Chapter 429: Chapter 416: Something’s Not Right

This all corresponded to Butcher Hua’s situation; he and his wife had no children, and Mrs. Su’s blindness, as well as the origin of the scar on Butcher Hua’s chin, were indeed as previously described by Butcher Hua.

We can essentially conclude that this Zheng Cheng is indeed Butcher Hua’s nephew, as he claimed.

Even if he is not really his nephew, he must be a close family member, otherwise he would not know such private matters.

Anyway, at the time of Butcher Hua’s death, it was already stated that all his belongings were either burned or buried with him, and the house was almost completely empty, containing only some worthless items such as tables, chairs, and benches. There was no reason for anyone to purposely deceive about such things.

Zhuang Jingye thought for a moment, then nodded, “Alright, you can come with me.”

Zhuang Jingye, who was initially planning to deliver some goods to Zhuang Qingning’s house, had to abandon his plans for now. He put things back, took keys to Butcher Hua’s house, and led Zheng Cheng there.

“This is Butcher Hua’s house.” Zhuang Jingye opened the door and led Zheng Cheng inside, “Have a look and see if there’s anything you want to take with you.”

“However, when Butcher Hua passed away, he didn’t have much money. He had instructed before his death, that the valuable items inside his house be sold for his funeral expenses, so many items in the house were pawned or sold. Personal belongings were also burned or buried with him in accordance with his wishes.”

“Strictly speaking, there are no more personal items here, but we never really searched thoroughly inside or outside the house. You just take a look and see if there’s anything left that you can take home.”

“Thank you, Village Chief Zhuang.” Zheng Cheng bowed his head, then carefully looked around the courtyard and went inside the house to search.

Indeed, as Zhuang Jingye said, the house was already emptied of any personal belongings, with only some items like tables, chairs, benches, and beds left.

However…

Zheng Cheng raised an eyebrow, “Village Chief Zhuang, since my uncle has been dead for so long, yet, inside and outside of this yard are unusually neat and clean, could someone be cleaning it regularly?”

“Not exactly. Before Butcher Hua’s death, he mentioned that he had been living in the village for many years and was always well cared for by the villagers, so he entrusted this house to me, saying that if I could sell it, the money should be donated to the village’s ancestral hall for public use.”

“Although Butcher Hua said that, we never really intended to do so, so it has been left unused here. A few months ago a woman in the village who had recently started a household didn’t have a place to live, so she borrowed it for several months. However, she paid rent, which has been put into the village’s ancestral hall.”

“The reason why the house looks neat and clean and the yard is not overgrown with weeds is probably due to this reason.”

Zhuang Jingye explained, “But that woman didn’t take anything from this house. I checked everything at the time, it was exactly the same as before she moved in. Even many of the damaged parts had been repaired.”

“I see.” Zheng Cheng nodded, “Thank you, Village Chief Zhuang. I’ll take a good search here and see if there’s anything I can take back to my grandfather. I can see that Village Chief Zhuang seems busy, so you don’t need to accompany me here any longer.”

Zhuang Jingye hesitated a little.

But on second thought, considering how destitute Butcher Hua’s house appeared, even if Zheng Cheng took everything from inside and outside the house now, it wouldn’t sell for much money. Looking at Zheng Cheng, he didn’t seem to be short of money either, so Zhuang Jingye just nodded, “Alright, look around here. If there is anything, you can just take it.”

“Thank you, Village Chief Zhuang.”

Zheng Cheng saw Zhuang Jingye to the door, “Take care, Village Chief Zhuang.”

Seeing that this person was quite polite, somewhat similar to the smiling demeanour of Butcher Hua and his wife, Zhuang Jingye’s favor for Zheng Cheng grew a little.

After wasting so much time, Zhuang Jingye no longer dared to delay. He hastily returned home to pick up the goods he had earlier prepared to take to Zhuang Qingning’s house and headed over there.

Seeing Zhuang Qingning was at home kneading dough, he was overjoyed, “I was afraid that you weren’t going to be at home, and thought I’d come when it was nearly dinner time. Good thing you’re home.”

“The jujubes at home are the crunchy kind, not like those red jujubes. They look green, but they taste crisp and sweet. Also, don’t judge this pumpkin by its lumpy exterior, it tastes sweet and has a melting texture when cooked.”

“Thank you, Uncle Zhuang.” Zhuang Qingning washed off the flour on her hands, “I was thinking of making some meat rolls to steam. Now that we have pumpkin, I’ll make pumpkin porridge tonight.”

“Add some red jujubes to it, and it will be guaranteed to be fragrant and sweet.” Zhuang Jingye laughed, “Do you have red jujubes at home? If not, I’ll bring them to you later.”

“Aunt Ye sent some over last time, and we haven’t finished eating them yet.” Zhuang Qingning hastily waved her hands.

“As long as you have enough, if there’s anything lacking, just let me know. You can go and take anything from my house too.” Zhuang Jingye laughed as he got up, “I see you’re busy, I won’t distract you anymore. You carry on, I ‘ll come again another day.”

“Uncle Zhuang, don’t you want a cup of tea?”

“No, it turns out that Butcher Hua’s nephew came. He said he wanted to look for something to take back to think about his grandfather.” Zhuang Jingye said, “Although he doesn’t seem like a bad person, and Butcher Hua’s house doesn’t have anything valuable to think about, I still feel uneasy about it somehow and thought I should go and keep an eye on it.”

“Butcher Hua’s nephew?”

Zhuang Qingning blinked, “Why do I remember that it was said that Butcher Hua was a refugee and that there was no one left in his family?”

The kind who had no parents, no brothers or sisters.

“That’s what I thought too, but the person who came said that’s not the case…” Zhuang Jingye then relayed everything that occurred with Zheng Cheng to Zhuang Qingning, “It all seems to make sense, so I thought he could go ahead and search. After all, there’s nothing valuable in Butcher Hua’s house.”

“That’s what’s being said…”

Zhuang Qingning pondered, “Yet, since he’s a nephew, even if they haven’t seen each other for many years and have no emotional ties, the first thing he should think of when he hears of his uncle’s death should be to visit the grave and pay his respects.”

Moreover, considering the way Zhuang Jingye described him, Zheng Cheng seemed like a very polite person.

This being the case, he shouldn’t have done something that appeared so abrupt and impolite.

“Now that you mention it, something doesn’t seem right.” Zhuang Jingye frowned, “I need to go check.”

“Uncle Zhuang, I’ll go with you.” Zhuang Qingning followed him.

Being on guard when something unusual happens is always wise.