The two walked side by side toward the village, which was quiet and deserted except for the streetlights that were still on.
Qin Yihang: "The tomb keeper is named Chen Ming. A few years ago, his younger brother brought him from his hometown to this village. He lives at the end of the village. We have checked his whereabouts and confirmed that he is the right person."
Duan Ye: "Now that it's confirmed, why not just bring the person back to Kyoto?"
Qin Yihang looked troubled: "Go and take a look, and you'll understand everything."
Duan Ye had a bad feeling, but he didn't ask any more questions. He just walked faster with Qin Yihang.
Around four in the morning, they arrived at the end of the village.
There was a small house there, with a dim yellow lamp hanging outside, swaying in the night wind.
Duan Ye roughly estimated that the small house at the end of the village was probably no more than twenty square meters.
Just as Duan Ye was wondering, Qin Yihang pulled him to a large tree not far away, from where they could see the situation in front of Chen Ming's door very clearly.
At this point, Duan Ye didn't have much hope, since everyone should be asleep.
But to his surprise, the door to that small room was soon pushed open.
A man who looked to be around fifty or sixty years old came out, but he seemed to have poor eyesight. In the short time he was out, he kicked over several iron basins placed at the door.
Duan Ye gasped, "His eyes..."
"Blind."
"Man-made?"
Qin Yihang: "I suppose it was man-made."
Duan Ye looked at Chen Ming, who was fumbling around at the door, and felt a chill in his heart.
Qin and his party slowly recounted Chen Ming's story: "We found out that after Chen Ming left the cemetery, he had tens of thousands of yuan in cash in his pocket. Since the amount was not very large, we only heard that it was compensation after he was dismissed."
"Chen Ming's eyesight has always been poor. He originally wanted to take these tens of thousands of yuan back to his hometown to get his eyes checked, but somehow his younger brother Chen Yuan found out about the money. So Chen Yuan took Chen Ming over and settled him in Dahezi Village, but Chen Yuan took all the money from him."
"This directly led to Chen Ming's blindness."
“When he worked at the cemetery, Chen Ming suffered from severe night blindness, which meant he could not see anything at night.”
"The leader who originally paid him this compensation had already passed away from a sudden heart attack not long after Chen Ming left the cemetery last year."
"So you need to be prepared."
Qin Yihang couldn't help but sigh. If he had come to investigate a year ago, it might not have been so difficult.
Duan Ye accepted this fact with a heavy heart.
Chen Ming was fumbling with how to cook when the stove was overturned. Just as he was about to bend down to pick it up, someone else had already picked it up before him.
Chen Ming took it: "Who are you?"
After his eyesight deteriorated, his hearing became unusually sensitive, so he noticed Duan Ye as soon as he got close.
Duan Ye: "A friend, I'm here today to confirm something that happened at the cemetery a year ago."
Duan Ye had no intention of dealing with Chen Ming, so he went straight to the point.
Chen Ming's hand trembled slightly, but he quickly regained his composure: "I've already resigned."
After saying that, Chen Ming prepared to go back to his room, not even bothering to cook dinner.
"Mr. Chen, you know why I'm here to ask you, you know, right?"
Chen Ming continued walking forward.
"How did you go blind? Even if you're night blind, the cemetery still lets you work there, doesn't it?"
"I'll find you the best doctor to treat your eyes. Would you like to talk to me about it?"
With a "bang," Chen Ming slammed the door shut.
Duan Ye glanced at the time; it was around 5:30 a.m., and the sky was already showing signs of dawn.
He was a little anxious; he had to rush back to pick up his child.
Qin Yihang: "How about we try starting with his brother?"
Duan Ye: "Why did his brother take his compensation money?"
Speaking of this, Qin Yihang felt somewhat speechless: "It seems to be for buying a house for his son."
"They treated Chen Ming badly?"
“How can this be good? I’ve been squatting here for days, and his brother hasn’t come to see him even once.”
"So how does he usually live?"
"He receives a small subsidy from the village committee, along with some grain and oil, and he also goes out to collect water bottles and other things."
Duan Ye glanced thoughtfully at the closed door, then turned and left.
Qin Yihang is right. Instead of waiting here, we should start from somewhere else.
——
The sky slowly began to brighten.
Kyoto, hospital.
Shen Niannian had already fallen asleep lying down; the anesthesia hadn't worn off yet.
Outside her hospital room, Shen's parents and Shen Changcheng were talking when Ding Yifen and Duan Sheng rushed over in a panic.
Duan Ziyuan exclaimed with delight, "Grandpa and Grandma!"
Ding Yifen walked over and patted the child's head: "Chenchen, have you been a good boy/girl? Have you been listening to Daddy?"
Duan Ziyuan nodded: "Yes, Chenchen is very well-behaved. He and his father have been waiting for his mother to wake up."
Duan Sheng looked at Duan Ze: "How is Niannian?"
Duan Ze: "The doctor said there is no danger to his life, but the wound cleaning took a lot of time. Now we just need to be careful not to get an infection."
Upon hearing this, everyone was relieved.
Ding Yifen glanced at the time: "Chenchen still has to go to school, right? I'll take Chenchen to school. Nian Nian, stay here..."
He Yan wiped away her tears: "I'm here today, so you can all go about your business. I'll just look after Niannian."
Shen Zongbai looked at Duan Ze: "Xiao Ze, you've been on guard all night. Go and get some rest. Leave this to your mother."
Duan Ze nodded, squatted down and straightened Duan Ziyuan's clothes: "Ziyuan, Grandpa and Grandma are taking you to school today. You have to be good, okay? Dad will pick you up after school."
Duan Ziyuan nodded, and then Ding Yifen and Duan Sheng left with the child.
Shen Zongbo: "Go ahead and get busy. We need to take care of Niannian's matter. I'll tell you when she wakes up."
Duan Ze nodded and then walked into the ward. Shen Niannian was still fast asleep, her face extremely pale and her eyes still wet with tears.
Duan Ze cautiously glanced at her back, then lowered his head and kissed the corner of her eye.
Shen Niannian was still half asleep, but she heard a very gentle and patient voice: "Niannian, wait for me to come back."
Shen Niannian's tightly furrowed brows quickly relaxed.
Duan Ze patted her head, turned around and left the ward, his eyes red and swollen as he left.
The Shen family witnessed everything.
Watching Duan Ze's departing figure, Shen Changcheng sighed, "Mom and Dad, my brother-in-law truly loves my sister."
With tears in her eyes, He Yan nodded repeatedly: "Yes, we really didn't make a mistake in choosing this son-in-law."
Shen Zongbo: "Yes."
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