Chapter 027 Jinjiang First Release
"What happened next?" Lame Brother asked hurriedly.
The little boy paused for a moment, and then said with a feeling of grievance: "Later my brother hit me on the head and kicked me out. I don't know what they said, but my brother was beaming with joy when he came out of the room."
"He told me that Jiang Rui changed her phone number after graduation and gave her old number to her mother. Although it was a joke, at least they were able to get in touch. Jiang Rui doesn't have a boyfriend now, and she hasn't forgotten him. They made an appointment to go out for lunch at noon."
"After my brother left, I explained the whole story to my parents. I returned the skincare products through the underage refund channel and gave my parents the money. Seeing that I had corrected my mistakes, they didn't say anything more. In addition, because I helped my brother find a partner, my parents saved the feast they had worked hard to prepare for me."
"But," the little boy changed the subject and said in a flattering tone, "Master, I have one more thing to ask of you."
"What's the matter?" Bai Mian had a bad feeling.
The little boy said shyly: "My parents thought this was very interesting, so they called my class teacher and told him about it. The class teacher told the whole class. Now I am famous in the school. The class teacher asked me to write an essay about this incident, no less than 600 words. Writing essays is my biggest headache. Master, can you help me write it? Just sign it as me, Taoyuan Primary School, Class 6..."
"...Ah, I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do about it." Bai Mian rejected the boy mercilessly.
The boy pleaded pitifully: "Please, Master, our head teacher, Mr. Zheng, is so nagging, just like Tang Seng. If I don't write, he will call me to the office to nag me..."
After hearing what the little boy said, Weng Xuhua suddenly punched the table, scaring everyone present. He asked the little boy:
"Taoyuan Primary School, Teacher Zheng, are you talking about Zheng Shuyuan?"
The little boy was stunned and stammered, "Yes, how did you know?"
"This bastard!" Weng Xuhua's anger was ignited, and he punched again, knocking over the pen holder on the table.
Seeing that Weng Xuhua was so angry, the little boy was so scared that he hung up the call. Gao Jin did not come up to persuade him, but hid in the kitchen dejectedly. The crowd in the store looked at Weng Xuhua in confusion. In all these years, no one had ever seen him so angry.
Even Bai Mian was a little at a loss, but Que Ge seemed to know something. He skillfully cleared the crowd and closed the store early, leaving only a few of them in the store.
"Boss, calm down." Lame Brother walked up to Weng Xuhua and said.
Weng Xuhua punched the table again and again: "Look at him now, how can I calm down? My daughter was killed by him, and now my daughter is buried in the ground, but he is living a prosperous life. It's so unfair!"
After hearing what Weng Xuhua said, Bai Mian realized that this incident was related to his daughter's death. She quickly turned off the live broadcast and quietly pulled on Lame Brother's sleeve:
"What happened back then?"
Lame Brother hesitated to speak. He looked at Weng Xuhua's expression. Weng Xuhua did not stop him, so he pulled Bai Mian aside and whispered:
"The boss and his wife seem to be getting along well, but they have actually been living a very depressing life. Ultimately, it's all because of their daughter's death. I'm the only one who knows about this, as an old employee who has worked there for more than a decade."
"About thirty years ago, the boss and his wife lived in the village, on the mountain behind our store. The boss was a village doctor and had a good reputation. They had an only daughter named Weng Yinyin, whom the boss loved very much. At that time, he insisted on not having a second child, only this one child, and was only good to her."
"Weng Yinyin was raised in the palm of their hands until she was 18 years old. The first 18 years of her life were smooth sailing. Her family gave her everything she wanted. This led to her arrogant character, which indirectly led to the tragedy that followed."
"When Weng Yinyin was 18, she started dating a boy from the next village. This boy was Zheng Shuyuan that the boss just mentioned. In the past, no matter what decision Yinyin made, the boss would support her. But this was the only thing that the boss would not agree to no matter what."
"Zheng Shuyuan went to the boss's house for a meal. The boss looked at his face and felt that he was not a good person, but a ruthless person. Although face reading is superstitious, it can be very accurate sometimes. The boss has read countless people and has a sharp eye for people. Since he doesn't support it, the boss's wife will also oppose it."
"That night, the boss found a time to call Yinyin into the house and talked to her alone, hoping that she would break up with Zheng Shuyuan. But Yinyin, who has always been arrogant, would never listen to this. The child was also very angry at the time. She had a big fight with her father and then ran away from home on the spot."
