Chapter 71: Qin Dongzhi is dead

Life in the countryside is serene and peaceful.

On the footpath between the fields.

Cheng An gazed into the distant sky, his thoughts drifting far and wide.

Now that his family's life was visibly improving, and he was making good progress in his studies, it was time to take another step forward!

What would be good to do next, though?

"Little Six!"

"Coming..."

Hearing that familiar call.

Cheng An turned around with a happy smile on his face.

His mother, Liu Cuiyun, was standing at the courtyard gate, waving at him. "Why do you keep running out to the fields in this freezing weather? Hurry back, dinner is about to be served!"

"Right on my way."

A few refreshing side dishes were brought to the table.

The family of three sat around a small square table, with the mother continuously putting food into her son's bowl, while the father held a bowl of cloudy yellow wine, sipping it from time to time.

"This life..."

"I wouldn't trade it even for an immortal's!"

Cheng Dashan's face was slightly flushed from the wine.

Unable to hold back his emotion, he sighed, "Who would have dared to imagine? Nowadays, our Cheng family is considered a prominent household in Hexi Village! Even that wealthy Master Gu treats us with courtesy!"

"Hah!"

"Isn't all of this thanks to my son?"

Liu Cuiyun glanced sideways at her husband.

With an air of vindication and triumph, she said, "I wonder who it was back then, who tried to block me every step of the way when I said I wanted the boy to study!"

"You..."

"What?"

Liu Cuiyun widened her almond-shaped eyes slightly.

Cheng Dashan instantly deflated, smiling bitterly. "That was ages ago, what's the point of bringing it up over and over again? Besides, it wasn't that I never wanted the boy to study, it was just that..."

The circumstances didn't allow for it!

At that time, Cheng Dashan was wholly devoted to being a dutiful son.

With the towering and unyielding figure of Old Madam Han pressing down upon him like a mountain, resistance was futile, and the household of the eldest uncle alone could have crushed him to death.

Yet, no one could have anticipated.

That his own son would prove to be so capable!

If Cheng An hadn't caught the attention of Du Xiu and made a name for himself during the county examinations, this family of three probably would never have escaped the shackles of Old Madam Han until the day they died.

"Speaking of which..."

Mentioning Old Madam Han.

Liu Cuiyun suddenly lowered her voice. "I heard that the eldest sister-in-law settled down in a neighboring village some days ago, married to an idle and good-for-nothing rogue."

"Hmph!"

Cheng Dashan sneered coldly.

"Rats only seek out rat holes; birds of a feather flock together."

"Exactly!"

Still harboring some lingering resentment, Liu Cuiyun said, "A person like her—no matter how fine a family she married into, it wouldn't be enough for her to ruin! It won't be a couple of years before that household goes completely under..."

Thump, thump!

At that moment, someone knocked on the courtyard door.

"I'll get it."

Cheng An bolted out quickly.

To his surprise, it was his second aunt, Yao Chunhua, who had come.

"Little Six is back?"

"Second Aunt..."

Cheng An smiled obediently.

"Hey!"

"Little Six is such a good boy."

Yao Chunhua appeared exceptionally enthusiastic.

She made a pretense of patting her bosom, then feigned puzzlement as she asked, "Eh? Where did the leftover candy from yesterday go? Why is it gone?"

"There's no need, Second Aunt."

"Mother says I'm still young, and eating too much sugar will ruin my teeth."

Cheng An smiled inwardly.

Yet he paid no mind to Yao Chunhua's hypocritical courtesy.

After all, commodities like salt and sugar were luxuries in the countryside. Let alone children from other families, even within one's own household, adults rarely parted with them easily.

"Look at our Little Six, so sensible!"

Yao Chunhua felt thoroughly gratified in her old age.

With that, she scooped Cheng An up in a hug, pressing her two massive breasts against his face as she sighed, "We're all surnamed Cheng, so why is there such a huge difference?"

"Mmmph..."

"Second Aunt."

Cheng An let out a few muffled whimpers as he nearly suffocated.

Paying him no heed, Yao Chunhua carried him into the house and announced, "Cuiyun! There's something I need to tell the two of you—Qin Dongzhi is dead!"

"What?"

The couple froze in shock.

Cheng An, trapped against his aunt's chest, stopped moving as well, seemingly equally stunned.

"How..."

"How did she die?"

