Chapter 222

Lu Lu Qiao and Zhang Zhang Zhuliang rode their bicycles together toward the Security Section.

Lu Lu Qiao called out in her heart: "Who is nearby? Go and check whose dog bit Yaya, and who saw it happen..."

Little Little Cangcang was the first to fly over, suppressing its excitement: 【I'm here, I'm here! I'll go notify the other little friends...】

Lu Lu Qiao said: "Go ahead, and get everything in the surrounding area clear. The main thing is human testimony."

Little Little Cangcang nodded in agreement and zoomed away, disappearing from sight.

On the way, Lu Lu Qiao first criticized Zhang Zhang Zhuliang's impulsiveness, saying he should have gone to the Security Section immediately.

The child was injured so severely; the Security Section certainly couldn't just sit by and do nothing.

The Sun family went to the neighborhood office, which is fine, and the neighborhood office asking you to pay the Sun family three yuan was also the Sun family's request.

You didn't have any demands throughout the whole process; how do you expect people to help you?

When saying this, Lu Lu Qiao was not polite at all; it was a blunt, head-on criticism.

Although Zhang Zhang Zhuliang was being criticized by a young girl, he actually didn't feel angry in his heart; he even felt a sense of warmth.

Before he could say anything, Lu Lu Qiao softened her tone and said: "Don't worry, the people at the Security Section will definitely be able to find this dog. If it's a stray dog, I will apply to the neighborhood office for some nutritional expenses for the child. By the way, Uncle Zhang, why didn't you apply for hardship assistance?"

Zhang Zhang Zhuliang was silent for a moment before saying: "My family has two wage-earners, so we don't meet the criteria for assistance."

Lu Lu Qiao thought for a moment and said: "It's like this. Although your family has burdens, you are both wage-earners after all. Just a few days ago, when Sister Lu Qiao and I were conducting visits and investigations, we discovered that our military factory has many households in difficulty. For example, Liu Yu—her mother was murdered and her father passed away, which is no different from being orphaned. The family has no savings at all, and their food and such are all sent over by the neighborhood office. After her sister Liu Xia was found and brought back, because she just started working and hasn't received her first paycheck yet, their living expenses are currently subsidized by the neighborhood office."

"And then there's Master Tian's family in the scrap workshop. His wife is ill, his parents are bedridden, his eldest son is mentally disabled, and his second daughter has polio. Only the youngest son is normal, but he went missing years ago and still hasn't been found. In his family, he is the only one with a salary..."

The family residential area is so large that it's naturally impossible to know everyone. Zhang Zhang Zhuliang, who thought he was the most miserable person in the world, never expected there to be people even worse off than himself.

At this point, the two were no longer pushing their bikes. Once the road became easier, they had to ride their bicycles to the Security Section.

It was now after-work hours, but the Security Section still had people on duty.

Lu Lu Qiao said: "Speaking of assistance, Yaya was quite frightened this time. I'll go back to the neighborhood office and see if I can apply for some assistance for Yaya."

Only then did a glimmer of light appear in Zhang Zhang Zhuliang's eyes.

He hesitated for a moment and asked: "Will it cause you trouble?"

Lu Lu Qiao said: "Not at all. We all act according to the regulations. Whether one qualifies or not, there are relevant rules for everything."

When they arrived at the Security Section, Lu Lu Qiao followed him inside.

She noticed that Zhang Zhang Zhuliang was somewhat introverted and seemed reluctant to come out to handle matters.

She didn't expect Section Chief Jia to be the one on duty.

Seeing it was Lu Lu Qiao, Section Chief Jia was very surprised. When he saw Zhang Zhang Zhuliang beside her, he frowned. Who is this person, and why did Lu Qiao come to the Security Section with him?

He asked Lu Lu Qiao: "Is there something going on?"

Lu Lu Qiao explained Yaya's encounter and the child's current injuries, but she didn't mention the potential rabies, fearing it would agitate Zhang Zhang Zhuliang.

