Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 278:  276: The Extra Person at the Murder Scene

“Pfft! Is that what you’re feeling sentimental about? Spending money means earning money. If there’s no money to earn, how can there be any to spend?”

Liu Sisi rested her head in the crook of his arm, close to his burning hot body, feeling as if she was leaning against a large brazier, so warm.

“You’re right! If our family was still as poor as last year, we would want to spend but have no money to do so.”

Di Yelei laughed softly as well. The deep and mellow laughter emanated from his chest where her arm was lying on and continued to vibrate slightly.

“Don’t laugh, what’s there to laugh about!”

Liu Sisi turned to lie flat on her back: “Right, you left off halfway last time. Now that we have nothing better to do, shouldn’t you finish telling the story?”

“What is there to say? It’s just… that sort of thing.” Di Yelei spoke casually.

Liu Sisi sat up at the head of the bed and squinted at him: “Huh? So you’re not going to tell me the truth now?”

Di Yelei glanced at her, folded his arms under his head, and clamped his lips shut, refusing to speak.

Liu Sisi’s gaze shifted: “Is it because this matter involves your little sister again? Didn’t I let her go before? What are you still worried about?”

Di Yelei turned to look at her, his thick black eyebrows furrowed as he sighed, “Alright! I’ll tell you, but you can’t get angry after hearing it.”

“Of course I won’t be angry, go ahead and tell me!”

Only then did Di Yelei recount the results of his investigation.

“In the beginning, Zhang Shixin kept harassing you, and deliberately instigated a group of rascals to make trouble at the bookstore. After I drove them away, I found Xing San and threatened him. Xing San was timid, so he naturally backed out of the matter…”

Later, Zhang Shixin became more aggressive, and enlisted mountain bandits from Heilong Mountain to pretend to be rascals and monitor Liu Sisi. Eventually, she accidentally discovered that the man with a scar on his eyebrow had connections with Zhang Shixin.

This man with a scar on his eyebrow and the several that had died earlier were all mountain bandits from Heilong Mountain! Thus, it was suspected that Zhang Shixin was the mastermind!

Di Yelei followed the trail and after several investigations, he found that the mountain bandits were in cahoots with Sun Ergou to do mischief, intercepting Sisi and himself on the way!

Meanwhile, he discovered that the little rascal Di Ruoning had found to deal with Sisi hadn’t died, so he went to the Yuan Family to question them along with Sisi.

However, Di Ruoning was talking nonsense, and Yuan Mengbai kept dodging the issue, so the questioning ended inconclusively.

Di Yelei sighed, “You already know all about these situations. Then, Zuo Xingyu came to see me, saying he found a little rascal looking for trouble with Yuan Mengbai on his way home. When I heard this, I quickly rode a horse to find the little rascal and interrogated him. The result was far beyond my expectations…”

Di Yelei stopped talking, unable to continue.

“What happened afterwards? If you have anything to say, just say it straight. Hiding it like this makes me itch with curiosity!” Liu Sisi hurriedly urged him.

Di Yelei shook his head: “He said that the mastermind was Yuan Mengbai.”

“Who? Who did he say was the mastermind?” Liu Sisi couldn’t sit still any longer.

“Yuan Mengbai! He was very certain, and also said that he had been following us from the beginning, but just hadn’t found the opportunity to strike. Then, he personally witnessed Yuan Mengbai running out, getting in touch with the mountain bandits on Heilong Mountain. He was frightened by those men, which was why he hid to the side and didn’t try anything.”

“But…”

Liu Sisi felt that her head was not enough to figure this out.

There had been no past grudges or recent hatred between her and Yuan Mengbai. She would be the first to not believe that Yuan Mengbai would want to hurt her!

“How is this possible? Why would Yuan Mengbai want to deal with me?”

She had deliberately comforted him when he was disheartened back then. What was his reason for wanting to silence her by killing her? Was it because she saw him cry?

Isn’t this reason too far-fetched?

Di Yelei was clearly puzzled as well, “I also think this doesn’t make sense. I thought about it and went to look for Constable Zuo, wanting to ask him what he saw back then. However, Constable Zuo cried out, ‘Not good! Something bad has happened!’ By the time we found him again, the rascal had already been silenced.”

“Silenced…?”

Liu Sisi subconsciously repeated this before a thought crossed her mind, “You mean, he was silenced by the real mastermind of this incident? In that case, it’s highly likely that Yuan Mengbai is not the real mastermind as he claims?”

“We can only speculate since the person is already dead. Who the real mastermind is would probably remain a mystery.”

“How could this be? Then…Oh! I remember now, it must be that person, the one who saved me!”

Liu Sisi suddenly cried out and exchanged glances with Di Yelei.

Finally, Di Yelei nodded, “Constable Zuo and I have also guessed that. The key is the extra person at the scene of the murder case. The question is, what exactly is the identity of this person? We have carefully investigated. The person who forced both of you off the cliff appeared and disappeared out of thin air without leaving any traces.”

“Is that so…”

Liu Sisi lay back into Di Yelei’s arms, her thoughts racing far away.

Although that person had an ordinary face, she seemed to have seen those eyes somewhere.

“Alright, don’t think about it anymore. We’ve hit a dead end. It’s already a great fortune amidst this misfortune that we’re both safe and sound.”

But where had she seen them?

She just couldn’t remember!

An image seemed to flash across her mind but disappeared before she could grasp it.

“Still thinking about this? Don’t bother. If you have the chance later on, perhaps what appears to be a tangled mess now will unravel itself like pulling silk from a cocoon. But for now, my little kitten, shall we do something else?”

Di Yelei whispered with a low laugh, and his hands, which were initially resting on her back, suddenly began to move forward, immediately stirring up a roaring fire.

Liu Sisi shivered all over; her body went limp, and the fleeting shadow in her mind disappeared abruptly, leaving behind only a pair of hands that continued to fan the flames.

The room was as warm as spring. When the two of them faced each other once again, Liu Sisi shyly raised her hands and circled his neck, taking the initiative to kiss his lips.

It seemed like he was encouraged, as he let out a low growl from his throat and lowered his head, continuously taking from her, turning passive to active.

The long night continued to spread…

–

My little nephew was born, a sturdy baby weighing six and a half catties. Please forgive the recent irregular updates of Craft Paper; it will return to normal once my sister is discharged from the hospital.