"Hmm, what’s the result?"
The female assistant’s expression was a bit complex. She deeply gazed at Chen Yan before slowly saying, "He Village, since Mrs. He’s death, three people have died in the village.
The first victim’s name is Ding Youquan, an outsider in He Village, but he has some kinship with the He Family.
Male, forty-one years old, married with a wife and a son. However, he’s already divorced—rumor has it because he had a habit of domestic violence, often beating and scolding his wife and children in his youth.
After the divorce, his son lived with the ex-wife and moved to another town.
The funeral procession we encountered today was for Ding Youquan.
This man relied on farming and contracting fishponds for his livelihood. He especially supplied live fish to several restaurants in town, making some income. But he was a gambling addict and couldn’t save any money, often owing gambling debts.
Eight days ago, he fell into the fishpond while fishing. He was pulled out and seemed fine initially. The next day, his friend visited him, only to find he had died at home. The hospital examined him and concluded that the cold water in winter caused a high fever, leading to shock. Without anyone to care for him, he didn’t get timely medical help and died at home.
Oh, we ran into his funeral procession today because... his son held a grudge against him for beating and scolding him and his mother since childhood and refused to host the funeral or carry the urn. Relatives tried to persuade him until just before the funeral, but he refused, causing the delay. The funeral was in the afternoon, and we bumped into them."
A scumbag who constantly abused his family, deserved to die without anyone to send him off.
Those persuading relatives were damn meddling fools.
Then, the female assistant mentioned two more people.
One was surnamed Wang, named Wang Dasheng, also an outsider in He Village—though different from Ding Youquan, he had no kinship with the He Family.
Wang Dasheng, thirty-seven years old, male, with a wife and children. But he was idle, got into fights, served over a year in jail. Later, he married through an introduction.
Previously worked at a fruit wholesale market in the county, helping a boss collect fruits from rural farmers.
During off-season, with no fruit business, he idled in the village, drinking and gambling.
This man was a drunkard, fighting, drinking, gambling were common for him.
Ten days ago, he suddenly had a heart attack at the poker table. People around him rushed to the hospital, but he died before reaching it.
The hospital’s preliminary judgment was that a heart attack caused sudden death, but the family refused an autopsy, so no further examination was done.
The last one was surnamed He—hearing this surname, one might think he belonged to the He Family.
But he wasn’t; just happened to share the same surname without any connection to the He Family in He Village.
His name was He Deyan, male, thirty-nine years old, an old bachelor.
In rural areas, old bachelors tend to be notorious rogues or idle rascals.
He Deyan was this type of person. His mother remarried with a child, bringing him to this place. He came to He Village when his mother married again. Both mother and stepfather died of illness later; he became well-known as a rogue in the village.
Stealing chickens and dogs by day, kicking widows’ doors by night—that’s his general behavior.
Committed small crimes and got arrested, mostly detained for a few days. Though a rogue, he lacked guts for big crimes, committing petty thefts instead.
Over ten days ago, he died in a car accident in the county.
The female assistant summarized information she gathered and sat back quietly.
Chen Yan looked at Chu Keqing: "Well, did you notice the problem?"
Chu Keqing slowly said, "These three dead people... all died after Mrs. He’s grave collapsed!"
"Hmm." Chen Yan nodded: "Moreover... these three had something in common; they were the lowest echelon in rural areas, idle, corrupt, with ugly habits, and no spare money in their families.
Such people are the easiest to be bribed by interests."
Chu Keqing squinted and thought, then lowly said, "Senior’s meaning is... human caused disaster?"
Chen Yan pointed at the guest list book on the table, saying calmly, "If I’m not mistaken, check this guest list; these three didn’t attend the funeral! Their names are not on the guest list."
Chu Keqing seriously checked the book.
Mrs. He, Sun Chen, was evidently good at housekeeping; the book was clear and well-organized under her instructions, though not written by her.
During the funeral period, it recorded every guest’s household, name, amount of money gifted, and items brought clearly and orderly.
After checking it through, Chu Keqing’s face slightly changed.
"Senior, the book states... at Mrs. He’s funeral, indeed Ding Youquan, Wang Dasheng, and He Deyan didn’t come, their names are not in the book."
Chen Yan shook his head: "They’re guilty."