Chapter 84: Chapter 84: An Earlobe in the Rice Cooker!

Chen Xiao returned to the deck chair.

But there was a thought in his mind that he couldn’t shake off.

He felt that what he was thinking was far-fetched, yet he couldn’t help but think that way.

“Could it be that Qin Zhao is not in the mountains but still drowning in the Golden Soup?”

Seeing Luo Dali and the others still watching the two women argue from the window, he couldn’t help but mutter:

“You’re so idle; I should let you dig dung so you can catch a whiff of the golden air here.”

He made up his mind, but since it was broad daylight, it wasn’t easy to arrange anything, so he had to hold off for now.

Before long, Luo Dali and the other two, finding nothing more to watch, left the testing ground with their flyers.

Left with idle time, Chen Xiao didn’t waste it and started wandering around nearby.

By evening, he heard a discussion about the Xiaofeng Village college student murder case in a place where the elderly gathered.

However, the elderly people’s discussions didn’t provide any valuable information for Chen Xiao.

The only thing he remembered was an old lady’s conspiracy theory.

The old lady’s thoughts were quite imaginative; she suspected someone was targeting Yu Gui’s household.

Whoever was good to Yu Gui’s household would bring bad luck to them.

At first, Chen Xiao found it amusing. Who would kill so many people out of jealousy toward a cancer patient?

But upon second thought, what the old lady said seemed to make some sense.

Jealousy in a person is an emotion that can mutate into countless forms.

Some bury it deep and say a word or two in shadow.

Some, driven by jealousy, engage in physical brawls.

There are also those whose jealousy festers, wishing calamity upon others.

Returning to the testing ground with these thoughts, Luo Dali and the others also happened to come back.

Over dinner, Chen Xiao casually said, “There’s something to do tonight; who among you can help me?”

Upon hearing this, Xiaoji and the Xiaoji Knife Man exchanged glances, sparks flying between them.

They both raised their hands simultaneously, “Me! Brother Chen, I’ll go!”

Luo Dali was instantly displeased, “Hey, I didn’t even say anything; what are you two competing for?”

Chen Xiao put down his chopsticks, “How about this, the three of you go together and look out for each other.”

Xiaoji Knife Man and Xiaoji beamed, “Alright, Brother Chen, you tell us.”

“You probably know I’m not here just for the testing ground, right?”

Whether it was Luo Dali, Xiaoji Knife Man, or Xiaoji, they were all Chen Xiao’s best buddies in Dongzhou now.

Chen Xiao trusted them, especially since they hadn’t been involved in anything yet, so there was no need to keep them in the dark.

All three nodded; they had thought of this but hadn’t asked aloud.

“I’m here because of the Xiaofeng Village college student murder case. Two people are still missing from that case, so I need your help to find them.”

Xiaoji immediately patted his chest, “Brother Chen, just tell us what we need to do to find them.”

“It’s simple, tonight you all go and stir up all the Golden Soup Pools in Xiaofeng Village.”

“Okay!” Xiaoji replied without thinking, but in the very next second, the three of them exclaimed in unison:

“What? The Golden Soup Pool!”

Chen Xiao nodded while Luo Dali rolled his eyes, “So we’re going to be the stirring sticks, huh?”

“Be civilized, use tools to check the village’s Golden Soup Pools; what stirring sticks, how crude!”

Chen Xiao said as he noticed Luo Dali’s throat moving with his just-swallowed dinner, looking like it might come up.

Xiaoji suppressed his disgust, hesitated for a moment, then said, “Brother Chen, if they don’t go, I will! I never liked making money anyway; following you to solve cases is far more thrilling, so leave this to me!”

Chen Xiao was a bit surprised, “You find making money uninteresting?”

“Not exactly. Who in this world doesn’t want more money? Besides, I also want to prove to my old man that I’m not just messing around. But compared to making money, I prefer the case-solving with you, Brother Chen. Whatever you ask, I feel thrilled to do it!”

Chen Xiao nodded, “Alright, I’ll leave it to you then.”

Said Chen Xiao, turning to look at Luo Dali and the Xiaoji Knife Man, “What about you two?”

Luo Dali gave a wry smile, “Bro, since you put it that way, how could we refuse as brothers? What’s brotherhood, after all?”

“That’s right, Brother Chen, don’t worry. Tonight I’ll be your stirring stick!” The Xiaoji Knife Man earnestly agreed.

Chen Xiao’s face darkened at this, “Who needs you to be my stirring stick? I’ve said… it’s to check the Golden Soup Pools!”

The Xiaoji Knife Man scratched his head and grinned foolishly, while Xiaoji quickly finished his meal and went to change his clothes.

Luo Dali and the Xiaoji Knife Man weren’t far behind; soon, all three were prepared.

Chen Xiao instructed, “You can’t make any commotion with this task, so only start when everyone in the village is asleep.”

“Got it, Brother Chen, leave it to us. Just, if we do find someone in the Golden Soup Pool, how do we handle it?”

Xiaoji asked, and Chen Xiao replied, “If you find anyone, leave them be and come back immediately to inform me. People will naturally discover it in due time.”

“Understood.”

The three of them left the testing ground simultaneously.

Once they were gone, Chen Xiao closed the door to the testing ground.

He knew that setting up this testing ground in Nanqiao Town, where Xiaofeng Village belonged, would not go unnoticed.

But before coming, he and Guo Zhengchang had anticipated this, so apart from the Nanqiao Town testing ground, other townships also popped up with “home appliances to the countryside” testing grounds like bamboo shoots after rain.

The more there are, the more the particularity of the Nanqiao Town testing ground in the perpetrator’s mind would gradually fade.

However, Chen Xiao did not want it to fade completely; he intended to deliver a strong blow when the perpetrator started to let down his guard.

This blow was best delivered by locating the bodies of Qin Zhao and Jin Meng.

Of course, unless they hadn’t been killed.

Chen Xiao waited quietly in the testing ground, hoping that his flash of insight during the day was correct.

Getting up from the deck chair, Chen Xiao prepared to return inside to wait.

But when passing the pile of old appliances in the storeroom, Chen Xiao suddenly thought that since he was at loose ends, he might as well organize them.

After all, “home appliances to the countryside” was also one of his businesses, so he ought to put in some effort.

With nothing better to do, Chen Xiao started inspecting which of the old appliances were still operational and which were not.

Testing one after another, Chen Xiao grew increasingly exasperated.

Out of ten rice cookers, at least eight were completely unusable, and the same went for electric kettles and similar devices.

The good thing was that he wouldn’t bear these losses; Guo Zhengchang and his old friend would naturally cover them.

Chen Xiao continued inspecting, and unknowingly, a pile of appliances grew behind him.

When he picked up another broken rice cooker and checked its inner pot, his gaze suddenly focused on the inside of the rice cooker.

Inside the empty rice cooker, there were many black burn marks and quite a bit of leftover rice.

Who knew how long those grains had gone unwashed, but amid the blackened rice grains, he surprisingly spotted a piece of meat, no larger than half a fingernail.

The meat piece looked like it was already showing signs of rot. Instinctively, Chen Xiao reached out to grab it but quickly remembered to put on gloves and used chopsticks instead to pick it up.

Under the light, Chen Xiao’s pupils shrank instantly.

He finally realized what that seemingly rodent-chewed meat strip resembled!

It resembled a human earlobe!

And on the earlobe, an earring hole could still be discerned!

“Knock, knock, knock!”

Just as Chen Xiao was in shock, a knocking sound came from outside the door!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep