Song Hancheng went together with Song Xian, while Bai Ge and Song Jimin also wanted to join the fun.
Song Hancheng said,
“You two stay behind to watch the house.”
Song Jimin didn’t understand,
“What’s so interesting about watching the house?”
Song Xian smiled and pinched Song Jimin’s chubby little face,
“Dad’s two Money Jars depend on you to guard them.”
Song Jimin, who never even guarded the treasury, said,
“Alright then, Dad and Big Brother bring Second Brother back early!”
Even if he didn’t bring him back, having one less rice bucket fighting for food at home wasn’t so bad.
Song Jimin blinked obediently, smiling with innocent joy.
“We’re so good, Minmin.”
Song Xian leaned in mysteriously to Song Jimin’s ear,
“There’s a special reward for you inside the cabinet’s ceramic jar.”
“Really?”
Guessing it was something tasty, Song Jimin happily ran off to find it.
On the way to Sanhu Village, Song Xian handed a pack of candies to Song Hancheng.
“There are four flavors inside: berry, osmanthus, mint, and pear.”
“Did Father leave these same ones for Third Brother?”
Song Hancheng wanted to know if he was the special one.
It didn’t matter if not, but he was curious.
Song Xian immediately waved his hand,
“Nope, he doesn’t have those.”
Song Jimin was still young and in the crucial stage of losing baby teeth, so he couldn’t eat too much candy.
Song Xian prepared Sweet Stevia Candy made from Stevia Leaf for him.
It was sweet, though the taste couldn’t compare to Sugarcane Candy, but it was less harmful to his teeth.
“Make sure these candies don’t get discovered by Third Brother.”
Song Xian feared that once Song Jimin tried the good candy, he wouldn’t want to eat Sweet Stevia Candy anymore.
Song Hancheng faintly smiled, feeling quite pleased, and said,
“Hmm.”
After arriving at Sanhu Village, Song Xian led Song Hancheng straight to Fang Xiaoyuan’s house.
“Why is Father so sure it’s him?”
Song Hancheng wanted to know how Song Xian had reasoned this out.
“He knew I sold insecticide and that I had three sons, so he’s probably from Sanhu Village. He’s literate, strong enough to carry two bundles of sugarcane, and has been going up the mountain a lot recently. Only Fang Xiaoyuan fits all these conditions.”
The adults in Sanhu Village had been busy weeding pests in the fields, leaving only the children running around in the village.
Few adults were literate; rather, the children had all learned reading and writing from Li Dalang’s teaching.
Although Village Chief Chen was injured, he was actually very sturdy.
When Fang Xiaoyuan bumped into him casually, it made him stagger, showing how strong he was.
“The most important point is, after you saw the cloth strip that night, you seemed to recognize at a glance who it was. You told me it was just a kid’s trick to scare people, which made me even more certain it’s Fang Xiaoyuan.”
Song Hancheng nodded appreciatively.
Song Xian was the most skilled person he had ever seen at observation and deduction.
The Fang Family lived at the very western edge of Sanhu Village, the last household, in a remote corner with some distance from others.
Five large pear trees lined the yard, their branches thick and dense.
After dark, it was impossible to see inside the courtyard from afar.
When Song Xian and Song Hancheng approached the yard, they heard children laughing inside.
Song Hancheng said,
“The Fang Family only has two kids, Fang Dashan and Fang Xiaoyuan. Fang Dashan just died, and the Fang parents went to the county town on business and haven’t returned yet, so only Fang Xiaoyuan is at home.”
“Looks like he’s good at entertaining himself.”
Song Xian remarked casually.
The gate was bolted, so Song Xian stood on tiptoe and peered over the wall.
Tonight’s moonlight was bright enough to vaguely make out the yard’s layout.
Song Xian pointed at the haystack beside the house,
“The ox cart is over there.”
He stepped on a protruding stone on the wall, preparing to climb over, but the moss-covered surface was slippery.
His foot slipped, and he fell into a half-split position before collapsing.
Before Song Xian could even cry out in pain, a strong palm caught his lower back and firmly pushed him to sit on the wall.
Startled, Song Xian exhaled in relief and reached out to pull Song Hancheng up too.
