Wan Hai's words were relayed to He Zifeng by the villagers. He Zifeng sneered and said, "What does the He family's wealth have to do with me?" When he was alive, they still had nothing to eat and wore tattered clothes.

Now, He Zifeng only wants to make money so that his son and daughter-in-law can live a good life. He doesn't care about the He family's affairs at all. So what if the He family makes mountains of gold and silver?

Wan Hai, however, couldn't accept it. He had been praised by the village for so many years, but now he found himself inferior to He Zifeng time and time again. He couldn't bear this humiliation and kept trying to extort money from others.

The villagers, finding some merit in He Zifeng's words, fell silent.

The next day, before dawn, they set up their stall in the county, where many regular customers were already waiting. He Zifeng went and bought a scale. He weighed out the braised food for everyone; half a jin (250 grams) of their food could be cut into a large plate, enough to go with drinks. It tasted great on its own, but it was even better stir-fried with chili peppers.

Qiu Yu was surrounded by people early in the morning.

They bought 100 jin of pig offal yesterday, which weighed about 60 jin after cooking.

The aroma of this braised food was irresistible. Everyone passing by stopped to buy some, and some even asked Qiuyu for the braising liquid, which Qiuyu generously provided. The pork intestines were the first to sell out.

If you really can't afford expensive braised food, you can buy some wraps. One wrap is enough to fill you up and you can also taste some meat.

There were about five or six pounds left, which Brother Liu from the escort agency bought up. He also bought forty wraps. Yesterday, when his brothers found out he bought wraps for himself but regular pancakes for his men, they gave him a good beating. After everyone tasted them, they were even more clamoring for him to buy these wraps.

The savory pancakes are sold out.

He Zifeng and Qiu Yu had no idea how much they had earned. They only knew that their money box was almost overflowing. Qiu Yu's heart was pounding, and she desperately wanted to go back and count the money.

Qiu Yu bought another 100 catties of pig offal, and also bought ten pig trotters for 30 coins. The better the goods sold, the more motivated she became.

Before he even reached the village entrance, he saw a group of people gathered around his rented house.

Wan Hai was among them.

He Zifeng frowned slightly; the newcomers were clearly up to no good.

Sure enough, as soon as the couple appeared, they said, "Hey, the person is back."

Everyone stared at the couple. Their place was secluded, and the villagers didn't like coming over. They usually either went to the threshing ground or rested at the village entrance. Now, they were all gathered around them, which showed that they had come specifically for this occasion.

He Zifeng told Qiu Yu to push the car home. He asked, "What's wrong?"

Village Chief Liu asked, "When was the last time you saw Liangzi?"

“Never seen it before,” He Zifeng said.

Village Chief Liu said, "There are two pieces of news. First, it's possible that Liangzi set fire to your house." After the fire, tung oil and tinder were left behind, and Village Chief Liu collected these items. It wasn't until Liangzi's mother came over today that she learned these were Liangzi's things.

They also said that Liangzi hadn't been home for a long time, so they had to send someone to look for him.

This search proved to be of great importance. He told He Zifeng, "The second piece of news: Liangzi is dead." He was on the mountain, and he was stoned to death.

He'd probably been dead for a few days, and then bitten a few more times by wild animals in the mountains; it was covered in blood. Liangzi's mother was wailing and screaming, determined to find Liangzi's killer.

The village chief called everyone to the village to talk, but He Zifeng and Qiu Yu were not there. So the villagers came over, and the two of them ran into each other.

After listening to the village chief's words, the two hurried to the village to wait for the meeting.

Even the village chief of Liuzi Village was starting to have doubts. Was he unable to control the position? How come nothing happened when Lao Xu was the village chief? But when he first took office, he committed arson and murder, causing widespread panic in the village.

This is a very important matter; adults and children alike must come.

When Xiao Wan heard that Liangzi was dead, there was a hint of joy in her eyes. A local thug like him deserved to die.

However, it was the scumbag father, He Donglai, who glanced at Wan Hai more.

He Zifeng had been keeping a close eye on the situation at the He family's old house. He knew that Liangzi had been instructed to set the fire. Having gone along with Liangzi's scheme, his sudden and seemingly inexplicable death must have a reason. He Donglai's glance drew He Zifeng's attention to Wan Hai.

Wan Hai pursed his lips, seemingly sensing He Zifeng's gaze. Wan Hai had been at odds with He Zifeng for some time now. The fact that he was now afraid to look him in the eye suggested something was amiss.

He Zifeng quickly frowned. Wan Hai was originally the village chief's successor, but now he's becoming increasingly unscrupulous.

The village chief quickly asked around, but no one admitted to having seen Liangzi. Liangzi was a petty thief in the village, with few friends; he liked to hang out with a few hooligans from other villages playing cards. Plus, with Liangzi's tragic death, nobody wanted anything to do with him.

The village chief asked the question, but got nothing out of it. He was getting a little annoyed: "Go, invite the town mayor here."

