Chapter 5

There were a mess of sheep hoof prints on the ground, but Tang Qingqing still accurately found the hoof prints of the two lost sheep among them.

"Those two sheep should be in Liushu Brigade. Judging from their behavior, they are probably mixed with the sheep in Liushu Village."

Tang Qingqing half-knelt and searched on the ground, and soon found the shepherd's footprints, which confirmed her guess.

Wang Heizi stepped forward, staring intently with eyes wide open:

"They all look the same to me. How do you tell them apart?"

This question puzzled Wang Heizi, and along the way he tried to learn how to identify it like Tang Qingqing.

But he couldn't figure out anything no matter how hard he tried. Instead, he followed Tang Qingqing, sometimes walking with a hunched back, sometimes half squatting, and sometimes just squatting down and moving slowly. He was very tired all the way.

Sometimes he thought he saw something different, but as soon as he saw a bunch of footprints, he was immediately at a loss.

Along the way, Tang Qingqing had explained it many times and was too lazy to say it again.

When Wang Cao'er heard the news, she breathed a sigh of relief and felt that hope was just around the corner.

"I guess 'White-headed Old Man' and 'Little White Cabbage' mistook the flock for the wrong one and ran off with the sheep from the Willow Brigade."

This kind of thing has happened before, although usually it is the sheep that have strayed into the flock of a different group, and rarely does it mix into the flock of other groups.

Wang Heizi had been to Liushu Brigade with his mother before, so he was quite familiar with the place. He led the other three people into the village.

There were still many people awake at this hour. Although not many people had turned on the lights, one could vaguely hear the movement of people in the house or in the yard.

Wang Heizi was about to lead everyone to find the sheepfold, but was stopped by Zhai Hongyi.

"Didn't you say your aunt's house is here? Go there first."

Wang Heizi was now thinking about the sheep. "I'm here to do some business today, not to visit friends. If my aunt knew I came here so late at night, she would definitely scold me to death."

"Even if you don't say it, it will get out eventually, and your aunt will still know about it."

Wang Heizi frowned and said reluctantly, "But..."

"It would be fine if the shepherd of the Willow Brigade took the sheep away accidentally, but what if it wasn't?"

Wang Heizi glared and raised his voice: "You mean they stole the sheep... um——"

Zhai Hongyi directly blocked his mouth: "Keep your voice down, I'm just saying it's possible. This is not our territory, it's better to have someone from the village accompany you."

Wang Heizi mentioned along the way that his family had a very good relationship with his aunt's family and they often visited each other, so Wang Heizi was so familiar with the Liushu Brigade.

Although Wang Heizi thought it was unnecessary and who would dare to steal public property, he still listened to Zhai Hongyi and went to his aunt's house first.

There was still some noise at Wang Heizi's aunt's house. He called out from outside the yard gate and his aunt came over to open the door soon.

"Heizi, why are you here so late at night?"

She looked behind Wang Heizi and didn't see anyone else.

My aunt's face turned pale with fright, wondering what she was thinking.

"You, you, your mother, didn't something happen?"

Wang Heizi quickly explained: "Aunt, my mother is fine. I came here to look for sheep."

"Looking for sheep?"

Wang Heizi briefly told his aunt about the whole incident, but what he meant was that he had lost the sheep and was worried about being scolded by his family, so he called his friends to come here to look for it.

When the aunt heard this, she was so angry that she pulled Wang Heizi over and spanked him on the butt several times.

"I told you to run around, I told you to run around! You are so brave that you dare to run around in the middle of the night! Are you afraid that the wolves will be hungry, so you come to their doorstep to fill their stomachs?"

Wang Heizi jumped up and down and shouted, "I'm not alone. There was an educated youth looking for sheep with me. He stretched out his hands, and the cousins ​​were no match for him. Look, I'm fine now, aren't I?"

The aunt stopped quickly. She was just pretending to do that in order to prevent the child from becoming wild. She didn't really want to spoil him.

Losing a sheep was a big deal, so the aunt called her husband and led Wang Heizi and a few others to the brigade's sheep pen.

There are people guarding the sheepfold to prevent people or wild animals from stealing sheep at night.

The population of Liushu Brigade is larger than that of Rongshan Brigade, and they raise more sheep.

As they approached, dogs started barking, and soon an old man came out with a flashlight.

"Who's there? Stand still. What are you doing here so late at night?"

My uncle said, "Uncle Zhao, it's me, Lu Xiangqian. Are you still awake?"

Old man Zhao shone the flashlight on my uncle's face and confirmed that it was him before turning off the flashlight.

"What are you doing here so late at night?"

Lu Xiangqian roughly explained the situation to the old man, "Yang was anxious because he lost his child, so he came to disturb you in the middle of the night."

Old man Zhao looked at the three children and the tall one beside him in the moonlight.

"You are wrong. The sheep are not in our village."

Tang Qingqing was certain: "It's impossible. The two sheep we lost followed the sheep from your team into the village."

"When the shepherds come back from herding sheep, I will count them and make sure the count is correct before I let them go."

If the sheep sent back by the shepherd are missing something, and the owner lets the sheep into the pen without realizing it, he will be confused when he comes back. This kind of thing has happened before.

Zhai Hongyi: "Can we go in and take a look? It's not easy for us to chase all the way here. We will be unwilling to leave if we don't take a look."

Old man Zhao looked him up and down. In the dim moonlight, he could tell that the man in front of him did not look like a villager. His accent was different from that of the locals. He should be an educated youth from the city.

Old man Zhao came across them and put them into the sheepfold.

"You can look if you want. I have been guarding the sheepfold for so many years. I can tell at a glance whether there are sheep from other groups."

Wang Cao'er and Tang Qingqing entered the sheepfold and checked each sheep one by one, but they really didn't see any lost sheep.

Wang Cao'er's face turned pale, and she grabbed Tang Qingqing's sleeve:

"Sister Qingqing, no, no."

"What did I say before? I not only remember the number, but I also remember the appearance of each sheep." Old man Zhao pointed to his head. "Although I am old, this place still works well."

Tang Qingqing pursed her lips and thanked Old Man Zhao: "Sorry to trouble you so late at night."

As soon as he walked out of the sheepfold, Wang Heizi ran up to him and asked, "Didn't find it?"

Tang Qingqing shook her head.

"So you were wrong? I thought you were so amazing."

Wang Heizi was disappointed. He had just seen Tang Qingqing's attitude and thought she was very powerful, but she turned out to be just a show-off.

Zhai Hongyi picked him up by the collar and threw him back. Seeing that he looked unhappy, Wang Heizi didn't dare to say anything more.

Wang Cao'er's eyes were red, but she suppressed her fear and guilt and said to Tang Qingqing:

"Sister Qingqing, you have done your best. This is all my fault. I am very grateful that you can help me so much. It is not easy to find a lost sheep, and it is rare to find it."

Tang Qingqing frowned and ran away without saying a word.

Wang Heizi: "Hey, don't run away, we don't blame you!"

Zhai Hongyi and Wang Cao'er ran after them. Just as Wang Heizi was about to take a step forward, he was pulled back by his aunt.

"Auntie, please let me go."

"Behave yourself! You ran out in the middle of the night without telling your family. I think you are sick of living."

Although the aunt did not let Wang Heizi go to find Tang Qingqing and the others, she asked her husband to go with them to check on them instead of wandering around in the wild at this time. She then took Wang Heizi home.

Tang Qingqing ran back to the place where she last found the hoof prints, turned on the flashlight, squatted on the ground and examined it carefully.

Zhai Hongyi ran to a place three or four meters away from her and stopped, and stopped Lu Xiangqian who was following him.

"Let's not get too close and get in the way of her work."

Lu Xiangqian was surprised. He thought that the task of finding the sheep was led by Zhai Hongyi, but he didn't expect that it was the little girl Tang Qingqing.

After watching for a while, I felt even more puzzled. What was going on?

Zhai Hongyi took out a pack of cigarettes from his backpack and handed it to him, "Uncle, please have a cigarette tonight."

Lu Xiangqian didn't know what brand the cigarette was, but he could tell at a glance that it wasn't the cheap ones.

He quickly pushed it away, "What are you doing, kid? Take it back now."

