A charming widow in her 70s married a factory manager and raised his children.

Chapter 213 That Woman Is Not Honest

Lu Congyue listened quietly to Village Chief Qian's wife for a while, and his impression of Huang Cuilan gradually overlapped with that of Huang Cuilan herself.

He didn't see with his own eyes how Huang Cuilan cursed Village Chief Qian, but what Village Chief Qian's wife said and what she herself said proved that she was an honest, kind, and pitiful woman.

So, how did this person die, how did he appear, and why did he curse the old village chief?

Even after Lu Congyue left Village Chief Qian's house, he still didn't understand.

As the third son of the Qian family saw Lu Congyue off at the door, he whispered, "Director Lu, I just overheard you talking to my mother... about Huang Cuilan?"

Lu Congyue raised an eyebrow slightly: "You know him?"

"Of course I know them! We're from the same village... The Qian family is my relative, and we've had some contact with them before."

The third son of the Qian family chuckled, then lowered his voice and said, "That woman isn't as honest as my mother says. Director Lu, why are you asking about her?"

Lu Congyue's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately asked, "She's not being honest? How do you know?"

"I only heard it from someone else..." The third son of the Qian family chuckled twice.

"What did you hear? Tell me."

The third son of the Qian family scratched his head: "No... Director Lu, what exactly are you asking about her for? Did she commit a crime?"

"Hmm...I guess so," Lu Congyue replied casually.

The third son of the Qian family immediately perked up and exclaimed excitedly, "I knew it! She was bound to get into trouble sooner or later! What happened? Was she caught having an affair?"

Lu Congyue glanced at him, who was inexplicably excited, and thought to himself that if he knew that the person who had made his father faint was Huang Cuilan, he might be even more suspicious that his father was ruining his reputation in his old age.

"Don't ask about things you shouldn't ask about. Just tell me what you know," Lu Congyue said in a deep voice.

The third son of the Qian family shuddered and stopped his excited look. He chuckled and said, "Hey... we don't know if it's true or not. We just heard it from other people in the village. Back then, Qian Quan had a brother who often came to drink and chat with him. I heard that Huang Cuilan got involved with that guy. They would take advantage of Qian Quan when he wasn't home or when he was drunk. Tsk tsk... poor Qian Quan still considered that guy a brother."

Lu Congyue frowned and asked, "Really? Qian Quan himself didn't know? You didn't tell him either?"

"I don't know if it's true or not, and I've never seen it with my own eyes! But some people are talking about it in great detail. When I heard it, I even went to talk to Qian Quan about it, but he said that it was not true at all, and that we were overthinking it. Later, he scolded those people and said that if they spread rumors again, he would fight them to the death."

The third son of the Qian family shrugged: "Since he said that, there's nothing I can do. We can't force him to catch someone cheating, can we? Later, Huang Cuilan got pregnant, and Qian Quan's attitude towards her improved a lot. It was obvious that they were living a proper life, so no one brought it up again."

"It's a pity that Huang Cuilan gave birth to a daughter. Qian Quan doesn't like girls, and there's always a lot of noise at home. I heard that for a while, Qian Quan beat her really badly. My dad even warned him, and that's when he quieted down for a while."

"Your mother said Huang Cuilan died of illness," Lu Congyue suddenly blurted out.

The third son of the Qian family scoffed: "Died of illness... If you ask me, he was beaten to death! But, it's also possible he was chased away, who knows?"

At this point, the third son of the Qian family suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "That's not right! If she were really dead, you wouldn't be asking about her, Director Lu. So she really did run away? Tsk... That woman is really ruthless. She just abandoned the child and ran away?"

Lu Congyue ignored his shouting and instead pondered seriously.

Huang Cuilan and Qian Quan are an ordinary family, an ordinary couple, and they live an ordinary life, but something just feels off.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Who was it that said Huang Cuilan was having an affair? Was it someone from Dongya Village? Take me there to find him."

The third son of the Qian family was shocked: "No, that happened so many years ago, why are you asking about this?"

Lu Congyue used the same excuse as before: "Didn't I say that she did commit a crime? Otherwise, I wouldn't be here investigating so late at night."

Qian's third son thought about it and realized it made sense. He was also secretly shocked at just how big of a mess Huang Cuilan had made, that it had even implicated the military factory and Director Lu.

The third son of the Qian family was very eager to know what Huang Cuilan had done wrong, so he cooperated with Lu Congyue's request and enthusiastically took him to a family's house in the village.

Lu Congyue said that this matter should not be made public, so he would not go in. Qian's third son also expressed his understanding and went to knock on the door himself.

A short while later, she came out with a man in his thirties.

The man, also surnamed Qian and named Qian Liang, was surprised and doubtful when he heard that he had come to inquire about Huang Cuilan: "Huang Cuilan? Why did you suddenly decide to ask about her?"

"Hey, Brother Qian Liang, don't worry about it. Just tell Director Lu whatever you know," the third son of the Qian family said hurriedly.

Lu Congyue said seriously, "She got into some trouble, so I came here specifically to investigate. I hope Comrade Qian Liang will tell me everything you know."

Qian Liang scratched his head: "That was several years ago... Ugh, actually I'm not really sure..."

Qian Liang discovered the problem between Huang Cuilan and Qian Quan's good friend by accident.

"That afternoon, I went to Qian Quan's house to discuss hunting in the mountains the next day. As soon as I entered the courtyard, before I could even call out to anyone, I heard some strange noises coming from inside. I leaned out the window and listened, and lo and behold, they were doing *that*. I couldn't possibly disturb them, so I ran out."

"I thought I'd walk around the neighborhood and then go back to ask, and not long after, I ran into Qian Quan. I didn't think much of it at the time, assuming he was just coming out after finishing his business, so I said I wanted to discuss hunting with him. As we were talking, we arrived at his house, and I saw his good friend come out of the house. My heart skipped a beat then, and I felt something was wrong, but there was no point in saying anything about it."

"Later, we found an opportunity to remind Qian Quan a few times, but who knew he was so stupid that he almost turned against us over it. Well, who cares about him now? Let him do whatever he wants. But later I also thought about it, maybe I was just overthinking it. Maybe Qian Quan just came out after finishing his business. It's just that Huang Cuilan is skinny and honest, she doesn't seem like that kind of person."

After listening, Lu Congyue pondered for a moment and asked, "Isn't Qian Quan's good brother from this village? Where is he from?"

"They're not from our village, they're quite far away, I think they're in the mountains. Sometimes they can't get back in time and have to stay at Qian Quan's house."

After finishing his sentence, Qian Liang couldn't help but mutter a few more words, saying that the mountains were so poor, and he didn't know where Qian Quan had met this brother. He had never heard of him before, and he just appeared out of nowhere.

Lu Congyue remembered that Huang Cuilan wanted to take Xiao Qianyue home; her family lived in the mountains.

"Do you know what it's called?"

"Qian Quan calls him Brother Haigen," Qian Liang replied after thinking for a while.

Having asked all the questions he needed to, Lu Congyue thanked them and left, hurrying towards the meeting under the moonlight.

Throughout the journey, his mind was filled with thoughts of Huang Cuilan, Qian Quan, the Haigen brothers, and Village Chief Qian.