Chapter 94: Disappeared into Thin Air
Lin Mancang and Wasong were drunk. When they woke up, it was already noon.
He lazily got up and found that the pot and stove at home were cold, and there was nothing.
The pigs in the pigsty were also oinking, and a few chickens were gathered at the door, waiting to be fed.
In the past, when Ma Guihua was around, although she was a nag, there was always food to eat when he got up.
Lin Mancang pouted and called out his daughter Lin Xia’s name. When he didn’t hear a response, his heart instantly felt uneasy. He moved his toes and felt that they were much better, so he planned to go to Lin Guo’s room to get some silver and go to the city to have some fun.
Unexpectedly, just as he had crawled under the bed, he felt that something was wrong. The position of the box was different from where he usually put it. His heart instantly skipped a beat. When he finally moved the board, he found that it was empty underneath.
Lin Mancang’s world suddenly collapsed.
The whole world was spinning, and he almost fainted. When he finally caught his breath, he let out a “ah—”
Then he stood up in a rage and walked out with a fierce expression.
“Lin Xia—Lin Xia—”
Lin Xia was washing clothes by the river.
In one day, her mother had suddenly disappeared, and this family had also fallen apart. She was at a loss, not knowing how to manage this family. Usually, it was Ma Guihua who cooked and fed the pigs. She probably knew how to do it, but she was unwilling to. But she couldn’t just do nothing, so she could only take a bucket of dirty clothes to the river to wash.
Unexpectedly, just as she was halfway through, her father came running toward her with a stick, and as soon as they met, the stick came down on her. She cried out in pain.
After hitting her a few times, Lin Mancang finally stopped, panting, and asked, “The jar under Lin Guo’s bed, where did you take it?”
Lin Xia cried, “What jar? I’ve never seen any jar. Lin Guo’s room is locked by you. I can’t even get in. Where would I have gotten a jar—”
Hearing this, Lin Mancang’s hand, which was holding the stick, paused for a moment.
He remembered that when he had entered the door in the morning, he had indeed used a key to open the door.
The key had always been hidden in his pants pocket and had not left his body these few days.
But if it wasn’t this damn girl, who else could it be?
Could it be that bitch Ma?
But after Ma Guihua had left yesterday afternoon, he had counted the money once and had put all the silver in the family into that jar. Fearing that Ma Guihua would suddenly come back one day, he had deliberately not put it in the old place in his own room, but in Lin Guo’s.
Since it wasn’t Ma Guihua, it could only be this girl before him.
Thinking of this, Lin Mancang raised his stick and continued to hit Lin Xia. “You’re still being stubborn. There are only the two of us in this family. If it’s not you, who else could it be? Could it be a ghost?”
Seeing that he was hitting her harder and harder, Lin Xia cried out for her father and mother in pain.
A few of the women who had come to wash clothes by the river couldn’t stand it anymore and gathered around. “Lin Mancang, you just drove your wife away yesterday, and now you’re beating your daughter to death. What’s wrong with you?”
“You’re keeping a mistress in the city, so you don’t even want your own daughter, right?”
“If you don’t want her, why didn’t you let the child go with Ma Guihua?”
“How could he bear to? The person is gone. Who will serve him?”
Hearing the chattering voices in his ear, and thinking of the silver that had disappeared under the bed, Lin Mancang’s face became even more ferocious. He hit Lin Xia a few more times with the stick, then dragged her by the collar and staggered home.
Seeing this, the women from the same village looked at each other.
“Is this person crazy?”
“Should we go and tell the village chief? What if he beats the child to death?”
“We still have to go and tell him.”
The village chief was working in the fields. Hearing that Lin Mancang was going to beat his daughter to death, he had no choice but to drop his hoe and rush to the Lin residence.
When he arrived, he indeed heard a burst of crying and cursing from inside. He quickly rushed in to stop them.
The other villagers also came to watch the fun, and before long, a large crowd had gathered at the door.
Lin Mancang spat fiercely. “The jar where I hid my money is gone. There’s no one else in this family but her. If she didn’t hide it, who else could it be?”
The village chief frowned. “Didn’t Ma shi take all your money? Where did you get so much money?”
Lin Mancang’s heart instantly panicked, and he stammered, “I… my private savings from these years. Is that not allowed?”
At this, he suddenly shivered. The only one who knew that he had money was Wasong. Could it be this kid? He quickly stood on his tiptoes and looked into the crowd, searching for Wasong’s figure.
Seeing no one, he was a little anxious. He let go of Lin Xia and rushed to Wasong’s house.
Wasong was sleeping on the bed and was groggily dragged out of bed by him. He opened his eyelids, and his mouth still smelled of alcohol. “What’s wrong? Can’t you let a person sleep in peace?”
Lin Mancang grabbed his collar and questioned, “My money is gone. Did you take it?”
Wasong looked at him blankly. “What money?”
“My money, all my money! You’re the only one who knows I have that money!”
It took Wasong a long time to understand that the money was gone, and he was instantly sober.
“Where did you put it? How could it be gone?”
He now depended on Lin Mancang to live. If Lin Mancang had no money, he would also have no money to spend. How could he not be anxious?
Lin Mancang looked at him, and it didn’t seem to be fake. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do. He went back home, his steps unsteady.
Seeing his dejected appearance, the village chief asked, “Lin Mancang, what’s going on? What money? And you divorced your wife for no reason, and you beat your daughter as soon as you got up in the morning. Have you gone mad?”
