-pleaser, not crazy, but her mother, Wang Ximei, was an absolute son-protector.
After giving birth to eight daughters, she finally had a son.
Her husband died early, so she poured her heart into making her son successful, bringing glory to the family.
Getting a job with the Railway System was like a carp leaping over the dragon gate—a golden opportunity.
Of course Wang Ximei wouldn’t let it go.
She played on emotions, telling the female supporting character how hard it was to raise so many children, and reasoned with her too, making her believe that once her brother had a government job and became a cadre, he’d treat his sisters well and be filial.
The female supporting character loved her brother deeply; she shaved her head and went to help him in the exam.
The onlookers were outraged when they heard this.
Someone said,
“Such a good job in the Railway System, and he cheated his way in?”
Another said,
“Shouldn’t people like this be sent to jail?”
Lao Gong’an nodded,
“We’ll investigate all this, and take the people involved. Everyone, please calm down—everything will be based on evidence.”
The crowd chimed in,
“Check quickly! If it’s true, give him a sentence. This is just too much.”
The crowd wanted everyone they thought guilty to be locked up.
But Chen Jinhui knew the problem wasn’t that serious.
The Iron Pipe Bureau wouldn’t fire him just because of something Chen Mianmian said.
But now things were serious.
He had to admit fault and act humble to appease the crowd’s anger.
So he bowed deeply,
“No matter what, it’s my fault for upsetting my sister. I apologize to you, sis. I sincerely ask your forgiveness!”
Then he told everyone,
“I will fully cooperate with the Police Officer’s investigation.”
The Police Officer named Xiao Li stopped taking notes and asked Chen Mianmian,
“Can you read? If not, I’ll read the statement to you. If you agree, you can sign or put your fingerprint. Do you know how to write your name? If not, just draw a circle and then press your fingerprint.”
Xu Xiaomei also knew her husband would at most be detained for a few days, investigated, and then released, but she was still unwilling.
She sneered,
“A divorced woman abandoned by a man, hurting your brother is just hurting your own support. You’ll get your retribution sooner or later.”
Who knew Chen Mianmian would immediately respond,
“Comrade Police Officer, detention isn’t enough. I request that Chen Jinhui be executed by firing squad.”
Of course, execution was nonsense, but she needed the Police Officer to keep Chen Jinhui locked up longer.
Because whether it was Zhao Lingcheng or Zhao Hui, they were both in the Baomi Budui.
Quancheng was in the Gobi Desert, and the units were far apart.
Without a special vehicle, it was impossible to get there.
All the Family Compounds of the units required military family or visiting procedures to enter.
Chen Mianmian didn’t know when Zhao Hui would get the telegram, or if she would come to pick her up.
All she could do was wait.
But Chen Jinhui wasn’t just a staff member at the Iron Pipe Bureau—his three brothers-in-law were all still Minbing, and one of them was even a minor leader.
If he got out of jail, with his brothers-in-law around, wouldn’t they do Chen Mianmian in?
But hearing her speak so ruthlessly, Xu Xiaomei was enraged and screamed,
“Chen Mianmian, your mother gave birth to nine children!”
She yelled again,
“He’s the Baobei Erzi your mother had after eight money-losing daughters, and you want him dead?”
After eight daughters, she finally got a Tiao Ba Mao—truly something to bring honor to the ancestors, but his sister wanted him executed?
Chen Mianmian raised her eyebrows and sneered, asking lightly,
“He deserves his punishment, doesn’t he?”
Xu Xiaomei thought, if you’re heartless, then I’ll be unjust.
She shouted,
“Comrades, my second sister-in-law is having an affair!”
She continued,
“Do you know why her officer ex-husband dumped her? Because she was fooling around with another man! The child in her belly is a bastard, a little monster!”
The crowd thought the drama was over and started to leave, but suddenly things got even juicier?
The Police Officers were all shocked, none of them could believe it.
Military work was special, and military wives cheating was more likely.
Plus, Chen Mianmian was divorced…everyone looked at each other, thinking who knows what.
Only Jing Jing Wu didn’t believe it, saying loudly,
“Impossible.”
She added,
“I’ve seen her husband, he’s really good-looking. She’d never cheat.”
From calling Chen Mianmian crazy to accusing her of having an affair, Xu Xiaomei was using all the shrewish attacks.
Such attacks could be fatal for weak-willed women, but they couldn’t touch Chen Mianmian, who had a lawyer’s background.
She’d rested enough and stood up, confronting Xu Xiaomei directly.
She said,
“If I had an affair, there must be a Jianfu. Whoever claims it, proves it. You prove it—who is the Jianfu?”
Xu Xiaomei was about to speak, but Chen Jinhui shouted,
“Wife, shut up!”
He guessed that his wife wanted to bring up Wei Section Chief.
But, to be honest, during Chen Mianmian’s marriage, she’d only met Wei Section Chief twice.
After the divorce, they’d only met four or five times, held hands, and never anything more.
If there was something, wouldn’t he have known about the pregnancy?
Xu Xiaomei wanted to slander Chen Mianmian, but military wives having affairs was a very serious matter—adultery with a military wife was punishable.
Wei Section Chief hadn’t done anything, and if he was falsely accused, with his temper and his power in the Railway System, wouldn’t he kill Chen Jinhui?
Chen Jinhui couldn’t understand how his once loving second sister, who always thought of him, could turn on him so ruthlessly.
He couldn’t figure it out, and his head was about to explode.
She pressed Xu Xiaomei,
“Who’s the man who had an affair with me and destroyed my military marriage? Say it.”
Xu Xiaomei came to her senses and dared not speak, only muttered,
“You know in your own heart.”
Chen Mianmian sneered and said,
“You can’t say, because you’re making it up. But because of your rumors, everyone here will misunderstand me, and the rumors will spread, and I won’t be able to live. I’ll be so miserable I’ll commit suicide.”
Jing Jing Wu cried with genuine feeling, Mianmian
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