Chapter 368: The Debts of Yesteryear (Combined Chapter)

Dabao and Erbao seemed completely unprepared for the fact that Wei Chengye would go to that place, and that he had actually returned from there.

Speaking of this, Wei Chengye suddenly shuddered violently; he suddenly became firm in his belief that he was absolutely not dreaming.

As for the place called Old Crow House, the first time he heard of it was from Shougou.

But if Shougou did not exist, yet Sanxi Village really did have a place called Old Crow House, then how did he come to know of it?

He was not dreaming, and he was not crazy!

"How could you dare to go there? That is a place strictly forbidden by village rules. How did you even know about it?" Dabao nervously observed his surroundings, and upon discovering no one was watching them, he quickly walked closer to Wei Chengye and said in a low voice, "People in the village are very wary of this place. It's fine to talk to us about it, but you must never mention this place to anyone else in the village, especially... especially your maternal grandparents."

"Why?" Wei Chengye raised his eyebrows, filled with surprise.

Dabao stammered, and upon hearing his mother's call from inside the house, his expression changed instantly. He and his younger brother Erbao both gave him a low-voiced warning: "Really, listen to me, don't mention that place again, and don't go to that place again."

Wei Chengye fell silent, and even after the door to Dabao and Erbao's house closed before his eyes, he remained silent for a long time.

Afterwards, Wei Chengye went to Li Guanggun's sweet potato field and saw Pangliuzi and Ergouzi, under the scolding and direction of a thin but sturdy middle-aged man with buck teeth, laboriously digging for sweet potatoes in the field, sweating like rain.

According to the villagers watching the show nearby, Li Guanggun—known as the "Zhou Bapi" of Sanxi Village—had returned from matchmaking in the city only to find twenty-eight sweet potatoes missing from his field, along with a pair of Ergouzi's rotten slippers. He immediately grabbed a firewood knife and went to Ergouzi's house to settle the score.

That Ergouzi was used to being a loafer and a troublemaker in the village, and his character was something even his own parents couldn't stand, so they didn't intend to protect him. Seeing the situation was about to turn deadly, Ergouzi immediately caved, hugged Li Guanggun's thigh, cried and begged for mercy, and then exposed his accomplices.

Originally, Ergouzi had also called out Wei Chengye's name, but it just so happened that Wei Chengye had suffered a head injury. His grandparents were elders in the village and could be considered prestigious; even the village chief had to give the two elders some face. Li Guanggun didn't make a big scene when he went to the elders' house, but instead asked harmoniously, "Do you know what Wei Chengye was doing the day his sweet potatoes were stolen?" Wei Chengye's grandfather simply said flatly, "He was struck by some little beast's black hand and has been lying at home for three days; he hasn't gone anywhere," and brushed it off directly.

Whether Li Guanggun truly believed it or was just giving the two elders face, he didn't pursue the matter. At this moment, seeing Wei Chengye arrive, Li Guanggun even stepped forward to concernedly ask about the injury to his head.

Wei Chengye felt a bit guilty and gave a dry laugh, saying it was nothing and that he had just come to take a look. Seeing Li Guanggun take six of the freshly dug sweet potatoes—and picking the large ones at that—to give to him, he immediately fled in a panic.

With a sense of guilt for not being able to bear bullying an honest man, Wei Chengye moved away from Li Guanggun's sweet potato field, while at the same time becoming more certain of the fact that he had indeed dug for sweet potatoes with Shougou and the others that day.

Ergouzi, Pangliuzi, and that group only had four people; the four of them couldn't carry, let alone eat, twenty-eight sweet potatoes. These rural sweet potatoes weren't like the "pretty and uniform" ones sold in city supermarkets; the large ones could be as big as a basin or as thick and long as a person's forearm. Even a small eater would be stuffed after one. No matter how much Ergouzi, Pangliuzi, and the other two could eat, they couldn't possibly eat twenty-eight, and even adding himself, it was impossible.

Next, Wei Chengye went to the homes of Shougou, Suotou, Yumi, and Sanmao. Although their families all said there were no children there, judging by the signs of life in their homes, it didn't look like children hadn't lived there recently; their rooms and toys were visible almost everywhere.

Wei Chengye returned home with a heavy and gloomy mood. As soon as he got home, he was pressed back onto the bed by his grandparents to rest. He didn't resist, just lying there with his eyes unfocused.

His grandfather, worried that Wei Chengye, who had been running around all day, was hungry, asked him if he wanted to eat something. Upon receiving Wei Chengye's slow nod in response, he immediately went to the kitchen to cook with excitement.

Meanwhile, his grandmother stayed behind alone to look after Wei Chengye, keeping him company for fear that this little grandson would suddenly lose his temper and run out of the house again.

