C54 (1/2)

After the incident, Zhang Nan had completely gained the trust of the people in the town, and the attitude the Xu Juan family had towards Zhang Nan changed greatly. It was only now that Chen Jing revealed his identity as the psychic, and decided to come here to save Xu Juan.

As for the Master Ouyang, he left the same night as when Hu Qian failed in her methods, so no one was concerned about him. The people of the world were all realistic, and had long placed their hopes on Zhang Nan.

The morning of the second day, Wang Mei brought Hu Qian to the Xu Family residence. She even brought a basket of eggs with him, and was both respectful and polite to Zhang Nan.

On one hand, Wang Mei had come to pay Zhang Nan a visit, and on the other hand, it was naturally because of Hu Qian. Everyone knew that the day before Hu Qian's death was going to happen, was October 31, the day after tomorrow.

Zhang Nan understood Wang Mei's feelings, he knew that there was not much time, he had to move immediately, but he did not have a clear understanding of the situation, and was feeling troubled.

Fortunately, he had established his prestige and was much more convenient to gather information on than before. In the process of understanding, he discovered another rule. It turned out that each girl's twentieth birthday was a night close to midnight.

Chen Jing asked why it was like that, and explained: ”Because Zi Zui is the time furthest away from noon, and also the time when the Yin Pass is opened, so the Yin Qi is the strongest.

Chen Jing asked again, ”What should we do next?”

”I still need to figure out the truth. I'm always brooding over a single person.” Zhang Nan said.

”Who?”

”The person who stole the copper coins from the Sun Tiangui's home wooden box.”

Chen Jing felt suspicious, and asked: ”It's just a thief, is it really that important?”

”My instincts tell me this man is the key. That's right, when Sun Tiangui went missing, you said that most of the people in the town were involved in the search, and some of the main figures amongst them, can you help me contact them? I have something I want to ask them. ”

”Sure, I'll do it right away.”

Chen Jing followed Zhang Nan's orders, and helped him along with Xu Yao and the others. Just as noon arrived, a group of people sat around the Xu household. The table was filled with tea, waiting for Zhang Nan to ask a question.

Zhang Nan said a few simple greetings, and said: ”Today, I invited everyone here because I wanted to learn more about the matter of Master Sun's disappearance twelve years ago. From my standpoint, I think that this matter is filled with contradictions and doubts. Time is of the essence, do you have anyone to describe the situation to me first? ”

At this time, the crowd started talking, everything was about the same as what Chen Jing said, and's impression of them became even deeper.

Zhang Nan asked again: ”Does anyone know about the matter of Master Sun's family stealing the copper coin? Do you have any suspects in mind? Who's most likely to steal the copper coins, and who's the most convenient person to steal the copper coins? ”

Zhang Nan tried his best to look for opportunities from all angles.

There was someone called Old Song in the crowd. Back then, his relationship with Sun Tiangui was pretty good and he was also interested in antiques and cultural relics. When Zhang Nan asked this question, there were quite a few people looking at him.

Old Song could only say, ”I also thought it was strange at the time. I remember a few days before Old Sun disappeared, I took a few coins from the Tang and Song dynasties to his house and asked him if he wanted them, but he said no, because he only liked the money from the Ming and Qing dynasties and was not interested in the other dynasties. I didn't say much, and before I left, I even looked at the copper coins in his wooden box.

”Understood.” Zhang Nan secretly remembered what Old Song said, and asked again, ”When Master Sun went missing, who was the first to find him?”

”First... ”Find his home …” Old Song was stunned, he could not recall where he was for a long time.

”Isn't it just Hu and Zi Xiong?” The old man next to Old Song gave him a nudge and reminded him.

”That's right, that's right. It's those two brats. I also remember now.” another said.

”I also heard from Zi Xiong that he and Hu arrived here first.” Xu Yao said while standing.

”Who are they? Is it here? ” Zhang Nan asked.

”Hu's name is Wang Hu. He went out to work a long time ago, and has not been back for a long time. Zi Xiong's name is Qian Zixiong, and he still lives in the town, but he's not in right now. ” Xu Yao replied.

”They are about the same age as Xu Yao, and often played together when they were young.” Chen Jing added.

”Look, Zi Xiong's father isn't like that, let your son come!” Xu Juan's aunt Chen Feng said as she pushed another man's shoulders.

Qian Zixiong's father, Qian Ming stood up and said, ”Alright, alright, alright, alright. I'll call him over, he's at home.”

With that, Qian Ming left the room.

While waiting for Qian Zixiong to arrive, Zhang Nan asked again: ”Since Wang Hu is about the same age as Xu Yao, then they should have been teenagers right?”

