1983, Northeast China

Chapter 4 Red Cloth Strip

Someone nearby immediately chimed in, "Yeah, a bulging bag doesn't necessarily mean money; it could be a wine bottle."

"Given Han Changgui's character, it's not impossible that he might be carrying half a piece of pig's head."

Someone laughed again.

Tian Guizhi grew anxious, her voice suddenly rising to a high pitch: "If it's not about the money, why is he hiding? When I asked him, he clutched his back, and I even heard paper rustling!"

Chen Shi ignored her and turned to Zhao Defa, saying, "Uncle Zhao, since Aunt Tian said there's something there, let's search for it in front of everyone. Look around the snow pit, in the ditch, and on his body. Let everyone see it clearly so they won't say the Chen family is hiding money."

Zhao Defa gave him a deep look.

He knew that Chen Shi wasn't saying this to ask for money at all.

First, we blocked the basin of dirty water outside the Chen family's courtyard gate.

If we don't find out the truth now, once Han Changgui is carried away, Tian Guizhi can easily claim that the money went into Chen Xiulan's hands.

This was hardly a safe situation for a woman who had just lost her husband, had just given birth, and lived on the edge of the village.

Zhao Defa immediately understood.

He raised the wooden stick and pointed at two of the more obedient-looking ones: "Dahai, tie them up. You two come here. Be careful, don't rummage around. Everyone keep your eyes open, and no one should accuse anyone of cheating behind our backs."

The two people who were called on were a little scared.

Han Changgui died a gruesome death, and no one wanted to get involved.

But since Zhao Defa had spoken, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and go ahead.

One person held the edge of a quilt, while the other squatted down beside the ditch, digging through the snow and black soil.

A gust of wind blew by, the smell of gunpowder faded a bit, but the smell of blood was brought out.

Some people covered their noses and backed away.

Tian Guizhi took a half step forward, her eyes fixed on Han Changgui's waist, as if afraid that the rolled-up money might grow legs and escape from the dead man.

Chen Shi kept staring at her hands.

Her right hand was clenched inside her sleeve, her knuckles twitching occasionally, as if she were touching something.

The older generation says that a person who keeps things on their mind can't keep their hands idle.

In his previous life, Chen Shi had seen many patients. Often, he could tell something was wrong just by looking at a person's face and hands, without even listening to them speak.

Tian Guizhi wasn't simply there to make money.

She seemed to be waiting for something.

"No!"

Shuanzhu called out first.

He ripped open Han Changgui's cotton-padded coat, and with a forced reverie, glanced at it: "The belt is broken, the pockets are torn, and there's no money in it."

Dahai searched the snowdrift for a long time, pulling out half a tobacco pipe but no money.

"Really not?"

"Was it stolen by someone?"

"Who were the first to run over?"

Upon hearing this, the expressions on everyone's faces changed.

The first to arrive were several nearby families, including Chen Xiulan's family, Second Aunt's family, and Old Wei's family, which lived nearby.

As if she had been waiting for this, Tian Guizhi immediately turned her eyes to Chen Shi, "It's hard to say who took it, but this place is closest to your sister's house. Han Changgui is your brother-in-law; he has money. Do you think your sister wouldn't know?"

Chen Shi wouldn't be led by the nose by her.

At this point, whoever gets anxious first will feel guilty.

He looked at Tian Guizhi and asked in a calm tone, "Aunt Tian, ​​you just said he left your place yesterday at night. What time was night?"

Tian Guizhi immediately became alert. "Why are you asking this?"

"I need to know where he went and who he met after he got the money," Chen Shi said, looking at her. "Otherwise, you're just going to pin the money on my sister?"

Tian Guizhi's face flushed red. "When did I ever blame your sister?"

"Isn't that what you meant just now?"

The onlookers, never ones to shy away from a good show, immediately chimed in: "Guizhi, Shizi is right. You said it's dark, but darkness can be early or late. Maybe he left your place and went to someone else's?"

"Exactly, if Han Changgui really had a couple of bucks in his pocket, would he only go to your house?"

Tian Guizhi was so cornered that she couldn't speak.

Her gaze drifted, and she subconsciously looked eastward.

Chen Shi followed her gaze.

