Chapter 40: Black Koi Fish Yin Shuang Goes Offline

Chapter 40: Black Koi Fish Yin Shuang Goes Offline

These words left Ye Qing and Wu Yongbing dumbfounded.

"The people with red armbands are here to investigate the two of us? Are they mistaken? What is there to investigate about us?"

Wu Yongbing was completely at a loss.

Ye Qing was also confused, and the two of them hurried their steps towards Kaishan Tun.

When they returned to the village, all the members of the production team were kept from working in the fields. They had all been summoned to the threshing ground for questioning by the people with red armbands.

However, the questions from these people with red armbands left the team members bewildered.

"What? Ye Qing, the educated youth, colluded with Captain Wu to steal someone else's credit? Ye Qing is so capable; would she need to steal someone else's credit?"

"Who in their right mind wrote this anonymous report? Is there something wrong with them? We haven't had anyone as capable as Ye Qing in our village for many years. Now that we finally have someone who can make our village famous, she gets reported. Is the person who wrote this report sick in the head?"

"This is utterly disgraceful. What did Ye Qing do to deserve this? First, she was framed for murder in the morning, and the police just cleared her name. Now, there's another report. When will it end? The girl is only sixteen and came to this backwater place from the south to work. Is that easy?"

The villagers of Kaishan Tun were genuinely angry.

The day had been filled with these ridiculous disruptions. Waves of officials came and questioned them, severely slowing down their urgent work. This caused a lot of dissatisfaction among the villagers.

The people with red armbands in town had heard about the death in Kaishan Tun that day, but they belonged to a different faction than the police. They investigated the report separately without prior communication.

Seeing the villagers' resentment and resistance to their presence, the people with red armbands were completely caught off guard.

Thinking that the villagers were covering for the production team captain, the people with red armbands focused on the educated youth who had been sent down to the countryside, hoping to get the truth from these outsiders.

However, even the older educated youths, who might have been jealous of Ye Qing's treatment in the village, couldn't bring themselves to lie. After all, Ye Qing's performance had been there for all to see.

The girl worked diligently and never slacked off after work. When wild boars attacked, she dared to step up and, after killing five, generously shared the meat without any hesitation or discontent.

More importantly, to save the unrelated Li Yunbo, the girl had used her connections and even risked her reputation and future.

It was said that the surgery on Li Yunbo took three hours, and when she came out of the operating room, her wrists were shaking, and she was so tired that she could fall asleep leaning against a wall.

Ye Qing never mentioned these things after returning, nor did she boast about her kindness or greatness.

But everyone had eyes and could see the girl's qualities. So, when the people with red armbands came to investigate, they couldn't bring themselves to slander her.

The people with red armbands questioned many people, and most of them spoke the truth. Only Liu Mei's answers were ambiguous and seemed to imply something, but when the people with red armbands pressed for details, she became evasive and inconsistent.

Although the people with red armbands usually acted straightforward and rough, they weren't fools. They could tell who was telling the truth and who was lying.

It was clear that Liu Mei was settling personal scores and deliberately misled them, which angered the people with red armbands. They scolded Liu Mei on the spot and demanded that she write a self-criticism or be taken away.

Liu Mei, frightened that her lies had been exposed and threatened by the people with red armbands, trembled in fear and didn't dare to harbor any malicious thoughts again.

However, the people with red armbands did get some useful information from Li Juan, which gave them an understanding of the situation on the train when the human traffickers were caught.

According to Li Juan, on the 56th train that day, after arriving at Pingxian Train Station, the couple attempted to kidnap a child, and it was Yin Shuang who first exposed their intentions, preventing the abduction.

From this perspective, Yin Shuang did contribute some merit.

But the reporters from Jicheng Daily had surely consulted the police before the interview. Could they be easily deceived by an educated youth and a production team captain? Could the reporter have missed the signs of someone taking credit?

The people with red armbands were confused and found the situation odd, as it didn't seem logical.

Fortunately, the two accused, Ye Qing and Wu Yongbing, soon returned.

The people with red armbands, with serious expressions, stated that they had received an anonymous report and needed to question Ye Qing and Captain Wu.

After explaining the contents of the report, both Ye Qing and Wu Yongbing were furious. Wu Yongbing immediately started cursing.

"Damn it! If you have the guts, face me directly! Don't hide like a coward! If I find out who you are, I'll make sure to deal with you!"