”Yes, he was still young then. Later on, when I remembered that Hu's grandmother died, he went out to work.” There was a traditional Chinese medicine sitting in the town called Gu Lang Zhong, as he replied Zhang Nan.

”Why did his grandma go out to work after she died?” Zhang Nan asked.

”When Hu was young, his parents divorced him, and then his parents threw him to his grandma. They went to their families, so he was raised by his grandma, and only his grandma lived in his family.

Zhang Nan nodded, and continued to ask: ”How old is he, to work?”

”Probably... Around eighteen. ” Gu Lang said as he looked at Xu Yao.

”Yes, when I was eighteen.” Xu Yao said with certainty.

”How old was he when he followed Qian Zixiong to Sun Tiangui's home to look for Sun Tiangui?”

”That's too early …” About fourteen or fifteen years old. ” Xu Yao replied.

Not long after, Qian Ming returned, followed by a tanned young man who looked to be in his twenties. He was his son, Qian Zixiong.

Zi Xiong is here, quickly sit down, I have something to ask you. Chen Feng was extremely excited and helped Qian Zixiong move the chair.

Zhang Nan didn't waste time speaking and directly asked: ”When Sun Tiangui went missing, were you and Wang Hu the first to go to his house?”

Qian Zixiong nodded his head slightly, looking a little shy.

Zhang Nan guessed that his attire and way of questioning had given Qian Zixiong a lot of pressure, so he tried to ease his attitude as much as possible and said, ”Why don't you describe the situation to everyone again in as much detail as possible.”

”I've told you before, no... ”There's nothing going on.” Qian Zixiong rolled his eyes.

”Tell me again.”

Qian Zixiong complained, ”Aiyo... That day, and I went to Master Sun's house first. We climbed through the window and entered, only to discover that Master Sun was not here, so we left! ”

”Think back carefully about what you saw at Master Sun's house.”

”What …” What can I see... Isn't that all? ” Qian Zixiong answered in a knobbly manner.

”For example, is there anything special that's different from normal?”

”Something particularly strange …” Qian Zixiong revealed a thinking look, and then replied: ”I don't think so … ”I can't remember …”

”Did you notice that wooden box?”

”Oh, the one you said was the one with gold coins in Master Sun?”

”Yes.”

”That... That... It's empty inside, someone must have definitely stolen it! ”

Zhang Nan was startled and asked: ”How did you know that someone stole it?”

”Mm …” ”Where else did you go?”

”Why didn't Master Sun take the money away?”

”Huh?” Qian Zixiong was a little nervous, ”What do you mean?”

”I mean, theoretically speaking, it's possible that Sun Tiangui took the copper coin away himself, but you didn't seem to consider that possibility.

Qian Zixiong was so confused that he could not answer, and could only look at Qian Ming.

The others, including Chen Jing, could not understand why Zhang Nan was so fixated on the copper coin that had been stolen.

”I... ”I don't know …” Qian Zixiong replied after a long time.

Zhang Nan realized that Qian Zixiong was stuttering more and more. He already had a rough idea.

”The copper was stolen by you and Wang Hu, right?”

When Zhang Nan's words came out, the entire audience was in an uproar.

Qian Zixiong's expression was dull, but he was not in a hurry to explain.

From Qian Zixiong's reaction, Zhang Nan knew that his guess was right.

”Is that so, Zi Xiong, you tell me!”

”It can't be, you and Hu stole it?”

”Do you or do you not have it?”

”Zi Xiong, don't just stand there. Speak!”

”…”

Everyone immediately became excited, and Zhang Nan added: ”From a time line point of view, this is more of a possibility.”

”Aiyo, it's been so long. Have you taken it or not? Tell me clearly now!” Qian Ming couldn't help but speak of his son.

”Your father was right …” Zhang Nan said to Qian Zixiong calmly, ”The main topic of our discussion today is not who stole the copper coin, nor is it to denounce us for our crimes. I just want to know more about the theft of money. I need to know exactly what happened.

Yes, it's already been 12 years, who would bother with you. Now that we're here to save Juan and Qianqian, you better explain it clearly. Chen Jing also said on behalf of Zhang Nan.

Qian Zixiong understood the seriousness of the situation and finally admitted, ”Yes, those copper coins were only Hu's idea, I was the one who got them from him.”

”Then where did the money go? Did you sell it?” Old Song asked.

”Yes, Hu will be selling it soon, and he even gave me a few hundred yuan.”

”Only a few hundred dollars?” Old Song retorted. He knew that the copper coins in the wooden box were worth more than that.

Zhang Nan did not care about how they split the debt, and said: ”Tell me again what happened at that time from the beginning to the end, you definitely cannot lie anymore.”

”Zi Xiong, what Mr. Zhang said was correct.” Wang Mei said impatiently.

