Chapter 443: Ten years later, Liu Haizhong and his sons were taken away

Shazhu, hearing the noise come from inside the house, saw the neighbors' faces wearing the look of impending disaster, and hearing Er Da Ma emphasize as if wailing for the dead, he knew the neighbors had mistakenly thought Liu Haizhong and his sons had been arrested, believing another panic‑inducing drama was about to play out, since everyone had just enjoyed a few days of peace.

Only Shazhu understood clearly; he knew this was settling scores after the fact.

Some people really thought the matter was just over.

Pure nonsense.

Back then you drove them to a dead end, staring at family ruin and death; now that they have power, they will surely come to settle old scores with you.

Liu Haizhong is not Deputy Factory Director Li.

The things the official‑obsessed did when he was team captain were ruthless, bestial, and cold‑blooded; Liu Guangfu and Liu Guangtian were also his willing accomplices.

Fine.

The father and son trio were all taken away.

They probably won't come back easily.

Shazhu turned his gaze toward Qin Huairu across the way.

The arrest of Liu Haizhong and his sons hit Qin Huairu like a massive hammer, pounding heavily on her. At that moment, standing there like a wooden puppet, Qin Huairu no longer thought about quarreling with Shazhu over money or house; all her mind was on whether she would follow Liu Haizhong's fate. Not knowing what she had thought, her face showed desolation, and the body that had been calm before now trembled slightly.

She was afraid!

That makes sense.

Back then Qin Huairu relied on her meaningless title as head of the Yagangchang's Mistake‑Correction Team to become a Liu Haizhong in her own right, though not actually Liu Haizhong.

She threw her weight around at the Yagangchang and the siheyuan for a while.

But because Liu Haizhong had done too much evil earlier, everyone who deserved punishment had been dealt with; those left were people who could survive scrutiny, and Qin Huairu also benefited from Liu Haizhong's influence, so her wrongdoing wasn't that terribly vicious.

Otherwise, the Security Section that came today, while taking away Liu Haizhong and his sons, would certainly have also taken Qin Huairu along.

Qin Huairu must have, upon seeing Liu Haizhong's situation, thought of her own fate, which made her panic and helpless, fearing she would be settled scores with. In her flustered hurry she didn't even care about the Jia family's house, and she slunk away alone into her own home.

Jia Zhangshi followed behind Qin Huairu and also went home.

They were both guilty‑conscience.

After the Jia family mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law left,

Shazhu looked around at the neighbors, who were like startled birds, and spoke a few comforting words.

"Don't panic, we should trust Factory Director Yang; it's not a big deal. Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. We are all honest folks; we know what we've done and what we haven't, and the bosses at the Yagangchang know it too. We just need to keep our minds at ease."

"Shazhu, really nothing wrong?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Shazhu said. "Why was Liu Haizhong taken away? Think about what he did back then—it had nothing to do with the neighbors. What's there to panic about? Strictly speaking, we are all victims of Liu Haizhong when he was team captain; we have all suffered at his hands. Believe in yourself, believe in Factory Director Yang and them."

The neighbors pondered carefully.

They found Shazhu's words reasonable.

Liu Haizhong's evil deeds brought retribution upon his own head, having nothing to do with them; after dismissing the idle talk, they each went back to their own homes.

After the neighbors left one by one, Shazhu, who stayed behind, began to think wildly.

Going by the memories of my previous life, it seems Liu Haizhong and his sons never suffered posthumous reckoning; indeed, because of my presence as a clueless benefactor, the couple enjoyed their old age in Shazhu's retirement siheyuan, truly living without worry about food or drink and with someone to bury them when they died.

Could it be that, having been reborn, I have produced this so‑called butterfly effect?

Perhaps that's it!

Regarding the arrest of Liu Haizhong and his sons,

Shazhu has viewed it with a calm mind from start to finish.

A grievance has a source.

A debt has an owner.

The evil Liu Haizhong brought upon himself must be repaid by him; if there were truly no consequences, those whose families were destroyed by his bullying would never find peace, living their whole lives in guilt.

Shazhu was worried for Xu Daming; since Factory Director Yang resumed his post, there has been no news of Xu Daming at all—not even his parents know where he went, and Xu Daming's wife Qin Jingru doesn't know where Biesun is now, a true state of neither corpse nor living person seen.

Their relationship is not bad.

I really don't want Xu Daming to end up being settled scores over.

"Ah!"

A sigh.

It flew from Shazhu's mouth.

After glancing at the siheyuan, now changed beyond recognition, Shazhu turned and headed home.

……

Jia Family.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi trembled like sieved chaff.

The arrest of Liu Haizhong and his sons severely stimulated Qin Huairu; just thinking of his arrest made her feel she herself was about to be taken away.

She panicked.

Jia Zhangshi also panicked.

Their backsides weren't exactly clean.

To show off, Jia Zhangshi alone set up whatever the Siheyuan Correction Corps was, naming herself captain, leaning on Qin Huairu, the team leader behind her, for support.

She acted arrogantly in the siheyuan for a long time.

It also gave the neighbors a period of resentment.

If it were truly a reckoning after the autumn,

Qin Huairu couldn't have a good outcome.

Jia Zhangshi couldn't have a good outcome either.

Jia Zhangshi, trembling all over, glanced at Qin Huairu, who seemed as if she had touched an electric switch, and asked:

"Huairu, what are we to do? Will we also be taken away? You know people at the Yagangchang—go pull some strings, get them to say a word for the Jia family, or else the Jia family will be gone. When Bangeng comes back in the future, where will he live? As his grandmother, I still want to see him marry and have children."

The big fool asks the second fool.

How would Qin Huairu know what to do?

If there really were a way.

It's not so bad that they'd be afraid and hide inside, refusing to come out.

Seeing Qin Huairu not give her a clear answer, Jia Zhangshi's panic intensified; the thought that the Jia Family's house was about to be taken away made her even more frightened.

Indeed, tears poured down like rain.

She immediately burst into loud wailing.

Her wailing left Qin Huairu even more flustered; she stared pleadingly at Jia Zhangshi and turned her head away.

……

Yagangchang

Security Section

Liu Haizhong and his two sons had just been brought in; Liu Guangtian, who had remained silent all the way, suddenly began to loudly complain.

Actually, it wasn't really a protest.

It was more like dogs fighting each other.

Liu Guangtian didn't see it that way; in his mind, it was his turning over a new leaf, righteousness overriding kinship, a firm stand to draw a clear line with Liu Haizhong's evil forces.

What father-son bond?

What fatherly kindness and filial devotion?

Liu Guangtian threw all of it behind his back.

When disaster strikes, each goes their own way.

Having been beaten by Liu Haizhong since childhood, he took it as revenge for Liu Haizhong's rod discipline.