Wang An knew that Qiao Xiaohu had grown up with his grandparents.
As for where Qiao Xiaohu's parents had gone, neither Qiao Xiaohu nor his grandparents knew.
Consequently, whether Qiao Xiaohu's parents were even still alive remained a mystery to everyone.
Looking at the dried human head before him, a bold guess suddenly formed in Wang An's mind.
That was that Qiao Xiaohu's father had been murdered by Jia Renlu, and the head in front of him was very likely Qiao Xiaohu's father.
Thinking of this, Wang An developed grave suspicions regarding Jia Renlu's identity.
Otherwise, what normal person would dehydrate and dry a human head and then preserve it?
Wasn't this just pure insanity? And a severe case of it at that.
Inside this wooden box, besides the head, there was a lot of lime powder; and it was evident that this lime powder had been added recently.
Because cellars are naturally very damp, and once lime absorbs moisture, it inevitably clumps into chunks. However, the lime in the box was still powdery.
However, the entrance to this cellar was a stone slab with a stove hearth on top. The daily fire used to heat the slab kept the cellar relatively dry.
In fact, it was because of this that these boxes, including the money and the head inside, had not grown mold or mildew.
At this point, Wang An decided not to speculate further. He closed the lid of the box and began the task of moving the items.
To be honest, stealing requires a strong psychological constitution.
Otherwise, it is truly easy to be scared into a heart attack.
After carrying two leather suitcases out of the cellar, Wang An peeked around and jumped out of the back window, only to see a dark shadow dart away from the base of the wall beneath the window.
Truthfully, Wang An felt as if his little heart had nearly leaped out of his chest.
Looking closer, he saw it was just the black cat from Jia Renlu's house.
At that moment, Wang An actually felt like killing the cat; it was way too fucking terrifying, damn it!
However, Wang An didn't bother with the black cat, mainly because he had no time and was busy moving things.
After several trips, Wang An had moved everything out of the cellar.
As for the human head, Wang An was in a dilemma.
The main issue was that Qiao Xiaohu had rarely mentioned his parents; it seemed as if the very concept of "parents" no longer existed in his heart.
Crucially, Jia Renlu had already been arrested, and barring any extraordinary circumstances, he was certainly doomed to die.
Under the current situation, even if Wang An told Qiao Xiaohu his guess about the head, Qiao Xiaohu wouldn't even have the chance for revenge.
Therefore, if this matter remained hidden, regardless of whether Qiao Xiaohu held his parents in his heart, he could continue to live a normal life.
But if he spoke, it would do nothing but add to Qiao Xiaohu's sorrow; it would be utterly useless.
Thus, Wang An left the box with the head in the cellar and did not take it out.
As for whether it would be discovered in the future, that would be left to fate.
Finally, Wang An sealed the cellar entrance with the stone slab, pushed back all the ash he had cleared aside, and pressed the pot back onto the hearth.
After a careful inspection to ensure nothing was missed, he walked toward the courtyard exit.
However, just before climbing over the wall to leave, Wang An suddenly thought of the things he had sold to Jia Renlu. After hesitating for a moment, he felt that taking them was truly unnecessary and climbed straight over the wall.
Checking his watch, it was nearly 5 o'clock. Wang An wasted no more time and drove his sledge toward home.
Actually, Wang An had originally wanted to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things, but after glancing at the boxes and porcelain on the sledge, he decisively chose to go home.
Losing any single item would be a huge loss for Wang An, and the county town was full of all sorts of people; the possibility of theft was genuinely high.
On the road, looking at the two leather suitcases full of money and the wooden box containing jade, Wang An's mood was quite beautiful.
Comparatively speaking, the antique porcelain was the most valuable, but in this era, porcelain wasn't actually that valuable yet.
Mainly because the Reform and Opening-up had just begun, and people's bellies weren't fully filled; who had spare money to play with such things?
Of course, jade was the same—equally not that valuable—because fundamentally, jade is just stone.
No matter how beautiful the appearance or how great the quality, it is still a stone!
But 300,000 yuan in cash was solid, hard currency. In the China of this era, this was a colossal sum of money, a fortune that an ordinary person could not earn in a lifetime.
This was a fact!
It had to be said that the feeling of being a thief was actually quite good; at the very least, the feeling of making a sudden fortune was truly exhilarating and thrilling.
It was just that thinking back to the two scares he had received, it was indeed a bit taxing on the heart.
If Wang An's psychological constitution hadn't been good, he might have been scared to death; even if not dead, he would have surely developed a heart condition or a mental breakdown.
Therefore, for the sake of his own life and health, he would never fucking be a thief again.
He sped along at a decent pace, but before he could reach the bend where things always happened, the sun "clocked out" and the sky began to darken.
Humans are likely all like this: when they have no attachments, they are fearless, because when one person is full, the whole family is fed.
But once they have people or things they worry about, they become cautious and full of apprehensions.
Wang An was exactly like this right now.
Mainly, that eerie bend ahead truly left him uneasy.
Thus, when he was less than 300 meters from the bend, Wang An brought Da'er Ma to a halt.
Immediately after stopping the horse, Wang An pulled out the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle from under the straw mat. Without hesitation, he aimed the gun and pulled the trigger toward the bushes at the bend.
After firing all ten rounds, Wang An loaded another ten rounds into the chamber before continuing to drive the sledge forward.
As he passed the bend, Wang An specifically scanned the surroundings.
However, as far as his gaze reached, there were only bushes, and since the sky had darkened, he saw nothing.
In reality, inside the bushes where Wang An could not see, a person was lying there.
This person had been shot in the left chest and lay on the ground, with a gun beside him—a decent gun, a "Water-Linked Pearl" (Zuo Lian Zhu).
If Wang An could have seen this person's face at that moment, he would have certainly recognized who it was.
This person was one of the three who had stolen the sable from Mu Xueli's clip.
It was the small-eyed man who had tried to fire his gun but wasn't as fast as Wang An, and was ultimately left crippled by Wang An.
It had to be said that humans are quite impressive; this man had actually recovered after being shot like that by Wang An!
And the most miraculous part was that this time, he had been inadvertently gunned down by Wang An again.
(End of Chapter)