Yi Zhonghai felt completely baffled; he hadn't done anything wrong!
"Comrade Police officer, what did I do? I haven't broken any laws!"
However, the two Workers' Association personnel who had accompanied the police spoke up.
"Yi Zhonghai, why didn't the compensation money for Ma Xiaojuan reach her family's hands? Where is that money now?"
Yi Zhonghai had taken advantage of his position as First Elder to withdraw the funds. When Qin Huairu learned of this, she discussed the matter with Yi Zhonghai and they embezzled the money together.
Yi Zhonghai felt this was no big deal—if anyone was to be blamed, it should be Qin Huairu!
"Comrade Police officer, the money is not with me; Qin Huairu took it. She wanted to keep it safe for the two children, because after all, such a large sum of money wouldn't be safe in the hands of two kids!"
Yi Zhonghai's words sounded quite reasonable, and Qin Huairu chimed in right at that moment.
"Yes, Comrade Police officer, the two children have no parents and are orphans now. I figured that since I already have to raise three children anyway, I might as well take the compensation money first and help look after them!"
Both Zhang Ming and the personnel from the Support-the-Military Office frowned. Several of them looked toward Li Anquan at the same time, only to see a sneer on Li Anquan's face.
"Qin Huairu, I already told you that you must bring the money back. I don't need you to keep it safe for me! And Yi Zhonghai, what right did you have to give my family's money to Qin Huairu?"
"Is that your money? What gives you the right to make decisions about it?"
"Comrade Police officer, these two conspired to embezzle my mother's compensation money. Furthermore, that's why He Yuzhu threatened me!"
"After I demanded that Qin Huairu return my money, He Yuzhu verbally threatened and intimidated me, telling me not to ask for the money back, and even threatened to beat me every time he saw me. Today, he actually resorted to physical violence and hurt me!"
Yi Zhonghai tried to explain further, but Zhang Ming's expression darkened. He waved his hand at the two police officers beside him!
"Arrest those two as well! What kind of people are they? They even bully two children who have just lost their mother—have you people no shame?"
Qin Huairu was still trying to explain. "Comrade Police officer, I truly felt sorry for them and wanted to help keep it safe. I had good intentions!"
Zhang Ming sneered. "Good intentions? Didn't you just have your eyes on their money? Hand the money over immediately. The comrades from the Workers' Association are right here—if even a single penny is missing, the two of you can just wait to rot in prison!"
Terrified, Qin Huairu hurriedly nodded. "I'll get it, I'll get it! The money is in my house!"
With that, she was escorted into the room by the police officers. Mrs. Jia was startled to see Qin Huairu being escorted by the police, and she quickly got up to question them.
"Comrade Police officer, what is happening here? What mistake has my daughter-in-law made?"
The two police officers looked Mrs. Jia up and down. Since the victim, young comrade Li Anquan, had not filed a complaint against Mrs. Jia, they thought for a moment and offered a brief explanation.
"Qin Huairu concealed Ma Xiaojuan's compensation money and needs to go to the Public Security Bureau for trial!"
Mrs. Jia panicked instantly. The news of her son's death had already dealt her a heavy blow, and now her daughter-in-law was being taken away for investigation—what was happening to their family?
She rushed over and threw herself in front of the police officers. "Comrade Police officer, you can't do this! My son just passed away, I am getting old, and our family has no source of income whatsoever."
"Qin Huairu still needs to go to work to keep my son's job position, and besides, there are three children in our family, and Huaihua was just born not long ago and has no mother. How do you expect her to manage?!"
However, the police officers remained impartial and unyielding. "You can talk about all of that once you reach the Public Security Bureau. Since your family is in this situation, why did you go and embezzle someone else's money? If your family is having a hard time, how do you expect those two children to survive?!"
Realizing the police were completely determined to take her away, Qin Huairu walked over to the children and viciously pinched Huaihua.
Little Huaihua immediately burst into tears, her wails filling the room!
The police officers said nothing, so Qin Huairu had no choice but to grab the 650 yuan and follow the police out the door.
With a miserable expression, Mrs. Jia followed them outside and sat on the ground crying bitterly.
"How can our family be so wretched? My son just passed away, and now something like this happens! Is heaven trying to wipe our family out completely?"
As the team leader, Zhang Ming frowned and cast a sidelong glance at Mrs. Jia.
"What is going on with that person? Why is there still a child crying inside the room?"
The police officer who had just escorted Qin Huairu leaned close to Zhang Ming's ear and described the situation with the child inside the room, leaving Zhang Ming in a somewhat difficult position.
However, the priority right now was to get the money and hand it over to Li Anquan; whatever happened next would depend entirely on Li Anquan's wishes.
Bullying the family of a revolutionary martyr was no trivial matter—it all depended on whether the other party wanted to pursue it!
"Young comrade Li Anquan, this is your mother's compensation money. Count it—it's 650 yuan in total, which matches the records at the Workers' Association. As for your mother's job, I expect the union will give you a proper settlement."
The vice president of the Workers' Association also spoke up directly.
"Young comrade Li Anquan, our Workers' Association also bears some responsibility for what happened this time. As for the matter of your mother's job, theoretically it should be inherited by you."
"However, since you are still young, I have already thought of two options for you to choose from."
"First, this job position can be reserved for you. When you are a bit older, you can take it over directly."
"Second, you can temporarily sell this job position to someone else, and our union will help coordinate it for you!"
The attitude of the Workers' Association was extremely sincere, as they felt they too shared some fault in the matter for failing to let Ma Xiaojuan's family member, Li Anquan, collect the money in the first place.
Moreover, they felt deep sympathy for the fact that Ma Xiaojuan had perished, leaving two children behind.
Right then, Li Anquan stood frozen in place. The moment that thick stack of 650 yuan was placed in his hands, a system prompt rang out in his mind:
[Congratulations on acquiring 650 yuan in cash. You have successfully activated the System!]
[This system is a trading system. By expending the corresponding amount of cash, you can purchase anything!]
Watching the little fellow stand there in a daze after taking the money, Zhang Ming patted Li Anquan on the shoulder in puzzlement.
"Young comrade Li Anquan, the money has been recovered for you. What do you plan to do with these three people? If you don't intend to let them off, we will definitely deal with them severely."
Startled back to his senses by the pat, Li Anquan realized this was no time to check the system!
Nearby, Yi Zhonghai, He Yuzhu, and Qin Huairu all wore expressions of bitter distress!
After a moment of thought, Yi Zhonghai hurried over to Li Anquan and began negotiating with Zhang Ming right beside him.
"Comrade Police officer, Zhang Ming is still young and doesn't know how to make a decision. How about this? I made a mistake in this matter, and I am willing to accept punishment. But since the child just lost his mother, I am willing to compensate him 50 yuan, as long as my responsibility isn't pursued any further. After all, we really did have good intentions!"
Without answering, Zhang Ming tilted his head to look at Li Anquan, only to see the boy curl his lip in disgust.
"Good intentions? Would you want that kind of good intention if I offered it to you? Why don't you put all your money with me, then—how about that?"
Seeing Li Anquan's firm attitude, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to up the offer.
"How about this? I'll compensate you 100 yuan—a whole month's salary of mine. Surely that's fine? You haven't lost anything anyway, and the money has already been returned to you!"