Liu Cuiyun hurriedly put down her bowl.

Complex expressions flickered across the faces of both husband and wife.

"They say she owed money and was used by her husband's family to settle the debt. But that creditor was a brute, and within a few days, he tortured her to death. Apparently, she died a horrific death!"

Yao Chunhua let out a sigh.

Despite all the previous animosities between them, they had after all been sisters-in-law for many years. Now that Qin Dongzhi had met such a miserable end, how could one not feel a sense of melancholy?

Liu Cuiyun's heart was likewise filled with a swirling mixture of emotions.

"Where?"

"On the western riverbank..."

Yao Chunhua said helplessly, "They say her body washed down from upstream, and the village chief sent someone to our home to give word. If we don't go, it might look rather improper."

Country folk lived their lives entwined in gossip and neighborhood affairs.

No matter how deep the grievances!

Now that the person was dead...

If the Cheng family failed to show up, people would undoubtedly wag their tongues.

...

The western end of the village.

A naked female corpse lay face down on the river beach.

Her skin was as pale as snow!

Her entire body was covered in bruises, with numerous bite marks across her chest where the flesh was torn open and bloated from the water, her lower body's skeletal structure fractured, and her legs splayed apart.

Was this really Qin Dongzhi?

After just a single glance, Cheng An couldn't help but frown.

It was obvious!

She had been violated repeatedly before meeting her end.

Many of those present drew sharp intakes of breath.

"This is too ruthless!"

"How deep could the hatred possibly be to reduce someone to this state?"

"Beasts..."

Liu Cuiyun couldn't help shivering.

Faced with Qin Dongzhi's tragic death.

The three members of the Cheng family felt not a shred of satisfaction from revenge fulfilled.

Cheng Dashan turned his head away.

With a look of reluctant pity, he shouted to the onlookers, "Stop looking, all the men leave! As for the women, whichever households are willing to help with the burial will receive a hundred copper coins each!"

In the past.

No one would have paid any heed to Cheng Dashan's words.

Yet this time, the villagers were remarkably cooperative. The men led the children away, while several middle-aged women gathered together to discuss how to bury Qin Dongzhi.

Since she was long no longer considered a resident of Hexi Village.

There was certainly no question of her entering the ancestral tombs.

People could only casually find a secluded spot and hastily bury her.

A tiny mound of earth.

No sacrificial offerings.

Not even a wooden plaque...

Qin Dongzhi had simply accumulated too much bad karma during her lifetime, leaving the villagers with virtually no fondness for her. If the Cheng family hadn't provided the money, she probably never would have found peace in death even in her next life.

The final handful of earth fell into place.

Without a shred of sorrow, the crowd turned and walked away.

"Mother!"

In the distance.

A figure came running over at full speed.

Cheng Xiaoyuan dropped heavily to his knees before the grave, weeping bitterly.

After all, he was still just a child.

Seeing him cry so desolately, the bystanders couldn't help feeling a pang of sympathy.

Yet Cheng An felt that...

He was fortunate!

Fortunately, Cheng Xiaoyuan had not witnessed the horrific state his mother was in before her burial; otherwise, that scene would have haunted him as a lifelong, inescapable nightmare.

"Xiaoyuan."

"The dead cannot be brought back to life..."

Cheng Dashan couldn't help sighing.

Abruptly leaping to his feet, Cheng Xiaoyuan glared with ferocious eyes. "It's you! It's all of you people who killed my mother! You are all murderers!"

"..."

The crowd's expressions turned frosty.

Truly, like mother, like son!

A family of scoundrels.

Cheng An stepped in front of his father and said coldly, "If you had any brains at all, you'd understand! If not for the villagers' help, your mother's bones would have been left out in the open long ago!"

"Hah."

"Are you feeling proud now?"

Cheng Xiaoyuan showed not a trace of remorse.

Instead, with a savage expression, he glared at Cheng An: "It's all your fault! You stole my chance to study, you forced my father to become a fugitive, you drove my mother to a miserable death, it was you!"

"Cheng An..."

"You'll come to a bad end!"

The curses echoed across the wilderness.

Cheng An stared fixedly at the maddened Cheng Xiaoyuan, his gaze ice-cold. "And so what? Are you looking for revenge? It's just a pity you don't have the capability! Everything that happened is nothing more than the consequences of your own family's actions!"