The weather was hot, the temperature was very high, and the loess* ground was scalding hot. Wang Yue Mei’s body could no longer be kept.(*T/N: yellow sandy soil typical of north China)

Li Gen went to meet the village head.

In the morning, an old woman from the village washed Wang Yue Mei. According to Li Gen’s request, she made sure that not a single strand of her hair was loose, and then changed her into a shroud made of good material.

Wang Yue Mei was very particular, and when she entered the coffin, she looks decent.

Several strong men carried the coffin, blowing and beating all the way, walked around the village, and went to the mountain for burial, next to Li Da Gui and his father.

Li Gen, dressed in linen and show filial piety, stood by the pit and scattered paper notes, one and two cents, on the coffin.

This is a custom, you don’t need too much money, just sprinkle a little. If you have too much, it will be spread and people will remember, and secretly dig up the grave to take the money away.

The strong men filled the hole with shovels, and the coffin was soon covered with soil.

The last shovel in the grave was dug by Li Gen. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed a few times. Everyone left, but he was still kneeling blankly.

Huang Dan pulled the man up and patted the dirt off his pants, “Ge, let’s go back.

Li Gen wiped his face, his voice hoarse, “Okay.”

There were five or six tables set up in the yard, and relatives from both families came. Chen Jin Hua and Zhang Ying Xiong’s mother cooked rice, steamed meat with rice flour, grilled fish, and red dates and white mushroom soup.

Huang Dan was drinking tremella soup in the kitchen, it was sweet and greasy, “Mom, Ge is staying at home and crying.”

“It’s fine to cry, but if he hold it in his heart, he’ll get sick.” Chen Jin Hua sighed, “This person, no matter what he looked like when he was alive, he’s just a handful of dirt when he’s dead, smelly and inconspicuous. “

Ying Xiong’s mother also sighed, “Yes.”

Huang Dan put the bowl on the pot table, “Second Aunt, where’s the Ying Xiong? Why haven’t I seen him?”

The Ying Xiong’s mother was cooking, “He has eaten badly in the past two days.”

Huang Dan said, “Then I’ll go and have a look.”

When he went, he found that the gate of Zhang Ying Xiong’s house was closed and bolted.

He yelled a few times outside the door, but there was no response, which was expected by Huang Dan, Zhang Ying Xiong was hiding in the house.

Three days later, Wu Cui Ling still did not come back.

Everyone in the village was gossiping, saying that it was Wu Cui Ling who did it, how could the Wu family raise such a daughter, it was really cruel.

Wu Cui Ling was originally the pride of her maternal family, but after Li Da Gui’s death, she refused to remarry at all, and insisted on staying in Li’s family. After quarreling once or twice, she fell out with her maternal family.

The gate of the Wu family was closed tightly. As early as the day when they heard that their daughter was taken to the police station, they all left, in order not to be ridiculed and stared at by relatives and friends.

Huang Dan has been wandering around Zhang Ying Xiong’s house, and finally he took the opportunity to slip in.

Zhang Ying Xiong was much more haggard than Li Gen who lost his mother. He was very anxious, muttering something in the courtyard, and was shocked when he saw the Huang Dan , “Dong, Dong Tian, why are you here?”

Huang Dan said, “I heard from my second aunt that you have bad stomach after eating.”

Zhang Ying Xiong looked distressed, “Yes, I ate a few more cakes, I don’t know what my mother added to it, and I throw up many times a day, almost pulling out my intestines.”

Huang Dan frowned, “Why didn’t you go to the clinic?”

Zhang Ying Xiong said, “Too lazy to go.”

He yawned, “I’m so sleepy, I’m going to sleep for a while.”

Huang Dan said, “Cui Ling Jie is still at the police station, and everyone in the village says that she killed Auntie.”

Zhang Ying Xiong didn’t look back, “Impossible, Cui Ling Jie is usually so kind to aunt, she would never kill aunt, they don’t know anything, just spread nonsense, full of shit in their minds.”

