Ita Era

Chapter 8 Peach Blossom Village (Part Six)
Ding Shi left Aunt Li's house in a good mood; it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. Ding Shi was about to go to the village chief's house for a visit when a boy ran over and said, "Uncle Ding, the village chief is looking for you."

Task: Go see the village chief.

Ding Shi, burdened with nearly 20 stab wounds, didn't really want to see the village chief and would have preferred to leave the instance altogether. Unfortunately, the quest had a countdown, and he didn't know what would happen if he failed. Ultimately, Ding Shi went to see the village chief anyway.

The village chief's house was nearby. There were four strong men in the yard, each with a red armband on their left arm that read "Night Patrol Team".

Upon inquiry, it was learned that Li Si did not report to the village office at noon, nor did he eat there. Since Ding Shi was still playing mahjong, the village chief sent the night patrol to look for him, but they searched for several hours without finding him. They only learned that Li Si had headed southwest of the village.

Located at the foot of the mountain in the southwest of the village, this area has twelve households and is a natural village under the jurisdiction of Taoyuan Village.

Mission: Find Li Si.

Clearly, this task wasn't pre-set by the system. It can be understood that the world of Ita is one that is affected by player actions.

The village chief provided Ding Shi with a bicycle and a flashlight, and told him to come home for dinner at seven o'clock in the evening. He also prepared a room for him.

To find the missing player, you must first find the player.

Ding Shi's first stop was Haitang's house near the San Niang Temple in the south, where he found Zhang San teaching Haitang how to write a letter. Zhang San was very surprised to hear that Li Si had disappeared and expressed his concern, but refused to go with Ding Shi to look for Li Si, saying that Haitang needed to cook dinner and, as a man, he had to help her.

The second stop was Grandma Wang's house to find Zhao Liu. Zhao Liu left Grandma Wang, who was fertilizing the vegetable garden, and was helping the young widow Cuihua next door chop firewood. Although his movements were clumsy and awkward, Cuihua's charming laughter made it clear that Zhao Liu was having a great time.

Ding pulled Zhao Liu aside and explained the situation. Zhao Liu said, "Li Si found me at 10 a.m. and said that players should take the initiative. I asked how to take the initiative. He said to collect materials and gather intelligence. It would be best to get two weapons. He said that some villagers live in very remote areas."

Ding Shi asked in surprise, "He's going to break into a house, rob, and kill?"

Zhao Liuyi shrugged: "He didn't say that, but he didn't seem very happy. Of course I refused. He talked a lot, about how important the first dungeon is during the development period, and how he stole money earlier without being discovered by the villagers. When he realized he couldn't persuade me, he left by himself."

Zhao Liu changed the subject: "Are you very busy?"

Ding Shi said, "My mission has never stopped."

Zhao Liu asked curiously, "What is the reward for the mission?"

Ding Shi replied, "0.2 dollars per task. What about you?"

Zhao Liu laughed and said, "I'll calculate it by the day, one cut a day. Keep it up, brother." He patted Ding Shi on the shoulder and walked back to Cuihua's courtyard.

Before Ding Shi left, he heard Cuihua say, "Brother Zhao, lock the door so that no stray dogs can get in."

Is this an insult? Ding Shi was originally going to find Sun Qi, but seeing Sun Qi walking wearily along the path between the fields, looking utterly hopeless, he immediately turned back. Sun Qi's job must be tough; the root of problems like children dropping out of school is basically adults, and it's difficult to persuade an adult with just words.

Ding Shi thought he could help Sun Qi if he had the chance, if Sun Qi contacted him and was willing to pay. He wasn't usually a money-grubbing person, but his experience of using the leaves to clean his buttocks that morning had made him particularly appreciative of money now.

Ding Shi rode his bicycle along the road towards the Southwest Natural Village. This area was relatively isolated, making it the perfect location for Li Si to commit burglary and robbery. The mountains and forests not only separated the Natural Village from Taoyuan Village, but also meant that each household within the Natural Village lived quite far apart.

A dozen or so households are scattered haphazardly along the gentle slope at the foot of the southwest mountain. The source of Taoyuan Creek is in the southwest mountain, where spring water flows down to form a small ditch that meanders towards Taoyuan Village. Several streams join the creek along the way, and by the time it reaches Taoyuan Village, it forms Taoyuan Creek.

Ding Shi parked the car at the intersection and looked towards the southwestern village, where he could see four households. A main road, about a meter wide, branched out like tree branches, creating dirt roads of varying widths that led to each household. There were many terraced fields on both sides of the ditch, and people were working in the fields.

Ding Shi first went to the house closest to the intersection. An elderly woman in her seventies and a woman in her forties were at home. The latter was tending to the vegetable garden, while the former was doing needlework. The house had chickens, and there was chicken droppings everywhere. Ding Shi didn't want to go in, so he went around to the side of the house and, through the wall, spoke to the woman as the village chief's assistant.

Information obtained: First, this family has three able-bodied men, and their financial situation is relatively good. The three men are currently working in the fields. They return home for lunch at 10:30 AM and go back to the fields at 3:00 PM. According to Ding Shi's inventory, Li Si was surrounded in the village for theft around 9:00 AM, found Zhao Liu at 10:00 AM, and no one has seen Li Si since. Assuming Li Si immediately went to the southwest village, it would have been at least a 40-minute walk. He happened to encounter this family's able-bodied men returning home for lunch to avoid the scorching sun.

This explains why Li Si didn't touch this family.

Second, most of the villagers in the southwestern natural village work on the terraced fields of the small hills. This type of fieldwork is labor-intensive and not suitable for growing tobacco.

Third, in the southwestern natural village, there is a villager named Zhao Datou who does not farm. He often drives a Jialing motorcycle to collect tobacco leaves.

When growers deliver their tobacco leaves to the processing station, staff confiscate some of the lower-quality leaves citing poor quality. This has led growers to become savvy, keeping the less appealing leaves at home.

People like Zhao Datou would go directly to tobacco growers to buy high-quality tobacco leaves, paying prices similar to, or even double, those offered by the tobacco processing station. These leaves would then be sent to counterfeit tobacco factories to be made into fake cigarettes. For a period, the authorities only cracked down on counterfeit cigarettes, neglecting the source. It wasn't until later, with strict controls implemented from the planting stage, that counterfeit cigarettes were prevented from entering the market.

Zhao Datou was a shrewd man, but the villagers considered him a good-for-nothing. So when Ding asked if there were any villagers who didn't fit in, the woman immediately thought of Zhao Datou.

Zhao Datou's mother passed away last year, and now Zhao Datou lives alone. He frequently stays out overnight and often brings home fashionable women.

Ding Shi pushed the cart straight to Zhao Datou's house. It was already 5:30 pm, and he had to finish this damn task quickly so he wouldn't have to go out looking for someone so late at night.

Leaning against the wall, Ding Shi looked towards Zhao Datou's yard. There were no chickens or ducks, no vegetables, and the yard looked fairly clean, with a neat stack of firewood around the perimeter. According to the woman, Zhao Datou's firewood was all bought, a fact that particularly disgusted the villagers.

The Jialing caravan was still parked in the yard, and most people were probably home. Ding Shi knocked on the wooden gate: "Is Da Tou home?"

There was no response. Ding Shi knocked on the door again, this time with more force. Finally, a disheveled young man with messy hair came out of the house, wearing slippers, and walked towards the door, seemingly having just been sleeping.

(End of this chapter)