Chapter 54: Su Ruo's Counterattack

The gang leader looked at Su Ruo and said, "I'm telling you, what's the point of this? You already know my dad is the deputy chief; why bother bringing suffering upon yourself."

We've had no grudge before and none now; I'm not insisting on doing anything to you.

Let me tell you the truth! It's the son of your village accountant, Wu Xiaofeng, who ordered us to do this; he said he has a grudge against you and wants us to help him vent his anger.

We're all brothers; we didn't think too much about it at the time. Now you've hit us and caused a scene—shouldn't that be enough?

If you still think it's not enough, I can just call Wu Xiaofeng out and let you beat him up; continuing to drag this out won't do you any good.

Su Ruo lifted her head, looked at him coldly, and asked, "If it weren't just a coincidence that I know martial arts, what would you do to me today?"

The gang leader's face darkened slightly; with everyone blocked in the alley and this being such a young, beautiful girl, what else could they do? Of course, they'd take turns enjoying themselves first.

Seeing he didn't speak, Su Ruo continued, "If I beg for mercy from you, will you let me go?"

The gang member knew they certainly wouldn't; they wouldn't let Su Ruo go, and in fact would feel even happier seeing her cry harder.

Although the gang leader didn't speak, Su Ruo reading his expression already knew the answer.

Su Ruo said coldly, "So you never even thought about letting me go—by what right do you ask me to let you off?"

The gang member gave a sinister look and said, "You think knowing a bit of martial arts lets you move me?"

"Whether I can move you or not, just try and you'll find out!" Su Ruo calmly withdrew her gaze.

"We'll see!" the gang member said, then slammed the door and left, leaving Su Ruo alone in the interrogation room, locked up for a night.

That night, no one came in to say a word to Su Ruo, and no one gave her a drop of water.

Only the next day, after everyone had gone to work, did the young officer who had responded to the call yesterday walk in, his face full of guilt, and tell Su Ruo, "You can go now."

The young officer had originally taken this job out of passion, but he never expected that on his very first day on the job he would encounter such injustice.

What made him even more upset was that he clearly knew the injustice and grievance Su Ruo had suffered, yet he was unable to help her seek justice.

Su Ruo also understood the young officer's predicament and didn't make things difficult for him; she simply asked, "May I know the names of that father and son?"

This information could be easily asked of anyone; there was nothing to hide. The young officer took out paper and pen and wrote down the names of the gang leader and his son.

Su Ruo took the slip and said, "Thank you!"

The young officer felt even more embarrassed: "You don't need to thank me; I haven't done anything for you."

Su Ruo said nothing more, left the police station, looked at the names on the slip, and her gaze grew colder and colder.

Originally, she only intended to let these thugs receive the punishment they deserved, but after being locked up for a night for no reason, Su Ruo felt that the charge of attempted rape was still too light for them.

They must pay the price for what they have done!

Su Ruo went to the supply and marketing cooperative, bought paper and pen, and wrote a big-character poster, on which she listed the various crimes of Sun Qiang and his son Sun Long, as well as all the injustices she had suffered.

Then she walked to the gate of the county government and knelt down directly.

Because it's a main thoroughfare, there were many people in front of the county government.

Su Ruo's action immediately attracted the attention of many; everyone passing by stopped to watch.

Those who could read read aloud the content of Su Ruo's big-character poster to those who could not.

Sun Long was a notorious thug in the county, always up to no good, infamous to the point of being notorious, and because of his father Sun Qiang's position, everyone dared to be angry but not to speak out.

Now, the looks people gave Su Ruo were filled with sympathy.

But there were also some discordant voices saying, "Who knows if this young lady is just trying to seduce someone, staging this whole thing to frame them on purpose?"

Immediately, a nearby older woman shouted back, "You're a woman too—how can you say such a thing? Everyone in the county knows what kind of person Sun Long is; who would go and seduce him?"

Seeing everyone looking at her with unfriendly expressions, the woman who had just spoken immediately fell silent.

As time passed, the number of people around grew more and more.

Zhou Ganshi, as soon as he started work in the morning, saw a noisy crowd gathered in front of the government compound.

He thought something had happened, hurriedly pushed his way in, and saw Su Ruo holding up the big-character poster while kneeling on the ground; he was stunned, then quickly stepped forward to ask her what had happened.

Su Ruo briefly explained to him what had happened yesterday.

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Zhou Ganshi's face; he had also heard about Sun Long's deeds, but this matter was beyond his authority.

Nevertheless, Zhou Ganshi said, "Doctor Su, please get up first; I'll help you think of a way to handle this."

Su Ruo smiled gratefully at him but did not rise, saying, "Thank you, Zhou Ganshi, but you can't help me with this. I'll just wait here for the county magistrate to come."

"But the county magistrate is very busy; he might not come today."

"If one day works, then two days; if two days don't work, then three days. I believe he will surely come someday."

Zhou Ganshi knew Su Ruo had made up her mind, so he didn't try to persuade her further.

However, Su Ruo couldn't stay kneeling for long; upon hearing the news, Sun Qiang rushed over with his men.

Upon seeing Su Ruo kneeling on the ground, Sun Qiang's face turned ashen; he hadn't expected Su Ruo to be so stubborn, to have caused a scene this far.

He immediately tried to take her away on the charge of disturbing public order, but Zhou Ganshi stopped him.

Although Zhou Ganshi couldn't help Su Ruo uphold justice, he did have the authority to prevent Sun Qiang from arbitrarily arresting people.

"Deputy Chief Sun, Comrade Su Ruo is the county's designated anti-disaster hero; her contributions in the previous anti-disaster efforts were highly regarded by the county's leaders. If you want to arrest her now, you must provide a reasonable justification."

Upon hearing this, Sun Qiang's face changed instantly; he silently cursed his son for provoking someone he shouldn't have—this girl—and ended up causing such a big disaster.

The murmurs of the surrounding crowd grew louder.

At this point, Sun Qiang was caught between a rock and a hard place; no matter what, he couldn't let Su Ruo continue kneeling here, and he persisted in wanting to take her back to the station for interrogation.

Just as the two sides were at an impasse, a voice broke through the chaotic atmosphere.

"What are you doing?"

"County Magistrate, it's like this…" Zhou Ganshi, upon seeing the arrival, immediately stepped forward and explained the current situation to him.

Upon hearing Zhou Ganshi address the person as "County Magistrate," Su Ruo's head suddenly felt dizzy, because the person before her was actually the husband of the woman who had snatched An'an yesterday.