Chapter 124 Conflict
The village is located halfway up a mountain, with the terrain being higher in the east and lower in the west. There is only one main road, about two meters wide, which forms a chain-like encirclement that strings together the farmhouses.
The Ye family is located on the west side of the village, in a lower terrain.
Xia Mufan looked along the dirt road towards the farmhouses built along the road.
Due to the high altitude, it is inconvenient to transport construction materials via mountain roads. As most houses are built with local materials, the houses here have rammed earth brick walls, rubble stone foundations, wooden beams, and wooden roof frames. Things like roof tiles, window glass, and paint for walls have to be carried up from the foot of the mountain.
Compared with several farmhouses nearby, Ye Rong's old house has broken tiles, some windows covered with newspapers, and peeling walls, and it is obvious that it has been in disrepair for a long time.
Since Ye Rong sent money home every month, totaling several thousand yuan, why didn’t Ye Xianfu build a new house? Where did he use the money?
Did Ye Rong really leave home? Why did Ye Xianfu not care about his son’s safety?
Obviously, these questions cannot be answered with a gentle attitude.
There was exploration, curiosity, and vigilance in the eyes of the villagers when they looked at Xia Mufan.
Sun Xianbing walked forward and just opened his mouth to say a few words when the villagers scattered and retreated far away, as if he was poisoned.
Sun Xianbing is a rural person. He felt a natural sense of closeness when he saw the villages, farmlands and vegetable fields. He thought he could have a cordial exchange with his fellow villagers, but he did not expect to be rejected. He could not help feeling a little annoyed.
Sun Xianbing grabbed the arm of the villager who was closest to him and said, "Fellow villager, I just want to ask if you have seen Ye Rong come home."
When he asked about Ye Rong, the villager ran even faster, raised his arms and shook him off: "I don't know, I know nothing!" He ran away and disappeared without a trace.
Sun Xianbing looked back at Xia Mufan, and both of them had surprise in their eyes.
Could it be that these villagers know something?
While he was thinking, a young man pushed aside the onlookers and walked straight towards Xia Mufan and others.
The young man was in his twenties, dark and thin, very tall, with not much flesh on his cheeks, narrowed eyes, and looked a bit aggressive.
The young man was barefoot, with his trouser legs rolled up to the middle of his calves and his feet covered in mud. He must have just returned from working in the fields. He looked Xia Mufan up and down and snorted coldly: "Are you my brother's girlfriend? I heard that you are from the city. Do you really like our little mountain village?"
Xia Mufan did not answer his question, but looked him up and down with a look of disdain on his face: "You are Ye Cong, right? I heard that in order to find you a wife, your father cursed himself to be seriously ill and tricked your brother back home?"
The onlookers moved closer and the sound of discussion gradually became louder.
Xia Mufan had sensitive ears and caught a few words.
"All the work in the fields depends on Ye Cong."
"I mean, why did Ye Rong come back suddenly?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down, Ye Cong is not someone you want to mess with."
Ye Cong was very upset by Xia Mufan's tit-for-tat attitude. He said coldly, "My brother is willing to come back. What's your business? We can't afford a daughter-in-law as powerful as you."
Xia Mufan's face also turned cold, his eyes narrowed, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and his face was full of sarcasm: "In a family like yours, whoever wants to marry can marry, I'm here to find your brother."
"Looking for my brother?" Ye Cong lowered his eyelids and walked quickly past Xia Mufan. "My brother has left. Go find him in the city."
"Ye Cong!" Xia Mufan called him, "Your brother didn't return to the city, so I came to find him."
Ye Cong clenched his fists, paused, and his back became stiff.
Xia Mufan immediately became alert.
All human subconscious reactions are the result of natural selection in a long evolutionary process. When faced with more ferocious animals, our ancestors would subconsciously freeze their reactions to save their lives. For example: holding your breath, restraining the movements of your hands and feet, and keeping your facial expressions stiff.
Ye Cong's reaction at this moment was a "freeze reaction"!
This shows that Ye Cong felt scared after hearing the news that the police were looking for Ye Rong.
Why fear? Could it be that Ye Rong’s disappearance has something to do with him?
Xia Mufan said, "Ye Rong is a public official, and his unit has very strict management. He asked for a week's leave to visit his family, but now he has not returned to the unit to cancel his leave. Do you know what this means?"
Ye Cong was young after all. Hearing Xia Mufan's words, he clenched his fists even tighter and pretended to be calm and asked, "What does it mean?"
Xia Mufan said: "It means he is missing. We can call the police and start investigating."
Ye Cong turned around with a stiff neck and met Xia Mufan's eyes: "Wasn't he fired for absenteeism? Why did you call the police?"
Xia Mufan laughed dumbly: "Who told you? Your brother works in the tax bureau, which is a government agency. How could they just fire a regular employee? If your brother doesn't contact the personnel department for a long time, they will definitely call the police to find him."
Ye Cong's entire body turned into a lump of iron, with only his mouth slightly open.
He obviously thought things were too simple.
When the villagers heard what Xia Mufan said, they all lowered their heads and whispered about something. The voice was so low that Xia Mufan could only hear a few words occasionally.
——Call the police, the government, and arrest people.
