He couldn’t help but glance at his watch, then turned to Lin Huai and the others, asking, “How did you all end up here?”
“We didn’t sleep well at the old house, so we decided to stay at the Ren family—luckily, Ren Qiu was very welcoming,” Lin Huai said with a smile, looking up. “Is that not okay?”
“No, it’s not that…” Ying Xia hesitated, “What about your companions? Is everything alright with them?”
“Oh, them? We ran into them this afternoon and cleared up the misunderstanding. We’re all teammates, after all,” Lin Huai said lightly. “Why? You don’t seem too happy.”
“…It’s nothing,” Ying Xia replied.
Time gradually passed ten o’clock, then eleven, twelve… By half-past eleven, Ren Qiu was already dozing off. Ying Xia watched him yawn repeatedly, feeling his heart tighten.
“Don’t rush to sleep, young people should stay up late—it’s healthy,” Chu Tianshu, with his bandaged arm, was still spouting nonsense. At his enthusiastic insistence, Ren Qiu couldn’t bring himself to sleep and, with a forced smile, continued playing cards.
Lin Huai, however, was already drowsy. He answered a phone call and said, “Zhang Mingge wants me to head over, so I’ll take my leave. You guys keep playing.”
With Lin Huai finally gone, Ying Xia felt a sense of relief. But Chu Tianshu showed no intention of leaving. Seeing Ren Qiu’s eyelids almost glued together, Ying Xia’s heart flickered like a candle flame.
…Stay calm, stay calm… Ren Qiu told himself. With that thought, he looked up at Chu Tianshu. After a moment of contemplation, he took advantage of Ren Qiu’s trip to the restroom and said to the two of them, “Let’s step out for a moment.”
“Huh? Why?”
“About the Ren family,” Ying Xia gritted his teeth. “There’s something I want to give you.”
To his surprise, Chu Tianshu readily agreed to his request. He led the two towards the Ying family home, glancing at his watch as they walked.
When the clock struck twelve, his heart finally settled.
“…All the misfortunes of the Ren family started with that lottery ticket,” Ying Xia suddenly said.
“Before that, the Ren family was a low-income household in the village, surviving on carpentry. The elderly couple was sick, and they lived hand-to-mouth every day. But after winning the lottery, everything changed.” He turned to them, “Do you think winning the lottery is a good thing?”
Chu Tianshu said, “At first, it’s a good thing, but later on, not necessarily.”
“Exactly,” Ying Xia said coolly. “At first, it was indeed a good thing. They paid off their debts and built a new house. But soon… troubles started piling up.”
“Relatives came asking for favors, borrowing money, seeking connections—countless requests. And they, being the kind of people who felt they owed gratitude to others… You understand how it is. When someone who was always worse off suddenly has good fortune, people’s jealousy and resentment are endless.”
“So?”
“Ren Chun couldn’t stand her parents’ behavior and urged the family to move away, but her parents and her younger brother were all naive fools. They felt they owed the villagers for past kindness and insisted on repaying them, refusing to move to the city. Ren Chun went to the city to study, and after much thought, her parents came up with a brilliant idea.” Ying Xia led them through a wheat field, “They decided to open a flour mill to help all the villagers prosper together.”
“They trusted those villagers, gave them jobs and salaries, but those villagers brought the worst-quality wheat, even mixing in sand to increase the weight. The managers they hired were unemployed villagers. They received good wages but, taking advantage of the elderly couple’s kindness, worked lazily and carelessly, even when laying out electrical lines. Later, the security guard who was supposed to watch the mill went out drinking and took leave. Ren’s father went to the mill, and the poorly made electrical wires short-circuited… The mill exploded. Of course, it was their own fault for not being discerning,” Ying Xia said indifferently.
“That village chief definitely didn’t tell the truth…” Chu Tianshu muttered, “No wonder Ren Chun hates this village to the core.”
“After the mill exploded, the villagers took advantage of their misfortune to press for debt repayment. Ren Chun was 18, and Ren Qiu was 13—what could they do? Ren Chun dropped out of school and went to the city to work, leaving her younger brother in the village. The village gossip, you already know about it, right? Ren Chun was always a beautiful girl, so it was normal for people to envy and slander her. Three years ago, Ren Chun returned from the city.”
“And then she accidentally drowned?” Chu Tianshu asked.
“That was no accident,” Ying Xia said coldly. “Ren Chun was always a strong swimmer—how could she drown in such a shallow pond? Those people said Ren Chun and Ren Qiu argued because of the rumors about her… It’s all lies, completely false!”
“The real reason they argued was that Ren Qiu had uncovered the truth about their father’s death. Those troublemakers and debt collectors were all hired by the Wang family. The worker who tampered with the electrical wires was also hired by the Wang family. Wang Zhankun had always wanted Ren Chun and planned to create a small accident to force her to seek his help. But instead, the Ren family was destroyed.”
“Ren Chun refused to take legal action, saying the village chief and the Wang family were in cahoots and it would be useless. She told Ren Qiu to forget about the village and move to the city with her. They argued, and Ren Qiu ran out. Ren Chun chased after him but ran into Wang Zhanpeng and his drunk friends. They argued, and in their drunken state… Three days later, Ren Chun’s body was found in the pond. Many villagers heard her screams and cries for help, and Ren Qiu went to each of them, begging them to testify, but no one was willing to come forward,” Ying Xia said emotionlessly. “The matter was hastily swept under the rug, and the following February, the heart-removal incidents began.”
Chu Tianshu was silent for a long time before asking, “Why are you telling me this?”
