Chapter 87: After Someone Dies
Qi Yinglan was so frightened, not only because Liu Xiang’s death was too bizarre and tragic, but also because he knew that, according to the original plot, the original owner had been buried alive by Yang Huai.
According to Qi Yinglan’s description, it was very likely that Liu Xiang had suffered the same fate as the original owner.
Qi Yinglan, barely in his early twenties, still retained the innocence and vulnerability of a child in his heart. Just thinking about Liu Xiang’s tragic situation today, which could have been his future, made him shiver all over, feeling nauseous and almost on the verge of vomiting from fear.
But here at Old Liu’s house, he was here to comfort Liu Fa’s wife and Qi Yinglan. He had to hold himself together.
The fire in the stove was burning, warming up the room quickly.
Outside was still bustling with noise; he didn’t know how things were going.
In the middle of the night, with empty stomachs, Qi Yinglan thought of cooking noodles for the two sisters-in-law, but he found that there was almost nothing in this house where he could cook alone.
No one dared to go out to fetch anything. Qi Yinglan reluctantly found a pack of pastries, and the two of them ate them with hot water.
The aged pastries had lost moisture and had a faint moldy smell. After Qi Ying finished eating, his stomach kept churning, and he hurriedly made an excuse to sneak out to the outer room and vomit.
Qingyan talked to Qi Yinglan for a while. Liu Fa’s wife could hardly speak, just silently listening.
As the night wore on, despite their restless minds, they couldn’t resist their drowsiness and eventually fell asleep on the kang.
Qingyan dreamed after sleeping for an unknown amount of time. He knew he was dreaming, but he couldn’t control the dream at all.
He dreamed of himself being buried deep underground—dark, damp, cold, oppressive—with maggots crawling on his skin and rats gnawing on his rotting flesh.
Faint knocking sounds could be heard outside. Qingyan’s eyeballs moved rapidly, trying to escape from this nightmare, but he couldn’t open his eyes no matter how hard he tried.
Someone got up from the kang and stepped out of the house.
After a while, someone shook Qingyan’s shoulder. Qingyan suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for breath, awake.
Qi Yinglan looked at him in surprise and asked, “Are you okay, Brother Qingyan?”
Qingyan shook his head, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
Qi Yinglan looked at the sleeping child and his elder sister-in-law on the kang.
He lowered his voice and said, “Brother Qiu asked me to call you. He said he’s going back.”
Qi Ying responded and got up, tidying his robe a bit.
He said to Qi Yinglan, “Then I’ll go back first. If anything happens, just call me.”
Qi Yinglan agreed and escorted him to the door.
At the door, Qiu Henian saw Qingyan coming out, took off his outer robe, covered it over his head, used the sleeves as a scarf around his neck, and said, “It’s too cold now. You didn’t wear a hat when you came out. This will do for now.”
Qi Ying nodded, waved to Qi Yinglan behind him, and the two of them left.
As they walked to the courtyard gate, Qingyan subconsciously wanted to turn his head to look towards the main house, but a large hand gently stroked his cheek, forcibly turning his head forward.
“Don’t look,” Qiu Henian said in a low voice.
They waited until they turned the first corner outside the courtyard before Qiu Henian let go of his hand and instead tightly wrapped his arm around Qi Ying’s shoulder.
It was now early in the morning, and the horizon had already shown a faint light, but the village was still very quiet, with most people still asleep.
Qingyan turned his head to look at the person close by, seeing that Qiu Henian’s complexion was still good, without dark circles under his eyes, just a slight sense of fatigue, he finally felt relieved.
Qingyan asked, “How did Liu Xiang… die exactly?”
Qiu Henian remained silent for a while, not answering his question directly, but said, “Once it’s daylight, I’ll go to the county with Liu Fa. You sleep at home for a while, wake up and go to the shop with Aunt Li, and I’ll come get you tonight.”
After the couple returned home, Qiu Henian had Qingyan take off all his robes and toss them into the basket, then he took off his own clothes and put them together.
The two of them briefly washed up and then got into bed.
Qiu Henian held Qingyan in his arms, gently rubbing his back and neck behind his neck. In no time, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The strong and sturdy chest gave him a sense of security, the familiar smell at the tip of his nose, and the most familiar environment. This night, Qingyan did not have any nightmares again.
When he woke up, it was already broad daylight. Ah Miao’s nest had been moved back to the head of the bed again, and the small head was sleeping soundly against him.
The space beside him was empty, with only himself on the bed.
Qingyan lay there for a while, only then remembered the terrifying events of last night. He suddenly sat up, sitting on the bed in a daze.
Ah Miao was awakened by his movements, jumped onto his legs, and Qi Ying picked it up, hugged it, and held it in his arms, rubbing his cheek against its soft and warm little body.
The room was still warm, indicating that there was still fire in the stove.
Qingyan put on his robe and got off the bed. In the pot, he found cooked rice and egg soup, which he took out and ate.
