Jiang Qiaoqiao bit her lip hard, trying her best to suppress her emotions.
Lin Xiaohui and Yang Jianguo were both stunned.
Yang Jianguo turned his head and stared blankly at Jiang Qiaoqiao. "Qiaoqiao, what did you say?"
Lin Xiaohui grabbed Jiang Qiaoqiao's shoulders, tears streaming down her face. "Qiaoqiao, tell Mom this isn't true. You're joking with Mom, right?"
"You've always been an honest child, how come you've gone astray now, joking about such a serious matter?" Lin Xiaohui wiped away her tears, unsure whether she was blaming Jiang Qiaoqiao or deceiving herself.
Jiang Qiaoqiao was speechless.
"Bei Xiao, tell me, what Qiao Qiao said isn't true. My dad isn't dead. He's perfectly fine, right?"
Yang Jianguo excitedly grabbed Huo Beixiao's shoulder, who was driving in front, and swerved the steering wheel sharply to the side, sending the car hurtling straight toward the roadside.
Huo Beixiao quickly slammed on the brakes.
The car finally came to a stop just as the left front wheel was half-suspended in the air.
The passengers on the bus fell silent for a moment.
At this moment, Jiang Qiaoqiao's suppressed emotions finally erupted, "Brother, what are you doing? Don't you know how dangerous driving is? If Bei Xiao had braked any slower, the car would have rolled down the slope, and our whole family would be dead!"
Yang Jianguo was also stunned with fright.
Startled by Jiang Qiaoqiao's shout, he finally snapped out of his daze and stammered, "Qiaoqiao, I'm sorry, I... I just..."
When Dad brought ducks to the store the day before yesterday, he was excitedly talking about the progress of the duck-raising shed construction.
Dad even told them to keep all the duck down feathers, because he heard that down jackets made of duck down are very popular in the city these days, and people say they are especially warm.
They said that with the number of ducks they slaughter every day, the down they keep is enough to make a down jacket for each member of the family, and there's even enough left over to make down jackets for Qiaoqiao to sell.
Huo Beixiao reversed the car back onto the road. "Brother, none of us wanted this to happen. But it's already happened, and all we can do is find the murderer who killed Dad and bring them to justice!"
"Waaaaah..."
Lin Xiaohui finally couldn't hold back anymore and covered her face, crying bitterly.
Hearing Lin Xiaohui's cries, Jiang Qiaoqiao felt as if her heart was being torn apart. She didn't know how to comfort her, so she could only hold Lin Xiaohui tightly.
After that, the entire carload of people remained silent, with only suppressed sobs and whimpers.
When they arrived at Yangjia Village, the entire village was quiet, and everyone had gathered at the foot of the mountain.
Surrounded by the crowd, Yang Minghui lay on the ground in a strange position, his clothes tattered and torn. The surrounding weeds were covered with dried black bloodstains.
Lin Xiaohui had been suppressing her tears in the car, but at this moment, she could no longer control herself, and her tears flowed out like a burst dam.
"Old man, wake up, old man!" Lin Xiaohui threw herself on Yang Minghui, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him violently, as if that would wake him up again.
"Dad—" Yang Jianguo's eyes were bloodshot and he lunged at Yang Minghui with a look of utter despair.
Jiang Qiaoqiao felt as if a huge stone was pressing down on her heart, making it hard for her to breathe. She wanted to cry, but her dry eyes couldn't shed a single tear.
The police officers stationed in the village had already notified the forensic doctor to examine Yang Minghui's body the moment it was discovered.
Upon seeing the family members arrive, Xu Anguo, the team leader, said to Jiang Qiaoqiao, whose emotions had calmed down a bit, "Comrade Jiang, we have already examined the deceased's body. Apart from soft tissue contusions and falls, we have not found any signs of human injury on the deceased's body."
“We also went up the mountain along the path the deceased fell down to check, but apart from the traces of the deceased’s activity, we did not find any traces of anyone else’s activity on the mountain.”
A cold sneer curled at the corner of Jiang Qiaoqiao's lips as she looked at the police officer. "You mean, my dad went up the mountain by himself and then fell off?"
Xu Anguo also knew that the conclusion reached by the police was hard to believe.
But it was indeed the case, and he could only nod stiffly and say, "Yes, Comrade Jiang, please accept my condolences."
Although Jiang Qiaoqiao was sad, she tried her best to remain rational. The police would not protect the murderer if they did not even know who the murderer was.
The fact that the police are saying this only proves that they really haven't found any clues.
This was all part of a meticulously planned conspiracy.
When she first saw the letter, she thought the sender was after her and wanted money.
But now, the other party hasn't taken the money or asked her for anything, and when they saw Yang Minghui again, all that was left was a corpse...
After thanking the police officers, Jiang Qiaoqiao pulled Lin Xiaohui and Yang Jianguo away from Yang Minghui and said rationally, "Mom, brother, let's... take Dad home first."
The villagers had already helped prepare the stretcher.
Upon hearing Jiang Qiaoqiao's words, Yang Jianguo wiped away his tears and, together with Huo Beixiao, lifted him onto a stretcher.
The Yang family.
Yang Mingcai had already led the villagers to help tidy up his house, and a long bamboo pole with a funeral banner was placed in front of the gate.
Black gauze and funeral couplets were also hung on the gate.
After Huo Beixiao and Yang Jianguo carried Yang Minghui's body home, they placed it on the door panel in the center of the main room.
Lin Xiaohui was still crying, but she wasn't wailing like before; she was just silently shedding tears.
She boiled water and silently wiped away the bloodstains from Yang Minghui's face and body, little by little.
They dressed Yang Minghui in the cleanest and most presentable clothes.
Jiang Qiaoqiao silently watched everything before her, then closed her eyes in despair.
In her past life, due to various misunderstandings and unforeseen circumstances, she did not have the opportunity to be filial to her parents who had worked so hard to raise her.
In this life, she thought she could make up for the regrets of her past life, but...
She kept replaying in her mind the scene from her previous life where, after she died, her soul watched the Yang family working tirelessly to bring the murderer to justice for her.
But by then, Yang Minghui seemed to have disappeared from the Yang family who were busy with their work.
Yang Minghui must have already passed away in his previous life.
He didn't know how Yang Minghui died in his previous life, but he was certain that his death in this life was related to her.
According to village custom, Yang Minghui's body was laid to rest for three days before burial.
For the past three days, Jiang Qiaoqiao, Lin Xiaohui, and Yang Jianguo have taken turns keeping vigil at Yang Minghui's coffin, while Huo Beixiao has been busy arranging for the guests who have come to pay their respects.
People in the village who were related to the villagers also came to help.
Neither the Yang family nor Jiang Qiaoqiao expected that the Jiang family would actually come on the day of the burial.
Not only Jiang Jiahua and Peng Cuiying, but also Jiang Yong'an and Qin Haiyang came.
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