After Mr. Ju left, Tian Cai took a flashlight and went to Zhang Defa's house with Mimi.
When they arrived at Zhang's house, Zhang Defa had just returned. Gao Huijuan was busy setting the table for him. Thinking that he would be eating alone, she simply brought the food to the kang table.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, he was stunned when he saw Tian Cai when he opened the door. He smiled and said, "Xiao Tian is here to see your uncle. He just came back. Come in and sit down."
Tian Cai thanked him, turned off the flashlight, and led Mimi into the house.
Zhang Baocai had just finished washing his feet and came out to pour water. When he saw Mimi following Tian Cai, he rushed over with shining eyes, "Ah! Wildcat! Tian Cai, let it touch me once, just once, I promise!"
Gao Huijuan couldn't help but cover her eyes when she saw her son acting like a fool. It was really unbearable to watch. He was obviously a young man who was almost twenty years old, but why didn't he seem to grow up? Even his own mother looked down on him day by day, let alone other people's girls. Is there any hope for him to find a wife?
Tian Cai squinted his eyes and smiled, bent down to pat Mimi's head, pointed at Zhang Baocai and said, "Play with this brother for a while, I'll be out soon."
Then she saw Mimi sigh very clearly.
Zhang Baocai also saw it, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "Did it sigh? Did I see it right? What does it mean? Does it look down on me? "
Tian Cai smiled and patted Mimi's head again, then followed Gao Huijuan into the inner room, leaving Zhang Baocai and Mimi screaming in the yard.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Defa asked while stuffing food into his mouth. He knew Tian Cai's personality well. This girl wouldn't come here if there was nothing wrong.
Grandpa Zhang was helping Grandma Zhang wind a ball of yarn, and he looked over when he heard this.
Tian Cai greeted the two elderly people one by one, and then told them Tingting's examination results and her guess.
Before he finished listening, Zhang Defa's face had already darkened and he couldn't eat.
"Defa, you have to investigate carefully. Who is this evil person? He hurt such a little girl. This is against the will of heaven!" Grandma Zhang was very angry after hearing this. If a little girl's family is harmed like this, everything will be ruined for the future. This will ruin her life!
"I took the child from Zheng Wang," Zhang Defa put down his bowl with a crisp clacking sound. "I had just come out of your house when I heard some noise over there. I saw him carrying Tingting and walking north. I stopped him. He said the child was sick and needed to be sent to you because he had no money and needed to go home to get it."
"Zheng Wang?"
Tian Cai didn't know this person and had never heard of him.
"That's an old bachelor, he must be almost 40, right?" Gao Huijuan knew this man and she introduced him to Tian Cai with great enthusiasm. "His father was a scoundrel in the past. Later, he got into trouble and was arrested and sent to a labor camp. Zheng Wang's mother was so angry that she died. Zheng Wang hasn't been able to find a wife in all these years. On the one hand, it's because of his father, and on the other hand, it's because he's poor. He's poor, lazy, and dirty. The wrinkles on his body are a foot thick. You can smell his stench when you pass by him. Not to mention young women, even widows don't want to marry him. Isn't that why he's been single until now?"
"Oh, let me calculate. That kid should be exactly forty this year," Grandma Zhang paused what she was doing and said, "He and the second kid from the Ding family were born on the same day. I remember they even had a fight over hiring a midwife. His father wasn't that bad back then!"
"Going home to get money? What the hell? Even if you turn his house upside down, you won't find two cents!" Grandpa Zhang couldn't help but join in.
Tian Cai thought of the man he saw leading Tingting to the cowshed last time and asked, "Isn't he short? Just over 1.6 meters tall, and he has a slight limp in one leg, but it's so slight that it's almost unnoticeable."
Gao Huijuan: "Yes, yes, that's him. He broke his leg when he went to Li Dasheng's house to steal chickens."
Tian Cai now had a basic understanding of Zheng Wang's situation. He was an old bachelor, poor, lazy and dirty. Such a person would not be able to get relief for a long time, so he would definitely resort to other methods. Summarizing this information, it could be guessed that he had been planning this for a long time. Maybe he sent Tingting back last time just to gain the girl's trust.
She inquired about the location of Zheng Wang's house and was about to go there by herself, but Zhang Defa put on his thick cotton-padded jacket first and said, "I'll go with you. I want to ask this grandson what he wants to do!"
Gao Huijuan looked at the half bowl of rice left and said, "You don't want to eat? It will be cold soon!"
"Put it in the pot first, and I'll eat it when I come back."
Zhang Defa said something and went out with Tian Cai.
Mimi, who was playing with a fool in the yard, ran over as soon as she saw Tian Cai coming out, and cried "Aoao——" and followed the two of them out.
Zhang Baocai was left alone to watch its agile figure being blocked by the gate. He couldn't help but howl, "I want to raise one too! It's so beautiful——"
Tian Cai and Zhang Defa had already walked quite far away. When they heard the howl, they burst out laughing.
"This brat!" Zhang Defa cursed, but his voice was full of smiles.
It was already very dark at this time, probably past eight o'clock. There were no people in the village anymore, and many families had already blown out the lights and gone to bed. The two of them didn't talk much along the way, and only the squeaking sound of shoes stepping on the snow could be heard. Tian Cai listened carefully and found that Mimi made almost no sound as she stepped on the snow.
Arriving outside Zheng Wang's house, Zhang Defa stepped forward and slammed the door, which sounded particularly loud in the quiet night. "Zheng Wang, open the door!"
Tian Cai took advantage of this time to shine the flashlight around. This place was in the northeast of the village. If you walked from the other side of Zheng Wang's house, it was not far from the male educated youth's yard.
After a long while, Zhang Defa started kicking the door, and then a vague complaining voice came from inside, "Why are you knocking? Who are you? You're not sleeping at night and come to knock on the door!"
"Who am I? I'm Zhang Defa!" Zhang Defa roared angrily. It was so cold, knocking on the door wouldn't freeze his hands. "Hurry up and get over here and open the door for me."
Zheng Wang's heart skipped a beat.
In fact, he had not slept at all just now. When he heard the knock on the door, his hair was about to explode. Things were different now than when his father was alive. Now, being a hooligan could cost someone's life. He made up excuses for himself amid the banging on the door, and he absolutely could not admit it. He even smashed the medicine bottle and threw it into the stove. He also used a fire poker to poke it in there and mix it with the ashes. If it was summer, he would definitely throw it into the cesspool.
After preparing himself mentally and thinking of a somewhat reasonable excuse, he pretended to have just woken up and came out to open the door. The main reason was that the person knocking on the door had been refusing to leave and it seemed that he would not give up until he came out. He just didn't know who the person was. Could it be the old man in the cowshed?
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