Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 202

By New Year’s Eve, despite their usual vigilance, the remaining workers, seeing that Officer Wu and his team were diligently doing their jobs, decided to give them a holiday. They bought alcohol and meat to celebrate a lively New Year’s Eve.

That night, it snowed. There were no proper beds at the construction site, so the workers slept on makeshift beds made from leftover construction materials. They covered the beds with tarpaulin, cardboard, and straw, topped with their own blankets.

Due to the cold and the festive atmosphere, many drank a bit too much. The workers laughed at how quickly Officer Wu and his men, not used to drinking, turned red after just a few cups and went off to sleep. They mocked their poor drinking abilities and continued to drink themselves.

It was only after everyone had drunk their fill and fallen asleep that Officer Wu and his team began to act. They followed the instructions in Jiang Ning’s book, digging under the ginkgo tree they had previously identified after a long search.

As they dug, someone asked, “What if we don’t find anything?”

“Then we’ll wait until the 15th to go back,” Officer Wu replied calmly.

Officer Chang couldn’t help but look up at the large snowflakes falling from the sky. He thought about how, on this New Year’s Eve, while others were at home enjoying their family reunion dinners, he and his colleagues were out in the bitter cold, digging up a corpse in the snow. He sighed.

The others knew what was on his mind. They all felt guilty for not returning home after so many days of undercover work, especially on a day like this—New Year’s Eve.

“Keep digging,” Officer Wu said. “If we find something, at least we’ll have done right by the victims and by the uniforms we wear. If we don’t, we’ll still have done our best.”

Because of the snow, the ground wasn’t frozen, and the moisture made the soil easier to dig.

Officer Chang’s hands were red from the cold, his face and head covered in snow, yet he was sweating from the effort of digging.

After two hours of continuous digging, they finally uncovered the corpse beneath the ginkgo tree.

When they saw the body, they exchanged looks, shaking the snow from their heads. They breathed into their hands to warm them. “Let’s go. Call for backup.”

The provincial public security criminal investigation team, sleeping at home on New Year’s Eve, was woken by the phone and called in for an overnight operation.

—

Jiang Ning and Grandpa Jiang planned to return to school on the third day of the new year.

Jiang Ning didn’t want to stay in her hometown any longer than necessary, and Grandpa Jiang was anxious to get back to the shop she rented to resume business.

Mother Jiang had gone to her family’s home on the second day of the new year and planned to stay there for at least one night.

On the morning of the third day, Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai got up early, opened the rice storehouse, and carried sacks of rice to a neighbor’s house with a rice milling machine.

Milling rice was a do-it-yourself process: they weighed the rice, poured it into the machine, and pressed the switch to mill it. Afterward, they paid the fee. Milling 100 catties of rice costs 50 cents. The two milled 500 catties and then used the wooden grain sifter at the mill to separate the leftover husks from the rice. Jiang Bai poured the rice into the machine while Jiang Ning operated the wooden handle to sift the husks.

They brought the rice husks home too, as pigs loved to eat them.

Last year, the Jiang family raised two pigs. Jiang Ning wasn’t sure if her mother would raise any this year, but if she didn’t, they could give the husks to their aunt’s family.

Aunt Jiang, who had never worked outside the village in her life, raised two or three pigs every year.

After finishing all this, Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning borrowed a handcart from a neighbor. After informing their aunt (their eldest uncle’s wife), the three of them packed their bags, loaded the cart with grain and pickled vegetables, and headed for the ferry.

By the time their parents returned home, there would be no one left.

The path along the embankment was narrow, with only a two-foot-wide dirt trail in the center where frequent foot traffic had exposed the yellow mud. Now, it was covered in melting snow, making it extremely slippery.

Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai were worried about Grandpa Jiang slipping and falling, so they suggested he ride in the cart. However, the old man insisted he could manage and refused to sit.

“I’ve walked this road more times than I can count. I could do it with my eyes closed and not fall. Besides, the road is tricky enough with Bai dragging that cartload of grain. If I sit in the cart and it tips over, we’ll all end up in the river! And in this weather, if I fall in, I won’t be able to climb back out!”

Grandpa Jiang wasn’t exaggerating. The embankment was flanked by rivers on both sides, and the snow-covered water hadn’t frozen over.

The sides of the embankment were steep, and if they fell, they would likely roll into the river. Wearing heavy winter clothes, they wouldn’t just be cold; they wouldn’t be able to climb out.

Jiang Ning glanced ahead at the long embankment road.

It would take at least forty minutes to walk to the ferry, and once they crossed, they would have to walk a long stretch of embankment on the other side.

In her previous life, the people of Linhe Village had longed for a bridge to be built, connecting Tanshan to the other side of the river. But even by the time Jiang Ning was reborn, no bridge had been built.

After entering the government sector, Jiang Ning understood why: the bridge was never going to be built. The project would be too large, requiring a massive amount of manpower, resources, and money. The cost wasn’t small, and it wouldn’t provide much economic benefit. The government didn’t have the funds, nor did they see a need to spend so much money building a bridge there.

Later, they bypassed the coal mountain and opened a road from the back, leading to the neighboring village, then passed through two more villages to finally reach their Shuibu Town.

With the development of the economy, more and more young people moved to big cities, bought homes in neighboring cities or elsewhere, leaving the village mostly empty. Only the elderly and children stayed behind. Whenever they returned to the village, it wasn’t just Linhe Brigade but all the brigades along the riverbank that looked deserted, with hardly anyone around. The village only regained its lively atmosphere during the New Year when people came back to pay respects to their ancestors.

Grandpa Jiang didn’t sit on the cart, so Jiang Ning had him follow behind Jiang Bai, holding onto the cart handle as they walked. Jiang Bai pulled the cart from the front, while Jiang Ning supported and pushed from behind, making it easier for Jiang Bai to pull.

In winter, as the water from the river flowed, the water level dropped, and the ferry that used to be a boat was replaced with a bamboo bridge built by ferrymen.