In the rundown Huanglan Village, the poverty alleviation work was nearly concluded.
Lin Fan strolled down the street and walked into the ancestral hall at the village entrance.
Although the houses in this quadrant were sowhat dilapidated, the ancestral hall was quite impressive. At the very least, it was constructed with concrete and the courtyard was paved with tiles, very smooth. Walking forward, the central area housed the ancestral tablets, while the sides held the spiritual tablets of deceased villagers.
"It’s rare to see ancestral halls like this in the north."
With his hands behind his back, Lin Fan curiously surveyed everything around him. Due to historical reasons, ancestral halls in the north had been destroyed long ago, so this was quite novel to him.
"This was funded by County Magistrate Zhao, to commorate the thirty-seven people who died in the mining accident!"
The village chief stood by, roughly explaining the situation.
Despite this quadrant not being the largest village now, right after the liberation period, this was actually the true Huanglan Village. The village was established midway up the hill to repel bandits at the ti, thus the many dilapidated houses were over a hundred years old, with the terrain being easy to defend and hard to attack.
After a century of developnt, most of the village was comprised of Huang family mbers. After generations of reproduction and dwelling, the village beca a large family. Even the village chief was actually a branch of the Huang clan. The mining accident years ago claid thirty-seven lives from this quadrant alone, so County Magistrate Zhao not only provided compensation but also specifically renovated the ancestral hall to honor these victims.
"So that’s what happened."
Lin Fan suddenly rembered that the mining accident was none other than the state-owned coal mine explosion case that County Magistrate Luan was investigating.
Thinking of this, he took out his phone, brought up the evidence taken by Chu Shiyuan, and quickly found the death list. According to the records, the gas explosion killed one hundred and seven people, thirty-eight of whom were from Huanglan Village.
"Huh!"
When Lin Fan brought out the list, he froze.
The original report said thirty-eight, but why did the village chief say thirty-seven?
The discrepancy of one person suggested so sort of trickery involved, so with his phone in hand, Lin Fan walked to the spiritual tablets on the left and carefully compared the nas there. Since they died violently, and their remains were still buried underground and hadn’t entered the ancestral grave yet, they needed individual offerings on the first and fifteenth of each month.
"Huang Jingshou is missing!"
After checking the list, there was a missing na, Huang Jingshou, which made Lin Fan feel as if he had discovered sothing. After all, the nas on the mining accident victim list shouldn’t be falsified, so why was one missing? Thinking of this, Lin Fan didn’t speak further or inquire about it with the village chief, as the matter was confidential, and he wasn’t sure whom the Mayor and village chief were associated with.
After pondering, Lin Fan found an excuse to leave the ancestral hall and returned to the elderly woman’s ho. Her teenage granddaughter was crouching by the stove, preparing to cook, and upon seeing Lin Fan, she quickly stood up in a flurry.
According to the arrangent, a minibus was coming two days later to take sixteen school-age girls from their village, and from what her grandmother ntioned, she was set to be Lin Fan’s servant girl. So seeing Lin Fan again made her a bit apprehensive, fiddling with the corner of her patched clothes, unsure of what to do.
"Huang Yulan, right? Co over here, I have sothing to ask you."
Originally intending to consult the elderly woman, Lin Fan found that her hearing impairnt and strong accent made it difficult for him to understand, so he asked the fifteen-year-old Huang Yulan to co over instead.
"County Magistrate... Is there sothing you need?"
Huang Yulan spoke with a trembling voice. In such a secluded village, seeing the County Magistrate was akin to seeing the Emperor, and in her young mind, she thought he would be her future husband. This mix of anticipation and fear made her deanor a bit frantic.
"I want to ask about soone. Do you know anyone nad Huang Jingshou in your village?"
Lin Fan tried hard to keep his voice calm, and hearing this, Huang Yulan nodded: "I know... My dad is Huang Jingfa, and my uncle is Huang Jingshou..."
"Is your uncle in the village?"
Lin Fan’s heart soared, though he had no idea what this clue represented, at least he had found sothing unknown, which might help uncover more secrets.
"I haven’t seen him in years... My grandma often thinks about him, saying he often sends things back through others..."
Huang Yulan shook her head, she hadn’t seen her uncle in ages according to her mory.
"Does your family have a photo of him?"
Although no better clues were provided, it at least proved that Huang Jingshou was indeed alive. Lin Fan, curious, asked her, and hearing this, Huang Yulan quickly stood up, ran into the old and shabby house, and not long after returned with a family portrait.
"This is my dad... And this is my uncle!"
Huang Yulan pointed at the group photo of more than ten people, taken when she was just a little four or five-year-old girl. But when her finger landed on Huang Jingshou, Lin Fan froze.
"This person... Why do they look familiar!"
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