A certain drugstore in the county town
A group of government officials entered the drugstore, causing panic in the main hall as people thought something serious had happened.
Upon seeing this, the shopkeeper immediately stepped forward, "Arrest Officer Guan, what brings you here? May I know what important matter brings you to our drugstore?"
"Tell me, is this rat poison sold by your drugstore?" Arrest Officer Guan said as he took out the rat poison Yang Ming had turned in and handed it to the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper’s eyes flickered when he saw the drug. Was this about the widely discussed poisoning case? Indeed, the poison had been sold by his drugstore. Could he be implicated? Thus, "Arrest Officer Guan, this rat poison is very common; any drugstore would have it. It’s not necessarily sold by our store!"
"Is that so?" Arrest Officer Guan was almost certain it was this place, since after visiting many drugstores, he learned that only this store sold that kind of poison. So, he waved to the other officials, "Take him to the prison for interrogation!"
"Eh, Arrest Officer Guan, let’s talk this over. I’ll have the attendant look into it!" The shopkeeper hurriedly called over the attendant who sold the medicine as he heard they were about to make an arrest.
"Some days ago, indeed, someone bought a lot of this kind of rat poison!" the attendant recalled.
"Do you remember that person? Do you have any record of the sale?" Arrest Officer Guan felt the investigation was close to being resolved.
"There’s no record, but that person was quite unique! A man, he limped as he walked!"
"Take him back, and draw a portrait!"
Back at the county government office, it wasn’t long before the painter had finished the portrait, which Arrest Officer Guan promptly took to the Yang Family village.
"Officer, have there been any developments in the case today?"
"Hmm, Madam Yang, your family should identify this person. This is the man who bought a large amount of rat poison," Arrest Officer Guan said as he took out the portrait.
Xiaoxiao took the portrait and scrutinized it carefully; it looked familiar yet she couldn’t recall who it was – but she was sure it was someone close to them.
"Dad, take a look, do you know this man? He looks familiar, but I can’t remember,"
Old Man Yang took the portrait and, in the end, shook his head. The portrait was passed around among the family members, with everyone looking closely to identify the poisoner.
While the family was carefully trying to figure out who the man was, Yang Ming was watching Arrest Officer Guan, noticing that he had called his daughter-in-law ’Xiaoxiao’ in private, but now in front of others, he referred to her as ’Madam Yang’. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he felt about this man.
Yang Ming did not respond.
Xiaoxiao noticed, not only did he daydream when she called him, but when his father called, he did too. What was going on with him, had something happened to her bargain of a husband?
"Dad is calling you to take a look at this portrait!"
"Oh!" Yang Ming took the portrait and studied it closely, "Xiaoqiu!"
Being addressed by her brother, Yang Qiu became extremely nervous, realizing her brother had recognized the man.
"Isn’t this Wang Ergou?"
"..." Wang Ergou? Xiaoxiao felt the name sounded familiar and was puzzled when suddenly,
"It’s him, it’s him, his evil spirit lingers, he has sought us out, he won’t leave me alone! He won’t!" Terrified, Yang Qiu began trembling. Suddenly, as if mad, she ran out crying and screaming.
Seeing Yang Qiu’s reaction, Xiaoxiao finally came to a sudden realization, wondering how they could have forgotten such a person. Wasn’t he already taught a lesson? It seemed they hadn’t been hard enough on him!