The dilapidated wooden door was practically useless, making the voices outside perfectly audible.
“Why are we searching for someone at the Si family eldest son’s place?”
“MuMu is just a young girl. She couldn’t have gone far. She even told me a few days ago that someone seemed to be following her. Some villagers said they saw her heading this way, so I thought I’d come check if she was here.”
The voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Mu Qinqin searched through her memories and recognized it immediately—it belonged to Chang Qiuyue, the female lead Shen Feng’er’s close friend in the village. This was the next scene about to unfold: pinning a scandalous accusation on Si Chengchen.
Tsk tsk, just listen to those words.
“She said someone was following her a few days ago.”
Wasn’t that obviously directing suspicion toward Si Chengchen?
If they really caught them “red-handed,” he’d never escape the blame.
Outside the door, Chang Qiuyue stared at the shabby mud hut nearby, triumph and disgust flashing through her eyes.
A blind peasant. So what if he used to be a soldier? Now he was just a blind cripple.
Once this succeeded, she’d get a hundred yuan.
And she’d get rid of Mu Qinqin too!
That woman only relied on her pretty face! Otherwise, why would Educated Youth Song have fallen for her?!
Once Mu Qinqin married a peasant, Song Zhiqing would finally notice her instead.
Thinking of this, her expression instantly shifted into one of extreme worry. Pointing sharply at a handkerchief beneath a wooden plank as if she’d discovered something important, she shrieked, “It’s MuMu’s handkerchief! I recognize it! It’s the one she always carries!”
“MuMu! MuMu!” As if genuinely concerned for Mu Qinqin, Chang Qiuyue rushed forward and slammed the wooden door open with a bang.
The next second, she screamed again.
“Ah! Y-you two! What are you doing?!”
Following her reaction, the villagers behind her hurried in as well to see what was happening.
But once inside—
The two middle-aged men leading the group exchanged confused looks before asking, “Chang Qiuyue, what exactly did you see? What do you mean ‘you two’? Isn’t there only the Si family boy here?”
Why was she screaming like she’d witnessed something scandalous?
Chang Qiuyue, who had been pretending to scream dramatically in hopes of attracting everyone nearby, froze. She quickly looked around the room. Earlier, she had been certain the pair were inside, so she hadn’t even bothered checking. Afraid they might escape, she had started yelling the moment she pushed the door open.
Now that she looked carefully, she was dumbfounded.
The room was shabby and tiny.
One glance was enough to take in the entire place. Inside there was only a kang bed, a washbasin, and a few miscellaneous items.
There was nowhere to hide anyone.
But…
Only Si Chengchen was inside.
There was no sign of Mu Qinqin.
And Si Chengchen himself looked completely normal. Not only did he show no trace of anything suspicious, he was calmly drinking water, his eyes as still and emotionless as ever.
At that moment, he looked toward the crowd at the door.
“Is something wrong?”
“How is that possible?!” Before the villagers could respond, Chang Qiuyue screamed in disbelief, completely exposing herself without realizing it.
How could Mu Qinqin not be here?!
She had personally watched Mu Qinqin enter the house!
That was why she had gathered people to catch them in the act.
How could there be nobody?!
Panic appeared on Chang Qiuyue’s face.
Because of her earlier deliberate shouting, nearby neighbors had all poked their heads out to watch the commotion, asking what had happened.
After learning that an educated youth had gone missing, people immediately asked, “Then why come here to search at Chengchen’s place?”
“No idea. Chang Qiuyue brought everyone here saying she saw her come this way.” Even the people who had followed Chang Qiuyue were beginning to sense something was off.
The doorway became packed with heads craning to peer inside.
“Comrade Si, have you seen MuMu? Someone said she came this way.” Chang Qiuyue forcibly suppressed her panic, staring fixedly at Si Chengchen’s face.
He must have hidden her somewhere!
She absolutely couldn’t let Mu Qinqin escape today.
Otherwise the job wouldn’t be completed, and she’d lose her money!
“Who saw her?”
Thunk.
The chipped cup in Si Chengchen’s hand landed lightly on the wooden table. His eyes swept accurately toward Chang Qiuyue. Though he couldn’t see clearly, that single glance felt as if it had seen straight through her.
“I-I just heard it from someone else.” Chang Qiuyue somehow felt frozen stiff by that gaze and stammered out the lie.
“Looks like she’s not here. Let’s search somewhere else.” Since nobody had found anything, the crowd began dispersing. One girl close to Chang Qiuyue even tried pulling her away.
But Chang Qiuyue violently shook off her hand, looking as though she had been deeply provoked.
“Impossible! She’s definitely here! Someone told me so!”
She insisted Mu Qinqin was here.
Her reaction was strange enough that the smarter villagers were already sensing something suspicious.
Just as someone was about to speak—
Chang Qiuyue suddenly reddened her eyes and looked at Si Chengchen.
“Comrade Si, where did you hide MuMu? A few days ago she told me she thought you were following her and trying to do something improper to her. Did you hide her somewhere?!”
“Qiuyue, don’t talk nonsense!” Beside her, another girl nearly jumped in shock and hurriedly grabbed her.
Words like that couldn’t be thrown around casually!
Many villagers frowned as well.
“Do you even have proof for saying something like that?”
Of course, there were also people who had long been dissatisfied with Si Chengchen, and they were now looking at him suspiciously.
Under all those different gazes, Si Chengchen’s expression remained unchanged, though his eyes grew colder.
“I’m not talking nonsense! Mu Qinqin personally told me! She said after work one day she felt someone following her—and it was you!”
In her desperation, she was forcing the accusation onto him no matter what.
“Tch.”
A light but clear sound suddenly came from above everyone’s heads.
Immediately after—
A stone hammer came flying down from the roof.
It landed perfectly, grazing Chang Qiuyue’s face before smashing onto her foot.
“AHHH!”
Chang Qiuyue’s face instantly turned deathly pale with fright. Squatting down and clutching her foot, she let out a miserable scream.
The surrounding villagers were startled by her sudden shriek.
Among the crowd, a young man couldn’t help blurting out in surprise, “Why does she sound like a pig being slaughtered?”
It would have been better if he hadn’t said it.
The moment he did, everyone realized it really did sound like that, and bursts of laughter immediately erupted.
Chang Qiuyue’s face alternated between green and white. Unable to vent her anger at the crowd, she could only glare furiously at the culprit on the roof.
“Who?! Come out! Who threw that at me?!”
“It was me, Qiuyue.” Mu Qinqin’s pretty face popped out from a large hole in the roof as she cheerfully waved at the people below.
“You?!” Chang Qiuyue’s expression changed drastically. “Why are you on the roof?”
The moment the words left her mouth, her expression shifted again into one of “heartbroken realization.”
“Did Si Chengchen hide you on the roof? Don’t be afraid—we’re all here. He wouldn’t dare hurt you anymore.”
Chang Qiuyue was convinced Mu Qinqin had been hidden up there by Si Chengchen.
However—
“Did you burn your brain or something?” Mu Qinqin looked completely baffled, as if she couldn’t understand Chang Qiuyue’s words at all. Raising the other hammer and tools in her hand, she said, “Comrade Si asked me to help repair the roof.”