Entering Yunxi Village
She turned around and called into the house, "Old man, there are students here. They say they're doing some exploration."
Zhao Laogen came out of the house, squinting his eyes at Liefun and the others. He was more taciturn than Aunt Zhao, and his eyes were cautious. "Exploration? What's there to explore in this poor mountain valley?"
Falcon stepped forward at the right moment and pulled out a specially made document with a red seal from his backpack. He handed it over. "Uncle, look, this is a letter of introduction from our school. It's mainly to look at the mountain structure and soil composition nearby and do some basic research. I won't bother you for long, just a few days."
Zhao Laogen took the formal letter of introduction. Although he couldn't quite make out the words, the red seal looked quite impressive. He glanced at the three young men again, his attitude still quite polite.
Aunt Zhao poked her husband's arm and whispered, "I think the kids are quite real, not fake. Besides, people paid for them." She was obviously more concerned about the word "pay".
Zhao Laogen returned the letter of introduction to Lie Falcon: "Okay, I have an empty house at home, it's just simple, as long as you don't mind it."
"I don't mind, I don't mind. Thank you, uncle and aunt!" Xiao Zhou hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
Aunt Zhao warmly invited them into the house. While she was busy pouring water, she kept talking: "You are students from the city, right? It must be hard for you to come so far to our remote mountain village. Our place is usually very quiet, but it was lively for a while a while ago..."
Falcon and Xiao Zhou exchanged a glance, realizing the topic was coming up. Xiao Zhou then added, "Oh? How lively is it? The village seemed quite quiet when we arrived."
"Hey, it's all because of that girl from the Zhong family, Zhong Ling!" Aunt Zhao slapped her thigh, becoming interested. "She's the one who lives in the old house at the east end of the village. You know her? The vegetables she grows are, wow, amazing!"
Zhao Laogen coughed, seeming to disapprove of his wife telling this to a stranger. Aunt Zhao glared at him, "I'm telling the truth! People in the city drive such nice cars and come here to buy her vegetables. Isn't it because the vegetables are so good? I heard that eating them can cure diseases!"
"Zhong Ling? Are the vegetables she grows special?" Xiao Zhou asked with pretended curiosity.
"That's right!" Aunt Zhao lowered her voice and moved closer. "At first, some people in the village were talking nonsense, saying it was some kind of hormone-treated vegetable that was growing so fast. And then what happened? The boss lady in the city who drove a Mercedes-Benz, and... oh yeah, that Mr. Wang's housekeeper, who drove an even fancier car, all rushed to buy the vegetables! They were selling them for twenty yuan a pound! And that's it. You can buy them whenever you want."
"So amazing?" Xiao Zhou expressed surprise at the right moment. "Can we still buy it now? We want to try it too."
"Now?" Aunt Zhao shook her head, a hint of regret on her face. "I can't buy it anymore. Wasn't that vegetable plot set on fire a while ago? Although no one was hurt and the arsonist was caught, Zhong said she needed a break from farming. She also went out traveling, saying it was to relax."
"Arson?" Siefen interrupted, his tone calm but his eyes sharp. "Is it such a big deal?"
"Yes!" Aunt Zhao was still a little indignant when she mentioned this matter, "It's the boss named Qian who runs the supermarket in the city. He's such a black-hearted person!
"She complained about the price of Ms. Zhong's food and spread bad things about it. Then, she got jealous of her business and started to do something bad! What happened? Ms. Zhong was very capable. She got some evidence from somewhere, and the police arrested her right away! What a retribution!"
Zhao Laogen added in a low voice, "That girl looks quiet and gentle, she's not someone you can easily mess with."
Xiao Zhou nodded and casually asked, "When will Miss Zhong be back? We're taking soil samples, and maybe we'll need to get some samples from around her land."
"Who knows?" Aunt Zhao spread her hands. "She's alone, with no relatives. When she left, she just said goodbye to the village chief and said she was going out for a walk. She didn't say when she would be back."
Falcon listened quietly, his fingers rubbing unconsciously. The vegetables' rapid growth and ability to cure illnesses seemed vaguely connected to the YX factor and the strange events that had occurred to Li Qiang.
Falcon looked out the window towards the east end of the village. There should be Zhong Ling's old house. This seemingly peaceful little mountain village really has a secret.
"Okay, let's not talk about this for now," Aunt Zhao said. "You must be tired from traveling. Have a drink of water first. I'll clean up the house for you."
"Sorry to trouble you, Auntie." Xiao Zhou responded politely.
Falcon retracted his gaze and winked at Xiao Zhou and Xiao Lin. Preliminary intelligence had been gathered: the so-called "YX Factor" was likely related to Zhong Ling. Their next target would be Zhong Ling.
Aunt Zhao cleared out two rooms for Liefun and his friends. The rooms were simply furnished with a bed, an old desk with peeling paint, and an old-fashioned wooden wardrobe.
For people like Falcon Hunter who are accustomed to various environments, these conditions are not bad.
"Here it is. The bedding was just dried in the sun two days ago and is spotless." Aunt Zhao patted the neatly folded quilt and said enthusiastically, "It should be okay for you two boys to squeeze in, right? We're in the countryside, so please be patient."
"No problem, no problem. That's great. Thank you, Auntie." Xiao Zhou quickly responded with a smile and handed an envelope containing a few banknotes to Aunt Zhao. "This is our food and lodging expenses for the next few days. Take it first."
Aunt Zhao pinched the envelope, her smile growing more genuine. "Oh, you students are so polite! Okay, then I won't be polite with you. Dinner will be ready soon. You can rest for a while, or take a walk in the yard."
Aunt Zhao cheerfully went out to prepare dinner, leaving only Liefun, Xiao Zhou, and Xiao Lin in the room.
Xiao Zhou walked to the window and looked at Zhao Laogen, who was chopping wood in the yard. He whispered, "Captain, the Zhao family's old couple seem quite simple and honest. Aunt Zhao is a talkative person, so we should be able to get a lot of information out of them. Zhao Laogen looks dull, but his eyes are bright. I think he knows something."
Falcon nodded. "Well, the villagers are an important source of information, but we can't trust them all. Especially regarding Zhong Ling and her food, there's too much personal emotion and speculation involved." He paused. "The key is on-site investigation."
Xiao Lin had been quiet until now, but finally spoke. His voice was low but clear: "I just noticed that there don't seem to be many dogs in the village, and they're all far away from the area east of the village."
Both Falcon and Xiao Zhou looked at her. This was valuable information; animals' intuition was sometimes sharper than humans'.
"Pay attention to this detail," the falconer instructed, "be careful when operating at night."
Dinner was a typical farm meal: a plate of stir-fried vegetables, a plate of stewed potatoes and beans, and a large pot of brown rice. Aunt Zhao's cooking wasn't particularly good, but the ingredients were fresh and the pot was full of flavor.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
