“I believe most people don’t know about Ning County because of how poor it is. Fifteen years ago, the government sent a group of officials over for inspection. In order to pass the inspection, the county magistrate asked a team of craftsmen to build a school as we didn’t have one at the time.
The kids in the village would gather at the house of an educated girl, and she would teach us everything she knew. We didn’t have textbooks and blackboards either, so we could only listen while she spoke.
It’s impossible to build a school in such a short timeframe, so nobody was willing to do it. They feared it would be dangerous for their children who would be attending that school. However, the officials didn’t care about that… They would barge into the homes of those who refused to comply and harass or beat them up.
Having no other choice, the craftsmen did as told. The materials provided were of terrible quality, and the building collapsed halfway through construction. My father died along with four other craftsmen in that accident.”
“Shouldn’t there be funding for the construction of schools?” the reporter asked.
“The money probably went into that man’s pockets,” the girl said with a cruel smile.
She had phrased it vaguely, but it was straightforward enough to be understood by everyone.
“How was this incident resolved back then? Did the investigators not escalate the incident?”
“No, they kept it hidden from the press and covered it up with lies.”
At that point, the public had heard enough to figure out what it was all about.
“How were the deceased compensated?”
An old villager stepped forward and declared, “There was no compensation! Not only that, but they also threatened us into silence! Anyone who dared speak up about it would have their houses demolished!”
The reporter couldn’t believe what she had just heard. This is outrageous!
The rural nature of the village combined with the lack of advanced technology back then made it extremely easy to cover up such incidents.
The villager began crying as she spoke, “My only son was killed in that accident… When we demanded an explanation from them, they beat us up and threatened us!”
She then rolled up her sleeves to reveal a huge scar on her arm. “See this? This was from a shovel they beat me up with!”
The wound had completely healed, but the lack of proper medical treatment resulted in a nasty scar being formed.
“We’re family members of the deceased! All we ask is for the people responsible to be brought to justice!” The old lady wiped her tears with her wrinkled and callous hands.
With such huge media coverage, the incident was quickly spread all over the news.
The netizens, too, began spreading the word online and digging up information on the official in charge of the inspection.
Everyone wanted to find out who had done such a horrible thing.
With how advanced internet technology was, stopping the spread of information proved impossible.
The identity of the investigators, as well as the officials, was soon exposed. The netizens unleashed their wrath in the comment sections.
Why don’t these people just die? They’re practically the devil in the flesh!
How on earth did they even get to where they are today?
Someone replied to that comment: By being devoid of conscience, that’s how!
These people deserve to die in the worst way possible! Look at that poor old lady! Her children were only 1-2 years old when it happened! She had to raise them without her husband’s support!
I know, right? I wanna chop these heartless bastards into pieces!
These monsters bullied the poor defenseless villagers! They deserve to be dismembered by four horses like in ancient times!
With things rapidly spiraling out of control, the government had no choice but to put those officials under protection in a safe place. The government then declared that they would carry out a proper investigation and punish the officials if the accusations were proven to be true.
The netizens saw that and expressed their support for the investigation.
Please give these villagers the justice they deserve!
I believe our government will provide us with a satisfactory solution. If this is true, then please have those inhumane bastards shot! This is simply unacceptable!
That day was bound to be an extraordinary one as the news had caught the entire nation’s attention.
A huge commotion erupted in the Gu family household.
Even Gu Bei and his siblings were unaware of such an incident.
“Is this true?” Gu Bei asked his mother.
Mrs. Gu nodded, her face as white as sheet. “Yes…”
“How could dad do such a thing?” the fifth daughter of the Gu family asked. She couldn’t believe that her father had actually done such a thing.
From what she knew, the man had always favored his sons over his daughters, but he had never done anything that horrible.
“This is unbelievable!” The second daughter of the Gu family was shocked by how heartless her father was as well.
Gu Huixin sat quietly in a corner and didn’t dare say anything. She had never thought of helping her father out, to begin with, as she actually hated being a part of the Gu family.
“Someone must be trying to set him up. If not, they wouldn’t have exposed something from so long ago in such detail!” Mrs. Gu kept her calm despite being shocked by the sudden exposure of her husband’s wrongdoings.
Those villagers have appeared out of nowhere and caused a huge scene to gain sympathy with the help of the media. Now that the entire country has heard about it, they’re pressuring the government into taking action. There’s no way this isn’t orchestrated!
“Did dad offend anyone recently?” Gu Bei asked.
Mrs. Gu shook her head. “I’m not sure. It’s common for officials to have some conflicts every now and then, but I doubt they’d go as far as bringing up something this old.”
“We should focus on finding a solution. Given how serious this has gotten, the punishment will be extremely severe if they manage to prove him guilty!”
In order to appease the public, the government would surely punish the accused severely.
The eldest daughter of the Gu family spoke up, “Sisters, we must figure out a way to save dad!”
“And how would we do that?” the second daughter asked.
My husband didn’t want me coming over when I got the call earlier. He was so displeased with dad… He asked me why I was his daughter in such a nasty tone! Well, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t have chosen to be born in this patriarchal family either! I don’t want to be unfilial, but I feel no attachment to this household! In fact, I don’t even see this as a family! Thank goodness my husband is a righteous man like Zhou Huaihou, who doesn’t want anything to do with the Gu family…
“My husband isn’t powerful enough to be of much help. I’ve got some things to take care of at home, so I’ll be on my way now,” the second daughter stated.
Gu Bei got mad and stopped her from leaving. “How can you abandon your father like this? Have you no heart?”
