Suddenly, someone came towards her and asked:
"You, you are Ciyuan's eldest daughter, right? What's your name?"
Hua Shi paused for a long time before reacting. He turned his head and looked at the person who spoke.
He was a middle-aged man with an unshaven beard and a haggard look.
He seemed to be staring at Hua Shi for a few moments, and he felt a little uncomfortable. He unconsciously folded his hands and rubbed them together.
He then added, "I'm also an elder in the clan, you can just call me Uncle Hua."
I don’t know if it’s because it took dozens of generations for someone in the family to pass the imperial examination, but before the good news had spread much, news came that he had drowned.
Hua Tingjing's expression was particularly ugly at this time. He looked stiff and heartbroken.
Hua Shi pursed his lips before calling out, "Uncle Hua."
Hua Tingjing waved his hand, frowned, and whispered, "Really? How could something like this happen out of the blue..."
Hua Shi noticed that his trouser legs and wrists were wet, and then turned to look at the two or three men standing behind him who were slightly younger than him. Their trouser legs and wrists were also wet.
She calmed down and asked, "Where did you find the person? Did you find him first?"
Even after seeing Hua Ciyuan's body, Hua Shi still felt that something was fishy.
She still felt strange...
Although she didn't know Hua Ciyuan's personality very well, after Hua Ciyuan knew that he had passed the imperial examination, he would definitely not run around alone. The first thing he would do was to run back home and tell Li that he had passed the imperial examination.
Ever since Hua Ciyuan came back from the exam in November, he has been very sure that he would be on the list and often talked about it with Li. Whenever Li got angry, she could always hear Hua Ciyuan muttering in her ear that he would definitely be on the list.
After a long time, Li got tired of listening to it, and in the past half month, Hua Ciyuan rarely brought it up on his own initiative, until Hua Li brought it up today.
It is said that Hua Ciyuan secretly ran out by himself to see the list. Although he was very sure that he would be on the list, he did not dare to tell Li because he knew that this day was the day when the results would be announced. Instead, he secretly slipped out by himself to see the list.
Under the above factors, after Hua Ciyuan knew that he was on the list, it was such great news that he would not stay outside for too long. Moreover, the list posted at the entrance of the village was not for him alone to see. At this time, Hua Ciyuan would definitely choose to run back home and tell Li the good news.
Whether it was her, Hua Ciyuan, or even the entire Hua family, everyone knew how much Li was hoping for him to pass the imperial examinations and had supported him in studying for decades just for this day.
Hua Ciyuan must have known about it, so how could he, after knowing he had made the list, run to such a remote place and even fall into a well and drown...
After thinking about it for a long time, I felt something was wrong.
Hua Tingjing listened to her question and didn't hide it. He turned around and pointed at the two people standing behind him and said, "They were the first two to find him and run to call for help. I rushed over later, and the four of us worked together to pull him out."
He paused and continued, "It's in the square well on the left side of the ancestral hall. It looks like he's been drowned for quite some time. He must have floated up, otherwise he wouldn't have been found."
Hua Shi's frown never relaxed: "Sifang Well?"
Hua Tingjing nodded and explained, "Yes, the well is square and not deep, only about ten meters. If someone who knows how to swim falls in, as long as they float upwards and use some effort, they can still climb out. They won't drown. Sigh..."
Hua Shi was about to continue asking when a loud shout suddenly came from the crowd at the entrance of the ancestral hall behind him:
"Chief Hua is here! Granduncle is here too!"
Hua Shi turned around and looked over. The noisy crowd suddenly dispersed from both sides, making way. Then an old man with gray hair and a staggering gait, leaning on a cane, came over little by little, supported by another middle-aged man with gray hair.
Hua Tingjing on the opposite side ran out, ran to the other side, supported the white-haired old man, and walked in carefully.
Hua Shi silently retreated to a corner.
There was a moment of silence among the crowd.
All that was heard was Li's loud sobbing: "Wuwuwu... My son! My poor son! Wuwuwu..."
Immersed in grief, Li kept crying as if she was crazy.
She didn't care at all about who came, who surrounded them, what they said, what they did...
She thought that after enduring for decades, this useless son would finally start to live up to his expectations and pass the imperial examination.
Before she could recover from her great surprise, someone told her that her son, who had passed the imperial examination, had drowned in the Sifang Well...
How could an old lady over fifty years old accept such a great joy and great sorrow?
The old patriarch of the Hua family walked in, supported by people on both sides. Under the cover of three shadows, Li was still crawling on top of the corpse, sobbing and crying.
The old patriarch slowly lowered his head, and with his sharp eyes he looked at the blue and pale face of the person lying on the ground, who had stopped breathing.
"well……"
A rough and old voice sighed slowly.
"Useless... Such a useless thing, how could it drown when it was fine?"
The old patriarch's subsequent words were tinged with a hint of disappointment.
He exhaled slowly, then looked at Hua Tingjing standing beside him and asked, "Has the medicine lady come to check? Is he really dead?"
Hua Tingjing shook his head honestly: "I haven't checked it yet, but... the person is dead, so it's probably useless to check it..."
He spoke more and more quietly.
Upon hearing this, the old patriarch's tense breath seemed to dissipate all at once...
It's useless...
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