Chapter 331 Luck

Pan Yun said, "Chang Mingwei and Shen Qi are about the same age, but they have never played together because Shen Qi has always been an obedient and sensible scholar, while Chang Mingwei has been naughty since he was a child, picking chickens and dogs. Although he went to school for a few years, he was soon expelled from school for beating up classmates and teasing teachers. Later, he has been a street thug."

"His parents died of illness three years ago. The records in the case file show that the neighbors all said that they were pissed off by him. The Shen family almost never clashed with Chang Mingwei. I say almost because the Shen family helped them several times when Chang's parents were still alive. Chang Mingwei was very angry and kicked the door of the Shen family unilaterally."

"Later, the Shen family stopped helping the Chang family, but when they met on the road, they would still help carry and push things."

Miao Zhen asked perceptively: "Is it jealousy and comparison?"

Pan Yun nodded, "The prosecutor who wrote the case probably meant the same thing. Chang Mingwei must have wiped out the entire Shen family out of jealousy."

"For more than 20 years, Chang Mingwei has been compared. The Shen family and the Chang family used to have similar financial conditions, but after Shen Qi and Chang Mingwei grew up, the gap between the two families gradually widened."

"Chang Mingwei was a fighter, gambler, and prostitute. The Chang family had to pay him a lot of money every year, and their financial situation became worse and worse. In contrast, the Shen family had Shen Qi, who was kind and passed the imperial examination. He opened two more shops, which were managed by his parents and wife. He also opened a school to teach his children while preparing for the provincial examination."

"Two years ago, he and his wife had a son," Pan Yun paused and said, "The case file says that when Shen's wife died, she was five months pregnant. If nothing unexpected happens, he will have a son and a daughter. It can be said that even if he never passes the imperial examination, he will live a rich and peaceful life and be very happy."

Pan Yun said expressionlessly, "As for Chang Mingwei, one month before the incident, he lost his ancestral home and the only five acres of ancestral land left in his family, and he also owed the casino fifty taels of silver."

"That's why the government thought he broke into the Shen family to rob them. He needed money to pay off his debts."

Miao Zhen: "It seems like revenge."

Pan Yun nodded, "It's not just a simple robbery and murder. The prosecutor must have thought of this, so he issued a Class A wanted order with a reward of 100 taels of silver."

Among the wanted criminals with a reward of about ten taels of silver, he can be said to be very conspicuous.

Miaozhen pondered: "Will such a person with a long history of bad deeds change his bad habits just because he killed someone?"

Pan Jun raised his eyebrows and nodded, "Yes, that's what I thought. He may be able to tolerate it for a while, but he certainly can't tolerate it forever."

"Humans are social animals. They cannot live without people, and they have no ability to live without people," Pan Yun said. "And among people, with his narrow mind, he will definitely bear grudges against them. If he is not found quickly, someone will die."

Pan Yun pulled out a piece of paper, wrote down a few locations on it and circled them, "The residences of the Chang and Shen families, the casinos that Chang Mingwei often visited, this is the ancestral home and ancestral land of the Chang family, and this is the address of Chang Mingwei's mother's home."

Pan Yun said: "The case file says that Chang's mother's father and brother migrated north in their early years and are no longer in this area. They left a few plots of land for Chang's mother."

"Chang Mingwei is bold and reckless, but he must be in a place he is familiar with. If we look carefully around these four places, we may be able to find him."

Miaozhen: "Where do I start looking?"

"No one knows what's going on in a madman's mind. Although I suspect he's more likely to be near this place, we should still look from near to far." Pan Jun pointed to the circle of Chang's mother's house and said.

Miaozhen nodded.

This is easy, they can do it tomorrow.

At this time, Qu Le was walking towards a place called Baicun.

It was already dark, with only a faint moonlight. He walked forward with his head down, muttering, "I don't believe I can't find someone. If you can make money, I can do it too..."

In a fight, he couldn't beat Pan Yun, and he wasn't as fast as her.

Pan Jun is in the city now, and she will definitely check the city first. He can't snatch it from her, so he decided to check outside the city first. Maybe if he is lucky, he can find Chang Mingwei?

Qu Le walked in the dark, going further and further away, but also further and further...off.

He asked before leaving the city, and found out that Baicun was three villages west.

But you have to know that for Chinese people, giving directions is just like adding seasoning to a dish, it's all based on feeling.

Qu Le was unlucky, so he met a random person who gave him directions;
And he seemed to be lucky. In a village less than 20 miles ahead of him, a ragged strong young man had just driven the cow into the cowshed. The landlord, Mr. Wu, was standing not far away and scolding him, "The cow has been taken out for a day, and it's only half full. You don't even know how to let the cow go. Don't come here in the future. Get out tomorrow. You're just eating for free and doing no work..."

Mr. Wu kept cursing and swearing, and Mrs. Wu waited until his anger had almost subsided before she took out a steamed bun to give to the young man, but Mr. Wu knocked it away.

The steamed buns rolled to the ground, covered with dust and grass. Mrs. Wu couldn't help but pick them up, "What a sin! How can you throw away food?"

But before he could squat, Master Wu pulled him up and said, "Let him pick it up himself."

