Liu Guifang

Biodata

Background / History

Guardianship and abuse

Liu Guifang raised Nuannuan in Li Family Village while publicly describing her as an unwanted foundling. Later evidence revealed that Su Mingyue had sent Liu Guifang letters and money for Nuannuan’s care. Rather than supporting the child, Liu Guifang appropriated the money and subjected her to prolonged abuse 2 34.

Nuannuan was made to sleep in a freezing woodshed, wash laundry in the snow, and survive on inadequate food, including sour swill. Liu Guifang beat her, insulted her parents, and threatened to abandon her to wolves. She also insisted that good food belonged to Goudan first, threatening Nuannuan with beatings and red-hot fire tongs if she ate any 1 21 35.

Murder of Zhang Jianjun

Two years before the village investigation, postman Zhang Jianjun—known locally as Old Zhang—visited with Su Mingyue’s letter and remittance slip. Tempted by the money, Liu Guifang invited him to stay for hot water. Her husband struck him with a hoe, and the couple dragged him into their cellar and buried him while he was still alive. They stole his money, grain coupons, belongings, and mailbag 34.

Liu Guifang’s husband subsequently died of illness. Zhang’s remains stayed hidden beneath a pickling crock, while some of his belongings were concealed near the courtyard’s firewood pile 32 33 34.

Medal theft and trafficking

When Liu Guifang discovered the bloodstained star medal left to Nuannuan by her mother, she mistook it for valuable gold. She seized it and planned to exchange it for meat for Goudan. Nuannuan resisted, prompting Liu Guifang to strike her and slam her against the woodshed’s threshold stone 1 2.

The village Party secretary intervened and ordered the medal returned. Liu Guifang threw it into the straw, then locked Nuannuan inside the woodshed after the visitors left. Although she claimed she would sell the child to a neighboring widower for fifty jin of dried sweet potatoes, she had arranged for out-of-town traffickers to take her away 1 2 3.

During the abduction, Nuannuan commanded mice to shred Liu Guifang’s hidden money pouch, destroying its cash and grain coupons. The distraction did not prevent her capture, but the surviving trafficker later identified Liu Guifang as the woman who had sold her, prompting Su Mingfeng to order her seizure 3 12.

Obstruction and arrest

When investigators arrived, Liu Guifang claimed that the Su family was using its authority to steal a child she had painstakingly raised. She and Li Goudan rallied villagers armed with hoes and carrying poles, trapping the investigation team inside the village committee compound 27 30.

Su Mingfeng arrived with an armed guard company, Su Mingzhe, Nuannuan, and Big Kitty. Before Liu Guifang could approach Nuannuan with a display of affection, he ordered her handcuffed for obstructing military duties. She denied hiding anything in her cellar and urged Goudan to stop the search 30 31.

Exposure and removal

Using information supplied by village animals, Nuannuan directed the search toward the cellar and firewood pile. Soldiers uncovered Zhang Jianjun’s remains beneath the pickling crock and recovered a rusted lunch box containing undelivered letters 31 32 33 34.

Liu Guifang first claimed that Zhang had fallen into the cellar. As Nuannuan revealed details of his belongings and the candy he gave village children, Liu Guifang became convinced that his ghost had returned through the child. She broke down and confessed to the attack, burial, and theft 33 34.

Su Mingfeng publicly announced her suspected murder of a public servant, abuse of a martyr’s orphan, and embezzlement of Nuannuan’s benefits. Liu Guifang tried to force Nuannuan to demand her release, but Su Mingfeng ordered her gagged. She and Goudan were thrown into a military truck and taken away 35.

The recovered correspondence also exposed a letter linked to Northwest Base 713 and “Green Pine,” leading Su Mingzhe toward an espionage investigation. The discovery did not establish Liu Guifang herself as a member of the spy organization 34 38 39.

Appearance

• Heavy build: Described as having a large, fleshy face and substantial body weight 1 35.
• Eyes: Described as upturned or triangular 1.
• Initial presentation: First appears eating a steaming white-flour bun, with grease around her mouth, while Nuannuan works outside in the snow 1.

Personality

Liu Guifang’s greed repeatedly takes priority over Nuannuan’s welfare. She steals the child’s support money, treats her mother’s medal as something to sell, and values the postman’s stolen cash and coupons as a means of feeding Goudan white-flour buns 1 34.

She uses public displays of distress to deflect blame. When confronted over Nuannuan’s injuries, she presents herself as the victim of an ungrateful child; during the investigation, she appeals to villagers’ resentment of city officials. Her outward submission to the Party secretary ends as soon as he leaves 2 27 30.

Her favoritism toward Goudan contrasts sharply with her treatment of Nuannuan. Even after arrest, she attempts to control the child through insults, accusations of unfilial behavior, and threats of heavenly punishment 21 35.

Relationships

• Nuannuan — Former ward and principal victim. Liu Guifang conceals the support sent for her care, exploits her labor, abuses her, and sells her to traffickers 1 3 34.
• Li Goudan — Son and favored member of the household. He helps obstruct investigators and attempts to stop the soldiers searching their property; both are taken away together 21 30 31 35.
• Unnamed husband — Deceased spouse and accomplice in Zhang Jianjun’s murder. He struck the postman with a hoe and helped conceal him in the cellar 34.
• Su Mingyue — Nuannuan’s mother, who sent Liu Guifang letters and money intended for her daughter’s care 34.
• Zhang Jianjun / Old Zhang — Murder and robbery victim whose hidden remains expose Liu Guifang’s earlier crimes 33 34 35.
• Su Mingfeng — Leads the operation that arrests her, searches her property, and removes her from the village 30 31 35.
• Su Mingzhe — Investigates the recovered letters and challenges her claim that the postman died accidentally 33 34.
• Li Laosi — Village Party secretary who tries to mediate during her confrontation with the investigators and soldiers. He is later removed and investigated over his failures in the village 30 31 37.