157: She is not my sister.

"Have Chen Xiaoshan's family come up; the leaders want to question them."

Soon, Chen Xiaoshan's mother and his wife walked over, holding two children.

"Leaders, my father-in-law and husband were murdered. They didn't capsize in a storm at sea..."

"Murdered? Do you have evidence? Have you reported it to the Public Security Bureau?"

Hearing Military Doctor Shen's words, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked at Secretary Chen and the others in fear, shaking their heads as they spoke.

"When we said this, no one in the Production Brigade or the commune believed us."

Military Doctor Shen's gaze turned to Captain Yu.

"This is Captain Yu from the County Public Security Bureau. They are responsible for our safety this time. You can report any issues to them."

Hearing Military Doctor Shen's words, Captain Yu stepped forward with his people.

"comrade, I am Captain Yu of the Criminal Investigation Division of the County Public Security Bureau. You can tell me if you have any grievances..."

Captain Yu was also assigned today to protect Boss Shen and his group.

Hearing the weeping complaints of Chen Xiaoshan's mother and wife, he immediately stepped forward to inquire about the situation.

"Comrade Shen, please come with us. The comrades from the Public Security Bureau will handle this matter," Secretary Chen of the commune said with a smile.

"Alright."

After a long walk, Military Doctor Shen said he was a bit tired, so they returned to the First Team's Production Brigade office.

"Comrade Shen, please rest here for a while. Shall we have lunch at this Production Brigade today?"

Hearing Secretary Chen's words, Military Doctor Shen shook his head.

"How could we impose?"

"Why impose? You are here for research and inspection. It's just a meal, it's proper..."

After a while, Comrade Shen and the comrades from the County Government agreed to eat there.

But they took out food stamps and money.

"This money and food stamps are for our meals..."

"Oh, Comrade Shen, we can't accept this money and food stamps."

After a bit of polite refusal, Secretary Chen and Captain Chen had no choice but to accept them.

The villagers in the Production Brigade also believed that Military Doctor Shen and his group were there for research.

Previously, a small number of leaders who came to the commune and the Production Brigade would not take money or tickets, saying it was for meals.

They realized that these comrades were indeed very professional.

Xiao Niannian, Squad Leader Li, and two other comrades also formed a group to conduct research in the village.

Xiao Niannian arrived at the first house, which was not large, only three rooms, all made of stone, plastered with yellow mud, and the surrounding wall was also made of stone.

"comrade, we are from the County Government. We would like to inquire how many boats your family has, how many times a month you go fishing, how many jin you harvest each time, and what kind of seafood they are..."

Hearing Xiao Niannian's words, they looked at Xiao Niannian with some wariness.

"Are you leaders from the County Government?"

"Yes."

Hearing this, the elderly grandmother spoke with a heavy accent.

"Our family only has one boat. The number of times we go fishing each month is uncertain; we always follow the Production Brigade's instructions. When our First Team fishes, the Second Team is responsible for processing, and the Third Team is responsible for selling... when the Second Team fishes..."

Xiao Niannian nodded and jotted down the information in her notebook.

"Aunt, how much money do you get from the Production Brigade each year?"

"Our whole family gets about one hundred yuan. We don't lack seafood to eat, but it's not filling enough..."

After asking several families in a row, Xiao Niannian recorded all the information.

Squad Leader Li asked questions using standard local dialect.

At each house, Xiao Niannian would observe the situation. Some families would have one person come out to greet them, while others sat in different rooms.

The first few houses they visited were small, with at most four rooms, and as few as two rooms, with a family of five or six living inside.

Xiao Niannian looked at these houses and thought of the houses these same people would live in decades later, in the same location.

By then, most places had tall buildings, and some families, though not yet expropriated, lived in multi-story small houses. Seaside guesthouses also did very well... Soon, Xiao Niannian and her group saw a family whose house was very close to the sea and had very high walls.

"comrade, whose house is this?"

Xiao Niannian asked the Production Brigade cadre leading the way.

"comrade, this is Captain Chen's house in our village. He has three sons, three boats, and his family has more than a dozen people..."

Comparing this house to the previous ones, it was easily ten times better.

Moreover, their house was at the foot of the mountain, very close to the sea, and dozens of meters away from other houses.

Before reaching the courtyard gate, Xiao Niannian heard people talking inside the house.

"People from the County Government came today. They say these people are from the Capital City, here for research and inspection. They want to buy our seafood and plan to build a processing factory here. Then our seafood can be sold to foreigners..."

"Really? That's wonderful! Will we be able to work in the factory then?"

"Will Mom and all of us be able to go to work?"

"I heard city workers earn over thirty yuan a month."

"If we can go to work, that would be great. We wouldn't have to clean these seafood items anymore, and we wouldn't have to constantly worry while waiting for them to return from sea."

"Sister-in-law, comrades from the County Government are here for research, hurry out."

As the words fell, Captain Chen's wife walked out.

She looked about fifty, but her skin was much fairer than the women in other families, and her hands were well-maintained.

Xiao Niannian's gaze fell on the three daughters-in-law of the Chen family; they also looked better than the other village wives and weren't as dark from the sun.

Squad Leader Li started asking questions, Xiao Niannian recorded them, while another comrade excused himself to use the restroom and went to the Chen family's backyard.

Auntie Chen also observed Xiao Niannian and the other comrades. Seeing Xiao Niannian quickly recording and Squad Leader Li asking questions in an authentic local dialect, her suspicions lessened.

"comrades, will you build the factory immediately after your research?"

The second daughter-in-law of the Chen family asked.

"After we report this, the higher-ups will hold a meeting to discuss it. The specific situation will have to wait for notification from above..."

Hearing this, the Chen Production Brigade Captain's family members were somewhat disappointed.

Several children were running around, and Xiao Niannian heard one child hitting another.

"You money-losing good-for-nothing, you stink, get away..."

The child was so scared that she quickly moved away, but the hitting boy still didn't let her go.

"You dare to hide? I'll beat you to death..."

"Wah."

The child's crying made Squad Leader Li and the other comrades stand up.

Xiao Niannian quickly walked towards them.

"Stop it."

Before Xiao Niannian could speak, Auntie Chen roared loudly, slapping the boy.

"Why are you bullying your sister again?"

"She is not my sister."