Chapter 869: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 869: This Matter Was Just Covered Up Like This

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.

Li Xiaohe's father, Li Jianguo, and mother, Zhāng Huìjuān, hurriedly rushed to Shanggou Village.

Their faces were dark and gloomy; it was obvious they still hadn't been able to accept the terrible news of their daughter's death.

Following Zhang Zhongtian's instructions, upon seeing Li Jianguo and Zhāng Huìjuān arrive, Zhang Zhiqiang immediately stepped forward and knelt down, then while fiercely slapping his own mouth, he cried out an apology:

"Father, Mother, I've let you two elders down. I didn't take good care of Xiaohe. I deserve to die!"

Li Jianguo asked coldly:

"What exactly happened? My daughter was perfectly fine, so how did she die?"

Zhang Zhiqiang said:

"After she gave birth, she wasn't very happy. I heard it was something called postpartum depression. My heart ached for her, so I let her stay in the countryside to look after the child and didn't let her go out to work with me. Who would have thought it would lead to such a disaster! Xiaohe, why did you have to be so unable to figure things out? What will become of the child now that you're gone?"

Zhang Zhiqiang wept until his face was covered in tears, the world spinning around him.

Seeing this, Li Jianguo didn't know what to say for a moment.

At this time, Zhang Zhongtian walked over and also hurriedly apologized:

"In-laws, no matter how you put it, this is all my son's fault, and my fault. We lacked concern for Xiaohe. We country folk have no education; we didn't know what depression was. We only knew Xiaohe never seemed very happy, so we just tried our best to coax her along. We never imagined she would actually become unable to figure things out!"

Li Jianguo let out a sigh:

"Don't say so much. Let me go see my daughter one last time."

Zhang Zhongtian promptly led Li Jianguo and Zhāng Huìjuān to the side room in the villa to view Li Xiaohe's body.

Li Jianguo lifted the sheet covering Li Xiaohe's face. Seeing her ghastly deathly appearance, he couldn't bear to look directly at it. Then he saw the strangulation marks on her neck, and grief welled up from within.

"Did you report it to the police?"

Li Jianguo asked this one sentence at this moment.

It was very obvious that his asking this sentence showed he still had suspicions about his daughter's cause of death.

The police must come, and after an inspection, the final conclusion can be reached.

"I reported it early. The very first moment Xiaohe's trouble was discovered, I called the police."

At this time, Zhang Zhongtian hurriedly produced the investigation results given by the police:

"This is the police investigation result, ruling out homicide."

Seeing this, Li Jianguo had nothing more to say.

Zhāng Huìjuān, on the other hand, just kept crying:

"Daughter, how could you do such a stupid thing!"

At this time, Zhang Zhongtian said:

"In-laws, Xiaohe is your daughter, and also my daughter-in-law. Such an accident happening to her makes me very sad too, but I also know clearly that you are definitely a hundred times, a thousand times, even ten thousand times sadder than me! No matter how it's said, this is my fault, my son's fault. So, we must compensate you. You name a figure, and I absolutely won't bargain!"

Zhang Zhongtian took the initiative to propose compensation.

This instead made Li Jianguo and Zhāng Huìjuān feel too embarrassed to speak.

Originally, on the way here, they had already agreed that since their daughter met with such a thing, they had to demand at least 200,000 from the Zhang family. If it was lower than 200,000, this matter wouldn't be over!

But now, seeing the Zhang family from top to bottom with such a good attitude, apologizing so sincerely, even proactively proposing compensation, it really made him too embarrassed to bring up the matter of compensation.

"We're family. Family doesn't speak two sets of words. Don't mention compensation again."

Li Jianguo said this.

But Zhang Zhongtian said:

"No, no, no, it's a must. Otherwise my conscience won't be at ease, and I'll live in self-reproach for the rest of my life! You just name a figure. Consider it me begging you!"

How could Li Jianguo bring himself to speak?

He was a traditional rural man, with very strong morals. Face was far more important than money.

It was Zhāng Huìjuān who spoke up at this moment:

"If you really feel bad about it, then just give a hundred or two hundred thousand as a token gesture and be done with it."

