Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Tang Xingwang’s voice was loud, drawing the attention of many people.

Tang Xingwang stood with his hands on his hips, chin raised, like an old woman scolding on the street: "You lazy woman, daring to slack off, and you got caught, didn’t you?"

Tang Qingqing felt everyone's gaze and smiled at them.

"Everyone is here."

Tang Jianjun’s brows furrowed, and he scolded with a stern face:

"All day long, you’re out causing trouble. From now on, don’t bother with the sheep herding!"

Tang Jianjun hadn’t had the chance to bring this up, but unexpectedly, Tang Qingqing showed up right then.

He turned to the deputy team leader and said, "Deputy Team Leader, I haven’t managed my child well. I volunteer to have my eldest daughter removed from her position and let my son Tang Xingwang take over her duties in her stead."

Wang Heizi shouted, "The sheep are being watched, none have gone missing. Why should we switch people?"

Generally, a shepherd cannot leave the flock, but there are always exceptions.

As long as someone is arranged to take over, and the sheep haven’t been lost, it won’t be a problem.

The deputy team leader was already anxious and had no time for such trivial matters.

"What chaos are you adding now! Can’t you see we’re busy?"

Tang Jianjun looked embarrassed. Facing the deputy team leader, he dared not say anything, but when he turned to look at Tang Qingqing, his expression was extremely unpleasant.

"What are you still doing here? Go herd the sheep! If your work points get deducted later, just wait and see what happens!"

Tang Qingqing glanced at him, clenched her fists, and ultimately ran off without saying anything.

In the past, she would have felt sad and worried, wanting to do something to make amends, hoping he wouldn’t be disappointed in her.

But now, Tang Qingqing didn’t care anymore. They weren’t her biological parents; they were the ones who separated her from her real family. It wasn’t strange that they didn’t like her.

Wang Heizi secretly glanced at Tang Qingqing. "Are you okay?"

Tang Qingqing shook her head.

"Don’t worry. I’ll talk to my great-grandfather. He won’t let you lose your job as a shepherd."

Wang Heizi’s great-grandfather was the team leader, Wang Changfu.

"Thank you."

Wang Heizi scratched his head, embarrassed.

The two arrived near the granary. The once towering piles of grain had turned to ashes, and the original building was now only rubble.

Their expressions were grim. Although they knew the scene was terrible, seeing it firsthand filled them with anger and heartache.

Everyone had worked so hard to grow these grains, only to have them all burned away by a single fire, making their efforts for the year futile.

Tang Qingqing composed herself and began observing the ground, frowning.

The center and surroundings of the fire site were chaotic, with people’s footprints everywhere, trampled into a mess, and water spread all around.

Almost the entire village had rushed out to fight the fire yesterday, and with the previous footprints mixed in, it was a complete mess, making it impossible to discern anything.

Wang Heizi: "How can you tell anything with this mess?"

Tang Qingqing pursed her lips, bent down, and observed the ground, slowly moving outward. The footprints became clearer.

She followed these footprints, one by one, leading back to each person’s home.

These footprints matched those of the people who had come to fight the fire.

Tang Qingqing walked back and forth about ten times. Wang Heizi, initially excited to join in, finally lost patience.

"How much longer will this take? It’s been over an hour already."

Tang Qingqing was focused on observing the footprints on the ground and didn’t hear what Wang Heizi said.

Wang Heizi yawned out of boredom, considering whether to stay or leave.

"Ding-ding-ding—"

The sound of a bicycle bell rang, and Wang Heizi looked up to see the local police station personnel arriving.

Seeing the uniforms and the conspicuous peaked caps, Wang Heizi’s eyes lit up with envy and admiration.

The team leader immediately spotted Wang Heizi and scolded, "What are you doing here? Go play somewhere else."

"Great-grandfather, I’m not playing. I’m doing important work!"

"Nonsense. What important work could a little brat like you do? You’ve been stressed lately, so don’t cause trouble."

The team leader slapped him and walked away, hands behind his back, to greet the two police officers who had come to investigate.

Several thousand pounds of grain had been burned in a single fire, causing significant property damage. The chief of the local police station, Zhang Qingxiong, came personally to investigate.

The scene still smelled faintly of smoke, and the devastation made Zhang Qingxiong frown continuously.

They headed to the center of the fire site to examine the situation. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw Tang Qingqing bending over, seemingly examining something, but paid no attention.

Chief Zhang: "Not a single grain of food was saved? All burned?"

The team leader lamented, "Everything is burned to ashes, all gone."

"These were the fruits of our fellow villagers' hard labor throughout the year. Now everything is destroyed, and this includes the grain we were supposed to hand over! This year was a bumper harvest; everyone thought next year would be better. Who knew something like this would happen!"

"Was there any unusual activity in the village before the fire started?"

The team leader shook his head. "The fire broke out around two in the morning. If someone hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night to take their child to the toilet, we might not have known until it was too late."

