After watching the police car drive away, everyone gathered around the young men who had helped search for the missing person.
"Da Zhou, are the three of them really gone without a trace? Only their hair, clothes, and shoes are left?" the bolder one asked again.
"Yes, Uncle Li, don't ask anymore, or I'll throw up again."
"Xiao Zhuang, is that right? I don't think you threw up, you should have seen it clearly."
"Yes, that's exactly what the police said."
"Hey, why did those three go to the mountains? When did they become so close?"
"Yes, that's strange."
“I know, Yingzi likes Chen Zhiqing, but Chen Zhiqing married He Zhiqing, so the three of them were entangled in a mess, and before they knew it, they had fallen down,” Ma Dazui said mysteriously.
"It's possible. Most of the mountains in our Guangxi province are high and very steep. Anyone who falls down would die."
The brigade leader, feeling troubled, drove the oxcart to the commune to report that two educated youths and one villager had died in the village. He didn't know how the commune should handle the situation.
After arriving at the commune, the brigade leader reported the incident to the commune leaders in detail before rushing back to the village.
When I returned to the drying ground, I found the villagers still talking about it, with many different opinions.
He cleared his throat and said loudly, "Our task today is still to dig ditches. We'll start planting peanuts tomorrow."
The commune has made arrangements for this morning's events, so you don't need to say anything more. Go back to work now." Hearing this, the crowd slowly dispersed.
"Uncle Chang, let's go to the clinic to see Uncle Zou and his wife first."
"Alright, what's going on here? The village is in chaos all of a sudden..." The village chief sighed and followed the brigade leader to the clinic.
When they arrived at the clinic, Accountant Zou and his wife had just slowly woken up.
"Old man, is our Yingzi really...?"
"Yes, it's all fate. Try to think positively. We still have three sons."
“But we only have one daughter. That damned white-cut chicken, it must be him who caused our daughter’s death.”
At this moment, the old village doctor suddenly spoke up and asked, "You're saying Yingzi is dead? She just came to see me yesterday, when did she die?"
The brigade leader looked at the puzzled old village doctor and then said, "Uncle, it was yesterday noon when three people went missing in the village, including Yingzi and a couple who were sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution."
Police investigations this morning confirmed that the three of them fell off a cliff and were eaten by wolves.
"Wouldn't that mean two lives lost?"
"What do you mean by 'two lives lost in one's unborn child'?"
The brigade leader asked curiously, and even Zou's mother stopped crying, staring at the old village doctor with her red eyes.
"Your Yingzi is pregnant."
"What? Impossible!" Accountant Zou exclaimed, standing up in shock.
“Old Zou, your Yingzi is already a month pregnant. I personally took her pulse and found out.”
"This... that damned bastard, it must be that good-for-nothing, he must be the one who got my Yingzi pregnant."
The village chief and the brigade leader looked at each other, wondering if this was something they should know.
Unmarried pregnancy has always been looked down upon and despised.
If Zou Daying was pregnant with Chen Zhiqing's child, then the two of them were having an affair and would be paraded through the streets and sent to the countryside.
The village's reputation would be ruined, and the two of them actually thought it would be better if Zou Daying and Chen Zhiqing died, that they deserved to die.
Thinking this way, the captain and the others felt a little sorry for Accountant Zou, after all, their daughter had just died.
"Uncle Zou, there's no need to mention this anymore. Only a few of us know about it now."
Anyway, Yingzi is gone, so there's no need to dwell on whether she was pregnant or not. Let's just let it go.
"What Ai Dang said was that even if she hadn't gotten into trouble, just because she was pregnant out of wedlock and had a relationship with a married man, she would still have been sent to a farm if it were discovered."
"That will negatively impact your family's reputation and the name of our Songjia Village. If the whole commune knows about what happened in Songjia Village, it will be truly shameful."
After listening to the village chief's words, they felt that they made a lot of sense.
Accountant Zou has come to terms with many things and is now acting as if she never gave birth to this scandalous daughter.
"Uncle Zou, Uncle Lao, since you have nothing else to do, Uncle Chang and I will be leaving now."
"OK."
The brigade leader and the village chief left the clinic and headed towards the fields.
"You two should go back and get some rest. Nobody wanted this to happen; it's probably fate."
Your family's reputation and the village's reputation are still intact. Go back and think it over carefully.
"Uncle, we'll head back now."
"Go back, try to think positively."
"Old man, Yingzi..." Zou's mother hesitated, but Accountant Zou quickly stopped her from speaking.
"Shut up. Pretend you didn't hear anything at the clinic, understand?"
Okay, I understand.
"Let's stay home and rest for the next few days, and not go out."
"I'll listen to you."
"Go back and pack up Yingzi's things, then throw them away or burn them at the foot of the mountain."
"Aren't we going to keep this?"
“What’s the point of keeping it? She’s gone. Burning it for her to wear in the afterlife is fine.” Accountant Zou said with a sigh, his body hunched over.
When they got home, Yingzi's older brother rushed back.
"Mom and Dad, is Yingzi really dead?"
"Yes, you'll only have two younger brothers from now on, no younger sister."
"Second and third brothers, I'll tell them when I have a chance. I'm going back to my room now."
When school let out at noon, Su Tian and Ma Chunling were walking on the road when they noticed that the villagers were often gathered together chatting.
"Su Tian, why are the villagers talking so much? There are groups of people here and there. I rarely see this."
"It's possible that there's news about the three missing people, which is why they're gathered together discussing it."
"I bet what you're saying is true, it's such a big deal."
"Let's go back. Aren't you hungry?" Su Tian asked with a smile.
"We're hungry. Let's go back and ask the people at the educated youth settlement. They should be off work by now."
When the two of them returned to the educated youth settlement, sure enough, everyone was gathered together.
"Hey, tell me quickly, have we found this person?" Ma Chunling rushed over and asked anxiously.
“Found it, but the body is no longer there,” Zheng Yuanyuan replied.
"All three of them are dead? How did they die?"
"The three of them must have fallen off a cliff while struggling on the mountain, and then lost too much blood, which attracted wolves, who then ate them."
"This is terrifying, so scary."
"Yes, I also heard that there was a pool of blood at the scene, along with clothes, shoes, and headless hair."
"Ah..." Lin Miao couldn't help but exclaim.
"Hey, what are you doing? You scared me to death," Ma Chunling said, glancing at her.
"I... I screamed because I was scared."
"If you're scared, don't listen. If you're easily frightened, walk away quickly, or you'll have nightmares tonight."
Su Tian smiled and looked at Ma Chunling after hearing her words.
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