As soon as Zhāng Huìjuān said this, Li Jianguo glared at her fiercely:

"What kind of talk is that! They didn't do anything wrong, so why demand compensation from them? Our grandson is still here. As long as he's taken good care of, that's enough!"

Zhāng Huìjuān lowered her head, wiping away tears, unable to say a word.

The reason she had steeled herself to ask for a price was because there was still a son at home, and her son was recently worrying over money for his marriage.

If Zhang Zhongtian was willing to give at this time, asking for some money would just solve her son's marriage financial problem, and that would count as a good thing.

At this time, Zhang Zhongtian hurriedly said:

"Father-in-law, Xiaohe met with trouble on our side. Whether by sentiment or reason, we ought to give you some compensation. Since Mother-in-law has spoken, we'll give you 200,000. No matter what, you absolutely must accept this sum, otherwise I'll be uneasy at heart!"

Li Jianguo hurriedly declined politely:

"No, no, no, really no need. Family doesn't speak two sets of words!"

Zhang Zhongtian hurriedly said:

"Take it, take it. This is our sincerity. If you don't take it, we truly won't be at ease!"

The two went back and forth pulling at each other for a good while, and in the end Li Jianguo reluctantly agreed.

Thus, under Zhang Zhongtian's orchestration, this matter was considered covered up like this.

Li Jianguo and Zhāng Huìjuān, having received 200,000, no longer pursued the matter further.

Even in their hearts, they were full of suspicion about Li Xiaohe's cause of death.

A living life was worth only 200,000; this matter was absurd, but it happened just like that.

After the price was agreed upon, both sides began discussing the funeral arrangements together.

In the end, it was decided that the Zhang family would take charge of organizing everything, and Li Xiaohe's grave would also be arranged within the Zhang family ancestral grave.

Because Li Xiaohe left an heir for the Zhang family, based on this point alone, she had to be given a place.

That afternoon, Zhang Zhongtian began going from village to village, door to door, notifying everyone to come help with the funeral arrangements tomorrow.

Only then did the news of Li Xiaohe's passing gradually spread throughout Shanggou Village.

Someone had seen Zhang Zhiqiang bring another woman back to Shanggou Village yesterday, so people couldn't help but speculate that Li Xiaohe's cause of death might be related to this matter.

Thus village gossip began to spread without legs.

However, they didn't dare say this matter to Zhang Zhongtian's face.

And Li Jianguo and Zhāng Huìjuān, the two of them, had Zhang family members accompanying them the whole time.

So it wasn't easy for them to hear this village gossip either.

After Zhang Zhongtian finished notifying the whole village, he rushed non-stop to town to purchase various items needed for the funeral, calling the people who do the flowing water banquet to come tomorrow on one hand, and calling the crematorium on the other.

The crematorium said cremation requires a death certificate.

Zhang Zhongtian then ran to the town police station again to get a death certificate for Li Xiaohe.

Fortunately, he had acquaintances at the police station, so this matter was handled quickly.

If the death certificate were delayed three to five days, with long nights bringing many dreams, who knows what complications might arise.

"Haven't you heard? Li Xiaohe actually died."

Past seven o'clock in the evening, Wang Zhanggen's family, and workers Zhou Hongwei, Liang Xinghua, and others, were eating dinner together when Liang Xinghua suddenly brought up this matter.

"I heard. Zhang Zhongtian told me this afternoon."

Wang Zhanggen replied while eating his meal.

Wang Erhai's face was full of puzzlement:

"Who is Li Xiaohe?"

He had been outside for a long time, and didn't even remember who Li Xiaohe was.

But this is normal too; he didn't have much interaction with Zhang Zhiqiang, so not knowing Zhang Zhiqiang's wife's name is very normal.

"Zhang Zhiqiang's wife." Li Xiulan said this one sentence.

Wang Erhai only then suddenly realized:

"Her, ah!"

Then he was puzzled all over again:

"Wasn't she still very young? The kids aren't even that big yet, how did she pass away?"