Chapter 183: Clue
“Big brother, big sister, are you buying seafood?”
“The fish at my house is dried really well, not only big but also particularly delicious and nutritious!”
“And me, and me, brother and sister, take a look at these sea cucumbers and abalone, each one is huge, I heard eating them is good for the body!”
Seeing the two stop their steps and choose to stop and watch, the little ones immediately beamed with joy and eagerly introduced their own seafood.
Experiencing this situation for the first time, Zhang Ze touched his nose and then covered his mouth, turning his head to ask softly, “What’s going on with the fishing village here? They can be so blatant…”
Buying and selling, speculation and profiteering?
This matter was quite serious after all, and the surroundings were full of half-grown children, so Zhang Ze spoke vaguely and subconsciously scanned the surroundings.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s because it’s too remote?”
The gathered children, the oldest not exceeding ten years old, all had skin tanned black and red, thin necks, big heads, and not a few ounces of meat on their whole bodies.
“How do you trade these?”
“This big back basket of mine for just one dollar and fifty cents!”
“Ning Ning, someone is coming.”
Touching her arm, Zhang Ze reminded her as his gaze directly skipped to look behind her.
The one who came was finally an adult, his fifty-something face had deep law lines like knife carvings, his back was slightly hunched, one sleeve of his hand was empty and dangling, swaying up and down with the sea breeze as he walked.
“What are you doing, you little brats.”
“Brigade leader grandfather.”
“Grandpa~”
Seeing him, the little ones’ faces involuntarily showed some fear, and they retreated a step.
“Wait till I tell your family adults to give you a good beating, now scatter.”
You look at me, I look at you, the crowd just obediently retreated two more steps but were unwilling to leave just like that.
He sighed silently, as the brigade leader, how could he not know their thoughts?
The fishing village didn’t lack seafood but was very short on staple food, the grain distributed to each household wasn’t enough even if rationed carefully.
The seafood rarely obtained together from going out to sea was collective property, to be exchanged for various living supplies, only what the children picked up tide pooling counted as their own family’s.
However, no family was willing to eat these good things, they wanted to exchange them for money or coupons to subsidize the household, which was understandable, but who told the higher-ups not to allow it now.
If there were speculators privately coming to buy, it had to be with someone they knew well leading them, like swarming at outsiders like this, what? Wanting to eat free peanuts!
No matter what is said, they won’t listen, insisting on going against the wind!
Thinking of this, the old captain’s face became even sterner, “What’s this, are my words no good?”
“No, no…”
The oldest leading child sniffled, gave a look to the others, and like frostbitten vegetable leaves, they all hung their heads and retreated reluctantly.
“Sorry about that, comrades, the village kids are just playing around, didn’t scare you, did they?”
“No.”
Seeing the two had kind faces and clear eyes, not like the type to meddle and report, the old captain eased his expression, “That’s good, that’s good.”
“Wait.”
As if remembering something, Su Ning suddenly called out to the person turning to leave.
Not to mention the old captain, even Zhang Ze was momentarily surprised, but he managed his expression well so no one noticed.
“Old captain, can we trade for some seafood?”
……
After much persuasion, the old captain’s concerns were finally dispelled, Su Ning didn’t haggle, and at a price that made everyone very happy, she successfully traded for a batch of good seafood.
With this pleasant transaction, the distance between both sides shortened quite a bit, evident from the form of address—not completely, but at least most of the wariness was eliminated.
“Xiao Su, Xiao Zhang, want to come to grandpa’s house for a sip?”
“No thanks, Shi grandfather, I still want to ask you something…”
“Oh? What is it, tell me, anything I know I can tell you.”
Because of the two’s arrival and her big transaction, everyone in the small fishing village was very happy to have such income before the New Year, they rarely lit a bonfire in the village center and sang and danced to celebrate.
The blazing flames lit her little face red, and the bright sparkles in her eyes jumped along.
