Let's just drift through life together in this quick transmigration story.

After descending the mountain, the village chief had people pull an oxcart to take the human traffickers and the victims to the police station. In the 90s, the police were still armed.

A group of young men carrying people and pulling a cart arrived at the gate. They looked like men to be trifled with. The guard reached for the gun at his waist and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The village chief walked forward shakily. "Sir, I'm here to report a crime. We've caught human traffickers."

It turned out they had come to report a crime. The guard put his hand down and said, "Wait here, I'll go in and report."

A short while later, the police chief and the head of the police station came out. Since they were used to dealing with villagers, they were not as panicked as the guards. The police chief said gently, "Uncle, what brings you here?"

The village chief waved his hand, and the villagers threw the traffickers to the ground. "Sir, we caught the traffickers. The girl lying in the car was abducted by them."

The police officers took the human traffickers to the police station, and the villagers went in with them.

The boy was always a little scared when he saw the police, hiding behind Xiong Bufan. Before the human traffickers were caught, if the boy did something wrong, Li Shan would always scare him, saying, "If you don't behave, the police will arrest him and shoot you." As he spoke, he would make a gun gesture with his hand and press it against the boy's head, while using his other hand to shove a nearly burnt cigarette butt at the boy.

The boy didn't understand, so he could only sit on the ground and wail.

Sister Wang and her group sat there laughing.

Once everyone entered the police station, the boy was completely exposed to the public and didn't even dare to take a step forward.

The sheriff noticed the thin, small boy and thought he was frightened. He patted the boy on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't be afraid. We're not bad people. We'll help you find your family. Come inside with us now."

Xiong Bufan carried Cui Di behind him, everything was new and interesting. The boy moved closer to Xiong Bufan and ignored the police chief.

After taking their statements, the girl and child who were unconscious on the oxcart were still asleep. The policewoman was taking care of them while the village chief and villagers led the oxcart back home.

Xiong Bufan followed the smell to the police station's canteen, where he ate and drank with the boy and Cui Di. The canteen only served some porridge, steamed buns, and some pickled vegetables in the morning. "Eat more, we don't know what we'll eat next."

The cook, seeing that the breakfast was almost gone, could only call the sheriff over. The sheriff simply said, "It's not easy for an orphan and a widow, let alone a hero of the village. Let her eat."

The boy was a little reserved at first, but seeing how much Cui Di and Xiong Bufan were eating, he also picked up his bowl and started eating. The police station was nothing like what they had described.

Only after finishing all the cooked food in the cafeteria did Xiong Bufan pat his belly and lead Cui Di away, with the boy following closely behind Xiong Bufan.

The cook breathed a sigh of relief. She had never seen such a voracious eater. Now that she had tidied up, it was time to cook lunch.

The village chief led his men back to the village in an oxcart, tied it to his front door, and distributed the grain they had obtained from the human traffickers. A villager then asked, "Village chief, should we also divide up the ox and the cart?"

They were all from the same village, and everyone knew what livestock each family owned. The village chief gently tapped the man with his cane and said, "What are you dividing up? Go and call Cui Tai here. Open the ancestral hall."

"Summon Cui Daqiang, Liu Jianping, and everyone else from the village."

The village chief only opens the ancestral hall for important events. At this moment, that person no longer thought about dividing the old ox, and quickly found Cui Tai. The others either followed the village chief to the ancestral hall or went to call for help.

The ancestral hall gates opened, and the village chief first offered incense to the ancestors. Everyone gathered in the courtyard, where there was a small hut at the end. There wasn't enough money to build a hut for the ancestral tablets, so the rest was a large courtyard enclosed by a fence. Grain could be dried here, and the hut was opened when the ancestral hall was open. The villagers stood in the courtyard, and the village chief sat at the door with his back to the ancestors.

The village chief moved a chair and sat at the entrance of the ancestral hall, then had someone bring over an old yellow ox to stand to one side.

Cui Tai was already resentful of being woken up so early in the morning, and his lower body was still aching. When he saw the old ox, his eyes widened instantly. "Uncle, this old ox looks strangely familiar."

The village chief ignored him, took a puff of his cigarette, and said, "I have something to say to you all this early in the morning."

Human traffickers have always been bad people. Our village must not have any human traffickers, nor should we hire any. If a boy can't find a wife, we can find a matchmaker to introduce him to someone. Every pot has its lid!

