Fake Divorce Turns into Murder Case (3)

Chapter 55

Old Lady Yuan thought it over and over, eventually deciding to ask around about Yang Laowu’s family situation.

“Back then, he almost couldn’t find a wife. Later, a matchmaker introduced someone over from Baihe Town.”

“He’s honest enough now, not as reckless as he was when he was young.”

Only then did Old Lady Yuan learn that the man had two children at home.

She hadn’t liked Yang Laowu much to begin with, but now that she thought about it, she felt she should go give him a warning.

But how could she warn him?

She returned to the reservoir just as her goddaughter came by on patrol. “Mom, what’s wrong? What case was being tried today?”

“There were too many people, I couldn’t hear a thing.” Old Lady Yuan was still preoccupied with the matter on her mind.

“Mom, why don’t we go a bit earlier tomorrow morning to watch?” The goddaughter thought her godmother was upset because she hadn’t been able to see the court proceedings.

“I have a public case of my own right here…” People in Tonglin Town liked to refer to dilemmas or difficult situations as “public cases.”

She recounted the incident with Yang Laowu from the day before.

Yang Laowu? Old Lady Yuan belonged to the older generation and didn’t pay much attention to the village folk, so she naturally knew very little. Her goddaughter, however, was a mainstay of the current village community. As soon as she heard the name Yang Laowu, she understood. “He’s offended quite a few people,” she said.

So, if someone wanted to… wait a minute.

“The two of them came to fish together? Then it shouldn’t be someone he’s offended.” The goddaughter reacted instantly. Even if Yang Laowu was a fool, surely he would know better than that?

If two people came to fish together, they had to be on good terms.

Old Lady Yuan nodded. “Is there anyone he’s close with who is taller than him?”

Hearing this, the goddaughter slapped her palm. “I’ll keep an eye on their family.”

“Don’t go spreading this around,” the old lady cautioned. “I can see that Yang Laowu isn’t exactly a bright man. If he finds out and runs off to tell that tall man about this, we’ll be the ones in trouble.”

The old lady didn’t know what kind of grudge existed between the two men that would lead to murder, but if a person had reached that point, offending them further might drive them over the edge. After all, if killing is already a crime, they might as well kill a few more to break even.

Thinking this, the old lady immediately stopped her goddaughter from going. “Pretend you never heard about this. Don’t keep an eye on them either. Just act as if you know nothing.”

She felt regret in her heart; she shouldn’t have spoken, she really shouldn’t have.

The goddaughter was in her thirties, yet her godmother still treated her like a child. She understood the concern and comforted her: “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. But I’ll still keep a lookout. I’m worried that if he thinks you saw what he was doing at the time, he might try to do something to you.”

This matter was truly a headache.

It wasn’t certain who the man was, but she definitely believed her godmother about the intent to kill. Her godmother had handled so many corpses over the years; she was no ordinary person.

But the problem was, would that man target them too? Should they go to the police now?

But what use would the police be? No one was dead. If they went and told them, and the police investigated and asked the man, “Are you planning to kill someone?” and the person wasn’t dead yet, would he say, “Yes, I’m preparing to murder him”? He would surely say the old woman’s eyes were failing her and she saw wrong.

Since no one was dead, the police would just leave after a visit.

Furthermore, there was a worst-case scenario: if the police visit provoked the man, what would happen once the police left and he came looking for them? The police lived in town, while they were in the village; they would be impossible to protect.

For now… it was better to do nothing at all.

Besides, the two of them began to reassure themselves. The tall man hadn’t succeeded last time; perhaps after going home and cooling off, his anger had faded and he no longer wanted to kill?

The tall man was currently listening to Yang Laowu speak.

Yang Laowu had brought half a catty of liquor, a bag of roasted peanuts, and a chicken to talk to him.

“Third Brother.” Usually, he never called him Third Brother. By using that title now, the other man knew he wanted a favor.

Yang Laowu began to complain about the bitterness of having no son, and spoke of the old days when the brothers were so formidable that no one in the village dared to bully them.

Finally, he brought up the favor he wanted Third Brother to help with.

“I heard that a family over in Baihe Town had two daughters and two sons, and they didn’t pay any fines? Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“I heard his first two kids were registered to his own household. For the next two, he divorced his wife, and she registered a marriage with someone else. That way, those two kids got their Hukou too.”

The other man said, “You mean you want a fake divorce?”

“Is there any other way? My old man is pestering me day and night about not having a son…”

“Then who do you plan to have her fake-marry?”

“Third Brother, I wouldn’t trust anyone else with this matter.”

He felt there would be no problem at all. Originally, he had wanted all the children to belong to his own family, but now that he was face-to-face with the man, he said, “Third Brother, if my woman gives birth to another daughter, I’ll give her to you to raise. She’ll be your child and take care of you in your old age.”