Ye Qing didn't even read the report but immediately figured out who had written it.

She carefully explained the two main reasons why the reporters from Jicheng interviewed her and then addressed the people with red armbands.

"There are some things I didn't want to say, but this report is practically accusing me to my face, so I can't keep quiet anymore. I can't protect someone's reputation at the cost of hiding the truth about what happened on the train that day."

"The truth is, I had noticed the suspicious behavior of that couple while sitting by the window. I didn't want to alert them, so I planned to follow them off the train and discreetly incapacitate them with needles. This way, we could rescue the child without any fuss and catch the traffickers."

"But before I could act, Comrade Yin Shuang, who was sitting not far from me, also noticed the traffickers. She might not have known that I could handle the situation and, fearing I would take the credit, immediately shouted."

"As you know, the traffickers panicked. One jumped out of the window and ran away, while the other took a hostage when blocked by the people with red armbands."

"I won't claim to be extraordinary, but if we had followed my original plan, the subsequent chaos could have been avoided. Comrade Yin Shuang's impulsive shout forced me to hide behind a chair and look for another opportunity."

"So, I believe Yin Shuang's so-called contribution is unfounded. If not for her interference, the situation could have been handled much more smoothly!"

Ye Qing's sharp and unkind evaluation left everyone present in shock.

No one expected that there was so much more behind Ye Qing's contribution. If her account was true, Yin Shuang's so-called merit was more like stirring up trouble!

Even the people with red armbands were left speechless.

They said that the reporter from Jicheng wouldn't be stupid enough to fail to notice someone impersonating another. It turns out someone was jealous and couldn't stand to see others doing well, so they resorted to making a secret report behind their back!

The people with red armbands had come for nothing, and their expressions immediately turned sour.

They weren't stupid. If the contents of the report were found to be true, who would benefit the most from Ye Qing being taken away? Of course, it would be Yin Shuang!

No one would go out of their way to fight for justice for a complete stranger, so it didn’t take much thought to figure out who had written the letter.

"Who is Yin Shuang? Please come out and explain!"

The people with red armbands shouted at the crowd.

But for a long while, no one stepped forward to speak.

This made both the people with red armbands and Captain Wu frown in displeasure.

"Captain, Comrade Yin, the educated youth, took the afternoon off, saying she had a severe stomachache. I saw that her face did look unwell, so I approved her leave," the scorekeeper, Zhao Tieming, suddenly remembered and explained.

At that moment, a young girl in the crowd stepped forward, her face flushed as she stammered:

"Sister Yin Shuang probably got her period. Last night, she had a stomachache and went out to the toilet. It took her a long time to come back. This morning, I saw her washing her clothes. She probably dirtied her pants."

There was nothing particularly wrong with this explanation. In Kaoshan Tun, most households didn’t have specially built outhouses. At night, if nature called urgently, people either used a chamber pot or had to run to the public toilet.

But in a flash, Ye Qing suddenly thought of something. Her expression became serious as she eagerly asked the young girl:

"Are you from Zhao Guosheng's family? Are you sure Yin Shuang went out last night? How long was she gone, and about what time did she come back?"

The eldest daughter of Zhao Guosheng's family nodded. "Yes, I woke up in the middle of the night and didn’t see her. She came back about an hour later, but I was too sleepy to know the exact time."

Seeing Ye Qing's expression, Captain Wu couldn't help but ask:

"What's wrong?"

Ye Qing turned to Captain Wu and said:

"Uncle, I'm certain that this report was written by Yin Shuang! The Jicheng reporter only came to our village for an interview yesterday, so it’s impossible for other educated youths outside to know about it so quickly!"

"That means this report could only have been dropped in the revolutionary committee's mailbox in town yesterday or this morning!"

"But Yin Shuang didn’t take leave this morning, so she must have gone to town last night!"

"Don’t forget, there was a murder on the road to Qingshan Town last night!"

"If Yin Shuang came back from that road, she must have seen Liu Kui being brutally killed. Why didn’t she report it? Unless—"

As soon as she said this, Wu Yongbing also realized what she meant, his eyes widening in shock:

"Are you saying that the person who killed Liu Kui might be—"

Ye Qing didn’t say anything, but the expression on her face said it all.

"Go to Zhao Guosheng's house immediately and bring her out for questioning!" Wu Yongbing, furious, immediately ordered the villagers.

