Chapter 344: Chapter 344: The Big Meeting
The next-door neighbor came out upon hearing the noise. She saw the back of Comrade Yang, who had bobbed hair and was wearing a Lenin suit, and couldn’t help but inquire. Raina said deliberately, "It’s the work group from town. Some scumbag reported me for raising rabbits. They’ve already come by twice. Don’t you have three pigs? You’d better be careful. They might come to your house next!"
The neighbor’s face fell. She hissed, "Which goddamned son of a bitch reported this? Are they not afraid of having a son with a rotten asshole? My son is getting married next year. How am I supposed to host the wedding banquet if I don’t raise these three pigs?"
"Exactly! I was only raising a few rabbits so the kids could have a little meat to eat, but some bastard who deserves a miserable death had to go and report it. Who knows how many families they snitched on. But just now, that comrade asked me if anyone in the village was raising extra pigs. I, of course, said there weren’t any," Raina said, embellishing the story.
The neighbor was immensely grateful. "Thank you so much, Third Grandma. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to save my pigs. They’re each over a hundred pounds already!"
"You should still be careful. If that scumbag isn’t caught, we’ll never have a day of peace. I had to butcher my rabbits, and they were all so scrawny. My heart ached just eating the meat."
The neighbor’s face was etched with worry. She lost her appetite and ran off to discuss the matter with other families. After all, she wasn’t the only household in the village exceeding the quota. They had always raised their livestock this way without any trouble. Who could have known the town would suddenly pull a stunt like this? That informant was a truly wicked person.
Before evening even arrived, panic had spread throughout Millstone Peak. Some people even considered driving their pigs up into the mountains to hide them, but Preston Thorne stopped them.
"Don’t panic. I’ve pretty much figured this whole thing out. The informant is someone from our own village. We’ll hold a meeting after dinner, and I’m going to expose this traitor in front of everyone!"
Preston Thorne looked extremely serious. He had been going to the town government office every day for the past few days. Byron Thorne had provided a carton of Peony cigarettes, and after using up half of them, he had finally managed to dig up the information. Tang Xiaonan had been right—it was that bitch, Phoenix Golding.
The loudspeaker in Millstone Peak, silent for a long time, suddenly crackled to life at dinnertime. Preston Thorne’s voice boomed across the entire village, "Attention, all households! After you finish dinner, gather at the rice paddies by the village entrance. No one is to be absent. Except for women in postpartum confinement and nursing infants, everyone who can walk must be there!"
Preston Thorne repeated the announcement three times over the loudspeaker, his tone grave. It was clear the village chief was in a foul mood. Since the matter concerned everyone’s livelihood, the villagers were quick to respond. They headed to the village entrance early, eager to find out which son of a bitch was the damn traitor.
Millstone Peak had nearly a hundred households with several hundred residents. The village entrance was packed with a dense crowd. Tang Xiaonan was perched on Felix Thorne’s shoulders, making her the tallest kid in the village, and from there she could see everyone perfectly. Phoenix Golding and her family had not yet arrived.
Meanwhile, Phoenix Golding had also caught wind of the news that Preston Thorne was going to expose the traitor in public. ’I wonder if that old codger has really figured it out,’ she thought. Phoenix Golding was on pins and needles, not daring to go to the meeting.
"I have to go out for a bit. You guys go on to the meeting!"
Phoenix Golding decided to go out and lay low for a while. Forgetting even her precious son, she got on her bicycle, ready to leave, but Jacqueline Spann stopped her. "The village entrance is swarming with people."
There was only one road out of the village; escape was impossible. Phoenix Golding instantly panicked. A flash of contempt crossed Jacqueline Spann’s eyes as she advised, "Let’s just go to the meeting. Not going will only make you look guilty. We’ll play it by ear when the time comes."
Phoenix Golding nodded, feeling a little more at ease. ’I didn’t report it to Team Leader Lowell myself,’ she reasoned. ’Old Jacobs was the one who tipped him off. It has nothing to do with me. There’s no way they can trace it back to me. What’s there to be afraid of?’
