After saying that, Liu Fang watched her cousin-uncle sit on the edge of the bed and fall into deep thought...
His brows were tightly furrowed, his lips sealed shut. From ti to ti, she could hear heavy nasal breaths as his fingers absentmindedly picked at the bed.
It looked like… he was thinking about sothing.
Liu Fang didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt a little nervous.
He didn’t look like he did during dinner.
Right now... he looked kind of scary.
His slightly lowered head lifted as Liu Changqing looked at the little girl standing in front of him.
When he noticed the hint of fear in her expression, he froze for a mont.
Then the tension in his face eased, and a smile appeared.
“It’s fine. So... Er’ya, you said that woman left. Do you know where she went?”
“I… I don’t know.”
She shook her head. The girl looked at Liu Changqing, confused by his sudden change in mood, and quickly added,
“But… she didn’t go near your family’s graves. It looked like she just drove straight back onto the main road and left.”
“I see.”
He acknowledged with a nod and glanced at the slightly tense little girl. His lips pressed together as sothing ca to mind.
He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out his wallet. Then, taking out a 100 yuan bill, he held it out toward her.
A kind smile rose on his face.
“Er’ya… Uncle has to leave tomorrow after visiting the graves. I probably won’t get to see you during New Year’s.
Here—take this. Don’t let your grandpa see it. Save it to buy yourself so stationery, maybe a few snacks…”
“I… I don’t want it.”
Liu Fang refused imdiately.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the bill he was holding out, and she waved both hands in front of her to make her refusal clear.
That was a lot of money. She didn’t dare accept it.
Seeing her reaction, Liu Changqing couldn't help but feel impressed inside.
This kid… really was sensible.
If it were his daughter, she probably would’ve taken the money and rushed off to buy snacks.
That thought made him feel a little ache in his heart.
After all, they were blood relatives—albeit distantly. Still, she was his niece…
He reached out and grabbed her arm.
With just a bit of strength, Liu Changqing pulled the girl in front of him closer.
His face grew serious again as he firmly stuffed the money into the pocket of her cotton-padded jacket.
He looked her in the eye.
“Keep it for yourself. When you go to the market, if you see sothing you like, just buy it.”
“Uncle… I…”
“That’s enough. Just take it as your New Year’s money.”
Liu Changqing cut her off.
Then he lifted his hand and gently patted her head, murmuring,
“Study hard. When you graduate from college, co work for . I’ll get you a job.”
Every word of that sank into Liu Fang’s ears.
The eyes staring at him seed to forget how to blink for a second.
She just stared blankly…
By the ti she ca back to her senses, Liu Fang didn’t say anything more.
She simply lowered her gaze.
Even at her young age, she already understood a lot.
This cousin-uncle she had never t before…
He was really kind.
Nothing like what people in the village said about him.
Seeing Liu Fang fall silent, Liu Changqing started asking questions—mostly about the past, about his parents...
Unfortunately, maybe because she was still young, she didn’t know much.
She stamred through a few bits, but Liu Changqing didn’t get any useful answers.
Eventually, he stopped asking.
After Liu Fang left the room...
Liu Changqing finally let out a long breath as he sat on the edge of the bed.
Keeping up the elder act was kind of tiring.
He relaxed a bit, then kicked off his shoes and lay down on the bed.
Compared to the soft big bed at ho, this hard wooden plank bed—even with a layer of padding—wasn’t comfortable at all.
After lying there a while, Liu Changqing sat up again, crossed his legs on the bed, his brows furrowed.
His mind kept turning over the sa thing…
Could it be that the parents of this body were really killed by Ye Rong?
It sounded absurd. Didn’t make sense.
There was no reason for Ye Rong to do sothing like that to the elderly couple at the ti.
And when he ran into that old fellow townsman at the hospital, the guy had said the two of them looked happy when they left in the car.
So it didn’t seem like they were forced.
Besides, back then, his ex-father-in-law wasn’t dead yet…
That man was still the head of the Li family. How could Ye Rong have dared to do sothing like that?
What really happened?
And what was Li Wanran doing here, looking for the family’s burial plot?
Was it guilt... or sothing else?
Suddenly, Liu Changqing’s eyes snapped open.
A realization hit him.
That woman... could she have been planning to dig up the graves?
The thought only lasted a second before he tossed it aside. That kind of theory didn’t hold up. But still…
It was her appearance that made him realize—
There had to be sothing going on here that the old Liu Changqing didn’t know about.
Those two won… what exactly were they hiding?
Clearly, Liu Changqing wasn’t cut out to be so kind of master detective.
With just a few scattered clues, there was no way to piece together the full truth.
Even so...
Liu Changqing looked around at the rundown house.
Then he lowered his gaze to the stiff wooden bed beneath him.
And he thought to himself—
It’s almost New Year’s. A ti when the whole country celebrates, when families reunite.
No matter the family, nobody wants unpleasant things happening during the holidays.
Your family must be the sa.
Li Wanran...
With that thought, Liu Changqing made his next move.
He pulled out his phone, scrolled through the blocked numbers list, and found Li Wanran’s contact.
He unblocked the number and hit dial.
He held the phone to his ear.
After a few seconds, the dial tone ca through:
“Beep… beep… beep…”
Ti passed second by second, but the call still wasn’t answered—until…
[Hello.]
A cold voice ca through the earpiece.
It had been a long ti since Liu Changqing last heard her voice.
The corner of his mouth lifted into a faint smile. He asked:
“You ca to my hotown… Were you planning to visit my parents’ graves?”
[…]
There was silence on the other end.
Clearly, Li Wanran hadn’t expected Liu Changqing to know about that.
She didn’t respond.
Liu Changqing waited a long ti. Thinking she had hung up, he pulled the phone away to check—
But the call was still connected.
So he spoke again.
His tone was calm, as if he were asking about sothing trivial.
“I already know about what happened with my parents.
Why did your whole family keep it from ?”
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