63
Zheng Nanle was already on the train heading to Anping County.
The evidence found in Sichuan has been delivered to the right person she deems suitable.
Next, the capital experienced another period of turmoil, but it had nothing to do with her.
She went back this time with new discoveries, and incidentally got Xie Jianhua and his superiors out of trouble.
Poor thing, who would have thought that the leader of the leaders who had always stood by them was actually not on the list and had already been turned against them?
The higher-ups acted swiftly. When Zheng Nanle arrived in Anping County, the investigation team from the provincial capital also arrived. Zheng Nanle kept an eye on a few people for several days, investigated the power dynamics behind them, and after confirming their credibility, handed over the evidence used to frame them.
After finishing these tasks, Zheng Nanle returned to Liushan Village.
Liushan Village remains peaceful and tranquil, as if the storms outside have nothing to do with it. The villagers continue to live a life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset, day after day, in a very regular manner.
Most of the educated youth in the village returned to the city after passing the college entrance exam. Those who didn't pass also found a way to return to the city. Only a few who didn't want to go home or whose family relationships were really bad stayed at the educated youth settlement and focused on their studies.
There will be another college entrance examination in June. This time they have plenty of time to review and make thorough preparations. They will definitely pass the exam this time.
"Er Ya, you're back?" someone exclaimed upon seeing Zheng Nanle.
Startled by the sound, the people working in the fields curiously peered over, and some even left the fields to rush over.
"Yes, I'm back," Zheng Nanle called out to her aunt and returned.
This auntie is actually quite efficient at her work, but she's a habitual slacker. She often takes a break to use the restroom while she's working.
Looking at this familiar aunt and her familiar act of slacking off, Zheng Nanle felt quite warm and fuzzy.
"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back. Where have you been for the past six months?" your aunt asked. "Your older sister went to look for you, but the police said you disappeared on the train."
Saying she's missing is a polite way of putting it; the more common speculation is that she was abducted.
I heard that the police have taken back her job because of her disappearance. This is because Zheng Erhu wanted to take Er Ya's job, but the police refused.
"I got lost and walked for ages before I came back," Zheng Nanle lied without hesitation.
"Lost?" The woman's eyes widened in surprise at the answer.
"Yes, it was the middle of the night. I vaguely heard the loudspeaker announce that the next stop was Yangping County. I misheard and got off the bus with the crowd. I didn't realize I got off at the wrong stop until dawn."
"That's not all. They even took the wrong luggage. Without the slip and ID, they couldn't buy a ticket and had to walk all the way back."
When the aunt heard the reason, she was stunned for a long time. "You, you child, you are so unlucky."
Zheng Nanle politely said goodbye to his aunt, then left without going to the toilet and returned to the field. The people in the field craned their necks and asked, "Is that Er Ya?"
“Yes, yes, yes,” Auntie said loudly, “You probably don’t know how much Er Ya has suffered these past six months.”
Before long, "Er Ya's Lost Story" was embellished by the aunt and villagers, and spread like wildfire. Even the neighboring village knew that there was an unlucky Er Ya in Liushan Village who got off at the wrong station in the middle of the night and took the wrong package. She had to measure her way home, enduring wind and dew all the way. Her clothes were worn out again and again, and her shoes were torn to shreds. In the end, she could only change into a pair of straw sandals.
Unable to find food in the freezing cold, they could only eat ice and drink snow. Their clothes couldn't keep out the cold, and they shivered in the wind. If they hadn't been lucky, they wouldn't have been able to get home.
That was so tragic.
A nursery rhyme also circulated: "Zheng Erya, unlucky girl, misheard 'yangping' as 'anpingxia'. Chased by a bear, frightened by a wolf, and frozen three times by ice and snow. After a hardship, she returned home to find her job gone, her husband gone, and her house occupied."
When Zheng Nanle heard the nursery rhyme, his lips twitched, and he felt that there was a great talent in the world.
Of course, that's a story for another time.
She returned to the Zheng family home and went straight to her room.
The lock in the room was the same one she had used before, but Zheng Nanle noticed that it had been pried open.
She twisted the lock hard, opened it, and pushed the door open to go inside.
The room had been unoccupied for more than half a year and had been undisturbed, so it was very dusty and damp.
