Chapter 8 Spring Outing (Part Two) Wear My Clothes
The stream wasn't far from the refugee settlement, and women dressed as women often came to the water's edge to fetch water, while groups of two or three children played in the shallow water.
It's hard to imagine that a murder occurred here not long ago.
The carriage stopped near the bamboo grove, and Ah Zhao had already found a secluded spot by the water and set up a barbecue grill.
Jiang Yuzhi gripped the strap of her small bag tightly and saw the refugees not far away. Their clothes were patched, but they were all clean and tidy.
The settlement was a row of small, temporary brick houses built by the government, just enough for people to stay in.
During the day, only a small number of children and older people remain in the gathering place.
Most able-bodied men and women work for the government in exchange for food and money, and only return here to rest at night.
So how did the elderly, women, and children get into a conflict with the adult men who came to deliver food, and end up killing two of them?
"What are you thinking about?" Bai Yan tried to forget the awkwardness in the carriage, and only after he had finished adjusting himself did he notice that Jiang Yuzhi was frowning and staring blankly again.
"Think about how their conflict started."
"Ah Zhao is just ahead. After we finish grilling the fish, can we take a few with us and go ask him?"
"good."
The human and the ghost were less than an arm's length apart, walking side by side toward Ah Zhao.
There are few big fish in the stream near the residence. Ah Zhao only caught five or six small fish the size of his palm. He had already skewered them with a shaving branch, rubbed them with some salt, and grilled them for a while.
"Young master, Manager Jiang, it'll be ready soon. Please sit on the low stool for a while." The diligent Ah Zhao was busy flipping the grilled fish while also keeping an eye on the young master and young lady's whereabouts.
"No, Ah Zhao, I'll go to the water's edge and see if I can catch a couple of fish."
Jiang Yuzhi hadn't been out for a long time; this was her first time since becoming a ghost.
She suddenly had a brilliant idea: if she used some supernatural power, catching fish would be a piece of cake.
No one will laugh at her anymore for trying to catch fish even though she can't.
"Mingze, wanna come along?" Jiang Yuzhi, suddenly intrigued, eagerly invited her only possible accomplice.
"Okay, I'll get some fish food."
Since it was rare for his wife to make a request, Bai Yan could not possibly refuse.
"You scatter the fish food, I'll catch them." With that one sentence, Jiang Yuzhi finished the division of labor and walked briskly to the water's edge, squatting down to test the temperature of the stream.
Yeah, she's not as cold as him.
Bai Yan was already very fast at taking fish food, but when he turned his head, he found that Jiang Yuzhi had already rolled up her sleeves, rolled up her trouser legs, tied up her skirt, and was barefoot in the water, staring intently at the small fish swimming around in the distance.
He opened the fish food wrapped in oil paper, gently scooped out some, and sprinkled it around Jiang Yuzhi's legs.
Gradually, a few small fish tentatively swam over.
Jiang Yuzhi held her breath, intending to take advantage of the fish's inattention and suddenly grab it with her bare hands.
The fish failed. They scattered at first, but when they saw that there was no danger, they gathered together in twos and threes.
Bai Yan has never liked water since childhood, and he broke through his own limitations to persuade Jiang Yuzhi to come out and relax.
Seeing that half of his wife's body was soaked, but she looked very happy, he wondered if he should go down and play too.
Unable to catch any fish, Jiang Yuzhi had to resort to drastic measures.
She secretly added a little of her ghostly power to the fish food attached to the surface of the water. As soon as a tiny bit of it was released, the fish that ate the food immediately turned belly up, and black ripples invisible to ordinary people spread outwards from the dead fish.
Sensing the threat of death, the fish swarmed and swam frantically in the opposite direction from Jiang Yuzhi.
Downstream, several children, around eight or nine years old, were playing in the water. A young woman was drawing water with a wooden bucket and keeping an eye on the children.
Children who survived famine and escaped to the outskirts of the capital were certainly not pampered.