The people with red armbands hadn’t expected that investigating a report would take such a dramatic turn. After exchanging glances, they realized things had escalated, and they quickly ran toward Zhao Guosheng's house.

To everyone's surprise, when they arrived at Zhao Guosheng's house, they found it empty. After searching inside and out, there was no sign of Yin Shuang.

"Oh no, she's escaped!"

Wu Yongbing's expression changed drastically.

If Yin Shuang had been at Zhao Guosheng's house, there might still have been a chance to clear her of suspicion. But now that she was missing, it was a clear sign of guilt!

Wu Yongbing was both angry and frustrated that a murderer had emerged from his village. He immediately called all the able-bodied villagers to search every corner of the village to find Yin Shuang.

Ye Qing was also stunned.

She hadn’t expected the murderer to be Yin Shuang!

This was a time of peace, yet someone had dared to kill, and even worse, had tortured their victim beforehand. What was Yin Shuang thinking?

What baffled Ye Qing the most was that this was the protagonist from the novel she had read, a beloved golden-fish heroine. How could a murderer be the protagonist? Was this some kind of dark golden-fish?

The most ridiculous part was that Yin Shuang had actually fled in fear of being caught.

In this era, without a letter of introduction, it was nearly impossible to travel anywhere. What confidence did Yin Shuang have to think she could escape punishment by running away? If she had turned herself in, she might have received a suspended death sentence. But now that she had run, she was definitely going to face execution!

Hiding in the mountains and forests at that moment, Yin Shuang couldn’t understand how she had ended up in this situation.

According to her plan, once Liu Kui's body was discovered, the police would take Ye Qing away, and the town's revolutionary committee would clear her name, returning the credit for catching the human trafficker to her.

At that time, all the special treatment Ye Qing received in the village would have been hers!

She might even have used her appearance in the Jicheng Daily to secure a recommendation for the worker-peasant-soldier university in the Red Flag Commune this year and successfully return to the city for university!

But her beautiful dream shattered completely when, in the morning, Ye Qing was brought back to the village in Wu Cong's ox cart.

She couldn’t understand why, when the evidence against Ye Qing had been so clear, the police had let her go so easily.

Shouldn't the case have been closed with a sentence, sending Ye Qing to prison or to a labor camp on the frontier for reeducation? After all, her own father had been reported and sent to reeducation through labor for an unsubstantiated charge.

When things didn’t go as she had planned, Yin Shuang's bad feeling became urgent and intense. Her intuition told her she couldn’t stay in Kaoshan Tun and wait for disaster to strike. She had to escape before she was caught.

So, she took the afternoon off and instead of working, she ran to the mountains, hiding in the cave where the wild boar piglets were kept. She burned the clothes she had worn last night that were stained with blood and couldn’t be washed clean.

Afterward, she secretly hid in the mountains behind the village, keeping an eye on the situation below.

When they realized that the revolutionary committee had come with a letter of accusation to investigate, she still clung to a sliver of hope, thinking that perhaps she could still turn the situation around against the odds.

But soon, that last bit of hope shattered. When everyone in the village began to search for her with a vengeance, digging up every inch of the ground, she panicked completely, knowing that if she stayed in Kaoshan Tun, she would certainly be done for.

At that moment, it was as if something in the dark was guiding her, urging her to run down a different path. As long as she followed that road and got down the mountain quickly, she would have a chance to survive!

This strong intuition had saved her many times before, so this time, Yin Shuang didn’t doubt it. She immediately ran as fast as she could in the direction that came to her mind.

However, the moment she rushed out from the foot of the mountain, she was hit by a speeding military truck coming straight at her.

"Bang—"

A loud noise, and Yin Shuang was thrown into the air like a ragdoll, landing on the rocky road and rolling several times before coming to a stop.

"What's going on?"

The truck screeched to a halt, and the people inside were thrown forward uncontrollably. Zhao Jinliang, sitting in the passenger seat, hit the dashboard so hard that he cut his forehead and it began to bleed.

The driver was already panicking, stuttering and unable to speak properly as he looked at the woman lying on the ground ahead:

"C-Comrade... Comrade Zhao, we've hit someone..."

"What?"

Furious, Zhao Jinliang clutched his bleeding forehead and hurriedly pushed open the door to get out and check on the situation. The young man sitting in the back seat with Qiao Youqing followed closely behind.

