Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 31 The Girl in the Iron Cage

This family lived in four dilapidated tile-roofed houses with mottled exterior walls.

The girl appeared mentally unstable; upon seeing anyone approach, she suddenly covered her ears and screamed, "Devil! You are devils!"

Xu Youwei and Wu Zhiyuan looked at each other in bewilderment.

An elderly neighbor came over and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Wu Zhiyuan quickly replied, "Grandma, we were passing by and saw this girl locked in an iron cage, so we came to check. What happened?"

The old woman sighed softly, "Alas, what a tragedy! Such a good girl, ruined like this!"

The old woman pointed to the iron cage, "That's what her mother had to weld up because she was afraid her daughter would run away."

At this moment, a thin, haggard, barefoot middle-aged woman walked over carrying an iron plow.

The old lady said, "She is Qingqing's mother."

Qingqing's mother asked疑惑地问道, "Is something the matter?"

Wu Zhiyuan stepped forward: "Sister, we were just passing by when we saw the child like this, and it hurt our hearts. We wanted to ask what happened."

Qingqing's mother put down the iron plow, tears welling up uncontrollably: "What mother would want to lock her daughter in an iron cage? Isn't it because there's no other way?"

Welding this iron cage was more painful for me than being cut by a knife!

Otherwise, I can't keep an eye on people! I still have to do farm work and housework.

Last time, Qingqing fell ill and almost burned down the haystack.

The haystack burned down, and the house couldn't be saved either. The three of us will have nowhere to live in the future!

Another time, he ran off and almost got hit by a car!

She rolled up her sleeve, revealing several clear scratches and bruises on her arm. "These are from when she had an attack! I don't blame her, my daughter is suffering so much!"

Xu Youwei asked with concern, "Why didn't you send Qingqing to a mental hospital for treatment?"

Qingqing's mother wiped away her tears with the back of her rough hand again: "Send her to the hospital? Where would we get the money! Her father died early, and the family relies on me farming these few acres of land to make a living."

I asked last time, and they said the first month of hospitalization would cost over ten thousand yuan.

The doctor said this illness requires long-term treatment; how can a family like ours afford it?

An elderly neighbor chimed in, "Qingqing has such a hard life. She was fine when she was in Longqiao Middle School; she was sensible and her grades weren't bad."

Last year, I was tricked into going to Longqiao Mountain Villa under the pretense of receiving poverty alleviation funds, and soon after, I went insane.

Wu Zhiyuan was startled. He was from Longqiao Town and knew that Longqiao Villa was Zhang Wanlin's private estate, covering several hundred acres.

Xu Youwei patiently asked, "Who tricked Qingqing into Longqiao Manor? Who owns Longqiao Manor? What happened to Qingqing at the manor?"

Qingqing's mother said, "It was a girl from town named Wang Caifeng who took her there."

That girl used to be Qingqing's classmate, but she dropped out of school and started working in society.

She said that Longqiao Villa offers subsidies for impoverished female students, who can receive several thousand yuan.

Given our family's situation, several thousand yuan is a large sum of money. Qingqing, thinking that receiving the money would ease the family's burden, went with us.

She did receive the money, three thousand yuan. But after receiving the money, Qingqing acted strangely, like she had lost her soul. When I asked her, she wouldn't say anything.

Later, she kept having nightmares at night, screaming and saying that someone was trying to harm her.

At first, I thought she was frightened, so I burned paper money, performed rituals to ward off evil spirits, and prayed to Guan Yu, but nothing worked.

One night, Qingqing finally told the truth: after entering the villa, she was violated by a man with a scar on his face.

While the man was abusing Qingqing, Wang Caifeng was taking pictures with her mobile phone.

Qingqing also said that the scarred man later asked her to come six or seven more times, saying that if she didn't go, he would distribute photos of her naked at school.

They even threatened her not to call the police, saying that if she did, they would have someone run her brother over with a car.

Later, Qingqing's illness worsened, and she became afraid to see people, especially unfamiliar men, whom she would call "devil" upon seeing them.

I found Wang Caifeng and asked her what happened. She called a few thugs with blond hair and they wanted to beat me up.

I hate that damned bastard! I hate myself for being so useless, for not being able to protect my daughter!

As Qingqing's mother spoke, she broke down in tears.

Xu Youwei, with a grave expression, asked Wu Zhiyuan, "Do you know anything about Longqiao Villa?"

Wu Zhiyuan said, "I understand. It's Zhang Wanlin's business. It's located near the Longqiao Coal Mine, covering more than 100 acres, and it's said to have an investment of over 100 million yuan."

By the way, Zhang Wanlin was slashed in a fight when he was young, and he has a scar on his face. The scarred man is very likely Zhang Wanlin.

Qingqing's mother chimed in, "A kind person reminded me that the man with the scar is Zhang Wanlin, the owner of Longqiao Coal Mine."

But how could I, a weak woman, possibly fight against Zhang Wanlin? Everyone says that Zhang Wanlin is the richest man in the entire Longcheng City, and the mayor and county head are his friends.

I went to the police station to report it, but they refused to file a case, saying there was no evidence and that I was a madman talking nonsense. They're all in cahoots with Zhang Wanlin!

Xu Youwei's face was so dark it was almost dripping with water: "Big sister, we're determined to handle this! The most urgent thing is to get Qingqing to the hospital for treatment. Don't worry about the money, we'll figure something out."

Qingqing's mother knelt down with a thud, weeping bitterly, "Thank you! You are a great benefactor to our family!"

Xu Youwei quickly helped her up.

He then instructed Wu Zhiyuan to notify Longqiao Town and have the town's Party Secretary and police station chief come over immediately.

A dozen minutes later, an official car sped up, and Huang Ping, the Party Secretary of Longqiao Town, arrived in a hurry with the head of the local police station.

Xu Youwei came to Longqiao Town for a covert investigation and visited the aquaculture farm. County Party Secretary Cai Aiguo had already called Huang Ping, asking him to keep an eye on Xu Youwei's whereabouts.

Huang Ping was on high alert and waited for orders in the town.

Xu Youwei pointed at Qingqing in the iron cage and questioned her sternly: "A young girl in the prime of her life was lured and abused in your jurisdiction, causing her to suffer a mental breakdown and her family to fall into dire straits. The only way to restrict her freedom is to use this inhumane method. Does your town party committee, government, and police station know about this situation?"

Why didn't you intervene proactively? Why didn't you conduct an effective investigation and provide assistance? Where is your commitment to the people? Where is your awareness of the rule of law?

Huang Ping and the police station chief stammered, trying to explain with reasons such as "the situation is complicated", "evidence is difficult to obtain" and "the girl's mental state is unstable and she cannot cooperate".

Xu Youwei interrupted bluntly: "Just because the situation is complicated doesn't mean we should ignore it? Just because the evidence is hard to obtain doesn't mean we should stop investigating?"

I think it's not that the situation is complicated, but that some people's ulterior motives are too complicated!

It's not that the evidence is hard to obtain; it's that some people simply don't intend to try!

Xu Youwei became increasingly angry as he spoke: "A young girl in the prime of her life, who should have been studying peacefully, was deceived and violated by such despicable means, and ultimately driven insane!"

Her family was torn apart as a result, and her mother wanted to lock her own daughter in an iron cage!

What is this? Isn't this a crime committed under the sun?

When the most basic fairness and justice are not upheld, when the cries of the weak go unanswered, when evil can so blatantly go unpunished, what face do we have to talk about governing for the people? What qualifications do we have to sit in this position?