Chapter 135 12

Chapter 135

By 5 PM, He Lin couldn't sit still any longer. He pulled Li Shang along, asking for directions to the event venue.

With so many people gathering, it definitely wouldn't fit inside houses, so the village had a dedicated area for such events.

The outer perimeter was enclosed by high walls with front and back gates. Inside was an open space for banquet tables, and not far ahead stood a half-height stage, likely used for performances in the past.

As Li Shang reached the entrance, he looked up and saw red and white decorations—long red and white fabric streamers draped over the eaves of the main entrance, predominantly red with white accents. On both sides hung large red ribbon bows.

It looked somewhat unsettlingly eerie.

Several locals were briskly wiping down tables and setting up chairs.

It was clear that similar events had been held here many times before.

At the entrance was a registration table staffed by a middle-aged man who, upon seeing them arrive, asked them to sign in.

The man didn't say much, accepted the red envelope (a monetary gift), bowed to them, and let them in.

Jiang Waner had arrived earlier and led them to a table near the stage, on the right side. She switched places with someone else to sit at the same table as them.

He Lin asked her, "Where's your second uncle, Jiang Shanren?"

They had gone to look for him that afternoon but found that he and his wife weren't home.

Jiang Waner pointed, "He's busy in the kitchen. He helps with cooking in the village. My second aunt can't do heavy work, but she can handle simpler tasks and is helping with preparing vegetables."

Since the two were likely busy at the moment, He Lin didn’t rush over to question them.

He continued, "Who’s sitting at the main table over there?" He only recognized Village Head Ding, who was chatting happily with a bespectacled middle-aged man beside him.

Jiang Waner introduced them, "They’re all respected village elders—Village Head Ding, Secretary Bao, Granny Ma, and the one with glasses is the director of the local clinic. My grandfather will also sit at that table later."

After a while, a coffin was carried in by a group of young men, scattering white paper money as they walked. The coffin was placed behind the stage.

They had checked the information earlier—the deceased was an eighty-seven-year-old man from the village, and the groom was his grandson.

He Lin asked Jiang Waner, "Do you practice burial or cremation here?"

Jiang Waner replied, "Burial. The area is sparsely populated, and there’s a dedicated burial ground behind the village."

He Lin asked quietly, "Will the deceased be buried in a few days?"

Jiang Waner shook her head, "Winter is always a burial moratorium because the ground freezes solid and can’t be dug. When my uncle was village head, he found a spot behind the clinic and bought several large freezers. If anyone passes away in winter, they can be stored there until spring for burial. Adults jokingly call it the modern 'charity cemetery' for temporary storage."

Hearing this, Li Shang suddenly remembered something and lightly pulled on He Lin.

He Lin turned to him, and Li Shang whispered in his ear, "With medical records from the clinic, the village committee can issue a death certificate."

He Lin understood and nodded slightly. He had once heard of a case in a county where a drunk driving accident occurred, and the victim was given false medical records by the clinic and village committee, claiming a heart condition. The death certificate stated natural causes, and the body was quickly cremated. It was only after the family protested that the truth came out.

Local police stations in such areas have limited resources and can’t cover all areas.

It could be said that if village officials have good relations with the clinic staff, there are many loopholes they could use.

As they were talking, attendees of the wedding and funeral event began arriving. There were about two to three hundred people present, some bringing their entire families.

Jiang Ruoyu also arrived. As soon as he entered, a group of children surrounded him, calling out, "Grandpa! Grandpa!"

Jiang Ruoyu reached out, smiling as he patted the children’s heads and handed out small toys—some were bamboo-copter toys, others carved wooden toads or cicadas.

The rest of the Jiang family had a separate table near the main one, with Jiang Jingde, Jiang Chongli, and various wives and younger relatives seated.

Soon after, the newlyweds arrived.

The bride, wearing a red veil, was helped inside, and the ceremony began quickly.

A wedding emcee took the stage to host the event, which was a mix of styles—traditional and modern, Eastern and Western. There were Chinese-style three bows and a tea-serving ceremony, as well as Western-style wedding vows.

Village Head Ding, as the witness, also went on stage to say a few words.

Then the banquet began, with various dishes and drinks served one after another.

It was clear that many chickens and pigs had been slaughtered in the village. The cold dishes included homemade smoked sausages, bright red braised pork, white-cut chicken (boiled chicken), duck soup, and some greenhouse-grown local vegetables.

He Lin ate quite a bit, but Li Shang found it a bit too greasy. The village banquet dishes were cooked with animal fat, which he wasn’t used to, so he only took a few symbolic bites before putting down his chopsticks.

Next, the groom went around offering cigarettes and alcohol, table by table, but the bride didn’t join in.

