Who Stole My Pressure Cooker (4)

Chapter 24

In Tonglin Town, pesticides were primarily used in the rice paddies, and occasionally in the cornfields. It was now October, and both crops had already been harvested.

Yet those two bottles of pesticide were brand new, unopened, and had been left sitting right on the table.

What sane person leaves pesticide on the dining table!

The Old Lady had returned home and looked around her house. After a moment of thought, she placed the pesticide on her own table.

She intended to go outside to bring in the chili peppers, but after taking two steps, she turned back, picked up the pesticide from the table, and tucked it away in a nearby cabinet.

This year’s chili crop was exceptionally good, filling two large wicker trays.

The Old Lady brought the peppers inside, and only then did she place the pesticide back on the table.

She set the trays on the table as well. The peppers inside were mostly a vibrant red. Now, she needed to remove the stems, chop them up, and put them in a jar to make pickled minced chili to save for the winter.

Sitting across from her were the two bottles of pesticide. The black bottles with green packaging and red lettering made her feel uneasy just looking at them.

Before long, Dayan’s grandfather, who had been out weeding, returned home.

As soon as he stepped inside, he went to get a drink of water, only for his eyes to sweep over the items on the table.

“Did the King of Hell¹ pay us a visit today? Did he say one of us in this house has to die?” Dayan’s grandfather picked up the pesticide from the table. “Two bottles, even. Does that mean two of us are going?”

The Old Lady slapped the table. “I knew it wasn’t right!” She was just testing a theory, and sure enough, her husband noticed the pesticide on the table the moment he walked in.

The Old Lady watched as the old man took the pesticide and hid it in the cabinet.

This was how a normal person acted.

“Why did you buy two bottles of pesticide? There’s no use for it this time of year.”

“That’s exactly what I said!”

The old man was completely bewildered. “Have you seen a ghost today? I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

Only then did the Old Lady explain. “This morning, Dayan’s mother told us not to mention what we talked about last night to anyone.”

“The more I thought about it, the more suspicious it felt. So I took some peppers and eggplants over to Changgui’s house to take a look. Guess what I saw?”

The old man had just been teasing his wife about the pesticide on the table. He turned back to drink his water and asked casually, “What?”

“Changgui was cooking, and her husband was sitting at the table. There were two bottles of pesticide on that table.”

The old man looked toward their own cabinet, where the two bottles now sat.

“These two?”

“Yes. I felt something was wrong, so I took them.”

“They let you take them?”

“They didn’t stop me.” In any case, they hadn’t even seen her do it.

“…Impressive. We’re going to have a pesticide thief in the family.”

“Stop joking. Don’t you think there’s a problem? Why buy pesticide now? And why leave it on the table? Leaving pesticide where people eat!”

“They certainly seem tired of living.”

Everything about it screamed strange.

Elderly people might not understand the changing times, or working in the city, or even pressure cookers.

But pesticide? Their generation understood that better than anyone!

From the day pesticides first entered rural households, there had been stories of people putting the poison into ordinary bottles, only for a child or an elderly person to drink it by mistake.

When such a thing happened one day, everyone knew about it by the next.

Almost every farmer who went to buy pesticide would look at those dark bottles and the toxic liquid inside. Even though the poison always had a foul odor, everyone still harbored that same fear.

No one could ever be sure if a child in the house might act like a fool and find the pesticide to drink.

It was a nightmare shared by all farmers.

Consequently, from the moment pesticide was brought home, it had to be hidden somewhere inaccessible.

Eventually, it became a habit. Just like her husband, who noticed the pesticide on the table the moment he walked in and, without needing to be told, immediately put it away.

No one! Absolutely no one would leave pesticide on a dining table.

What exactly was going on at Changgui’s house?

She thought back to the things her daughter-in-law had said the previous night. Could they be true?

Her daughter-in-law really did talk about that pressure cooker every single day. If she truly believed Changgui’s family had stolen it, it was very likely she would go confront them.

Did Changgui’s family kill someone?

But her daughter-in-law had still brought back eels last night.

What was really happening? This matter… she still had to ask her daughter-in-law.

But where had she gone?

Just as she finished processing a tray of chilies, Liao Shanchun’s voice drifted over from the pigsty.

“The Village Party Secretary and the others said it’s hard to manage. They said it’s just a pot, but it’s not just a pot! It’s a pressure cooker! It saves firewood!”

“Can you police really help find it?”

“We’ll give it a try.”

The Old Lady heard another, unfamiliar voice.

Immediately after, her eldest granddaughter came running from the direction of the pigsty, skipping and shouting, “Grandma, we have a guest! It’s a police officer!”

The older generation in Tonglin Town was naturally hospitable and traditional. Even if they were poor, they remained curious and warm toward visitors from the outside.

Usually, when university students came to the countryside to look for oil, everyone hoped the students would stay at their house.

Moreover, this was a police officer.

The Old Lady stood up quickly, wiped her hands, and hurried out to meet them. When she saw the young officer, her face was all smiles. “A rare guest indeed! Please, come in and sit.”

Yun Song was startled by the woman’s enthusiasm. She couldn’t even get a word in before the old woman ushered her inside, saying, “I wonder what official business brings the Honorable Officer here?”

The older generation had no experience dealing with the police, so she used a formal address she had picked up from old stage plays.

Yun Song quickly said, “You can just call me Yun Song. I’m here to look into the matter of your family’s pressure cooker.”

