Who Stole My Pressure Cooker (2)

Chapter 22

Changgui and her husband dragged the corpse far away, but Liao Shanchun still didn’t dare come out. Fear had turned her legs to jelly and her heart was pounding so hard she felt as if she might die.

The instinct for survival forced her to turn her mind to other things.

She remembered something her grandmother used to say: don’t go peeking around other people’s doorsteps, or you might see something you shouldn’t.

She had never taken it seriously before, mainly because her grandmother hadn’t specified what to do if you happened to see someone committing a murder!

If her grandmother had put it that way, Liao Shanchun felt she would have spent her entire life obeying the rule of never looking at anyone else’s door!

However, if it were her grandmother, she probably wouldn’t be afraid of seeing a killing. After all, the old lady used to brag every day about how she had killed bandits back in the day, using a hoe no less, saying it was no different from tilling the soil.

If the Old Lady were still alive, she would surely call her a coward.

Perhaps it was this internal mockery, or perhaps the memory of her grandmother killing bandits, but she didn’t seem quite so terrified anymore.

The daughter beside Liao Shanchun hadn’t seen the corpse. She only knew they were dragging something away, and then her mother had covered her eyes.

She didn’t dare move either, fearing they would be caught stealing. If that happened, she would be known as a thief in the village, and no child wanted to be called a thief.

It wasn’t until her mother regained her composure that she finally let go.

“Mom…”

“Shh, let’s get back quickly.”

“The Pressure Cooker…”

“Forget it,” Liao Shanchun hissed. Her life was on the line; who cared about a Pressure Cooker?

“Your Aunt Changgui and her husband killed someone. They’ve gone to bury the body.” Liao Shanchun felt she had to impress the gravity of the situation upon her daughter.

“Huh? They killed someone? Mom, we have to find someone.” The daughter hadn’t looked the corpse in the face. Although she was scared, she was holding up better than her mother.

Liao Shanchun finally snapped out of it. Right, a murder! She had to find help!

This was the first time she had ever encountered a murder. Such things usually only happened in outdoor movies¹, but now it was right in front of her. Liao Shanchun had lost her head, but her daughter’s reminder brought her back to her senses.

“Yes, yes, we should find someone…” Liao Shanchun thought for a moment and said, “You go back to sleep first. I’ll go find the Village Party Secretary and the others…”

“Mom, I’m coming with you.” The girl was afraid to go home alone in the dark.

“No, you can’t come.” Liao Shanchun reconsidered. She decided to drop her daughter off first, then get her father-in-law and mother-in-law to go to the Village Party Secretary’s house with her!

Yes, the three adults would march gallantly to the Secretary’s house and then go with him to catch those two murderers.

Maybe there would even be a reward! Didn’t everyone get a five hundred yuan reward after that case in town was solved?

That was a whole five hundred yuan!

In an instant, not only was she no longer afraid, but she felt a surge of strength coursing through her body.

Liao Shanchun quickened her pace, pulling her daughter along, and they soon reached the house.

“Go to sleep. Lock the door. Don’t open it for anyone until we get back.”

After instructing her eldest daughter, she went to the adjacent room and knocked on the door.

“Mom! Mom!”

The elderly were light sleepers. When the two women had returned, the two old folks in the inner room were already awake.

Hearing the pounding on the door now, neither of them answered. They were certain she was up to some scheme again!

In the past, their daughter-in-law had pulled stunts like this. Once, in the middle of winter, she had woken them up at midnight claiming the child had a high fever.

When they came out, they discovered the daughter-in-law just wanted to go catch eels at night but was too scared to go alone, so she had dragged them both out of bed.

Now, the two old people just lay there, refusing to make a sound.

“Mom, wake up! I just saw Changgui’s family kill someone. Let’s go find the Village Party Secretary together.”

If she had named anyone else, they might have believed her. But Changgui’s family? Those two honest, simple souls, killing someone? It would be a miracle if they weren’t the ones being killed!

The two old people were convinced it was another lie. Not a single honest word ever came out of this daughter-in-law’s mouth.

“I know you’re awake! You’re just pretending not to hear me!” Liao Shanchun was furious. She shouted toward the room, “Fine! Fine! You won’t get up, will you? Fine, I’m going to the Village Party Secretary myself. If I don’t come back, it’s because Changgui’s family killed me too. When that happens, you’ll be the ones responsible for raising the two children!”

There was still no movement inside.

Liao Shanchun laughed out of sheer frustration. “Just you wait! I’ll go to the Secretary’s house myself! When the case is solved and the reward money comes, I won’t give you a single cent.”

Between her talk of death and her talk of money, the two old people inside found it ridiculous.

Liao Shanchun gritted her teeth. She would go alone.

The main issue was that if she waited until dawn to find people, she wouldn’t be able to catch them red-handed like she could now.

Besides, if she handled this well, who would dare call her a Chuichuike when she bragged about it later?

With that thought, she found her courage and stepped out the door.

The night was still the same night.

After walking just two steps, she turned back.

She grabbed a hoe! For self-defense.

With the hoe in hand, she did indeed feel less afraid.

