Volume One, Land, Chapter 004: Making Trouble Out of Nothing
Early in the morning, before the sun had risen, the sky was already bright, and there was a rare coolness in the air.
Xu Zhengyang, a cigarette dangling from his lips, pushed his bicycle out of his house, as usual, preparing to go out and exchange millet. However, today he didn't immediately hop on his bicycle and hum a tune as he left the courtyard. Instead, he frowned, slowly pushing his bicycle out of the narrow alley, onto the main street, and stopped in front of Zhao Laoguang's house.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally sighed, leaned his bicycle against the wall, and stepped into the yard.
Over the years, Zhao Laoguang has made money, and his house has been completely renovated, resembling a traditional courtyard house. The walls are covered with bright white tiles, and a ring of light blue tiles surrounds the large aluminum alloy windows. The platform in front of the house is filled with potted flowers and bonsai, and the yard is paved with tiles and planted with several Chinese toon trees, creating an elegant and tranquil atmosphere while still exuding a sense of wealth and grandeur. Although it doesn't resemble the two-story villas that some families have built after becoming wealthy, it feels even more comfortable and impressive than those modern buildings.
"Auntie, Auntie, are you home?" Xu Zhengyang called out from the yard.
"Hey, Zhengyang, what's up?" Zhao Laoguang's wife, Xiangqin, came out of the house with a rice bowl in her hand, looking at Xu Zhengyang with a puzzled expression. "Zhengyang, aren't you going out to do business today? I was just about to look for you, to ask you to teach my Linzi how to do business."
"Yeah, yeah, no problem at all," Xu Zhengyang chuckled sheepishly.
"What's up?"
"Um."
"This child, just say what's on your mind, why are you hesitating like that..." Xiangqin stepped forward and tapped Xu Zhengyang's forehead with her chopsticks with a smile. It was clear that she was in a good mood, a rare good mood. Ever since she learned last year that Zhao Laoguang had a family outside, she had rarely shown a smile.
Xu Zhengyang took a deep drag of his cigarette, grinned, and said awkwardly, "Well, cough cough, Auntie, there's something I want to tell you, but I don't know how to bring it up."
"Go ahead and say it, look at you..."
"Please don't be angry when I tell you."
"Go away, what are you doing causing trouble for your aunt? If you have something to say, just say it..." Xiangqin laughed and hit Xu Zhengyang's forehead hard with her chopsticks again.
“Well, I had a dream last night. You know that earth god temple in the west of our village, right?” Xu Zhengyang looked at Xiangqin and nodded in confusion, then continued, “The earth god, cough cough, it seems to be the earth god, appeared to me in a dream and asked me to pass on a message to you… He said, he said that Uncle Guang said there was a savings book buried under the west wall of your house, with one million yuan in it.”
"What?" Xiangqin was stunned for a moment, and looked out of the courtyard gate in a panic. She then whispered, "Zhengyang, don't say things like that. You had a dream. It doesn't count."
Xu Zhengyang scratched his head and said, "It should be... right. Why don't you dig it up and take a look now?" As he spoke, Xu Zhengyang noticed that a pit more than two feet wide and half a meter deep had been dug under the wall between the west room and the main hall in the courtyard. He couldn't help but think, "Goodness, could it be that they've already dug it out?"
"It's definitely fake, there's no such thing. Look, the west wall has been dug up, I was just about to plant some flowers." Xiangqin became serious, then asked nervously, "Did the Earth God really appear in your dream? Did he say anything else?"
"He also said, he also said..." Xu Zhengyang inwardly cursed himself for taking on such a task; wasn't he just asking for trouble? But despite his thoughts, he still had to do it, so he gritted his teeth and said, "The local deity also said that Uncle Guang had an accident. On the road from the provincial capital to Hexi Province, he drove his car into a reservoir. He wants someone from your family to go and pull Uncle Guang's body out, bring it back to our village, and bury it in the ancestral grave..."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhao Laoguang's son, Zhao Lin, stormed out of the house, shouting, "You son of a bitch, Xu Zhengyang, your father is the one who's dead! Why don't you bury him in the ancestral graveyard!"
Xu Zhengyang frowned, bit his lower lip, squinted at Zhao Lin, said nothing more, and turned to walk out.
If it were in the past... would Zhao Lin have dared to speak to Xu Zhengyang like that?
Perhaps he would dare. After all, even the most honest person would get angry if they encountered someone who said their father was dead, right? However, if this had happened before Xu Zhengyang started doing business, and Zhao Lin dared to curse Xu Zhengyang like this, Xu Zhengyang would definitely have grabbed Zhao Lin and given him a good beating without saying a word, even if Zhao Lin was two years older than him.