On the other side, Huixiang had not yet recovered from the shock of the “fake divorce and fake marriage” her husband had mentioned.

Fake divorce, fake marriage…

To fake-marry someone, there had to be a partner, right?

Huixiang thought it over and over, but she was still unwilling. Her heart was filled with unease.

She had no close friends in Tonglin Town. Since marrying into the family, she had been honest and dutiful, bearing children, doing housework, working the fields, and showing filial piety to her parents-in-law. She believed she had done everything well.

The feeling that she had done nothing wrong made this fake divorce even harder to bear.

She was truly unwilling, and truly afraid.

They called it a fake divorce, but they would have to get a real divorce certificate. When that time came, if the man wanted to kick her out, he could. According to his plan, even her two daughters wouldn’t be under her name.

Not only that, but the family’s fields and land would have nothing to do with her anymore.

She had just harvested the grain and corn, and had just planted the sweet potatoes and winter potatoes. They would be ready for harvest in a few months…

Although Tonglin Town was also poor, its land was better than Baihe Town’s, and each household was allocated a bit more. In her heart, she truly wanted to live here steadily and raise her two children in peace.

Besides, after the Fake Divorce, she would have to enter a fake marriage with someone else and become a legally recognized couple.

What if the other person had bad intentions? It wouldn’t be easy to hide the truth from others, either. People would inevitably spread all sorts of nasty gossip.

Secrets were hard to keep in a village. Her eldest daughter was already six years old; what would happen if she heard those things?

Huixiang had grown up in a family where her parents’ conduct wasn’t very good. From childhood to adulthood, what she hated most was people making jokes at their expense. Some shameless people even said disgusting things directly to the younger generation.

Later, when it came time for her to find a husband’s family, even though no one said it to her face, she remembered those looks. Her marriage prospects had never been smooth. she had always hated those murky rumors and harbored resentment toward her own parents.

Now, they wanted her to get a Fake Divorce and then a fake marriage. There was no way to keep it a secret. What would people say about her then? What would happen to her children?

The more she thought about the whole situation, the more miserable she felt. Her chest tightened with waves of dull pain. She hadn’t eaten a single bite of lunch, and her man had gone out again.

She didn’t know who she could talk to about this. The people around her, those she was close to, were all from the Yang Family. The other villagers didn’t really talk to her.

Subconsciously, she knew that the Yang Family didn’t have a very good reputation around here. It made sense; if their reputation were good, they probably wouldn’t have married a girl from another town with a bad reputation like herself.

She had nowhere to turn. Her relatives and friends were all in Baihe Town. Her only family members were her two children, but they were still small, and she certainly couldn’t tell them about such things.

The pain in her chest grew sharper. She desperately needed to do something to distract herself, so she went into the inner room and brought out a large bundle of clothes.

Two days ago, her second sister-in-law had come over and brought some hand-me-downs from her own children. The second sister-in-law had two girls and two boys. The two girls had their Hukou registered under other people’s families, and they had only paid the fine for one of the boys.

The second daughter in that family was older than Huixiang’s eldest daughter. With winter approaching, she had brought over all the old clothes that no longer fit.

Huixiang inspected them one by one, mending the damaged spots. This way, they wouldn’t have to buy clothes this winter.

Suddenly, the needle pricked the center of her fingertip, and a tiny bead of blood welled up.

Staring at her bleeding finger, she suddenly remembered a story from her hometown when she was a child.

In that little story, the main plot was about a rich man who flaunted his wealth while traveling and was murdered for it.

Huixiang remembered one detail particularly clearly: at that moment, the man’s wife was at home doing needlework when she was suddenly pricked by a needle. The wife said her husband must have met with an accident. Indeed, in the story, the husband had been hacked many times by blades.

The story seemed to suggest that husband and wife were connected by their hearts.

Huixiang looked at her pricked fingertip, the blood on it making her daze off.

Soon, her man returned. His face was flushed red from drinking, and his gait was unsteady as he slumped into a chair in the main hall.

“I talked to him. He didn’t agree. He said he hasn’t married yet, and if he did this, it wouldn’t sound good if word got out,” Yang Laowu sighed, unable to stop himself from adding, “He’s already this old and still hasn’t married. How is he ever going to get married in the future?”

Huixiang didn’t think that far ahead. She only knew that the plan had failed, and she felt a surge of relief. Then, her heart tightened again as she said, “Did you tell him that he must never speak a word of this to anyone?”

“Don’t worry. Since he was a kid, he’s never been one to spread gossip.”

“I’ll think about whether there’s anyone else. If all else fails, I’ll go find Second Brother,” the man said.

“Are you crazy? Your second brother is already married!”

“He can get a Fake Divorce. Then we can just put the children under my second sister-in-law’s name.” He seemed trapped in his own schemes, completely disregarding the reality of the situation.

Huixiang’s needle accidentally pricked her fingertip again.

A sharp sting of pain shot through her.