Chapter 14

Tang Qingqing waited on the mountain for a while, but when she saw that the old man hadn't come back, she became a little worried and went down the mountain to look for him.

She had just entered the village when an old lady came towards her and was very warm and friendly when she saw her.

"Qingqing, where have you been? Let us look for you!"

Tang Qingqing was puzzled: "Auntie Guihua, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"It's not me who's looking for you, it's the police station who's looking for you!"

Aunt Guihua looked Tang Qingqing up and down. "I didn't expect that a little girl like you is so capable that you can even get Chief Zhang from the police station to come to your house in person to invite you."

"Auntie Guihua, why don't I understand what you are saying?"

Aunt Guihua pulled her towards the team while she excitedly talked about the bet between Old Liu and Zhao Dahua.

Tang Qingqing was stunned. She had never expected the old man to do such a thing.

She still clearly remembers how the old man warned her not to let anyone know that she could track.

She has been learning from the old man for nearly six years. Before, no one knew that she learned this skill from the old man.

Normally, she would secretly use her abilities to find trouble for people in the team, but she always covered it up well.

Why did the old lady take the initiative to let everyone know that she has this ability this time?

Not only did he go down the mountain in person, but he also made such a bet with Zhao Dahua?

Tang Qingqing didn't understand why, but she knew that the old man must have his reasons for doing so.

"You are incredible, girl. You actually made that weird old man place such a heavy bet on you. I heard before that you like to go to that mountain, but I didn't expect that you have such a good relationship with this weird old man."

Tang Qingqing was unhappy and shook off Aunt Guihua's hand:

"Aunt Guihua, Grandpa Liu is not a weird old man, he is a very capable person!"

Aunt Guihua slapped herself lightly and said, "Look at my mouth. I deserve a beating. Don't take it to heart."

Tang Qingqing didn't say anything. Aunt Guihua didn't care and continued to ask her what skills she had learned to be able to help the police solve the case.

"Is what Director Zhang said true? Can you really find evidence?"

Although everyone in the team believed that it was Cao Zhigao who set the fire, there was no direct evidence.

It would be illogical for them to seek excuses by using Cao Zhigao's disappearance as an excuse.

If a fight really breaks out, their team won't gain any advantage in the end, and their superiors will still think that they are restless.

If they had evidence, and went to reason with the people in Caojiazhuang, the effect would definitely be different.

Therefore, everyone is still looking forward to finding out the truth so that they can always keep one step ahead of the Cao Family Manor people in the future.

Tang Qingqing pursed her lips, thought about it and remained cautious:

"Whether it will work or not, you will know it later."

"Hey kid, you're still keeping secrets from Aunt Guihua. Aunt Guihua helped you when you were beaten."

Tang Qingqing smiled and said, "Auntie Guihua, it's no use for me to talk so much now, just watch what I do."

"That's true."

Although Aunt Osmanthus is more of a gossip, she knows that it is not easy for Tang Qingqing either.

She looked around and whispered:

"You better be smart. This is definitely Cao Zhigao's fault. You have to behave yourself no matter what. If you register with the police station, your family will look up to you."

"Auntie Osmanthus..."

Auntie Guihua frowned and said, "Don't be too honest. These days, honest people don't have good things to eat."

Tang Qingqing's throat was sore, "Auntie Guihua, thank you."

"Others don't care about concubines, but I do. I just can't stand those who play with concubines. Especially your mother Zhao Dahua, she doesn't love her own daughter, but likes to praise other people's daughters. People who don't know would think that they are her concubines."

Tang Qingqing understood what Aunt Guihua was talking about. Tang Jianguo was the pride of the Tang family, and Tang Zhenzhen was also talked about by others.

Unlike Tang Zhenzhen's three brothers, those three boys had only been to Rongshan Brigade a few times, so they could not be considered Rongshan people.

Tang Zhenzhen grew up in the Rongshan Brigade, so everyone felt more friendly towards her.

In addition, Zhao Dahua would brag to everyone from time to time, saying how smart and beautiful Tang Zhenzhen was now, and that at such a young age, many sons of city officials were trying to please her.

He also likes to talk about Tang Zhenzhen's childhood over and over again.

This made Tang Jianguo's family have a strong presence in Rongshan Brigade. Otherwise, no one would keep thinking about people like this who were adopted out.

Tang Qingqing used to think that Zhao Dahua liked to praise Tang Zhenzhen everywhere, liked to use Tang Zhenzhen to suppress her, saying how good Tang Zhenzhen was and how bad she was, because as a parent, he liked to talk about "other people's children".

Which child in the village has not been educated in this way? Everyone has ears full of ridicule.

Tang Zhenzhen is indeed outstanding. Taking such an outstanding person as her role model, Tang Qingqing would not think it a big deal even though she may be impatient.

But now she knows that is not the case.

Along the way, many people came to Tang Qingqing to inquire about the news, but she fooled them all, and Aunt Guihua also helped her block many people.