Zheng Nanle was satisfied.
Old Man Zheng was smart enough not to do anything reckless to her while she was missing, otherwise she was afraid she would lose control and completely destroy the Zheng family.
Er Ya's reputation is not a shield they can rely on indefinitely.
Zheng Nanle opened the window for ventilation and briefly checked the place. The person who broke in had searched through all her belongings but hadn't taken anything.
Not a member of the Zheng family.
It's probably those reactionary forces trying to find something in her room.
They were clearly disappointed; there was nothing in the room.
Zheng Nanle didn't even hide any money in this room.
She couldn't trust the Zheng family after all.
First, he took out all the clothes to wash and dry, then he took a rag to clean the furniture. After that, seeing how considerate the Zheng family was, he mercifully cooked them a meal.
When Grandma Zheng saw the oily vegetables and rice, her heart ached and tears welled up in her eyes.
Damn it, why is this bastard suddenly so diligent and wasting her food like this?
How long will this meal last?
Seeing this, Zheng Nanle assumed that Old Madam Zheng was moved, and she took it upon herself to say, "Sit down, everyone, and let's eat to celebrate our reunion."
After Zheng Dahu was arrested, Zheng Laoda's family was taken in by Zheng Laotou again, and the family was not divided. When Zheng Laoda and his wife heard this, they thought of their son suffering far away, and their eyes reddened.
Not daring to refute Zheng Nanle, he silently ate his rice with his chopsticks.
Old Man Zheng said, "Er Ya, your house is finished. It's right next to the big willow tree. Did you see it when you went back to the village?"
“I see it.” Zheng Nanle nodded. “Red tile brick house, with a large courtyard, very grand.”
"Find some time to move there. From now on, you'll be the pillar of your father's branch of the family."
"Grandpa is looking for a date to invite the villagers to a meal. I'll attend if I have time," Zheng Nanle nodded.
Old Zheng: "???"
As the host, would you have time to attend?
Old Man Zheng found it absurd, but seeing Zheng Nanle's matter-of-fact demeanor, he swallowed his words.
After the meal, Zheng Nanle walked to the cowshed, the place where Old Master Zhang used to sleep. Looking towards the back mountain, the mountain stretched out, covered with dense vegetation, so it was hard to see anything special.
She went out the door and walked to the place where the cattle were grazing.
Grandpa Zhang's job in Liushan Village was herding cattle.
Old Master Zhang was old and frail, and had even participated in the Long March. Out of self-interest, the village chief assigned him the easiest job. To silence the villagers, he deliberately exaggerated the requirements for herding cattle, making them seem extremely troublesome. He said the cattle had to eat a certain amount of grass every day, not an ounce more or less, and walk a certain distance, not a mile more or less. He also said the cattle had to be brushed and their dung cleaned every day, and so on.
The nitpicking and fault-finding are so annoying that it's a real pain to hear. Giving this job to Old Master Zhang is just torturing him.
Zheng Nanle hadn't paid attention to the people in the cowshed before; they were all subordinates of Doctor Lu. Zheng Nanle maintained respect and politeness, but didn't inquire about them much, so he had never been here before.
But as a villager, Er Ya knew everything she needed to know. Although she had never been there before, she knew where the cattle grazing area was.
Standing on the hillside, Zheng Nanle sensed that something was wrong.
Looking up the mountain from here, you can see that huge boulder. There are no tall, shady paths winding through it, and you can see people crawling on it like ants.
No wonder that middle-aged man was able to follow so quickly when she took Xie Jianhua and the others to that valley in the mountains where gold and silver were hidden. It turns out that someone had been keeping watch there all along.
Zheng Nanle used this place as a center and explored the surrounding area, but of course, her gaze remained fixed on the back mountain.
For someone of Old Master Zhang's status to merely guard that one piece of jewelry in the valley is a waste of his talents; there must be many other things hidden there.
There are also Uncle Rong and Aunt Pei, who are spies lying in wait across the sea. Their arrival here is clearly not for simple reformation.
Zheng Nanle wanted to facepalm at the thought.
The small cowshed is home to a large dragon and tiger. Apart from Dr. Lu and Old Master Lu, who are just sheep who wandered in by mistake, the others all have impressive backgrounds.
