The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 461 - 450

Chapter 461: 450

"I know, all the mountains nearby are small; there won’t be any fierce beasts, and I’m not going toward Mian Mountain anyway,"

Zhou Xi paused when he reached this point. Mian Mountain was the mountain in the direction of the county town, after they left the village. That area was a chain of mountains connected to each other. They weren’t particularly tall, but he remembered that when they were kids, they would often go up there to look for wild fruits, wild chickens, rabbits, and such. There were more of those there than in other mountains.

There were even wild boars, deer, and wolves.

But the young men of Qili Village were brave. They weren’t discouraged from going to Mian Mountain. With friends calling out to one another, as long as there were many of them, they dared to cross Mian Mountain all the way to another county.

However, ever since the corpses of Zhou Yin and his wife were found there, the people of Qili Village had subconsciously avoided the place. For many years now, few had gone up there to look for anything.

Zhou Xi left the house in a hurry.

Ms.Qian leaned against the wall and spaced out for a while.

All of the Zhou Family’s children had been sent to the small courtyard next door, and on this side of the large courtyard, only the four daughters-in-law were busy at work.

Ms.Feng had just wrung a chicken’s neck and was waiting for the boiling water to pluck its feathers. Ms.Fang was the one boiling the water while Ms.He went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables, and Junior Ms.Qian was kneading dough.

The family had long run out of rice, so naturally, they couldn’t steam rice. Lately, they had been eating noodles or griddled cakes; occasionally, Old Zhou would permit them a little luxury and let Junior Ms.Qian pull noodles for everyone...

From the small courtyard next door, the voices of the children talking could occasionally be heard, distant as if coming from the horizon. Ms.Qian, who had managed to stop her tears, suddenly found them flowing like a breached river, unstoppable...

When Old Zhou arrived back with his children, what he saw was this situation. He couldn’t help raising his voice and asking, "What’s happened here, what’s happened?"

The village chief and the constables who were inside the house heard the noise and came out. With tearful eyes, Ms.Qian first caught sight of Zhou Xi following right behind them. Seeing her nod, she knew he had already told Old Zhou.

So she decisively leaned against the wall without speaking. She didn’t want to talk right now, much less deal with Old Zhou.

Old Zhou glanced at her again and again, then formally introduced himself to the constables, led by the village chief.

The constable looked in surprise at the large group of men behind him and swallowed hard before saying, "Well said, well said."

Manbao, hearing the noise from the neighboring courtyard, left her nephews and nieces and ran over to the other side...

"Auntie!" Erya couldn’t hold onto her and was about to run after her, but Fifth Son and Sixth Son, who were placed on the bed, let out a simultaneous cry, and Erya could only stamp her foot in frustration. She told Second Son to chase after Auntie, while she went back to continue watching over the two cousins.

Manbao rushed into the main room, saw her father, and threw herself into his arms, crying out loud.

Old Zhou’s heart ached terribly. He quickly asked, "What’s wrong, what’s wrong, what’s happened to you?"

Ms.Qian wiped away her tears and approached, pulling Manbao over to wipe her eyes for her, saying, "Don’t cry now, let your dad entertain the guests."

Manbao nestled in her mother’s arms and sobbed, sneaking a glance and glaring quietly at the constable.

The constable didn’t notice.

After seeing Old Zhou’s six sons, the constable’s attitude towards the Zhou Family softened considerably, so he didn’t make any comments about Ms.Qian setting the table or about Manbao leaning on her.

Although the village chief and Ms.Qian had already been informed, the constable still formally reiterated the message to Old Zhou, emphasizing that they needed to bring their belongings to the County Governmental Office to handle the removal procedures from the household registry.

Even though Old Zhou had already learned about the situation from Zhou Xi and guessed his old wife’s intentions, he was still a bit undecided.

Even though their names were the same, after all, the deceased wasn’t his own brother, was he?

But the memory of the government messenger who arrived in the village after Zhou Yin’s death stuck in his throat like a fish bone. Now, there was an opportunity for him, for the Zhou Family, and even for the whole Qili Village, to get rid of that predicament.

The village chief subtly kicked Old Zhou under the table, reminding him by saying, "Uncle Jin, the official is asking you a question."

Old Zhou grunted in response, "How many household heads need to sign this indemnity letter?"

"At least five."

Old Zhou felt the urge to smoke.

Ms.Qian dabbed the corner of her eye and said, "Sir, my husband and his brother were very close. He is still a bit slow to recover from the shock. Moreover, our Zhou Yin left because of a drought when he was fourteen. Even though the travel document’s description matches Zhou Yin, the place it was found seems to be Shangzhou..."

After taking a sip of soy milk, the constable said, "Wasn’t it from Shangzhou? The governmental office in Liangzhou already verified it. Initially, these items had been sent to Shangzhou, but the authorities there said this Zhou Yin wasn’t a local, he was from our Mianzhou. He married a woman surnamed Xia there, and after her parents’ deaths, he took his family and moved away. It’s said they were heading back to Mianzhou."

The Zhou Family members were all stunned to hear this.

The constable slapped his thigh and said, "And then somehow, the man ended up in Liangzhou, where his family of three fell victim to bandits. If it wasn’t for Liangzhou’s bandit suppression before the New Year, we probably wouldn’t even know they were dead."

The constable offered them shallow condolences, "Take care of yourselves in mourning, at least now you know whether they are alive or dead, right?"

Old Zhou’s eyes bulged out in disbelief.

Yet Ms.Qian was the first to snap back to reality and, nodding, said, "Yes, yes, you’re right."

Getting up, Ms.Qian pulled Manbao along to the constable and said with a smile, "Please sit down, I’ll go check on the kitchen..."

With so many people in the family, Junior Ms.Qian cooked swiftly. Before long, she prepared a full table’s worth of dishes and brought them out.

Old Zhou only called for Zhou Dalang to sit down to eat with them, while the other sons went to the kitchen to get their own bowl of noodle soup and squatted in the courtyard to eat.

The constable didn’t mind at all. As he gnawed on a chicken leg, he expressed with delight, "I always say, chicken should be eaten young. The chicken your family raises is truly delicious. This is, without doubt, the tastiest chicken I’ve had this year."

Old Zhou chuckled and offered him another chicken leg, saying, "If the official likes it, please have more."

The village chief couldn’t help but glance at him, thinking to himself that if Auntie Qian were here, even if she were reluctant, she would send him home with a chicken.

But what does it matter anyway?

As the village chief devoured his noodles, he was the one who knew about Zhou Yin’s circumstances the best, apart from the Zhou Family. The constable’s narrative was so consistent that if he hadn’t been certain Zhou Yin had died seven years ago, he might almost have thought that the belongings the constable brought were Zhou Yin’s personal effects.

With such a match in the situation, what was there to fear?

After the constable had eaten his fill and drunk plenty, he still took some things with him.

Because he fancied the tofu as well, Old Zhou let Junior Ms.Qian pack several pieces for him, even providing him with a basket to carry them.

But the man disdained their small baskets, insisting on taking a large basket that the Zhou Family kept under the eaves.

Old Zhou tolerated it all, reasoning the items weren’t valuable anyway. But as for the chicken, there was no way he would give it up.

He had just butchered one of his young laying hens, and it pained him dearly just thinking about it. And now the man wanted to take one home with him? He must be dreaming.

When neither subtle hints nor explicit requests worked, the constable pursed his lips, snorted coldly, and left.

Obviously, the goodwill that had begun to flourish over the course of a meal vanished immediately. The impression likely even dropped into the negatives.