Chapter 3 — A Pigsty Cleaner Than the Ancestral Home

Le Le, did you bring the certificate of ownership?

Shen Yan took it out of her bag. The paper was wrinkled from the soaking rain, but the red official seal remained perfectly clear. Qin Huaiqing read aloud to the gathered crowd:

The old pigsty at the eastern edge of Qin Huai Village, including the pen, the feeding trough, and the attached courtyard, belongs entirely to Qin Li as private property.

The moment the phrase including the attached courtyard echoed through the air, Third Uncle’s expression twisted into something thoroughly unsightly. The boundary stake he had driven into the earth just moments earlier sat squarely inside that very courtyard. The village accountant immediately stepped forward to take measurements. The wooden stake had encroached across the boundary line by a full meter and six. The onlookers began to murmur among themselves in hushed tones.

Old Third is acting rather dishonorably here.

Just how much money does that fish pond rake in every year? Yet he is still eyeing someone else's pigsty.

Having lost face, Third Uncle raised his foot and kicked the wooden stake over.

That dilapidated piece of trash, who even wants it?

Eldest Uncle kept his unblinking gaze locked onto the feeding trough.

Ownership is ownership, and whatever objects lie inside still constitute an inheritance.

If we don't open it today, who knows if someone will secretly haul it away by tomorrow?

Qin Huaiqing fell silent for a long moment.

Then we seal it.

He instructed the village accountant to fetch sealing strips, which were then plastered securely around the perimeter of the feeding trough.

Tomorrow, we will have a lawyer, the police, and a village representative all present.

Until then, whoever touches these seals will bear full responsibility.

Eldest Uncle looked at me, his gaze dark and heavy.

Very well.

Qin Li, you can stay right here tonight and guard your precious pigsty.

After the crowd dispersed, the pigsty was left in silence, save for the paper seals fluttering faintly in the biting night wind. Shen Yan picked up her phone with its shattered screen, and just as she was about to speak, a faint sound suddenly echoed from the back wall of the pigsty. A hand reached through a gap in the wall, fumbling blindly toward the edge of the paper seal. That hand was gaunt and withered, the spaces beneath its fingernails caked with dark mud. Shen Yan lunged forward instantly. The person on the other side of the wall spun around and fled.

Stop right there!

The night path was slick, and the intruder had barely taken two steps before crashing to the ground. As Shen Yan rushed out after them, I picked up a length of hemp rope lying on the dirt. One end of the rope was tied to a small knife. The blade was paper-thin, just long enough to slice through a paper seal. A string of curses drifted over from beyond the wall.

Don't arrest me! I was just passing by!

The voice sounded intensely familiar. It belonged to Blackie, a laborer who worked at Third Uncle’s fish pond. He was dragged back into the pigsty by Shen Yan, a patch of skin on his forehead scraped raw. The moment Blackie laid eyes on me, he hurriedly protested.

Qin Li, do not frame an innocent person!

I haven't done anything.

I tossed the hemp rope down right at his feet.

Was this just lying around for you to happen to pick up while passing by, too?

Blackie’s pupils darted back and forth erratically.

I found it.

Shen Yan grabbed him tightly by the arm.

Who sent you here?

Blackie offered no answer. When Qin Huaiqing was summoned back to the scene, his expression was even heavier than before. Eldest Uncle and Third Uncle were also called over. The moment he laid eyes on Blackie, Third Uncle lashed out first.

What in the world are you doing running over here in the middle of the night? Have you no shame left at all?

Blackie lowered his head.

I had too much drink.

Qin Manman crossed her arms and let out a cold laugh.

Qin Li, aren't you taking yourself a bit too seriously?

Who cares about your pathetic pigsty?

Qin Huaiqing picked up the hemp rope and the small blade.

Intoxicated, yet walking around with a knife?

Sensing his humiliation deepening, Third Uncle raised his hand and struck Blackie across the face.

Get lost back home!

Blackie clutched his cheek, preparing to leave. Shen Yan stepped forward to block the doorway.

You are not going anywhere.

Third Uncle glared at him.

What, are you planning to detain people now?

Shen Yan’s voice dropped to a freezing temperature.

He engaged in criminal trespassing on private property and attempted to sabotage the official seals.

My phone is broken, so I will use the Party Secretary's phone to call the police.

Panic flashed across Third Uncle’s face.

This is a trivial matter no bigger than a gnat's eye, why involve the police?

Blackie works at my fish pond, and he has labor to perform tomorrow morning.

Qin Huaiqing cast a sideways glance at Third Uncle.

Then you should be all the more eager to clear yourself of suspicion.

Once the call was placed, the color drained completely from Third Uncle’s face, leaving it dark as thunder. Ten minutes later, officers from the local police station arrived. At first, Blackie stubbornly maintained his denial. By the third round of questioning, however, his eyes grew red and wet.

It was Boss Third who told me to come and see what was inside!

Third Uncle bolted upright from his seat.

You are lying!

Panicking, Blackie raised his voice.

You said if there was money inside, you would give me twenty thousand yuan!

You also said if I sliced the seals and taped them back up, nobody would ever find out!

The neighboring villagers had gathered once more to watch the spectacle. Third Uncle’s face shifted between shades of sickly green and ashen white.

I was drunk and talking nonsense, and you actually believed it?

The police escorted both men away to record their formal statements. Before leaving, Third Uncle turned his head to throw one final look in my direction. That gaze felt as though it wanted to strip the very skin from my flesh. Eldest Uncle stood nearby, maintaining complete silence. Yet the quieter he remained, the deeper my sense of foreboding grew. In the small hours of the morning, Shen Yan and I sat leaning against the wooden railing of the pigsty, neither of us able to sleep. Illuminated by the beam of a flashlight, the paper seals shone with an agonizingly stark whiteness. Just as dawn began to break, the sound of a walking cane tapped against the ground outside the door. Qin Huaiqing walked in, carrying a brown kraft paper envelope.

Le Le, there is a matter I spent the entire night pondering.

He handed the envelope over to me.

Before your grandmother was buried, she entrusted me with keeping a single key.

She told me that only after you successfully safeguarded the pigsty through its very first night could it finally be handed over to you.