With no tools at hand, they immediately used their clothes to block the surging school of fish. Each person caught at least five or six small fish the size of their palms, and the women, needless to say, filled their calf-high buckets completely.
The group was stunned for a moment, then burst into ecstasy.
Logically speaking, since people often come to catch fish in the stream outside the city, there shouldn't be so many fish gathered here. However, once Jiang Yuzhi released her ghostly power, all the fish from the most remote corners were stirred out, fearing that they would also die for no reason.
Jiang Yuzhi and the others were also stunned. She never expected that her ghost power would have such an effect. Holding a dead fish, she turned her head to look at Bai Yan on the shore in a daze, as if to say, "Is this right?"
Coming to my senses, I returned dejectedly to the fire pit where the fish were grilling.
Ah Zhao took the chosen fish without hesitation, gutted it, and put it on the grill to roast.
"Ah Zhao, only I can eat this one, remember not to mix them up." If a fish that has eaten ghost power is ignored by ordinary people, who knows what kind of trouble will occur. Sigh, I'm so stupid that I don't even know how to describe myself.
"Why the long face? Wasn't it a great harvest?" Bai Yan finally couldn't resist the urge to reach out and rub his wife's pitiful face, which was radiating a dejected aura.
“You’re right, other people’s harvest is also a harvest!” Jiang Yuzhi looked up and met Bai Yan’s smiling eyes, feeling somewhat comforted.
"Would you like to change your clothes in the carriage? I'll keep watch over you."
Wearing wet clothes won't make a ghost sick, but it will make it uncomfortable.
"There's a spare outfit I keep on the carriage. Would you like to wear that?"
Jiang Yuzhi, who was just about to put on the new clothes Xie Bi'an had bought for her and which she had brought in her small bag, stared at Bai Yan's evasive eyes and reddened ears, and said "okay" as if possessed.
A dark blue ivory-colored robe with dark blue trim was a bit too big for Jiang Yuzhi. She tightened it with a waistband and took out a securing strap from her small bag before getting off the carriage.
Surprisingly, Bai Yan, despite his slender appearance, had a large frame. Jiang Yuzhi examined the clothes he was wearing.
Bai Yan, who was waiting outside, saw her come down, and his ears turned even redder, with a hint of red spreading to his face.
"Jade, jade weave, is it comfortable to wear?" Ah, what nonsense am I spouting to my wife! I'm such a lecher!
Jiang Yuzhi chuckled lightly, suppressing her urge to tease him, and said seriously, "The material is quite good, no wonder it's Bai family cloth."
"Ahem, as long as it's suitable, as long as it's suitable."
"Why are you coughing? Are you feeling unwell?" Of course, she knew it couldn't be that she was feeling unwell.
"No." Bai Yan didn't dare to look at her and kept his head down as he walked forward.
"What's that? Why are you walking so fast? Mingze, why aren't you looking at me?" Mingze is kind of cute.
They chased each other back to the fire pit. Bai Yan stopped, and Jiang Yuzhi behind him almost bumped into his back.
When you walk around to the front of him, he goes back to being a proper person.
Jiang Yuzhi turned her head and saw a woman and an eight or nine-year-old boy standing next to A Zhao.
So there was someone there.
"Madam, and young master, is there anything I can help you with?"
Jiang Yuzhi politely gave a courteous smile.
The woman rubbed her hands together and moved her mouth a few times. It was her first time facing a lady who looked like she came from a wealthy family, and she didn't know how to start a conversation so as not to offend her.
Just as Ah Zhao was about to help explain, the little boy spoke first, "Sir, we've caught a lot of fish in the water, and we think we came from your place to bring them to you." He turned to the side, behind him was a large bucket of lively fish, so crowded together they almost jumped out.
"You caught the fish, so they belong to you. Why are you bringing them to me?" Jiang Yuzhi was genuinely puzzled.
"But..." The boy wanted to say something more, but Jiang Yuzhi thought that she was going to ask the refugees about the murder case anyway, so she brought the two of them to her door.
"Want to have some grilled fish together?"
