Chapter 173: Chapter 173: Should I Dig Up His Grave to See If He’s Really Fearful?
"Yes, his na is Xu Zaisen. Brother, how do you know his full na?"
Chen Xiao didn’t explain why he knew the na Xu Zaisen; after reminding Xiaoji and the others to be safe, he hung up the phone.
Holding the phone, Chen Xiao didn’t imdiately return to Chen Xianzu’s tombstone.
He needed to digest this news.
This news was shocking to him!
He vividly rembered that ti fishing by the Wild River, chatting with fisherman Zhang Zhuang about Jade Ice Burn and the prominent figures who erged from Dongzhou.
Many who ventured into the sea succeeded in getting what they wanted.
So, in the south, relied on their industrious hands to support their aged parents, send their children to school, buy new clothes, and build new houses.
Others, in the south, faced repeated setbacks, never breaking free from the confines of poverty.
Still, so stood out, amassing unimaginable wealth there.
Fisherman Zhang Zhuang and Sister Yan fell into the second category, whereas Xu Zaisen was the last.
Zhang Zhuang once said that Xu Zaisen’s hotel was remarkable, filled with people skilled in a multitude of arts.
Because of this, Chen Xiao fabricated and elaborated a story.
But Chen Xiao never imagined that an offhand ntion of Xu Zaisen by Zhang Zhuang would co up again.
And Xu Zaisen’s reappearance clearly signaled sothing to Chen Xiao.
There was a possibility that Xu Zaisen was not actually a Xu; he may be a Chen!
Because Xu Zaisen was the man behind Lu Yuling, who received a 200,000 yuan remittance from Chen Yuan in 1995.
Chen Yuan and Lu Yuling likely didn’t know each other, so the remittance could only have been sent to soone very important to him.
Could this person have been Chen Xianzu, who should be lying in the grave?
Chen Xiao still didn’t rush back to find Chen Ding but instead dialed another call to Sister Yan.
"Sister Yan, have you heard of Xu Zaisen?"
"Who hasn’t heard of Xu Sheng! He’s a big figure who erged from our Dongzhou!" Sister Yan praised without reservation.
Chen Xiao asked again, "Have you or anyone you know ever seen Xu Zaisen?"
"Uh? Well... we truly haven’t. He’s such a big boss; why would he et with small fry like us?"
"Has anyone seen him?"
Sister Yan thought for a mont, "It seems I haven’t heard of anyone seeing him. So who claid to have seen him, from what I know, are just bragging."
"Then how do you know he’s from Dongzhou?"
"Everyone says so. They say whenever Xu Sheng speaks Mandarin, he has that Dongzhou accent. So even joked about Xu Sheng’s Dongzhou-style Mandarin!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao frowned.
He thought this wasn’t enough; surely soone had seen him. Otherwise, how could they confirm Xu Zaisen was from Dongzhou just by his accent?
"Sister Yan, think again. Are you sure no one has ever seen Xu Zaisen?"
"I really don’t know, but I can ask around. Anyway, among the folks I know, none have seen Xu Sheng."
"Okay, I’ll wait for your call."
After ending the call, Chen Xiao finally returned to Chen Ding’s side.
Chen Ding seed absent-minded, pulling weeds yet with only a palm-sized patch cleared after all this ti.
"What’s wrong with you today? You seem like your soul is lost," Chen Xiao asked calmly.
Chen Ding paused his hands, smiling, "Maybe it’s because there’s been too much going on these days, and I haven’t rested well. I tend to daydream."
"Hmm, you were pretty close with Xianzu, weren’t you?"
"We were brothers born of the sa mother, of course, we were close. Do you rember the nickna ’King of Repeating Grades’? When he first started elentary school, he was so dense I wanted to hang him up and beat him daily. I really couldn’t understand how soone so dim could co from the Chen family."
"But later, I realized that kid was intentionally rebelling against the whole family. It wasn’t that he couldn’t learn; he just didn’t want to. Plus, with the family spoiling him, he always acted out. After I beat so sense into him a few tis, he finally started to behave and showed his talent."
"At that ti, I was motivated daily; no one wanted to improve the family more than I did. But I knew that no matter how much money I earned, the family would just be nouveau riche without cultural depth. Nouveau riche don’t last, so every day I hoped he would quickly grow up and beco successful!"
"Maybe because I focused all my attention on him, the second brother resented , never close to
since childhood, preferring to starve outside rather than ask
for money, which led him into the path of pyramid sches."
"Then there’s the third brother, also not close to
or the other brothers. If he had been, he wouldn’t have gone to play by the water alone that year, and wouldn’t have drowned."
At this point, Chen Ding couldn’t help vigorously rubbing his face.
Almost simultaneously, Chen Xiao asked, "Do you regret it?"
"I...," Chen Ding paused before saying, "Back then, I had no regrets. For the sake of the whole family, I definitely needed to invest more in Old Four, undeniably. There’s no blaming ; bla only Old Two and Old Three for their lack of ambition. But with Old Four’s untily death, all my efforts those years went to waste."
Chen Xiao smiled, "If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think you were your father."
"Is there a difference? My father never did anything proper his whole life, never achieved anything. I managed everything in the family big and small. As the eldest brother acting as a father, Old Two, Old Three, and Old Four could resent , but they couldn’t refute !"
Chen Ding fell silent.
After kicking aside the weeds Chen Ding had pulled, Chen Xiao suddenly said, "Do you rember in ’91 how suddenly dog at restaurants beca all the rage in our area?"
While saying this, Chen Xiao kept an eye on Chen Ding from the corner of his eye.
He clearly saw Chen Ding’s body tense up, though he quickly regained composure. But to Chen Xiao, that slight movent was enough to indicate sothing.
"I know, now in our Songtan Town, there’s still the famous Songtan Dog at brand."
"Yes, because of that brand, dogs can’t survive around here. As soon as they appear, they’re taken away to be sold."
"As long as it’s sothing that can make money, it gets cleared quickly. People are like that," Chen Ding shrugged.
Chen Xiao nodded, "However, the following year, soone significant ca to our village. Do you know who?"
"I don’t know, who?"
"Han Zai, have you heard of him?" Chen Xiao looked at Chen Ding.
Chen Ding appeared confused, shaking his head, "Don’t know him, who is he?"
"Back then in Dongzhou, he was considered like a god of police. He ca here to seal off the mountains to catch fugitives."
Chen Ding suddenly realized, "Oh, him. I rember my dad telling
about it, saying it caused quite a stir."
"Was your dad also anxious?"
"Who wasn’t anxious!"
"What about Chen Xianzu?"
"I told you, everyone around here was on edge. Little Zu probably freaked out, never having seen such a scene!"
"You’re wrong. Back then, I wasn’t scared. I was waving a flag, following behind Han Zai, shouting that I wanted to go into the mountains to catch fugitives!"
Chen Ding laughed, "Ha, you were a troubleso kid from the start. Because of you, your dad suffered a lot!"
"Then Chen Ding, do you think I was smart as a child?"
"You’ve beco a great detective now, so surely you were smart from a young age!"
"If even I wasn’t afraid, why would Brother Xianzu, the smartest person our village had seen for years, be scared?"
As Chen Xiao spoke, Chen Ding’s expression changed, but Chen Xiao didn’t give him ti, saying again:
"How about I dig open his grave to see if he was really anxious back then!"
Chen Xiao said with a smile, staring directly at Chen Ding!
Reviews
All reviews (0)