Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 136: Straw Mat and Dry Biscuits

Shen Yu had no choice but to walk to the opposite corner, see if the ground was clean, and sit down leaning against the wall.

Leaning against the cold brick wall, Shen Yu felt that this morning was like a dream, and it was a nightmare that no one wanted to wake him up and he had to continue.

About half an hour later, Shen Yu was sitting against the wall, tossing and turning, thinking secretly about what had gone wrong today.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the gate again: "Mrs. Chen, Mrs. Chen."

Madam Chen walked over with sleepy eyes, and then there was the sound of iron chains opening and closing the door.

As footsteps hurriedly passed by, Shen Yu heard an anxious voice: "Yuzhi, Yuzhi."

She heard a voice that sounded like Li's, and couldn't help but be secretly shocked: "Am I hallucinating? How come mother was also arrested?"

Li lay on the bars and looked hard into the dim cell.

When she saw the figure sitting against the wall, she banged on the door and shouted, "Yuzhi, Yuzhi, what's wrong with you? Did the government beat you?"

Shen Yu narrowed her eyes and saw a familiar face through the gap in the thick fence at the door.

She quickly climbed up and came to the fence. Li reached in and held her hand.

Li's voice was full of heartache: "Yuzhi, please let me see that I am useless and failed to protect you."

Shen Yu was touched, but he didn't care about that. He quickly asked, "Mom, how did you get in? Did they catch you too? What's the situation outside now?"

Before Li could say anything, Madam Chen came over respectfully, leading a young woman.

Only then did Shen Yu see that the person who came with Li was He.

When they arrived at the door, Madam Chen smiled flatteringly and said, "Madam, please wait a moment. I will open the door right away. The suspect Shen is in this cell."

He nodded gently and said slowly, "My sister has been wronged for a while. Once the county magistrate finds out the truth, he will release her. I don't think she will be detained for many days. I'll have to trouble Madam Chen to take care of her for a few days."

As he said this, he calmly pulled Madam Chen's hand and stuffed a small purse into her hand.

Madam Chen pinched and weighed the cloth bag, and found inside it a silver coin weighing at least one or two taels, which was equivalent to her salary for half a month.

She stuffed the purse into her sleeve pocket with satisfaction and opened the lock on the fence with swift hands and feet.

Madam Chen smiled and said, "Ladies, if you have anything to say, please speak quickly. I will go to guard the door outside."

Having said this, he walked away with brisk steps.

When He saw that Madam Chen had left, she quickly said to Shen Yu, "Your brother-in-law went to the countryside with the chief clerk early this morning. I only found out that something happened to you when Dun Dun and Yu Cheng came home this morning. Kang Bo has gone to the countryside to look for your brother-in-law. Ask him to come back as soon as possible. You just have to be patient for now. We will definitely find out the truth."

Li couldn't help wiping the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.

Shen Yu took a breath and tried her best to put on a smile. She said in a steady voice, "Thank you, Third Sister. Thank you for your concern. Mother, don't be sad. I'm fine now. I might be out tomorrow."

Then he said to He: "Third sister, I have been sitting in this cell for half a day, thinking about what happened today over and over again. Suddenly I remembered what the onlookers said. He said that the old woman Hu was from a street bakery, and the bakery's business has been not as good as before recently."

"I'm wondering if Mrs. Hu framed me and wanted to squeeze me out because the shops along the street changed their lunch menu to my buns, which affected her business."

Shen Yu continued his thoughts: "Besides this, I really can't think of any connection with her family. Before this, I didn't even recognize her family, let alone the fact that her child was blocking my way."

He nodded and said, "I've thought of this, too. For business people, other than fighting for profits, nothing else is worth fighting for."

At this point, He frowned and was very confused: "But, that child is Mrs. Hu's grandson. How could a grandmother poison her own child? Could it be that her family has other grudges, and the child was poisoned, and she just happened to use this incident to squeeze you out?"

This is also what Shen Yu couldn't understand: "Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, so it seems unlikely that they would poison their own children."

Li was originally a country woman. When she saw her daughter being taken to the government office and then imprisoned, she panicked and ran around at home in a panic, not knowing what to do.

Fortunately, Jiang reminded her, and she remembered to go to He's house with Yucheng to find the head of the police force, and then she came in with He to see Shen Yu.

Now that he saw that although Shen Yu was locked up in the women's prison, she did not suffer any punishment and was fine, he felt relieved and his mind started to work.

She listened to Shen Yu and He's analysis and speculation, and thought of the ladies who were counting rice with her, so she quickly said, "I'll go and ask about this. I'll ask the neighbors. They are all old residents nearby. Someone must know the details of Mrs. Hu's family."

Shen Yu wanted to say something, but Madam Chen came over and said with an apologetic smile, "Ladies, it's almost time. We can't stay here any longer. The prison warden will come to inspect soon. It will be bad if we get caught. It will also make the police chief look bad."

He was angry and was about to say something, but Shen Yu smiled and said, "Mrs. Chen is right. Sorry to trouble you. My mother and sister will leave now."

He turned to He and Li and said, "You should hurry out. Don't worry about me. This little suffering is nothing. It's more important to hurry out and find out the cause of the matter. Once the truth is revealed, I will leave."

He patted Shen Yu's hand comfortingly, pulled Li and said, "Madam, Third Sister is right. It is more important for us to go out and find out the ins and outs of this matter. Madam Chen will take care of you. For the sake of my husband, you will not suffer. Don't worry."

Although Li was reluctant, she still gritted her teeth and walked away with He, looking back every few steps.

After seeing the two off, Madam Chen locked the door and saw Shen Yu still standing at the prison door.

After receiving the silver, she treated Shen Yu much better. She sighed and said, "Miss, whether you are wronged or not, you should go back to the prison first. Since I promised Madam He, I will not embarrass you."

Shen Yu squatted down and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your care, madam."

Madam Chen watched Shen Yu go in, locked the door and was about to leave when she caught a glimpse of the pile of rotten straw in the cell. Then she saw Shen Yu was about to sit on the ground leaning against the wall again. She shook her head and said, "Well, today, I'll be a good person to the end."

As he said this, he walked back to the hut where he was on guard duty, picked up a straw mat and a cracked dry biscuit and walked back again.

After opening the gate on the fence, Madam Chen placed the futon and cakes on the ground at the door and said, "The ground is too cold. It will be better if you put this on it."

After saying that, without waiting for Shen Yu's reaction, he locked the door and left.

This night was the most difficult night for Shen Yu since he came to this time and space.