190 Lost
◎There are plenty of means◎
"Shh, keep your voice down!" Perhaps because they were afraid of being heard by the newly returned villagers, the whispering men exchanged glances and immediately changed the subject.
Qi Qiuxue continued to eavesdrop for a while, and found that the subsequent discussions were all meaningless topics that were not worth delving into.
But apart from them, Qi Qiuxue also heard some information from other villagers, such as they were not the first group of villagers to return. As early as a few days ago, two groups of villagers took Wang Shan’s bus back to Chigu Village.
Today, the group of people who came back from Dabala seemed to be the last batch. Because they had some "very important things" to announce, the village party secretary wrote a letter to call back all the villagers who were wandering outside.
Isn't it strange? Even after so many years, the people in the village still know their contact information and home address, and are even extremely certain that they will return to the village. Everything goes extremely smoothly.
It was as if... there was always some mysterious influence, and they always maintained some kind of connection with the village. No matter how far they traveled, there would be a day when they would return to Chigu Village.
Qi Qiuxue frowned and looked into the distance. The last passenger slowly walked down from the bus. It was a man with messy hair and clothes, and a black backpack on his back.
His appearance surprised all the players.
A few seconds later, Wu Shanyue, who was standing next to Qi Qiuxue, whispered, "Isn't that the one who was hit by the train earlier..."
"Yeah." Qi Qiuxue nodded in response, and quickly took a look at the man's appearance and clothes, confirming that he was most likely the person they had met at the station before.
A dead person now appeared in front of them alive, and even took Wang Shan's bus back to Chigu Village. This scene was already weird enough.
But what was even more bizarre was that even in the dimly lit night, one could still notice that the man's skin was extremely pale, with two striking red spots on his cheeks. He looked exactly like some of the villagers in Chigu Village, looking weird.
Qi Qiuxue recalled the scene captured by the camera yesterday, the hand that was tightly grasping the man's collar, like a paper man.
“Crack.”
Qi Qiuxue took out her camera and took a few more photos of the man and the surrounding villagers.
This time, the camera recorded the footage as normal.
“…”
Ten minutes later, everyone gathered in the square of the village committee.
It was not until this moment that Qi Qiuxue and others had a rough idea of the number of villagers in Chigu Village. They did not go too late. Although it was not yet the agreed time, the square was already full of people. Later, groups of villagers came from all directions and were gathering here.
A rough count showed that there were at least a thousand people. Judging from the density of the crowd in front, it would be very difficult for them to squeeze in.
But it was at this moment that several aunties who had never seen them before recognized their identities.
"You must be Xiao Qi!" The leading lady said warmly, her eyes sweeping over Li Yiqing and the others standing beside her, and then said, "And Xiao Li, Shan Yue, A Wen..."
"It's been many years since we last met. Do you still remember me? I'm Aunt Zhang!" She said with a smile, and took Qi Qiuxue's wrist. Several other aunts followed her example and took the players' arms.
"Oh, this location is not good. You won't be able to hear what the village committee says later. Come on, I'll take you to the front."
She said this, ignoring the players' refusal, and forcibly led them forward, saying to the surrounding villagers as she walked, "Make way, make way."
Her hands were incredibly strong, and she held Qi Qiuxue's wrist tightly, making it difficult for her to break free.
"Okay, okay."
“Come on, come on!”
Faced with the old lady's queue-jumping behavior, none of the villagers around showed any displeasure. Just like the simplicity and enthusiasm shown by everyone during the day, they cooperated very well and moved to the sides, leaving space for Qi Qiuxue and others to move forward smoothly.
In this way, they were successfully brought to the front of the middle section of the team, and the people standing around them were basically the villagers who had just returned tonight, and were all specially led here by other villagers.
As soon as she stood still, Qi Qiuxue felt extremely hot gazes coming from all around.
She looked over and saw that every villager around them had their eyes fixed on them. They all had smiles on their faces, and their eyes reflected a strange light under the light. Unlike the kind, concerned and appreciative gazes, the villagers' eyes were full of fanaticism, excitement and excitement.
It’s like a hunter seeing his prey and thinking about how to perfectly dismember and devour these prey that have nowhere to escape.
This appearance gave many NPCs who had just returned to Chigu Village a chill. Some even mustered up their courage and shouted, "What's wrong? What on earth do I have? Why are you looking at me like that?!"
"It's just been so long since we last met, it's a bit strange to see you all again." Faced with his questioning, the villagers gradually lowered their gazes and laughed, "Don't overthink it."
"You..." The man obviously had something else to say.
But before they could finish their words, they were interrupted by other voices. A formally dressed woman appeared in everyone's sight and gently tapped the microphone in her hand to test the sound: "Good evening, everyone."
Several large loudspeakers above her head were broadcasting her voice in real time. The sound was so loud that it echoed throughout the entire square in an instant, making it almost impossible to hear any other sound except her speech.
"As everyone knows, I have an important announcement tonight." The woman, presumably the village Party secretary, glanced at the villagers in the square with a smile. After a pause, she added, "But before I do, I have something else to say. I'll take up a little of your time, so please be patient and listen."
