How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 20 - The Art of Speaking_1
20: Chapter 20: The Art of Speaking_1
20 -20: The Art of Speaking_1
Peng Chunhua gave a sweeping glance, “Did you write this couplet?”
“Yes, has your family finished writing yours?”
“The handwriting is truly beautiful.
Principal Han wrote ours.
How come I haven’t seen you studying with the young educated youths lately?” Peng Chunhua intentionally lowered her voice so that Qin Jin could also hear, aiming to tell him that when he was absent, Li Qiao often spent time with the young educated people.
Li Qiao said with slight displeasure, “Why are you suddenly speaking in a hushed voice?
If one didn’t know any better, they might think I’m up to no good with those educated youths.
Right, Jin?”
Carrying an increasingly plump rabbit, Qin Jin contemplated which day he might stealthily take it outside to slaughter and roast when she wasn’t looking.
Hearing her, he looked up but he didn’t know exactly what Li Qiao was talking about and perfunctorily replied, “Yeah.”
Li Qiao’s lips curled up nearly imperceptibly.
Peng Chunhua gave a forced laugh and explained, “I was worried Jin might misunderstand.” freeweɓnøvel.com
“Misunderstand what?”
Taking the opportunity, Peng Chunhua repeated herself.
After finishing her words, Qin Jin picked up a shovel.
Peng Chunhua waited to see the drama unfold, but hurriedly said, “Jin, what are you doing?
Qiao isn’t cheating on you, is there really a need to hit her?”
Li Qiao was also scared out of her wits.
If that shovel came down, wouldn’t her head split open?
Qin Jin’s expression turned stern, “Do I look like a senseless person?
The rabbit just defecated, I need to clean it up.”
Peng Chunhua, failing to provoke as intended, found an excuse to leave discontentedly.
Li Qiao figured she had learned from experience; when you’re down on your luck, others will sympathize and pity you.
But when your life improves, they become envious.
Peng Chunhua was a prime example of someone who couldn’t stand to see her doing well.
It was either proclaiming the futility of education or persuading her to have children early, keen on binding her just as securely in the chains of family life.
….
Old Mrs.
Qin instructed Qin Jin to break the ground near the gate, planning to plant a couple of rows of vegetables in the spring, “The village had people planting since the beginning of the year, and the team didn’t say anything, so next year we should plant some too.”
Li Qiao grabbed some farming tools to help out.
Yu Feng saw them and also decided to break ground by her door.
She called her family to get busy working.
As the two families worked, they chatted sporadically; Feng Guanggun’s wife, Niu Qin, ran over from the village entrance with a face as black as thunder, screaming like she had seen a ghost.
In a panic, she shouted that someone had been murdered.
Li Qiao stopped her, “Sister-in-law, if Feng Dafa hits you, you can call the police and have him arrested.
Domestic violence is against the law.”
She didn’t just say this for Niu Qin to hear, but also for Qin Jin.
Although he had never beaten her, his penchant for fighting was well-known, and she had personally witnessed Cai Hechuan getting beaten.
It left a huge shadow in her heart, so much so that when he picked up a farm tool just now, she thought he intended to hit her.
Niu Qin’s face was waxen, her eyes fraught with terror; she swallowed hard trying to calm down, but still stammered, “In the, in the abandoned house at the entrance of the village, there’s a dead person, it’s Lame Feng from the west side of the village.”
Li Qiao inhaled sharply, feeling her legs go weak; the scene they had stumbled upon the previous night was not a trick of the eye.
No wonder Qin Jin had said that no one was in sight earlier; the killer had dragged the body to the opposite broken house under cover of night.
Old Mrs.
Qin turned pale with shock as well, “How did you end up running there?”
Shivering, Niu Qin explained, “I couldn’t take the beating and ran there to hide…”
Some went to report the crime, others to notify the family members.
Li Qiao returned to the house to pour a hot cup of tea for her, to calm her nerves.
Niu Qin clutched the teacup, still haunted, “It was terrifying, the eyes were still open.”
Li Qiao comforted her and also got her a hot towel to press on her face.
Feng Guanggun came to pick her up.
Old Mrs.
Qin followed, advising him gently; his attitude wasn’t very aggressive.
He clearly stated that as long as she cut ties completely with her former man, he was willing to have her come back and live a life with him.
Niu Qin felt reassured and took advantage of the descent to go back home with him.
After sending the couple off, Old Mrs.
