Chapter 8 Sensation
It started raining in Yunxi Village in the last few days of July.

Zhang Yunfeng was a little upset. The fight with Zhao Siping a few days ago had made him feel a sense of crisis. They were not the only ones doing this lucrative business. He wanted to harvest more flue-cured tobacco, but now the plum rains were incessant, so the flue-cured tobacco business had to be stopped. The mountain roads were muddy and there were mud pits everywhere. Not only tractors but even donkey carts could not move.

Zhang Yunqi was quite open-minded. He was exhausted from collecting cigarettes recently, and the rain was a good opportunity for him to take a break. Of course, he always kept Zhao Siping in mind. Although this guy was a rogue, he had the courage to become a tobacco dealer in 92, and he had the support of the director of Fengyang County Tobacco Control Office. He was still powerful, so he had to be careful of his revenge.

On July 7, the two brothers hid in the house to count their accounts. They had sold flue-cured tobacco for more than 28 days, and had a net income of 400 to 600 yuan every day. After deducting all expenses and paying off all the family debts, they still had more than 10000 yuan in their hands - a real millionaire! It was equivalent to the local tyrants in later generations. This did not include the money they lent to the villagers. Although the Zhang family was still the same shabby place as before, there were many people who came to borrow money recently.

Zhang Yunfeng generously fulfilled the wishes of some farmers in the village who needed to borrow thirty or fifty yuan for urgent needs. For the Zhang family, this was not just lending money to others, but revising their own history. Yes! They had been borrowing money from others for several lifetimes, and now it was the first time they were lending money to others!
Now that he had money in his pocket and felt more confident, Zhang Yunqi told his elder brother about an idea he had always had in mind: buying a new tractor.

Zhang Yunfeng also had this idea. Being a farmer was a dead end, and he didn't know how to do anything else. He bought a tractor and could do transportation after the flue-cured tobacco purchase period was over. He didn't dare to think about it before because his family was poor. Now that he had the financial strength, he was tempted. A brand new tractor costs about 8,000 yuan, but he could afford it!
The two brothers finally decided to buy a tractor and would go to the agricultural machinery company in the city to buy it tomorrow.

Zhang Yunqi had nothing to do in the afternoon, so he tutored Ji Ling at Zhang Xiaomei's house as usual.

Ji Ling is very smart, and she is a student of Jiangchuan No. 1 Middle School, the best middle school in the city. She can understand a lot of knowledge very quickly. Sometimes he answers questions for Ji Ling, and sometimes he sits beside her doing nothing. It was raining outside the door, light and dense. In the afternoon, the sky began to clear up, and the sun pierced through the clouds and sprinkled on the desk and the girl's delicate face, with a warm color.

At this moment, the sound of a car suddenly came from outside the door.

Zhang Yunqi looked up and saw two middle-aged men walking towards him. One of them was short and thin and he was very familiar with him. He was Zhang Xiaomei's father, Zhang Haijun. The other one was tall, with a square face, and was wearing a suit. He had an extraordinary demeanor.

He immediately realized the man's identity, retracted his gaze, focused on the textbook, and pointed to the question that Ji Ling couldn't do and started to answer it.

After a while, Zhang Haijun accompanied the middle-aged man into the main room. Ji Ling was a little surprised and said, "Dad, why are you here?"

"I came to see you. You have been staying at your uncle's house for more than a month. Did you have fun?" The middle-aged man touched Ji Ling's little head. Seeing the homework book on her desk, he felt happy. Then he looked at Zhang Yunqi and asked, "Who is this child?"

Zhang Haijun patted Zhang Yunqi on the shoulder and said with a smile: "The youngest son of our neighbor Zhang's family has very good grades. He is the top scorer in our county's high school entrance examination this year. He often helps your daughter with her homework these days."

"Hello Uncle Zhang, hello Uncle Ji."

