Fake Divorce Turns into Murder Case (5)

Chapter 57

Most cases handled by the Mobile Court were civil matters. On the first day, the majority were divorce cases. These had been registered in advance, and the couples coming to divorce were mostly from non-agricultural households on the streets of Tonglin Town.

After the divorce, they would simply pack their belongings and move back to their parents’ homes, or move directly into the staff dormitories of the newly opened brick factory in town.

Once the court moved into the villages, the cases became more complicated.

There were two families fighting over a piece of land, disputes over which child should support their elderly parents, and cases of borrowed money never returned – all sorts of varied civil cases.

People from every village came to watch the excitement.

Amidst this, Yun Song also encountered some people asking probing questions filled with curiosity.

For instance, a middle-aged woman came over to chat with them.

At first, the woman said, “Comrade police officer, I have something to ask. We heard about that divorce case at the school playground earlier. Back then, it was said that when a couple divorces, they have to split the property. In town, property means money, pots, and pans. Our village is different from the town; we definitely have to count the land, right?”

The woman speaking was Old Lady Yuan’s goddaughter. Her name as a child was Sanniu, but she later took the formal name Sanxi.

When Sanxi said this, Huixiang was also nearby. She had been wandering around the Mobile Court for the past two days, stepping closer whenever she heard something she wanted to listen to.

As soon as Sanxi spoke, she immediately leaned in to listen.

The presiding judge was conducting mediation on the other side. Once Yun Song confirmed that nothing unexpected was happening there, she came over to answer the question.

“The policy implemented here is that land is not increased for new people nor decreased for those who leave¹. Under this policy, when a divorce occurs, the land belongs to the party who contracted it before the marriage.” Yun Song felt a heavy weight of pressure after saying this.

In truth, the policy of not decreasing land for those who leave meant that the land at the woman’s original home had not been returned to the collective. However, many women had no way to return to their parents’ homes to farm. Part of the reason was that many villages did not fully implement this policy, resulting in the woman’s land either being given to other members of her original household or being returned to the collective for redistribution once she married out.

Huixiang understood. This was something she already knew.

In her heart, she also realized that even if half the land could be given to her, it would be useless. She had no relatives or friends in this village and no place to live. Even if she had land, there was nothing she could do with it.

Return to her parents’ home? Her land there had been redistributed less than a year after she married.

Sanxi also remarked, “It’s truly bitter.” She didn’t actually need to ask; as a rural person, how could she not know? If anything, the police officer in front of her knew less than she did.

When you marry, you lose your land at your parents’ home. When you divorce, the land at your husband’s home no longer belongs to you.

If a husband dies and there are no children, a widow cannot keep the land either.

The matter Sanxi actually wanted to ask the police about wasn’t this. She just needed a topic to test the waters, but hearing the answer still made her feel quite sad.

Although she didn’t plan on getting a divorce, knowing she had no choice still made her feel miserable.

However, she had another very important matter to ask.

“Comrade police officer, that case from before, the one where Sun Er from the neighboring village was killed, why isn’t it being tried here?”

Many people had already asked about this.

Yun Song replied, “That case doesn’t need to be tried by the court. The Procuratorate has already determined it was justifiable defense and will not prosecute.”

Sanxi had actually heard about it, but she still acted surprised and said, “Is it because Sun Er wanted to kill Chunfeng?”

“It’s not that Sun Er wanted to kill her; he was already in the process of killing Chunfeng.”

Sanxi understood. She came up with an example herself, saying, “I get it. So, for example, if someone comes at me with a hoe to hack me, and as the hoe swings down, it gets stuck in my collarbone.”

She gestured toward her collarbone. Of course, everyone was wearing thick clothes now. Yun Song took a look but couldn’t tell if there was a wound there.

“If I take the hoe out at that moment and give him a blow with it, and he dies, am I also innocent?”

Yun Song said, “The specific situation needs specific analysis. For instance, after the hoe got stuck, did the person run away, or were they still trying to grab the hoe?”

“He was grabbing the hoe again, wanting to keep fighting.”

“Did he die after just one blow, or did he fall to the ground after one blow and then receive another one? The latter wouldn’t count as justifiable defense. The Procuratorate would consider that once the person is on the ground, they have no ability to fight back, and you cannot deliver another blow with the knife… I mean, the hoe.”

Sanxi nodded and said, “Then I understand.”

Huixiang listened to these words from the side, and as she listened, new thoughts began to form in her mind.

Sanxi didn’t know what impact her words had on the silent woman beside her. she jogged away, heading toward the Great Reservoir above.

Her godmother was still repairing the wire fence at the Reservoir. The old woman was using salvaged wire to patch up the large holes people had cut, bit by bit.

“Mom!” She picked up some wire from the side and handed it to Old Lady Yuan.

“Why are you here again?” Her goddaughter had been visiting quite often these past two days.

