The old policeman's face looked rather complicated.
"Indeed. You're doing the right thing by turning in your own relatives," he said.
Just then, the young police officer who had left earlier walked back.
"Officer Shen, everything inside is almost ready. Should we send our interrogators in?"
Officer Shen nodded and asked an extra question.
"I heard the youngest child is only eight years old?"
"Yes," the young officer replied with a bitter look on his face. He thought it was absurd. What crimes could a bunch of kids possibly commit? Yet, they were brought here by the adults themselves.
"I'll go and question that child myself," Officer Shen said as he closed his notebook. Then he turned to look at the village head. "I'm quite curious about what made an eight - year - old child say such things."
The village head shivered. He felt that Officer Shen's look was full of complex emotions, and a sense of unease welled up in his heart.
Would this incident drag him into trouble?
Liu Kui tugged at the village head. "Let's go. Leave the rest to the police officers."
The village head nodded. Their main purpose was to bring the kids here.
What happened next had nothing to do with them. He didn't believe the police would ignore such a big matter.
Officer Shen opened the door and walked into the room where Yun Que'er was. He saw a little girl with baby fat sitting on a chair, fidgeting with her fingers. She looked so cute and innocent that Officer Shen couldn't help smiling.
This child was about the same age as his daughter and just as lovely.
Officer Shen knocked on the door. "Little girl, stop playing."
Yun Que'er quickly sat up straight. "Yes, Officer Uncle!"
Officer Shen chuckled, pulled over a chair, and sat opposite Yun Que'er.
"Do you know why you're here?"
"Sure," Yun Que'er nodded without hesitation. "The village head thought I said something wrong and that I was a reactionary, so he sent me to the police station."
This little girl was not scared at all. She was quite brave. And judging from her fluent speech and clear logic, Officer Shen couldn't help looking at her with approval.
This little girl was really smart.
Officer Shen opened his notebook. "Then tell me, what wrong things did you say?"
Yun Que'er blinked cutely and asked, "Officer Uncle, if I lie, will I stop being a good child?"
Officer Shen couldn't help laughing out loud. This little girl was so adorable.
"Uncle doesn't know if liars are good children, but most good children don't lie."
Yun Que'er nodded and thought seriously for a while before speaking.
"The village head said I shouldn't have sold the vegetables we grew at home, and I shouldn't have said in the village that one day every family would be able to farm their own land."
Yun Que'er's account was almost the same as what the village head had said. She didn't tell a single lie.
Officer Shen became interested. "You're very honest. That's praise - worthy. But you did do something wrong in these two things."
Yun Que'er stared into Officer Shen's eyes. "Then Uncle, where do you think I went wrong?"
Officer Shen raised his finger. "First, growing vegetables at home is a common practice, and everyone has turned a blind eye to it. But it's wrong to bring it out in the open. Second, current regulations don't allow private sales."
Yun Que'er said "oh" obediently. "That was really my mistake. But our family is not well - off. Sometimes the work points we earn aren't enough, and we can't afford good food. Although we haven't gone hungry this year, we were really poor before. I just wanted to share the burden for my family, so I came up with this idea. But it was really my fault. I won't do it again..."
Yun Que'er lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong, carefully rubbing her fingers.
Officer Shen felt relieved looking at Yun Que'er. Which child doesn't make mistakes? As long as they can correct them, it's the best virtue.
But... Yun Que'er said her family couldn't get enough to eat?
This wasn't a famine year, and although their province wasn't wealthy, it wasn't extremely poor either.
It was in the middle. Even if life wasn't smooth sailing, they shouldn't go hungry, right?
"Why can't your family get enough to eat? As far as I know, this kind of situation hasn't happened for many years."
Yun Que'er pouted, looking extremely aggrieved.
"Uncle, if I tell the truth, will you be angry?"
"Of course not," Officer Shen said gently, shaking his head. "Uncle likes to hear you tell the truth."
Only then did Yun Que'er look at Officer Shen carefully.
"Our family's condition isn't good. My father teaches in a primary school in the town, but his monthly salary is just so - so. It's very difficult for him to support our four siblings. And since my father is often away from home, my elder brother dropped out of school early to take care of us. But the village head saw that there was no adult in our family to back us up, and my elder brother is an honest man who never argues with others. So he gave us some really poor land to work on. The crops grown there are of poor quality, and even cutting pig grass is a hassle. So our family can't earn many work points. Even if we do, the village head will deduct some. He won't give us all the food coupons and money we deserve. There are so many of us in the family, so we go hungry for more than twenty days a month. Even when there's enough food, we always give way to each other, and our stomachs are always empty."
The more Yun Que'er talked, the more aggrieved she became, and her eyes turned red.
She was quite a good actress, looking exactly like a long - suffering slave.
"Uncle, if we can't even get enough to eat, how can we have the strength to work? Then we get caught in a vicious cycle. We get poorer and have less food..."
Officer Shen's face darkened, and his brows furrowed deeper.
He couldn't believe that in this day and age, there were still officials exploiting the common people!
"Didn't you resist?"
"Of course we did," Yun Que'er answered truthfully. "We argued with the village head, and later he gave us some better land to work on. Gradually, our family could get enough to eat. But the village head has held a grudge against us ever since. He comes to cause trouble every now and then. It's even worse than when we were hungry before. At least then we were just hungry, not tortured."
Officer Shen's face turned ashen. So it was the villain filing the first complaint!
"But what did you mean by saying that one day everyone would be able to farm their own land?"
"Actually, it's just a nice thought of mine," Yun Que'er said in a low voice. "If we didn't have to earn work points but could farm our own land, wouldn't we be able to eat enough without having to please others?"