Chapter 295 Surfaced
He Sang sat on the chair by the door and asked, "Newly renovated?"
"I painted at the beginning of the month, and bought furniture and appliances downtown, all big-name brands," the man said proudly. "I'm actually not short of money anymore. I have two or three hundred thousand, but who would complain about having too much money? Only a fool wouldn't make a thousand for a problem!"
He Sang smiled, "Brother, what's your name?"
"I don't have a surname. I'm an orphan. My name is Dagang."
Wandering without roots, it is impossible to find out the details.
And greedy for money.
Companies with murky backgrounds love to hire this type of people.
He Sang looked at him silently. The skin on Dagang's neck and ankles was wrinkled, and his posture was unruly. He didn't look like a prominent person in the village. It was obvious that he was a low-level villager struggling to make ends meet.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings and tens of thousands of dollars worth of furniture are definitely not within his salary level.
"What's your job, bro?"
Dagang crossed his legs and said, "Something happened at the company in February. I took the hush money and now I'm living off my savings."
Liang Jishen moved his chair close to He Sang. The veins on his forearm, which was holding the stick, were bulging. He was always alert to the men gathered outside the door.
The village chief of Xiawa Village said that the women in the village are hardworking and manage their manual work and housework in an orderly manner. However, these men are idle, poor, and have not been able to get married for a long time. Some have not even touched a girl's hand for many years.
The reason why Liang Jishen rushed here was to protect her.
She often went to the countryside to perform. After all, she was with a troupe, a large group of actors, including male directors and stage staff, so she was naturally safe.
It’s different for a single girl. She’s unfamiliar with the place. Even if she drives, she may not be able to get out of the village if there are so many men blocking her way.
Liang Jishen was really scared.
He subconsciously exerted force and grabbed He Sang tightly.
"You hurt me..." she groaned, "Liang Jishen..."
The man came to his senses and loosened his grip a little, "Does it hurt?"
He Sang had three red marks on her wrist where he had grabbed her. Her skin was white and slender, and the thick red marks made her look pitiful.
Liang Jishen lowered his head and blew on her.
There was a curtain hanging in the room. Dagang lifted it and greeted her, and a woman in her early thirties walked out.
She is Dagang’s wife.
She has pretty good facial features, a round oval face, but she has been doing farm work for many years and doesn't take care of herself, so her face is tanned, rough and dark.
Dagang introduced, "My wife, Li Xiaohui."
He Sang got up from his chair and gave her a pair of pearl earrings. "Sister Xiaohui, these are not worth much, but they are beautiful. They are clip-on earrings, so you can wear them even if you don't have pierced ears."
She smiled simple and reservedly, "I don't wear jewelry."
Dagang looked her up and down, "Why don't you wear your new clothes and shoes?"
Xiaohui ignored her, put down the teapot, tied an apron and went to the yard.
"Poor woman!" Dagang was unhappy, "Don't you know how to enjoy life?"
"What blessing are you enjoying? You are getting your retribution!" Xiaohui glared at him.
Dagang waved his hand, too lazy to argue with her. "My wife married me when she was nineteen. We've been married fourteen years. We're finally living a good life, but she feels uneasy even though she has money." He poured three cups of tea. "I can't compare with you. You are rich, but I am the boss in Hongxing Village."
He Sang's dialect was rather awkward, and he stammered, "Big brother, have you made a fortune?"
Dagang was very proud, "I made a windfall."
Wanxi County has a total population of 160,000, and each village has a different dialect. He Sang speaks with an authentic old urban area accent, but acting in a drama requires original lines, and the pronunciation and breathing standards are very strict, so she worked hard to practice standard Mandarin. Liang Jishen occasionally speaks in a Beijing accent, but mostly speaks Mandarin.
He stared at He Sang with a smile on his face. Her cheeks were flushed and her forehead was sweating.
Her colleagues at the theatre came from all corners of the country, and she had only superficially learned the basics of local dialects. The more anxious she got, the less fluent she became. She simply spoke in a hodgepodge, mixing at least one or two dialects in each sentence. Even Dagang was confused. "Is your uncle in Hongxing Village?"
"My uncle married a woman from Hongxing Village. He is a son-in-law who married into the family."
Liang Jishen couldn't help but laugh out loud while holding the water cup.
"I suggest you go ask around at the construction sites downtown. The men in Hongxing Village are all construction workers. They used to work for the Guanghe Group, which supported our village." Dagang casually munched on some sunflower seeds. "I'm the middleman, responsible for recruiting people in the village. If the construction site needs ten people, I'll round them up and earn a commission."
Liang Jishen's smile faded, and he stared at Dagang, "Who do you contact after you finish recruiting?"
"The contractor or Guanghe Group's secretary is not fixed." Dagang recalled, "The one in charge of the bills is the same woman, surnamed Ni."
He Sang's throat tightened.
Ni Hong.
If she was involved, then Liang Chihui was the man behind at least half of Guanghe Group's projects.