About six or seven meters from the military truck, a young woman lay there, barely breathing. Her face was a mess from the gravel, and blood was pouring out of her mouth. She looked severely injured, and it was unclear if she could still be saved.

Zhao Jinliang was livid. He shouted at the rookie driver,

"How could you drive so carelessly?! Didn't you see there was a person?!"

The rookie, on the verge of tears, replied, frightened and aggrieved, "I... I didn’t expect her to suddenly rush out from the mountain. I didn’t have time to react..."

The young man standing next to them frowned and said, "Comrade Zhao, now isn't the time to assign blame. We need to save her first!"

As he was about to rush over and pick up the woman from the ground, Qiao Youqing stopped him.

"Don't move! With injuries like these, she might have internal damage. If you're not a professional doctor, moving her could cause further harm. It's possible that she might still be saved, but if you move her wrong, it could be fatal."

After saying this, Qiao Youqing looked at the rookie driver,

"Hurry up and turn the truck around. Go to Kaoshan Tun and find Ye Qing. Tell her to come and save her. She’s the female zhiqing we sent to the county hospital last time. You know her!"

The rookie driver snapped out of his panic, nodded at Qiao Youqing, and turned the truck toward Kaoshan Tun.

Meanwhile, Zhao Jinliang looked at Qiao Youqing with a tense expression,

"The Ye Qing you're talking about... is she the one I was supposed to call and ask for a favor today? Right now, it's a matter of life and death. Can she really be trusted?"

Qiao Youqing countered, "She’s the one who single-handedly performed a spleen rupture surgery within three hours and successfully pulled someone back from the brink of death. If she’s not reliable, who else can you find in such a hurry?"

Zhao Jinliang fell silent.

The situation was indeed urgent, and the victim looked severely injured. He couldn’t come up with a better solution either.

As for the young man standing there, Xia Hangyi, his eyes were fixed on the woman lying on the ground. For some reason, he felt an odd impulse, as if he needed to take her away immediately.

But he knew that, under the circumstances, what Professor Qiao said was right. He wasn’t a trained medic, and moving the victim could cause more harm. Without a vehicle, he couldn’t take her anywhere anyway.

Yet, the longer they waited, the stronger the strange urge became. It was as if he would lose the most important person in his life if he didn’t do something.

"Xia Hangyi, are you alright?"

Seeing the young man standing next to him, sweating profusely and staring intently at the injured woman, Qiao Youqing couldn’t help but feel concerned.

This kid had just been transferred from Ji City to the provincial agricultural research team, and now this incident happened while they were conducting experiments. Was he too shaken by the accident?

Xia Hangyi shook his head, pinching his palm to stay calm and even deliberately turned his head away to force himself to focus.

But the more he tried to suppress it, the stronger the inner turmoil became. Just as he felt he was about to lose control, the sound of a roaring engine broke the silence. A military truck swung in a graceful arc and stopped in front of them.

A petite girl jumped out of the truck and rushed over toward them in just a few steps.

Following her, several people with red armbands also quickly got off the vehicle.

Ye Qing saw Yin Shuang lying on the ground, her body mangled and bloody. Her feelings were extremely complicated.

The young driver had run to the village to find her, saying that he had hit a woman on the road. At that moment, Ye Qing had a vague premonition that the person might be Yin Shuang, who had been evading justice.

Now, seeing the person lying on the ground, Ye Qing’s guess was confirmed, but she could only feel how absurd and ridiculous the situation was.

This was the female lead, the "lucky carp," and yet she had met her end so easily? Was this how her story was supposed to conclude? It seemed too hastily done.

There was no need for further examination. Yin Shuang’s pupils were already showing signs of dilation. With the medical technology of this era, the chances of saving her were extremely slim.

But Ye Qing still crouched down to check her pulse.

Soon, she shook her head slightly towards Zhao Jinliang and Qiao Youqing, who were standing nearby.

"Multiple vital organs are damaged, her lumbar vertebrae are fractured, there’s severe internal bleeding in the abdominal cavity, and she’s in respiratory failure and shock. The chances of survival are minimal. I’m sorry, but there’s no need to rush her to the hospital."

Even so, Ye Qing took out a box of silver needles from her bag, intending to insert a few into Yin Shuang’s body.

The purpose of inserting the needles was twofold: to alleviate some of her pain, and more importantly, to keep her conscious for a little longer, ideally until the investigators from the town police station arrived to clarify the details of the case involving Liu Kui.