No, what's so special about Liushan Village?
Having searched Liushan Village thoroughly, I found no historical figures or high-ranking officials born there in recent times. It is neither a strategic location nor a place with convenient transportation. So why are they focusing on this place?
Although the army was stationed in Anping County back then, the corps was not large and there was nothing special about it.
If he couldn't figure it out, he stopped thinking about it. Based on his movements over the past few days, Zheng Nanle marked the back mountain area that could be seen at a glance.
After confirming that nothing was missing, Zheng Nanle put away his pen and paper, preparing to start climbing the mountain the next day.
Before even returning to the Zheng family home, they heard a commotion.
Zheng Nanle curiously went over to find out what commotion had broken out in the village.
"Er Ya, Er Ya is here! Hurry, Er Ya, come here quickly!"
Some villagers spotted Zheng Nanle and pulled her over.
"Er Ya, you used to be a police officer, what do you think should be the verdict in this case?"
"Yes, yes, I'll listen to you, you have experience."
From the villagers' chatter, Zheng Nanle learned that the trouble was caused by Xie Xiaosan's family.
Xie Xiaosan took the college entrance examination last year, but failed because of time constraints. He plans to take it again this year.
He was confident that he would pass the exam this year and become a college student, so he disliked Zhang Pandi even more. However, when he saw that Zhang Pandi had given birth to a son, he still held his nose and stayed with her.
Seeing that some educated youth in other villages married villagers, got into university, and then left without a care in the world, abandoning their orphaned children and widows in the village.
The orphan and widow were indignant and chased after the educated youth to the university he had been admitted to, eventually returning home dejected.
Upon inquiry, it was discovered that the educated youth and the villager had married but only held a banquet without registering their marriage. The educated youth said that without a marriage certificate, they were not legally considered husband and wife, and if she didn't want her son to become an illegitimate child that everyone would condemn, she should announce that they were divorced.
Xie Xiaosan recalled his marriage certificate with Zhang Pandi and deeply resented the village chief for meddling in his affairs, which made it difficult for him to get rid of the village chief now.
However, while it was difficult to get rid of him, it wasn't impossible. He hooked up with a staff member at the Civil Affairs Bureau, who destroyed his and Zhang Pandi's marriage documents and their marriage certificate. He planned to abandon Zhang Pandi as soon as he got into university.
When he marries a college student, won't his life be wonderful?
Xie Xiaosan had a very beautiful dream, but the staff at the Civil Affairs Bureau were not to be trifled with. Seeing that Xie Xiaosan was making excuses about studying and visiting her less and less, they became suspicious and went to Zhang Pandi to ask her to step down.
Zhang Pandi is not someone to be trifled with. If she were, she wouldn't have been able to manipulate Sister Hehua like that before, nor would she have been able to gain a foothold in the Xie family after marrying into it in such a disgraceful manner.
After she got home, while Xie Xiaosan was asleep, she used a pair of scissors to cut his...roots to shreds.
Xie Xiaosan screamed, alarming the Xie family. They rushed into the room and found Xie Xiaosan clutching his wound, writhing in pain, with blood everywhere.
Dr. Tang just arrived and anesthetized Xie Xiaosan and applied medicine to stop the bleeding. Now, Xie Xiaosan is holding a knife and is about to kill Zhang Pandi.
They were stopped by the Xie family.
Even if they hated Zhang Pandi, they knew that killing someone meant eating peanuts.
Moreover, they are just ordinary people; how could they possibly have the audacity to harm people's lives?
Finally, they tied up Zhang Pandi, not knowing what to do with her.
Kill her? No way. Send her to the police? Family scandals shouldn't stay in the village. If we really send her to the police, the whole commune will know about their mess. We won't be satisfied if we don't punish her, especially Xie Xiaosan's mother, who wishes she could tear Zhang Pandi apart.
Upon seeing Zheng Nanle, the Xie family members also looked at her expectantly.
Zheng Nanle actually dislikes mediating family disputes the most. When family members quarrel, they get so angry that they want to beat each other to death, but after a while, they are all back to normal. This makes the police feel like they are in a bad situation.
She tried to move away, but the villagers were too enthusiastic and quickly pushed her to the front.
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