Qin muttered to herself about Qin Jin, “That stinking boy doesn’t have a mote of self-awareness.
With his bad reputation, who knows if he might be misunderstood when he goes to report the crime.”
“One who stands straight doesn’t fear a crooked shadow,” Li Qiao said.
“That’s true in theory, but others might not see it that way,” Old Mrs.
Qin couldn’t stop worrying, “My right eyelid keeps twitching.
When Jin comes back, I really have to talk some sense into him.”
Li Qiao said, “Left eye twitch means someone’s thinking of you, right eye twitch means someone loves you.”
Old Mrs.
Qin let out a chuckle, the dark clouds in her heart dissipating significantly: “You always say the right things.”
After finishing the farm work.
Old Mrs.
Qin called Li Qiao to join her at the entrance of the village to welcome Qin Jin.
The broken house where the body was found was surrounded by people.
Lame Feng’s family believed that the deceased had died an unnatural death and that bringing the body into the house would bring bad luck, so they planned to hold the funeral on the spot.
The village head would not agree.
Because the house was his old dwelling, previously damaged by a flood that compromised its foundation, becoming a dangerous building, and his family had since moved out.
How could he allow outsiders to hold a funeral there?
Old Mrs.
Qin led Li Qiao forward to join the commotion.
After listening for a while, Li Qiao saw Qin Jin’s figure at the entrance of the village and immediately ran toward him.
He was followed by two plainclothes officers and a forensic expert in a white coat.
“Jin.”
Qin Jin had just stopped his bike on one leg when the case officers immediately requested that he take them to the scene of the accident.
Before Qin Jin could speak, Li Qiao said, “There, the place with most people is the spot.” She got into the rear seat of Qin Jin’s bike and preempted, “Let’s go home.”
The plainclothes officers intervened: “Loser Qin reported the case; he should lead the way, and we have more questions to ask him later.”
Li Qiao: “We only heard about it from a sister in the village, we don’t know the specifics.”
She was not going to let Qin Jin lead the way; although they had seen something resembling corpse-dumping the night before, it was too dark to be sure.
When dealing with matters involving a death, every single word in their response had to be treated with utmost precision.
And just as Old Mrs.
Qin had worried, Qin Jin had a bad reputation.
His eagerness to help others might not be so well-received, and by rashly following along, if the murderer was not found in the end, wouldn’t he be detained for interrogation?
“Then call that person over.”
Li Qiao said, “Jin, it’s easier for you to ride the bike, you go.
I’ll take the three comrades over.”
“Alright, Loser Qin, hurry up.”
“Eh.” Qin Jin rode away first.
Li Qiao led the three men to the spot.
The house was full of footprints, and the scene was compromised, making it meaningless to collect evidence.
The forensic expert in white, feeling utterly helpless, uncovered the cloth on the deceased, preparing to remove the body for an autopsy, which caused the family to become extremely agitated.
Lame Feng’s children even attempted to fight with the one in the white coat.
With no other choice, the forensic could only examine the external injuries on the spot, but asked the family members to step back.
The one in white then inquired who had good handwriting.
Li Qiao volunteered, and after receiving the notebook and pen, he suggested she do the recording.
The villagers craned their necks to look inside.
In front of Old Mrs.
Qin, they complimented Li Qiao on being very capable.
Old Mrs.
Qin beamed with a smile.
Qin Jin picked up Niu Qin from Feng Guanggun’s house.
Niu Qin repeated the sequence of events in front of the plainclothes officers.
Meanwhile, Li Qiao had also completed the record.
The forensic expert took the notebook, pleased to see the neat and tidy handwriting, free of errors or corrections, from beginning to end.
He exclaimed admiringly, “You managed to catch every word I said so quickly; how about you come work as my assistant in the department?”
At the sound of that.
Everyone looked at Li Qiao with a trace more respect, and they began complimenting Old Mrs.
Qin for marrying such a fine daughter-in-law.
Old Mrs.
Qin could not have felt more proud.
Peng Chunhua said: “Qiaoqiao has her sights set on the long-term, having gotten into university.
Whatever she does in the future, it’s got to be better than looking at dead bodies every day, right?”
Li Qiao looked leisurely at the other woman; this lady seemed afraid of her getting a job.
And indeed, it was frightening.
She kept her head down throughout, not daring to glance under the white cloth at the person below.
With her weak nerves, this line of work would surely cause her nightmares.
After the three comrades had left, Lame Feng’s family immediately began the mourning proceedings.
