Chapter 550 - 550 Unexpected Gains
Ye Qing's eyes lit up and he said, "You just mentioned that most of the people in the village died in that accident?"
"Yes, most of them were swept into the sea!" The tricycle driver nodded and said, "The flood happened in the middle of the night, and the villagers were completely unprepared. Many were swept away in their sleep, without any chance to escape. That accident was really tragic. Not just Erhe Village, many nearby villages were also affected. Too many people were left homeless. It was truly pitiful."
Ye Qing's brows slightly furrowed. Liu Changping had told him that not a single person from the entire village had survived; all were swept into the sea. Yet this tricycle driver spoke of most people, meaning that some had survived. There was a contradiction in what the two had said!
"Master, you just said that most of the people died in the accident?" Ye Qing looked at the tricycle driver and said, "Which means some people survived?"
"Ah?" The tricycle driver's expression changed. He hadn't expected Ye Qing to analyze so much and immediately shut his mouth.
Seeing the tricycle driver's reaction, Ye Qing felt even more that something was wrong. He looked at the tricycle driver and said, "Master, I'm indeed here to look for someone who lived in Erhe Village at that time. This person is crucial, and I must find her. Can you tell me in detail about what happened in Erhe Village at that time?"
"I don't know, I don't know anything. I'm just a tricycle driver, I don't know that much..." The driver shook his hands and turned to push his tricycle away but was stopped by Ye Qing.
"Master, what exactly happened, tell me!" Ye Qing said urgently, "This person is really important. You see, we came all this way from out of town just to find this person. Please help us."
"Right, helping out is a virtue greater than creating a seven-tiered pagoda!" Old Wang Ba was blabbering nonsense again.
"I... I really don't know anything..." The driver waved his hands and shook his head, "I'm just a tricycle driver, besides, I was only around ten years old at that time, what could I know?"
"You definitely know!" Ye Qing looked at the driver and said, "Master, please help us, we really want to find this person!"
"Yeah, this person is really important. If you don't tell us, then we can't let you go!" Old Wang Ba said as he went to sit at the front of the tricycle, blocking the vehicle.
"You two... Stop pressuring me, speaking about this matter will cause trouble..." The driver said dejectedly, "I'm the sole provider for my family. What would they do if something happened to me?"
Just as Ye Qing was about to speak, Old Wang Ba suddenly cried out, "Master, I can see you're a good man. To tell the truth, there's a person in Erhe Village who did a great favor for my son. One year when I came here with my son, he was swept away by the water while we were out looking for food. It was a girl from Erhe Village who saved him; she's a lifesaver. Now that we finally have some money, we don't want to say anything else; we just want to find our benefactor and properly thank her. Master, please help us fulfil this wish!"
Old Wang Ba was sobbing as he spoke; the guy had been tricking people for years, and his acting could match that of a movie star. Ye Qing glanced at him a few times, thinking he must never be fooled by this old man.
After hearing Old Wang Ba's words, the tricycle driver seemed visibly shaken. He looked at Ye Qing and said, "There's such a thing? You've grown up so much!"
"Ah?" Ye Qing was momentarily stunned. What did he mean? Did the tricycle driver think he was Old Wang Ba's son?
"What else could it be? Time spares no one!" Old Wang Ba looked affectionately at Ye Qing and said, "Master, please help us fulfil this wish. My son graduated from university, and his career is somewhat successful. He just wants to come and thank his benefactor from those days!"
"I..." Ye Qing really wanted to kick Old Wang Ba in the face. Just as he was about to object, the tricycle driver clapped his hands heavily and said, "All right, seeing how grateful you are, I guess I'll do a good deed. You two, you must absolutely not spread the word about what I'm going to tell you!"
Old Wang Ba quickly made a shushing gesture at Ye Qing and said, "Master, go ahead, we absolutely won't tell anyone!"
The tricycle driver sighed and said with a reminiscent face, "To tell this story, we have to go back to the flood that happened more than twenty years ago. Our village was not far from Erhe Village at the time, and I remember that Erhe Village was often hit by floods, so flood prevention was a priority there. That year, it was rumored all around that the province had allocated funds to build a flood defense dam for Erhe Village. However, after more than two years, the construction of the dam never started and the flood came, sweeping the entire village into the sea."
"So, did anyone survive?" Ye Qing asked anxiously.
"Of course." The tricycle driver said, "Some fortunate ones held onto tree trunks and rocks and managed to save their lives. But, the survivors were few; out of a village of over a thousand people, only thirty to forty survived. That flood was truly devastating."
