"Take all the seeds back with you," Zheng Qingshu ordered.
After the yamen runners took away all the pumpkins used for seed, Zhou Laoda's mood became even heavier. He vaguely knew that the villains from last night might be related to Xingxing's background, and that they might be the enemies of her biological parents.
They discovered that Xingxing was still alive, so they wanted to silence her.
He used to be annoyed by people watching him, but now he hoped the officials wouldn't leave so quickly. However, Zheng Qingshu valued the pumpkin seeds too much and was afraid that things might change if he waited too long. So, after the incident last night, he picked all the pumpkins today.
"How about we hire a few guards to protect Xingxing?" Zhao Guihua said with a serious expression.
“Those people don’t seem like ordinary people; they look more like specially trained assassins. We can only hire ordinary guards, and they’ll probably just be walking into a trap.” Boss Zhou frowned deeply, clearly unable to think of any other solution.
Zhao Guihua sat there lost in thought, then stood up and said, "First, send Ji'er and Yu'er back to the county town. We can't let them be implicated by us. Don't tell my sister and brother-in-law either. If they ask, just say we came to steal the pumpkins."
“Okay, this is our family matter, we can’t involve other people,” Zhou Laoda held his wife’s hand and said in a low voice, “Even if we die, we will protect Xingxing. We can’t share the good times together, but we can avoid danger. We will live together and die together. Our family must be together.”
Zhao Guihua sniffed and choked up, saying, "I'm relieved to hear you say that, my dear husband. From the day we adopted Xingxing as our daughter, I never thought of abandoning her."
Xingxing, who was hiding behind the door, overheard the entire conversation between the two. Moved to tears, she wiped her eyes hard. Xingxing wouldn't die, and neither would her parents and brothers. Xingxing would definitely find a way to protect them.
At the Song residence, Zheng Qingshu was determined to take Tie Qingfeng away. "It's too dangerous here. You should go back to the government office with your uncle. Who knows what might happen next?"
"The pumpkins have already been picked, what danger could there be?" Tie Qingfeng didn't want to leave; he liked the tranquility of Yegou Village.
"I have a feeling that things are not so simple. My intuition tells me that something big is going to happen, but I can't figure it out right now. I don't know who is targeting the Zhou family. Last night, those people didn't seem to be after the pumpkin seeds. It seemed more like they were there to assassinate someone."
Of course, the above is just Zheng Qingshu's speculation. He thought of two possibilities: either someone wanted to steal the pumpkin, or someone wanted to kill someone from the Zhou family.
"Assassination?" Tie Qingfeng looked at him with a "you're kidding me" expression, clearly not believing it.
"Your uncle isn't trying to scare you. Although we haven't found any clues yet, I believe we'll have results soon," Zheng Qingshu said solemnly.
Tie Qingfeng realized that Zheng Qingshu was serious, so he lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, "There's something your uncle might not know. Zhou Linglong, the daughter of the Zhou family, is not actually their biological child. She was picked up from the mountain by Zhou Laoda and his wife last year."
This was no secret; everyone in the village knew, including Xingxing herself. Tie Qingfeng didn't need to inquire deliberately; having lived in the village for a long time, he had heard the servants in his household discussing it, and the servants had naturally heard it from the villagers.
"So that's how it is. That little girl must be from an extraordinary background, otherwise why would she attract assassins?" Zheng Qingshu pondered, secretly considering the differences in Xingxing.
"It's a pity we didn't capture any survivors, otherwise everything would have been much easier." Tie Qingfeng raised an eyebrow, clearly dissatisfied with the guards' performance last night.
"However, I heard that the Zhou family just got engaged and two girls came to visit. Perhaps those people came for those two girls?" Tie Qingfeng said casually.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Qingshu nodded and said, "That's possible, so this matter must be investigated. No matter what the other party's motives are, I must find out the result."
"Uncle, please send more people to protect the Zhou family. After all, we have some relationship with them, and we can't just stand by and watch them die," Tie Qingfeng said calmly.
"On the condition that you come back to the government office with me, otherwise I won't be at ease," Zheng Qingshu said meaningfully.
"Alright, I'll go with my uncle today." Tie Qingfeng forced a smile and finally gave in.
Not long after, Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua came to find Zheng Qingshu. They didn't have anything else to say, but knowing that Zheng Qingshu and his group were going back to the county town today, they asked them to do them a favor and let Li Jier and Li Yuer go with them.
Fearing something might happen on the road, the two girls traveled with the county officials, which deterred the villains from making a move.
"Have you offended someone? I want to hear the truth," Zheng Qingshu said, looking at Boss Zhou.
Old Zhou said with a bitter expression, "It shouldn't be. We thought those people came for the pumpkin last night, but we can't rule out other possibilities. Anyway, it's always better to be careful. The two girls were really scared. If they stayed, they probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night. So we thought we'd let them go back to the county town first. It's their first time in Yegou Village, and they're very unfamiliar with it. After what happened last night, we don't dare let them stay any longer."
"Lord Zheng, you don't know this, but my two nieces have suffered trauma..." Old Zhou rambled on for a long time, just to prevent Zheng Qingshu from asking any more questions.
Well, he didn't get anything out of him. Zheng Qingshu knew that Boss Zhou was unwilling to talk, so he didn't press him any further.
"Those guards will continue to stand guard near your home, so you don't need to worry too much. However, if you know anything, you'd better tell me as soon as possible, otherwise I can't guarantee your safety."
"Thank you, sir, but we can't really say for sure about this. Let's wait and see. If we're sure those people are after our family, we'll report it to the authorities." Old Zhou wiped the sweat from his brow. The magistrate's sharp gaze made him feel like he was being seen through.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
