The New Year's footsteps are getting closer and closer, and in a blink of an eye, it is the twenty-seventh day of the lunar month, and there are only three days left before the New Year. This Chinese New Year is particularly gratifying, because we are about to bid farewell to the 20th century and usher in the 21st century. Yan Yuxiang and his wife worked for two more nights, and the twenty-ninth night of the lunar month was the New Year, even if they lacked money, they couldn't work on the New Year's Eve, and they had to accompany the children on New Year's Eve!

This day is the same as usual, the two of them packed up at ten o'clock, slept for a while, and left at twelve o'clock, and worked for almost half a month, what tools to take, and the two of them have the bottom in their hearts, or the original routine, go to dig coal first, and at three o'clock Yan Yuxiang went home to drive, and the car could be loaded at four o'clock, and it could be sold before dawn.

The moonlight was the most uncertain, but the two of them still left the village in the dark, and as soon as they reached the entrance of the village that day, they heard a sound in the grass. Yan Xiuping was taken aback, grabbed her husband's arm, and asked softly, "What is it?"

Yan Yuxiang calmed down, looked around, patted his wife's shoulder gently, and turned on the miner's lamp, the bright miner's lamp shone on the place where the sound was made just now, only to see a black shadow swoop into the bushes, Yan Yuxiang didn't see what it was. "Don't be afraid, I don't know whose dog ran out. Yan Yuxiang said with relief.

"Oh" Yan Xiuping believed it, so she didn't care, and continued to walk towards the back mountain.

Yan Yuxiang muttered in his heart, what kind of thing is that? Looking at the body size is a little smaller than a human, it may be some kind of animal. In such a mountain village, pheasants, roe deer, wild dogs, and even wolves are all possible. Although he was uncertain, he decided not to tell his wife, because he had the impression that it could be any kind of animal, but it was definitely not a man!

The two of them worked step by step, and the night started smoothly, Yan Yuxiang did not dig deeper, but opened horizontally along the coal seam he found.

This pattern of digging straight has a unique name in their place, called "well", and if it is dug diagonally, it is called "cloth tube". The cloth cylinder is very popular in this place, especially the cloth cylinder used in large coal mines, because the coal seam in this place is shallow, the use of cloth cylinder is safe, and the yield is high. Of course, there are many illegal small coal mines that are reused, although the output is a little lower and a little more dangerous than the cloth tube, but once caught by the criminal police team, as long as the people staying below do not come up, they are absolutely unwilling to go down and arrest people. Therefore, the wellbore also has his unique advantages.

But Yan Yuxiang's wellbore is not necessarily, because it is originally a recess, and the coal seam is too shallow, and you can see the people below with a flashlight, and there is nowhere to hide. So it's no different from a cloth tube.

The two of them dug for an hour, then stopped for a while, and Yan Xiuping took out the dry food she was carrying, the dough cake she cooked at home, for Yan Yuxiang to eat. Today there is more carbon than ever, in fact, since the first day they sold charcoal, every day has been more efficient than the previous day, because they are more motivated.

As soon as she finished eating, Yan Xiuping felt a little uncomfortable in her stomach, and signaled her husband to dig it later, she wanted to go to make it easier. She didn't want to solve it on the spot next to the wellbore, so she went around in a circle and ran to the back of the slag pile, and just took off her pants for a while. I heard a clattering sound on the mountain, as if someone was coming.

She was nervous, and she didn't feel like going to the toilet anymore. Jumping up with a thud, he lifted his pants and ran towards the well. But the moment he stood up, a bright light shone from not far away, but fortunately the light was not accurate at first, and she was in a hurry, and crawled behind the pile of dirt with a whoosh to be unfounded.

At this time, I heard one of them say as he walked towards this side: "Hey, don't say it, we really caught it, if someone hadn't reported it, who would have thought of this small place!"

"Then you can say it! The person who called is still using a public phone, and now people don't dare to use their real names! But these people are also really, and they are not honest during the Chinese New Year, and they don't want to die if they ask for money!" another replied.

