“Yes.” The worker nodded. “It was someone who was sent here by the county police. They requested to see this file too.”
“When did this happen?”
“About an hour ago.” The worker looked at the book and said, “The sun just came up then. I was still sleeping. Someone woke me up by knocking on the door. The person barged in and demanded to see this file. This happened so long ago. I researched for a long time before I found it. I had just put it back when you showed up.” The worker touched his nose awkwardly, “If I had known about this, I wouldn’t have put it back and saved myself the trouble.”
“Who came?” Chen Xiaomeng asked.
The worker blinked with confusion. “It’s someone from the county police with the uniform. They also carried a cloth bag.”
“I mean, what do they look like?” Chen Xiaomeng realised something, and she uncontrollably raised her voice, “Is it a man or a woman?”
“A woman,” The worker replied instantly.
“Woman…” Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng shared a look. “One or two women?”
The worker couldn’t understand why they would want to know about this but he felt like it was something important so he quickly uttered, “Only one woman entered the centre, but I’m not sure if she had a companion waiting for her outside or not.”
“This…” The worker frowned with difficulty, “She wore a cap with a large rim. I was… focused on my research. And the sun just came up… I wasn’t paying attention.” A woman who came to An Ping Town’s local topography centre alone to ask about a kidnapping case at Little Ravine Village twenty years ago… Jiang Cheng’s face darkened. He was instantly reminded of Yu Man and Lee Lu. Even though they came in the police uniform, they could easily be swiped.
Chen Xiaomeng clearly came to the same conclusion. She asked swiftly, “Do you remember which direction she took when she left?”
“I do remember that.” The worker pointed out the door. “She turned right at the door.” Chen Xiaomeng instantly stood up.
“Wait.” Jiang Cheng called after her. He then scanned the worker, causing the latter to break out in goosebumps. “Did she do anything else when she was here?” Jiang Cheng asked sternly.
“She also read the villager’s records of Little Ravine Village,” The worker answered carefully, afraid that he might accidentally offend his superior. Chen Xiaomeng paused.
“Where is the villager record?” Jiang Cheng tapped the table lightly. The worker immediately went to look. In less than a minute, the villager's record of Little Ravine Village appeared in Jiang Cheng’s hand. He looked through it quickly. However, half a minute later, Jiang Cheng’s pupils narrowed. He found a familiar name in it: Liu Chunyi. Beside it was his role: the village head.
He was Little Ravine Village’s current village head and the person who invited the travellers to Little Ravine Village. However, the thing that garnered Jiang Cheng’s interest was not that but the bracket behind Liu Chunyi’s name. Inside the bracket was the village head’s second name… Qian Jianguo.
Chen Xiaomeng’s face dimmed. She was reminded of the three plaques inside the Qian Family Ancestral Hall: Qian Jianguo, Qian Jianse, and Qian Jianxiu.
So, the current village head of Little Ravine Village was the son of the previous Qian Village Head. However, he had changed his name to avoid the ghost.
His actions were explainable now. Su Yin burned down the hall but left behind the plaques of these people to remind the travellers that these three were still alive. Based on the villager’s record, the Qian Family had five children. The eldest and second sons died for unknown reasons. The third son, Qian Jianguo, changed his name and became the new village head of Little Ravine Village.
Qian Jianse was the fourth son, and he…
Jiang Cheng turned the page and realised that the page should contain the information on Qian Jianse was gone. The root of the page had uneven teeth. Clearly, someone had torn the page off.
“Bastard.” Chen Xiaomeng cursed.
Jiang Cheng didn’t mind the worker and took out the picture he found in the Qian Family Courtyard. After some comparisons, Jiang Cheng confirmed that the hunter with the gun was Qian Jianye, the merchant who was the second son was Qian Jianlin, and the third son was Qian Jianguo with the books. His name was now Liu Chunyi, and he was the current village head of Little Ravine Village.
The only person left was the fourth son, Qian Jianse, who was wearing a light blue apron in the picture.
“That’s the boss of An Ping Inn,” Chen Xiaomeng whispered. She remembered that the boss also had the surname Liu. He wore an apron often and was a good cook. He managed the inn and looked after his little sister, Qian Jianxiu.
This meant that the argument he had with the villagers of Little Ravine Village was just a show put up by the siblings to trick the travellers.
Jiang Cheng took a deep breath and let it out.
That should be the entirety of the case.
Then, they stopped wasting time and left.
The worker, who was visited by two batches of VIPs, sighed in relief. He prayed that he would not lose this job. “But it’s so strange.” The worker cleaned the table as he grumbled to himself, “Why do they have strange accents? Is that a hiring requirement now?” He shook his head. He wiped the table until it shone.
After leaving the topography centre, Chen Xiaomeng and Jiang Cheng hurried to An Ping Inn.
They thought that Lee Lu and Yu Man were trapped at Little Ravine Village, but reality proved them wrong.
One or maybe both of them had already left Little Ravine Village. Chen Xiaomeng hadn’t felt fooled in a long time already. She really lost her groove this time.
“Who do you think this could be?” Chen Xiaomeng asked, “Or are both of them working together?”
Jiang Cheng also became serious. “It should be a solo work. Two people will be too obvious.” He analysed. “Plus… Do you think the villagers will let us go so easily if no one is left behind?”