To the relief of the two elders, their grandson's mood stabilized after returning, and he didn't run around anymore, staying in bed to rest, so they felt reassured enough to go back to their own room to rest.

In the middle of the night, Wei Chengye, who was lying in bed "sleeping," opened his eyes without warning. After getting up, he sat at the desk.

The room he was temporarily staying in was both the boudoir his mother lived in as a child and the study of this house; most of the books and documents in the house were kept in this room.

Wei Chengye also suddenly remembered, feeling that he might be able to dig up something on the bookshelf.

Although the tragic state in which Shougou and the others were harmed was still fresh in his mind, and he knew they could never come back, he still felt it was necessary to clarify some things. At least he had to know what exactly the thing that harmed him to this point and killed Shougou and the others was.

Since that monster was at Old Crow House, and Old Crow House was formerly the home of Wang Bozi who lived there ten years ago, the information Wei Chengye needed to find was relatively clear. As long as he focused on and read through text information related to keywords like "ten years ago," "Wang family," "crow," and "bird calls," he would almost certainly be right.

There were actually quite a lot of books and documents on the bookshelf, totaling five rows. The first three rows were academic books and leisure reading, which could basically be ruled out first; these were not things that could provide the clues he wanted.

In the remaining two rows of the bookshelf, he found an account book. In the past, information computers were not popularized, and those who did business in the village were accustomed to writing accounts in notebooks, which made it convenient for them to check accounts and collect debts.

His grandparents' family was considered quite well-off in the village in their early years, having inherited a considerable amount of wealth from their ancestors. Fellow villagers often borrowed money from them, and his grandparents trusted their fellow villagers and were generous, basically lending it out. That generation of villagers in Sanxi Village were all honest and upright like Li Guanggun, and they always repaid what they borrowed; there had never been any cases of defaulting on debts.

This point was clearly visible when Wei Chengye flipped through the account book, and he could confirm it.

Wei Chengye felt that his grandparents must have been a warm-hearted and gentle couple, and the villagers of Sanxi Village, even Ergouzi and the others, were actually quite simple. Yet, he didn't know why he rarely heard his mother mention her maiden home, and she was almost unwilling to take the initiative to talk about his grandparents. Sometimes she seemed to recall something, then would fall silent and stare blankly by herself.

Now, thinking back carefully, the emotions revealed in his mother's eyes when she didn't speak were clearly an indescribable fear and anger.

Had his mother encountered something in this village?

Ten years ago, what role did his mother play in this village, and in the matter of Wang Bozi's family?

While searching, Wei Chengye's page-turning motion suddenly paused, his gaze locked onto a line of text.

January 3, 1984, Wang Liwen borrowed 50,000 yuan...

Following this account entry was the address of the debtor named Wang Liwen, and the location was Old Crow House. It was clear that this person was a member of Wang Bozi's household, either Wang Bozi himself or Wang Bozi's father.

Wei Chengye wanted to know what exactly Wang Liwen had borrowed the money to buy, but this was just a simple account entry; there was no other detailed information written about what the loan was for.

"There must be a signed and fingerprinted IOU." Although Wei Chengye had no practical experience with borrowing money, he had at least "seen a pig run." He searched the bookshelf again, and immediately found a stack of various papers stored in a file folder. The titles written on those papers were, without exception, IOUs.

Wei Chengye's heart stirred. He flipped through them one by one, and finally, he found the IOU written by "Wang Liwen" that year.

I, Wang Liwen, on January 3, 1984, applied to Wang Heshen to borrow 50,000 yuan, to be used for the wedding expenses of my son Wang Zhicheng, promising to repay within 1 year. If repaid overdue, interest of 1,000 yuan per month will be charged for the excess time.

I, Wang Heshen, on January 3, 1984, agreed to the loan request and lent it out on the same day.

The promise takes effect immediately.

Below, two red fingerprint impressions were stamped on the paper of the IOU established that year.

"Wedding expenses?" Wei Chengye muttered to himself. He finally knew the names of Wang Bozi and his father, and also knew the approximate time when Wang Bozi married his bride back then.

Wei Chengye looked up at the bookshelf, and suddenly had other thoughts in his heart. He didn't know if his mother had the habit of keeping a diary back then, and intended to look for any of his mother's diaries left on the bookshelf.

As it turned out, he didn't find a diary, but he did find a small locked iron box.

It had a combination lock. Judging from the appearance of the small iron box, it had distinct characteristics of having been used by a woman; it had modern poetry and lyrics to classic songs that were popular and sought after by young people at the time, and even stickers of clippings of handsome male singers.

