After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

On a quiet winter morning, the sound of a gong pierced the sky, waking the villagers of Laoya Village.

Under the large locust tree near the duck's belly, villagers gathered in twos and threes; some were sleepy-eyed, some looked doubtful, and some complained.

"What happened? Why can't people sleep in peace so early in the morning?"

The young woman, wrapped tightly in her cotton-padded coat, lazily linked arms with her husband, yawning as she spoke.

The woman's husband was also half asleep. He shook his head and looked at the old woman beside him with a confused expression. "Mother, do you know?"

"Sleeping until noon every day, even if money fell from the sky, you two wouldn't be able to pick it up," the old lady standing next to her said casually, glancing at the two of them with a crooked mouth.

Then, the old woman whispered mysteriously in her son's ear, "I heard that someone found a body in the reeds yesterday, the face was all bloated from being soaked in water..."

"Iron Pillar's Mother, is this really true?"

Before the son could respond, a woman in a black cotton coat behind the old lady, with narrow eyes and tightly combed hair, approached and asked.

Grandma Wang was a well-known know-it-all in the village. She knew everything about the new family that moved to Duck Buttocks, including their surname and how many people were in their family.

Just as the gong sounded, she was about to go to the field to pick some vegetables. She never expected that it would be news she had never heard before. This was truly strange.

"Of course it's true. Pear Blossom's mother saw it with her own eyes yesterday afternoon when she went to the fields. It took four officials to carry it away..."

"Iron Pillar's mother answered."

"Pear Blossom's mother is really hardworking, even on the second day of the Lunar New Year she's in the fields..." Another woman overheard some of this and leaned over as well, though the focus of the conversation had veered off course.

And so, the group of people started chattering and making a ruckus.

Xu Wenjie was among the crowd, but he stood quietly at the back and did not participate in the conversation.

Although their home was far from the village, the sound of the gong could still be faintly heard.

However, Xu Wenjie did not come today because he heard the gong. Rather, Li Quanfu had arranged for him to come early the night before to help Li Quanfu find clues.

Li Quanfu stood in front of the chaotic and noisy crowd, carrying a gong. Yesterday, his brother-in-law had specifically instructed him that if he solved this case, he might be promoted to the county government, and that he must do his best to help him...

He snapped out of his reverie, glanced around, and seeing that almost everyone had arrived, he struck the gong heavily.

"quiet!"

As the sound of the gong faded, the noisy crowd instantly quieted down.

However, there are always a few troublemakers who want to cause trouble.

Before Li Quanfu could speak, an elderly man at the front of the crowd, leaning on a cane, wearing a brown cotton coat, and with half-white hair, sneered and said sarcastically:

"Li Lao Er, you have quite the airs of an official."

The voice was deep and powerful, high-pitched yet husky, like a windmill that had been turning for many years. Li Quanfu knew who was speaking without even looking.

He locked onto his target at the front of the crowd, then furrowed his thick eyebrows, a hint of annoyance flashing in his calm eyes before replacing it with his usual kind and simple smile.

"I'm just following orders from the authorities, please understand, Master Zhang."

Li Quanfu smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

Master Zhang snorted, and was about to say something when the old man in the blue long coat standing next to him gently tugged at him.

Although Zhang Sanye still looked unconvinced, he didn't say anything more. He just gave Li Quanfu a cold glance and then reluctantly shut his mouth.

Xu Wenjie guessed that the man must be Master Zhang Er, and the younger-looking old man with curved eyebrows and a very kind face, wearing a brown long coat and standing next to Master Zhang Er, was probably Master Zhang Si.

The three are the three "highly respected" elders of the Zhang family, who are now the actual "rulers" of Laoya Village.

Seeing this, Li Quanfu ignored Zhang Sanye and then addressed the crowd in a loud voice:

"...Yesterday, a body was found in the reeds of Old Duck Head. According to Scholar Xu from Duck Buttocks, the body looked like a scholar who had passed through our village before the New Year. Now we are just waiting for the government to give us a reply."

"The people in the government office said that anyone with clues can report them to the government, or they can tell me and I will pass it on to the government. This is a good deed and a way to accumulate merit. They hope that anyone who knows anything will not hide it..."

As soon as he finished speaking, his words caused a huge uproar, and the crowd erupted in a frenzy.

"I was wondering why it felt so eerie when I passed by there these past few days. So that's what happened?" said Passerby A.

"That is to say, I heard someone crying when I passed by a few nights ago. Oh dear! Could it be a vengeful spirit coming to take my life?" Passerby B spat a few times, thinking to himself that he should hurry back and pray to the Bodhisattva for protection.

.........

Xu Wenjie, hidden in the crowd, remained silent, carefully observing the expressions of everyone in the crowd. Finding nothing unusual, he gently shook his head at Li Quanfu.

Li Quanfu understood and nodded without making a sound.

Just as they were about to disperse the crowd, Zhang Sanye, who was keeping a close eye on Li Quanfu, noticed their subtle movements and immediately interrupted Li Quanfu.

"Li Lao Er, this man looks unfamiliar to me. Maybe this matter is related to him!"

Master Zhang smiled slightly and pointed to Xu Wenjie, who was hiding at the other end of the crowd. He had seen that man exchanging glances with Li Quanfu, and there must be something fishy going on between them.

In a short while, everyone's eyes were focused on Xu Wenjie, and Zhang Sanye's gaze also shifted back and forth between Xu Wenjie and Li Quanfu.

He sneered inwardly, unable to stand Li Quanfu's act of pretending he hadn't done it on purpose and was unwilling, even though he had clearly taken advantage of the situation.

When the yamen decided to select a village head, he had already established a good relationship with a constable in the yamen, serving him good wine and meat every day for half a month. Everyone said that the position of village head was definitely his second brother's.

Unexpectedly, the official document from the yamen came down to refer to that brat from the Li family in their village. Li Quanfu, relying on his brother-in-law's position in the town's yamen, snatched the prize that was within the Zhang family's grasp.

If it weren't for Li Lao Er, this village would belong to his family, and wouldn't they be the ones calling the shots? How could Li Lao Er be so arrogant and domineering here?

His second brother and fourth brother always smiled and advised him, saying, "Let it go, why get angry with a child?"

But he just couldn't swallow his anger, so he was happy to do anything that would upset or upset Li Quanfu, and he would feel better after doing it.

A few days ago, I heard from the fourth brother that the second brother, Li, was very happy despite being busy lately.

He inquired and learned that a newly moved-in family from the north had asked him to hide something, and they flattered him every day, calling him "village head" this and "village head" that, which made Li Quanfu so proud that he didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth.

The last time Li Quanfu went door-to-door with gongs and drums to announce that a family of three was swindling people, it was the newcomer who instigated it.

And just a few days ago, on Lunar New Year's Eve, the government gave him two ounces of meat. They were so poor this year that they could only eat coarse grains and black flour. Why should Li Lao Er be able to eat meat?

These past few days, he's gotten angrier and angrier, and he was just thinking of some excuse to cause trouble for Li Quanfu when he unexpectedly delivered himself to his doorstep.

Because of what Master Zhang said, everyone started whispering among themselves, and their gazes toward Xu Wenjie were tinged with a strange light.

This slight anomaly, under Zhang Sanye's deliberate guidance and encouragement, gradually became the focus of scrutiny and judgment.

"Yes, maybe it's related to him. I remember now, not long ago when I came back from the back mountain, I saw a man in white talking to him..."

Despite the various opinions, Xu Wenjie smiled slightly and opened his mouth, silencing everyone.