Chapter 272: Personally carrying the corpse

Someone died at the Laoyingzui construction site, and they were beaten to death, so this matter was particularly important. Huang Qishan was recalled to the County Committee to report on his work, and when he left, he desperately wanted to pull me to go with him.

I was still hesitating, but Guo Wei proposed that the three of us go back to the county together to report.

Guo Wei's head was wrapped in bandages, and the bandages circled his head, making him look particularly heroic.

As the secretary, Liu Qimeng held a meeting for us for the first time. There were not many people attending, less than ten people, including the County Public Security Bureau Director, the Procuratorate President, the Court President, and the County Committee and County Government Office Directors, plus the three of us.

My appearance surprised Liu Qimeng. He looked at the three of us and waved his hand to indicate that the meeting had begun.

As the main reporter, Huang Qishan reported in detail the death incident that occurred at the new town government construction site in the past two days. In his report, I began to learn the ins and outs of the incident.

After Qian Youyu's mineral water factory was terminated by me, he returned to Yuetang Village and told the villagers about my idea of building an agricultural trade street. Originally, he thought the villagers would oppose it, but who knew that my proposal was echoed by the whole village. Everyone was willing to build houses first. Without a place to live, even if you were given an office in the State Council, it wouldn't be a way. What's more, the agricultural trade street was built in Suxi Town. Since the household registration was solved earlier, no matter how you say it, it counts as eating imperial grain, and there is no saying of living in the township.

The selection of the agricultural trade street is very important. After careful consideration by Guo Wei and me, we built the agricultural trade street 300 meters away from the town government office building. After all, it is the first street in Suxi Town. From planning, design, to long-term plans in the future, the agricultural trade street should be built atmospherically. The street design is 15 meters, which can walk five large cars side by side. At the end of the street, an agricultural trade market is built. To the left of the market, a hospital is built, and to the right, a school is built.

A square is built at the entrance of the town government, a cultural and sports center is built opposite, and a road is built at the entrance of the cultural and sports center, connecting to the agricultural trade street. This road is called Welcoming Avenue, and hotels, restaurants, and other commercial buildings are built on the side.

Originally, everything was arranged properly, and the agricultural trade street had broken ground. People from Laoyingzui watched at the construction site every day and found that the new government did not leave them land to build houses, so they went to Guo Wei to make trouble.

Guo Wei first promised to study and solve it, but later, he simply avoided seeing the people from Laoyingzui. The people from Laoyingzui couldn't find Guo Wei, so they had to go to block the work together.

Naturally, the people in Yuetang Village were unwilling to delay the construction period. The expressway was already under construction, and the original old houses had also been issued demolition orders, stipulating the time to move. For those who did not move within the time limit, the expressway would send an excavator to sweep them flat. Therefore, finding a place to settle down was the urgent desire of all the people in Yuetang Village. 【272-

"Where is Zhao Dequan?" My eyes scanned the crowd. Of course, I knew that at this moment, Zhao Dequan was being chased all over the mountains by Hao Qiang. But Zhao Dequan was the village head of Laoyingzui; I was looking for the village head to tell them that they must find someone who could speak on their behalf to discuss matters, while simultaneously showing that I knew absolutely nothing about the fight and the death.

Sure enough, before my voice had even faded, someone in the crowd chimed in: "Dequan ran away, your police are chasing him right now."

"Does this matter have anything to do with him?" I knitted my brows, pretending to be ignorant.

"We don't know." The crowd erupted with a single voice.

This was an organized, premeditated act! I labeled them in my heart.

"Everyone disperse. The Township Party Committee will certainly cooperate with the County Party Committee to handle this properly," I said, waving at them to signal them to scatter.

The crowd didn't move an inch; everyone remained silent, their eyes staring fixedly at us.

A sense of insecurity rose in my heart, and a chill crept up from the soles of my feet. I knew many people from Laoyingzui, big and small; since I first started squatting there to build the road, I had walked through almost every household in the entire village.

"Uncle Half-Immortal is still lying on the mud!" someone shouted, and then the group began to stir again.

I leaned close to Huang Qishan and asked: "The person is still at the construction site?"

Huang Qishan smiled bitterly, helpless: "No matter what I say, they won't let us move him, saying they want to carry the corpse to block the County Government." He pointed at Guo Wei and said: "Just for saying one sentence, that doing this is against the law, he got hit with a few bricks. These farmers, they are unreasonable."

"These people, they have too much nerve!" I said: "This is an era of the rule of law, how can they act so recklessly?"

So I pulled Guo Wei aside and said to him: "Secretary Guo, you go get bandaged first, leave this place for me to handle."

Guo Wei looked at me with disbelief for a few moments, hesitated, and said: "I'm fine, just a little skin wound, I'm not afraid."

I shouted to Sister Xiao Mei outside the crowd: "Sister Xiao Mei, please trouble yourself and Boss Wu to take Secretary Guo to the hospital."

Someone in the crowd said: "The problem isn't solved, you can't leave!"

I smiled lightly and said: "Who said that just now? You beat someone up, and you won't even let them go to the hospital? If someone dies, I'm afraid that's something your few heads won't be able to resolve. Move aside, Secretary Guo is going to see a doctor, there are still County Party Committee leaders here, and I'm here too."

The crowd chattered for a while, then cleared a path, letting Sister Xiao Mei help Guo Wei out of the circle, get into Wu Qian's car, and drive off in a flash.

Once the taillights were no longer visible, I took out cigarettes and handed them to everyone I saw. Before I finished the round, the pack was empty. Huang Qishan took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to me, and we shared a faint, knowing smile.