Yun Song hadn’t been sure of the specific situation when she arrived, so she had discussed it with Liao Shanchun and her daughter. They agreed to tell outsiders that she was there to investigate the pressure cooker.

When the Old Lady heard this, she almost laughed. No matter how precious that pressure cooker was, it was still just a pot. How could it possibly warrant bothering the police?

But she would never say that out loud. Instead, she said, “Quick, come in and have a seat. It’s been a hard climb up here, have a snack first!”

As she spoke, she headed toward the stove.

Liao Shanchun: “…”

“Shanchun, go wring out a towel for the police… for Master Yun Song, so she can wash her face.”

The Old Lady thought to herself, Sigh, each generation is worse than the last. None of the youngsters know how to host a guest.

Yun Song waved her hands repeatedly. “I’m really troubling you too much…”

“How is this a trouble?” The Old Lady had already started the fire. She poured water into the pot and took out two eggs. “It’s just two eggs for a snack, not some precious treasure.”

Yun Song continued to refuse, saying, “I should go to Changgui’s house first to ask about the pressure cooker situation.”

The Old Lady’s face immediately fell. It was the kind of stern look that let people know she was doing it on purpose. She immediately spoke up: “Who ever heard of leaving a house without even having a snack? If you won’t eat, are you looking down on our home for not having anything good to serve?”

Yun Song stammered, “No…”

Liao Shanchun also hurried to say, “Eat something before you go. My mother makes brown sugar eggs²; they’re delicious.”

The Old Lady continued, “Coming all this way up the mountain, you must be tired and hungry. Even if you have work to do, you have to eat first. A snack is quick, it’ll be ready in a moment. If you won’t even eat this, then it truly is a case of us being poor hosts.” In the Old Lady’s view, even if the house lacked fine things, the etiquette of hospitality had to be perfect!

The Old Lady brought over a few more eggs. “Shanchun, Dayan, you two sit down as well and keep our guest company while we eat brown sugar eggs.”

Ten minutes later, Yun Song was eating the poached eggs in sweet syrup and wiping her face with a warm towel, once again impressed by the persuasive power of human language.

She still had a lot to learn.

But it had to be said, after the long climb up the mountain, cold and hungry, this warm towel and the brown sugar eggs truly dissolved her exhaustion.

The Old Lady sat beside her and asked in a low voice, “Master Yun Song, are you really here to check on a pressure cooker?”

Master Yun Song…

“Ma’am, you can just call me Yun Song, or Xiao Yun, or Xiao Song. Or ‘Officer’ is fine too; that’s what everyone calls me.”

Yun Song could feel the other woman’s deep respect for government officials, but the title made her feel a bit sorry for the old woman.

While the outside world was developing at lightning speed, the elderly people here still viewed government personnel through a lens from the distant past.

Liao Shanchun was eating her brown sugar eggs, feeling a bit of secret admiration for her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law could be difficult at times, but when it came to things like this, she could handle the hospitality perfectly.

“Officer, did you hear about Changgui from my daughter-in-law?”

Liao Shanchun immediately cut in, “Mom, you’re not going to say I’m talking nonsense again at a time like this, are you?”

The Old Lady waved her off. She ran to the door to look outside, and after making sure no one was there, she hurried back. She walked to a cabinet, bent down, and pulled something out from inside.

This time, she didn’t put it on the table; she just held it up for them to see.

“Pesticide?”

The Old Lady continued, “The more I thought about what you said this morning, the more I felt something was wrong. So I went over to Changgui’s house. There were two bottles of pesticide sitting right there on their table.”

Yun Song finished her brown sugar eggs in two bites and immediately shifted into work mode.

Only then did the Old Lady remember that the person in front of her was a police officer. Realizing she had essentially acted as a thief, she hurried to explain herself: “I wasn’t stealing. I was just afraid something would happen, so I brought them back. Once I’m sure everything is fine, I’ll return them.”

Yun Song said, “Ma’am, tell me exactly what the situation was like then.”

“There wasn’t much of a situation. When I went, their door was closed. Thinking back, that’s what felt wrong. If people are at home during the day, who keeps their door closed?”

“They opened the door, and Changgui was stir-frying vegetables. Changgui’s husband was sitting at the table with a notebook, writing something, I don’t know what. And there were two bottles of pesticide on the table. Who puts pesticide on the table when they’re about to eat?”

Yun Song nodded. It was indeed suspicious.

Yun Song hurried over to Changgui’s house.

The door to Changgui’s house was closed, and the people inside were still unable to find the pesticide.

“I’m certain I put it on the table!”

“I saw it on the table and thought we weren’t going to drink it yet, so I put it in the cabinet. But then I took it back out.”

The two of them turned the house upside down, but they couldn’t find the bottle of pesticide anywhere.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Hello, I am Officer Yun Song from the South District Branch of the Pingcheng Public Security Bureau. I’d like to ask you a few questions about-“

The couple panicked.

The person outside added, “-the matter of the pressure cooker.”

Before the couple could think too much, the voice outside continued, “Is it convenient to open the door? I’ve blistered my feet climbing up here and need to sit for a moment.” Yun Song had learned a bit of the Old Lady’s way of speaking, showing a bit of vulnerability.

The couple didn’t have time to overthink it. They were already drawn into the context she had created, and they opened the door.

Translator’s Notes