Huang Dan looked at Zhang Ying Xiong’s back, and he suddenly remembered that Zhang Ying Xiong was not yet twenty years old.

Really nothing like his age.

Maybe it’s because of doing farm work since he was a child. His physique is very well developed. If one doesn’t know his age, they would think that he is a strong man in his thirties.

After Huang Dan left, he went to find Li Gen, “Ge, I saw the Ying Xiong and thought he was a bit strange.”

Li Gen stopped wiping the table, “Why is it so strange?”

Huang Dan combined his guess with what he saw and said, “Cui Ling Jie hasn’t come back, he looked panicked.”

Li Gen threw the rag aside, frowned and asked, “Dong Tian, what do you want to say?”

Huang Dan asked without answering, “Ge, do you still remember He Wei’s death?”

Li Gen nodded, “Yes.”

Huang Dan said, “Why is Da Gui’s gown in the bamboo garden behind his house?”

“I’m also wondering.” Li Gen said, “As soon as Da Gui’s first seven days passed, I went back to work. My mother and Cui Ling sorted out the things he had before he was alive. They said they were all burned. When did they burn? I don’t know.”

According to Huang Dan’s analysis, only Wu Cui Ling and Wang Yue Mei could touch Li Da Gui’s clothes. Wang Yue Mei became paralyzed about half a year after Li Da Gui’s death. Even if she didn’t do it herself, it has something to do with her.

Li Gen said in a deep voice, “Dong Tian, tell Ge, what are you thinking?”

Huang Dan said, “I don’t think there are ghosts in the world, only people who pretend to be ghosts.”

With the head of the original owner, he can’t say too much, but just this one sentence, the man can already understand the meaning and think of many things.

Li Gen tapped his fingertips on the table.

At the time of Da Gui’s death, Li Gen was the first to suspect He Wei. He investigated secretly, but failed to find evidence. But his suspicion and dislike for He Wei never diminished.

In Li Gen’s view, part of the reason why his Didi* would be defiant was related to He Wei’s malicious flattery. Whenever something happened, he would coax his Didi with a few words so that he couldn’t find him, and he would come out like an idiot. The other party hides behind as it has nothing to do with him.(*T/N: younger brother)

Therefore, Li Gen felt relieved when he learned that He Wei had died.

Li Gen didn’t think deeply about it. Looking back now, the gown didn’t have long legs, and someone put it on.

Is that person Cui Ling?

At that time, Mom tried to test it out, but Cui Ling’s reaction was normal, and she asked him to search the house, but he didn’t search carefully, just glanced roughly.

Li Gen had a splitting headache. He had been studying and working outside these years, and when he came back, he asked about the situation. His mother said that everything was fine at home, and that Da Gui and Cui Ling had a very good relationship and never quarrelled. Da Gui and Cui Ling also said that, everything is fine.

How many lies are hidden in this family…

At night, Li Gen went to He Wei’s bamboo garden alone, looking for something with a flashlight.

Huang Dan was at home. He knew that Li Gen would do something, so he didn’t sleep.

There was a noise from the main room, Huang Dan went out and saw Chen Jin Hua moving the bench, “Mom, are you still up?”

Chen Jin Hua said nothing.

Huang Dan saw the front basket on the table, “Mom, why are you still making the soles of my shoes? I won’t be able to wear out those new shoes for a few years.”

Chen Jin Hua said, “Leave it for now and wear it slowly.”

Huang Dan asked, “Why do you do so much at once?”

Chen Jin Hua said, “Mom is old. In the future , if my eyes are not good enough, I will not be able to make them. My memory will be poor, I will not be able to remember the shoe patterns. So I want to make a few more pairs when I can.”

Huang Dan looked at Chen Jin Hua’s face through the kerosene lamp, and he don’t know when the truth will exposed.

I won’t alive forever.

Huang Dan hesitated to speak, but finally said nothing.

Before dawn, Li Gen entered climbing over the wall.

