Chapter 44 All the money is gone
"It seemed like a figure passed by the window, but it was too dark to see clearly."
Chen Lai Fu opened his mouth with difficulty, but he didn't give up and asked again: "You and your sister went to the yard together, did you see anything?"
Liang Dingfang thought for a moment and said something surprising: "Does seeing Chunniang count?"
"Ghost, ghost...it must be Chun Niang coming to claim my life!" Chen Lai Fu was so frightened that he stepped back repeatedly, and his foot was tripped by a piece of wood on the ground and he fell to the ground.
"Whether it's a human or a ghost, we'll know after digging it out and taking a look!" Old man Chen walked over with a sinister look on his face, a shovel in his hand.
Liang Jinyu looked at him in shock, and a chill suddenly arose in his heart.
It would be terrible if a person did not even respect ghosts and gods.
Old man Chen always keeps his word. He picked up Chen Lai Fu and took him up the mountain.
Chen Lai Fu was so scared that he lay on the ground and refused to get up. He finally came to his senses after being slapped twice by old man Chen.
"You come too." Old Man Chen pointed at Liang Dingfang and said to Liang Jinyu, "If anyone comes to ask, just say we went out for something."
Seeing the three men entering the bamboo forest with hoes and shovels, Liang Jinyu clenched his fists with a serious expression.
[I am a staunch materialist and I absolutely do not believe that there are ghosts in this world. So either Chunniang is not dead and has come back for revenge; or...]
Chen Dani looked at Liang Jinyu suspiciously, either the two siblings were acting together.
Liang Jinyu was shocked. Whatever Dani could think of, Old Man Chen must have thought of as well.
If Chen Lai Fu found out that she had been preparing to leave, he would do whatever it takes to keep her here!
It's too late!
"Dani." Liang Jinyu decided to take the risk. She walked over and held Dani's hand.
Chen Dani felt uncomfortable and tried to break away, but the other party was too strong and failed: "If you have anything to say, just say it directly. Don't look at me like that, it's creepy."
Liang Jinyu laughed, then said seriously, "Would you like to do me a favor? In exchange, I can also agree to one of your requests."
Chen Dani asked cautiously, "What help?"
"Please help me go to Liuhezhuang."
...
Behind the Chen family's house is a vegetable garden with soft soil. There is always a toilet near the corner of the wall, which smells terrible.
While Wang was still asleep, Liang Jinyu buried the pottery jar that he had taken out last night under the toilet in the corner.
She roughly counted it and found a total of forty-six taels and five cents, enough for her to pay the down payment on food.
Hearing voices coming from the bamboo forest in the distance, Liang Jinyu hurriedly moved the toilet back and picked a few vegetables.
When they returned to the yard, the three of them just came down from the bamboo forest.
Liang Jinyu came forward and asked, "How is it?"
Chen Laifu stared at Liang Jinyu for a while and said, "Chun Niang is missing."
Liang Jinyu cried out in disbelief: "How is this possible? We buried her with our own hands."
Old Man Chen followed closely in, threw the shovel into the yard, and said with certainty: "She might not have died at that time. Maybe she was rescued by someone. Didn't the Wang brothers and sisters disappear too? They must have run away with Chunniang."
Liang Jinyu patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief: "Then the one who set the fire last night must be Chunniang. It turns out she is not dead. I thought it was a ghost."
Old Man Chen glanced at Liang Jinyu and said, "Weren't you the one who said there was a ghost?"
"The person was dead and suddenly appeared. Plus it was so dark, of course I thought it was a ghost. Besides, I wasn't the first one to see the ghost." Liang Jinyu said, looking at Chen Lai Fu meaningfully.
Chen Lai Fu lowered his head, thinking about something, and did not answer.
It was almost noon, and Liang Jinyu said hurriedly, "Fortunately the kitchen wasn't burned down. I'll go cook something for everyone."
"Sister, let me help you." Liang Dingfang said hurriedly.
"Come here and help." Old Man Chen called him and pointed at the burnt furniture all over the room. "Move everything out."
Liang Jinyu began to suspect that Old Man Chen knew something, so he deliberately separated her and Dingfang.
During lunch, Old Man Chen finally noticed that Dani was not there.
Liang Jinyu looked around the house and came back saying that he didn't see it, and asked if they wanted to go look in the village.
A lot of things happened in the Chen family during this period. Old man Chen was upset and thought that Dani had gone out to slack off again, so he just left her alone.
Perhaps it was the smell of food that woke Wang up in a trance.
After eating a bowl of rice, she felt more energetic. When Wang learned that Chunniang might not be dead, she instantly forgot her previous fear and cursed Chunniang with all the dirty words she had ever known in her life.
When cleaning up in the afternoon, Wang searched under the bed several times but couldn't find the pottery jar where she kept her money, and she almost fainted again.
The money was stolen, which was more devastating to the Chen family than the house burning down.
That was their savings over several years, and just like that it was all gone.
Wang sat at the door, clapping and cursing, saying that Chunniang would not have a good death and would go to the eighteenth level of hell and be castrated in an oil pan!
Old man Chen no longer had the mood to clean the house. He sat under the eaves in silence, as if he had aged several years overnight.
During the process, the second and third sons of the Chen family also came to help. When they learned that the money had been stolen, they all sighed, but no one offered to give the old couple any money.
"Everything is gone. How am I going to live from now on? Oh, God, you are tearing my heart out. I might as well just die. Wuwuwu..." Wang lay on the door frame, crying hysterically.
"This is not right." Chen Laifu suddenly came out and said, "Chun Niang didn't come into the house, how did she get the money?"
Liang Jinyu's heart tightened, and she had forgotten about this.
"I know!"
At this time, Chen Dani came back from outside panting. Before Wang could get angry, she continued, "It was Wang Erniu who broke into the house and stole it. I saw someone enter the room last night, and I thought I was dreaming."
"Really?" Old Man Chen questioned.
Chen Dani nodded vigorously: "Really, Grandpa, I'm not lying."
Adults always think that children are simple and will never tell lies, but they don't know that children can even lie to themselves, not to mention that Dani is not a child at all.
In order to prove that she was not lying, Chen Dani ran into the room and demonstrated it to everyone.
Wang Erniu was a villager who would fight if he went out, so climbing through the window was not a difficult task for him, and Wang had indeed not locked the window last night.
"That bastard dares to commit arson and murder, let alone stealing money! I'm going to report to the authorities! I'm going to the city to report to the authorities now!" Wang was so angry that she was about to go out, yelling.
Liang Jinyu kindly reminded: "I advise you not to go, what if Chunniang accuses you of murder..."
"Who said that? Who said I killed her? Isn't she still alive and well? Stop talking nonsense!" Wang bared her teeth as if she was going to bite someone.
Old Man Chen thought for a moment and said, "We can't report this to the authorities."
"If we don't report to the authorities and get the money back, what will we do? We don't even have a place to live now. When it snows, we'll all freeze to death." Wang wiped her tears. She was usually sharp-tongued and competitive, but now she was really scared.
Liang Jinyu suggested tentatively, "I heard that the price of food in the city has gone up. How about selling the food at home? At least we can save some money to repair the house first."