But to Ye Qing’s surprise, just as she was about to insert the needles, a black mass suddenly emerged from Yin Shuang’s body, attempting to crawl into Ye Qing through the needle.

Startled, Ye Qing instinctively summoned her wood-type ability to defend herself.

The shadow seemed to sense Ye Qing’s resistance and, feeling the threat of her ability, immediately changed direction, darting towards a young man standing a few steps away.

Realizing the shadow’s intent, Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat. Without a second thought, she flung the silver needle in her hand.

The next moment, a piercing scream filled the air.

Her needle had pinned the shadow to a tree by the roadside.

The black mass twisted and struggled, and Ye Qing could finally see that it was a black carp, exuding an evil aura. When it noticed Ye Qing looking, it even glared at her with hatred and malice.

But the silver needle carried wood-type energy, and as the healing ability spread through the carp’s body, the blackness quickly faded. The carp’s scales began to shine with a golden light.

However, in the blink of an eye, the golden carp shattered into countless golden specks, quickly dispersing in the breeze, leaving no trace behind.

Ye Qing hadn’t expected that her earlier guess would be confirmed again.

There had indeed been a black carp hidden inside Yin Shuang’s body!

No wonder the female lead had been so strange in her behavior, always resorting to underhanded and evil methods, with no hint of kindness or righteousness.

But now that the black carp had been eliminated with just one of her needles, and Yin Shuang herself had tasted the bitter fruit of her evil deeds, it was clear that this was her own doing.

Unaffected by the previous incident with the black carp, Ye Qing still inserted a few silver needles into Yin Shuang’s body.

After confirming that she could hold on for a little longer, Ye Qing signaled to the soldier standing nearby.

"Comrade, could you please drive to the town police station again? The accident needs to be handled by the police there. Additionally, this female comrade may have been involved in the murder of a villager from Chousong Valley. We need to question her while she’s still conscious and hand her over to the criminal investigators from the public security bureau. The needles I’ve inserted won’t hold her for long, so it’s urgent!"

As soon as these words left her mouth, everyone present was shaken. The young driver instinctively looked towards Zhao Jinliang.

Zhao Jinliang immediately waved his hand and shouted, "What are you waiting for? Go now!"

The case had been reported just that morning. The criminal investigators from the town police station had been dispatched to the province to analyze the physical evidence and were even trying to persuade Liu Kui’s family to agree to an autopsy.

But then a military vehicle arrived, saying that the murderer had been caught, but that the murderer was about to die??

He Lianshan, anxious and worried, rushed to the scene with his team, only to find Yin Shuang lying in a pool of blood.

Ye Qing briefly explained the situation and then stepped back to make way for them.

Perhaps because the black carp was no longer controlling her, or maybe because she was reflecting on her life as death approached, Yin Shuang, in her final moments, didn’t try to argue or hide anything anymore. She truthfully confessed to killing Liu Kui.

Finally, Yin Shuang’s gaze shifted towards Ye Qing. There was no longer any hatred or jealousy in her eyes, and the competitive spirit that had once defined her had vanished. Her face showed only a sense of release.

"If… if I could start over… could I…?"

Could I be your true rival, competing with you fairly? Even if I lost, I would be able to sincerely congratulate you, seeing you as a role model for my growth and learning, instead of resorting to underhanded tricks and schemes, becoming a despised rat in the sewers.

As Yin Shuang’s eyes dimmed and her pupils dilated, all light faded from them.

Ye Qing let out a heavy sigh, stood up, retrieved the silver needle from the tree by the roadside, and prepared to return to the village.

The things that came after were none of her concern. The person was already gone, and how to give the Liu family an explanation or how to arrange Yin Shuang's funeral were matters for the public security bureau to handle. They had nothing to do with her.

However, as soon as she pulled out the silver needle, a young man standing nearby, with a complicated look in his eyes, called out to her:

"Comrade, just now, what was that fish about?"

Ye Qing was momentarily stunned by his question.

The black carp had burst out of Yin Shuang's body and was pinned to the tree, making a loud noise. Yet, neither Qiao Youqing, Zhao Jinliang, nor even the people with red armbands showed any change in expression.

This meant they couldn't see the black carp, nor hear the noise it made.

Ever since she awakened her wood-type ability, her five senses had undergone special evolution, allowing her to accurately perceive danger and clearly see the changes in the carp.