"The boss was also angry that night. In the past, if the child was missing, he would definitely go to look for her immediately. But that night he was angry with the child and refused to look for her. He thought that if the child suffered a little outside, she might become sensible."
"That night, Yinyin did not return home. The boss thought she would come back at dawn, but she was still silent during the day. The boss panicked, and the couple began to search everywhere in the village, but they couldn't find her. Finally, they even searched several neighboring villages, but there was no news of Yinyin."
"The boss thought that Yinyin must have gone to hide at Zheng Shuyuan's house, so he went to Zheng Shuyuan's house to look for her. However, Zheng Shuyuan insisted that he had never met Weng Yinyin and would never admit it. The boss had no choice but to go home and wait."
"On the fourth day after Yinyin disappeared, a corpse floated into the river in the village. It was a female corpse with long hair. It was soaked so much that it was impossible to recognize her features. It was summer and the weather was hot. The corpse was highly decomposed, like a wet sponge. In today's terms, it was actually a giant."
"At that time, there was no technology like DNA testing, so people could only identify the body through clothing. The clothes on the female corpse were what Yinyin was wearing before she went missing, so the female corpse was identified as Weng Yinyin."
"On the day when we learned of Yinyin's death, the boss's wife almost cried herself hoarse, and the boss's hair turned almost white overnight. At that time, people had no awareness of calling the police and only knew to settle matters privately. There were no sophisticated criminal investigation methods at the time, so this matter became an unsolved case."
"Everyone in the village thinks that Weng Yinyin committed suicide by jumping into the river in a rage after quarreling with her father. The boss, however, firmly believes that Yinyin was killed by Zheng Shuyuan because the female corpse floated down from the upper reaches of the river. Huaihua Village where the boss lives is downstream of the river, while Liushu Village where Zheng Shuyuan lives is upstream of the river. The boss believes that this incident is closely related to Liushu Village."
"He speculated that perhaps Weng Yinyin went to find Zheng Shuyuan on the night she ran away from home, and the two had an argument for some unknown reason, and Zheng Shuyuan pushed Yinyin into the river and drowned her."
"This speculation is reasonable, but it is just speculation after all. There is no evidence. The boss and his wife went to Zheng Shuyuan's house several times to make trouble. Zheng Shuyuan insisted that this matter had nothing to do with him. The boss had no evidence, so he could only let it go."
"Later, the boss and his wife couldn't stand the rumors in the village, so they moved their family to Qingshui Town at the foot of the mountain. They rented a shop closest to the mountain and opened a Chinese medicine clinic. Their daughter was buried in the cemetery on the mountain. Being close to their daughter made them feel at ease."
Bai Mian nodded. No wonder this place was so remote and his master never thought of changing the shop. No wonder he came here directly after coming out of the cemetery.
Lame brother said unconvincedly: "Over the years, the boss and his wife have been living a gloomy life, but Zheng Shuyuan has been getting more and more proud. He was admitted to a junior college and left the village. After graduation, he went to the town to become a primary school teacher. The company allocated him a house. Later, he got married and had children and lived a happy life. Not long ago, he won the Top Ten Teachers Award and bought a nice car. He always drives around the city in a flashy way. It really makes people hate him! Every time someone mentions him, the boss loses control of his emotions."
After Lame Brother finished telling the story of Weng Xuhua, he gritted his teeth and said, "If you ask me, the boss is too reasonable and insists on finding evidence. If it were me, whoever harmed me, I would definitely kill him with my own hands, regardless of whether there is any evidence or not!"
Bai Mian advised: "You have already said that this is just a guess. How can you act rashly? If you guess wrong, wouldn't it be killing innocent people?"
"Besides, according to your account, Zheng Shuyuan really has nothing to do with this matter. He didn't even show up on the night Yinyin disappeared."
"Hmph!" Lame Brother snorted, not really agreeing with Bai Mian's words, "You haven't experienced it, how can you understand the hatred of people like us... Forget it, let's not talk about it, let's think of a way to comfort the boss first, they are so old, don't get angry and cause harm."
"In this world, there is only one thing that can comfort him, and that is the truth." Bai Mian looked at Weng Xuhua, as if he had made some kind of determination.
She stood up and strode towards Weng Xuhua: "Master, if you trust me, please let me take your pulse. I can help you find out the truth about Yin Yin's death."
Although Bai Mian's public rule is to have three gossips a day, she doesn't mind making an exception in this special situation.