”Right, right, the Master Sun is a good person. If he died in unknown circumstances, we will definitely investigate him thoroughly!” Another woman from town said.

”That day, around noon, Wang Hu came to my house to find me …” Qian Zixiong began to speak, ”He told me that he had something good to do and asked me if I wanted to do it. I asked him what it was, and then he said that he would only know after going with him to the Master Sun. Afterwards, the two of us went up the mountain and when we arrived at Master Sun's house, he told me that there was no one there. The window was open, and there was a lot of ancient coins in the box, and it was estimated that it was worth a lot of money. Not just the coins in the box, he also found a box in Master Sun's kitchen, and inside the box there were not only copper coins, there were also antiques, but he couldn't move the box by himself, so he asked me to help him out. Qian Zixiong said as he took a sip of water, ”I didn't want to do it in the beginning either, I felt that it would be very troublesome if I was discovered, but now that I think about it, Hu is trying to advise me again, so I agreed.”

”So you went into the house and helped Wang Hu carry out the boxes?” Zhang Nan asked.

”No, the box was brought out by Hu. I saw that he spent a lot of effort and I was only in charge of keeping watch. Afterwards, we moved the box over to Hu's house together. Because Hu's house was very close to Master Sun's and also lived on the mountain, and his granny wasn't at home when she went out to visit her relatives, we discussed and decided to leave the box at his house first. He said that he planned to sell it in batches, and also give me a portion of the money. ”

”Is that box really big?”

”Yes, it's very big, and very heavy. Hu really couldn't carry it all by himself, so he put all the copper coins in the wooden box into the chest as well.”

Zhang Nan thought that it was no wonder that they did not take the wooden box with them when they stole the copper coin. He then asked, ”Have you opened that box?”

Then, the copper coin and the antique were covered with a layer of black cloth. Hu said that there was an inner box under the black cloth, and the inner box was filled with copper coins. ”” Ah!

Zhang Nan thought for a moment, then asked: ”What did you do with the box afterwards?”

”I don't know, anyway, it was handled by Hu.”

”How strange …” Old Song scratched the back of his head and said, ”This Old Sun's house still has a big box of copper coins, he didn't even tell me …”

Zhang Nan looked at Old Song and did not say a word.

Just then, a woman stepped into the room and anxiously said to Wang Mei: ”Wang Mei, I can't control your Qianqian. She has been hiding in bed all this time, trembling as if she's scared to death.

The lady was surnamed Li, she was entrusted by Wang Mei to take care of Hu Qian.

”Oh, oh. I'll go back and take a look.” Wang Mei immediately stood up.

The others followed Wang Mei out, including him. Seeing this scene, Zhang Nan suddenly remembered something Xu Juan had said before:

”I seem to be being watched.”

Will you... Hu Qian had the same feeling, but was unable to express it?

A question surfaced in Zhang Nan's heart.

That day, Zhang Nan learned many things about Sun Tiangui's past, as well as the families of the people on the Zhangze Town. At first, Hu Qian refused to listen to anyone and only wrapped herself in her blanket. It was only when Zhang Nan appeared that Hu Qian looked less scared. After all, what happened last night had left a deep impression on Hu Qian. He could faintly feel that Zhang Nan might be able to save her.

At night, Zhang Nan returned to his room and calmly pondered for a long time. There really wasn't much time left to him, he planned to go to the Sun Tiangui's home tomorrow and bring Qian Zixiong and the others along as well.

On the next day, under the Xu family's summons, many people from the Zhangze Town followed Zhang Nan up the mountain, and among them were naturally, Old Song, and other key figures.

A group of people majestically arrived in front of the Sun Tiangui's home door. Zhang Nan just happened to think of something and asked: ”Oh right, when Sun Tiangui went missing, how often did you discover that something was wrong before you went to look for him?”

”Mm …” About two or three days later, we realized that the Master Sun had gone missing. It should have been about two or three days. In fact, the Master Sun used to go missing quite a few times and he even occasionally went far away. If it wasn't for him going crazy before he went missing that time, we wouldn't have cared at all. ” Chen Jing replied.

”Three days! I remember clearly, it was from the night when Master Sun went crazy on the streets all the way until midnight. Then, on the afternoon of the third day, many families said that they had not seen Master Sun for three consecutive days. Should they go over to his place to take a look? Chen Sang also said.

Zhang Nan nodded.

When he pushed the door open and entered the room, Zhang Nan asked again, ”Master Sun's daughter must have been sent to a deaf and dumb school, right? Do you know which school it is? ”

”Yumei! This... ”I don't know …” Chen Sang who was behind Zhang Nan said.

The others were also like Chen Sang, they only knew that Sun Yumei had been sent to a deaf and dumb school.