But Song Hancheng had already climbed over and jumped straight into the yard.
Song Xian awkwardly retracted his half-extended hand and followed him in.
Inside the yard was a main house with two side rooms.
Next to the eastern side room was a haystack blocking the gap between the side room and the courtyard wall.
Song Hancheng carefully examined the haystack but saw no sign it was hiding the ox cart.
He couldn’t understand how Song Xian could tell at a glance that the cart was inside.
“Because of the scent of hellvine. Don’t you smell it?”
Song Hancheng shook his head; he really didn’t smell anything.
But it seemed his taste and smell weren’t as keen as Song Xian’s.
Song Xian could taste when millet porridge was about to spoil and detect a faint astringency in sweet berries — things Song Hancheng couldn’t perceive at all.
Song Hancheng brushed aside the straw and indeed saw the corner of the ox cart.
The side room was lit, and a bamboo mat hanging inside completely covered the window, making it impossible to see inside.
At that moment, a burst of children’s laughter came again, much clearer and crisper than before.
Having confirmed the evidence of the ox cart, Song Xian thought there was no need to sneak around anymore.
He suddenly pushed the door, attempting a surprise attack.
The door didn’t budge; it was bolted from the inside.
The noise of the door being pushed was loud, and the children’s laughter inside immediately stopped.
“Fang Xiaoyuan, open the door!”
Song Xian knocked several times, but it still wouldn’t open.
He only heard faint rustling sounds from inside.
“Fang Xiaoyuan, if you can steal an ox cart, you can open the door too! Open it now!”
Song Xian urged, pounding on the door continuously.
Song Hancheng watched from the side, feeling that Song Xian seemed a bit excited as he knocked.
“Fang Xiaoyuan, if you don’t open the door now, I will—”
Before Song Xian could finish, Song Hancheng gently pulled him aside.
Song Hancheng then kicked the door open with one swift blow!
Song Xian was shocked.
The wooden door was at least three inches thick and looked incredibly sturdy.
Their eldest son was thin and bookish, yet he kicked it down so easily?
“Are your legs okay?”
Song Xian asked, worried he might have bruised or broken his foot.
Before Song Xian could check Song Hancheng’s legs, a dark shadow suddenly lunged out and collided with him.
Song Xian gasped in pain, almost thinking his bones had been broken.
Song Hancheng grabbed Fang Xiaoyuan’s collar and lifted him up.
Fang Xiaoyuan struggled fiercely with his feet kicking, full of strength, whipping up a whirlwind in the air around him.
Song Xian held his stomach and warned Song Hancheng to be careful not to get kicked by the wild kid.
“He’s just as strong as your Second Brother!”
“Behave.”
A cold finger lightly squeezed Fang Xiaoyuan’s neck.
Fang Xiaoyuan immediately froze, allowing Song Hancheng to carry him into the house.
The room was scattered with small toys a child would play with — grasshoppers, butterflies, Lu Ban Locks, Nine Linked Rings, and so on.
The bedding on the bed was messy, with someone lying beneath the covers.
Only a pair of cloth shoes protruded from under the blanket.
Near the edge of the cloth shoes was some leftover white soil.
Without confirming, Song Hancheng knew the person must be Song Luyuan.
Song Xian hurried over and pulled back the blanket.
Seeing it was Song Luyuan, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Song Luyuan’s eyes were tightly closed, and although he couldn’t be woken, his breathing was steady.
It seemed he was only temporarily unconscious.
“Tell me, what happened?”
Song Hancheng threw Fang Xiaoyuan to the ground with cold impatience in his voice.
Fang Xiaoyuan glanced fearfully at Song Hancheng, then kowtowed in apology,
“I… I wanted to earn more money, so I played some tricks to steal the insecticide formula from Uncle Song. I’m sorry!”
He then honestly confessed the whole story:
He wrote the threatening cloth strip himself and secretly threw it into the Money Jar when Song Xian was praised by the Sanhu villagers for selling insecticide.
He also secretly moved the two bundles of sugarcane away, leaving a warning on the ground.
When Song Luyuan was bringing back wood, Fang Xiaoyuan pretended to need help and tricked him into his house, giving him water laced with a knockout drug.
