Meng Xingzhong had gone by the nickname Meng the Big Ox back in his younger days.
Folks said he worked like an ox, brimming with raw power, but he was stubborn as one too—once he got fired up, nobody could rein him in.
He’d paid the price for it more than once. As a young man, he’d scrapped with others and even lost a solid job over it.
Tonight, he was treading the same reckless path.
It started with just a few aunties trailing after him, but soon the numbers swelled, no one sure who had called whom, until it was a full-blown crowd.
Meng Bai and Zhou An found themselves shoved to the rear.
All they could hear from the folks up front and nearby was a buzz of chatter:
“No way that’s true. Brother Meng, you must’ve had some fake booze tonight—you’re talking crazy.”
“Boss Zhang seems like a decent enough guy to me.”
“You can’t joke about something like that.”
“But when has Big Brother Meng ever lied to us? I believe him! Let’s call the cops!”
One voice after another, some buying it, some not.
Over a dozen people crammed together, jabbering nonstop. Back at the edge, Meng Bai and Zhou An’s heads throbbed from the noise.
“Uncle Meng’s too hot-headed,” Meng Bai said, shaking her head. “Dad’s got a one-track mind—it’s infuriating!”
“This is bad. Now everybody’s in on it. If they kick up a fuss at the station, who knows how it’ll play out.”
Good or bad, there was no telling. It had all happened so fast, too many unknowns hanging in the air.
A faint unease gnawed at Meng Bai’s heart.
After trudging along for twenty-odd minutes, they reached the police station. Those fired-up souls demanding justice fell instantly silent.
Aunties eyed uncles, uncles eyed aunties, then every aunty turned to Meng Xingzhong.
He paid it no mind—he’d come to report to the police, after all.
“Right, I’ll head in first. You lot wait here.”
Meng Bai pushed through the crowd. “Dad, Zhou An and I are coming with you.”
“You two kids stay put outside.”
“No, I’m going.”
Grabbing Zhou An’s hand, Meng Bai hurried after her father without another word.
She’d lived in this town for years, walked past this place countless times, but never set foot inside.
The interior was spartan: a handful of desks, a few officers on duty.
The man at the front desk stood out most—a sturdy middle-aged fellow.
Meng Bai and Zhou An both knew him.
He was the one who’d shown up at school that day looking for Xu Jinghe.
Early forties, built like he could still throw a punch, with a lively spark in his eye. His gaze wasn’t piercing; his features leaned kindly.
He noticed them too, flicking a glance their way.
Meng Xingzhong marched right up and planted himself by the desk.
The man gestured to a stool. “Take a seat and walk me through it.”
Meng Xingzhong sat. “Officer, what’s your name?”
Swiveling his chair to face him, the man straightened up. “Li Su. Officer Li’s fine.”
Meng Xingzhong’s furrowed brow eased. “Got it, Officer Li.”
Li Su nodded. “Shoot—what’s going on?”
Meng Xingzhong cut straight to it, blunt as a hammer. “Officer Li, I want to report a guy named Zhang Gou. He’s one of the bosses at GM Engineering. Today I caught him bullying a teenage girl.”
Li Su grabbed a pen from the holder, nodding as he scribbled notes. “What kind of bullying, exactly?”
Meng Xingzhong flushed a bit. “The kind where he was trying to rip her clothes off. I walked right in on it.”
Officer Li’s pen froze mid-stroke. He twisted to eye his colleague behind him, muttering, “And here it is, right on cue.”
Meng Bai and Zhou An stayed mum in the back.
But it felt like the officer knew something already.
Li Su fired off a few more questions, and Meng Xingzhong laid out the afternoon’s events in full, no holds barred.
Halfway through the statement, murmurs rose from outside.
Li Su frowned. “What’s all that outside?”
“Yeah, I brought some people from the village.”
Li Su shook his head firmly. “That was the wrong call. You should’ve come alone, quietly. Sort it out first.”
Meng Xingzhong bobbed his head. “You’re right, sir. Won’t happen next time.”
But the noise swelled—who knew what was brewing.