The bride, dressed in red wedding attire, sat in an object resembling a winnowing basket. It was hard to tell how much makeup she was wearing, but she looked pale. She kept her eyes downcast, sitting quietly and motionless, like an obedient puppet.

Soon, the groom reached their table.

He saw He Lin and Li Shang, two unfamiliar faces, and hesitated, unsure how to address them.

Jiang Waner introduced them, "These are police officers from outside the village, here to investigate my cousin’s case. My grandfather invited them."

"Po... police..." The groom stammered, momentarily stunned, but then quickly recovered and clinked glasses with He Lin. "Officers, welcome. Since you’re here, you’re our guests. Enjoy the food and drinks."

The groom moved on but kept glancing back at them.

He Lin thought the man’s expression was a bit strange, but it was his wedding, so he couldn’t just drag him away for questioning.

Soon, people took to the stage again for various performances.

Most of the acts were rehearsed by villagers themselves—some sang, some danced, and it was pretty entertaining.

After a while, a dozen or so young men wearing masks went on stage and performed a traditional dance similar to a *Nuo* ritual dance.

Li Shang watched from below. The dancers wore wide-sleeved costumes and held long feathers resembling bird plumes. Accompanied by eerie drumbeats, the dance wasn’t technically challenging but felt primitive and eerie.

It seemed like a ritual for worship or blessing.

Jiang Waner explained, "This is the village’s prayer dance, meant to pray to the mountain god. It’s performed at all major events."

Finally, the music stopped, and the dancers came down from the stage, opening a table nearby. They removed their masks and prepared to eat.

After this performance, a shadow puppet show began. The puppeteers set up a screen near the main table, with light shining from behind it.

The performers spoke in local dialect, which Li Shang couldn’t understand well. The shadow puppets were abstract, making it hard to tell if they were dressed in ancient or modern attire, though one with a long pigtail was clearly a female character.

The children loved it, gathering around to watch the moving figures and clapping happily from time to time.

Li Shang sat there trying to follow the story.

He hadn’t seen many stage plays like this. His middle school teacher had shown them a few in the large classroom.

The ones he still remembered were the play *Thunderstorm*, which they studied in Chinese class, and the opera version of *The White-Haired Girl*.

He felt a bit dazed, as if his mind had muddled the plots of those two plays together, and the parts he couldn't understand triggered his imagination. Yet, it seemed to weirdly line up with the shadow puppetry before him.

At one moment, Sifeng rushed out; at another, Xier was spinning in place.

He turned his head and saw that He Lin was really focused.

Li Shang suddenly remembered that He Lin must have been there too back when they watched those plays in the big lecture hall. He might even remember something. And since Li Shang couldn’t understand the dialect, He Lin might be able to understand some.

Li Shang whispered to him, "What play is this?"

He Lin replied, "It's 'Legend of the White Snake.'"

Well, that wasn't even close to what he had guessed.

Li Shang silently turned his head back, thinking if he didn't say anything, you wouldn’t know he didn’t figure it out, and sat quietly beside him, continuing to watch.

During this performance, a small incident occurred: one of the shadow puppets’ heads suddenly fell off. The puppeteers seemed accustomed to such accidents and quickly fixed it, sewing the head back on before resuming the show.

The performance was quite long. After watching for a while, Li Shang began to feel drowsy and shifted his gaze to the knotted decorations nearby.

Suddenly, Li Shang felt that those red and white decorations—the red like blood, the white like snow—woven together, flickering with the shifting light, swaying and alternating, creating a dreamlike and creepy scene.

In an instant, the surrounding laughter faded into the distance, and only the drumming of the shadow play remained in his ears.

Li Shang’s gaze passed through the crowd, and he saw that Zhou Ruo'an had also arrived, sitting at a table below, holding a young child in her arms. The child was crying loudly.

In front were the newlyweds, the bride in her red wedding dress like a puppet, and behind them was a coffin. There were both crying infants and elderly people at the end of their lives.

Li Shang felt kind of spaced out by the scene before him.

The cycle of life—birth, aging, illness, and death—seemed to converge in this one place.

It was as if a rush of wind whistled past Li Shang’s ears. The joyous music blended with funeral dirges, mixed with the child’s cries and the whole messy business of life, all flooding into his mind. Images flashed before his eyes like a zoetrope.

Li Shang’s gut twisted, and his vision went dark. He white-knuckled the chair to keep from groaning aloud. A cold sweat broke out on his back, and it took him a while to recover and feel a little better.

He didn’t want to kill the vibe or alarm He Lin. Fortunately, He Lin beside him was watching with great interest, even taking out his phone to record the performance, and hadn’t noticed his discomfort.

Perhaps it was low blood sugar from not eating enough earlier that caused those hallucinations.

Li Shang stayed silent, picked a piece of orange candy from the wedding candy on the table that looked halfway decent, and put it in his mouth.