There is a small path at the entrance of the village that leads to the supply and marketing cooperative and also to the wasteland outside the old Nangou.

Further on, there are timber roads and deep mountains.

Han Changgui did not go straight home.

He took a detour.

Zhao Defa also realized what was going on. "Guizhi, stop beating around the bush. When exactly did you see him?"

Forced into a corner, Tian Guizhi finally retorted, "Back when the chickens were put on the shelf."

In winter, it gets dark early, so the chickens are put on the roost around four or five o'clock.

The explosion happened this morning, which means Han Changgui didn't go home all night.

Where did he go during those dozen or so hours? Who did he meet? And where did that so-called money come from?

"Found it!"

Suddenly, the sea shouted.

The crowd surged forward in a flash.

Zhao Defa swung his stick horizontally and roared, "Everyone, step back!"

The sea picked something up from the bottom of the snow ditch.

But that wasn't money at all.

It was a strip of red cloth, blackened by the explosion, with half a piece of cardboard wrapped inside. The edges were charred and blackened, making the words illegible.

Tian Guizhi's expression changed immediately.

She reached out to snatch it, saying, "Let me see!"

Chen Shi was a step ahead of her, blocking her way first. "Aunt Tian, ​​what's the rush?"

Tian Guizhi's hand was held in mid-air.

In that instant, others may not have seen it clearly, but Chen Shi saw it perfectly.

She wasn't surprised when she saw the red ribbon.

It's panic.

Zhao Defa took the item, squinted at it, and asked, "What's this?"

"It looks like something used for wrapping things," Dahai said. "It was dug out from under the snow in the ditch, not far from people."

Chen Shi looked at the red headscarf on Tian Guizhi's head.

The red cloth strip was a bit faded and the material was coarse, but there was a row of fine white lines along the edge of the stitches.

The same white line also appears on the tip of the osmanthus branch.

Someone in the crowd noticed: "This cloth looks quite similar to the one on Guizhi's head."

Tian Guizhi immediately exploded.

"Nonsense! All red cloths are the same color, so why do you say it's mine? There's always gossip around a widow's door; are you all ganging up on me?"

She cursed fiercely, but dared not look at the strip of cloth again.

Zhao Defa's face darkened even more.

This matter was like a pot of frozen dirty water that no one wanted to break open.

Now things are really messed up; Han Changgui, Chen Xiulan, Tian Guizhi, the missing money, and the red cloth strip are all mixed up together.

"I'll keep the things for now." Zhao Defa stuffed the red cloth strip and the cardboard together into his cotton-padded coat. "If anyone makes a sound again, I'll have someone gag them."

"It seems there's something else," Da Hai chimed in, pointing to the other side of the crater. "There's something else under the snow over there."

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that the snow had been blown up, and underneath was a dark mess, mixed with frozen soil and ice fragments.

"Where can I find it?" Shuanzhu asked.

Da Hai walked over and poked at it twice with a dry twig.

Beneath the mud and snow, half of a small brass shell was exposed, frozen in the mud, with only a little edge showing.

That little thing looked more like a piece of the outer skin that had burst out of a detonator.

Among the crowd, someone knowledgeable squatted down and took a look: "This wasn't buried recently. It's something from under the frozen soil. If Han Changgui had buried it himself last night, the soil wouldn't be frozen like this."

Zhao Defa's face turned completely black.

Young people may not understand certain things, but he does.

In winter, the frozen soil is as hard as iron. If you dig a hole to bury it temporarily, the edges won't be so solid, and there won't be this kind of old ice layer.

Only he and Chen Mancang knew about this. It was reported at the time, but no one came to remove it. It was he and Chen Mancang who marked the area and told the village not to come to this place.

Later, after the incident involving Chen's daughter, Chen Mancang discussed with him about allocating this area for his daughter to build a house. He also told Xiulan that it was dangerous here.

Who knew that this old thing would explode now?

The murmurs in the crowd immediately subsided.

The loss of money affects each individual household.

The old sound was buried in the wasteland that was about to be divided up; that was a matter for the whole village.

Zhao Defa stood up. "Disperse, everyone. Anyone who dares to divulge what happened today, don't blame me for turning against them!"

Nobody moved.

It's not that I don't want to leave.

Everyone was waiting for his next words.