翁旭華長長地嘆了口氣：“小徒弟，我當然信任你，我之所以一直都不敢找你把脈，就是害怕……害怕聽見茵茵當年死亡的過程，無論她是自己主動跳下河的，還是被人推下去，我都不想聽見這個過程，讓我再聽一遍她死亡的經歷，無異于讓我再一次面對她的死亡，你明白嗎？”
“我明白，”白眠對翁旭華伸出手，“但我不能看着你這樣折磨自己，茵茵的死是你心裏的一片舊傷，只有把它挑破，你才能正常生活。”
翁旭華的手往袖子裏縮了縮：“就算知道真相又怎麽樣呢？就算你告訴我兇手就是鄭書源，可是三十多年過去了，根本就連一絲證據都沒有了，我拿他有什麽辦法？讓我眼睜睜看着兇手快活度日，豈不是更受折磨！”
“世事無絕對，不到最後一刻，總會有轉機的，”白眠又向前走了一步，再次對翁旭華伸出手，“師父，這三天以來，我們一起處理了這麽多事件，哪一件不是充滿了轉機？或許茵茵的死也不是你想象的那樣，師父，給我一個機會，讓我告訴你真相。”
翁旭華茫然地看着白眠，心情仿佛又回到了女兒失蹤那晚，猶豫了一會之後，他終于顫抖着把手遞給了白眠。
“白大師，請你，為我把脈。”
白眠和師父轉換了角色，師父第一次坐在了患者的椅子上，他把手臂放在了白眠的診脈案上，白眠搭上兩指，靜靜地感受了片刻，瘸哥屏住呼吸，等着白眠發話。
白眠薄如蟬翼的睫毛輕抖了抖，她睜開眼，眼裏是少見地震撼，她深吸了一口氣，握住師父的手說：
“茵茵，并沒有死。”
“什麽？”翁旭華扶着桌子站了起來，激動得全身都在顫抖。
“茵茵沒有死，她還活着。”
白眠又重複了一遍。
“啊！我、我，等等，老婆子，老婆子，你快出來呀——”翁旭華大聲叫喊着，把高瑾從廚房裏拉了出來，兩位老人一起在白眠面前坐下，他們有一肚子問題要問白眠。
“可是當年那具屍體是怎麽回事？屍體身上分明就是茵茵的衣服呀！”翁旭華提出了第一個問題。
“她沒有死，她怎麽不回來找我們呢？”高瑾緊随其後，提出了這個問題。
瘸哥也反應了過來：“對呀，如果茵茵還活着，為什麽她這麽多年都不來看看爸媽？難道——難道她被囚禁了？”
“都等等，先別急！”白眠揮了揮手，“讓我從頭說起——”
“那晚茵茵和父親吵架之後，跑到了柳樹村去找鄭書源，她和鄭書源訴苦了一通，鄭書源用一番花言巧語安慰了她，然後哄騙着她發生了關系，那晚，茵茵就住在了鄭書源家裏。”
白眠說到這裏，翁旭華氣得拍起了桌子：“看吧，我就說和這個小子脫不了關系，絕對就是他幹的，當年我就應該——”
高瑾拉了拉翁旭華的胳膊：“你別插嘴，坐下，聽小徒弟把話說完。”
翁旭華悻悻地坐下，白眠繼續說：“第二天一早，天還沒亮的時候，茵茵就被吵架聲驚醒了，她還以為是父母來找自己，于是情急之下随手拿起一件衣服就套在身上，其實她誤穿了鄭書源的衣服，把自己的衣服落在了屋裏。”
“茵茵出去以後，發現是一個陌生女孩在和鄭書源吵架，她躲在門後聽了一會，才知道這個女孩叫唐梨，是鄭書源的未婚妻，原來鄭書源早就訂了親了。”
“那個唐梨是較遠的雪梅村的人，她家和鄭書源家裏結了娃娃親，現在兩個孩子都大了，雙方家長也開始籌備起婚事來，婚期都已經定下了，鄭書源根本沒想認真和茵茵在一起，只不過是看她漂亮，想占她的便宜。”
翁旭華再次拍案而起：“他XX的，我當初就說這小子不是個好人！我一眼就看出來了！”
高瑾再次拉他坐下：“你閉嘴，讓小徒弟說，當年那些是是非非都不重要，我只關心我的女兒。”
白眠：“唐梨本來也是一番好心，想着在喜事之前給婆家送點禮品，盡盡心意，于是她提着一堆農産品趕了一夜的路，跋山涉水地從雪梅村走到了柳樹村，誰知道到了之後竟然看見鄭書源赤着身子和別的女人睡在一起，兩人這才吵了起來。”
“聽明白事情的原委以後，茵茵也走出去準備教訓鄭書源，唐梨一見到茵茵，還以為她是勾引自己未婚夫的小三，二話不說就撲上來抓茵茵的臉，茵茵自然不會吃這個虧，立刻還手把她推了出去，鄭書源家就在河邊，茵茵這一用力，直接就把唐梨推到了河裏，唐梨的後腦撞到了河裏的石頭，人當時就沒了動靜。”
“茵茵一看吓壞了，她以為自己殺人了，于是扭頭就跑，不管不顧地跑到了山裏，在山裏躲了幾天。”