But now, she discovered there was another person who could also see the black carp besides herself?

And if she remembered correctly, when she had blocked the black carp from approaching earlier, it had immediately turned around to find a new host. That new target seemed to be this young man standing in front of her.

Why him? There were several people within two or three steps of the carp, so why did it choose this man? Was there something special about him?

This filled Ye Qing with both surprise and curiosity.

"What fish? I have no idea what you're talking about."

This era was still quite wary of superstitions and strange powers. Besides, Ye Qing couldn't explain the black carp incident herself. To avoid trouble, she decided to play dumb and not get involved.

Ye Qing's blatant lie left Xia Hangyi speechless on the spot.

He had seen the carp emerge from that woman's body, and it was clearly coming straight for him. If not for Ye Qing's flying needle, the carp might have entered his body.

He was certain he hadn't misseen the scene.

But Ye Qing had killed the carp, and as it disintegrated and vanished from sight, an inexplicable sense of loss welled up in his heart, as if he had lost some crucial treasure.

However, he wasn't stupid. The appearance of the carp was strange, and among all the people present, only he and this young educated youth could see it. Now that the other party denied it, he couldn't push the issue, or he might end up being labeled as superstitious and get into serious trouble.

Still, Xia Hangyi gave this young comrade named Ye Qing a deep look, committing her to memory.

"Xia Hangyi, let's go!"

The traffic accident was left to Zhao Jinliang and the public security bureau to handle, and Ye Qing's murder suspicions had been completely cleared. Qiao Youqing didn't want to delay any further and urged Xia Hangyi to leave.

Ye Qing had already walked far when she heard Qiao Youqing call out that name. Her steps faltered, and she suddenly turned her head, eyes wide with surprise as she looked at the young man standing there.

Xia Hangyi, wasn't he the male lead and official pairing of Yin Shuang in that koi novel?

Ye Qing looked at the shattered body of Yin Shuang being loaded into the police car and then at Xia Hangyi, who was obediently leaving with Qiao Youqing. For a moment, she felt a bit lost.

So, before the female lead with the carp's blessing went offline, she had come to find her male lead? This was both their first meeting and their last frame together?

Well, Ye Qing finally understood why the black carp had wanted to make Xia Hangyi its new target.

As the saying goes, people who sleep in the same bed don't differ in nature. Since Xia Hangyi was the male lead destined for Yin Shuang, it meant he was essentially the same kind of person. The black carp would only attach itself to someone on the same frequency, making Xia Hangyi the perfect choice.

As for why the black carp had tried to enter her body earlier, Ye Qing couldn't quite figure that out. Could it be that it was attracted to her ability constitution?

But her wood-type ability seemed to be suppressive to the black carp. The fact that she had eliminated the creature with just one needle showed that they were opposites. If they were incompatible, shouldn't the black carp have stayed far away from her?

Since she couldn't figure it out, Ye Qing decided not to dwell on it. She had already dealt with the monster and didn't need to worry about it coming back. Her most important task now was to get the cotton planting on schedule.

After returning to Kao Shan Tun, Ye Qing informed the villagers about Yin Shuang's death in a car accident. Everyone was filled with regret. No one had expected Yin Shuang to meet such an end.

"She died so easily? I wonder if Liu Pozi from Stinky Pine Gully will be able to handle the news."

"Probably not. This Yin Shuang tortured Liu Kui terribly, not leaving him any dignity before he died. The Liu family wanted to make her pay for all the humiliation Liu Kui suffered, but now that she's dead, they have no outlet for their anger."

"Who could have imagined? A city girl dared to kill someone and was so ruthless. Truly, you can't judge a person by their appearance. We should probably be more polite to these city youths from now on. Who knows if they might get us next."

"Exactly. It's all because of poverty. These kids aren't having an easy time either. Who would want to leave their parents and the city to come work in the countryside?"

Strangely enough, after Yin Shuang's incident, although the villagers of Kao Shan Tun may not have liked the idea in their hearts, at least on the surface, their attitudes toward the educated youths improved significantly.

Not long after, the production team even organized a special meeting for the educated youths. The local cadres actively asked the youths for their opinions and suggestions on Kao Shan Tun and expressed that if the youths had any difficulties, the village would do its best to help solve them.

In addition to the improved treatment of the educated youths, Wu Yongbing made another important decision. He put Li Yunbo's hospital treatment expenses on the public account of Kao Shan Tun, to be reimbursed by the entire production team.

