Chapter 66

It took almost the entire afternoon for Xia Tianqi and Leng Yue to tour the entire Hulu Village, and they managed to become familiar faces to each villager.

But to be honest, the credit for becoming familiar faces had little to do with Xia Tianqi. It was mainly due to Leng Yue's stunning looks and his gentlemanly, elegant demeanor.

If Xia Tianqi were to put it, Leng Yue was like spitting on the ground, almost as bad as urinating or defecating in public.

Regardless of age or gender, the first thing villagers said upon seeing Leng Yue was, "This young lady is really beautiful." Everyone praised his "beauty" and his elegant demeanor, so much so that Xia Tianqi, who also had good looks and a good demeanor, was completely ignored and treated like air.

"This young lady is really beautiful. Yueyue, how can you be so beautiful? Come, give me a smile."

On the way to Chen Lao Da's house, Xia Tianqi kept teasing Leng Yue with a sour tone, but Leng Yue completely ignored him, not even bothering to look at him.

"Hey, why are you so boring? Don't make me do a stand-up comedy routine by myself."

Seeing that Leng Yue wasn't listening to his pointless remarks, Xia Tianqi's eyes twinkled, and he changed the topic:

"This afternoon wasn't a waste. We at least got to know some of the people and situations in the village, which will help us with our investigation."

When Xia Tianqi mentioned the situation, Leng Yue finally spoke:

"If we go back now, do we have to wait until tomorrow to find those people we learned about this afternoon?"

"Hey, my dear Yueyue, you finally decided to speak, come on, give me a smile, and I'll tell you."

"I think it's time to end the agreement we made earlier."

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Let's get serious."

Xia Tianqi didn't want to lose Leng Yue as his bodyguard, so he quickly got to the point:

"Let's go back to Chen Lao Da's place first and see how his foolish son is doing. Then we'll go out to find those people and gather more information. We definitely can't wait until tomorrow. After all, our time is limited, and we need to race against the female ghost. Otherwise, once she starts her killing spree, we'll be done for."

In the afternoon, they visited each household as government officials, claiming that the higher-ups wanted to increase the development of Hulu Village, including electrification, road construction, and railway access. They were sent to gather information and listen to the villagers' needs.

Hearing that they were there to invest and develop the village, the villagers welcomed them warmly, treating them like distinguished guests. Most of them answered their questions, with few being unwilling to respond or trying to avoid answering.

Leaving aside the villagers' development requests, the situation in Hulu Village was quite complex.

Firstly, Hulu Village was dominated by one family, the Chen family, where they were currently staying.

Chen Lao Da had spent many years outside the village when he was young and returned in his middle age. Soon after, he took over the position of village chief and began to implement "monopoly reforms."

He first bought the villagers' land and fishing boats at seemingly high prices and then leased them back to the villagers at higher prices.

Those who refused were inevitably troubled by Chen Lao Da, so it didn't take long for the "nail households" to give in. Over the years, they became accustomed to this leasing lifestyle.

However, in recent years, possibly due to his age or his desire to leave something good for his foolish son, the rental prices for land and fishing boats became very low. This undoubtedly changed the villagers' perception of him, who was once seen as a "gangster."

When Xia Tianqi heard about Chen Lao Da's influence in Hulu Village, he was secretly surprised. He didn't expect the old man to be such a formidable figure.

But what concerned him the most was Chen Lao Da's efforts to find a wife for Chen Cong.

Chen Cong was already in his twenties. According to the customs of Hulu Village, men usually got married before the age of 20, and girls even earlier. The villagers said that Chen Lao Da initially didn't want to find a wife for Chen Cong, but under the pressure of his wife, who was always arguing and making a fuss, he started to ask people to find a match for him, hoping to find a daughter-in-law in the village.

However, everyone in the village knew about Chen Cong's condition. When adults talked to children, they often used Chen Cong as an example, saying, "Don't be like Chen Cong, who can't speak and doesn't understand anything."

In short, Chen Cong was the village's negative example, a target of ridicule, and the only point of balance when comparing the Chen family with the villagers.

Because the villagers knew the situation of Chen Cong's foolishness, no one was willing to marry their daughter to him. Even if some villagers had other intentions, their daughters would never agree.

Although Chen Lao Da was old, he was not foolish and could see the villagers' intentions. Initially, the villagers were worried that Chen Lao Da, eager to find a wife for his son, would resort to coercion and force a marriage as he had done in the past. However, to their surprise, Chen Lao Da gave up on finding a match within the village.

Soon after, he brought a wife for Chen Cong from outside the village.

Since this daughter-in-law, Xiao Li, was rarely seen outside, few people had interacted with her. They only knew that her name was Xiao Li, she came from outside, and she was quite beautiful.

As for why she married into the poor and remote Hulu Village, why she married a fool, and why she committed suicide, the villagers had no unified story.

Some said Xiao Li was sold to Hulu Village, others said Chen Lao Da found her, and still others said Xiao Li was also a fool.

However, the villagers were unanimous in their belief that the Chen family treated Xiao Li poorly. Passing by their house, one could often hear a woman crying and Chen Cong's foolish laughter and curses.

This indicated that Chen Cong had a habit of beating Xiao Li, and it wasn't just an occasional occurrence.

Additionally, many villagers mentioned that Chen Lao Da had a relationship with Xiao Li and often argued with his wife because of her, showing that he was quite protective of her.

This afternoon, they gathered this much useful information. Beyond that, there were a few close confidants of Chen Lao Da who might know some secrets unknown to outsiders.