Lin Mancang ignored him and went back into the house. He carefully checked the door, and the key was still hanging on the lock. The key had never left his body. He then looked at the window and found that there were a few footprints at the window.
And the window was just slightly ajar and was not latched at all.
His hair instantly stood on end, and he became alert, shouting, “There’s a thief—there’s a thief—”
This howl was like a wild dog whose tail had been stepped on, startling the crowd of onlookers so much that they retreated half a zhang.
Lin Mancang’s red eyes swept over the crowd, but he saw two women who stood out from the crowd in the back. One of them was facing him, with a half-smile.
“It’s you!” he trembled all over and, like a mad dog, pushed through the crowd and pounced, shouting, “It’s you—you stole my money—”
This room was the one she had lived in before. She was familiar with the way. It must be her!
Thinking this, Lin Mancang moved closer, step by step.
Lin Shuang frowned and, looking at the unshaven man who smelled of alcohol, she took a step back in disgust.
The village chief came over and pulled him away. “Is there something wrong with you? You’re saying that everyone has stolen your silver. How much money can a broken household like yours have? Who would think of stealing your silver? And where did you hide it? Who would know?”
Lin Mancang was clearly on the verge of losing his mind. He was more and more convinced that it was Lin Shuang who had taken his silver.
But Lin Shuang looked at him with a leisurely expression. “What, have you struck it rich? You even have money hidden in a jar? Have you spent the silver from selling me?”
Being stared at like this by her, Lin Mancang couldn’t help but tremble all over. Especially that cold voice, it made one’s blood run cold.
But he still gritted his teeth and asked, word by word, “My silver, did you take it?”
Lin Shuang shook her head. “I didn’t take your silver.”
She hadn’t taken it. Her Huaizhen had.
“Give it back to me… give it back to me…” Lin Mancang’s knees went weak, and he knelt on the ground with a “thud.”
Wasong had just come to help him up, but he was grabbed by the collar by him. “Was it you! It must be you, you traitor—”
Seeing this, Lin Shuang snorted coldly and said to Jiang Huaizhen, “It stinks here. Let’s go home.”
With that, the two of them held hands and squeezed out of the crowd.
Seeing this, the others looked at Lin Mancang with a gloating expression. Someone even took the opportunity to kick him when he was down. “Mancang, you said yesterday that you divorced Ma shi for your niece. It seems your niece doesn’t appreciate it.”
“Pah, pah, pah, what niece or not? A year ago, when the couple sold her, Shuang’er was no longer his niece.”
“Then there’s nothing we can do. Do you think a lucky star is so easy to invite?”
The crowd dispersed one after another, and only Lin Mancang and Wasong were left in the courtyard.
Lin Mancang stood there in a daze, his legs as if they were filled with lead, unable to take a step.
After a long time, his legs went weak, and he sat on the ground, wailing, “My money, my money—it’s gone—it’s all gone—”
Only then did Wasong come to his senses. He limped over to him. “So, the silver we worked so hard to get from the disaster victims has all been stolen?”
“It’s my money!” Lin Mancang suddenly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Wasong. “I saved it!”
Wasong sneered. “You still have the mind to be so estranged from me at a time like this? If it weren’t for me making the connections for you, with that mouth of yours, could you have cheated half a copper coin?”
Now it was all for nothing.
Lin Mancang lay on the ground like a dead dog, his heart like dead ashes.
Wasong was also dejected. He had originally thought that he would be able to have some meat soup with him. Now, there was not a single coin left.
“All that work for nothing.”
“How could you not even watch your money?” he complained.
Lin Mancang had his back to him. “Even if I lost the money, it’s not your place to tell me, is it?”
Wasong was also very dissatisfied. “Do you think I didn’t put in any effort for this money? Didn’t I find those people for you? You’re so clumsy with your words, you can’t even say a word. I had to go out and make the connections for you with my lame leg. Now, not only do you not acknowledge my contribution, but you’ve also lost the money!”
Lin Mancang didn’t speak.
Wasong said helplessly, “Should we go and see Shopkeeper Lu again?”
Wasong couldn’t do the work in the fields for a moment, but for this kind of cheating and swindling, he could still muster the energy.
However, Lin Mancang had just lost dozens of taels of silver and had completely lost his fighting spirit at this moment. He lay on the ground, motionless.
Seeing him not move, Wasong also lay on the ground.
It wasn’t until noon, when their stomachs were rumbling, that Lin Mancang remembered to call for someone to cook. “Lin Xia—Lin Xia—”
But there was no answer.
He got up and staggered into the house. There was no one. He pushed open his daughter’s door and found that a few of her clothes were gone.
He slammed the chair by the door and cursed, “They’re gone, they’re all gone—they’re all gone—”
Wasong limped over and looked into the room. “Where did she go?”
“It’s all your fault!” Lin Mancang suddenly jumped up, grabbed his collar, and said through gritted teeth, “If it weren’t for your bad idea, how would I have become like this—”
“It’s all your fault that my wife and children have left me. I had a windfall and was happy for nothing, and now I have nothing!”
“You just want me to become a bachelor like you—”
Wasong broke free from his grip and said with dissatisfaction, “Nonsense! What do you mean, my bad idea? You still remember the feeling of the money in your bag, right? You were the one who didn’t watch your silver, and now you’re blaming me. Lin Mancang, you can’t be like this. You’re even burning the bridge after crossing the river.”
Lin Mancang let go of his hand in frustration and squatted by the door, motionless.
Wasong dragged his lame leg to the kitchen, found half a jar of inferior wine, and drank a large gulp, snorting coldly.
