The Tragic Heroine Fell in Love with Me - Chapter 75

The village in the mountains was incredibly noisy filled with the chirping of birds, the croaking of frogs, the barking of dogs, and the crowing of roosters.

There weren’t many people on the village paths. The flowering trees along the roadside were in full bloom, swaying gently with the breeze, their fragrance spreading through the air, making Xiao San unconsciously sniff.

Xiao San carried a walkie-talkie in her backpack and held the address given by Li Ailun in her hand, checking house by house as she tried to find Zheng Qi’s former home.

It turned out that not every gate had a specific address, and the houses here all seemed identical. After just one round of walking, Xiao San was already lost.

Her phone had no signal, so she couldn’t use navigation. Xiao San looked around.

It seemed her only option was to ask someone for directions.

But despite the noisy surroundings, the village felt strangely deserted. Xiao San had only encountered a few people when she first arrived, and now there wasn’t a soul in sight.

At the end of the clean, tidy path, a dark figure appeared. The moment their eyes met, the figure immediately turned and ran.

“Hey!”

Xiao San stretched out her hand, but the person had already vanished before they could even see her gesture.

“Why run? I just wanted to ask for directions.”

Xiao San helplessly lowered her hand.

She had no choice but to continue walking further along the path.

Every household here was either locked up or looked completely desolate. It was clear that this village seemed to have been abandoned.

When Xiao San reached the end of the road, she finally spotted a house with smoke rising from the chimney. Since it was almost mealtime, someone had started cooking.

Xiao San clutched her stomach, which was growling loudly in protest of its hunger.

Following the scent of the cooking smoke, Xiao San found the inhabited house.

Staring at the worn-out gate, Xiao San raised her hand to knock.

This place was vastly different from what she had imagined.

In Zheng Qi’s words, this was supposed to be a gentle and beautiful place, a paradise on earth, where the villagers’ simplicity and kindness endured.

But it was too desolate so desolate that Xiao San couldn’t even picture what it must have looked like in its heyday.

Knock, knock, knock!

Xiao San’s knocking startled the person inside. She heard hurried footsteps, and the gate creaked open.

An elderly man stood at the door, eyeing Xiao San up and down. “You are…”

“Hello, Grandpa. I’m here looking for someone. Do you know where the Xie family lives?”

“Xie?”

“Xie Xinyue’s family.”

The old man looked puzzled, as if he didn’t recognize the name Xie Xinyue.

“Do you know Zheng Quanqiang?”

Even when Xiao San mentioned the name of Zheng Qi’s father, the old man showed no sign of recognition.

“What about Zheng Qi’s family?”

“Zheng Qi?”

After Xiao San’s persistent efforts, the old man finally seemed to recall something and muttered, “I think I’ve heard that name before.”

Xiao San looked at him hopefully. “Do you know where Zheng Qi’s family lives?”

As soon as Xiao San finished speaking, the old man’s expression turned grim. “You know that jinx? Get out of here now, or I’ll have someone chase you away.”

Before Xiao San could process what was happening, the old man shoved her away.

He acted as if he had seen something filthy, repeatedly pushing Xiao San away, then trembling as he went inside, grabbed a broom, and started hitting Xiao San with it.

Xiao San quickly scurried away.

“Grandpa, is there some misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding? I’m telling you, get out of our village right now. You know that jinx, you’re no good either.”

After saying that, the old man still wasn’t satisfied and spat fiercely on the ground.

He turned around resentfully and left.

Xiao San stood dazed on the road, completely bewildered.

Maybe it was just this one family acting this way. Xiao San had originally planned to grab a simple meal at one of the houses, of course, she had already prepared the money but it seemed she might not be welcome after all.

Xiao San had no choice but to take out some bread from her bag to ease her hunger.

Holding onto her confidence, Xiao San went to find another household.

But without exception, Xiao San was driven out.

Whenever she mentioned the name Zheng Qi, the response was always expulsion. Even those who had initially been friendly would quickly turn hostile and chase Xiao San away as soon as she brought up Zheng Qi’s name.

If it were just one person acting strangely, Xiao San could comfort herself by thinking it was a coincidence. But if everyone had the same attitude.

When Zheng Qi spoke of this village, she always had a nostalgic look on her face. This village held beautiful memories for her, which was why she developed such a gentle personality.

But what if it was all a lie?

How could that be?

Xiao San couldn’t believe it.

How could Zheng Qi deceive her?

“Hey!”

Just as Xiao San was feeling dejected, she suddenly heard someone call out not far away. She looked over and saw a man in his thirties waving at her.

Xiao San pointed at her own nose. “Me?”

“Come here, come here.”

The man nodded and waved at Xiao San.

Xiao San glanced around suspiciously, the person was indeed calling her.

She slowly walked over, ready to run at any moment.

“Are you here to find Zheng Qi?” the man asked.

Xiao San nodded, still not letting her guard down. After all, the attitudes of the others had been so strange. Suddenly encountering someone friendly, Xiao San couldn’t help but be suspicious.

