Chapter 020: Debt Collection
Shen Ning was worried about Pan Jinlian's murder, and had been carefully inquiring about clues in Shihe Village. Sure enough, a day later, a villager came to her hurriedly and told her: Shen Danian had killed someone, and the government went to his home to arrest him, but Shen Danian had already fled for fear of punishment, leaving only Shen Qingbai alone.
Fortunately, Shen Qingbai had already passed the examination for the title of scholar, otherwise he would have been tortured.
Shen Ning was speechless, thinking that Shen Danian and his wife were so cruel that they didn't even care about their only son and just ran away like that?
Shen Ning thought about the day when she was drugged and the frail boy wanted to save her even though he knew she was not his biological sister, but ended up getting beaten and bleeding.
That couple was worse than beasts, but Shen Qingbai was a good person. Even though she was not good at speaking, she really treated the original body as her sister.
Now his parents have fled for fear of punishment, and he is frail and sickly. His situation must be difficult, and I don’t know how he is doing.
Finally, Shen Ning decided to go to Shihe Village.
After all, Pan Jinlian is related to the county magistrate. Although Shen Danian has been identified as the murderer, she is worried that things are not that simple.
Because of what happened last time, she simply brought Xiao Nanchen with her, and then asked Zhao Tong and several of his friends to go with her.
Zhao Tong's injury had not yet fully healed, so he couldn't go hunting. It was not yet the busy farming season in the village, so there were plenty of idle people. If Chen Ning paid the money, naturally someone would be willing to make the trip. It didn't take much effort anyway.
When they arrived at Shihe Village, as soon as they entered the village, someone they knew saw her and came up to her and whispered, "Something happened at your house. Go back and check. The village head has taken people to look for Qingbai."
Village head?
The head of Shihe Village behaved badly. Could it be that he was bullying Shen Qingbai who was now isolated and helpless?
Shen Ning quickened her pace and rushed to the Shen family. She saw a group of people gathered in the yard from a distance. She walked straight over and saw Shen Qingbai standing in front of the door.
In just a few days, Shen Qingbai had lost a lot of weight. The already weak boy looked so pale and thin that he looked like he could be blown down by a gust of wind. At this moment, he was surrounded by people.
Shen Ning squeezed through the crowd of onlookers: "What happened?"
Seeing Shen Ning, the people around immediately made some space for her and the group she brought with her.
Across from him, Shen Qingbai's eyes suddenly turned red: "Sister."
Shen Ning hated Shen Danian and his wife immensely, but the young man in front of her always treated her as his own sister and wanted to protect her at all costs despite his own frail body.
At this moment, seeing the trust and vulnerability the boy showed her, Shen Ning walked to his side and said softly: "It's okay, don't be afraid, tell your sister if you have anything."
"So it's Shen Ning who's back. It's good that you're back. It's just right for us to make this matter clear in public."
Shihe Village's headman, Shen Xiaodong, waved a piece of paper in his hand. "Shen Danian borrowed twenty taels of silver from me last December. This is the IOU, written in black and white with his red handprint..."
Showing the IOU to Shen Ning, Shen Xiaodong continued to say to Shen Qingbai: "Qingbai, it's not that I'm unkind, but twenty taels of silver is not a small amount. Now that your father is on the run for fear of punishment, who will come back in an unknown time? If not you, who else can I ask for the money? Don't you think it's right?"
Shen Ning frowned immediately.
Twenty taels?
Everyone in the surrounding villages knew that Shen Danian was a gambler who even sold his daughter. Yet, someone was willing to lend him twenty taels of silver?
Aren’t you afraid that you won’t be able to pay it back?
Shen Qingbai pursed his lips: "But, I have never heard my parents mention such a huge debt."
Shen Xiaodong sighed: "Everyone knows your father, how could he tell you these things honestly."
At this moment, Dong Chunhua, who was standing by, suddenly spoke up: "Qingbai, your aunt and uncle have heard your father mention this matter before... Killing someone means paying with your life, and owing a debt means paying it back."
Shen Dacheng shrank his head and said nothing.
Shen Ning looked at Dong Chunhua and his wife, who had arrived in Shihe Village at some point, and frowned slightly.