"A vicious dog hurting someone is, in the final analysis, the owner's problem. The owner must be held responsible. Yaya is only six years old; if she hadn't run desperately toward the courtyard, I'm afraid the child would have lost her life."

Section Chief Jia told Zhang Zhang Zhuliang to write down a statement of the situation.

Lu Lu Qiao said to Section Chief Jia in a low voice: "But I don't support a dog-killing campaign. This matter shouldn't be handled with a single stroke. Some dogs have gentle temperaments—for example, the little yellow dog that always comes to the neighborhood office to see me is very gentle with children. I will report to the director when I go to work tomorrow. It would be best to issue a notice to conduct a screening in the near future; it's better to keep large dogs leashed."

This was already the most appropriate suggestion.

Lu Lu Qiao sighed in her heart.

Zhang Zhang Zhuliang over there had finished writing and handed the notebook to Section Chief Jia.

After reading it, Section Chief Jia frowned and said to Zhang Zhang Zhuliang: "Let's go, I'll go to your house right now."

He said to Lu Lu Qiao: "Didn't you just say you were going to the Research Institute's family quarters? Go attend to your business; I'll have Sister Zhao from the section go along."

Hearing this, Lu Lu Qiao felt relieved.

At this moment, Zhang Zhang Zhuliang suddenly realized that problems could be solved this way too.

He had indeed been impulsive.

Mrs. Sun was usually quite nice and had helped his family many times.

The child also often played with the big black dog. Perhaps it really wasn't the Sun family's big black dog that bit her; the child was small and frightened, and not having seen clearly whose big dog it was, she just assumed it was Big Black. If the child really had misidentified it, then it was his fault, and he would apologize to the Sun family and compensate them as much as possible.

Thinking this way, that mindset of feeling like he had reached a dead end with nowhere to go improved a lot.

Zhang Zhang Zhuliang followed Section Chief Jia to find Sister Zhao first.

Lu Lu Qiao continued riding her bicycle toward the Research Institute's family quarters.

Meanwhile, Qin Qin Hengzhi had already gone to the Lu house. An enticing fragrance drifted from the kitchen, and Lu Da also pushed his bike into the courtyard.

Lu Lu Zhiguo returned early today and, after washing up, chatted with Qin Qin Hengzhi.

Xiao Si also returned, his cheeks flushed. He called out "Brother Qin" and then said to Meng Xia: "Mom, I just came back from the backyard. My sister went to see Yaya and even took Yaya's father to the Security Section to report the case."

Everyone in the courtyard was stunned.

They really hadn't known about this.

Meng Xia walked out of the kitchen and spoke about the dispute between the Sun and Zhang families.

Qin Qin Hengzhi stood up and said: "I'll go to the Research Institute to pick up Lu Qiao."

With this delay, Lu Lu Qiao would certainly be back late.

Then he called out to Xiao Si: "Do you want to come with me?"

Xiao Si jumped up in excitement: "Yes, yes, yes! I really want to!"

Qin Qin Hengzhi took Xiao Si and walked out of the courtyard.

However, his footsteps paused.

The sense of surprise and strangeness from earlier finally had an answer.

Every time he came over, he could feel that the looks the swallows and flowers gave him were meaningful.

Sparrows and pigeons—these were in the open, but there were others in the shadows. He couldn't be sure what they were, and it wasn't easy to ask Lu Lu Qiao.

In any case, every time he came to the Lu house, it wasn't just the Lu family members who liked to size him up; there were other unknown creatures sizing him up as well.

None of them had any malice.

Fortunately, he was used to all kinds of gazes from others, so he didn't take it to heart.

He was even gradually getting used to it, but today something was wrong. He had found the source of the wrongness: the many inexplicable gazes that usually watched him had disappeared today.

Clean and clear—not a single one left!

Qin Qin Hengzhi paused for only an instant before taking Xiao Si toward the jeep at the intersection.

After reaching the main road, they encountered the Security Section cadres who were riding bicycles to handle the case.

Section Chief Jia and Sister Zhao.

In front was a middle-aged man riding a bicycle.

That must be Zhang Zhang Zhuliang from the Lu family's backyard.