After washing up and putting on his robe, when he went out, he saw that the clothes they had worn last night, hanging on the clothesline in the yard, and the little mat that had been laid underneath, had all been washed and hung up.
Following Qiu Henian’s instructions, Qingyan went directly to the Fragrant Melody Pavillion in town.
Early in the morning, news of the death of the relative’s child at Old Liu’s house spread.
After all, it was so noisy last night; people living nearby must have heard the commotion.
Zhang Ju and Liu Yongfu had been quite high-profile before. When the village chief’s mother had her birthday, they even boasted everywhere that Liu Yongfu had found a good job in the county and was living a comfortable life, which infuriated Liu Fa’s wife.
After Liu Xiang hooked up with Yang Huai, Zhang Ju intentionally returned to the village several times, boasting to everyone, saying that his daughter Liu Xiang was so promising, he had already moved into Yang’s house, and occasionally turned over money and things for the family.
When people asked her if Liu Xiang had any status, Zhang Ju casually shrugged and said, “Once the child is born, that status will naturally come.”
“My daughter Liu Xiang is good-looking and smart, not worse than anyone else. Yang Huai will definitely marry him with great pomp.”
He also said, “Our Liu Yong has recently started looking for a daughter-in-law. This child is ambitious, not choosing anyone from our village, only considering girls and boys from the county town. I think it’s best to stick to the county town. Given our current family conditions, marrying someone from the village would indeed be a disservice to him.”
The villagers were originally both sour and envious, all saying that Old Liu’s family had some ability in making good marriages.
But now, the result has turned out like this. There are those who secretly mock, those who inquire about the situation, and those like Aunt Li and Qiuniang, whose kind-hearted natures truly feel sorrow and regret.
When Qingyan arrived, there weren’t many customers in the shop. Aunt Li and Qiuniang were whispering about this matter.
Qingyan overheard them sighing about how although the Liu Yongfu family is not well-regarded, Liu Xiang is still so young and with a child in his belly. After finally finding a wealthy family to marry into, the child not only failed to be born but met such a tragic end.
The two of them lamented endlessly.
In the afternoon, as more people came into the shop, things got busy, and this matter was no longer mentioned.
Qingyan checked the inventory in the shop and balanced the accounts, keeping busy until evening.
Before it got dark, Qiu Henian indeed came to pick him up from the shop, accompanied by Liu Fa.
Several people rode together in Liu Fa’s family’s ox-cart, swaying all the way back to the village.
Liu Fa usually liked to talk, but today he remained silent.
Aunt Li and Qiuniang picked some comforting words and advised him a few times, to which he bitterly smiled and sighed.
Back home, Qiu Henian lit the fire, Qingyan kneaded and rolled out noodles, and the two made a simple pot of tomato and braised noodles.
While waiting for the noodles in the pot, Qingyan finally had a chance to ask about today’s developments.
Qiu Henian shook his head and said, “Not very good.”
He and Liu Fa went to the county office today, leaving Liu Cai at home to guard the corpse.
When the county magistrate heard about Liu Xiang’s death, he became furious and slammed the table, saying, “How can such inhuman deeds exist in this world?!?”
He ordered the bailiffs to immediately bring Liu Xiang’s corpse back to the office, demanded the coroner to conduct an autopsy immediately, and also ordered for Yang Huai to be arrested and returned for further investigation.
But at that moment, the county office’s registrar came out from the back hall and whispered a few words in the county magistrate’s ear. The county magistrate’s expression didn’t change much; he just shifted his tone, saying the case was complex and needed further investigation.
He only ordered the bailiffs to bring Liu Xiang’s corpse back to Liuxi Village. As for arresting Yang Huai, he didn’t mention it at all.
But after leaving the hall, when Liu Fa and Qiu Henian went to find the leading bailiff, hoping to guide them back to the village together, the bailiff ignored them and showed no intention of leaving at all.
Liu Fa became anxious. There was a dead person at home, and in such a horrifying manner. They couldn’t go on like this; they couldn’t even sleep at night.
He stuffed a couple of silver coins into the bailiff’s hand. Only then did the leader reluctantly say that there were matters today and they should come back to Liuxi Village the next day.
Even after giving money, this was the result. Liu Fa had no choice but to go back and wait.
The more Qingyan listened, the tighter his brows furrowed.
Qiu Henian stared at the flames in the stove and said, “When I was in the Forbidden Army, I dealt with these officials before. They are most skilled at shifting blame and delaying. The Yang family has deep roots in the county town, while the Liu family are just ordinary villagers.”
“This lawsuit, I’m afraid it will be difficult to reach a resolution.”
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
Yu Qingxi’s eyes were red as he looked at Qingyan. His appearance was different from before. His face was pale, and his robe, though not old, had a large stain on the chest, unknown whether he hadn’t noticed or hadn’t had time to change clothes.