高瑾的心提到了嗓子眼裏：“這麽說，我們發動全村人找她的那幾天，她其實一直都躲在山裏？”
白眠點點頭：“她就躲在槐花村附近的山裏，每天偷偷地關注着村裏的動靜，她不敢回家，也沒敢去找你們，因為她怕唐梨的家人來上門抓她，要她償命，到時候反而連累了你們。”
“她在山裏躲了幾天，始終沒見到唐家的人來找事，反倒是你們把河裏漂來的屍體當成是她給下葬了，這雖然是個天大的誤會，但茵茵卻不敢出來澄清，一旦她站出來說自己沒死，那麽就會被人查出屍體真正的身份是雪梅村的唐梨，而殺死唐梨的正是她翁茵茵。”
“這樣任由你們誤會下去，反而不會有人查出她失手誤殺了唐梨的事。”
“于是翁茵茵只好忍痛離開你們，她獨自下了山，在外面的社會摸爬滾打，雖然很辛苦，但是她不敢回家，她以為自己犯了殺人罪，一旦回來，是會被判死刑的。”
“而你們年年祭拜的，其實是雪梅村的唐梨的屍體。”
高瑾聽到這裏，已經泣不成聲：“這個傻孩子，有什麽事都該回家和爸爸媽媽說啊，她在外面東躲西藏地過了這麽多年，得吃了多少苦啊！”
翁旭華沒有說話，握緊了拳頭，眼圈憋得通紅。
瘸哥很疑惑：“等等，還是解釋不通啊，如果真是你說的這樣，茵茵把唐梨推進河裏摔死，唐梨順着河漂到了槐花村，那為什麽女屍身上的衣服是茵茵的呢？而且唐梨不見了，唐家難道沒人來找嗎？”
“你問到點子上了，”白眠拿起一支筆在桌上比劃着，“有一個人在這其中起到了關鍵作用，他兩頭隐瞞，掩蓋了事實真相，最後又完美隐身了。”
“鄭書源！”瘸哥恍然大悟。
“沒錯，正是當時也在場的鄭書源，”白眠說，“兩個女孩打架的時候，他站在一旁沒有阻攔，等茵茵驚慌失措地逃跑之後，他把河裏的唐梨拖了出來，畢竟人是死在自己家門口的，總得想辦法處理。”
“唐梨在岸上躺了一會之後，突然蘇醒了過來，原來她當時只是在石頭上磕暈過去了，并沒有死亡，她醒來以後，又和鄭書源就剛才的事情吵了起來，她堅持要退婚，并且還說要把這件事宣揚出去，讓十裏八村都知道鄭書源是個腳踏兩條船的混蛋。”
“鄭書源被說急眼了，和唐梨動起手來，唐梨也不甘示弱地還手，但她力氣小，漸漸的在打鬥中落了下風。”
“最後鄭書源怒不可遏地掐住了唐梨的脖子，手上持續用力，等他冷靜下來之後，唐梨的臉色發紫，口鼻已經沒有呼吸了。”
“啊！”瘸哥驚呼一聲，“唐梨不是被茵茵殺死的，是被這個鄭書源掐死的！”
“沒錯，”白眠繼續說，“鄭書源看着死去的唐梨，腦海中第一時間湧現出的想法就是去維護自己的名聲，他在別人眼裏一直都是個老實人，他不能背上殺人的罪名，也不能背上渣男的罪名，唐梨已經死了，他要想辦法讓另一個女人也閉嘴，不讓她把自己腳踏兩條船的事情說出去。”
“他想了一個巧妙的主意，他利用了村與村之間的信息壁壘——”白眠畫了一張簡單的示意圖，“雪梅村和柳樹村之間隔着一座山，山上有不少獵戶。這些獵戶經常會挖陷阱捕獵。”
“鄭書源向家人坦白了自己殺人的事，他父母選擇幫他掩埋事實，他們一家人擡着唐梨的屍體，把屍體和唐梨帶來的農産品都丢進了一個獵戶的陷阱裏，這樣乍一看上去，唐梨就是在拜訪婆家的路上不慎跌入陷阱摔死的。”
“被人掐死和摔死的屍體特征當然不同，但是唐梨的家人都是普通農民，沒什麽文化，這樣糊弄他們足夠了。”
“當時天還沒亮，所以他們的行動沒有被任何人看見，抛屍之後，鄭書源就回到家中等待消息。”
"When the Tang family didn't see their daughter come back for a long time, they sent people to look for her. Then they found Tang Li's body in the trap. As expected, they thought their daughter had fallen to her death. They went to the house sadly and told Zheng Shuyuan's family the news of their daughter's death."