The young man stood in front of the cowshed without moving, with his head lowered so that no one could tell his expression.

Mrs. Wu broke free from Mr. Wu's hand, picked up the steamed bun, patted the dirty spots on it, handed it to the young man and whispered, "It's a little dirty, you can peel off the skin and eat it. You came back late, and this is the only one left in the kitchen..."

The young man stood still.

Mr. Wu got angry and knocked the bun out of Mrs. Wu's hand, shouting, "Eat it if you want. If you don't want to eat, you'll be hungry. You're still unreasonable for coming back late? I took you in. I don't know where you came from. You don't even have a household registration page. Who knows if you are a runaway slave?" "If I hadn't taken you in out of kindness, you would have starved to death. You look strong, but you're useless. You can't do anything. You can't even feed a cow. What's the use of you?"

Mr. Wu cursed and swore. Mrs. Wu felt a chill on the back of her neck for some reason. She was a little scared and quickly pulled Mr. Wu to comfort him, "Okay, okay, Mr. Wu, let's go back and rest. It's getting late."

Mrs. Wu pulled Mr. Wu away. She felt a little uneasy and whispered, "Master, just give him some money and let him go. I always feel scared when I see him. We should not use people of unknown origin."

Mr. Wu gave her a sidelong look and said, "Women's opinions, where can we find such a long-term worker who doesn't want wages? There are so many people in our family, are we afraid of him?"

"Although he is not good at work, he is at least a strong laborer," said Mr. Wu. "Keep him. He can be used for transplanting rice and pulling the plow next year."

Mrs. Wu: "But I get scared just looking at him..."

"Then don't look at him," Master Wu scolded her, "Why do you come out to look at him when you have nothing to do? Just stay in the room embroidering your flowers and doing your needlework. Wherever I go all day long, you go..."

Mrs. Wu: "I'm worried that something bad will happen to you, right? Master, you should be more patient in the future and be more polite to the long-term and short-term workers..."

"I'm polite to the workers? I invited them here to work, not to enjoy themselves, so how can I be polite to them? If you don't know how to stay out of it, you have to keep a close eye on these people, otherwise they'll slack off if you make a mistake..."

The sound gradually disappeared into the night, and the young man standing in front of the cowshed stepped forward to pick up the steamed bun. He peeled off the dirty parts, then stuffed the steamed bun into his mouth, raised his eyes to look in the direction where Mr. and Mrs. Wu left, and chewed and swallowed the steamed bun bite by bite.

Qu Le walked until midnight and finally couldn't help but stop to make a fire and sleep outdoors.

At dawn the next day, the young man from the cowshed went to Mr. Wu with a droopy look in his eyes to ask for a sickle. "There's not much grass in the field. I'll go cut some grass for them to eat."

Mr. Wu's expression finally looked better. "This is more like herding cattle. If you take them to that bare hillside to herd them, it would be strange if the cattle could get enough to eat."

He personally opened the utility room, picked out a fairly sharp sickle and gave it to him, and warned him: "Be careful, this sickle has a new blade this year, don't break it, you'll need it for the harvest next year."

The young man agreed, touched the blade, turned around and left.

As the young man drove a group of cattle up the mountain, he was carrying a whetstone in his arms.

While herding cattle, he was sharpening his knife.

At this time, Pan Yun and Miao Zhen were standing in front of the Shen family's door. They sneaked in and took a look at the Shen family.

Seeing the blood splattered on the ground and walls, I roughly knew how he killed the person and went to Chang's house next door.

The Chang family's mansion was lost to a gambling house by Chang Mingwei a long time ago.

But the gambling house had many such properties. The Chang family's house was next to the Shen family's and was once the murderer's residence, so it was also difficult to sell, so it remained sealed.

Most of the stuff inside is still there.

Pan Jun rummaged around in Chang Mingwei's room and found a piece of clothing that still had a bit of smell. She threw it on the table and said, "Use this to find him."

This is Miaozhen's favorite stage, which can test her divination.

This time Pan Yun planned to try a different method, "Try the tracking talisman."

Miaozhen: “…I can’t draw it.”

Pan Yun said, "I will draw and you will tell the divination, let's see which one is more accurate."

While the two were showing off their abilities, Qu Le also walked into the village. He met a villager at the entrance of the village and his eyes widened instantly, "What? This isn't Baicun, it's Wujiazhuang?"

"Yes, Baicun is over there, eight miles away from our village. How did you get here if you wanted to go to Baicun?"

Qu Le: "...He said to go west all the way, go up the slope when you come across it, and the third village is there."

"Well, Bai Village is in the south-west, and the village to the west is Wujia Village. Besides, if you go to the west, this road is blocked because there is a mountain in the middle, so there is no road."

Qu Le: ...If he can’t walk, can’t he fly?
Flying due west would save him from going around the mountain. He thought he was closer to Baicun, but he didn't expect that he had taken a long detour.

Qu Le took a deep breath and forced a smile, "Got it, I'll go to Baicun now."

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving behind Wujiazhuang and the young man who was sharpening a knife on the hillside not far away.

　Qu Le burst into tears: Luck is such a mysterious thing.

　　(End of this chapter)