Chapter 8: Poor people must be hateful
"In the evening, the Yang family's mother-in-law came to me and borrowed two cents from me to make up eighty cents. Then she went to buy rice. Unexpectedly, the price of rice increased by another twelve cents per liter, and the Yang family's mother-in-law had no choice but to return empty-handed."
"After the mother-in-law of the Yang family came home, she saw the starving children and the lame man. In anger and grief, she took her whole family to commit suicide."
"The price of rice has been rising again and again in one day. The owner of this Dafa rice store is too dark-hearted." After hearing Yang Sansong tell the story of Mrs. Yang Xiaojin's rice purchase, Xi Xingchen suddenly felt an unknown fire in his heart. , couldn't help but curse.
"In years of natural disasters, it is common for landowners and profiteers to hoard rice and the price of rice rises every day." Dong Liangce sneered, pointing at the clothes on his body, and mocking himself. "If I weren't wearing this leather, the rice shop owner wouldn't dare to increase the price on me. I'm afraid my family would have run out of rice for cooking."
"Damn it! If I encounter an unscrupulous merchant, I will cut his head off." Xi Xingchen said angrily.
Yang Sansong glanced at Xi Xingchen gratefully, but said with a gloomy expression: "Everyone is dead, there is no use saying anything now."
Xi Xingchen looked at Yang Sansong in surprise.
According to Xi Xingchen's original intention, he wanted to get something out of Yang Sansong's mouth. Unexpectedly, Yang Sansong was very alert and hinted that he should be careful about what he said.
When something goes wrong, there must be a monster. Although Xi Xingchen didn't know why Yang Sansong hinted at him, he also understood that Yang Sansong had good intentions, so he changed the topic and said: "I heard the villagers talking privately just now, and they all called Yang Xiaojin Mr. Yang. Lai, is there any allusion to this?"
Yang Sansong smiled bitterly and said: "Yang Xiaojin has a habit of taking advantage. Even if there is no shortage of things at home, he likes to borrow things from his neighbors, and after borrowing, he doesn't like to return them. When others came to ask for it, he used the excuse that he didn't have written evidence to do so."
At this point, Yang Sansong showed a helpless expression: "Two police officers, tell me, our village is full of illiterate people who cannot read Chinese characters. How can we get written evidence?"
Dong Liangce nodded and said: "That's true. For fellow villagers, the east family borrows a liter of rice and the west family borrows a handful of firewood. Borrowing and returning depends on the understanding and trust of each. There is no one-to-one basis. Besides, If even a handful of rice and a handful of firewood have to be documented, wouldn’t it mean that the laws of nature, human relations, public order and good customs would just become decorations?”
"Yes, that's why the villagers call him Yang Laolai behind his back." said the villager who mocked the government earlier.
"That's right! Our residents in Yangjia Village are all descended from the same ancestors. When the family is in trouble, everyone will lend a hand to help. It is because of Yang Xiaojin's shady character that the villagers are afraid that he will turn his back on him and dare not help. He, as a result, led to today's tragedy." At this point, Yang Sansong shook his head and sighed again.
After hearing Yang Sansong's explanation, Xi Xingchen couldn't help but sigh: "This really proves the saying: Poor people must be hateful."
Inside the Discipline Hall.
Yuan Xingbang signaled Wen Gaoming to be quiet and asked Xi Xingchen: "Is the owner of 'Dafa Rice Store' Yao Guoping?"
"Yes!" Xi Xingchen replied.
Yuan Xingbang said with a serious expression: "Although Yao Guoping's behavior is hateful, it is not worthy of death, and it is not the reason for you to kill his whole family, right?"
"Of course not!"
"Is there a secret behind it?" Yuan Xingbang asked.
Xi Xingchen nodded: "Dong Liangce and I recorded the case in the register and asked Li Zheng to properly arrange the funeral arrangements for Yang Xiaojin's family. It was already late at night, so we found an inn in Zhuma Town to stay. That night, a strange thing happened in the inn.”
"What's weird?" Yuan Xingbang suddenly became interested.
Jing Xian thirty-four years, April 12, night.
After Xi Xingchen and Dong Liangce completed recording the case of Yang Xiaojin's family seeking suicide, they discussed with Li Zheng Yang Sansong how to deal with the funeral affairs of Yang Xiaojin's family. When everything was done, it was time to light the lanterns.
Considering that there is still more than 40 miles of mountain road from Yangjiacun to Wanxian County, and there is a famine in the whole county, the two of them thought that the way back might not be peaceful, so they decided to stay one night at an inn in Zhuma Town. Then set off back to the county government office to pay errands.
After washing up, the two asked for a pot of tea from the store, and while drinking the tea, they reviewed the day's case.
"Master Dong, why do I feel that Li Zheng in Yangjiacun still has some things he hasn't told us." Xi Xingchen picked up the tea cup and took a sip.
"I also think something is wrong with him, but I can't tell what the problem is." Dong Liangce nodded and frowned.
"I think the owner of 'Dafa Rice Store' must be involved." Xi Xingchen expressed his doubts.
"What do you say?" Dong Liangce asked.
"Think about it. Didn't Yang Sansong say that on the day she hanged herself, didn't the Yang family's mother-in-law go to the Dafa Rice Store to buy rice with eighty cents? But the owner of the Dafa Rice Store took the Yang family's mother-in-law's eighty yuan to buy rice. He didn't sell rice to her even though there were two large coins in the ten cents that were not acceptable. Don't you think there is something wrong with this approach of the owner of Dafa Rice Store?" Xi Xingchen said.
"What's the problem?" Dong Liangce asked puzzled.
"As far as I know, in addition to the official money issued by the government, Dayan also issues local people's money. The two big coins in the hands of the Yang family's mother-in-law, if I guess correctly, should be two Jiangnan Tongbao. If I remember If it's true, the salary paid to Mr. Dong by the county master is also a treasure from Jiangnan. Am I right?" Xi Xingchen looked at Dong Liangce.
Dong Liangce immediately understood what Xi Xingchen meant, and said with an angry look on his face: "Jiangnan Tongbao can be circulated in Tianbao, Wulin, Xiaoxiang, and Jianghuai provinces. We in Wan County have insufficient official funds, so the salary given to us by the county magistrate, The one we use is Jiangnan Tongbao. If we go by what the owner of Dafa Rice Store says, all of us errands will starve to death."
"So I suspect that the owner of Dafa Rice Store did not sell rice to Madam Yang on purpose." Xi Xingchen affirmed.
"Why do you see that?" Dong Liangce has been working as a police officer for more than thirty years. He has a calm temper and likes to be rational in everything.
"Because just yesterday, the Yang family's mother-in-law collected eighty cents, and the price of rice in Dafa Rice Store suddenly increased by another twelve cents. Isn't this obvious?" Xi Xingchen expressed his opinion, "Besides, Well, the Yang family’s mother-in-law has eighty cents in hand. Even if she doesn’t have enough to buy a catty of rice, can’t she buy half a catty of rice first to save her life?”
"Listening to what you said, it's really the same thing." Dong Liangce's face suddenly became serious, "Why did the owner of Dafa Rice Store do this, and what was his motive?"
"This may be the part that Yang Lizheng is hiding from us." Xi Xingchen said.
"Why don't we go back to Yangjiacun tomorrow and ask Li Zheng for details." Dong Liangce was a little moved after hearing what Xi Xingchen said.