He then added, "They've become increasingly audacious, even daring to commit murder and arson. If anyone steps forward now and tells the truth, I guarantee they will be treated leniently."

Although Village Chief Liu said that, no one is a fool. Murderers pay with their lives, and that's no joke.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Among the crowd, only Liangzi's mother was crying pitifully.

The villagers were all talking at once: "What's going on? Is our village cursed? Maybe we should move the village graves to a different location?"

"No way, could it be an accident?"

"Oh my God."

Wan Hai whispered a few words to Liangzi's mother. Liangzi's mother hardened her heart and waited for He Zifeng.

But they looked over immediately.

The town mayor arrived quickly, followed by the village chiefs of Fangjia Village and Baijia Village. The commotion in their village had been so loud that people in the surrounding area had heard it.

The old town mayor was accompanied by four other men. They all had stern faces and expressionless expressions, looking quite menacing.

When the village chief of Liuzi saw the old town mayor, he said with a face full of shame, "I have let you down. I have failed to lead this village well."

The old town head said, "Alright, it's unacceptable for murderers and arsonists to appear in the village. If I catch them, I'll definitely send them to the county jail." The old town head had been a town head his whole life, and he exuded an air of authority without being angry.

The villagers were all terrified. Even though this matter had nothing to do with them, they were all sweating, afraid that it might be connected to them.

Just then, Liangzi's mother rushed out and knelt in front of the town mayor, saying, "Your Honor, you must do justice for Liangzi. It was He Zifeng who killed him."

As soon as she finished speaking, Qiu Yu immediately became furious: "Nonsense, you're spouting nonsense."

Liangzi's mother was as fierce as an old leopard. She said, "Liangzi set fire to their house a few days ago. They held a grudge and killed my son... my son died a terrible death."

He Zifeng said, "The mayor is here. You need to provide evidence. How dare you slander someone with wild guesses?"

Liangzi's mother said, "Everyone else in the village is respectable, but you're the only one living alone. Those with nothing to lose aren't afraid of those wearing shoes. Who else could it be but you?" Then she added, "Besides, you grind flour and make braised food. Where do you get the money?" Liangzi's mother had two other children besides Liangzi.

This time, they're going all out on He Zifeng because Wan Hai said that He Zifeng's twenty-tael brick house was newly built. If he's really arrested, the house will fall into her hands.

Since Liangzi is dead and useless, we might as well try to salvage something.

What good could Liangzi's mother possibly be, raising such a scoundrel like him? She's a petty thief herself, and Wan Hai's words suddenly ignited a fighting spirit within her. Since there's no evidence, she figured if someone died, she could just pin the blame on He Zifeng. He's got money, and his connections aren't too deep.

He Zifeng said, "Of course I make money. I'm not like you, lazy and unwilling to work, yet you're jealous of others."

The town mayor waved his hand and said, "That's enough." He continued, "I have the judgment to determine right from wrong. Let me introduce you. This is Coroner Xing. This child is his apprentice." Beside him stood a dashing young man, whom the mayor didn't introduce. This was the son of a wealthy family, supposedly the son of some official. He was traveling and studying. Regardless of his official position, he was more capable than the mayor of this small town, though both he and the young master were still young and immature.

The town mayor patiently entertained him for several days, and in gratitude, the man generously gave the mayor twenty taels of silver. Truly a wealthy family, treating money like dirt. He was about to leave when he heard of a murder in the village and insisted on coming to join the commotion.

When Liangzi's mother heard that the coroner had come to examine him, she immediately objected: "No way! My Liangzi died tragically enough. He has to be torn to pieces after he's dead. What are you thinking? Liangzi, my son, if you have a spirit in heaven, strike down the person who harmed you!"

The village chief of Liuzi Village lost face in front of several other village chiefs, and said, "What are you doing? The town mayor is here to seek justice for you. Do you still want to find the murderer?"

Liangzi's mother said, "I know without investigating that the murderer is He Zifeng."

The village chiefs below had no experience dealing with village affairs, but the old town chief had dealt with many. He changed his questioning approach: "If it were him, what would you do?"

Upon hearing this, Liangzi's mother felt that the old town mayor was going to stand up for her, and said, "My son died so tragically, he has to compensate me with the house."

The old town mayor said, "Didn't his house burn down?"

The village chief, Liu Zi, then recounted how the He family had paid for the arson.

He Zifeng was the one who oversaw the division of the family property back then, as the old town head had done. He remembered them vividly; if it weren't for his presence, the He family wouldn't have even given ten taels of silver. How could they be so generous, giving twenty taels directly? The old town head asked, "Regarding the arson, Wan Hai, what do you think?" He abruptly and directly addressed Wan Hai.

Wan Hai trembled, then said, "I...I don't know." His heart skipped a beat for no reason.

The old town mayor asked casually, and Wan Hai became somewhat incoherent.

Author's Note: I'm making up for last night's update; there will be two updates today as usual.