No matter how poor a family is, they are still family. They can survive by going to one relief center or another. The village is not rich, but it has not reached the point where people have to sell their children.

But...

The village chief paused, took a puff of his cigarette, and continued, "I only discovered today that someone in our village is colluding with human traffickers to sell the descendants and wives of the Cui family. How can they do this to their ancestors?"

In previous years, human traffickers would have their arms and legs broken and be kicked out of the village. Our village hasn't had any human traffickers in years; this can't be ruined in my hands!

Cui Tai's face turned pale upon hearing this, and he quickly lowered his head.

The villagers who went to the police station with us today are puzzled. After the interrogation, the police chief had a private chat with the village chief, and they must have been talking about this matter.

Those who didn't go to the police station had no idea what was happening. They only heard that there were human traffickers, so they hugged their children tightly and looked at the familiar old yellow ox next to the village chief.

Cui Daqiang and Liu Jianping were still asleep. The village chief had held a meeting today mainly to intimidate them, but he didn't expect them to still be sleeping. "Old Jiu, wake up Lao Si's wife and Daqiang for me."

Lao Jiu quickly took out a needle and pricked Cui Daqiang and Liu Jianping. They had been drugged and it would be too late to wait for them to wake up naturally.

Not long after, the two slowly woke up and, seeing that the ancestral hall was open, quickly stood aside to wait for the village chief to give instructions.

The village chief glanced at the two men and continued, “The people in our village colluded with human traffickers. Considering it was their first offense and no serious consequences have occurred, we won’t report it to the police. But this matter can’t be left unresolved. However, this is a new society, and we don’t do things that would break someone’s hands or feet.”

However, the ancestral hall must be expanded within a year to apologize to the ancestors; otherwise, the descendant will be removed from the family genealogy and expelled from Cui Family Village. The Cui family has no such unfilial descendants!

The position of village chief is elected by the elders, and the words of the village chief have absolute authority in the village. No one dares to question the village chief.

Liu Jianping knew the village chief was referring to him, so he tried to speak up: "Brother, we have our reasons. That An Qingnuan is really bullying us too much."

"If you're not satisfied, go explain it to the police. You'll calm down after a few years in jail."

Upon hearing that they were police officers, Liu Jianping and Cui Daqiang, though unwilling, fell silent. They could slack off while working in the village, but if the bureau chief were really imprisoned, who knew what the situation inside would be like.

If Liu Jianping and Cui Daqiang hadn't had no direct contact with human traffickers and hadn't lacked clear evidence of abduction, it would have been difficult for the village chief to protect them. However, they were lucky; the village chief wrote a letter of understanding at the police station and returned home without pursuing any further responsibility against them.

The village chief pointed to the old ox and asked, "Young man from Lao Liu's family, is this your old ox?"

Cui Tai's father walked over and said, "Brother, Niu Da went missing the day before yesterday. A Tai and I searched for two days but couldn't find it. Where did you find it, brother?"

The village chief hit Cui Tai's father on the leg with his cane. "Sixth brother, do you think I'm stupid and easy to fool? With the mountains blocked by heavy snow, why is this cow running around like that?"

Tell me, is this cow yours?

The sixth brother dodged while saying, "Big brother is my family, don't hit him, don't hit him."

Cui Tai dared not speak. He had indeed lent the cow out on his own initiative, on the condition that the trafficker would give him 30% of the money from the sale, as a travel expense. He just hadn't expected the old village chief to bring the cow back with him.

The village chief took back his walking stick. "Just leave this cow in the village. You can feed it, rent it out to make money, and use it to repair the ancestral hall. I won't hold you responsible." As he spoke, the village chief glanced at Cui Tai's crotch.

Zhao Hui wanted to speak, but her husband covered her mouth. This punishment was too lenient; she didn't want to work with Cui Daqiang to repair the ancestral hall.

"Meeting adjourned. Everyone go home and do what you need to do."

After Xiong Bufan finished eating, he returned home and found no one there. He followed the smell to the ancestral hall and saw everyone gathered together for a meeting. He didn't go into the courtyard but instead led Cui Di and the boy to the back of the ancestral hall to eavesdrop.

As Kongkong listened, he complained, "The punishment is too lenient; this is clearly cover-up. Kidnappers should have their legs broken!"

Xiong Bufan nodded. She had always thought the village chief looked really cool when he hit people with his cane. With a cane, he could walk with it when he got tired, and it was also a handy weapon when he hit people.