Chapter 82: Little New Year (Part 4)
"Who is it, standing there without saying a word..."
Diao came out and saw the old woman outside the door. She was stunned at first, then she smiled.
"Just ask Hu Zi to bring the bowls tomorrow. Look at you, it's New Year's Eve, and you've made a special trip!"
Although she was not used to getting close to outsiders, she had been the village chief for more than a month. She ran in and out every day, leading everyone to repair houses and plow the fields, and she had already gotten to know everyone in the village.
Indigenous peoples are no exception.
Standing outside was Hu Zi's grandmother, Jiang.
The Shen family met him when they first arrived in the narrow village.
At that time, the other party looked extremely thin, but not as listless as he is now. It was as if he had been tortured by illness in just a few days.
Diao felt unhappy.
"My child is naive, and as a parent, I can't play dumb. Who would beg for food on New Year's Eve? Only when there's give and take can we all have a good life next year."
Jiang was holding a bowl in her hand, which was filled with dried dates.
The old man's forehead was full of frowns, and there was a faint smell of decay around him, but there was tenderness in his cloudy eyes.
When the Shen family first arrived here, they immediately fell into a "food loss" crisis. Only Jiang was willing to talk to them and remind the refugees, so that they were able to recover the food in time.
Shen Mingqiu took the bowl and was touched on the head. He pursed his lips and surprisingly did not step back to avoid it.
Children are most sensitive to the kindness and malice of others.
Especially for someone like him, who has personally experienced the ugliest side of human nature, it is difficult for him to refuse such tenderness.
Diao glanced at Shen Mingqiu, and the smile on her face became more sincere.
"Well, it's just a little bit of food. Children are always greedy, aren't these kids in my family the same? Don't say anything. I'm a well-behaved person. Let's visit each other more often in the future."
After saying that, he invited Jiang to come in and sit down.
"No, no, the child is still waiting at home." Jiang waved her hand to refuse, but she did not move. She looked inside the door, hesitated for a long time, and stammered, "I heard from Hu Zi that County Magistrate Jiang is here?"
"Ah, he's here. Does my elder sister want to see him for something?"
Seeing that Diao answered so straightforwardly, Jiang became vague again.
"It's nothing serious..."
"Don't worry about it, just come inside and talk. It's so cold standing outside, you might get frozen."
Just by looking at his hesitant look, one could guess that it must be a serious matter.
Diao simply pulled the man into the yard.
"I won't go in..." Jiang was pulled to the main hall door. Seeing so many people around, it was even harder to say anything. "I'd better not disturb you guys while you're eating. Let's talk about it some other time!"
Seeing that Diao had not returned for a long time and they could vaguely hear the conversation outside the door, everyone had already put down their chopsticks.
"No, now that you're here, mother-in-law, why don't you tell me something?"
Chen Chunxing hurriedly pulled the man back, secretly observed his expression, and sighed in his heart.
The last time she saw him, she knew that the old man was terminally ill, and it was a rare achievement that he could hold on until now.
"Well, how can I put this..." Jiang scanned the people in the room, her eyes suddenly fixed on Shen Zhixia. She took a big step forward in disbelief, "You!"
Shen Zhixia stood up blankly.
She rarely went out on weekdays. She either helped with housework or accompanied Doctor Chang to cook medicine, so she rarely met the villagers.
Everyone only knew that the Shen family had two girls and two boys, and sometimes it was hard to tell who they were.
Although life was difficult these days, there were still many children to raise. Almost every family had three or four little ones. They had only been together for about a month, so how could the local residents of the narrow village recognize them so clearly?
Jiang was not sure whether she had seen this little girl before, but with the candlelight and the brazier, she was sure that she was not mistaken.
Hidden beneath the delicate neck, within the pulsating, snake-like veins, lies the most terrifying thing in the world.
The poison of the tarsal bone!
What kind of cruel person would do such a vicious thing to a little girl?
"Mother-in-law, do you think it's hard to say it out loud with so many people here?" Chen Chunxing narrowed his eyes, as if he didn't notice Jiang's strange behavior, and changed the subject directly. "Actually, you don't have to worry about that. We are all family here. No matter what we hear, we won't spread it. Master Xue won't mind, right?"
Xue Yongan nodded in agreement and said seriously, "Old man, do you have any grievances to redress? Tell me and I will make the decision for you."
"Actually, I came back this time to report something..."
Jiang suppressed her fear. After discovering the abnormality of the second daughter of the Shen family, what she was about to say seemed less important.
"Actually, before he left, Old Man Cao came to me and wanted me to go with him. I didn't agree, so he left something for me."
Old Man Cao was the previous village chief.
Everyone had just pricked up their ears when they were so frightened that they almost fell under the table.
Good job.
Is this something I can hear?
Although everyone was cursing the old widower behind his back, in fact, Old Man Cao was only in his forties and looked older. He was about ten years younger than Jiang.
"Don't overthink it. My husband and he were sworn brothers. Before he died, he asked him to take care of his family... Although he was a bit foolish and did the shameful thing of stealing grain, he's still quite loyal."
Jiang's expression remained unchanged. She took off a bag from her waist and threw it on the table.
"He thought it was something precious, but it was just a hot potato."
It felt heavy in his hand. Xue Yongan opened the bag, took a look, and then handed it to Chen Chunxing.
"Why is it a hot potato? If you sell the stuff in here, it should fetch a lot of money."
Jiang looked at Chen Chunxing and found that she was holding the bag but did not open it. She was a little surprised, but did not hide it.
"If I wanted to exchange money, why would I have waited until now? I discovered this thing two years ago!"
"I just didn't want it to show up in the world, so I kept pretending to be ignorant. I never expected that Old Man Cao would dig it out and even cost me my life for it."
Jiang is a sensible person.
She knew very well that the relief food would not cost anyone's life, but what could stir up the situation and attract several forces to the village must be immense wealth!
Although he lived a simple and frugal life, he still couldn't escape this trouble.
Since it involved a murder case, everyone was no longer in the mood to listen to gossip and looked around with strange expressions.
Diao glanced at Xue Yongan for a while, then glared at Chen Chunxing, and almost pulled her ears to ask her what she had done behind her back!
"So, this thing is not far from the narrow village?" Chen Chunxing put his hands on the table and tapped it unconsciously.
Jiang didn't answer but asked, "Have you been to the back of the village?"
Chen Chunxing thought: "That barren mountain?"
Although it is called a mountain, it is actually not very high. From a distance it looks like a mound.
According to the locals, whatever is planted on that mountain dies and it is impossible to cultivate it. Over the years, only weeds grow vigorously.
Chen Chunxing originally planned to build a farm on it and develop animal husbandry.
Now that I think about it, if there is a mine, it should be there.
"I don't know if there are any in the mountains," Jiang shook her head, her words echoing Shen Chunxing's suspicions. "I found it in the river at the foot of the mountain. Knowing it couldn't just appear out of thin air, I collected all the nearby fragments. I didn't dare sell them when I got back."
"Who would have thought that after hiding it for so long, it would still be dug out by someone!"
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