"6 digits." Wei Chengye's brain turned very fast. He didn't know why his mind had become particularly sharp and his thinking very clear since he woke up from his injury.

"Back then, Mom should have been a sophomore in college. She and Dad met and fell in love while in college. If I'm not mistaken... it's either Mom's own birthday or Dad's birthday." Wei Chengye thought silently to himself. The password must be a particularly important number to the person involved, and this number was one that others around her could not guess besides herself.

Based on this point, Wei Chengye felt it could not possibly be his mother's own birthday. If it were, wouldn't his grandparents have had the opportunity to flip through her personal items at any time? Then locking it would have no meaning.

Therefore, Wei Chengye entered the last six digits of his father's date of birth.

Sure enough, when he finished entering the last digit, a crisp "click" sound came from inside the combination lock, and the originally seamless lock became loose, opening a gap.

Wei Chengye was pleasantly surprised, immediately removed the combination lock, and opened the iron box to check. Sure enough, he found a small notebook inside.

His mother's name was written prominently on the small notebook. Although what was recorded inside was not a diary, it could be considered a collection of essays.

Every time she put pen to paper, she didn't necessarily record the date, but whenever she did record the date, it must have meant that the day was deeply impressive to his mother, with extreme emotional fluctuations.

For example, it recorded the day his mother met his father, and his mother and father were...

Wei Chengye blushed at some of the content recorded above. He couldn't have imagined that his parents' thinking was quite open and they played quite wildly in that era. As a child, he only half-understood it, but he still felt ashamed.

He didn't forget the purpose of flipping through his mother's essays. Skipping those "son-blasting" texts, Wei Chengye finally found the essay records around January 1984.

January 4, 1984. Uncle Wang Liwen, the father of Brother Wang Zhicheng, came to borrow money from Dad today. When I heard it was for Brother Wang Zhicheng to take a wife, I was shocked. Although Brother Wang Zhicheng is actually a decent person, given his circumstances, who would be willing to marry him? I asked Mom in private, and she pulled me into the room and whispered that it was actually money to buy a bride. I was a bit terrified; isn't this human trafficking? I rushed out and ran near the home of Wang Zhicheng, only to see several men from the village laughing and chatting as they carried a moving, crying burlap sack into the house. My heart went cold.

How could such a thing still happen in this day and age? I wanted to shout and scold, I wanted to call the police to stop it, but I discovered the entire village was filled with joy, and only I was out of place. For a moment, I didn't know if it was I who was wrong, or if they were the ones who were wrong...

January 5, 1984. I had a fight with Mom and Dad, and I am in great pain. After thinking about it all night, I firmly believe this money should not be lent; it is an illegal act! However, they believe there is nothing wrong with it, saying that with the conditions of Wang Zhicheng and his family, he could never find a wife. Seeing that Wang Zhicheng is already in his thirties, if he doesn't start a family now, his family line will end, and Wang Liwen and his wife will never see the day their grandson is born. I find it absurd, but they say I must think of the villagers, and besides, Wang Zhicheng is my cousin from my second grandfather's branch, a relative; how could we not help out at all?

I brought up the law to tell them, but Dad told me with great agitation that this is also a way of returning a favor, of repaying a debt of gratitude. If not for the help of Uncle Wang Liwen back then, he would never have had the chance to meet Mom, and I would never have had the chance to be born. I was stunned at that moment; I saw Mom suddenly fall silent, and the more I thought about it, the more my heart chilled.

I had always found it strange. Before I was old enough to understand, Dad was just an ordinary-looking farmer who didn't know many characters and had barely been to the city, yet Mom was a beautiful woman who was well-read and even understood some advanced mathematics, unlike any other woman in the village. How did they end up together in the first place? Today, I finally learned the answer.

Seeing this, Wei Chengye felt as if his soul had intersected with his mother's at that time, feeling a bone-chilling cold from the inside out.

He continued reading, seeing a passage that made him feel suffocated.

February 14, 1984, the eighteenth day of the first lunar month. They kept that girl locked up for over a month, and she finally gave in, indicating she was willing to marry. That lame man was laughing so happily at the time; I couldn't laugh. Today was also the first time I saw the girl's face. She was very pretty, likely around my age. I saw her, and she saw me; we were both stunned. I suddenly felt ashamed, standing on this side, not daring to look at her, while she stood on the other side, crying as she performed the wedding ceremony.

Over the next few days, updates might be a bit inconsistent, and there may be a day or two where I cannot update. Because I finally managed to take my annual leave, I plan to go out and relax with my family for a few days. If there is an update chapter announcing a leave, it is highly likely that I have activities that day and cannot find the time to write; I will make up for it later.