Half River Autumn Moon and River Spring [Rat and Cat]

grave village.

Zhan Zhao followed Lao Liu back to the east wing, Lao Liu carefully brought the hot vegetable porridge to Ye Hong, Ye Hong half supported Wei Quan, put the vegetable porridge on the chair beside him, scooped a spoonful, He blew and blew, and slowly fed it to Wei Quan. Wei Quan's lips trembled, and he finally ate the porridge that Ye Hong fed him one bite at a time.

Wei Huxiang sighed, and said gratefully: "Fortunately, I have you, Master Ye! This silly boy is finally willing to eat, finally willing to eat!"

Seeing Zhan Zhao come back, Bai Yutang looked at him: how is it?

Zhan Zhao pursed his lips and shook his head, then he walked out again, this time Bai Yutang followed him out, seeing him walking straight out of the house, he chased after him and asked, "Cat, what's the matter?"

"The atmosphere in the room is too depressing, I'll go outside to have a look."

"Okay, then I will accompany you."

So the two left the village chief's house, walked for a while, and saw an old man drying rice in front of his door.Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked over, the old man suddenly put down the rice, turned around and was about to enter the door, Zhan Zhao hurriedly stepped forward to stop the door that was about to close and said, "Old man, don't close the door!"

The old man stood in the door, showing half of his face, holding the door and nervously said: "Is there something wrong, Mr. Guan?"

"Old man, why did you close the door as soon as you saw us?"

"I... am afraid of strangers, especially since you are still officials..." the old man replied tremblingly.

It is common for ordinary people to be afraid of government officials, Zhan Zhao said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, old man, we are here to investigate the unexplained disappearance of young people in the village who went out to work. I want to ask if there are any missing relatives in your family?"

"No." The old man subconsciously blurted out, but after a while, he changed his words again, "Oh, yes, my nephew also went to work and has never been back."

"That……"

"Hey, I don't know anything else, so don't ask me, Mr. Guan." After saying that, he quickly closed the door.

Zhan Zhao ate the door shut, and looked back at Bai Yutang with a depressed face, Bai Yutang raised the knife: "Help you break it open?"

Zhan Zhao had a black line: "... let's change to another one."

As a result, after changing several families in a row, they all said that there was no result or that it was similar to what Lao Liu said, and there were no valuable clues.

After strolling around, Bai Yutang said, "People in this village don't seem to want to mention those missing relatives."

Zhan Zhao nodded: "When I was handling cases in the past, I also encountered some victims who were bored by the government's repeated inquiries about the victimization process. They thought the government was not reliable, and repeated inquiries would only increase their painful memories, without substance. help and solve problems, and even refused to provide clues to the government later.”

"Could it be that the villagers in the grave village became rebellious because the county government often sent people to inquire and investigate?"

"I can't tell..." Zhan Zhao touched his chin, "But I always feel that they are deliberately hiding something."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a little dog running out of the yard on the side. The little dog sniffed around for a while, then suddenly came to Zhan Zhao's side and circled around twice, and then looked at Zhan Zhao with a flattering expression. , Zhan Zhao sighed, "I didn't expect that only the puppy would talk to me..."

Bai Yutang suddenly felt it was funny.

"Huanhuan, Huanhuan, why are you running out again, come back quickly!"

A child's call came from the yard, the little dog heard the call, barked a few times, and ran towards the yard again. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked towards the yard and found this The child was the little boy who asked his grandma for food when he first entered the village.

Zhan Zhao leaned on the low wall in front of the courtyard: "Xiao Shanzi, is this your puppy?"

That Xiaoshanzi picked up the little dog and wondered, "How do you know my name?"

Zhan Zhao teased him, "There is nothing in this world that my brother doesn't know about."

Xiao Shanzi blinked, tilted his head and asked, "Brother, do you know when my parents will come back? Grandma said that my parents have gone out to work, but it's been so long, why don't you come back to see Xiao Shanzi?"

Zhan Zhao said: "Brother is here this time to help you find your parents. Do you know where your parents have gone?"

"I don't know..." Xiao Shanzi pouted, "Grandma said that my father and mother went to a big cave far away... But my grandma also said that as long as my parents work there, we will have a lot of delicious food. And you won't go hungry!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the little earth dog named Huanhuan jumped out of his embrace and ran to the nearby dog ​​bowl to gnaw bones. Seeing this, Zhan Zhao suddenly asked, "Xiao Shanzi, Are there any dogs that bite people in the village?"

Xiao Shanzi thought for a while and said, "I don't know how to bite people. There are puppies in the village. The puppies don't dare to bite people. They only bark a few times when they are in a hurry."

"Are there any big dogs outside the village, the fierce ones?"

"No!"

"Xiaoshanzi, Xiaoshanzi!" The old woman called from inside the room, "Who are you talking to? Grandma has boiled the sugar water, come and eat!"