Ye Qingqi was puzzled, "If some people survived, why have I heard that not a single person survived from there?"
"It's all because of those officials!" The tricycle driver looked around and lowered his voice, "I heard that the province did indeed allocate funds for the flood defense dam. But the money never came through, and the dam was never built. After the flood, in order to cover up the incident, they quickly constructed remnants of a dam on the original site of Erhe Village to pass the inspection from higher authorities. At the same time, to prevent any leaks, they secretly moved the survivors to another place and claimed to the outside world that no one survived. That's the same story they told the higher-ups!"
Ye Qing furrowed his brows, he hadn't expected there to be such a significant issue involved. Those officials really deserved to die, daring to deceive their superiors and hide the truth about such a big matter was completely lawless!
However, upon further thought, considering the situation over twenty years ago, it was perhaps inevitable that such things would happen. After all, things were quite complicated back then. Even a minor official could cover the sky with one hand, and information wasn't as transparent as it is now. Suppressing news was quite normal.
"How did you come to know all these things?" Old Wang Ba asked.
"Not many people know about this, but as it happens, my uncle is from Erhe Village, and he's one of the few survivors from that group of people!" the tricycle driver said, "This matter, it was my uncle who told me."
"Where's your uncle now?" Ye Qing asked anxiously, finding someone from Erhe Village might lead him to Chen Xueru.
"This..." The tricycle driver hesitated. Revealing these matters was already a risk, and now to take Ye Qing to his uncle would be an even bigger problem.
"Master, we're really troubled, we truly want to repay a debt of gratitude!" Old Wang Ba said with a mournful face, then he turned to Ye Qing, "Come on, son, give the master a bow and ask him for help!"
Ye Qing nearly spat blood onto Old Wang Ba's face, but the tricycle driver just kept waving his hands, saying, "No need, no need at all, he's too big to be kowtowing in the street, it doesn't look good. I can see you're sincere, alright, I'll be the good guy through to the end and take you there. But let me make it clear, you guys will have to cover my fuel costs, alright?"
"That's no problem at all, no problem!" Old Wang Ba patted Ye Qing's shoulder, and understanding the hint, Ye Qing said, "Master, roughly how much would you earn in a day?"
"Earn what money? With so many taxis around now, they won't even let us into the city. I can barely make seventy to eighty yuan a day, just enough to afford food," the tricycle driver said.
"Master, we are looking for someone today and want to hire your tricycle for the day. How much would you say is fair?" Ye Qing paused before adding, "What about five hundred yuan?"
"Ah?" The tricycle driver's eyes widened as he stared at Ye Qing for some time before exclaiming, "This... this... that's too much... "
He was indeed an honest man!
Ye Qing smiled faintly and pulled out five hundred bucks, handing it to the tricycle driver, "In that case, let's make it five hundred for the day, Master. Thank you for the trouble!"
Seeing the money in his hand, the tricycle driver immediately perked up. Money really did make a difference. He promptly beckoned Old Wang Ba onto the tricycle and hurried towards his uncle's house with the two of them.
As he drove, the tricycle driver excitedly said, "You two are really generous, clearly people who do big business. Don't call me 'master,' my name is Lin Dade, just call me Big Lin!"
"Linda?" Old Wang Ba was puzzled, "An international name? That's quite fashionable!"
"No, no, I mean the Eldest of the Lin family, not that woman Linda."
"Is there a difference?"
"Of course there is, I'm a man!"
Uncle Lin's house was not far, and after having breakfast on the way, it took Ye Qing and the others only half an hour to arrive. Lin Dade bought some fruit on the road, and Ye Qing also purchased some gifts, paying for Lin Dade's as well, which made Lin Dade even more grateful.
Uncle Lin was in his fifties or sixties, sitting in the yard, soaking up the sun. He was a rather kind-hearted old man. Seeing Lin Dade bring two people over, he mistook them for guests and hurriedly invited Ye Qing and Old Wang Ba to sit down.
Lin Dade repeated the purpose of Ye Qing's visit, stressing that the father and son were there to repay a favor. Hearing them referred to as father and son, Ye Qing really wanted to kick Old Wang Ba to death, but Old Wang Ba, displaying a face of calm acceptance, grinned with his yellow teeth at the others.
"Oh, looking for someone?" After hearing Lin Dade's explanation, Uncle Lin turned to Ye Qing and Old Wang Ba, "You father and son are really thoughtful. However, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. Most of the people from Erhe Village have died, so the chances of finding your benefactor are slim!"
Before Old Wang Ba could speak, Ye Qing immediately asked, "Well, do you happen to know a girl named Chen Xueru?"