Chapter 29

The Conclusion of the Trashy Man and Shameless Woman

Summer Wan Yang had her back to her hands, her head lowered, and she smiled without saying a word.

“Summer Wan Yang, what did you just call me?” Zhang Shiye asked, holding back a smile.

“Zhang Shiye, you’ve already called me by my full name, haven’t you? We’ve fought together before, so why be so formal? I call you Zhang Shiye, what’s wrong with that?” Summer Wan Yang looked up and said coquettishly.

“Sure, that’s fine. Just call me by my full name,” Zhang Shiye said, looking at her with affection.

The way he looked at her made Summer Wan Yang feel a bit embarrassed. “Alright then, but don’t bring me food anymore. You eat more, you look so thin, and you don’t seem strong!”

Zhang Shiye froze, his smile faltering. “I’m not strong?”

Summer Wan Yang nodded like a little chick pecking at grains. “You look a bit thin.”

Actually, Summer Wan Yang felt sorry for him. In her past life, his sisters-in-law made his life a living hell, and Zhang Shiye eventually separated from his parents and lived on his own.

But in Zhang Shiye’s ears, what she said was: She thinks I’m too thin, she says I’m weak, she thinks I’m not strong enough!

Zhang Shiye laughed, albeit through gritted teeth, “Summer Wan Yang, I’m not thin. Do you want me to take my shirt off and show you?”

He thought Summer Wan Yang would feel shy, but to his surprise, the little girl’s eyes lit up as she stared at him without moving, her face almost reading “take it off.”

“Little girl, aren’t you ashamed?” Zhang Shiye asked through clenched teeth.

Summer Wan Yang also realized she had been a bit reckless, feeling a bit shy after the fact, but her mouth was quicker than her brain. “Not ashamed!”

After speaking, she looked stunned, quickly covered her mouth, made a huffy little sound, and ran away.

Zhang Shiye burst out laughing. She was just too cute, how could anyone resist such an adorable girl?

Summer Wan Yang arrived at the worksite. Before she could even settle down, she heard a commotion outside. The group of women picking seeds, like dogs catching the scent of meat, immediately ran out in a hurry.

Aunt Ding grabbed Wang’s big head. “Big Head, what happened?”

Wang Donghui was as his name suggested—his head was big, and his neck was thick. His appearance was hard to describe.

“Ah, don’t grab me! The two loose women in the cow shed are dead! They didn’t show up for work this morning. The squad leader sent someone to find them, and the messenger came back terrified, saying they were both completely black, and it was a horrible death. Let go of me! I’m in a hurry to watch the commotion!”

Aunt Ding didn’t wait for him to finish and ran faster than anyone.

Summer Wan Yang also looked curious and followed the crowd slowly.

When they reached the cow shed, it was surrounded by a crowd, the entrance blocked by people in several circles. Summer Wan Yang wasn’t very interested in seeing the scene. Laughing at the women who’d met their end was one thing, but with the presence of bamboo leaf green, silver-bellied, and white-browed pit vipers, it was easy to imagine how gruesome the bodies would be.

Zhang Heping, however, dared not cover up the situation. Since a youth had died, it had to be reported; otherwise, he’d be in trouble too!

Zhou Xu drove the tractor to the commune, where there was a phone to directly contact the police station.

“Alright, don’t disturb the scene. Everyone go back to work!” Zhang Heping shouted, his voice hoarse.

Reluctantly, everyone began heading back, as the brigade hadn’t seen anything significant happen in years. They wanted to stay and watch, but the squad leader’s orders couldn’t be ignored.

Forty minutes later, before Zhou Xu returned, a police car arrived. Four police officers and a doctor in a white coat carrying a toolbox got out.

“Comrade police, I’m the squad leader of the Dongfang Hong Brigade. These two didn’t show up for work this morning, and that’s when we realized something had happened. They were both youths, and they just got married yesterday afternoon. They might have met their end last night!” Zhang Heping explained the situation to the police.

The coroner entered the cow shed, looked around, but couldn’t find anything. It was all wide open, and there wasn’t much to see.

Five minutes later, the coroner came out, took off his mask, and waved his hand to get some fresh air. “They were bitten to death by venomous snakes. There are several bite marks on their bodies, each from a venomous snake, at least six or more.”

As soon as Zhang Heping heard this, he panicked. “Venomous snakes? But they’re usually up in the mountains! There haven’t been any in the brigade!”

The coroner shook his head. “How the snakes appeared, I don’t know. I just know the cause of death for these two.”

