Free Web NovelChapter 356: Chapter 343: There are snakes_2
"Exactly, it’s because of the upcoming demolition. Since after the Spring Festival, people in the village began saying that there would be a new road built here, and an industrial park as well, that all six villages in this area would be demolished. That’s why every family has been building houses, and those without money to build have been renovating their side rooms at home or setting up individual businesses or whatever."
"It seems like for tiles, flooring, well-digging, relocating graves, courtyard walls, and so on, there would be some compensation provided, and moreover, this compensation seems to increase slightly each year. The Chen Family and the Sun Family even came to blows over the old Chen household, with a dozen family members getting involved, and in the end, the police were called. The village committee went ahead and locked up the house."
Mr. Zeng seldom managed to understand things clearly, but listening to him speak so convincingly, Xu Dayuan nodded along. However, his concern was about that house: whether the two families had gone in and wreaked havoc, rendering it impossible to collect any DNA evidence.
"Keep talking, is that all?"
Mr. Zeng shook his head, a look of grievance on his face.
"No, leader, this is just some gossip I heard from the villagers while investigating. To know the specifics, you have to ask someone from the village committee. We were just learning about Chen Gang’s situation indirectly. Everyone’s general opinion of the kid can be summed up in one phrase: ’quiet and reticent.’ There’s not a single person in the village who is close to him."
This comment made Xu Dayuan’s eyebrows furrow deeply.
A quiet and reticent person, Chen Gang started working at the Cheng Family’s place at the age of fourteen or fifteen. Cheng Zhi couldn’t be said to be very good to Chen Gang, but he certainly wouldn’t mistreat such a young child, and the salary he received was much more generous than what one would earn as an ordinary supermarket cashier.
Possessing the knowledge of the Cheng Family’s wholesale department’s daily turnover, even if tempted by money, kidnapping a child was a serious matter. Who could he possibly confide in?
As he was pondering this, the person who had gone to the village committee returned with a man in his fifties. Seeing a bunch of policemen, each one of them wore a look of panic on their faces.
"Leader... you... are you from Banqiao Town Police Station?"
Xu Dayuan shook his head, smiling as he got out of the car and after shaking hands with the two men, introduced himself:
"We’re from Qindao Municipal Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Team. Previously, people from the Qidong Sub-bureau were here cooperating with us to investigate Chen Gang’s case. After all, we didn’t want to disturb the normal lives of the folks here, so we also didn’t notify you. The reason we urgently sought you out today is to understand a certain situation."
The elderly man quickly nodded, visibly relieved.
"Whatever it is you need, just ask." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Xu Dayuan nodded, trying to soften his facial expression and slow down his tone, basically trying to appear not so fierce.
"Were you born and raised in Hanxingou Village?"
The elderly man agreed:
"Yes, my surname is Sun, and I’m from Hanxingou Village. I served in the military for a few years in my early years and after returning, I ran for village director."
Xu Dayuan looked at the village director, finding his proactive attitude quite good.
"Do you know Chen Gang’s parents?"
"Yes, Chen Gang’s father is three years older than me. Back then, he married the second daughter from the Sun Family in the same village. We were all surprised because their family was truly poor. With just Mr. Chen and Mr. Chen, two brothers, they had two old houses that were nothing more than simple earthen structures, lacking in everything. But the two of them were smitten with each other."
Xu Dayuan scrutinized the village director; he looked to be in his fifties. If Chen Gang’s father was three years his senior, that wasn’t a small age gap.
"Did Mr. Chen marry early?"
"Fairly early, they both got married at twenty-one. I married later than him, but my son is older than his."
This statement piqued Xu Dayuan’s interest. He handed the village director a cigarette, and the man, with a smile on his face, took it with both hands, lit the lighter and extended it towards Xu Dayuan. As the two puffed on their cigarettes, Xu Dayuan gave an ’oh’ and continued speaking.
"Oh? It seems you’re quite familiar with Mr. Chen. Does Chen Gang resemble his parents?"
Xu Dayuan did not openly ask if Chen Gang was adopted, because in Qindao, being childless was a cause for being ridiculed. Even if people adopted, they did so in secret, never openly. They might even fake a pregnancy or simply move away for a while before returning with a child. Such happenings were common and not easy to investigate.