“Do you have money?” the man asked.

Xiao San nodded. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Give me money, and I’ll take you to Zheng Qi’s house.”

Xiao San looked at the man in confusion. His hair was messy and greasy, as if it hadn’t been washed in months. He wore a tattered suit jacket, a pair of ragged jeans, and a pair of slippers on his feet. His feet were so dirty that their original color was unrecognizable, and his toenails looked as if they were stained black.

Xiao San couldn’t bear to look any longer and quickly raised her eyes to his face. “Do you know Zheng Qi?”

“Just tell me if you’re giving me the money or not,” the man grumbled.

Xiao San said, “None of them are willing to tell me where Zheng Qi’s house is. Why are you willing?”

“Aren’t you paying? As long as you pay, I’ll do anything.”

Xiao San actually found his reasoning somewhat convincing.

“There’s no one left in Zheng Qi’s house. Why are you looking for it?”

Xiao San pursed her lips, unwilling to say.

Whenever she mentioned she was Zheng Qi’s friend, the villagers would call her a jinx. Xiao San had learned her lesson. “She owes me money. I’m here to collect a debt.”

The man sneered.

“One hundred yuan.”

Xiao San had come here worried she wouldn’t have a chance to use mobile payment, so she had deliberately exchanged a good amount of small change.

Hearing the man quote a price of one hundred yuan, she turned to take the money from her bag. Just as she pulled it out, she put it back and instead took out several ten-yuan and five-yuan bills. After counting to confirm it was exactly one hundred yuan, she handed it to the man.

“Take me to Zheng Qi’s home.”

The man led the way, limping as he walked, he was disabled.

“Their house has long been abandoned. Zheng Qi’s grandmother used to stay there for a few days, but later, I heard her daughter, Oh, that’s Zheng Qi’s mother made a fortune in the city, so she left and never came back.”

Xiao San nodded.

She knew about that; after all, she had met Zheng Qi’s grandmother before. That woman seemed very stubborn, and Xiao San didn’t have a favorable impression of her.

The man walked slowly ahead of Xiao San, heading toward Zheng Qi’s home.

The direction was quite remote, leading toward the back of the village. After walking all the way to the rear and continuing along a small path, they finally arrived at Zheng Qi’s house.

“This is Zheng Qi’s home.”

The man pointed at the house not far away and then gestured toward the overgrown area, saying, “I haven’t been here in a long time.”

“Did you used to come here often?” Xiao San couldn’t help but ask. As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt she had said too much, why did it sound like she was trying to strike up a conversation with him?

But the man didn’t seem to find it odd at all. Instead, he stepped into Zheng Qi’s house first.

Xiao San had no intention of going in. She had assumed Zheng Qi’s grandmother would be there, or perhaps the kind neighbors Zheng Qi had mentioned.

But as she looked at Zheng Qi’s house, standing alone at the very edge of the village, in the farthest corner, she wondered did she really have neighbors?

The man turned back and waved at Xiao San.

“I’m not going in. I just wanted to take a look.”

The man sneered, “Aren’t you her creditor? You can go in and see. There might be some things inside that you can sell to cover the debt she owes you.”

Xiao San shook her head. Her sixth sense told her this person’s attitude was strange.

She took a few steps back. It was best to escape now.

Xiao San told herself.

“Aren’t you coming?” the man asked in a low, menacing voice.

Xiao San didn’t hesitate any longer. She turned and ran.

After the incident with Lin Nuanyan, she had replayed the events in her mind many times. She had learned that if something felt off, she should turn and run immediately, not deceive herself into thinking everything was normal.

As soon as Xiao San started running, the man’s expression changed.

Glancing back while fleeing, she saw two more people emerge from Zheng Qi’s house. Together with the first man, there were three of them.

So those two had been hiding just inside the door. If she had stepped inside, she would have been caught for sure.

Xiao San ran faster and faster.

Lately, she had been working hard on her fitness.

She thought escaping wouldn’t be a problem.

But she had underestimated the situation. Although she had been exercising more, she couldn’t compare to these people who were born and raised in the mountainous village.

Xiao San had only been running for a short while when the men behind her began to catch up.

Just then, she noticed a house nearby with its door open and hurriedly called out for help.

But as soon as she opened her mouth, someone inside immediately closed the door. Looking back, she saw the two men were almost upon her.

Xiao San thought of Uncle Ke Li.

They weren’t from the village. As long as she could find them, she would be saved.

While running, Xiao San muttered to herself.

“Why is this so unlucky? What do these people want? Kidnapping? Or robbery?”

Xiao San was already out of breath from running. She could only try to distract herself from the exhaustion by thinking.

She didn’t know how long she had been running when she finally reached the village entrance.

The roads in the village were very rugged. When Xiao San was strolling leisurely, she didn’t feel cramped, but now that she was running and constantly dodging the pursuers behind her, she realized just how difficult the path was.

“Got you,” someone behind her said.

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