Despite their swift response, they couldn't contain the fire's spread, which ended up burning all the grain to ashes.

Chief Zhang stopped at the entrance of the granary, looking at the chaotic scene with countless overlapping footprints on the ground, and sighed inwardly.

Arson cases were notoriously difficult to solve. The evidence had been burned away, and with so many people involved in extinguishing the fire, any remaining clues had likely been trampled beyond recognition.

The arsonist had blended into the crowd unnoticed.

With little evidence left at the scene, they could only conduct extensive interviews and then collate and analyze the information.

However, the local police station was understaffed and had numerous other tasks to handle. Uncovering the truth wouldn't be easy.

Another officer, Meng Changqing, carefully inspected the area around the fire scene.

"Chief, the scene has been completely compromised. I didn't find any suspicious clues."

Chief Zhang wasn't surprised. "Captain Wang, has anything unusual happened recently in your village?"

"No, we just finished the autumn harvest. Everyone was exhausted and needed a few days to recover. There was no mood for trouble. This year was good, with favorable weather, and we haven't had any conflicts with others."

As soon as the team leader finished speaking, the accountant from the production team ran over, shouting as he approached:

"Captain, something has happened. You need to come and see."

"What's going on? Where's Xiao Song?"

The accountant, panting heavily, greeted Chief Zhang.

"Chief Zhang, welcome, welcome. With you here, we feel reassured."

The team leader knocked him on the head with his pipe. "When is this time for pleasantries? Speak up, what's happening?"

Rubbing his head, the accountant quickly explained:

"The villagers think the fire was set by the people from Caojiazhuang. They're jealous of our good performance this year and deliberately harmed us!

Everyone is now armed and ready to attack Caojiazhuang. Thankfully, Captain Song has managed to hold them back. But they're all upset and won't tolerate this humiliation. They're waiting for your instructions."

"This is sheer nonsense!" the team leader exclaimed. "We can't fight without reason and evidence. Otherwise, why did I rush here so early?"

Chief Zhang looked at him, and the team leader didn't shy away.

On the way here, the team leader had shared his suspicions with Chief Zhang.

He believed that such a despicable act must have been committed by the people from Caojiazhuang, who had a grudge against them. The granary contained the entire Rongshan Brigade's grain, not just one family's.

If anything happened, the whole brigade would suffer.

Therefore, it couldn't have been done by anyone from their own village, as that would be self-destructive.

There were no sparks near the granary late at night, and no one would go there to play.

This fire was aimed at the entire Rongshan Brigade, and whoever did it must have a deep-seated hatred. The most likely culprit was Caojiazhuang.

The accountant said, "Chief Zhang, it must have been the people from Caojiazhuang. Yesterday, someone from our brigade saw someone from Caojiazhuang lurking around, and he must have set the fire."

Chief Zhang took this information seriously. "Do you know who that person was?"

"That person is named Cao Zhigao. Several people have seen him recently, indicating premeditation."

The team leader asked, "Why didn't I hear about this?"

"Nobody expected this to happen. Those who saw him didn't think much of it since he wasn't causing trouble. Who knew he had such malicious intentions?"

Chief Zhang instructed, "Gather everyone who saw him, and I'll ask them about the situation."

Wang Heizi, who had been listening intently, stood up quickly.

"I've seen him too!"

All eyes turned to him.

The team leader scolded loudly, "What are you doing here, boy? You should be tending sheep. Go back, or I'll remove you from your post."

Unfazed, Wang Heizi looked at Chief Zhang. "I've seen Cao Zhigao several times. I know why he's here."

Chief Zhang asked, "Oh? Why is he here?"

Wang Heizi pointed his chin, "He's interested in one of our village girls. He comes to see her."

The team leader frowned. "Don't talk nonsense."

"I'm not talking nonsense. I even know which girl it is."

"Wang Heizi!" the team leader shouted.

Wang Heizi shuddered.

Chief Zhang gently patted the team leader. "Don't scare the boy."

"I'm worried he might say something inappropriate and ruin the girl's reputation."

"Since there are only a few of us here, let's keep this conversation between us." Chief Zhang looked at the accountant.

The accountant hurriedly swore not to spread a word.

To uncover the truth and find the arsonist as soon as possible, even the captain did not dare to truly silence Wang Heizi, fearing he might miss crucial information.

The captain glared at Wang Heizi. "Speak the truth, and don't make things up. Do you understand?"

Wang Heizi stood straight and saluted. "I swear by the Chairman! Everything I say is true, not a single word is false."

The captain kicked him. "Stop being ridiculous, now speak."

"Cao Zhigao's sweetheart is Tang Chuanfang, the eldest sister from the Tang family in Dongkou. They've had their eyes on each other for a long time, but her family didn't approve, so they've been seeing each other secretly."

The accountant was surprised. "Tang Chuanfang? Isn't she getting married soon?"