"This happened to be exactly what Zheng Shuyuan wanted. Seeing this, the Zheng family said that since the person was already dead, the marriage should be cancelled and the Tang family should return the betrothal gifts they had already accepted."
"The Tang family is greedy, and they certainly don't want to give back the money they've already received. After a lot of wrangling between the two families, Zheng Shuyuan took advantage of the situation and proposed a plan - the Tang family would not return the betrothal gift, but would send Tang Li's body to the Zheng family and bury it in the Zheng family's ancestral tomb. This would be considered as entering the Zheng family."
"After careful consideration, Tang Li's parents agreed to Zheng Shuyuan's request. Unlike the master's family, they have many children and the parents don't love their daughter that much. Compared to their daughter's corpse, they are more willing to keep this betrothal gift."
"The reaction of the Tang family was just as Zheng Shuyuan expected. Tang Li's body was back in Zheng Shuyuan's hands. Zheng Shuyuan pretended to keep his fiancée's body for three days, and then held a funeral. A team of people carried his fiancée's coffin to the ancestral tomb with great fanfare. But in fact, what they carried to the ancestral tomb was an empty coffin. He threw the real body into the river, and it floated to Huaihua Village along the current."
Weng Xuhua was startled, as if he suddenly remembered something: "Yes, when Yinyin disappeared, I went to Zheng Shuyuan's house to ask for an explanation. They were in the process of handling the funeral, but I was in a hurry to find Yinyin and didn't pay attention to this at all."
"Master," Bai Mian looked into Weng Xuhua's eyes, "it was your trip to Liushu Village to look for someone that confirmed Zheng Shuyuan's suspicions and made him more bold in implementing his plan."
"He analyzed that Yinyin had not returned home in the past few days, which meant that she was afraid. She thought she had killed someone, so she ran away. Zheng Shuyuan seized on Yinyin's psychology. He wanted to make Yinyin never dare to return home and let Yinyin "die" in your world. In this way, everything he did would never be exposed."
"He changed Tang Li's body into the clothes that Yin Yin left behind that day, and then threw the body into the river, in order to send the body to Huaihua Village and make you think that it was the missing Yin Yin."
Weng Xuhua slapped his forehead vigorously and lowered his head in regret:
"Oh my! We have been fooled by him for so many years. How could I not realize that the body was not my daughter? I am a medical student!"
"Master, don't blame yourself," Bai Mian patted Weng Xuhua's arm gently, "He knew you were a doctor and was afraid that you would find out something wrong, so he kept the body at home for three days. It was midsummer and the weather was hot. The body was highly decomposed after being kept in the yard for three days. If he threw a body like this into the water, no one would be able to recognize it. You could only identify it by its clothes, so of course you would mistake her for Yinyin."
"What a beast!" Gao Jin, who was always gentle, cursed. "This family is all beasts. They did this trick and kept it a secret from me for so many years. It caused my mother and I to be separated and made me sad for half my life. All for his good reputation. Such a beast should go to hell! Why doesn't God take him away!"
"It wasn't just for reputation," Bai Mian added. "At that time, Zheng Shuyuan had just been admitted to a junior college. After that summer, he was going to go to school in the city. He was afraid that this kind of male-female issue would get out and affect his admission. In the final analysis, he was still trying to protect his future."
"Bah!" The lame brother spat, "This kid has so many tricks up his sleeve that he can even come up with such a shady trick of using one body for two purposes. He is so evil that he only cares about his own interests. Such a despicable villain is actually a primary school teacher. How ironic!"
After Gao Jin finished his angry scolding, he sat down trembling, and finally asked the question he had always wanted to ask but didn't dare to ask:
"Then where is my daughter, the real Yin Yin, now? Is she...doing well?"