Li Su sent his apprentice to check.
The kid dashed to the door and flung it open. There stood the accused, bold as daylight.
Boss Zhang Gou himself, in full view. Flanking him: a man and a young girl.
Meng Bai’s heart hammered. A chill premonition gripped her.
The apprentice bellowed, “This is the police station—quiet down!”
Someone hollered back, “Boss Zhang’s here now. Time for a showdown, right?”
Pure spectacle-hungry tone, itching for twists.
Li Su sized up Zhang Gou, then rose. “Bring the principals inside, then shut the door,” he told the apprentice.
The door clicked shut.
The room turned surreal in a heartbeat.
Meng Xingzhong had barely filed his report accusing Zhang Gou of sexually assaulting the girl—statement not even done—and here was Zhang Gou, girl and her father in tow.
Word had spread like wildfire through the neighbors, clearly.
Zhang Gou’s preparedness screamed calculation; he’d been working this angle all afternoon.
Meng Bai’s blood ran cold. She could picture it plain as day.
She could even foresee what came next.
Li Su eyed him. “Zhang Gou?”
Straightening his suit collar with a chuckle, Zhang Gou nodded. “That’s me, officer.” He advanced, hand outstretched for a shake—rebuffed by Li Su—then added, “I suspect there’s a misunderstanding.”
He fished a pack of smokes from his inner pocket, offering them around.
Li Su waved it off. “No smoking in the station.”
“Understood.” Zhang Gou beamed, shooting a sidelong glance at his companion. “Dong Zi, you’re better at explaining. You handle it?”
Meng Xingzhong bristled at the sight of him, cutting in hot: “Explain what? You know exactly what you did! Quit strong-arming these folks to vouch for you!”
Meng Bai, at her father’s back, patted his shoulder. “Dad, let him speak.”
Subtext clear: loose lips sink ships. Agitation changes nothing.
Li Su tilted his chin, bypassing the man to address the girl.
“Come on, miss. Tell us your side.”
The girl was probably sixteen or seventeen, with fair skin and a fresh, lively beauty. She was pretty, but she looked terribly nervous, trembling faintly. Her face was rigid, her lips pressed into a thin line. When she glanced at Li Su, her eyes held unspoken words, but she said nothing.
“Just tell me everything from start to finish,” Li Su said.
The girl parted her lips, on the verge of speaking.
At that moment, Zhang Gou coughed lightly, as if clearing his throat.
The girl instinctively stepped back, shook her head, and fell silent.
Li Su frowned. “Come on, don’t be scared. We’re the people’s police—we’ll protect you.”
The girl nodded.
Li Su pressed on. “Let me ask you some questions, then. Did Boss Zhang do anything to you this afternoon?”
She shook her head again.
Meng Xingzhong couldn’t sit still. He started to speak, but Meng Bai pinched his shoulder hard, signaling him to hold his tongue.
So Li Su asked, “Are you sure Boss Zhang didn’t take your clothes off?”
She nodded.
“Use your words,” Li Su said. “Don’t just nod and shake your head.”
“No,” the girl said. “He didn’t take my clothes off. He just bought me some clothes and asked me to try them on.”
“Oh? And why did he buy you clothes?”
Zhang Gou stepped forward. “I was only trying to help. I’ve been sponsoring students from town for ages. Her family’s in a bad way, so I—”
“Be quiet,” Li Su snapped, shooting him a sidelong glare. “I’ll tell you when you can talk.”
Zhang Gou clamped his mouth shut and made a gracious “please continue” gesture toward the girl.
She explained that her father worked moving bricks at Zhang Gou’s construction site. She’d gone there that afternoon to find him, but he hadn’t clocked out yet.
It had been sunny, so out of kindness, Zhang Gou had invited her to sit in his office.
Li Su zeroed in on the inconsistency. “So what was that about the clothes?”
“I’ve known Uncle Zhang for a long time,” she said. “He’s helped my family plenty, giving me books and clothes all the time.” She glanced at Meng Xingzhong, her voice catching. “Then this other uncle walked in and saw me about to change. He thought Uncle Zhang was going to bully me.”