"Now is the time for coal to sell, and those who don't make money are fools! Are you right?

……

Yan Xiuping heard this voice and knew that there were more than one person, at least three or four, and she was so panicked that she didn't dare to take a breath when she was lying behind the mound. Fortunately, this mound is big enough that she will not be found for a while. But the husband is estimated to be unable to escape this time.

This time, it was people from the county's criminal police team, and they also received a report call at night, saying that someone here was digging a small coal kiln privately, so they wanted to come. In fact, no one wants to move during the New Year, but it has been reported, and it can't be accepted. If you let them come on their own, they might not come!

Although Yan Yuxiang didn't know what was happening at the bottom of the well, he could conclude from the noisy sound of the shaking beam that something must have happened above. He also had the heart to hide deeply, but when he thought of his wife, he had a trace of luck in his heart, hoping that she would go to the toilet and walk farther away and not be caught. And all I have to do is buy her time.

After thinking about it, he made a bold move, only to see him unscrew the miner's lamp and shake it towards the mouth of the well, he wanted to lure the group of people over so that his wife could escape. After just two shakes, four bright rays of light shot down, and he couldn't open his eyes.

"Yo, you realize that we are from the county criminal police team, can we come up by ourselves?" said one of the above people contemptuously.

Yan Yuxiang said: "We are croppers, working for others to earn New Year's money, I am the first day to ...... today."

Another man interrupted him and said in annoyance, "Come up!

Yan Yuxiang had no choice but to climb up slowly along the rope tied to the tree, and he pretended to fall down once halfway, but in the end it couldn't be delayed for long.

As soon as he arrived at the well, he saw these four people drag him up, push him to the ground, and handcuff him from behind. Yan Yuxiang did not resist during the whole process.

These four people rode on Yan Yuxiang's body and pressed their knees against his waist, his waist was just right. A heart-piercing pain rushed over his head. But the group didn't care about that, and said, "How many accomplices do you have?" and as they spoke, they looked around with their lamps, but found no one else.

Yan Yuxiang thought to himself: If you want to say that there is no one, no one will believe it. Seeing that they didn't catch his wife in this situation, he was in a hurry and said, "I am also a worker who works for others, and there is another person, who has just finished work, and he will go home first." ”

"Nonsense, be honest, so what are you waiting for here?" one of them snapped.

"I'm close to home, take a cigarette and go up. Yan Yuxiang endured the pain and said. After a pause, he said, "I am willing to go back with you and explain the matter clearly." But I didn't steal or rob, it was really the first day I came here to work. ”

The four people looked at each other, according to this situation, even if there was another person, they must have run away now, as the saying goes: catch the traitor and catch the double, catch the thief and catch the stolen goods. If you are not caught red-handed, you cannot be considered an accomplice. It seems that I can only take Yan Yuxiang back alone today.

In fact, this is also the light of the New Year, at this time, no one wants to move, to put it on the past, it must be a large team of people to search the mountains. Today, there are only two people on duty in their criminal police team, and the other two are temporarily called back.

The four of them summed it up, and felt that they didn't return empty-handed, so they could also make a difference, and it was a cold day, so let's forget it. Pulled Yan Yuxiang up and tore it and walked to the car.

Yan Xiuping has been hiding behind the mound, if these criminal policemen are more diligent, even if they walk around, they can find out, but fate is like this, she buried her head in the mound, nervously ignorant of the outside world. After hiding quietly for half an hour, listening to no movement outside, she raised her head slightly, and saw that she was the only one left on the ground, and she knew what was going on—her husband had been taken away.

She stood up, not knowing what to do, and was so calm for a few minutes that she could hear a needle drop on the ground. I saw that she suddenly ran desperately, and she didn't even want the tools on the ground, and later in retrospect, she didn't even know how she got home, she only knew that there was only one thought in her heart, that is: Yan Yuxiang was taken away by them, what should I do!

