158: I'm afraid those people are in danger.

The little boy's mouth was immediately covered by Eldest Sons Wife, who frantically muffled him, then said to Squad Leader Li and Xiao Niannian.

"The child is young and doesn't know any better; they're just roughhousing."

She said with a chuckle.

Xiao Niannian looked at the child.

Although Captain Chen's other children wore clothes with patches, this child's clothes had several times more patches than the others.

Moreover, she trembled in fear when she saw them approaching.

Something was wrong.

"Is this your Granddaughter?"

"She's my maiden family's Nephew's daughter; they couldn't raise her, so they sent her to us to help raise her..." Auntie Chen said with a smile.

A Nephew's Granddaughter from her maiden family?

When the girl saw the Chen family, her eyes were filled with fear, and her whole body trembled.

Xiao Niannian grew even more suspicious.

"You go in and rest quickly; let your Aunt and the others do this here."

"Yes, yes, yes, we'll do it."

"You child, we told you not to do these things."

The Chen family's daughters-in-law spoke one after another.

The children were also too scared to speak at this point.

"comrade, let's go into the room."

"Let's continue our discussion."

Squad Leader Li glanced at the little girl and exchanged a look with Xiao Niannian.

Xiao Niannian understood Squad Leader Li's meaning.

"comrade, I also want to go to the restroom."

Xiao Niannian said to Third Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family.

"Come with me."

Third Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family had a faint smile on her face, but her gaze turned to the little girl walking towards the backyard, and her brow furrowed.

"comrade, the restroom is straight ahead from here, the one in the very front row."

This large Compound was paved with many stone slabs, and not far away, there were four rooms filled with seafood.

It smelled entirely of seafood, with no other scents detectable.

There were also some flies buzzing around.

Xiao Niannian walked towards the restroom, and upon entering, she didn't smell a very foul odor.

Captain Chen's restroom was much better than others'.

The surrounding walls were tiled, and there were two stalls.

After quickly using the restroom, she walked to the door.

Next to the restroom were two bathing rooms, each with a homemade wooden door.

Third Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family waited a few meters in front of the restroom, looking at Xiao Niannian and smiling as she said.

"comrade, there's water here to wash your hands."

Xiao Niannian knew very well that Third Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family had been watching her.

There was something suspicious about these people in Captain Chen's family.

However, she didn't hear anyone else speaking.

Her gaze turned towards the back mountain.

Could it be that if there were people, they were also hidden in the back mountain?

Seeing Xiao Niannian looking at the back mountain, there were some bamboo groves not far from it.

This place was only a few hundred meters from the sea.

"Your family's environment is really good. Does it get affected by typhoons usually?"

Hearing Xiao Niannian's words, Third Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family said sadly.

"On typhoon days, people don't dare to go out. We all stay indoors, just afraid the wind will be too strong and blow people away... Normally, when we encounter typhoon days, we don't dare to go fishing..."

Third Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family spoke of the hardships of their Production Brigade and commune.

"If a factory could truly be built in our commune, that would be wonderful..."

Just a few steps away, Auntie Chen's voice rang out.

"comrade, please eat at our house today. We don't have much else here, but seafood is plentiful. We also grow some vegetables at home..."

Hearing Auntie Chen's enthusiastic words, Squad Leader Li immediately refused.

"Thank you, Aunt, we are eating with Boss Shen today..."

"Then please take these seafood items with you. They're not worth much..."

Squad Leader Li and Xiao Niannian quickly refused.

"comrade, we cannot accept gifts."

After a while, Squad Leader Li and Xiao Niannian emerged from Captain Chen's house. They bought some seafood at market price.

This was also to dispel their suspicions.

As Xiao Niannian and Squad Leader Li and the others walked out of the Compound, she heard people talking inside the house.

"Mom, could these people have discovered something?"

"Discovered what? Shut up, Eldest Sons Wife, look at how foolish you are, can't you learn from Third Daughter-in-law?"

"Control that little bastard; don't let her come out again. If she causes trouble, I'll beat her to death."

"Third Daughter-in-law, you and Second Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family go follow them and see if they go into the mountains..."

"Mom, I'll go follow them right away."

The Production Brigade cadre looked at Xiao Niannian and Squad Leader Li.

Xiao Niannian and Squad Leader Li exchanged glances.

"The quality of this seafood is good. If exported, it could indeed earn some foreign exchange..."

"Comrade Li is right."

Squad Leader Li and Xiao Niannian discussed seafood, and the Production Brigade cadre leading the way also listened with a smile.

Meanwhile, Third Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family and Second Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family followed behind, listening.

"Third Sister-in-law, they're just talking about seafood..."

Second Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family said in a low voice.

"Just listen."

Second Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family looked at Third Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family displeased.

After Third Daughter-in-law married in, she was sweet-tongued, and Third Brother was already favored by his in-laws, so these two now had their in-laws doting on them at home, secretly subsidizing the Third Branch with a lot of money.

They had tried to cause trouble, but their father-in-law was shrewd, not only in the First Production Brigade but also a respected person in the commune.

Moreover, they had an income source that brought in over a thousand yuan to the family each year. Although each branch only received about a hundred yuan, they weren't required to pay for household meals.

So, Second Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family didn't dare to make too much of a fuss.

Xiao Niannian, Squad Leader Li, and the others visited several more families for investigation. Later, when they reached the mountainside, Squad Leader Li saw several stone houses not far away.

"What's over there?"

"Those are where the sent-down comrades used to live, but no one is there now..."

The Production Brigade cadre leading the way explained.

"There are many wild beasts on this mountain. The Production Brigade set many traps before and caught wild boars and other beasts. Fearing danger for those people, they were uniformly arranged by the commune to work elsewhere..."

Hearing this, Squad Leader Li nodded.

This Production Brigade cadre did not seem as afraid of their presence as Captain Chen's family. Xiao Niannian had specifically observed this cadre earlier.

When Squad Leader Li mentioned the mountain earlier, he didn't panic.

This indicated that the Production Brigade cadre didn't know if anyone was there.

"So that's how it is; that indeed sounds very dangerous."

Squad Leader Li said again.

"The terrain of this mountain is good. We can go and take a look; perhaps the factory could be arranged here."

Hearing their words, Second Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family became anxious.

"They're going to look in the mountains; they won't be discovered, will they?"

"Shut up."

Third Daughter-in-law of the Chen Family reprimanded.