After she finished speaking, she changed the topic and began to explain various miscellaneous matters, such as some upcoming activities, some issues that villagers have frequently reported recently, the progress of maintenance work in certain places, and even conflicts between neighbors were singled out by her to be told to everyone.
Time passed quickly and before I knew it, nearly an hour had passed.
At this time, the night was getting darker. The villagers in the square were sleepy and tired. The long period of "listening" made everyone lose patience, and gradually there were pushing and quarreling. Some even began to shake and accidentally bumped into the NPC in front of them.
But even so, no one left.
Finally, after listening to another long speech, the village party secretary finally talked about the important matter that had been mentioned a long time ago.
"Not long ago, a large company sent people to visit our village from afar. They were very satisfied with our ecology and environment and proposed to me the idea of acquiring this land and building a resort here."
"Before informing you of this, I've carefully reviewed the terms offered by the other party. They are incredibly sincere. Whether calculated based on the number of people or the area of each family's home, everyone will receive a substantial share of the proceeds, more than we could ever earn on our own in our entire lifetime!"
"So I gathered all the villagers here tonight to discuss this matter with everyone. Personally, I am very satisfied with the attitude and conditions offered by the other party. However, after all, Chigu Village does not belong to me alone, but to all of us. So whether to agree or not, and how to deal with it later, every villager should participate and make decisions."
"Next, I will send everyone a form. Please go home and think carefully about it. After seven days, I will collect this form. We will first decide whether to agree or not, and then discuss the follow-up matters."
"There's money to be had."
"Hey, do you think we should agree?"
"I'm not sure. I'd better go home and think about it..."
For a moment, the silent atmosphere was broken, and the villagers began to discuss among themselves what they should do.
"Sister Li, how much money can we get at least?" Someone in the crowd asked the question that everyone was most concerned about.
The village party secretary smiled without saying anything, raised his hand and gestured a number.
"Oh my god, so many!"
In an instant, the crowd became even more excited.
“…”
At this point, tonight's conference finally ended. Qi Qiuxue took the form in her hand and returned with the players.
Liu Ge lowered his voice: "Axue, do you think this is true or false?"
"I'm not sure yet." Qi Qiuxue shook her head and quickly glanced at the table in her hand. "But I have to say, the table is quite realistic."
"Look at the new group of people who have returned." Su Wen raised his chin, motioning them to look at the villagers who had returned tonight. "Regardless of whether it's true or not, they already believe it. More than an hour ago, these people were gloomy, but now they are beaming with joy."
"After all, money is really tempting to people," said Wu Shanyue.
Qi Qiuxue put away the form and held up her camera to take pictures of the villagers around her. She took a lot of photos tonight and also used a recorder to fully record the village party secretary's speech. No matter what happened, she never let go of these two things.
The camera rotated around and a panicked face came into view.
"Where's my phone? My phone is gone!" It was an NPC who returned tonight. Her cry attracted the attention of some people. Many people began to search their bags and pockets, and found that their phones were also missing like hers.
"Mine is gone too." Bai Shien quickly checked her belongings and said.
"Mine too." After searching carefully, Liu Ge's face turned grim. "It was so chaotic and noisy just now that I didn't even realize when I lost my phone."
"Where's yours, Axue?" Wu Shanyue, who also lost his phone, asked Qi Qiuxue beside him.
"I left mine in my room." Qi Qiuxue, who had long expected her phone to malfunction or be lost, said in a relatively calm tone, "Let's go back and check."
"Okay." Several people quickened their pace and quickly returned to their residence.
Before going out, Qi Qiuxue intentionally locked the front door, and even locked the door of the main room. After they returned, the condition of the door lock was no different from before, but according to the comparison of the photos taken by the camera, the padlock hanging on the front door had obviously been moved.
Someone had sneaked into their room during the meeting.
Qi Qiuxue quickly walked into the house and checked under the pillow, in her backpack, in the wardrobe, etc. Except for her cell phone, nothing was missing.
Obviously, the thief came prepared. Not only did he have the key to their residence, but he also carried out the theft in a targeted and planned manner.
The first person Qi Qiuxue thought of was the so-called aunt, but soon she felt that her guess was incomplete.
She must be more than the only one who has the key. Perhaps every villager who has passed by her has a key that can open her door.
“…”
It has to be said that the villagers of Chigu Village are much more united than she had imagined. From the moment they were brought back to the village by the cart, to the continuous visits, to the strange looks from everyone... even this meeting tonight, everything was done with ulterior motives.
No wonder the loudspeaker was so loud, no wonder the villagers always showed crowding and pushing intentionally or unintentionally during the meeting, and no wonder the village party secretary deliberately delayed the time to increase their fatigue and sleepiness.
The purpose is to find an opportunity to steal their personal belongings without anyone noticing.
These people clearly didn't want them to leave the village. Even if they interfered with the signal, it wouldn't be enough. As long as they had their phones with them, they would most likely be able to contact the outside world through other means. So no matter what, losing their phones would definitely be the final outcome. Even if it wasn't tonight, it would be tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow.
The villagers have plenty of means.
【Author’s words】
Here we come!
Thank you all for your Bawang tickets and nutrient solution, and thank you for leaving comments and reading~
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