That evening.

The Ye family busied themselves preparing a large table of food.

Cheng Shanshan originally thought that if they made any more jokes about whether someone was a sister-in-law or not, she would leave immediately and would not leave any potential problems for herself.

Strangely, none of them mentioned it anymore, and Liu Liu addressed her respectfully: "Sister, don't be so polite with us. Just think of this as an inn, and we are your waiters and manager. Don't put any pressure on yourself."

These words made Cheng Shanshan feel embarrassed. Looking at the mess of dishes on the table, she simply rolled up her sleeves and said, "Since I'm here as a guest, I can't just eat for free. I'll wash the dishes."

"Okay, okay, I'll go with you."

Liu Liu didn't stop her; instead, she helped her tidy up.

As the two of them got to the kitchen to get busy, Ye Xi looked at them and asked, "Big brother, are you really going to keep this girl?"

Ye Dong frowned slightly: "We have to keep her, even if we don't want to. If Prefect Dong takes her away, she probably won't survive."

"So what if she dies?" Ye Xi said casually and coldly. "She's just a stranger we don't know. Why cause us trouble because of her?"

Ye Nan and Ye Bei also agreed with this view: "Although the second brother is usually unreliable, I'm on his side this time. We don't need to be enemies with Prefect Dong for her sake."

"Yeah, and besides, what if she really is a bad person!"

Ye Xi thought so too: "Recently, strangers have been appearing in our city. It's one thing for things to go missing, but recently eight people have gone missing. Something's definitely not right."

Ping'an City is neither very big nor very small.

Because the environment is so enclosed, most people here know each other.

Recently, a lot of strange people have appeared. At first, everyone was friendly and tried to entertain them, but as things got weirder, people started to become more and more resistant to outsiders.

Thinking of this, Ye Xi glanced at Liu Liu and Cheng Shanshan: "Liu Liu is too naive. She has no guard against people at all. What if she is a bad person and hurts Liu Liu?"

"Won't."

Ye Dong first firmly replied with two words.

He wasn't unaware of what they were saying, but for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to suspect Cheng Shanshan.

This feeling is very strange...

After a moment of silence, he continued, "Whether it's a person or something that goes missing, there are always clues. I will definitely find out the reason and give Magistrate Dong an explanation."

At this moment, Cheng Shanshan, who was in the kitchen, paused slightly.

For some reason, she overheard every single word of the Ye family's conversation.

Even though they were so far apart, and even though the other person was deliberately lowering their voice, she tentatively asked Liu Liu, "Did you hear your brothers talking?"

"No."

Liu Liu looked bewildered. She glanced outside and said, "They're in the living room, and we're in the kitchen. There are three rooms between us. How could we possibly hear them clearly?"

"..."

But she heard it clearly.

It was so clear, as if it were right next to my ear.

When did her hearing become so good?

This really struck her as odd, as did the content of their conversations.

It turns out that she wasn't the only one who came here. What were those people trying to do, stealing not only things but also people?

Of course, she didn't want to solve the case, but since she was here and couldn't leave, she had to live a normal life. The first step was to prove her innocence.

That night, she shared a room with Liu Liu, who found her a new set of bedding: "Sister, don't worry, I don't snore at night."

Cheng Shanshan: "I won't play either."

These words made Liu Liu laugh: "Oh, sister, you're such an interesting person! I knew I liked you the moment I saw you." As she said this, her cheeks flushed slightly: "But I lied to you, sister. I hope you won't hate me, okay?"

"Of course I don't hate you. I should thank you. After all, I'm a complete stranger here. Thanks to you for giving me half of the bed, otherwise I might be sleeping on the streets now." As Cheng Shanshan spoke, she pretended to reach into her sleeve and quickly took out a piece of candy that Bai had made for her earlier: "Here, have this as a thank you."

When Liu Liu saw the food, she immediately beamed and went to take it. Cheng Shanshan also took the opportunity to ask some questions: "Have there been a lot of outsiders coming to Ping'an City recently?"

Liu Liu looked at Cheng Shanshan with a fawning expression: "None of those people are as pretty as you, sister."

Cheng Shanshan asked, "Have you met all those people?"

"Um."

Liu Liu popped the candy into her mouth and then said smugly, "Ever since I found out that people come over there every day, I've been going there every day to find a wife for my older brother, but I haven't liked any of them. I've only taken a liking to my sister."

"..."

Cheng Shanshan was both amused and exasperated.

She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Have all those people disappeared?"

Liu Liu nodded: "Yes, they all disappeared inexplicably." When she said this, she lowered her voice: "Everyone is saying that we have angered the gods and spirits, which is why so many people have disappeared recently."

Is it really a ghost?

Cheng Shanshan clearly didn't believe it.

However, she could tell that Liu Liu didn't know much, so she said a few simple words and went to sleep.

Ye Dong left home very early the next morning.

He saw that Cheng Shanshan was silently following behind him without stopping her.

The two walked onto the street one after the other, attracting quite a bit of attention.

"I heard this young lady is Ye Dong's new wife?"

"She's quite pretty, and she and Ye Dong are a good match, but unfortunately... she's not very lucky. She'll probably be like the last one who just got married, and won't live more than a few days."

"Actually, it's not necessarily true. After all, this girl might also be a menace. It remains to be seen which of these two menaces will kill the other."

"..."

These people didn't speak loudly.

But Cheng Shanshan heard everything and noticed the key points of what these people were saying: Lin Dong had a wife before, and she was already dead.

According to these people, it doesn't seem to be a natural death.

Just as Cheng Shanshan was looking at Ye Dong walking ahead with a puzzled expression, he suddenly stopped and turned around to look at her.

He asked seriously, "Are you brave?"

"It shouldn't be considered small."

Cheng Shanshan looked utterly puzzled: "Why do you ask that?"

Ye Dong glanced at Cheng Shanshan before continuing, "If you're bold enough, then stick with me. I need you to do some things for me."