Sparrows were chirping in the mountains, a few local dogs were wandering on the roadside, and a few lazy cats were squatting in front of the house and on the walls, basking in the sun. Xia Mushi held his breath and listened attentively to the voices of the animals.
[There are so many people, it’s so lively.] The last time it was so lively, was it because that kid got admitted to university? 】
What a pity! His head was broken and he was bleeding a lot. 】
[He was carried up the mountain by his brother, and no one knows whether he is dead or alive~]
When Xia Mufan finally heard the news about Ye Rong, his heart was in his throat.
Is Ye Rong dead or alive?
Who smashed his head? Where did Ye Cong carry him? Could it be buried secretly?
Thinking of this, Xia Mufan's voice became cold and hard: "Ye Cong, where is your brother?"
Ye Cong raised his head, his eyes more alert: "Are you a policeman, or my brother's girlfriend?"
Xia Mufan answered irrelevantly: "Ye Rong's unit hasn't called the police yet. I just happened to be in Qingshi Town on business, so I came to take a look. If he is here, I will take him back to cancel his leave; if he is not here, then I will naturally look for him along the way."
Hearing this, Ye Cong breathed a sigh of relief: "My brother left three days ago. You can go to the town or Yao City to look for him. Maybe he didn't buy a ticket and is staying in a hotel. Or..."
Ye Cong's eyes fell on Xia Mufan's pretty face, and greed unconsciously revealed in his eyes: "My brother doesn't want to be friends with you, so he deliberately avoided you? Or maybe he had a car accident on the road and is lying in the hospital?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xia Mufan suddenly came forward and punched him!
Bang!
Xia Mufan's punch was very powerful and hit Ye Cong right on the chin, causing him to stagger back a few steps before he could stand firm.
Ye Cong spat out a mouthful of blood on the ground, with a tooth in the blood.
The villagers didn't expect that such a gentle-looking policewoman would actually take action. They couldn't help but shout, and the discussion started buzzing again.
"Ye Rong has such a good temper, how come he found such a fierce girlfriend?"
"I thought Ye Rong would be bullied by his stepmother and brother for the rest of his life, but I didn't expect...he would find himself a good wife."
"Let's see how his family ends up this time!"
Ye Cong was in unbearable pain, feeling both afraid and angry. He stared at Xia Mufan with his eyes fixed, but dared not say a word.
Xia Mufan sneered. Some people just bully the weak and fear the strong. If you talk to them nicely, they will act in a pretentious manner. In that case, it’s better to be a little more aggressive and forceful.
Hearing the noise outside, Qian Huifen, who had been arguing with Feng Xiaoyu, came out. Seeing blood on her son's mouth, she screamed in fear: "Acong, Acong, what's wrong with you?"
Qian Huifen rushed over and protected her son behind her: "Comrade police, how can you bully people? Just talk, why hit people?"
Xia Mufan turned his wrist and said, "Oh, he cursed Ye Rong to get into trouble, and I didn't like it, so I couldn't help it."
Qian Huifen glanced at her son and saw that he looked guilty. Her heart skipped a beat, but she was too tough and scolded him regardless: "Ye Rong is missing, and you little policemen are going to look for him. Why are you running to my house to ask questions? Can we harm him? Who knows what happened to him on the way back? Are you going to blame us for it?"
A man in his thirties in the crowd rolled his eyes and said loudly, "Yes, the police came to our Hongfeng Village to beat people up. It's obvious that they are showing off their power! You guys are wearing green clothes, do you really think you are the masters of the world? Get out of here!"
A few other men followed suit and shouted, "Yes! Get out of the village!"
The shouts grew louder and louder, until a faint echo could be heard from the distant valley.
"Get out of the village—"
"Leave the village—"
"Go to the village - go -"
The situation was somewhat out of control.
The village committee director hurried out, stood in front of everyone, and shouted: "What are you shouting for! What are you making a fuss about! Police comrades, come and look for Ye Rong, everyone help find him, why are you making such a fuss?"
Qian Huifen sat down on the ground and began to beat her chest and stamp her feet.
"Since I married into the Ye family, I have been diligently managing the household chores. Although Arong is not my biological son, I have never shortchanged him for a meal or a piece of cloth. He was able to get into college and eat government food, but didn't he rely on me and his father to support him?"
"I finally gave him up, hoping he would help his brother and sister, but he is so heartless that he only cares about getting married and refuses to pay a penny. What's the point of raising a son like him?"
"He left home in a rage early in the morning. Who knows what happened on the way that delayed his return to work? As a result, a bunch of police came and wrongly accused us of hiding someone."
"Why are we hiding Arong? Can we make money out of him? He is a living person, he can leave if he wants to, and stay if he wants to. What does it have to do with us? Is it a big deal for a girlfriend to be a police officer? Not to mention that she is just a girlfriend, even if she is married and is a wife, she still has to be reasonable, right? If she follows us to Hongfeng Village and beats people up, is there any law?"
Qian Huifen's voice became louder and louder. She was like an excellent actress, with tears and snot streaming down her face. She did not forget to incite the crowd: "The police beat people! They are bullying us because there are no men in Hongfeng Village..."
Feng Xiaoyu and Gong Weiguo also rushed out and protected Xia Mufan.
Feng Xiaoyu lowered her voice and asked, "What's going on?"
Xia Mufan said: "Ye Rong is in danger, we must fight quickly and decisively."
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