Huang Dan had been dozing off all night, and he didn’t dare to fall asleep. Now he was yawning, staring at the thing in the man’s hand, “Ge, what is that? A lantern stand? Or a kite stand?”

Li Gen said neither, “It’s a paper man.”

Huang Dan showed a surprised expression.

“He Wei is afraid of ghosts, this is something that many people know.”

Li Gen said, “Someone deliberately put the paper figurines in expensive red gowns and held them up and shook them in front of He Wei’s window. He was frightened to death.”

Huang Dan swallowed, as he thought.

Li Gen pointed to the dirty shredded paper, “These two small pieces of paper were dug out in the bamboo garden. It was windy and rainy that night, so they might have been blown away.”

Huang Dan asked, “Then this frame?”

“It was found in the garbage dump on the west side, Just a small piece. “Li Gen said, “There are eight villages in ten miles, only Zhang Ying Xiong’s father is a lantern master. ”

Huang Dan’s focus is on, no wonder this man’s body stink.

Li Gen said, “I remember that Zhang Ying Xiong learned his father’s craft. It is very easy to make this kind of paper doll frame.”

Huang Dan looked shocked, “Ge, what do you mean, Zhang Ying Xiong scared He Wei to death? Why did he do this?”

Li Gen pinched Huang Dan’s face, “It’s still because of your reminder.”

Huang Dan restrained his excitement. Li Gen said, “I thought about it carefully. On the first day Cui Ling married Da Gui, everyone was arguing with the matchmaker in the yard. I accidentally saw Zhang Ying Xiong coming out of her room with a strange look on his face. Both person knew each other before that.”

Huang Dan was speechless, he just remembered such a big thing.

Li Gen rubbed his temples. At that time, he only knew whether there was coloured painting in the book and it could calm him down, so he didn’t care so much about the people and things around him. “I’ll go to Yinzhuang tomorrow.”

Huang Dan said, “I heard that Cui Ling’s family is not there.”

Li Gen said, “It’s okay, I’m not looking for her family, I’m looking for her neighbors.”

The next day, Li Gen went to Yinzhuang, and found out that Wu Cui Ling went to Lu Ting to buy fertilizer in the summer vacation of her sophomore year. When she came back, she fell ill. They didn’t know what the disease was but she lay at home for a long time.

At that time, Zhang Ying Xiong was twelve or thirteen years old, he was not in the village, and went to relatives with his parents. The relative’s home is in Lu Ting.

Li Gen went to Lu Ting by tractor and spent a lot of energy asking about some things back then. Zhang Ying Xiong was mischievous. He ran out to play secretly at night, but when he came back, he was covered in injuries. He was beaten and almost lost his little Life.

If you search for a specific person, you can find out a lot of things that you haven’t noticed.

Li Gen told Huang Dan what he knew. He had only one person he could trust. If he wanted to hear something from him, it would be best to overturn his conclusion and say that he was wrong.

Huang Dan didn’t say that, he still couldn’t figure out the relationship between Zhang Ying Xiong and Wu Cui Ling. If Zhang Ying Xiong had a crush on Wu Cui Ling but he didn’t feel like it.

There must be a relationship, Zhang Ying Xiong will not stir up this muddy water for no reason.

Now he know. It is worship, admiration, and kindness.

Every time others badmouth Wu Cui Ling, Zhang Ying Xiong will fight back.

Huang Dan tried to put together the information that Li Gen told him in order. Zhang Ying Xiong was young and ignorant. He had a conflict with others in Lu Ting and was beaten. Wu Cuiling, who was still in college, passed by, rescued him because she couldn’t bear it and she herself is very likely to be given…..

Because He Wei said Wu Cui Ling was a broken shoe, Li Da Gui should have mentioned something to him.

In the village, if there is no bloodshed on a woman’s wedding night, she is not a virgin, which means that she is not clean and is a dirty product.

The way to tell the difference is so ridiculous.

Some were purely accidental injuries, some were not, but were really touched.

Huang Dan pushed the door open, and suddenly a sickle fell from the door. The sickle was sharpened and extremely sharp. If Li Gen hadn’t pushed him away in time, the sickle would have left a trail of blood on a certain part of his body.