Many people like to be unforgiving when they have the upper hand. For example, Zhao Lin, seeing Xu Zhengyang turn around and walk out without saying a word, became even more temperamental and chased after him, cursing and shouting. His mother couldn't stop him.
The fiery red sun had just peeked over the horizon, and the sunlight was already quite dazzling.
Hearing Zhao Lin's cursing and his mother's attempts to dissuade him, some villagers on both sides of the street came out of their homes with their rice bowls, eager to watch the spectacle.
Xu Zhengyang ignored Zhao Lin, his face dark as he pushed his bicycle away.
"Xu Zhengyang, you damn well better not go! Explain yourself!" Zhao Lin blocked the bicycle, grabbed the handlebars, and stopped Xu Zhengyang.
Xu Zhengyang raised his head and stared at Zhao Lin, his eyes narrowing.
Just then, a bicycle sped up from behind Xu Zhengyang and crashed into Zhao Lin. Luckily, Zhao Lin dodged quickly, but he was still knocked off balance and fell onto the steps in front of his house.
The young man who bumped into Zhao Lin was named Cao Gangchuan. He looked to be in his early twenties, wearing a military green vest, dirty trousers, and cloth shoes. He had dark skin, broad shoulders, and a fierce look, like a leopard with bulging eyes. He stood on one leg, the other still straddling his bicycle, and raised his rough hand, pointing his index finger at Zhao Lin, who had just stood up, and angrily shouted, "Zhao Lin, what the hell are you acting so arrogant about? Want to die?"
Before Zhao Lin could answer, another bicycle stopped beside Cao Gangchuan. A thin, short but muscular young man got off and stood steadily next to Cao Gangchuan. Unlike Cao Gangchuan, he didn't start cursing. He calmly propped up the bicycle, took a trowel from the canvas bag hanging on the handlebars, squinted at Xu Zhengyang, and asked, "Yangzi, wanna train him?"
His name is Zhang Hao. Like Cao Gangchuan, he was Xu Zhengyang's childhood friend who grew up playing in the mud. They were classmates in elementary and middle school, and hung out together for a few more years after graduation. After Xu Zhengyang started switching to Xiaomi, they both started working seriously with construction teams.
"Linzi, go home!" Xiangqin saw this and hurriedly pulled her son to go home. Then she smiled and said to Xu Zhengyang, "Zhengyang, don't take it to heart with your brother Linzi. He has such a bad temper... I'll give him a good scolding later, okay!"
Zhao Lin glared hatefully at Xu Zhengyang and the other two, but dared not say anything more, and went home with his head hanging low.
"It's alright, it's alright, Auntie. Just pretend I didn't say anything today. Believe it or not, it's fine." Xu Zhengyang waved his hand, turned around, got on his bicycle, and rode out of the village, calling out, "Gangchuan, Haozi, let's go!"
"Hey, coming!" the two replied, hopped on their bicycles, and followed.
The people on the street who had come to watch the excitement started muttering amongst themselves and went home. How boring! It would be more exciting if they started fighting!
However, the villagers didn't look down on Zhao Lin. After all, let alone Shuanghe Village, how many young men in their twenties from the surrounding villages would dare to mess with Xu Zhengyang and his gang? Don't be fooled by the fact that these guys seem to have turned over a new leaf, either working or studying, and Xu Zhengyang has even started a small business selling millet. Everyone knows that Xu Zhengyang's group is not to be trifled with. While they aren't as impulsive as other young people, prone to causing trouble and fighting, when it comes to brotherhood, they're a bunch of lunatics.
In the past two years, several fights that shocked the whole township and even the town were all committed by their gang.
Moreover, to this day, two of them are still in prison, and the others have all been to the police station or been detained.
"Yangzi, did you get into trouble when you were exchanging Xiaomi'er outside?" Cao Gangchuan asked, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
"No, it's perfectly fine, isn't it?" Xu Zhengyang replied with a smile.
Zhang Hao chuckled and said, "I'm impressed. You earn more than us, and it's so easy for you... sigh..."
"Then don't go to the construction team anymore. Come with me to trade for millet. Later, we'll buy a three-wheeled vehicle together, go further afield, and carry more goods. We'll definitely make money!"
"Okay, I'll think about it later, haha."
Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao both laughed, knowing full well that they would be too embarrassed to do this kind of work. After all, they might see their high school classmates every day, especially the girls, and back then they were supposed to be influential figures no one dared to mess with—they couldn't let go of their pride!
"By the way, what happened between you and Zhao Lin today? Why did you two get so worked up?" Cao Gangchuan asked.
"It's alright." Xu Zhengyang smiled.
Zhang Hao said, "How about we take some time to tidy him up?"
"No need, we're all neighbors, we see each other all the time," Xu Zhengyang said, shaking his head.
“Hey Yangzi, you know, your personality has become… Oh, by the way, I heard that Liu Xiuyan has a boyfriend in Fuhe City now. You should keep an eye on her,” Zhang Hao said.
"Haozi, stop spouting nonsense!" Cao Gangchuan roared.
Zhang Hao pursed his lips, realizing he had said the wrong thing, and then fell silent.
Xu Zhengyang smiled indifferently. He had heard about it before, but he didn't care much. He didn't really have any deep feelings for Liu Xiuyan. The two of them started dating a couple of years ago, but it was just because his friends encouraged them to get together. They just went along with it. Later, they hugged and kissed occasionally, but nothing more.
It's not that Xu Zhengyang is some kind of upright gentleman like Liu Xiahui, nor is it that he has a physical ailment, but rather that he has always had another person in his heart.
As they were talking, they reached National Highway 107. Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao rode their bicycles south to work in town; while Xu Zhengyang went north to exchange millet in the Wangjia Village area. Several families had contacted him yesterday saying they wanted millet.
Because of pre-orders made yesterday, business went smoothly today, and by noon, all 100 jin of millet had been exchanged.
Xu Zhengyang went to the corn warehouse by the national highway, sold the corn, counted the money, and as usual, earned thirty yuan. He happily rode his bicycle back home, humming a song.
When he passed through Hanzhuang, he bought a bottle of chilled beer and rode back unhurriedly, sipping it while thinking about when he would save enough money to open a shop in the city...
When Xu Zhengyang passed by Zhao Laoguang's house on his way back to the village, he saw a police car parked there, but he didn't think much of it.
But to his utter surprise, he had only been home for a short while, and the sweat on his body hadn't even dried off, when two policemen, accompanied by Zhao Lin, entered the house.
Upon seeing Xu Zhengyang, Zhao Lin pointed and said, "That's Xu Zhengyang."
Without saying a word, the two policemen stepped forward, took out handcuffs, and handcuffed Xu Zhengyang.
Xu Zhengyang asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
"Let's talk back at the station. We now suspect you are involved in Zhao Jingguang's death. Please cooperate with our investigation," a policeman said sternly, and led Xu Zhengyang out.
Xu Zhengyang's mother, Yuan Suqin, came out of the west room and stopped him with a look of panic, asking what had happened.
The two police officers were not as aggressive as they had been towards Xu Zhengyang. They calmly and simply recounted the case, then said they were just taking Xu Zhengyang back to the station for questioning and investigation. If he had indeed not committed a crime, they would release him soon.
Xu Zhengyang figured out what was probably going on: the police station had likely learned of Zhao Laoguang's death, and when they notified his family, Zhao Lin must have mentioned that he had come to their house that day to inform them of the news. As a result, the police suspected that he was involved in Zhao Laoguang's death...
So Xu Zhengyang calmly reassured his mother that he had not committed any crime and would be back soon.
Volume 1 Land Chapter 005 Probation
The accident involving Zhao Laoguang occurred at Yunling Reservoir, located at the border of Hexi Province and Hedong Province.
The accident happened in the evening. A driver passing by witnessed Zhao Laoguang's Santana sedan plunge into the reservoir. At the time, the driver didn't think much of it, but later he felt uneasy and couldn't get over it with his conscience, so four days later he reported the incident to the police.
Soon, Zhao Laoguang's Santana sedan and the body were retrieved from the water. Through the identification he was carrying, the police learned his identity and notified the Huaxiang Police Station in Cixian County, Fuhe City, so that they could inform the deceased's family to come and claim the body and handle cremation and other funeral arrangements.
Zhong Shan, the director of Huaxiang Police Station, is from Shuanghe Village. After receiving news of Zhao Laoguang's death, he originally intended to return to the village in person to inform them of the matter. However, he happened to have a case to handle, so he arranged for two police officers to go to Shuanghe Village instead.
Just as Xu Zhengyang had guessed, when the two policemen came to the Zhao family to inform them of Zhao Laoguang's death, Xiangqin and her son were both astonished, and Zhao Lin couldn't help but blurt out, "How did Xu Zhengyang know?"
