In the messy and dirty house, snores echoed all around.
The red mandarin duck shoes lay quietly on a table covered with oil stains.
The sun was gradually setting.
Huang Laosi slept like a dead pig, drooling all over his pillow.
"Strange, why is there no reaction when it gets to him?" Lu Fei frowned outside the window, pondering what was going on.
Yesterday, the mandarin duck shoes were each worn on one foot of Mr. and Mrs. Huang Youlai.
Could it be related to the number of people?
Huang Laosi is just one person, while Mr. and Mrs. Huang Youlai are a man and a woman.
Mandarin duck shoes.
Mandarin ducks themselves are always in pairs.
So, whether it's one person or a man and a woman, they could all be affected?
But why were the Huang couple able to leave their home and go to the abandoned school?
Could the school have some special significance to the owner of the shoes?
Lu Fei rushed there yesterday, focused only on rescuing the couple, and didn't notice anything unusual about the school.
After thinking for a while, he felt that he couldn't fully trust Huang Laosi's words and decided to go back to the school to look for more clues.
Before going, however, he made a trip back to the Huang Youlai's house.
Huang Youlai's foot was still in the same condition, unable to get out of bed, and Hu Xiuying was by his side keeping watch.
The couple had moved to the city to work more than ten years ago and weren't very aware of what had happened in the village, let alone the specific details of that grave.
Hu Xiuying felt very grateful seeing Lu Fei working so hard for their family, and she also wanted to do something. She offered to find people who might know about the grave.
"Alright, besides that, Sister Huang, please also ask around if anyone has an old pair of scissors. The older, the better. Whether we can save Brother Huang depends entirely on these scissors."
Lu Fei took out 500 yuan and gave it to Hu Xiuying.
After all, Hu Xiuying was a local. She would definitely find it easier to get the real situation than an outsider like him.
"Oh my, Manager Lu, what are you doing? How can I let you pay? We may be poor, but we can't take advantage of you!"
Hu Xiuying refused to take the money no matter what, stuffing it back into Lu Fei's hands, and hastily left.
Lu Fei watched her retreating figure with some emotion.
This couple was actually quite nice. However, they were a bit too timid and simple-minded, making them easily swayed by others.
No one is perfect.
They were still better than someone like Huang Laosi, who was insatiably greedy.
Afterward, Lu Fei returned to the abandoned school.
The school was very rudimentary and had been abandoned for over a decade. It had long been emptied. Lu Fei walked around the classroom, but found nothing.
"It seems we can only wait for Sister Huang's news. As long as we confirm that Huang Laosan didn't lie, and if it is the mandarin ducks shoes, cut the heel with the old scissors before dark..."
Lu Fei was getting ready to go back when the little black dog suddenly started barking towards the outside.
"Someone there?"
Startled, Lu Fei turned his head immediately, nearly jumping out of his skin.
An aged face was pressed against the window, two murky eyes staring straight at Lu Fei.
"Who are you?"
"And who are you, what are you doing in our village school? Trying to steal something?"
The man straightened up, turning out to be an old farmer carrying a hoe, with a fierce look in his eyes.
"Sir, I'm not a thief. I'm here to collect goods from the countryside. Huang Youlai and Huang Laosan both know about this."
Lu Fei walked out of the classroom, offered the old farmer a cigarette, and the farmer's expression immediately softened.
"You just collect the goods; there's nothing at the school. What are you gonna do in there?"
"I was just curious. How could a perfectly good school be abandoned?" Lu Fei said with a smile.
"All the teachers are dead. Who would dare to come here for school? So it's just left empty. Such a nice building, what a pity." The old farmer shook his head.
"What happened? How did the teachers die?" Lu Fei was shocked.
"That teacher came from the city. He looked decent on the outside, but he was actually a rotten person! He didn't do any good. He seduced someone's wife!" The old farmer sneered, "Someone broke his legs, and he died in the classroom! How ominous! Who would still want to send their kids here to study?"
"Seduced someone's wife?" Lu Fei's eyes widened, "Could it be that he seduced Lao Gen's daughter-in-law?"
"Oh? How did you know?" The old farmer looked at Lu Fei in surprise.
"Huang Laosi told me. I thought he was just making things up," Lu Fei said intentionally.
"Huang Laosi always talks nonsense, but this time he's not lying. It's true! In the end, both of them died. As far as I'm concerned, they got what they deserved! You should leave now. This place is so unlucky!"
The old farmer walked to the fields, smoking a cigarette.
"So that's how it is, the mandarin duck shoes came here to look for that teacher." Lu Fei finally understood the situation. "Unfortunately, even if they arrived at the school, they still couldn't find anything and were trapped in the classroom."
The mandarin duck shoes are all about being trapped.
Trapped by love.
Lu Fei shook his head and returned to Huang Huangyou's home. Soon, Hu Xiuying also came back.
"Manager Lu, I borrowed several pairs of scissors. Which one do you think is suitable?"
She wiped the sweat from her face and placed three pairs of scissors on the table.
"Which one is mainly used for sewing?"
Lu Fei looked at them; all three were old-fashioned scissors that hadn't been used for a while, with a slight rust on the blades.
"This one!" Hu Xiuying picked one up. "This was lent to me by Second Aunt. She is good at needlework and is the best at making shoe soles."
"This is the one!"
Lu Fei nodded, the scissors that had been used for sewing were most suitable.
"That young wife was introduced from out of town by a matchmaker. They say she doesn't look like a proper person. Old Gen's family gave the dowry and set the date, but she was secretly planning to run away with a teacher from the city..."
Then, Hu Xiuying recounted what she had found out again, which was almost the same as what Huang Laosan had said.
With multiple confirmations, it was indeed the mandarin duck shoes.
The next step would be to resolve the issue.
"Big Boss, Big Boss!"
However, before Lu Fei could go find Huang Laosan, this rascal came limping in with his crutch.
"Big Boss, the sun is about to set, and you still haven't settled the price? I don't care; if you don't give me the money today, don't expect to leave Huangmiao Village in one piece!"
After waiting for a long time without getting the money from Lu Fei, he was truly anxious. He threw his crutch on the table and growled fiercely.
Hu Xiuying was frightened and shrank back, but after looking at Lu Fei, she mustered up her courage and said, "Fourth Brother, don't do anything rash! Manager Lu is a good person!"
Lu Fei said with a composed smile, "Brother, you came just in time; I was about to go find you. Give me the shoes, and I'll give you the money."
"Money first!" Huang Laosi stretched out his hand.
"Brother, give me the shoes first, or I'm afraid you'll regret it later," Lu Fei said seriously.
"I'll be the one to regret if I don't get the money! I'm warning you, don't try to trick me! I got these shoes, so I deserve a share of the money!"
Huang Laosi clutched the mandarin ducks shoes tightly, showing no intention of letting go without seeing the money.
Just then, the sun set.
The room darkened.
Huang Youlai, who had been lying drowsy on the bed, suddenly sat up straight, his head turning stiffly, his red eyes fixed intently on Huang Laosi.