She shouldered the hoe and walked toward the pigsty. Fortunately, the Village Party Secretary lived in a different direction from Changgui’s house.

Liao Shanchun turned over in her mind how she would explain this to the Secretary.

Her main worry was that the Secretary wouldn’t believe her either.

On second thought, he probably would. With something this big, even if he didn’t believe her, he would have to come out and take a look.

She soon climbed the hillside. The Secretary’s house was in the hollow on the other side.

“Shanchun?”

A voice suddenly called her name from above. The sound made her entire body shudder.

Liao Shanchun looked up. On the hillside stood Changgui and her husband, both carrying hoes.

They were both carrying hoes. Had they headed in this direction to bury the body?

Her luck was truly abysmal.

And there were two of them.

Two against one. She was in trouble.

The two of them were walking down, heading straight for her. They drew closer and closer.

Liao Shanchun’s heart raced.

“It’s the middle of the night, what are you doing out here? And carrying a hoe, no less,” Changgui asked, her brow furrowed.

Liao Shanchun’s hands were shaking as she carried the hoe, her entire mind consumed by fear.

She quickly remembered that she had been out at night before, so this situation wasn’t entirely impossible to explain.

Thus, while her limbs continued to tremble, she forced her face into a mask of composure and said, “The kids at home have been craving something good these past few days. So, I brought my hoe out to dig in the fields, seeing if I could catch some eels.”

Changgui looked at her, seemingly unconvinced by her explanation. “Where are you planning to dig? We’ll accompany you.”

Liao Shanchun pointed toward the large paddy field ahead.

“This one. You know how it is, this belongs to the second Wang brother. Their family is petty, so I didn’t dare come out to dig for eels during the day.”

Changgui nodded, though Liao Shanchun couldn’t tell if she believed her or not.

Liao Shanchun watched as Big Sister Changgui turned to her husband and said, “It’s not safe for Sister Shanchun to be out here alone. Since we’re free anyway, let’s help her dig.”

Liao Shanchun hurriedly said, “That’s too much trouble, I can do it myself!”

She spoke while running toward the field, hoping they would just let her go.

However, behind her, the couple followed at a run.

The three of them stood in the field, each holding a hoe.

Liao Shanchun was incredibly tense, especially when she saw the other two start swinging their hoes.

A second later, the two of them were already digging into the soft mud.

Watching the two figures bent over digging, Liao Shanchun had no choice but to start digging for eels as well.

Beside her, Changgui spoke as she worked. “Sister Shanchun, don’t think I’m being nosy. Your husband isn’t home, and it’s just you, two elderly parents, and two children. You shouldn’t come out at night; things happen easily.”

It was a threat. This was definitely a threat!

People who had killed someone were just different. The way she spoke was completely different from before.

The man beside her added, “That’s right. If anything happens, a whole life is ruined.”

Liao Shanchun’s scalp tingled with dread.

Was this couple implying that since she was a woman with elders to support and children to raise, they would kill her entire family if she dared to go to the Village Party Secretary?

It was too cruel. Big Sister Changgui used to be such a good person; how had she turned into this?

“Did you hear me? Don’t take it lightly! You’re a woman, and you have half-grown children…” Changgui seemed to be losing her patience.

Liao Shanchun felt a mix of fear and indignation, but in this moment, she could only dig through the mud and say, “I understand. I just came out to catch some eels today. I won’t come out at night anymore.”

Wait! There’s an eel!

She quickly yanked it out, ignoring everything else for a moment to secure the catch.

The couple beside her also dug up several eels one after another. They both crushed the eels’ heads before handing them over to Liao Shanchun.

On the other side, Liao Shanchun’s parents-in-law waited for a while, noticing their daughter-in-law hadn’t returned.

“Why isn’t she back yet?”

“Nothing happened to her, did it?”

The old couple hurriedly got up, put on their clothes and shoes, and headed outside.

They had barely stepped out of the house and hadn’t even passed the pigsty when they saw their daughter-in-law carrying a hoe in one hand and a string of eels in the other.

They had worried for nothing; she really had just gone out to dig for eels!

The old couple breathed a sigh of relief and went back inside to sleep.

Liao Shanchun carried the eels back. Though she was terrified, she didn’t throw them away. After all, it was still meat.

She was drenched in sweat, looking as though she had just been fished out of a river.

She had… just escaped death.

She was naturally prone to exaggeration, and her dramatics were fueled by an extremely vivid imagination.

At this moment, she had already envisioned the couple outside as invincible, psychopathic serial killers.

On the other end, the couple who had been branded as killers put away their hoes. Exhaustion and fear had drained their strength, and they sat down on the ridge of the field.

The two stared into the distance, neither of them speaking. Behind them was the pitch-black forest, heavy enough to make it hard to breathe.

Everything seemed to be whispering of a hidden, painful wound.

After an unknown amount of time, dawn was approaching.

Changgui said, “She’s been afraid of us the whole time. She must have seen what we did.”

The man nodded.

“Then I’ll go to the market in a bit to buy some pesticide. Are two bottles enough?” the man asked.

“Enough… If there’s fresh meat, bring a piece back. I want to eat braised pork,” Big Sister Changgui said.

“Will do.”

Translator’s Notes