Originally, the village had demanded Yin Shuang to bear these costs, but since she was dead, it became a bad debt. Wu Yongbing, believing in treating these city kids well, made this decision on his own without consulting anyone in the village.

Thanks to these actions, the atmosphere in the village became much more harmonious. The city youths, who had previously felt no sense of belonging to Kao Shan Tun and often slacked off in the fields, suddenly became more diligent and could even joke around with the local members. This was something Wu Yongbing hadn't anticipated at all.

Of course, if we're talking about who experienced the greatest change in mindset, it would have to be Li Juan.

She had never known that it was Ye Qing who had secretly used flying needles in the dark to incapacitate the human trafficker on the train that day, saving her life from the hands of the kidnappers.

It wasn't until this incident, when Yin Shuang wrote the accusatory letter and after hearing Ye Qing's explanation, that she finally learned the truth behind the scene.

This made Li Juan's feelings towards Ye Qing extremely complicated—neither hate nor love.

Before she could even process the fact that Ye Qing had saved her life, Yin Shuang became a murder suspect, and shortly after, she died in a collision. This series of shocks left Li Juan utterly dumbfounded.

She couldn't even begin to imagine how ruthless Yin Shuang had been, thinking about how they had colluded with her aunt to bully Yin Shuang behind her back for more than a decade. The thought sent a chill down Li Juan's spine.

If Yin Shuang hadn't met with this accident, given her ruthless nature, would she really have spared Li Juan and the Li family?

This thought involuntarily made Li Juan shudder, and from that point on, she became extremely cautious, no longer daring to stir up trouble or make enemies. She feared that she might accidentally provoke a ruthless character and end up like Liu Kui—silently taken out.

You can't judge a person by their appearance. After being Yin Shuang's fake best friend for eighteen years, she hadn't seen through Yin Shuang's wicked nature, let alone anyone else.

In any case, after this incident, Li Juan was truly frightened to the core. From then on, she settled down in Kaoshan Tun, gradually getting the hang of farm work. Her good performance even caught the eye of a few matchmaking aunties in the village, who subtly probed whether she'd be interested in finding a match within the village.

But that's a story for another time and doesn't have much to do with Ye Qing. After Liu Kui's cause of death was cleared up, she was free of worries and began preparing a feast to invite Murong Ah Po, Aunt Gu and her husband, as well as Wu Yongbing and his son, over for a good meal.

After all, these people had gone through a lot of trouble for her sake today, and Ye Qing, having received their kindness, couldn't just do nothing in return.

Originally, Ye Qing hadn't planned to invite everyone together. After all, the Gu and Wu families had just had a falling out over the canceled engagement of their children, and she was worried that bringing the elders of both families to the same table might make things awkward for Gu Zhenxing and Wu Yongbing.

But to her surprise, when she mentioned the dinner to the Gu couple, they were quite magnanimous and immediately reminded Ye Qing not to leave out Wu Yongbing and Wu Cong.

Since the parties involved didn't mind, Ye Qing was more than happy to have everyone together in one go, saving her a lot of trouble. So, she invited Wu Yongbing and his son as well.

Coincidentally, yesterday she had been allocated a pig's leg, some offal, pig's head meat, and a few large bones. The ingredients were quite fresh, enough to make several hearty dishes.

She boiled the large bones into a big pot of milky bone broth, adding some sliced white radish and a few goji berries to make it extra flavorful.

The pig's head meat was braised with spices until tender, sliced, and mixed with peanuts for a cold dish that was perfect for drinking.

The offal was cleaned thoroughly, part of it stir-fried spicy for a pork offal dish, while the rest was smoked for later consumption.

As for the pig's leg, she cut off a piece to make a pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli, and the rest she heavily salted, preparing to hang it in a cool, ventilated spot under the eaves to make ham.

In addition, Ye Qing stir-fried a few small dishes and steamed a large pot of sweet potato rice. She also brought out a bottle of Panda Brand B-grade liquor that she had brought from Shen City. This was already a fairly high-standard reception for this era.

When the Gu family and Wu Yongbing and his son entered the house and saw the dishes Ye Qing had prepared, they couldn't help but exclaim that she had gone all out.

"You young ones don't understand the value of things, huh? Just a simple meal would've been fine, why go to such lengths? At this rate, the meat you got yesterday won't last you more than a few meals!" Wu Yongbing muttered as soon as he sat down.