“I went to see the Mobile Court again today,” Sanxi said with a grin. “Remember how Sun Er tried to kill someone and ended up killed himself? Regarding that case, the police said no one will be arrested.”

Old Lady Yuan said, “That’s a good thing.”

She didn’t think much of it.

Sanxi continued, “I asked the police if it was because Sun Er was killing Chunfeng that Chunfeng killing him didn’t count as a crime. The police said that’s the principle.”

“I gave an example. If I were being chased and killed by someone with a hoe, and the hoe got stuck in my collarbone, and I pulled it out and hacked him…”

She still spoke as if it were a joke, saying, “The police said that’s also justifiable defense and I wouldn’t be arrested, but I shouldn’t give him an extra blow.”

She had roughly understood what was going on since the last time she heard her godmother mention the matter.

When she was a child, her godmother had fled here from elsewhere. Others said her godmother had been sold, but she didn’t think much of it. Anyway, whoever handled her household registration was the person she considered her mother.

Old Lady Yuan gave an “oh” in response. She seemed to understand, yet at the same time, she didn’t.

The mother and daughter dropped the subject.

That night, Old Lady Yuan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Her mind was filled with the conversation, as if she were only just now digesting what her goddaughter had told her.

At her age, she witnessed a death every year or two. She often thought about how she would die and what the world after death would be like.

Now, her heart felt a bit more at ease.

Because of these thoughts, sleep eluded her completely.

The moon outside was bright and clear. She felt an urge to get up and walk, to go see the Great Reservoir.

And so, she rose.

Under the moonlight, the Great Reservoir was also bright and clear. At a glance, it looked like some kind of terrifying, giant monster.

Unlike during the day, the Reservoir was extremely still at night. Yet seeing that calm surface made one’s mind constantly wonder if something was hidden beneath.

The villagers were actually quite afraid of the Reservoir at night. This was, of course, mostly due to Old Lady Yuan’s own doing.

She had used her goddaughter to spread certain stories.

For instance, once while patrolling the Reservoir at dusk, she had been startled by a squirrel and fell backward. At her age, a fall was no small matter. So, she told her goddaughter that during her night patrol, she had encountered a person standing by the water. When she told them to go home, the person said they would leave shortly and had only come to say thank you.

“I asked him what he was thanking me for. He said thank you for pulling him out, because big fish had been biting him down there. It gave me a huge fright, and when I looked again, the person was gone.”

Later, when people came up at night, Old Lady Yuan would spot them and set up a scarecrow dressed in white clothes and trousers by the water. When the wind blew, the white clothes would flutter.

People are naturally fearful at night, and with the poor lighting, they were scared witless. By the time the sun came out the next day and their courage returned, they would come back to check, but the Old Lady would have long since removed the scarecrow.

When they asked her about it, she acted as if she knew nothing.

After doing this a few times, no one came at night anymore.

Thus, the Great Reservoir at night belonged to Old Lady Yuan alone. She walked along the water’s edge.

As she walked, she spotted someone. A dark shadow was acting suspiciously by the water.

Old Lady Yuan’s head was so full of ghost stories that she jumped in fright, but another look revealed it was a living person.

The person was right at the water’s edge, holding a stick and doing something unclear. They weren’t fishing, nor were they looking to end their life.

No one seeking to end their life would first beat down all the surrounding grass and tramp the ground firm.

Old Lady Yuan watched the person’s distance from the water. She didn’t make a sound, fearing she might startle them and cause them to fall straight in.

The old woman slowly backed away, returning to the road behind to wait for the person to come out.

After a short while, the person emerged.

Under the moonlight, the Old Lady saw the person’s face clearly.

It was a woman in her thirties.

If it had been a week ago, Old Lady Yuan wouldn’t have known who this was.

But now, by the light of the moon, she recognized her.

It was the wife Yang Laowu² had married from Baihe Town, whose name was Huixiang.

She had seen this woman when she went to check on Yang Laowu’s family situation recently.

What was this woman doing here in the middle of the night?

Old Lady Yuan hid to one side and watched the woman walk away.

Feeling a bit strange, she returned to the spot where the woman had been standing.

It was very close to the water.

She looked at the bank but couldn’t see anything wrong, so she looked out at the water. The still surface reflected the shadows of the trees, making it look as if something were beneath.

In the middle of the night, what had this person come for?

The Old Lady thought for a moment and then called out softly toward the water, “Yang Laowu?”

After she said it, she felt she was being muddled. How could that be possible?

When Huixiang returned home, Yang Laowu was still sleeping.

He slept exceptionally soundly at night. Huixiang looked at him, unable to fathom what went on in his head. How could he sleep?

Before going to bed, Yang Laowu had brought back two pieces of good news.

First, their eldest daughter could go to the town’s primary school next year.

Second, he had gone to town to find an old friend he used to hang out with, and the man was willing to enter into a fake marriage with Huixiang.

Translator’s Notes