Lu Xiangqian was also intimidated by Zhai Hongyi's height at first, but when he got closer he realized that this man was just tall and not actually very old.

Although he is young, he is very experienced in doing things. He is worthy of being from the city. He is smarter than the kids from the village.

Zhai Hongyi did not take it back, but took out a few cigarettes from it and passed them over.

"Uncle, I know you are not used to smoking this kind of cigarette with a mouthpiece, just treat it as a novelty. I don't smoke, and it's a waste to keep these cigarettes here."

Zhai Hongyi didn't care whether Lu Xiangqian agreed or not, and directly put two cigarettes on his ears and put one in his hand.

"You are too polite..."

In the end, Lu Xiangqian left the cigarettes and got the benefits. Although he felt that Tang Qingqing and the others were making a fuss, he didn't say anything and just stood by with Zhai Hongyi.

Tang Qingqing continued to follow the hoof prints, this time she was more serious and careful.

Hard work pays off. She carefully surveyed the area and finally found the hoof prints of the two sheep in the willow forest at the entrance of the village.

This is not the route that shepherds usually take to lead the sheep back to the sheepfold. It is in two different directions from the sheepfold.

Zhai Hongyi, who had been paying attention to her, came over at this time.

"Found any clues?"

Tang Qingqing was completely immersed in her own world at this moment and could not hear any sounds around her. She half-squatted, staring at the ground with burning eyes, and walked in one direction without saying a word.

She suddenly stopped at one place, picked up the grass with its broken stems, and carefully observed it from beginning to end for a long time.

Lu Xiangqian's legs were numb from standing there, and he couldn't help but ask, "What are you looking at?"

Zhai Hongyi did not explain, but only said: "You will know in a moment."

Tang Qingqing stood up from the ground, patted the dirt on his hands, and asked Lu Xiangqian:

"Uncle, how many shepherds are there in your team? Is there a young man who is about 20 years old, about half a head taller than you, and likes to sway his shoulders when he walks?"

Lu Xiangqian shook his head: "There are four shepherds in our village, either old or young, no young guys."

Tang Qingqing frowned.

Lu Xiangqian added: "But sometimes when they have something to do, they will ask their family members to help herd the sheep. The old grandson of Group 3 has not been in good health recently, so he asks his children and grandchildren to herd the sheep from time to time.

He was about 20 years old, half a head taller than me, and walked with a swaying gait. I thought he sounded like his youngest son, Sun Laifu.

After Lu Xiangqian finished speaking, he felt very strange: "How do you know there is such a person?"

Tang Qingqing pointed to the ground: "I can see it from the footprints."

Lu glared at her. What nonsense was this little girl talking about so late at night?

Tang Qingqing did not explain, and continued to ask: "Uncle, does Sun Laifu like to take advantage of others?"

Lu Xiangqian was even more surprised when he heard Tang Qingqing say this.

"How do you know?"

Sun Lai-fu was a celebrity in their Liushu Brigade, a person that ordinary families warned their children to stay away from.

The old grandson was a nice guy, but he doted on his old son too much and spoiled the child.

Sun Lai Fu is a lazy person who loves to eat. A big boss can earn four or five work points a day, but most of the time it's zero.

He especially liked to go to the commune and hang out with a group of hooligans. He also told his family that he was trying to make connections and that those people had the ability to send him to work in the commune's factory.

But now I'm in my twenties and I haven't seen any trace of him, but the Hua family has a lot of money.

To say that he enjoys taking advantage of others is an understatement.

Sun Lai-fu is a dishonest person who often does things secretly.

But he has been a lot more obedient during this period of time. Although he still likes to be lazy, he at least does something.

Everyone thought that it was because his grandson was sick that Sun Lai Fu came to his senses and turned over a new leaf.

Tang Qingqing was particularly good at reading people's expressions. As soon as she saw Lu Xiangqian's expression, she knew something and became more certain of her thoughts.

She didn't say anything, just continued to squat down and followed the footprints in one direction.

After walking for about half an hour, Lu Xiangqian called me.

"I can't go any further."

Tang Qingqing looked up at him, "Why?"

A gust of wind blew by, and Lu shivered forward.

"Don't you find it's eerie here? Just a few steps ahead is the cemetery of our village."