CHAPTER 147: CHAPTER 147: HEARD IT’S A CHEN FAMILY HOUSEHOLD

The direction the car was heading became increasingly remote, with every household nearby raising chickens and ducks in their yards. As the tricycle passed, occasionally there would be one or two households slaughtering chickens and ducks at their doors.

The tricycle drove for quite a while before reaching the destination. This area was sparsely populated, and Yuan Chengmo, worried they might not be able to catch a tricycle back, simply paid double fare to have the tricycle driver wait for them.

"It should be this house, no doubt," the tricycle driver pointed to a rundown little house on one side.

Qin Muni and Yuan Chengmo glanced in the direction he pointed, and upon seeing the disarray of the house, their smiles stopped.

You could tell at a glance this house hadn’t been inhabited for many years.

Though they didn’t want to admit it, it seemed they might have been fooled.

The tricycle driver saw the disappointment on their faces and curiously asked, "What are you looking for in this house?"

Yuan Chengmo answered, "Trying to find someone."

"Do they live here?"

"Possibly."

"Then let me ask around the neighbors for you, as they might know about this house and the background of the people who used to live here."

"Can you do that? Thank you, sir."

"No problem." The man waved his hand, got out of the vehicle, and walked down the street, noticing that two neighboring houses were also empty, presumably uninhabited for quite some time.

He finally reached the end of the street and found a household that was occupied.

After some inquiries, the driver thanked the family and returned to the tricycle.

"This house has been empty for over a decade. I heard it belonged to a family named Chen. After the man died in a car accident, the woman and her daughter remarried and moved to the city. In the first few years, the woman would return with her daughter to visit during New Year, but they haven’t come back for years.

But if you really want to find this family, you could bring some gifts to visit the village committee; they may still have information about this family."

"Okay, thank you, sir."

Though it was like that, both felt somewhat disappointed, coming unprepared to this small mountain village, not finding who they were looking for, and perhaps being toyed with.

)

However, after some discussion, the two decided they would wake up early tomorrow, buy some gifts, and visit the village committee, hoping to find some information.

The tricycle returned along the same route to the inn where they were staying. On the way, when passing a stage, Qin Muni asked the driver to stop.

A distracted Yuan Chengmo assumed they had arrived when the vehicle suddenly stopped, looked up, and saw several performers rehearsing onstage for a play. Below the stage, a few elderly people and children were sitting.

"Senior, since we have time to spare, why not spend some time here?" She looked at Yuan Chengmo inquiringly, waiting for his response.

"Okay." Yuan Chengmo took out his wallet, paid the fare to the driver, and thanked him.

The driver nonchalantly waved, "If you can’t catch a ride back later, just follow this road straight for fifteen minutes, and you’ll reach the inn."

"Okay, thank you."

After bidding farewell to the tricycle driver, Qin Muni and Yuan Chengmo sat in the last row of seats below the stage.

Onstage, the performers’ voices were melodious and fluent as they rehearsed "The Western Chamber" passionately. Qin Muni had once seen this opera with her father at the theater when she was a child, but she was too young to understand the content it conveyed.

"Munni, would you like to talk to me about the person we’re searching for?"

As Qin Muni stared unblinkingly at the stage, suddenly Yuan Chengmo’s gentle voice came to her ear—his tone was extraordinarily relaxed, with no intention of forcing her to answer.