After hearing her words, Shi Dantian, lost in memories, slowly raised his head, “If you asked me about other things, I might not remember, but this matter I do have an impression of.”
“Really?!”
“Yes, if I remember correctly, it should be September thirteen years ago?”
“Yes, September 30th.”
“No no, not right, end of September yes, but it should be the 27th.”
Because that was the day his son came home from the army due to illness, how could he not remember clearly?
It was because of his son who lost both legs that his heartbroken self went to that beach cliff edge.
There were usually no people there, most suitable to hide and cry quietly.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, of course these words didn’t need to be said to them, Shi Dantian nodded affirmatively, “It was September 27th.”
“At that time, grandpa you…”
“There was indeed someone at that cliff then, but not one person, a couple plus a young man, three people, and they didn’t scatter any ashes but threw down a big sack.”
Clenching her fist tightly, Su Ning stared into those wise eyes with some vicissitudes, “Shi grandpa, can you still remember what those three people looked like? That sack… how big was that sack, could you tell what it was?”
“Looks…”
Grinding the grit in his hand, Shi Dantian shook his head somewhat uncertainly, over a dozen years had passed, how could he remember so clearly.
Due to distance and angle issues, he didn’t see the people fully, only able to describe a rough outline from memory.
“As for that sack, about the same size as the ones we see, bulging with a strange shape, mouth sealed, I don’t know what was inside.”
Hearing his words, Su Ning and Zhang Ze exchanged a glance.
Based on this description, Xu Zixin wasn’t among those three.
He really didn’t scatter the ashes here, or possibly didn’t cremate at all?
What was in that sack… Mom and little brother?
And the time, the time doesn’t match either.
“Oh, right, the older man’s mouth had a big mole at the right bottom corner with a thick black hair on it.”
Almost forgot this most important facial feature, Shi Dantian hurriedly added, and couldn’t help patting his head with a sigh that he was really getting old!
“Thank you, thank you Shi grandpa.”
“No big deal, you just happened to ask the right thing, for others I might not be able to help.”
With this information, the possibility of finding people greatly increased.
Su Ning was very grateful for the information from the old man, today’s spending not only got a batch of abundant seafood but also important clues, not a loss at all.
“Shi grandpa, do you know how many small fishing villages are in this sea area? Based on your experience, where is the sack thrown from there most likely to drift?”
“There are many, as for where it drifts, the nearby villages across the bay are all possible.”
Seeing her expression, and connecting to her question, Shi Dantian who had a certain guess in his heart suddenly changed his expression: could it be that the sack back then contained a person?
But even if it was a live person, thrown from that cliff, they wouldn’t die but would be seriously injured, and the sack was tightly tied and sealed, sink then float up and drift back to shore…
His fingers trembled involuntarily, Shi Dantian tried hard to recall, over so many years it seemed no village had heard of discovering a body, such a big matter impossible without any news.
Could it be? So coincidentally, just thrown down and a passing fishing boat below fished it up?
Shouldn’t be…
“Shi grandpa, I have a photo I want to show you, see if you’ve seen the person on it.”
“Ah, um, okay, let me see.”
A not too big black and white photo, on it was Xu Zixin and Su Jinglei in their youth.
Handsome man and beautiful woman, just one glance could impress deeply.
“No, haven’t seen them.”
……
Carrying two full bags of seafood, Zhang Ze and she returned to the county town’s guesthouse.
After putting the things away, Zhang Ze couldn’t sit still, since knowing this matter, naturally the sooner to investigate the better, “Ning Ning, wait here for me, I’ll go to the black market here.”
Finding people still had to be left to professionals.
Having heard about this situation from that kid Xiao Qiao, Su Ning didn’t question, and nodded obediently in agreement, “Okay, I won’t go anywhere, just wait here.”
“I’ll try to go quick and come back quick.”
It seemed they still had to stay here for two days, Zhang Ze got up, opened the room door, and left with big strides.
