The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

In the end, Officer Cheng agreed to Bao Ya's suggestion, and they went to investigate the Feng family's past.

After Officer Cheng and Tan Xinmin left, Xie Laidi looked at Bao Ya with a complicated expression.

"Did you deliberately make me report this to the police?"

"Yes, I'm afraid they won't believe me."

Bao Ya admitted it without hesitation. Cheng Gongan had explained it clearly just now, so there was no need for her to hide it.

"you……"

"Hey, don't worry. This matter has been formalized at the police station. Even if the Feng family tries to extort you later, you'll have something to say."

Besides, I really think something's off about the Feng family. Don't you think so too? If you do something good later, maybe you can get a permanent position instead of being a temporary worker.

Given our relationship, I'll definitely think of you first if there's anything good happening.

Bao Ya held Xie Laidi's hand and said. Xie Laidi tried to pull her hand away, but couldn't budge it after two attempts. She said irritably:

"What if they did nothing wrong? Wouldn't they try to extort money from us?"

"Don't worry, I'll definitely help you bargain. At worst, I'll pay you twenty yuan instead of my fifty."

She wanted to say, "Here's fifty yuan," but changed her mind at the last minute.

Xie Laidi got even angrier when she heard this, knowing that this brat wasn't that generous.

Xie Laidi snorted and went home. Bao Ya watched her retreating figure and called out:

"Aunt Xie, you have to treat me to a meal when you get your permanent position."

Xie Laidi wanted to say, "Why should I?" but she swallowed the words back. She also hoped that Bao Ya's feelings were true, so that her family would not only not have to pay money, but she could also gain merit. What a great thing!

Next, Bao Ya's surveillance of the West Courtyard shifted from the shadows to the open. In the end, she simply stood on a stool, leaned over the wall, and made small talk with the Feng family.

"Li Yan, what were you doing in the yard that night? Why didn't you go back inside to sleep in the middle of the night?"

Li Yan came out of the house carrying a basin, and Bao Ya appeared on the wall, holding a handful of melon seeds, talking and cracking them open.

"Li Yan, comb your bangs back. It's so hot and stuffy, aren't you hot?"

As Bao Ya spoke, she deliberately spat out the sunflower seed shells in the Feng family's courtyard, giving them a chance to come out of the house.

The Feng family never went out, but their yard was spotless, with not a single leaf on the ground—it was unbelievably clean.

Li Yan stammered, unable to speak. From her eyes, it was clear she utterly loathed herself. But it didn't matter; Bao Ya continued asking Li Yan:

"Li Yan, what's Aunt Feng doing? Why does she always stay inside and not come out? Isn't she bored? Should I go over and chat with her?"

"No."

After Bao Ya muttered for a long time, Li Yan finally uttered three words: "It's really not easy." After saying that, she turned around and ran back into the house, not even washing the vegetables in her hands.

"So afraid of seeing people, yet you say you have nothing to hide." Bao Ya muttered to herself, about to get off the stool, when she turned her head and met a pair of cold, fierce eyes.

Through the window, she could feel that those eyes were like ice-cold knives, devoid of any warmth, only sending chills down her spine.

Bao Ya was slightly taken aback, then gave the owner of those eyes a big smile, along with a disdainful eye roll, full of provocation.

The person was Granny Feng. She didn't leave the house, but she kept an eye on the movements in the courtyard.

This made Bao Ya even more certain of her guess: there must be something wrong with the Feng family.

The next day, Bao Ya and Jiang Yuan got ready to leave early in the morning. At the gate, Bao Ya loudly told Granny Zhou that she was going back to the village to attend a relative's wedding and would stay overnight before returning.

Liu Erge and Yan Dafeng's marriage is settled, and they are getting married today. Aunt Liu specially invited her to attend.

The two of them returned to the village early in the morning with the prepared gifts.

Meanwhile, Granny Feng in the west courtyard breathed a sigh of relief. Ever since Lin Baoya had been keeping an eye on her, she hadn't slept for days. Hearing that Lin Baoya wasn't home today, she rushed to her son's room.

"Shuangxi, Shuangxi, that brat next door isn't home today. Get ready to bury the stuff tonight."

"Mother, why do we suddenly need to take these things out? It'll be troublesome if someone sees us."

Feng Shuangxi rubbed his temples and said that he felt his mother had been acting strangely these past few days. The neighbor was always one to cause trouble, and once she had her fill of causing trouble, things would be over.

"A couple of days ago, I saw two policemen go next door. I don't know what they talked about, but since then, that girl has been watching our house from the wall every day, making conversation out of nothing."

She kept asking Li Yan all sorts of questions. My eyelids have been twitching these past couple of days; has she found out something?

Granny Feng sat on the edge of the bed, clutching her chest. She hadn't slept well for several days, feeling dizzy, weak, and experiencing intermittent heart discomfort.

Hearing his mother say this, Feng Shuangxi frowned, and a gloom gradually settled over his honest face.

Suddenly, he raised his head and looked at Li Yan, who was carrying a washbasin, and sized her up and down several times.

"Did you say anything to the neighbors?"

The voice was so cold it felt like ice crystals were falling from it. Li Yan, forgetting the basin she was holding, knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Young master, please understand. I didn't say anything to the neighbor. She was just talking to herself."

After saying that, he knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, completely ignoring the water that had spilled on the ground, which covered him up.

"Get out, get out, get out! Look at your filthy appearance, go clean yourself up!"

Granny Feng cursed Li Yan as she shooed her out.

"Son, we probably can't stay here any longer. Think of a way, find a reason, and let's move to another place, even if it's to the countryside."

I always feel like our neighbors have discovered something. They keep barging into our house, and they're always peering over the wall, trying to get information out of us.

Granny Feng tugged at Feng Shuangxi's sleeve in a panic, speaking almost pleadingly.

"I told you not to always hide inside, you should interact with the neighbors. Now they're starting to get suspicious."

Feng Shuangxi shook off her hand and said impatiently.

"Going to the countryside would only make things worse; wouldn't that expose you even faster? And are you even capable of doing farm work?"

"But this place isn't safe anymore, we still have another place to go..."

Before Granny Feng could finish speaking, Feng Shuangxi turned around and glared at her fiercely, and only then did she stop talking.

Feng Shuangxi glanced at Li Yan outside the door to make sure she wasn't eavesdropping before turning back to Granny Feng and saying:

"The next place is too close to here. Since we've already alerted the police, we probably can't go there anymore. I'll see if we can go south and find a place where nobody knows us."

However, we can't take Li Yan with us anymore. You should learn to do housework too. You can't be completely clueless and leave people with obvious flaws.

I'm going to work in a bit. You stay home and get ready. I'll take the things out tonight and bury them somewhere.

Around 8 p.m., the two of them were feeding mosquitoes behind a big tree at the entrance of the alley. Jiang Yuan was swatting the mosquitoes off himself while swatting away the mosquitoes around Bao Ya.