Li Gen tugged at the Huang Dan , “Are you okay?”

Huang Dan said, “It’s all right.”

Li Gen was afraid for a while, he cursed after, “Who the fuck did this?”

Huang Dan knows who it is.

Li Gen asked Huang Dan to live with him, but Huang Dan refused, and he was still close to the last point. Except Chen Jin Hua, no one else could help him.

During lunch, Huang Dan told Chen Jin Hua about the sickle.

Sitting at the door, Chen Jin Hua patted her thigh and scolded for more than half an hour. Everyone in the village knew about it, and everyone was panicked.

Huang Dan learned how to curse people again.

Chen Jin Hua’s scolding voice became hoarse, she picked up the water bottle to drink water, and talked to Huang Dan, and then mentioned Wu Cui Ling, “Ah, your Cui Ling Jie was also suffering. It’s a pity that baby girl of Wu family married the idle rich man after graduating from college.”

“In the second year gave birth to a baby. When your Cui Ling Jie came back from the vegetable field, the baby was bitten to death by wild dogs. You didn’t see it. It was a bloody mess and it was nothing.”

Huang Dan raised his eyes, “Mom, why didn’t you tell me before?”

Chen Jin Hua said, “This kind of thing is not a good thing. Mom feels wretched when she thinks about it.”

Huang Dan said, “How can Cui Ling Jie feel at ease to leave the child in the house?”

Chen Jin Hua said, “Your Da Gui Ge was watching, really, who knew he would leave the child to go out to play.”

Huang Dan said, “Why was Da Gui Ge so confused?”

Chen Jin Hua said, “It’s not that damn He Wei, your Da Gui Ge is also a person who can’t restrain his egoistic tendency , and wants to save face.”

She rubbed her eyes, “The baby was less than one year old, and has become like that. Can’t a mother feel sorry for her?”

Huang Dan lowered his eyelids. He thought that the real cause of the child’s death was only known to Wang Yue Mei, Wu Cui Ling, and Li Da Gui. He didn’t expect Chen Jin Hua to know as well.

Although Li Da Gui is the complete opposite of Wang Yue Mei’s ideal son Li Gen, there is one thing that he feels the same as Wang Yue Mei, that is, he has a good face.

Huang Dan was afraid of dogs, so he didn’t dare to imitate the child’s appearance when he died, so he went to sit on the small bamboo chair in the courtyard, “Mr. System, I may have found that thread.”

System, “Congratulations.”

Huang Dan said, “Tomorrow I’m going to perform a play in front of Zhang Ying Xiong to decide whether I can succeed in this mission. Do you have any suggestions?”

System, “I think that the acting skills can be a bit poor, but the lines can’t be wrong.”

Huang Dan said, “It makes sense.”

He memorized the ins and outs of what he had sorted out several times in his heart, memorizing them by heart, “Thank you, Mr. System.”

System, “You’re welcome.”

Huang Dan went to Li Gen’s place, the two chatted for a while, and then they split up in the afternoon.

After dark, Li Gen quietly left the village and went to find Liu Dong Lai.

The next day, Huang Dan send Zhang Ying Xiong’s parents away, stepped on Li Gen’s shoulders, and rolled into his house.

As a result, his hand was stabbed by glass shards on the wall, and he fell down on the spot in pain.

Li Gen hugged him and sucked the blood from his hands, “Be careful.”

Huang Dan clenched his teeth in pain, sat on the ground half dead, leaned on Li Gen’s thigh, gasped for breath, and crawled slowly.

Zhang Ying Xiong was lying on the bed, thinking randomly, when he heard the sound suddenly, his eyes widened in fright, and he forgot to move.

Huang Dan uttered the first line, “Ying Xiong, I already know what you have done.”

As soon as he opened his mouth, his emotions were revealed, and the expression was just right.

Zhang Ying Xiong sat up abruptly, “What did I do?”

