Praise You

That night, the engines roared on the helipad on the roof of the Shen Building, and the helicopter propellers spun up a huge storm. Chen Yan and Secretary Ma got into this steel skeleton, and their hearts, which were unable to calm down, trembled.

Helicopters can only travel short distances, so they landed in City G. Xiao Yingzhou met with him and asked, "What's the matter that warrants such a large mobilization?"

Chen Yan was in a low mood and only said, "Something might have happened to Xiao Ye. I'll go over and take a look."

Seeing that he looked serious, Xiao Yingzhou thought that with his calm personality, what happened to Xiao Ye must be more than what he said.

"I've made all the arrangements here, and I'm at your disposal at any time."

"Thank you."

In order to save time, Chen Dian took Xiao's private plane from City G to City Z. The long and uncertain road ahead made his anxious and bad mood last even longer.

Thinking about it on the plane, she realized that the only ones who could really pose a threat to her were Tie Sandeng or Shen Yuheng. Apart from them, who else could set their sights on coming to Jiutao Village?

Unable to contact her niece, Longyan called the police the same night she received the call from Dian Dian. Her aunt felt incredibly guilty, constantly blaming herself for letting her go back home alone.

The old couple squatted at the door of the third daughter's house and began to wonder. They had no grudges against anyone, and the third daughter was a kind and good-tempered person. Ah Yin had been well-loved by the neighbors since childhood. Who could have done such a sinister thing? Even more strange was how a healthy and living person could be lost? Moreover, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Where on earth could they even find it?

As soon as the plane landed, Chen Dian contacted Zheng Youshan. Youshan rushed over from the village and told him about his achievements in the car.

"As soon as the sun rises, I'll go find Uncle Tie San. I brought two bottles of Moutai from home and even picked out a piece of pork from the refrigerator..."

Zheng Youshan observed his patient expression and thought now was not the time to claim credit, so he quickly moved on to the main point. "When I arrived, Uncle Tie San was sound asleep. I didn't dare ask directly about Ah Yin's situation, fearing I might alert him. I told him I'd find a way to help me sell tea, and sure enough, Uncle Tie San didn't suspect a thing."

Sediment stopped him from talking too much and said simply, "Just tell me the conclusion."

"In my opinion, Ah Yin was definitely not hidden in his home," Zheng Youshan said. "Hey, this old man spoke to me without blushing or beating his heart. It didn't seem like he was acting. There was not a single flaw on his body. I don't think he did it."

Xiandian did not agree with his optimism, "Not necessarily."

He suddenly remembered that Secretary Long had always wanted to install surveillance cameras in the village and had mentioned this to him several times. He had always been personally in charge of Jiutao Village's affairs, but due to recent instability within the group and a lack of energy, he had delegated the responsibility to his subordinates.

He asked Secretary Ma, "What's the progress of the village surveillance? Have you asked about it?"

Secretary Ma replied alertly, "I'll check it out."

Zheng Youshan was not smart enough and went straight to complain. "Where is the surveillance camera? There's no surveillance camera! There's definitely no surveillance camera!"

Secretary Ma really wanted to slap him.

Receiving the unfriendly gaze, Zheng Youshan was struck by a sudden enlightenment. He couldn't help but shudder. Suddenly, he understood—he slapped his thigh and said excitedly, "Why do we need surveillance? There are people in the village who can do better than surveillance."

Chen Yan'an didn't move his eyebrows, but glanced at him sideways, "What do you mean?"

"Mr. Shen, do you remember how I got that stone in my tea garden?" Zheng Youshan moved closer, his face flashing with a gleam of light. "Ayin's elementary school classmate Tian Enliang was the one guarding the stone in the back mountain. Do you still remember him?"

Chen Yan said without a word: "Call him."

"Okay!"

After hearing Zheng Youshan's request, Tian Enliang evaded the question, saying, "Hey, Youshan, please don't wrongly accuse a good person! It's been a long time since I last did that kind of work."