Dong Chunhua's voice was loud, and Shen Qingbai wanted to argue, but Shen Xiaodong immediately echoed Dong Chunhua and said, "Qingbai, look, now that your own family has admitted it, will they help an outsider like me to deceive you?"
Dong Chunhua immediately said, "Qingbai, your uncle and your father are blood relatives, how could they cheat a nephew like you? It's only natural to pay back a debt."
The villagers around were whispering to each other, and Shen Qingbai was so stunned that he couldn't utter a word.
In fact, no one knows except him that his father Shen Danian is not absconding for fear of punishment... his father is already dead.
That day, his father took him and his mother to escape, but not long after they entered the forest, when he came back from the forest to relieve himself, he saw that his parents had been killed.
Shen Qingbai subconsciously shrank behind the bushes and saw those men dragging his parents' bloody bodies to a cliff not far away.
"Madam has instructed us to leave them without a complete body. If we throw them down from that side, they will be eaten clean by wild beasts in two days."
"He said it wasn't him who killed the man, but his daughter's lover. Should we tell the lady?"
"Of course. How dare you hide it? If they really didn't kill him, then what about their son?"
"Wait and see, if we meet each other, we'll kill them all and wipe them out completely!"
Shen Qingbai didn't dare show his head. His face was pale and his mind was full of the unrecognizable corpses of his parents.
He turned around and ran all the way to the county town, where he found his former teacher.
His teacher is now the county magistrate... But after hearing what he said, the teacher stopped him from reporting to the authorities.
The teacher told him that the deceased Pan Jinlian was the only younger brother of the magistrate's beloved wife, Mrs. Pan. Now that Mrs. Pan did not arrest him openly, she must be seeking revenge.
What's more, Pan Jinlian's death is indeed closely related to his parents.
Now, he has no evidence to prove that the murderer was Mrs. Pan's man. If he reports to the police, he himself will be in danger.
Shen Qingbai stayed at his teacher's house for one night in a state of panic. The next day, the county government announced that his father, Shen Danian, had absconded from the crime.
Only then did he realize that what the teacher said was true. Mrs. Pan had no intention of arresting anyone for trial. She just wanted to avenge her brother and vent her anger.
At the teacher's suggestion, Shen Qingbai went to the county government to report the incident, saying that his parents had disappeared. He then claimed that he had been living in his teacher's house recently for medical treatment and had no idea what had happened at home.
His teacher testified for him, and since he had the title of scholar, he was able to leave the county government safely...
Even though Shen Qingbai knew that his parents were of low character, he was still heartbroken after witnessing their tragic deaths. Now, the village head was taking advantage of the fact that his father had "fled for fear of crime" and dared not come back, and was openly extorting money from him.
Shen Qingbai knew that the village head had long had his eyes on the land where their house was located, but he had not expected that even his uncle and his wife would help the evildoer.
Seeing that the young man was pale and could not utter a word because of being forced, Shen Xiaodong put away the IOU and showed a kind and gentle expression again.
"Qingbai, uncle doesn't necessarily want to force you to pay back the debt. I'm just worried that your father is now on the run, and there's no way to settle this debt. Otherwise, if you sign the IOU and take the debt on your shoulders, uncle won't say anything more. You can pay it back when you're able. If that doesn't work, your sister will still be there to help..."
As soon as Shen Xiaodong finished speaking, Shen Qingbai suddenly looked up: "It has nothing to do with her."
The young man pursed his lips and said seriously: "My parents told me before they left that my biological sister died of illness when she was young. Shen Ning is an orphan who was picked up and has nothing to do with my Shen family."
Shen Ning was startled for a moment, and then saw the young man speak word by word: "No matter what debt Shen Danian left behind, you just come to find me, it has nothing to do with Shen Ning."
Shen Ning fell silent.
She knew that the boy wanted to protect her, even though he was alone and on the verge of collapse.
Everyone around was a little surprised, but no one would talk nonsense about blood relationship.
Those people were talking in low voices, but Shen Xiaodong nodded: "Okay, this is your family's business, uncle will not interfere, you sign the IOU, and uncle will never say anything else today."
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