Those who took the cigarettes lit them, and I lit one too. After a few puffs, I said: "Fellow villagers, gathering here won't solve the problem, right? I heard Uncle Half-Immortal is still lying on the mud with no one looking after him? We who are alive cannot ignore those who have passed. As the old saying goes, 'peace in the grave,' even if we don't bury him yet, we must at least arrange Uncle Half-Immortal's funeral affairs, right?"

No one made a sound; they all kept their heads down, smoking.

I saw Huang Qishan also holding a cigarette, smoking it with a practiced air. I wanted to laugh; Huang Qishan, like Guo Wei, belonged to the type of good men who didn't smoke or drink. He had to drink during social engagements, but cigarettes were absolutely off-limits to them. Now that he was puffing away just like me, it showed that this man before me had abandoned twenty years of cultivation. And the only thing that could make him do that was a woman!

Seeing that everyone was silent, I raised my voice and said: "I have a suggestion. Let's first send Uncle Half-Immortal back to the village and arrange for people to handle his funeral. Everyone can also elect a few representatives to discuss how to handle the aftermath with the County Party Committee leaders. How about that?"

The crowd loosened up a bit. Huang Qishan and I exchanged a look and walked toward the place where Zhao the Half-Immortal's body was laid out.

The people surrounding us automatically dispersed and followed behind us until we reached Zhao the Half-Immortal, whose whole body was covered by a white cloth.

A pile of paper money was burning at Zhao the Half-Immortal's feet. The embers hadn't died out yet, and faint sparks remained. Blown by the cold wind, they flickered like Zhao the Half-Immortal's gaze while he was alive—crafty and slick.

A door panel was placed beside him; they had intended to carry him to the County Party Committee to block the gate!

I stood at his feet and bowed respectfully three times. Huang Qishan hurried to bow with me, and the other members of the aftermath team also bowed in unison.

My actions caught the people of Laoyingzui by surprise. Everyone watched us silently, and no one spoke.

Zhao the Half-Immortal's wife let out a wail, collapsed beside Zhao the Half-Immortal, and began to cry and chant while patting the door panel. With her crying, the scene suddenly became extremely sorrowful. The women were all wiping their eyes, crying along with her, and the men who were soft-hearted also began to tear up, turning their heads away so as not to look.

I squatted down and lifted the white cloth. Underneath was Zhao the Half-Immortal's pale face, which looked somewhat ferocious under the light. The back of his head had clearly been struck by a heavy object, and the pool of blood that had flowed out was terrifying.

Zhao the Half-Immortal was dead! Zhao Dequan had run away! Laoyingzui was leaderless, and no one dared to stand up and speak.

I turned my head, discussed it with Huang Qishan, and the two of us began to move Zhao the Half-Immortal onto the door panel. The crowd was stunned for a moment, then began to stir.

Several people from the County Party Committee's aftermath team came over and helped us move Zhao the Half-Immortal onto the door panel.

Zhao the Half-Immortal's wife was still sobbing, neither stopping nor supporting our actions, letting us move Zhao the Half-Immortal neatly onto the door panel.

I squatted beside his wife and said: "Old sister-in-law, let's let Brother Half-Immortal go home first!"

Old Mother Zhao looked up at the villagers behind her. Under her questioning gaze, they all unconsciously took a step back.

With that, I knew where I stood. I called Huang Qishan over and gave him a few low-voiced instructions. He beckoned a few members of the aftermath team over. Huang Qishan and I took the lead, with four people standing on each side of the door panel. I shouted: "Lift the spirit!" and we bent down to lift Zhao the Half-Immortal, heading toward Zhao the Half-Immortal's home in Laoyingzui.

As soon as the door panel left the ground, a dull gong sounded. The sky over the Laoyingzui construction site suddenly turned gloomy. Someone followed me and shouted: "Lift the spirit!"

One shout after another echoed in the low, dark night sky, making people feel involuntarily creeped out.

The bronze gong was struck again and again, and occasionally a string of firecrackers would go off. Someone began throwing "road-buying" paper money into the night sky.

The kind-hearted people of Laoyingzui had prepared everything. Zhao the Half-Immortal had died away from home, but he was seventy years old after all, and the people of Laoyingzui couldn't let him be alone out there. According to the thousand-year-old rules of Suxi Town, a cold corpse cannot enter the house! But Zhao the Half-Immortal was an old man without a son, and they couldn't let him die with his eyes open, especially since he had died for the people of Laoyingzui. Therefore, the people of Laoyingzui had long prepared everything for his final journey.

Carrying the corpse on the bumpy country path, my newly healed wounds felt as if they were breaking again. Cold sweat kept pouring from my forehead. I gritted my teeth, following step by step behind the person beating the gong to clear the way, without saying a word.

Zhao the Half-Immortal's house door was wide open. In the center of the main hall, a pitch-black coffin was placed.

After setting down the door panel, I said to Huang Qishan: "Secretary Huang, you must stay here; I need to go to the police station."

Huang Qishan was just about to object when I said in a low voice: "If you don't want to make things worse, you'll come with me."

Huang Qishan looked at me, puzzled. I said with a bitter face: "The dead have come home, what about the living?"

I called over a few elders from Laoyingzui, introduced them one by one to Huang Qishan, and asked them to cooperate with Huang Qishan to properly handle Zhao the Half-Immortal's funeral.

Huang Qishan was worried about me going alone, so he called over a young man from the aftermath team to accompany me back to the construction site.

As we walked, I took out my phone and called Sun Demao: "Old Sun, take me to the police station!"