"Lao Liang, we're brothers, we know each other! Don't try to play dirty with me!" Zheng Youshan had just boasted to Chen Dian'an, but Tian Enliang rejected his promise. He couldn't help but get angry. "People always say that a dog will always eat shit! Don't even try to act like a good person in front of me."

"Youshan, why are you talking so harshly? I'm telling the truth, buddy. The secretary has punished me several times. We can't do that."

"Hey, you kid doesn't want to live anymore, right?" That means he's too big, otherwise Zheng Youshan would definitely get into the phone and beat him up, "Are you going to tell me? If you don't tell me, I'll tell you that you still have a good relationship and send it to Widow Sun."

"No, man, no. Let me think about it."

For the past two months, Tian Enliang had been simultaneously befriending two widows in the village, a renowned playboy. He would usually coax one into a relationship in the first half of the night, then find the other in the second, always with equal care, more punctual than a clock.

Widow Sun's house is in the southwest corner of Ye Yuanyin's house. There are only two roads in the village, so even if they don't pass by the door, they can still meet each other.

"As for Yin, I really didn't see her last night. Just think about it, if someone really wanted to take advantage of her, why would they deliberately leave clues for me to see? It doesn't make sense."

Tian Enliang recalled again and said, "When I went there last night, the front door of Ayin's house was fine. I really didn't pay much attention to it."

Seeing that Chen Di'an didn't say anything, Zheng Youshan had no choice but to ask, "Did you run into anyone suspicious on the road?"

"As for who..." Tian Enliang recalled, "I actually saw one. It was your cousin Duofu. It looked like he got slapped in the face. It was probably that crazy woman in their family who did it."

Zheng Youshan asked, "What is he doing out here in the middle of the night?"

"What else can you do?" Tian Enliang's frivolous voice came from the microphone. He laughed very wantonly, "Do the same thing as me..."

*

There was no progress.

People from the police station came to investigate the scene, collected evidence and left.

This isolated mountain village, with no access to information, is a natural hotbed for criminals. Without surveillance coverage, finding someone is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

That night, Chen Dian sat alone in a rocking chair in the yard.

It is hot and stuffy in the summer, and the air is as tight as an iron barrel. If you stay outside for a while, your clothes will be soaked with sweat.

Above him was the eternal sky, but it was too accustomed to witnessing human tragedy to remain indifferent. The world was too big to accommodate the woman he loved.

Dian Yan temporarily put aside all the resentment and sadness in his heart and called the old lady at home.

Grandma picked up the phone but didn't say anything. She remained silent for several seconds, as if holding back her energy. Zhang Yunrong finally softened her heart and asked, "Boss, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Still unable to let go of the resentment in Chen Yan'an's heart, he asked the question he had always had in mind, "My mother...how did she die?"

"She had a difficult birth and died when you were born."

He had already made up his mind, but still asked again with a faint hope, "Really?"

Zhang Yunrong was silent for a moment, thinking that his prejudice against the Shen family was indeed deep. Years of accumulated dissatisfaction lay dormant in a person's heart, a rift that could not be mended no matter what.

"Don't you believe anything grandma says? If you don't believe it, then why did you call me?"

He sighed and said helplessly: "This bowl of water is not evenly distributed."

"How can you not treat things fairly?!" Zhang Yunrong said angrily, "Take what happened a few days ago, for example. Aunt is your biological aunt, and uncle is also your biological uncle, yet you are determined to kill them all! Haven't Grandpa and I tried to persuade both sides?!"

Sediment couldn't help but laugh. He usually kept his emotions to himself, but this time, he asked with resentment, "Grandma, when they were chasing me to death, did you try to persuade both sides? If you did, why don't I remember it? Why am I doing this to them now? Don't you understand at all?"

"Grandpa and I know you've been wronged." Zhang Yunrong sighed and said helplessly, "Although they are our own children, they are grown up and we can't influence their thoughts. Just like now, we can't influence your thoughts. All we can do is to protect the normal operation of this family within our best ability."