The village head was smoking a cigarette, now completely relaxed as if he was with an old friend for many years. He waved towards Xu Dayuan and turned to look in the direction of the village, lowering his voice somewhat as if to show more respect for the deceased.
"It’s not just because Chen Gang had an accident that I say this, after all, I grew up with Mr. Chen, and he and his father didn’t look alike at all, not even like his mother. How do I put it, both his parents are tall, big frames even though they’re not fat, so they’re not small in size.
"But Chen Gang, not just as a child, but even when he grew up, was skinny like a chick, and he had a flat nose, a bulbous nose like garlic. Not to mention his facial features, his stature didn’t resemble them either. Mr. Chen’s wife had been going to the provincial capital for infertility treatment, and then suddenly they had a child.
"It shocked everyone in the village. Some said it was an adopted child, but no one asked Mr. Chen. After all, to have a child at nearly thirty, who would gossip about it?
"Especially Mr. Chen, after Mr. Chen’s couple died, he completely ignored Chen Gang and even said he wasn’t of the Chen family’s blood. I think there’s no smoke without fire."
Xu Dayuan nodded, it seemed that the villagers had also noticed the problem.
"The key to Chen Gang’s old house is said to be kept at the village committee. We want to take a look at the scene, and I won’t lie to you, regarding the kidnapping case from years ago, we feel there may still be a criminal at large, so we’d like to investigate it thoroughly. Do you think that would be okay?"
Director Sun nodded emphatically.
"The key is indeed with me. The two families fought terribly back then, involving the police station. I had the police station, as well as the elders of the Sun family and the Chen family, serve as witnesses, and I had them sign a contract. Before the demolition, all the procedures for the house and documents were kept at the village committee, and after the demolition, the compensation was split evenly between the two families.
"That finally calmed things down. To tell the truth, they are all poor people, fighting over such a little money and losing face for the village, that’s why I helped mediate. Otherwise, I would have hoped they’d have a good fight and that both would end up in jail to learn their lesson."
Xu Dayuan patted Director Sun’s shoulder; grassroots work was not easy, and having been in Qidong for many years, he understood that well.
"Understood, coordinating the work of an entire village is indeed no easy task."
Director Sun smiled, and without getting into the car, Xu Dayuan threw his police uniform inside and the group walked towards a solitary courtyard in the eastern part of the village. The exterior looked so dilapidated that it seemed like a ruin. Through the cracks of the gate, it was visible that wild grass had already covered the ground inside the courtyard.
Upon opening the gate, the wild grass appeared even more spectacular. Xu Dayuan stopped Director Sun’s actions.
"Let’s wait outside and have the professional technical staff take a look. By the way, is the Pear Orchard where Chen Gang was caught still there?"
Director Sun shook his head and turned to point at a grove of trees not far away.
"That pear orchard has been divided and sold. The poplar grove north of a reservoir right there is where the incident happened. After someone died there, everyone thought it was a bad omen; the contractor gave up the lease. The house is still there, but the pear trees have been sold, and now it’s all poplars."
Hearing this, Xu Dayuan grew interested.
"So what you’re saying is, after the year 2000, that house in the pear orchard has been left unused?"
Director Sun nodded.
"A few days after the incident, an old man who was on night patrol fell face-down in a ditch there, a ditch only four fingers deep with water, yet he still drowned. The villagers all felt it was an ill omen, so nobody went to prune the trees or pollinate. Unable to hire anyone, the output plummeted, and that’s why the pear trees were sold. As for these contracted forest lands, they’ve also started being parceled out in recent years. There’s rarely anything new in the village, whatever happens in any family, it’s always linked to that. But indeed, nobody has gone to that rundown house again; even the original contractor didn’t take away his belongings."
Xu Dayuan turned to look at Zhou Ning, who understood what this meant and wanted to ask if he should also send someone to take a look.
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Director Xu, after the inspection here is finished, let’s go take a look. It’s not much help with just one or two people going."
Xu Dayuan nodded knowingly, waved to Director Sun, and the two stepped back a bit, appearing to make idle chat but actually were seeking to understand the matters of the Chen family and the Sun family. Zhou Ning didn’t listen in but followed Mr. Zhao and the others into the overgrown courtyard.
Just as they were about to go in, they heard Mr. Zhao’s voice.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, don’t come into the courtyard, stand there. There’s a snake here."
