Chapter 43: Dirty Water
"What did you say? Who did Chunniang run away with?" The village chief immediately became serious.
Wang wiped her tears and cursed: "Who knows which wild man it is? I saw her sneaking out two days ago. I was kind-hearted and didn't think of this. Damn slut, she wanted to set fire to us just to elope with a man. She is so cruel!"
After hearing this, some villagers immediately became angry and said, "I was wondering why I didn't see Chunniang. It turns out she ran away with someone. You said she ran away, so it's fine. Why did you set the fire? You are so cruel."
"She doesn't even care about her own children and wants to be Chen Lai Fu's concubine. How can she be a good person? Pah! She really brings shame to our Yanghe Village!"
"I told you that we are from a small family, and it's enough to marry a wife, why would we take a concubine? Sure enough, something went wrong, right?"
"Village chief, that woman must not have run far away!"
"Yes, such an evil woman must not be spared!"
"......"
Everyone became more and more excited as they talked, and they all clamored to capture Chunniang back.
Liang Jinyu, who was outside the crowd, heard this and immediately thought of something. She hurriedly grabbed Ding Fang and said, "Go to Wang's house and take a look. Once you find the brother and sister, send them to the city immediately. Don't let the villagers find them."
Liang Dingfang was smart since he was young, and he immediately understood the pros and cons of this: "Sister, be careful."
"Don't worry about me, hurry up and go from the back." Liang Jinyu urged in a low voice.
Locking the door and setting the fire was enough to show that the murderer hated the Chen family to the core.
But the other party did not lock the door of the woodshed, and did not even light the fire, which meant that he had no intention of harming her and Dingfang.
Combined with what Dani said that night, Liang Jinyu had enough reason to suspect that the person who started the fire was Wang Erniu!
Although the child is young, he is a thoughtful person. Now that his mother has died tragically and his sister is ill, it is possible that Wang Erniu wants to die with the Chen family as he is left with nowhere else to go.
Liang Jinyu's guess was soon confirmed by Liang Dingfang.
"It's indeed him." Liang Dingfang looked at the empty Wang's house, then turned and looked towards the village entrance.
It has been less than an incense stick of time since Wang Erniu escaped by climbing over the wall. He is young and carrying his sister on his back, so he definitely couldn't run far. It's likely that he hasn't left the village yet.
Thinking of this, Liang Dingfang ran towards the village entrance without hesitation.
At the same time, led by Chen Laicai, the second son of the Chen family, more than 20 villagers started searching the village for people while holding fire and shouting loudly.
The dogs in the village barked all night long.
The news that Chunniang set fire to the Chen family's house in order to elope with a strange man soon became known to everyone.
As the sky brightened in the east, the villagers who had gone out came back one after another, and everyone found the same result.
Chunniang was not found!
Instead, the disappearance of Wang Erniu and Wang Juaner made the villagers more convinced that Chunniang had run away with someone.
Some people said that Chunniang still had a conscience and knew to take the two children away.
Some people also say that Chunniang is dissolute and selfish. She actually let her child run away with her for a wild man, and her conscience is extremely bad.
Wang cried and cursed Chunniang for being cruel and cruel and wanted her to go to hell whenever she saw her. Unexpectedly, she became so emotional that she rolled her eyes and fainted.
Old Man Chen and Chen Lai-fu had no time to care about her. They tried to salvage some useful things from the house while dealing with the villagers who came from time to time.
Liang Jinyu was feeling anxious because it was almost dawn and Dingfang had not returned yet.
"Ugh...my head hurts." Chen Dani finally woke up, covering her head.
Liang Jinyu brought her a glass of water: "How do you feel?"
Chen Dani rubbed her temples vigorously: "I feel dizzy and my eyes hurt. What's wrong with me?"
"Have a drink of water first." Liang Jinyu handed her the bowl.
Chen Dani drank some water and shivered: "It's so cold."
"Now that you're awake, don't be lazy and come over to help." Old man Chen urged in a vicious voice.
Chen Dani looked in the direction of the sound and was immediately startled: "Oh my god, what happened?"
Although the fire was put out in time, the main room and two rooms were still burned down to only the walls and roof beams, and the windows were also burned out. At a glance, the room was pitch black and it was almost impossible to recognize its original appearance.
"I remember now, there was a fire last night, right? I vaguely heard a noise and thought I was dreaming." Chen Dani realized it belatedly and broke out in a cold sweat.
Liang Jinyu helped brush off the grass debris on her back, stood up and said, "I'll go help, you take a rest."
Chen Dani nodded, trying hard to recall everything that happened last night.
She was in a deep sleep and seemed to smell smoke in a daze, but she was too tired to open her eyes.
"At least they have a conscience and take me with them." Chen Dani muttered softly, subconsciously thinking that it was Old Man Chen or Wang who rescued her, after all, they lived in the same room.
Chen Laifu looked at Liang Jinyu who was walking towards him and asked suspiciously, "Why don't you see Dingfang?"
Liang Jinyu shook his head and said tiredly, "He went with those uncles to look for someone last night. I guess he will be back soon."
"Do you know who set the fire?" Chen Lai Fu stared at her without blinking.
Liang Jinyu stared at one place in a daze, and suddenly a look of fear appeared on her face: "Impossible, I must have seen it wrong."
"What do you mean?" Chen Lai Fu asked immediately.
Old man Chen also looked over with a gloomy expression.
Liang Jinyu swallowed and looked at them nervously: "I ran out when I heard the shouting, and then I saw a white figure floating out of the gate. The back... looked a lot like Chunniang."
"Hiss~" Chen Dani took a breath of cool air.
Chen Lai Fu's face turned pale instantly, his pupils trembled, and he was so scared that he couldn't move.
"What nonsense!" Old Man Chen shouted, "I have lived for so many years, I have seen everything. When a person dies, it is like a light going out. Where do ghosts come from? Stop scaring yourself!"
Liang Jinyu said fearfully, "Really? I really saw Chunniang! The back view was exactly the same. Do you think Chunniang is here to collect the debt? Didn't Chen Laifu also see something dirty the night before? I think it must have followed us back then!"
With a "bang".
Wang, who had just woken up, fainted again out of fright.
"Shut up!" Old Man Chen shouted angrily, glaring at Liang Jinyu in a warning, "Stop talking nonsense, there are no ghosts in this world. If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will beat you!"
Liang Jinyu pursed her lips and sneered in her heart. It turned out that if you do something bad, you will be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door.
In the middle of the morning, Liang Dingfang finally came back.
Old man Chen stared at him for a few seconds, then winked at Chen Lai Fu.
Chen Laifu understood and immediately walked over, asking unhappily, "Why are you looking for so long?"
Liang Dingfang glanced at Liang Jinyu out of the corner of his eye and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she looked natural.
"I suspected the person who set the fire had left the village, so I chased him all the way to Toad Ridge, but still couldn't find him."
"Were you the first one to hear the noise last night?" asked Judge Chen Lai-fu.
Liang Dingfang frowned impatiently: "It's me."
"Did you hear anything or see anyone at that time?" Chen Lai Fu became obviously nervous when he said the last sentence.
Liang Dingfang was quick to notice this and guessed the reason after a little thought.