Ye Qing didn't get upset at being scolded; she just laughed and urged the guests to sit down and eat.

Though Wu Yongbing kept nagging, his actions spoke otherwise. As soon as he sat down, he grabbed the bottle of liquor and examined it carefully.

Perhaps because such liquor was unseen in the Great Northern Wilderness, everyone at the table—Wu Yongbing, Wu Cong, and Gu Zhenxing—eyed the B-grade liquor eagerly, clearly recognizing it as good stuff.

But despite their scrutiny of the label, none of them actually opened the bottle.

Ye Qing could tell they wanted to drink it. Without further ado, she snatched the bottle and popped the cap open in a few swift motions.

"Uncle, I won't lie to you. I brought this liquor down to the village intending to give it to the village leaders as a gift. But I didn't expect to get along so well with you. I never found the right opportunity to give it away. So today, I'm treating you to a proper meal. Please don't be polite. If we don't finish this bottle today, you're not allowed to leave, alright?"

With that, Ye Qing poured a cup of liquor for each of the three men.

The bottle only contained a jin of liquor, and Ye Qing's pouring was quite generous. After filling three cups, the bottle was nearly empty, causing the three men to wince at the sight, their eyes twitching at the loss. They kept saying it was enough, enough.

Ye Qing never did things half-heartedly. When she said she was treating them to a meal, she truly meant to let everyone eat their fill. Every dish was prepared in large portions. Seeing that the elders were too restrained to touch the dishes and only ate the sweet potato rice, Ye Qing took a ladle and generously added large spoonfuls of meat to their bowls. She wasn't stopping until the dishes were empty.

In the end, everyone ate until their stomachs were full and they slouched in their chairs, unable to move for a while.

It was in this situation that the yellow weasel, which had last jumped into the yard to fight with the old hen and was chased away with two sweet potatoes by Ye Qing, once again leaped over the fence into the yard.

Perhaps knowing that Ye Qing was the one who could give it something good, the weasel this time didn't bother with the shed or the hen's food. Instead, it darted straight into the house, following the scent until it bounced a few times and reached Ye Qing.

But the moment those green, glowing eyes appeared, the others in the room were frightened out of their wits.

Unlike Ye Qing's calmness, there were still many taboos and fears about the Yellow Immortal in the foothills of Changbai Mountain. Even though the slogan of eradicating superstition was loud outside, when it came to the Yellow Immortal, people in Kaoshan Tun still had some reservations and fears, always feeling that its appearance meant something bad was about to happen.

Miao Cuilan was about to grab something to chase the creature away, but Ye Qing stopped her.

"No, Auntie, it's here for me!"

Seeing the weasel looking at her eagerly, as if it were about to bow its hands and beg her to show mercy and give it some food, what more did Ye Qing need to understand?

She had no choice but to go back to the cellar and grab two sweet potatoes with a little extra seasoning for the creature.

Perhaps noticing how straightforward Ye Qing was in giving it food, the weasel's eyes wandered around the room, finally landing on the cured pork leg hanging from the beam in Ye Qing's house.

With its nose twitching, it sniffed the air. Suddenly, its eyes shifted, and it called out twice to Ye Qing. Grabbing the two sweet potatoes, it headed outside, looking back as if urging Ye Qing to follow.

Ye Qing was startled and instinctively prepared to follow.

"Don't go. This weasel is very strange. If you follow it and fall into its trap—" Miao Cuilan suddenly grabbed Ye Qing, her eyes full of caution.

Not expecting Miao Cuilan to describe it so ominously, Ye Qing couldn't help but feel both amused and exasperated.

"Auntie, an animal's thinking isn't as complicated as a human's. This weasel is indeed a bit smarter and more clever, but it doesn't have any malicious intent. It must have something important if it's asking me to follow. We'll know once we go and see."

Seeing Ye Qing's determination to follow, Wu Yongbing quickly signaled to Gu Zhenxing.

"Old Gu, go get the hunting gun. Let's follow and see what's going on together!"

Having Wu Yongbing and Gu Zhenxing offer to be her protectors and guides, Ye Qing was more than happy to accept. The three of them followed the weasel into the forest behind the house. After many twists and turns, they soon arrived in front of a dark mountain cave.

Before they even entered, they heard the familiar grunting sounds coming from inside.