“I didn’t mean to harm Second Brother. I just wanted to scare Uncle Song so he would hand over the insecticide formula quickly.”
“Did your parents lack money?”
Song Hancheng’s cold gaze fell on Fang Xiaoyuan as if looking straight through flesh to his soul.
Fang Xiaoyuan lowered his head deeply, wishing he could bury himself in the ground,
“Not really, but I want too many things. I don’t have enough money, so I want to earn more.”
“Your way of making money is by threatening others and stealing formulas?”
Song Hancheng sneered,
“You really are ‘not of one family, don’t enter one door.’”
The implied meaning was that Fang Xiaoyuan was just as disreputable as his late older brother Fang Dashan.
After hearing this judgment, Fang Xiaoyuan trembled with fear and kept kowtowing, begging for forgiveness.
Song Xian felt the boy’s repentance sounded sincere; the kowtowing was so loud it seemed like he might smash his own head.
“Enough, stop kowtowing.”
Song Xian stopped Fang Xiaoyuan and checked his forehead, which was already swollen and scraped, with dirt stuck to the wound.
If not cleaned promptly, it could get infected.
Song Xian fetched water, moistened a clean gauze, and gently wiped Fang Xiaoyuan’s wound.
At first, Fang Xiaoyuan tried to pull away, but sensing Song Xian had no ill intent, he steadied himself and stopped moving.
“You don’t seem like the kind of bad kid who steals and cheats. Is there some hardship behind this?”
Fang Xiaoyuan’s eyes flickered, and the tears that had been holding back suddenly poured out, as if overwhelmed with grievance.
Song Hancheng watched coldly, feeling nothing but also not interfering.
“Seems like there really is some hardship. Want to tell us? Maybe there’s a way to fix it.”
Song Xian gently encouraged him step by step.
Fang Xiaoyuan only kept crying without speaking.
“Don’t think that because you’re young, making mistakes means you’ll be forgiven unconditionally.”
Song Hancheng didn’t have the patience to coax Fang Xiaoyuan.
There were too many people in this world with hardships and grievances; life wouldn’t be kinder just because they were weak.
Song Hancheng immediately pressed a silver needle into Song Luyuan’s acupuncture point.
Song Luyuan let out a loud “Aow” and sat up, fully awake.
He looked around in a daze and scratched his head, asking,
“How did I get here? I remember driving the ox cart home; how did I end up here?”
“Your knockout drug also causes amnesia?”
Song Xian asked Fang Xiaoyuan.
Fang Xiaoyuan nodded timidly,
“It makes you forget a bit of what just happened.”
Song Xian was surprised,
“You made it yourself?”
Fang Xiaoyuan nodded again.
Song Hancheng laughed bitterly,
“Very good.”
His gaze was cold enough to scare people.
Fang Xiaoyuan was completely frightened and quickly hid behind Song Xian, crying and explaining,
“I really didn’t mean it! I was just momentarily possessed!”
“Even know the phrase ‘momentarily possessed’? Li Dalang really taught you well!”
Song Xian patted Fang Xiaoyuan’s head.
Fang Xiaoyuan thought, Is this really the time for praise?
Help!
He clung to Song Xian’s arm and refused to let go, afraid that if he stepped away, he’d lose his only ally.
“Stop scaring the kid. He does have hardships.”
Song Xian smiled and protected Fang Xiaoyuan beside him, wanting to ask Song Hancheng for two pieces of candy to comfort the boy, but Song Hancheng had no intention of giving any.
A confused Song Luyuan asked,
“What candy? Is there candy?”
“Hardships?”
Song Hancheng cast a cold glance at the wardrobe,
“Did Father mean the thing about him hiding several kids?”
Fang Xiaoyuan immediately broke free from Song Xian’s embrace and stood in front of the wardrobe, forbidding anyone from approaching.
An even more confused Song Luyuan said,
“Hiding kids? In that little wardrobe? No way, haha…”
“Are the five children who disappeared from Huangxiang in Luhua Village here with you?”
Song Xian followed up, asking Fang Xiaoyuan.
Fang Xiaoyuan was completely dumbfounded,
“How do you all know?”
Such terrifying adults!