There was disappointment in Huang Dan’s eyes, “Cui Ling Jie has already confessed, and now the people from the police station are at your door.”

Zhang Ying Xiong pushed the Huang Dan and ran out, looked through the crack of the door, Liu Dong Lai was really there. His face turned pale instantly.

“Four years ago, on the fifth day of the 12th lunar month, Cui Ling Jie went to the vegetable field. Da Gui Ge was watching the child at home. He Wei came to play with him. When he left, he didn’t close the door properly. Wild dogs came in and bit the child to death.”

Huang Dan said calmly, “Aunt took care of her face and didn’t want to hear gossip, so she kept it a secret and said it was an accident.”

“Da Gui Ge assured Cui Ling Jie that he knew he was wrong, and that he would have a good time with her in the future.”

When he was talking, he noticed that Zhang Ying Xiong showed a hint of sarcasm, which was fleeting, “But Da Gui Ge doesn’t know what a child means to a mother. Cui Ling Jie hates him in her heart. Everyone in the village thinks that their relationship is good. The child is gone and they are still living together as a partner. In fact, when they close the door, they are either noisy or fighting.”

“Aunt has always disliked Da Gui Ge, she doesn’t care about his affairs, it doesn’t matter whether he lives or dies, let alone the quarrel between the two of them, as long as roof doesn’t fall off.”

Zhang Ying Xiong said with a thumbs up, “Dong Tian, your ability to make up nonsense is really good.”

Huang Dan said self-consciously, “There is a limit to a person’s endurance. Once it exceeds that limit, it will be unbearable.”

“Da Gui Ge’s swimming is the best in the village. Two years ago, he had a fever and didn’t have a good rest. Cui Ling Jie asked him to fetch water from the pond. When he was not paying attention, hit him on the back of the head with a stick and pushed him into the pond to drown.”

Zhang Ying Xiong said, “It’s so funny that a woman like Cui Ling Jie can kill and do such a thing, then run back without anyone noticing.”

“It’s hard for her alone, but she has an accomplice.” Huang Dan looked at Zhang Ying Xiong, and said word by word, “It’s you.”

Zhang Ying Xiong seemed to hear a big joke, “Why would I do that?”

He laughed loudly, “You didn’t think I like Cui Ling Jie, do you? Dong Tian, I’m not stupid to do such a thing for a widow?”

Huang Dan said, “This start earlier.”

When Huang Dan told about Lu Ting’s past, the fake smile on Zhang Ying Xiong’s face froze.

“You are very grateful to Cui Ling Jie. If it weren’t for her, you would have been beaten to death, so you regard her as a benefactor and think that she is the best person in the world.”

Huang Dan said, “After you saw that Da Gui Ge’s wife was Cui Ling Jie, you became worthless of her. On the day of the wedding, you secretly went to her and told her about Da Gui Ge fooling around outside, hoping that she would walk away.”

Zhang Ying Xiong lowered his head.

“Cui Ling Jie didn’t leave because of the family’s face, and on the wedding day, all her classmates came, and she couldn’t bear the gossip. The most important point is that Da Gui is tall and handsome, and there are lot of girls wants to marry him. Cui Ling Jie’s vanity was satisfied at that time.”

“After marriage, Da Gui Ge still went out to play. Cui Ling Jie couldn’t control it, and then gradually realized that this marriage was wrong. After the child died, she completely collapsed.”

Huang Dan said, “Two years ago, Cui Ling Jie finally made a decision to get rid of Da Gui Ge. You helped her kill Da Gui Ge.”

“Because Aunt doesn’t like Da Gui Ge, she also hates Cui Ling Jie. Even though she is excellent, she still doesn’t like her. She also blames her for the death of her grandson, making her embarrassing and tormenting even worse.”

Zhang Ying Xiong still has the same attitude.

Huang Dan said, “Cui Ling Jie has no one to talk to, so she told you, after listening too much, you have developed a kind of loathing and even distorted mentality towards Aunt, thinking that she should be damned. Only when she dies, Cui Ling Jie can live a good life.”