Then he picked up a fresh pastry and ate it.

After the shadow puppetry, the event reached its climax—the iron pouring show.

Several artisans carried equipment onto the stage, using specialized tools to scoop molten iron and toss it skyward.

For a moment, the dark night sky was filled with molten sparks. Each bright spot thrown into the air glowed, clustering or scattering, drawing arcs as they fell to the ground, like fireworks bursting.

The performance was beautiful but dangerous. Although the artisans tried to throw the iron flowers high into the air, reducing the temperature of the falling sparks, those standing too close still risked burns.

Excited children ran forward to get a closer look but were stopped by adults.

Every time the iron flowers soared, cheers of excitement erupted from the crowd.

He Lin had only seen this on television before and was watching such a performance up close for the first time. The iron flowers were entirely different from common fireworks. Though they lacked color variations, they made up for it with their sheer force and endless transformations.

Even Li Shang, who had recovered, looked up at the iron flowers morphing into different shapes in the sky.

From the start of this performance, Jiang Wan'er, sitting beside them, had been shaking. He Lin saw her like a little sister and asked curiously, "Haven’t you seen this often either? Why are you so excited?"

Jiang Wan'er frowned, conflicted. "It’s not excitement. I need to use the restroom, but I don’t want to miss the show."

He Lin: "..."

Suddenly, several artisans threw iron flowers into the air together, creating a rapid, orange-gold waterfall flowing down from the sky.

The crowd burst into cheers and enthusiastic applause.

After holding it in for two more minutes, Jiang Wan'er finally said, "Shoot, I can’t hold it anymore. I’m going to the restroom..."

The restroom was outside the courtyard, requiring her to go out through the back door. With the iron flowers being performed on stage, she had to stick close to the wall as she walked.

Jiang Wan'er hunched over and left. He Lin and Li Shang continued watching.

Later, as the music built to a climax, the artisans took turns splashing iron flowers into the air. Wave after wave of iron flowers surged like tides, one after another, creating a spectacular scene.

He Lin recorded while remarked to Li Shang, "It’s a shame Jiang Wan'er missed this."

Li Shang said, "Well, her family lives here. She's got plenty of chances."

He Lin replied, "If it were me, I’d never get tired of watching this every day."

Li Shang laughed at him, "Then why don’t you just stay here as an apprentice? I bet the matchmakers in the village would love that."

He Lin looked at him seriously and said, "No, I can’t leave my wife alone in an empty home."

Finally, the iron flower display ended. The stage was empty, the night grew deeper, and the food was mostly gone. It seemed like everyone was waiting to leave, but the event wasn’t over. The people at the main table hadn’t left, so others stayed put.

He Lin thought it was weird—Jiang Wan'er had been gone for an unusually long time.

Just as he was about to mention it to Li Shang, he saw Jiang Wan'er run in crying, heading straight for the main table where Chief Ding was.

Chief Ding had been drinking and, upon hearing Jiang Wan'er, said, "It’s alright, it’s nothing."

Her grandfather, Jiang Ruoyu, sat silently beside them.

Seeing their daughter crying, Jiang Chongli and his wife quickly crowded around.

He Lin called to Li Shang, "Come on, let’s go see what's up."

Li Shang silently stood up and followed him.

As they approached the table, Ding Sheng pulled Jiang Wan'er over and said, "See, you were just saying you wanted to find the police, and here they are."

Jiang Wan'er lowered her head and turned away, seemingly too shy to say.

Jiang Chongli held her and said with a smile, "It’s a little thing, no need to trouble the officers."

But He Lin immediately could tell something was off. He looked at Jiang Wan'er and asked, "Did you encounter danger just now?"

Jiang Wan'er was still pale and visibly shaken. She wiped her tears and said, "On my way back from the restroom, just as I was about to come in and watch the show, a man suddenly ran over, grabbed me, and kissed me. He slammed me against the wall. I was terrified and struggled for a while. I finally managed to get a few kicks in and break away and run back here."

Hearing this description, Li Shang and He Lin traded looks. They instantly recalled the recording Zhou Xi'an had provided them that afternoon.

It seemed there were men in the village with bad intentions, though it was not sure if the perpetrator was the same person from the recording.

He Lin asked Jiang Wan'er, "Was it someone from the village? You know who it was?"

Jiang Wan'er hesitated slightly, "It was dark and I was flustered, so I didn't get a clear look. He was wearing a dance costume with a mask pushed up to his forehead—probably one of the performers from the earlier prayer dance."

He Lin turned to look at the nearby table.

Li Shang whispered to him, "Ten suspects, one culprit."

They had both watched that performance earlier: one lead dancer with a distinctly colored costume, and ten supporting dancers, all seated at that table.

Most of them had remained seated without moving, so whoever wasn’t present was likely the suspect.