"Heh..." Sediment An scoffed, "This order is truly bullying and unfair."

"Big Boss, when you have children, you'll understand the painstaking effort Grandma put into what she said today. Even though they're all your own children, they're all different. There's always a difference between close and distant relatives, and that's inevitable."

She found an irrefutable excuse for her bias. Chen Yanan said dejectedly, "Don't worry. After all, there are differences between relatives and strangers. I also know my own position. Most importantly, I won't do anything murderous or arsonous."

He bent his body slightly, his convex back like a mountain. He looked down at his feet. He had been sitting in the rocking chair for so long that a deep rut appeared on the blue bricks.

There are wrinkles in people's hearts, and no matter how you try, they can't be smoothed out.

"Could you please pass on a message for me? This injustice has its perpetrators, so feel free to vent your dissatisfaction to me! Can you please stop picking on Xiao Ye all the time? What kind of man is he?"

Zhang Yunrong was suspicious and furious, "What did your fourth uncle do again?"

"That's a good question." He couldn't help laughing, and raised his head, tears welling up in his eyes. "Three years ago, you coaxed me into working for the Shen Corporation, but he was trying to flirt with my wife at home—just like he did to my mother."

Zhang Yunrong's expression suddenly changed. It turned out that he knew everything.

Shen Yanan said, "I'm disheartened because you all knew he was doing evil, yet you conspired to destroy evidence for the sake of so-called 'order'. What kind of 'order' is the Shen family's 'order'? Can it disregard human ethics and trample on human nature? If that's the case, then screw 'order'!"

Veins knotted on his forehead due to resentment. Chen Yan'an's eyes were red as he gritted his teeth and said, "Grandma, I promise you that the weak me of the past, the me who once wanted to destroy the Shen family, is now dead. From now on, I will do everything I can to get the Shen family back on track, and under my leadership, the Shen family will establish a new 'order'."

Zhang Yunrong's hands were shaking as she held the microphone.

"When I have children, my son and daughter will never look like Shen Yuheng and Shen Lianxing now!" Shen Yan'an had a gentle smile on his face. "Because the mother of my children, although poor and weak, was destroyed and rebuilt in this place thousands of miles away from home, she never fooled herself. Whether she wanted to leave or stay, struggle or work hard, persist or give up, once she made a decision, she never wavered."

"I know that no matter how well you disguise yourself, you will still look down on her and deny her because she is alone and weak. Grandma, is there wealth that can last for a thousand years in this world? Even a hundred years of wealth is a luxury. Who can keep the Shen family's foundation evergreen? Don't deny a person's future because of her present. How can you know what Xiaoye will become in the future? After all, she is so young."

Zhang Yunrong had never heard him speak so long before, and she didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed. From then on, he grew stronger and stronger, and no one could control him anymore.

"It's good for young people to be ambitious, but how can you guarantee that there won't be problems with the new 'order'?"

"Of course there will be problems. Nothing in this world remains unchanged. The only thing I can guarantee is that my child won't repeat the mistakes I made as a child, and that what I lost, my child won't lose again." There was a chilling coldness in Shen Yan'an's voice. He said seriously, "Grandma, please tell Shen Yuheng not to have any bad intentions towards Xiaoye. We're also a member of the Shen family, and my moral standards are not as high as you think. Who wouldn't do murder and arson? If it really gets to that point, the Shen family will collapse. How can you try to smooth things over?"

*

When Ye Yuanyin woke up, everything in front of him was pitch black.

Her eyes were covered with a cloth, and her arms and hands were tied behind her back. Her hands touched the ground, which was wet and sticky, and had a rotten smell. Because she couldn't see, her ears were extraordinarily sensitive. Periodically, water droplets from high above would hit the ground, making a soft, tiny sound.

Ye Yuanyin stretched out her hand again and fumbled for a long time within the limited range. Wherever she touched, she felt a long-lost familiarity. It was the clay she had been used to using since she was a child.

It turns out that she is still in Jiutao Village.