"No need, sir, we..." Before the boy could finish speaking, a long "gurgle" came from his stomach.
His face flushed instantly, and the woman was also frightened. She hurriedly tried to kneel down, but Ah Zhao grabbed her.
Out of consideration for the child's dignity, Jiang Yuzhi held back her laughter. "I'm not hungry, come and eat something, it's on me, no, it's on this young master."
Bai Yan nodded obediently.
Awkwardly, the two were arranged by A-Zhao to sit crampedly on low stools.
"My surname is Jiang, and this young master's surname is Bai. We are not adults, so just use ordinary names." Jiang Yuzhi introduced herself and Bai Yan in a friendly manner, hoping to get closer to them.
The woman recovered and finally stopped letting the boy stand alone in front. "Miss Jiang, Young Master Bai, we are just ordinary farmers, please don't take offense. My husband's surname is Zhou, and this is my son, Zhou Yong. We only touched that bucket of fish when we were catching them, please don't mind."
Madam Zhou insisted on giving her the fish, so Jiang Yuzhi had no choice but to make up an excuse, "How about this, I want to ask you some questions. If you answer me truthfully, the fish will be your reward, okay?"
"Okay, okay, okay." Upon learning that it was her reward, Madam Zhou happily agreed.
Do you know the prisoner who was taken away after killing someone?
As soon as the words left their mouths, the mother and son hurriedly stood up and tried to kneel again. A Zhao couldn't stop them, and Jiang Yuzhi tried to help them up, but they refused to get up.
Madam Zhou held Zhou Yong down, and he collapsed to the ground, her voice trembling, "My lord, my lord, my husband really didn't mean it. He's usually such a kind and honest person. I don't know why he suddenly went mad and tried to kill people. My son and I don't know anything. Please, my lord, spare us! Please, my lord!"
"Get up first. The child is still young. Don't press him down. Can you tell me if your husband was any different that day than usual? Calm down. I'm not here to arrest anyone." Jiang Yuzhi's intuition told her that things were definitely not as simple as Bai Yan said, that someone was instigating things.
Ordinary people wouldn't think of gods and ghosts, but ghosts are different.
"Ah Zhao, help Madam Zhou sit down."
Ah Zhao worked tirelessly and pulled with all his might. The mother and son, having exhausted their strength, stood up by his arm, but still dared not sit down.
"I, my husband's name is Zhou Quan. He's just an ordinary farmer. I really don't know why he killed someone. Really, I..." Zhou's wife was speaking incoherently. Bai Yan was about to interrupt her to avoid wasting his wife's time when Zhou Yong stood on tiptoe and reached out to touch his mother's back.
"Let me tell you. After my family fled here, my father followed the government's arrangements and went to work in the forest farm. Every day, he and the others would go out at cockcrow and return at dusk."
My dad is very good to us. He always puts my mom and me first when it comes to food and other necessities. He helps the neighbors whenever he can. We rarely argue. If you don't believe me, you can go ask the other people in the brick house.
The night before the accident, my father suddenly had a stomachache and was sweating profusely in bed. The next morning, my mother asked the foreman for him to take a day off so he could rest.
Who knew that after my father got up, his stomach pain was gone, but he was gloomy and didn't say anything. My mother and I thought he was just feeling unwell and didn't pay attention. When the people from the city came to distribute porridge, my mother told him to wait in the house, but he insisted on going to line up by himself, and left with an axe.
I wasn't comfortable with him, so I secretly followed behind. When it was his turn, he suddenly started chopping at people's heads.
I don't think he's my father. His eyes are red, and his face is distorted. My father was never like this.
Zhou Yong recounted everything he had seen in an almost indifferent tone.
Jiang Yuzhi could only think about Zhou Quan's strange behavior.
Bai Yan's attention, however, was on Zhou Yong; this child had some issues.
A note from the author:
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There aren't many people here, but I'll still mention it anyway. I've been revising my thesis these past couple of days, so I haven't updated much. I only fixed the beginning. I'll resume normal updates tomorrow.
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