Seeing that Tang Qingqing was vague, everyone thought that Old Liu was old and his brain was muddled, so he would make such a bet, which was obviously bound to lose.

"What can a yellow-haired girl like this do?"

"Isn't that right? Could it be that Old Liu hasn't been down the mountain for too long and confused Tang Zhenzhen with Tang Qingqing? He thought Tang Qingqing was the child prodigy?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I guess Old Liu doesn't even know who Tang Zhenzhen is."

"It's fine if Old Liu is crazy, but how come Director Zhang was also fooled? Is it true that Old Liu and Director Zhang are not relatives?"

“…”

People were talking about it, and no one believed that Tang Qingqing had that ability.

There were some people who were good at doing things, and they even told Tang Qingqing not to offend that person, and that if you didn't have the nerve to do such a thing, you shouldn't do such a thing.

There are people who support Tang Qingqing, but they are just a bunch of children.

Tang Qingqing pretended not to hear any of these discussions.

After Old Liu finished his bet with Zhao Dahua, he went to sit under the big banyan tree in the center of the village and waited.

The banyan tree is very tall and dense, and its crown looks like a mountain, which is also the origin of their brigade's name.

Director Zhang also went along, while Meng Changqing was sent out to visit the masses to learn more about the situation, as he did not dare to place all his hopes on a little girl.

Although he was mentally prepared, Director Zhang still felt a chill in his heart when he saw Tang Qingqing.

How could such a little girl have such great abilities? She was not even as tall as his ten-year-old daughter.

"Grandpa, I just went to look for you, but I didn't expect you to come down the mountain to find me."

Tang Qingqing approached Old Liu, her gestures and tone intimate.

She also did not forget to greet Director Zhang who was standing beside her. She smiled sweetly and was very polite.

Old Liu's expression softened, and his sunken eye became less fierce.

"Food is the foundation of our farmers. We must catch the arsonist. I promise to help Director Zhang investigate on your behalf. Are you up to the task?"

Tang Qingqing stood up straight and saluted, "I promise to complete the mission!"

Old Liu nodded and said to Director Zhang:

"This is my apprentice Tang Qingqing. She is young but very talented. Her skills will definitely help you."

Director Zhang didn't think Tang Qingqing could be of much help, but in order to save face for Old Liu, he gritted his teeth and said something to make things look good.

"Welcome, welcome. Let's work together to solve the case as soon as possible."

Old Liu and Tang Qingqing both heard the reluctance in his words, but did not elaborate on explaining anything.

Tang Qingqing supported Old Liu and went to the fire scene with Director Zhang.

"Grandpa, Chief Zhang, let's go over there. There's a pair of suspicious footprints."

Director Zhang raised his eyebrows: "Have you been here?"

Tang Qingqing did not hide it: "I came here this morning and checked for a day and got some clues."

Director Zhang was full of suspicion. If he hadn't known Old Liu for a long time, he would have thought that the master and the apprentice had teamed up to deceive him.

The scene was so chaotic, with footprints everywhere. How could such a small bean sprout tell that something was wrong?

Tang Qingqing led them to a place about ten meters away from the center of the fire, pointed at the ground and said:

“These are the two footprints.”

Director Zhang squatted down and carefully examined the footprints, but after looking for a long time he couldn't see anything.

He could only tell that it was a pair of Jiefang shoes, and based on the size of the footprints, it should be a man's, but this information couldn't explain anything.

"What happened to this footprint?"

Director Zhang was not unwilling to ask questions just because Tang Qing was young.

"Looking at the footprints, you can see that the owner of the footprints twisted his body and swung his arms out as if throwing something..."

"Wait..." Director Zhang interrupted, "How do you know he threw something away?"

"My master said that when reading footprints, one must be able to 'penetrate deeply into the bones'. Based on the footprints, one can tell what the owner of the footprints did before. If you don't believe me, you can try stepping on a footprint yourself. The footprints of normal walking and throwing are different."

Director Zhang thought about it and felt that what he said made sense. He looked at Old Liu and said, "Master Liu..."

Old Liu closed his eyes and nodded slightly.

Director Zhang stopped questioning, but he had already made up his mind to go back and try again to see what was different.

"What does this prove?"

"If you are here to put out a fire, if you are using water, you should be throwing it out, or using clothes or other objects to hit the fire, and you should not be throwing things with one hand."

Tang Qingqing demonstrated the movements that everyone often does when putting out a fire.

"You can tell from these footprints that this person was throwing things with his arms?"

Tang Qingqing nodded, "Each action will leave different footprints."

"The fire was so intense that there must have been something fueling the flames. The owner of the footprints must have thrown kerosene or something else that could easily catch fire into the granary and put it in a wine bottle, which is why this action occurred."

Director Zhang looked at the little girl in front of him with big, bright eyes. He spoke very seriously, as if he had seen the scene with his own eyes.

Tang Qingqing: "If you don't believe me, you can go to the center of the fire and look for a broken bottle."