Chapter 661 - 655: Reporting a Case
Chapter 661: Chapter 655: Reporting a Case
"Oh my, I haven’t seen him in the village at all these past two days." Mention of Su Shengli’s name prompted someone to exclaim, "He doesn’t seem to be here today, either!"
"No kidding. With something this big happening, how come Su Shengli hasn’t shown his face?" another villager said. "Shengguo’s family has been away these past few days. He couldn’t have just ignored his old ma and taken off to fool around, could he?"
Su Shengli had a disability; one of his arms had been badly injured by Tian Aixiang. Because of this, the already lazy Su Shengli had a permanent excuse to avoid working in the fields. The villagers were used to this. So, when he was nowhere to be seen during the recent busy autumn harvest, no one thought anything of it. It was only now, with this incident at the Su family home, that they were startled to realize Su Shengli wasn’t at home at all.
For a moment, the crowd buzzed with discussion, speculating on Old Mrs. Su’s cause of death and Su Shengli’s whereabouts.
At the doorway of Old Mrs. Su’s room, Zhao Youcai composed himself before saying to Su Shengguo, "This has to be reported to the police. By the way, where’s Victory? For something this serious, he needs to show his face."
Su Shengguo frowned. "I don’t know. We came back and found my mother dead in her room. Victory wasn’t home either. I have no idea what’s happened these past few days. Village Head, have you seen Victory around?"
Zhao Youcai shook his head. "I haven’t seen him in two or three days, either."
With that, Zhao Youcai found a villager and sent him to the village committee office to have them call and report the case to the police. He then turned back to Su Shengguo. "Shengguo, what’s done is done. We’ll wait for the police to get to the bottom of this. No matter what, we have to get justice for your mother."
Old Mrs. Su may have done plenty of wicked things, but she was a resident of Lihua Village nonetheless. Now that she had died so mysteriously, the matter certainly had to be investigated thoroughly.
With tears in his eyes, Su Shengguo silently nodded.
"Right, did you bring Meizi back?" Zhao Youcai asked, remembering the reason Su Shengguo’s family had gone to Beijing.
"We brought her back," Su Shengguo nodded. "For now, we’ve placed her in the thatched shed at the edge of the village. The plan was to go back to Beijing after Meizi’s funeral. We still have some things to take care of there."
Zhao Youcai said, "In that case, you should take care of the arrangements for Meizi first. If your mother really was murdered, I’m afraid she can’t be buried for some time. You’ll definitely have to wait for the results of the police investigation."
Su Shengguo sighed, tears streaming down his face. "I understand."
As he spoke, Su Shengguo cast a complicated glance at Old Mrs. Su. ’Truth be told, she doted on me. Not as much as my third brother, of course, but after him, I was her favorite son. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gotten my second brother’s job for me after he passed away.’
However, Su Shengguo still harbored resentment toward Old Mrs. Su. He couldn’t help but think that if she hadn’t been so abusive to Su Qing back then, the Old Su Family wouldn’t be on such bad terms with her now—unable to even benefit from her success. And then there was his own daughter’s death... When he remembered the things Old Mrs. Su had said before they left for Beijing, a wave of suppressed anger washed over him.
But whatever Su Shengguo felt about Old Mrs. Su now, she was dead—and in such a ghastly manner. It wasn’t just his family; even the other villagers found it lamentable. No one could have ever imagined this would be Old Mrs. Su’s end.
The police, having received the report, arrived in Lihua Village shortly after. Following a preliminary investigation, they took statements from Su Shengguo’s family and Zhao Youcai, then transported Old Mrs. Su’s body back to the county seat.
Zhao Youcai dispersed the crowd of gawking villagers and turned to the still dejected-looking Su Shengguo. "The police said they’ll look for Victory and Lihui. It’s possible the two of them know something."
"I just don’t get it," Su Shengguo said sullenly, wiping his face. "It makes sense for Lihui to be away, since he doesn’t come back often. But why is Victory gone too? My mother was bedridden and needed someone to look after her. How could he just disappear without a trace?"
"Well, who knows," Zhao Youcai said. "In any case, let’s just wait for word from the police."
"Okay. Thank you for everything today, Village Head," Su Shengguo said to Zhao Youcai.
"Don’t mention it," Zhao Youcai said. "I’m the village head; it’s my job to worry about these things. You, on the other hand, should really think about what you’re going to do. You still have two sons. You have to think about their future."
Zhao Youcai was speaking from the heart. He remembered a time when the Old Su Family was large and thriving. But who would have thought that after just a few years, between deaths and departures, the entire extended family would be down to just six people? Su Shengguo’s branch was doing all right, but that father-son pair, Su Shengli and Lihui... ah!
Just thinking about them made Zhao Youcai want to sigh. ’That father and son are each more unreliable than the last.’ He worried that one day, the two of them, lacking any ability to make a living, would simply starve to death.
"I understand," Su Shengguo nodded. He secretly decided, ’Once Mother’s affairs are settled, I’m going to formally split the household from my third brother. In the future, our two families will live our own lives. It’ll be best if we don’t interfere with each other.’
Seeing that Su Shengguo seemed to have taken his words to heart, Zhao Youcai felt a sense of relief. He exchanged a few more words with Su Shengguo before leaving.
After Zhao Youcai left, Su Lidong came over, his face pale. "Dad, Mom," he said to Su Shengguo and Zheng Erlian, "are you still going to Beijing in a few days? I... I want to go with you. I don’t want to stay home. I’m scared."
Su Lidong was genuinely terrified. ’His grandmother had just died in the house.’ He felt that if he and his younger brother were left home alone, they’d be scared to death. The more he thought about it, the paler his face became.
Su Lifeng, standing to the side, said nothing, but his expression was also grim. He was clearly traumatized by Old Mrs. Su’s death.
Su Shengguo thought for a moment, then said, "Alright. Once we’ve handled Meizi’s funeral, we’ll all go to Beijing together."
At this point, Su Shengguo didn’t dare leave his two sons home alone either. After all, the cause of Old Mrs. Su’s death was still unknown. Who knew if it was an intentional act? If his sons were home alone and ran into the murderer, it would be too late for regrets.
Seeing their father agree, Su Lidong and Su Lifeng both breathed a secret sigh of relief.
Over the next few days, Su Shengguo’s family quietly buried Su Mei without holding a large ceremony. By the time the villagers learned of it, she was already in the ground.
Meanwhile, some news arrived from the police.
Old Mrs. Su’s death was confirmed as a homicide, but the killer had not yet been found. Furthermore, there was still no trace of Su Shengli and his son. For the time being, the case had reached an impasse.