When she got home, she didn't bother to wash, she was so tired that she felt a little better when she lay on her bed. But that feeling of helplessness still haunted her. She didn't know what to do. I heard that all such cases are punishable by imprisonment. What would I do if I was really sentenced? At this time, she wished that it was herself who was caught, because her omnipotent husband would always have a way.

In the morning, the four children woke up late, because there was no one to take care of the stove for them, and it was cold, and they hid under the covers and did not want to get up, and the children did not know what was going on. Chun'er got up first, and saw her mother leaning over the bed through the window, so she pushed the door in. I saw that Yan Xiuping was untidy, and the soil and cinders on her body had not yet shaken. His shoulders shook as if he were sobbing. Chun'er didn't care much either. She thought to herself: Maybe she had another quarrel with her father. The two of them often do this.

So he plunged into the kitchen to make a fire and cook. The first to notice that something was wrong was Fuyuko. Fuyuko was the second to get up, he wasn't afraid of his parents being angry like their sister, and even many times when his mother returned to his parents' house in a fit of anger, it was Fuyuko who invited his parents back instead of his father.

He first lifted the lid of the stove in the house, looked at it, and saw that it had been burned for a long time. Then sat on the edge of the bed, gently pushed his mother, and pretended not to care, "Mom, where is my dad?" Yan Xiuping did not speak. Fuyuko is out of the way. and get ready to go out in a huff.

Just as he was about to open the door, he heard his mother say in a hoarse voice, "Your father...... Your dad was taken away by the Public Security Bureau. ”

"What? Public Security Bureau? Didn't you arrest the bad guys? My dad is a good guy, why did he arrest him?" asked Dongzi puzzled. He clearly didn't realize the importance of the matter yet.

"Dongzi, Mom told you that your dad was arrested by the Public Security Bureau, and only our whole family knows about it, and even your best friend can't tell it, you know? ”

Fuyuko nodded and said, "Oh, I know Mom." I won't say. When was this going to be? Last night?"

"Hmm", Yan Xiuping didn't speak again after finishing this sentence. Talking to Dongzi made her feel much better. In fact, she just didn't come out of the thrill of last night, and now she has stabilized her mind a little, and she is thinking about how to save her husband.

She couldn't wait any longer, she had to pull herself together. I saw her get up and go to the kitchen to scoop a basin of hot water and wash herself. I didn't even eat breakfast, so I hurriedly explained a few words to the children, nothing more than not to say it. I took a private minibus from Yanxiang Village to the county seat.

In the process, she took out the style of a strong woman, and greeted acquaintances warmly when she met them on the way, as if nothing had happened. She did it.

When he arrived at the county seat, he first inquired about coming to the county criminal police team. This is the first time she has come to this kind of place, not to mention people with ghosts in their hearts, even if it is an ordinary person who sees that solemn signboard, he is a little scared in his heart.

She tried not to be nervous and pushed the door in. An old detective in his early forties stopped him and asked, "Hey, what's the matter with you?"

Yan Xiuping said: "Hello, let me inquire if anyone was locked in last night, I want to see him." She didn't know if her tone was shaky, but she did her best.

"Locked in? There were three people who were locked in last night, and he was locked in because of something? It's not good to be locked in for the New Year. The old detective was quite kind and asked jokingly.

He ...... He digs small coal kilns......" Yan Xiuping said. Yan Yuxiang and his wife did not check what to do if they were caught. So the two of them had a disagreement.

"Oh, you mean the one in Yanxiang Village?" asked the old detective.

"Uh-huh, that's him. Yan Xiuping nodded heavily.

"Oh, who are you? You can't see this man, go back. The old detective turned around and left. He also muttered: "Digging a small coal kiln for the New Year, asking for money is not dying!"

"Hey...... Hey, hello, let me ask again, will you give him food? Is it cold inside? Will he be sentenced?" Yan Xiuping saw that the criminal policeman was leaving, and hurriedly stopped and asked.

The criminal policeman laughed and said: "The food inside is good, three meals of steamed buns and vegetables a day, as for whether to sentence or not, then we don't count, the court says it." You go to the court and ask. After speaking, he ignored Yan Xiuping and walked straight away.