"Okay, grandma, I'll be right there!" Xiao Shanzi called back.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stood at the door of Xiao Shanzi's house, and saw Xiao Shanzi's grandmother coming out with a bowl filled with transparent and white sugar water. Xiao Shanzi ran over happily, shouting as he ran: "Grandma, I'm chatting with the big brother at the door, and the big brother said he would help me find my parents."

The old lady pulled a chair over, put the bowl on the chair, handed the spoon to Xiao Shanzi, and told him to squat in front of the chair to eat, then she glanced at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang outside the house, and said, "You two officials , my child is still young, if there is anything wrong, you just call me an old woman, don't make things difficult for the child!"

Zhan Zhao hurriedly waved his hands and said, "Grandma, don't be nervous, we just happened to meet Xiao Shanzi, and we just chatted with him casually, there is no other meaning."

The old lady wiped her hands on her body a little at a loss, looked at Xiao Shanzi who was eating happily, then at Zhan Zhao, and said, "You can call me Grandma Deng, do you want to come in and have a drink?"

Although this Grandma Deng asked if she wanted to enter the house, she was still at the door and did not fully open the door. Seeing Xiao Shanzi eating happily inside, Zhan Zhao said, "There is no need for water, Grandma Deng, I just heard Xiao Shanzi said, you told him that his parents all work in a big cave, is that true?"

Grandma Deng heard the words, glanced at Xiaoshanzi not far away, and then said in a low voice: "No, no, actually, I don't know where his parents have gone, but the child can't help asking me again and again, this child has been a child since he was a child. I was afraid of dark places, so I made up a big cave to lie to him, so that he wouldn't keep thinking about finding his parents..."

"I see..." Zhan Zhao also looked at Xiao Shanzi, and asked, "Grandma Deng, what is Xiao Shanzi eating? It looks pretty good."

Grandma Deng paused for a moment, then said with a smile: "It's sugar water, I... I put some white fungus, it's sweet."

"Oh..." Zhan Zhao nodded, "We still have to go back to the village chief, so I won't bother you."

After saying goodbye to Grandma Deng and Xiao Shanzi, he dragged Bai Yutang away.After walking for a while, Bai Yutang said, "Mao'er, what that child ate just now was not white fungus, but bird's nest."

"I just said it doesn't look like white fungus..." Zhan Zhao took a few steps forward, then suddenly turned around, "What did you say? Bird's nest?!"

Bai Yutang nodded: "And it looks like a good-grade bird's nest."

"This... how can ordinary people afford bird's nest? Are you sure you read it right?"

"It's not wrong, I used to eat it when I was a child."

"……excuse me."

After walking around the village, the two returned to the village chief's house. As soon as they arrived at the door, they heard a fierce quarrel. While arguing, Yan Bei at the side saw the two of them coming back, slipped over and said, "Where did you go just now, Village Chief Wei and Mr. Li had such a quarrel..."

"This Village Chief Wei looks quite honest, how dare he quarrel with his county magistrate?" Zhan Zhao asked in disbelief, "Why are they arguing?"

"Village Chief Wei wants Mr. Ye to stay and take care of Wei Quan's illness. He said that Wei Quan only listens to Mr. Ye. If Mr. Ye is not here, Wei Quan will have to wait to die, so he wants Mr. Ye to stay in the village... ...and said that when Wei Quan's condition improved, he would send Master Ye back to the county government in person, but Mr. Li refused, so the village head Wei simply came to ask Mr. Ye if he was willing. Mr. Ye was kind and agreed, and then Mr. Li became angry Now, those who come and go have quarreled with Village Chief Wei."

What is it all about?Zhan Zhao was confused.

Seeing Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang come back, Wei Huxiang seemed to have found a rescuer, he waved to them and said, "You two officials, you came back just in time, you two are here to judge, Master Ye fell off the cliff and survived a catastrophe I asked him to stay in our village because I asked him to stay in our village. On the one hand, it was for the sake of his health and let him recuperate here; Only by staying here can my son survive! Mr. Li obstructed him in every possible way, this...doesn't this mean that he wants my son to die?!"

Li Chengsi sneered when he heard this, "Village Chief Wei, as I said, I will never let Mr. Ye stay here alone. If you feel that your son is not cared for, I can ask a special doctor to come to the village to take care of him!"

"If other doctors can let my son eat, do they still have to wait for you to invite me? Is the father short of the money?"

"What do you mean by that? Do you ask Master Ye to bring tea, water, food and medicine to your son every day just because your son listens to Master Ye? Do you think he has the qualifications?"

"Master Li, is he looking down on us country people? You can think about it carefully, my son, does he have the qualifications?"

"You dare to threaten me?"

"Go outside and inquire. After all these years, have I, Wei Huxiang, been afraid of anyone? Today, if Master Ye stays, he has to stay, or if he doesn't stay, he has to stay!"