Xu Tieniu was received by the captain of the Xiangnan Brigade.
"Brother, I won't lie to you, I'm here to find someone."
"His name is Li Ruide, and he looks to be around fifty years old."
"Li Ruide?"
"Li Ruide?"
After repeating it twice, the captain snapped out of his thoughts, "We don't have such a person in our Xiangnan Brigade!"
Xu Tieniu was taken aback, and then opened the note in his hand again.
"Is this Taiping Commune, Xiangnan Brigade?"
"Yes, we didn't get the wrong one."
"But there is indeed no one named Li Ruide."
Fearing the other party wouldn't believe him, the brigade leader spoke confidently, "There are indeed families with the surname Li in our Xiangnan Brigade, but there are hardly any left now. I'm almost sixty years old this year, and I grew up in the village. If it really is someone from our brigade, there's no way I wouldn't recognize them."
Then, the captain asked Xu Tieniu, "What do you want with this guy?"
“The Li family is now just an old woman. Their family was destroyed before the founding of the nation, and no men were left. If the Li family is really in their fifties, they shouldn’t be from our brigade. You must have come to the wrong place.”
Xu Tieniu, however, was certain that he had not gone to the wrong place.
Taiping Town, Xiangnan Brigade, is Li Ruide's registered ancestral home, and his resume shows that he grew up there.
However, judging from the captain's expression, he didn't seem to be lying.
Xu Tieniu made up a reason, saying that Li Ruide was a brother he had recognized more than ten years ago who had saved his life and left him an address in Xiangnan Village, Taiping Town.
Later, for various reasons, they lost contact. This time, since they had come here on business, they thought they would visit this brother.
He had already inquired at the commune and learned that Xiangnan Village had now been renamed Xiangnan Brigade.
The brigade leader was 100% certain that there was no such person in Xiangnan Village.
Xu Tieniu was still unwilling to give up. "Brother, didn't you say there's still an old man left in the Li family in your village? Could you take me to ask him?"
After saying that, Xu Tieniu opened the sack, took out a piece of pork, and handed it over.
"I was originally planning to give it to my brother, but now that we haven't found him, I'm afraid it'll be ruined."
The captain immediately became very attentive, "Brother, you're too kind."
"Come on, I'll take you there, but that old woman isn't very lucid, so I doubt we'll get anything out of her."
Xu Tieniu followed the brigade leader with an honest expression, heading towards the end of the village.
As they walked, the brigade leader explained to Xu Tieniu, "The Li family has a very problematic background. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, they were considered local gentry. They owned hundreds of acres of fertile land and could afford to employ farmhands and maids."
“I remember when I was a child, my family was a servant of his family, and we rented his land to farm every year.”
"His family had a son and a daughter at the time. His son was apparently the town's security captain, and his daughter was a beautiful woman, known throughout the surrounding area of Taiping Town."
“These bastards who oppress us poor people and exploit us have done too many evil deeds. When their son was fighting bandits, something happened to him. Later, a fire broke out in their house, and their daughter and nephew, who were staying at their mother’s house, perished in the fire.”
"They left behind a pregnant wife who had nowhere to go and stayed in Xiangnan Village. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the sins committed by the Li family were exposed. The wife who was left behind gave birth to a daughter but was not well received and was basically ignored by everyone."
"After that girl grew up and got married, she basically stopped interacting with people."
The two walked and talked, and soon stopped in front of a dilapidated house. The captain pointed to a thatched hut with his pipe.
"I won't go in. You go in by yourself, but be careful, that old woman is not easy to talk to."
Xu Tieniu's sharp eyes scrutinized the "house" in front of him.
This is a house made by placing a few sticks on top of the original collapsed beams and brick walls, and then covering them with straw.
Furthermore, there is a large area of these dilapidated brick walls around the site, and judging from the foundation, it was probably once a "luxury house".
Xu Tieniu stepped forward and knocked on the decaying wooden door.
"Knock knock knock~"
Is anyone home?
Woof woof woof~, a series of urgent dog barks rang out.
After a long while, just as Xu Daniu was about to knock on the door again, the wooden door creaked open.
An elderly woman with gray hair and bound feet, her body hunched over, stared at him menacingly.
Xu Daniu smiled innocently and said, "Hello, hello, elder sister."
"Who are you?"
The old lady stared at Xu Tieniu expressionlessly and asked in a hoarse voice.
Xu Tieniu quickly explained his purpose.
"Come in," the old lady said, stepping aside to make way for the doorway. No outsiders had stepped into this courtyard for over a decade.
He politely poured a bowl of water into the other person's rough porcelain bowl, and the old lady sat down next to him, leaning on the table.
"Sister, I want to ask you about someone, he's in his fifties, and his name is Li Ruide."
The old woman paused for a moment, then asked, "Who is it?"
Xu Tieniu's heart sank.
Are there any other families with the surname Li in your village?
"No, that's all. After my daughter got married, I'm the only one without a surname left."
“I don’t know the person you’re talking about, and he’s probably not from our brigade. The Li family all died decades ago.”
"Even if they were alive, there wouldn't be any men in their fifties."
“My father-in-law only has my husband as his son. If my husband hadn’t died, he would be almost seventy now. I also didn’t have a son, so you must have come to the wrong place.”
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