Ni Hong is the legal representative of Yunhailou and the most popular person around Liang Chihui. She will not easily leave the scene unless the benefits are lucrative enough or the status is not high enough.
She is only willing to step forward if there are big business orders coming one after another and there is enough profit.
Liang Chihui doesn't trust others, but he trusts her the most.
The aftermath handling of Guanghe Group is also 100% entrusted to Ni Hong.
He Sang couldn't wait, "Then the city wall..."
Liang Jishen suddenly hugged her, pinched her waist, and hinted that she should avoid the sensitive topic.
She changed the subject, “How many projects has the village contracted?”
"For 70% of the projects under Guanghe Group, the construction workers are villagers from Hongxing Village, and the other 30% are villagers from Tongjia Village in Changling County."
Tongjia Village.
He Sang's chest couldn't help but rise and fall rapidly.
Tong Da, Tong Er.
Cheng Xun went to Tongjia Village, but unfortunately he was too late. Tong Da and Tong Er had run away, and Tong Da's wife had returned to her parents' home 30 kilometers away. The whereabouts of the two brothers are still unknown.
Tong Da and Tong Er were on duty at the construction site when the beam collapsed and killed He Jinping. During the police investigation, they, as eyewitnesses, reconstructed the accident: heavy rain had destroyed the frame of the city wall, and He, the deputy leader of the inspection team, was tragically buried and killed.
He Sang forced himself to calm down. "Are you responsible for recruitment in Changling County?"
"no."
"Anyone you know?"
Dagang shook his head. "There are hundreds of villages between us. We don't interact with each other unless we're visiting relatives."
"Do the villagers in your village have relatives in Changling County?"
"My wife has some." Dagang counted them. "How many questions are there?"
He Sang took out a stack of money from his pocket and threw it on the table. "This is ten thousand."
Dagang happily accepted it and said, "What's your uncle's name? I'll ask every household for you."
"My uncle...his name is Goudan. He ran away from home..."
Liang Jishen had a sharp eye and saw that Xiaohui had a kind heart. He took advantage of He Sang holding Dagang and stepped out.
Xiaohui was squatting by the sink washing clothes. There was a wooden washboard and a large wooden basin with a copper hoop. Washed sheets and quilt covers were hanging on a rope, dripping with water.
"You don't use a washing machine?"
Xiaohui was startled by the sudden male voice and turned her head.
Liang Jishen was standing on the steps, wearing a brand new, shiny black sportswear. Although he had no shaving stubble and probably hadn't had enough rest, his eye sockets were sunken and dark, but he didn't look sloppy or haggard.
She has never left Wanxi County in her life. The gender ratio here is unbalanced, with 140,000 men and only 20,000 women. The most handsome man recognized in the county is not as good as one percent of him. Even if he rolls in the mud, it does not affect his nobleness at all.
An extremely dazzling, aggressive demeanor.
Xiaohui looked away and continued wringing the clothes, "I'm not used to using the washing machine."
"Your husband said that there was an unexpected windfall this year, and it was settled personally by Mr. Ni from Guanghe Group."
She splashed the water in the basin and said, "I don't know."
"Your mother's family is in Lijia Village, Changling County, right?" Liang Jishen put his left hand in his pocket, holding a cigarette in his right hand, and casually dusted off the ash. "Tong Da's wife is your sister."
Xiao Hui was stunned and her face turned pale. "What on earth do you do?"
"To save you and your husband." Liang Jishen was just guessing about the relationship between Tong's wife and Xiaohui, and Xiaohui's reaction proved that he was right.
He leaned against the brick wall. "The boss of Guanghe Group broke the law and is imprisoned in the Municipal Bureau. You should know that someone died during the construction of the city wall. Your husband was the middleman for the recruitment and an accomplice."
"My sister and husband don't understand my brother-in-law's situation!" Xiaohui was at a loss. "My brother-in-law is quiet and cruel. My younger brother is forty years old and still unmarried. He wants to save money and start a family. My husband did send him to the construction site. He sent a lot of villagers with him. What do they do in the city? What does my husband have to do with it?"
Liang Jishen put out his cigarette and asked, "Where is Tong Da hiding?"
Xiaohui cried, "I really don't know... My sister is looking for him too. He's been missing for over a month."
"Xiaohui!" Dagang called her from inside the house, "Buy a pound of pork head and a case of beer!"
At noon, they stayed at Dagang's house for lunch. He Sang went to the kitchen to help Xiaohui wash vegetables, and Liang Jishen drank beer outside. He never drank beer. He focused on managing his abdominal muscles and only drank a small amount of white wine and red wine. He had a poor alcohol tolerance, but Dagang's hospitality was hard to refuse, and men were most likely to speak out of turn after drinking, so Liang Jishen drank a bottle.
The bottle of wine was not drunk in vain. Dagang personally admitted that Tong Da had left the province, made a circle along the border, and then sneaked back to Hebei Province. He had not contacted him about his exact location.
After leaving Dagang's house, Liang Jishen was still feeling uneasy.
He gripped the stick tightly and looked back from time to time.
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