Zhang Gou blurted out, “I didn’t take her clothes off! She was still wearing something underneath while she changed.”
Meng Xingzhong shook his head.
What utter nonsense.
It contradicted everything the girl had said that afternoon.
Zhang Gou must have threatened her after all.
“Really?” Meng Bai couldn’t hold back, defending Meng Xingzhong. “You’ve heard the boy who cried wolf, right? Whatever else, you can’t lie now.”
The girl’s eyes met Meng Bai’s, brimming with unspoken words, but she said, “It was just a misunderstanding.”
Zhang Gou let out a relieved breath. “Right, a misunderstanding.” He turned to Meng Xingzhong, smugness flickering in his eyes despite his feigned concern. “Old Meng, you know I’m not that kind of guy.”
Meng Xingzhong sat in his chair without a word the entire time.
All his earlier impulse to speak seemed to have evaporated.
Li Su tapped his ballpoint pen on his notepad. “All right, that’s enough for today.”
Zhang Gou beamed. “Officer Li, if you could just tell the villagers it was a misunderstanding…”
Li Su let out a short laugh that didn’t reach his eyes. “Please. You’re the big philanthropist—don’t they already know what you’re like? Tell them yourself.”
“Will do,” Zhang Gou said eagerly.
He even clapped the girl on the shoulder. Her father, reduced to a mere prop, stood by with a blank expression, silent throughout.
“Officer Li, we won’t take up any more of your time. It’s getting late—we’ll head out.”
Li Su nodded absently.
He shot a sidelong glance at Meng Xingzhong, his brow furrowing in mild frustration.
As Zhang Gou led the girl toward the door, it swung open and the villagers crowded in, demanding to know what had happened.
Zhang Gou flashed his most earnest false smile. “Misunderstanding, folks. All a big misunderstanding.”
One old man piped up. “Told you! Couldn’t happen with Boss Zhang!”
Another, quick to switch sides, added, “Yeah, I never bought it. Meng Xingzhong got too hot-headed.”
Zhang Gou shook his head, playing the magnanimous one. “No blame on him, no blame. He’s a good man at heart, standing up for justice. Just a mix-up—it’s cleared now. Everyone go home!”
The crowd murmured in agreement as Zhang Gou descended the steps, villagers trailing him.
He apologized profusely the whole way, owning up to his “mistakes,” vowing to be more careful. He even touched on the sponsorship issue, promising to keep his distance from the girl going forward.
But he looped back at the end. “I only meant well, you see. Glad there’s no hard feelings.”
~~~
The police station fell suddenly quiet.
Meng Xingzhong had nothing to say, but he showed no sign of leaving.
Defending himself now would only look foolish, yet Zhang Gou had clearly set him up, and it ate at him.
Officer Li Su spoke up abruptly. “Meng Xingzhong, right?”
Meng Xingzhong nodded.
“You’re brave,” Li Su said, extending his hand for a shake.
Still dazed from the exchange, Meng Xingzhong reached out anyway.
Li Su gripped it firmly. “Let me introduce myself properly. I’m a police officer, transferred from the city.”
“Oh. From the city,” Meng Xingzhong said blankly.
“Here investigating a case.”
“What kind?”
“A murder.”
Meng Xingzhong eyed him skeptically. “Anyone die in our town?”
“Twenty years ago.” Li Su smiled faintly, his gaze sliding past Meng Xingzhong’s shoulder to Meng Bai’s face.
She stared back at Li Su.
He met her eyes for a moment.
“We might need your help down the line,” Li Su added, looking away. “Don’t take it too hard.”
Meng Xingzhong hadn’t expected the consolation.
It was like losing a battle amid the jeers, only for someone to clap you on the back and say you hadn’t lost yet.
He blurted out, “Officer, what are you getting at? You don’t buy his story either, do you?”
Li Su neither confirmed nor denied it. “We’ve had other complaints about him lately.”
“Other complaints?”
“Can’t say more.” Li Su checked his watch. “It’s late. I’ll have my apprentice drive you home.”