An older police officer looked at Zhang Heping and asked, “Squad leader, is there anyone in your brigade who would dare catch venomous snakes, and do they have any enemies among the two victims?”

Zhang Heping shook his head like a rattle drum. “Our brigade has over a hundred families, and it’s hard to even catch a wild rabbit. Who would dare catch a venomous snake? Besides, these two youths aren’t locals. Who would have a grudge with them? Even if they didn’t get along, it would be with other young people in the youth station. They’ve likely had some disputes before, but not enough to kill them!”

A younger police officer, who was taking notes, looked up and asked, “Did anyone from the youth group dare to catch snakes?”

Zhang Heping laughed at this question. “Forget about venomous snakes! These kids from the city would jump three feet high just seeing a caterpillar.”

The older police officer still felt something was off. While the snakes could have slithered into the cow shed through the cracks, the fact that so many appeared together seemed suspicious. “Go get all the youths from the station.”

Just then, Zhou Xu returned, and Zhang Heping sent him to call the others.

Ten minutes later, all the youths, except for Wang Jing and Sang Qing, were standing outside the cow shed. The older police officer scanned them all but didn’t notice anyone acting suspiciously.

“Tell me, before these two died, who did they argue with?”

Xu Jiaojiao raised her hand. “Of course, it was Summer. Summer has scolded Li Wenzhu more than once. Yesterday morning, she even scolded Fang Zhaodi!”

Zhang Shiye, who had been standing next to Zhang Heping, shot a glare at Xu Jiaojiao. But at this moment, he couldn’t say anything, as he didn’t live in the youth station, and his words wouldn’t be taken seriously.

The older police officer called out, “Who is Summer?”

Summer Wan Yang squeezed through the crowd from the back. “Officer, that’s me!”

The young police officer looked up at her, his face suddenly turning red with excitement. “It’s you?”

Summer Wan Yang looked confused. The young police officer realized she didn’t remember him, and his voice lowered in disappointment. “A few days ago, when you were looking for someone, I was the one who took you.”

Summer Wan Yang suddenly remembered.

When Zhang Shiye saw the young officer’s reaction, he felt a dull pain in his chest. But seeing that the little girl didn’t recognize him, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

The older police officer cleared his throat. It was hard to believe that this delicate little girl, who seemed to be the least likely person to handle a venomous snake, could have anything to do with it. But still, he had to follow procedure and ask. “Earlier, it was mentioned that you had a dispute with the two victims. What do you say about that?”

Summer Wan Yang snorted. “When I first arrived, Li Wenzhu, that toad, kept saying ambiguous things to me over and over, like he wanted to cause misunderstandings. I argued with him a few times. Fang Zhaodi liked him, and seeing how Li Wenzhu treated me like that, she obviously wasn’t happy with me!”

The older officer nodded. This delicate little girl looked so soft and white, like she could be pinched to produce water, and her clothes seemed to be from a department store. It was normal for the villagers to notice her.

However, it was clear that the young girl had no interest in the male victim, and it didn’t seem like a jealousy issue. “Alright, who else had a dispute with the male victim?”

Li Ermao shyly raised his hand. “A few days ago, Li Wenzhu took some of my toilet paper, and I said a few things to him. Does that count?”

Zhang Heping gritted his teeth. “Li Ermao, stop causing trouble!”

Li Damao pulled his younger brother to the side, bowing and apologizing to the police. “Sorry, officer. My younger brother is timid. He was worried someone would report him if he didn’t speak up. He didn’t mean any harm!”

The older police officer twitched his mouth. In his decades of service, he’d never seen anyone kill someone over a bit of toilet paper.

Hearing that Li Wenzhu had harassed the little girl repeatedly made Zhang Shiye feel terrible. If it weren’t for the little girl knowing how to resist, her reputation would have been ruined. He wanted to hide her away, so no one else could have designs on her.

Zhou Xu kept talking in his ear, saying which of the youths liked her or praised her looks. If people didn’t know her identity, they would have probably all rushed to confess by now.

But then Zhang Shiye thought, what made him any different? He just hadn’t said it out loud.

The police asked around, but it was mostly trivial matters. However, the conclusion was that the two victims were truly shameless—either taking advantage of others or shamelessly trying to ingratiate themselves with the well-off comrades.

Though there were doubts, the case ended without any clear answers. Summer Wan Yang watched as the two bodies were put into bags and taken away, and she couldn’t help but slightly curve the corners of her mouth.