Zhang Ying Xiong scoffed, the meaning is unclear. “You know that aunt likes flowers, so you followed her secretly. When she was picking flowers, you pushed her down the mountain, causing her lower body to be paralyzed.”

As Huang Dan said, he observed Zhang Ying Xiong’s subtle changes and changed his words, “You didn’t expect aunt to be paralyzed, then Ge came back, and Cui Ling Jie changed her mind and wanted to stay in Li’s house.”

“Because Cui Ling Jie fell in love with Ge.”

Zhang Ying Xiong’s fingers moved once or twice.

“You discovered this secret from her collection of poems.”

Huang Dan said, “You were afraid that Da Gui Ge’s death would be found out one day, so you persuaded Cui Ling Jie to leave. She refused to listen, and stubbornly wanted to pursue her own happiness and you decide to guard her.”

“Once, you heard He Wei cursing at the door of Cui Ling Jie ‘s house, saying that Cui Ling Jie was a broken shoe. You pretended to be a ghost and frightened him, making him sick.”

He said, “Aunt found out that Cui Ling Jie likes Ge, and felt that she was not good enough for Ge, so when aunt knew that He Wei had unreasonable thoughts about Cui Ling Jie , she asked her to send chickens to He Wei’s family. If she has self-knowledge, then she will be ashamed to stay any longer.”

Zhang Ying Xiong clenched his hands into fists.

Huang Dan said, “Cui Ling Jie often go to the field ridges at night to read poems and cry there. You always go to accompany her. That day you found the scars on her neck, and you were so angry that you made a paper figure and put it on the Da Gui Ge’s coat to scare He Wei, but unexpectedly frightened him to death.”

Zhang Ying Xiong grabbed Huang Dan’s neck, “I let you speak enough nonsense.”

He lost control of his emotions, “What kind of paper figurine, what kind of gown, you think I’m a Daluo immortal!”

Huang Dan had difficulty breathing, and his face turned purple.

At this moment, Li Gen, who was guarding the back door to prevent people from escaping, came in and kicked Zhang Ying Xiong far away.

That kick was his rage.

Huang Dan rubbed his neck and kept coughing, “Cui Ling Jie said these things herself, Ying Xiong, what else do you want to say?”

Zhang Ying Xiong’s face was ferocious, and he roared loudly, “Zhang Dong Tian, who told you meddle in other’s business? I am your cousin, why do you want to hurt me so much?”

Huang Dan said, “You put the sickle on the door of my house, right?”

Zhang Ying Xiong froze with resentment all over his face.

He pounced on him again and was easily restrained by Li Gen.

Huang Dan breathed a sigh of relief, his whole back was wet, God knows, how he was blowing up Zhang Ying Xiong the whole time.

Liu Dong Lai took Zhang Ying Xiong away, and came to the village soon, saying that he had explained everything, and what Huang Dan said at the time almost matched, otherwise Zhang Ying Xiong would not believe it, Wu Cui Ling really provides this statement.

Huang Dan called out the system, looked at the task screen in front of him, and filled in the names of Wu Cui Ling and Zhang Ying Xiong in the last column, “Then I will leave right away?”

The system is silent.

Huang Dan said, “Could it be that the task has been completed, but I can’t travel back, so I can continue to stay in this world?”

System, “Sorry, I don’t have permission…”

Huang Dan interrupted, “Mr. System, you can’t answer, right? I understand.”

He travelled here suddenly, and he may also travel back suddenly.

He can only take one step at a time.

Anyway, mission accomplished.

Liu Dong Lai revealed that Zhang Ying Xiong said over and over again that he was not lying. On the day Wang Yue Mei died, Wu Cui Ling was really at his home, teaching him math problems, and never left until the radio sounded. They did not kill Wang Yue Mei.

Li Gen stared at the young man, “Dong Tian, tell me, if it wasn’t Zhang Ying Xiong and Cui Ling, then who killed my mother?”

Huang Dan was drinking water and choked.