Perhaps it was due to their professional habits, or perhaps the police were just very vigilant, but when the two officers heard Zhao Lin's words, they asked who Xu Zhengyang was, and then became suspicious. They immediately went to Xu Zhengyang's home and arrested him.
After all, Zhao Laoguang was a well-known nouveau riche in the whole township. If someone knew about Zhao Laoguang's death in advance, it would inevitably arouse suspicion from the police.
As a result, Xu Zhengyang was arrested and taken back to the police station for investigation and questioning.
Fortunately, Zhong Shan was from Shuanghe Village, and his son, Zhong Zhijun, had always had a good relationship with Xu Zhengyang. Therefore, Xu Zhengyang was not subjected to torture or other atrocities at the police station.
However, the case was serious, involving a life, so no matter how Xu Zhengyang explained, he could not be released immediately without charge.
After two days of investigation, the police officers at the police station were all puzzled.
Could what Xu Zhengyang said be true? Did the local earth god really tell him this in a dream?
Because it's obvious that a savings book containing a million yuan was indeed buried under the west wall of Zhao Laoguang's house. The evening before Xu Zhengyang announced this, Zhao Laoguang's wife wanted to cultivate a plot of land under the west wall to plant flowers and plants, and that's when she unearthed the savings book with the million-yuan deposit. It's certain that no one except Zhao Laoguang, not even his family, knew about this savings book, so how did Xu Zhengyang find out?
Moreover, based on the witnesses mentioned by Xu Zhengyang, the police also investigated and visited several villages in the township, confirming that Xu Zhengyang had been going from street to street every day to exchange millet, and had no time to commit the crime.
Xu Zhengyang explained that the local earth god had appeared to him in his dreams for two nights in a row, so he was a little scared and gritted his teeth to try and tell Zhao Laoguang's family...
That's unbelievable!
No matter how unbelievable Xu Zhengyang's explanation was, the police had no choice but to let him go home. After all, without solid evidence, they couldn't keep him locked up indefinitely, could they?
The news of Zhao Laoguang's accidental death caused a sensation in the village, and Xu Zhengyang was taken away by the police that same day, initially suspected of being directly related to Zhao Laoguang's death. As a result, various versions of the story spread like wildfire in the village, all with almost the same general idea: Xu Zhengyang had killed Zhao Laoguang.
However, two days later, Xu Zhengyang returned to the village unharmed, and the news that the local earth god had appeared to him in a dream and asked him to deliver a message quickly spread throughout the village.
The villagers thought about it and realized that it was really impossible for Xu Zhengyang to have killed Zhao Laoguang. Everyone knew that Xu Zhengyang worked hard every day, exchanging millet and doing business in the surrounding villages. How could he suddenly run more than 600 miles away, kill Zhao Laoguang, and then quickly return?
People started to look at Xu Zhengyang strangely; this kid... something's not right.
Why would the Earth God appear in his dream? And... for so many years, no one has believed in superstitious beliefs about ghosts and gods, so how did gods and dreams suddenly come into existence?
Regardless of the villagers' motives, no one has dared to urinate or defecate in the local earth god temple outside the village lately. Rumor has it... that some people are even going to the temple in the middle of the night to burn incense, paper money, and make offerings. Xu Zhengyang completely believes this rumor, without any reason. He doesn't even know why, but he just feels that people are indeed going to the earth god temple to burn incense, make offerings, and petition.
Oh, by the way, Xu Zhengyang was driven home by Zhong Shan, the head of the police station.
After all, they were from the same village and neighbors who saw each other all the time. Xu Zhengyang had been detained in the police station for two days, which was not only illegal but also, from a conscience, Zhong Shan felt sorry for Xu Zhengyang and his parents. So after sending Zhong Yang back, he apologized to his parents.
After Zhong Shan left, Xu Zhengyang's father, Xu Neng, flew into a rage: "You brat, why are you meddling in other people's business! You even had the local earth god appear in your dream, why don't you just say you're having a fit of hysteria and have eaten some clods of dirt and gone crazy?"
Fortunately, Xu Zhengyang has worked diligently to earn money by selling millet for over a year, and his performance has been good; otherwise, he would definitely have been beaten up.
After this incident, Xu Zhengyang was also extremely upset. He resented the old man who had given him the position of Earth God and the divine power that currently only seemed to have some ability to see ghosts. Damn it, no wonder he was tired of living and had to seek death instead of becoming an immortal. It turns out that the job of Earth God... is really not a good job.