Village Head Ding crossed his arms and said, "Captain He, perhaps you could help us find the person?"

He seemed to treat the matter as a challenge, wanting to see how they would handle it. Village Head Ding and a group of villagers crowded around, watching with interest to see how He Lin would proceed.

He Lin smiled calmly and said, "Then I'll just have to ask everyone to bear with me for a moment."

He walked over to the table and asked the group, "Did any of you leave your seats earlier?"

They looked at each other and shook their heads.

One added, "We were too focused on the show to notice."

The young men were all around the same age and build, making it difficult to distinguish between them.

He Lin said, "Tell me your names and ages."

The ten young men quickly stated their names and ages one by one.

He Lin couldn’t remember them all, but he knew Li Shang certainly would.

As they spoke, He Lin observed their movements, demeanor, and expressions, paying close attention to their hands and other subtle details.

This was basic detective work—reading micro-expressions and subtle details.

Truly unflappable criminals were rare; most offenders would feel nervous or guilty when questioned by the police.

Experienced detectives develop a gut instinct after dealing with enough suspects.

He Lin walked around the table, then reached out and patted one of the young men on the shoulder, asking with certainty, "You were the one who left earlier, weren’t you?"

The young man jumped and hurriedly denied it, "I’ve been sitting here the whole time."

He Lin had been partly guessing and partly bluffing, but the guilty tone in the man’s voice gave him the answer. He pointed to a slight burn mark on the man’s shoulder. "This was burned by a falling molten iron spark, wasn’t it?"

If he had been sitting normally, farther from the stage, his shoulder wouldn’t have such a mark.

The man was taken aback and quickly backtracked, "I forgot to mention—I went to the restroom midway, but I didn’t do anything else!"

That made him even more suspicious.

Li Shang didn’t miss it either. Without saying a word, he silently pointed to the man’s pants.

He Lin immediately understood and said, "The marks from being kicked are still on your pants."

The man quickly jerked his leg back—a clear sign of guilt.

Earlier, Jiang Wan'er had kicked him twice with snow on her shoes, leaving faint but noticeable marks.

Seeing the culprit identified so quickly, Jiang Wan'er moved toward him as if to strike, "Zhang Cheng, we were classmates for years—I never thought you were this kind of person!"

The young man hurriedly covered his head, "I had too much to drink. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you—I was just trying to play a joke!"

Someone who seemed to be Zhang Cheng’s relative tried to smooth things over, "Ah, he must’ve had a few too many and got carried away. It’s not a big deal."

Village Head Ding said with a faint smile and turned to He Lin, "The officers are here—what do you think? Is this worth an arrest?"

He Lin said sternly, "Forced kissing is sexual assault. According to the law, it warrants detention of five to ten days."

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng panicked, "I only kissed her once, I—" Before he could finish, his relative pulled him back and covered his mouth.

He Lin asked, "What?"

The relative said, "Nothing, he’s really had too much to drink."

Li Shang then tugged at He Lin’s arm and whispered, "He’s not the man from the video."

Although the video was unclear, this man was noticeably thinner and taller.

Zhang Cheng seemed to snap out of it suddenly and lowered his head, "I’ve never done anything like this before—this was the first time. Please be merciful and let me off."

Jiang Chongli also said, "Drop it, it’s all a misunderstanding. With the New Year coming, if he’s taken away, it’ll strain relations between our families." He turned to Jiang Wan'er, "You should say something too."

He Lin said to Jiang Wan'er, "Don’t be afraid. Say what you really think—we’re here for you."

Jiang Wan'er steeled herself, took a breath, and said, "It’s only because nothing serious happened today. But what if it had? What if he had dragged me somewhere? Then today would have been..." She went on, "There has to be accountability, right? So many people saw what happened. My reputation’s been damaged—I can’t just let him get away with it."

Her words suddenly hushed the noisy scene.

Jiang Wan'er choked up again, on the verge of tears.

Just as He Lin was about to comfort her, an wrinkled hand rested on Jiang Wan'er’s shoulder—Jiang Ruoyu had stood up.

The old man’s expression was stern and resolute. He raised his head and said to the others, "Wan'er is right. Our Jiang family will not tolerate such disrespect. In Hanhua Village, right and wrong must be clear. Zhang Cheng has done wrong and should be punished."

At this, Zhang Cheng hung his head in silence, and the other villagers fell quiet.

Village Head Ding set his expression sternly and said to He Lin, "Then we’ll trouble Officer He to handle it. Make the arrangements and teach him a proper lesson." He turned to Zhang Cheng, "Take this as a lesson. You might still be back in time for New Year’s Eve dinner."

He Lin then called Officer Zhang at the police station, explained the situation, arranged for a female officer to take her statement the next day, and made arrangements to detain Zhang Cheng. Only then was the matter satisfactorily resolved.