1959Siheyuan, a Turnaround

Chapter 375 A guilty conscience

Meng Cuilan, the daughter-in-law of Yi Zhonghai next door, was nervously cooperating with the police's investigation. Her eyes were full of confusion and fear, and her hands were shaking slightly unconsciously.

The public security comrade asked softly, "Meng Cuilan, please tell us about the usual situations of Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady."

Meng Cuilan swallowed her saliva and tried to calm herself down: "Comrade Gong'an, I am just a housewife. Since I married Yi Zhonghai, I have been doing housework and taking care of Yi Zhonghai's daily life at home all day. I also deliver meals to the deaf old lady every day. I don't know anything else..."

There was a hint of crying in her voice, as if she had returned to the anxious moment of yesterday.

As night fell last night, Meng Cuilan sat alone in a chair, her eyes drifting towards the door from time to time.

The clock was ticking, and every tick seemed to strike her heart hard.

It was so late and Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady had not returned yet. Meng Cuilan began to feel uneasy.

Finally, she could no longer suppress her anxiety, stood up, and hurried to the street office.

At this time, the street office had already gone off work, and only Director Wang was left in the office.

Director Wang was sitting at the desk sorting some documents. He looked up when he heard footsteps.

When she saw that the person coming was Yi Zhonghai's daughter-in-law Meng Cuilan, she paused while packing the documents, and then looked over with an inquiring look.

"busy?"

Meng Cuilan asked anxiously, "Director Wang, do you know where the deaf old lady went? Didn't she come with you to the street office? Why hasn't she gone back yet? I'm worried so I came here to ask."

Director Wang put down the documents in his hand, looked at Meng Cuilan deeply, and frowned.

Then, she slowly said, "The old lady and Yi Zhonghai have something to do and can't come back today." After that, she stopped talking and lowered her head to continue with the work in her hands.

The truth is, she had received orders from above that she could not reveal any information about that matter.

Meng Cuilan's lips trembled slightly. She wanted to ask something else, but Director Wang's secretive look made her swallow her words.

Why aren't you coming back today? Did something happen?

She walked out of the street office in a daze. When the cold wind blew outside, she couldn't help but shiver, and the uneasiness in her heart became more and more intense.

What could it be? Director Wang refused to say, so it must be something serious.

Meng Cuilan pondered secretly in her heart, and her steps became heavy.

As she walked, she suddenly thought of something.

Is it because of the living expenses of Shazhu brother and sister?

But it’s been so long since then, and didn’t the deaf old lady come forward to resolve the problem?

Could it be that He Daqing is bringing up old issues again?

Her mind was in a mess, with all kinds of thoughts running through her mind.

After returning home, she paced back and forth in the house like an ant on hot pan.

The dim light stretched her shadow long and reflected on the wall, making her look particularly lonely and uneasy.

"No, I have to go ask Sha Zhu."

Meng Cuilan gritted her teeth and walked straight towards Sha Zhu's house regardless of the lateness of the night.

Inside the house, Sha Zhu had already prepared the food. The family was sitting around the table, preparing to eat, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

When Sha Zhu opened the door and saw Meng Cuilan's face full of panic and worry, his heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that the Municipal Bureau has already taken action?

When arresting Yi Zhonghai, the public security comrades acted quickly. Except for Li Dajiang from the security department, no one else was aware of the situation, so Sha Zhu also just learned the news.

Meng Cuilan's voice was a little tearful: "Silly Zhu, you have to tell me the truth, what happened to your uncle and the old lady? Why haven't they come back yet?"

"Auntie, what are you asking? How can I know what happened between the uncle and the old lady? Where did they go? Why are you asking me this?"

Meng Cuilan then asked what happened today and her guesses.

Sha Zhu realized that Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady must have been arrested, and he instantly felt very happy.

But the aunt in front of him was not wrong. When they were in the most difficult time, Yi Zhonghai did not help, and the aunt even secretly gave Yu Shui food. He always remembered this kindness.

Sha Zhu pretended to be calm and said comfortingly, "Auntie, don't let your imagination run wild. He might come back tomorrow. Go back and have a good rest first, and don't scare yourself."

Meng Cuilan tightly grasped Sha Zhu's arm and said, "Sha Zhu, you must know something. Just tell me. I feel like I'm being scratched by a cat."

Sha Zhu shook his head helplessly: "Auntie, I really don't know. Just listen to me and go back first. Director Wang from the Street Office said they can't come back today. They must have been delayed by something."

Meng Cuilan looked at Sha Zhu, her eyes full of disappointment, but she also knew that asking further would yield no results.

She slowly loosened her hand, turned around and walked away slowly.

Sha Zhu stood at the door, looking at Meng Cuilan's lonely back, praying silently in his heart that all this would end soon so that this innocent woman would no longer suffer.

Meng Cuilan returned home in disappointment, lost her appetite and did not sleep all night.

Until this morning, a knock on the door broke the silence.

Meng Cuilan opened the door and saw a team of public security comrades standing at the door. Her heart beat faster instantly.

The public security comrade said solemnly: "Comrade Meng Cuilan, Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady have been arrested for committing a crime. We are now going to conduct a search and collect evidence."

Meng Cuilan's eyes widened in disbelief, "Crime? How is that possible? What crime could they have committed?"

Her body swayed slightly and she felt like the whole world was collapsing.

The public security comrades searched the house carefully, and soon found the letters that Yi Zhonghai had intercepted from Sha Zhu's brother and sister.

When Meng Cuilan saw the letters, she was stunned.

She wondered in amazement, “These letters were missing last year, how come they are here?”

Her heart was full of doubts, but she didn't dare to ask more questions at this moment.

Little did she know that these letters were secretly put back by Li Weiguo last night while Meng Cuilan was asleep.

He wanted to expose all of Yi Zhonghai's crimes. How could he let go of something that would add fuel to the fire?

The public security comrade opened the letter and took a look. When he saw the contents clearly, he looked at the comrade next to him, and immediately handed the stack of letters in his hand over and put them in a file bag.

"Comrade Meng Cuilan, next we'll ask you to go with us to the Public Security Bureau to cooperate with the investigation."

Seeing this, Meng Cuilan nodded woodenly and followed the public security comrades to the Public Security Bureau.

In the Public Security Bureau, she saw Li Dajiang, Li Weiguo, Sha Zhu and his son, and Qin Huairu.

The others all looked normal, except Qin Huairu, who looked pale and her eyes were full of fear.

Seeing Meng Cuilan was also brought here, Qin Huairu couldn't wait to come over and whispered, "Auntie, what's going on? Why did you bring us here?"

Unlike others, Qin Huairu was afraid!

After Yi Zhonghai suddenly disappeared, she felt more guilty than anyone else, fearing that her affair with Yi Zhonghai would be discovered.

She even didn't dare to go to Yi Zhonghai's house to inquire about the situation last night. The feeling of fear tormented her all night long.

Early this morning, she had just arrived at the steel rolling mill with trepidation when she was brought here by comrades from the security department.

To be honest, if she hadn't seen Shazhu and a few others there, she would have been unable to even stand!