Zhang Yunqi stood up and greeted them. The Uncle Ji he mentioned was Ji Ling's father, Ji Zhong, the deputy director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau in charge of criminal investigation. Although he was only the son-in-law of Yunxi Village, his reputation in the village was extremely high and unmatched.

Ji Zhong looked Zhang Yunqi up and down and said with interest: "Yunxi Village hasn't produced such a talent for many years. Not bad. Thank you for tutoring Ji Ling. This girl is a smart girl."

"Uncle Ji, I have gained a lot from tutoring Ji Ling, and it has helped me deepen my memory."

Zhang Yunqi was not at all complacent and was very humble.

Later, Zhang Xiaomei's mother served tea, and Zhang Yunqi sat beside her and chatted calmly with Ji Zhong. They talked about some polite topics, such as why his grades were so good, what major he had filled in, and what he wanted to do in the future.

At first, Ji Zhong only regarded Zhang Yunqi as a farm boy with excellent grades. As they chatted, he found that this young man was a little different. He didn't have the cramped and floating of other teenagers, and some of his words were quite insightful. At about six o'clock, Zhang Xiaomei's mother came out of the kitchen and said it was time for dinner. She asked Zhang Yunqi to stay and eat with them. Zhang Yunqi stood up and said he couldn't because the family had already prepared the meal.

After Zhang Yunqi left, Zhang Xiaomei's father Zhang Haijun said with a smile: "This young man is really good."

Ji nodded.

******
The next day, Zhang Yunqi went to the city to buy a tractor.

He and his elder brother set out early in the morning because they wanted to sell the tobacco as soon as possible.

On the way there, my brother was very excited. The feeling was probably the same as when he bought the house. But after all, he had driven a car before, so he was not at all excited about buying a tractor.

As usual, he sat on the trunk and flipped through yesterday's newspaper. Most of the content was about promoting the impressive achievements made by some state-owned enterprises in Jiangchuan City in their pilot reforms. It was quite boring, but there was one criminal case that was quite attractive.

Six days ago, a female high school student in Jiangchuan City was raped and murdered. At present, the suspect has been identified as her male junior high school classmate. The case is relatively simple. The suspect dropped out of school and hung out in society. He coveted the beauty of the victim. While the victim was taking extra classes, he asked her to go to the mountains to pick fruits. Finally, he raped and killed the victim at a cemetery in the mountains.

At present, the suspect has fled. Jiangchuan City Police are trying their best to hunt him down and have offered a reward of 2000 yuan to citizens to provide clues.

After reading it, Zhang Yunqi felt that this case was particularly familiar. He remembered seeing this news report in his previous life, and it caused a sensation at the time.

Although the early 90s was a period of transformation and reform, and the country was in a state of disrepair, major cases like the rape and murder of a high school girl were relatively rare. In his memory, the police solved the case in early September of this year. On that day, he happened to be going to the provincial capital to attend a technical secondary school. He was bored on the train and bought a newspaper. He happened to see the news that the Jiangchuan City police had arrested the suspect in Qingquankou Village.

Qingquankou Village also belongs to Longwan Town. It is located in a remote area on the outskirts of the town. It seems that the suspect hid in the home of a distant relative in Qingquankou Village for a month.

Should I report it myself?

Zhang Yunqi thought about it and decided to give up. He didn't want to pretend to be a good guy, as this could easily get him into trouble.

The tractor arrived at the Jiangchuan City Tobacco Station after a long journey. Zhang Yunqi put away the newspaper, sold the flue-cured tobacco with his elder brother, and then ran to the Municipal Agricultural Machinery Company.

At the agricultural machinery company, Zhang Yunfeng took a fancy to a Nanyue brand tractor priced at 7999 yuan. After some bargaining, he finally bought it for 7500 yuan. The agricultural machinery company also helped him to get a license from the Agricultural Machinery Management Bureau.

My buddy completed the formalities and returned home immediately.

When the tractor entered the village, the entire Yunxi Village was shocked!

******
(End of this chapter)