"Ye Tiancheng, what joke are you playing? I only heard about Hou Qing'er's accident from you. I might be a bit spoiled and willful in my usual small-scale dealings, but I would never resort to murder and arson!"
Hou Mingzhu's tone made Ye Tiancheng feel very confused; he couldn't determine if she was the murderer or not.
"No, if you had nothing to hide, why would you offer me a hundred million to go away and study for three days? That doesn't make sense. You're not running a charity."
Speaking of this, Ye Tiancheng began to regret his own greed. He should have been wary of Hou Mingzhu earlier. If he had been even slightly more vigilant, he wouldn't have brought about today's tragedy.
"Ye Tiancheng, I beg you, stop wrongly accusing me. Do you really think I would kill someone like that village girl? I never looked down on that woman, and I certainly wouldn't commit murder for her. I'm already too busy with my business. How could I do something so wicked?"
"I won't allow you to call her a village girl anymore."
Hou Mingzhu did have a point. The crucial issue was that Ye Tiancheng couldn't find any evidence, and even Nuwa Stone offered no clear answer. Although Ye Tiancheng was furious, he couldn't be absolutely sure Hou Mingzhu was the killer. Did he want to become someone who indiscriminately killed the innocent?
"Alright, Ye Tiancheng, I can understand how you feel. After all, you spent some time with her, and you must have had feelings for each other. But even if you're heartbroken, you can't take your anger out on me. I'm innocent. I haven't done anything wrong to you, nor have I done anything wrong to her."
Hou Mingzhu's tone softened, making her sound quite innocent. Ye Tiancheng was a grown man after all and didn't want to be so ungentlemanly. Since he couldn't extract any information, he couldn't pursue the matter further.
"Hou Mingzhu, listen to me carefully. I will find out the truth about this matter. If I discover you are involved, I will make sure you have nowhere to be buried."
Hearing Ye Tiancheng say this through gritted teeth, Hou Mingzhu was indeed a little frightened. However, it was Ye Tiancheng who had been disloyal first, proposing to another woman while he had a fiancée. If not for Ye Tiancheng's callous and unrighteous behavior, Hou Mingzhu wouldn't have lost her mind and then ordered people to set the fire.
When she learned of Hou Qing'er's death, Hou Mingzhu wasn't that deeply affected. Later, she accidentally saw photos of Hou Qing'er burned to death, which completely shocked her.
As a spoiled young lady, to ensure everything went her way, Hou Mingzhu had committed her fair share of misdeeds over the years. However, when it came to murder, she had only done it a few times. The traitor before had been directly thrown off a cliff, and Hou Mingzhu hadn't felt anything at the time. Later, she had nightmares for a week straight. This time, the nature of the crime was different because Hou Qing'er was innocent. An innocent person caught in a love triangle and losing her life made Hou Mingzhu, as a woman herself, feel terrified in the dead of night, even waking up from nightmares drenched in sweat.
But since it was done, Hou Mingzhu was absolutely determined not to let her crimes be exposed. Her subsequent behavior would show no flaws. She had successfully convinced herself that she was merely an innocent bystander with no connection to Hou Qing'er's life.
Hou Qing'er's funeral was quickly concluded. Ye Tiancheng was desperately trying to solve the case. He knew he wasn't cut out for it and even hired many detective experts, hoping to find any trace of Hou Qing'er's demise in the fire.
However, the fire had destroyed everything. There were no suspicious individuals or clues. The experts, after eating and drinking well at Ye Tiancheng's expense and taking a lot of money, concluded that Hou Qing'er's death was due to an accidental mishap that caused the room to catch fire, meaning there was no perpetrator.
"Brother Ye, I think you should try to move on. These experts seem quite professional. They all said Hou Qing'er's death was just an accident. I guess it's a case of heaven being jealous of beauty."
Little Fatty noticed that ever since Hou Qing'er's death, Ye Tiancheng had been acting very strangely. He seemed excessively agitated, barely sleeping, and not talking to anyone. He looked like a walking corpse, occasionally chuckling foolishly. Little Fatty felt that this couldn't go on. Ye Tiancheng, after all, had many subordinates and unfinished business. He couldn't just remain in such a state of decline.
Little Fatty thought that once this matter passed and Ye Tiancheng's suspicions were cleared, he could return to his normal life and work. Otherwise, everything was in disarray. Even the sales of farm produce had recently dropped.
"No, those detectives and experts are definitely just trying to scam money. I can feel that they were very perfunctory. People like them deserve to be beaten up."
Little Fatty thought Ye Tiancheng was just talking, but he didn't expect Ye Tiancheng to take matters into his own hands. He pretended to drive them home, but on the way, he scattered nails. When they reached the nails, with a series of pops, several cars exploded.
After the tires burst, the cars naturally stopped. Ye Tiancheng descended from the sky, beat up the experts, tied them up with ropes, and then threw them back into their cars to be taken home.
Ye Tiancheng was simply unwilling to accept it. He didn't want to admit that Hou Qing'er's death was a natural disaster. If there was someone to avenge, Ye Tiancheng would at least have some motivation. But now, with no one to avenge, that was the most frustrating part.
After beating them up, Ye Tiancheng felt a bit better. But as soon as he returned home and saw the burnt ruins, he started feeling sad again.
"Little Fatty, I'm moving into the shed. You go to the horticultural center; the accommodation there is better."
The dilapidated shed that had been built to plant pear trees couldn't even shelter them from the wind and rain. Little Fatty truly couldn't understand how someone with Ye Tiancheng's vision could lose his fighting spirit over the departure of a woman! It didn't make sense.
"What do you mean, you're living alone in the shed?"
"I've suddenly lost interest. I have enough money to live on, and as for my dreams, I've already achieved them once. I don't want to live such a tiring and conflicted life anymore. Let everything end here."
Little Fatty had never seen Ye Tiancheng like this since he met him. Although his boss was just a farmer before, his vision was grand, and he always had a fighting spirit and considerable intelligence.
But Little Fatty couldn't connect the dejected person before him with the Ye Tiancheng he had greatly admired in the past.
"Brother Ye, don't scare me. We have so many things to do, and didn't you say before that success was still a long way off? We still need to work hard."
"Whatever. I haven't thought that far ahead. I just feel like I need a break. I want some peace and quiet."
It was clear that Ye Tiancheng had always been unconventional. Even if he tried to persuade him further, the outcome would likely be the same.
At first, when they heard that Ye Tiancheng had retired, Hou Mingzhu didn't believe it. Su Muxian, upon receiving the news, also thought people were spreading rumors.
But when Ye Tiancheng asked Little Fatty to sell all the saplings, everyone believed it. Ye Tiancheng must have encountered some trouble. Otherwise, he wouldn't have moved these saplings, which he had kept even during his most difficult times. Selling them all at once clearly indicated he had lost his ambition.
A luxury car stopped at Ye Tiancheng's horticultural center. A fragrant beauty dressed in designer brands stepped out. She exuded an aura of elegance, the kind that would make most people mistake her for a movie star.
Hou Mingzhu, dressed in a purple fairy-like dress, had specifically come to Ye Tiancheng's horticultural center, not only because of recent issues with vegetable supply but also because she wanted to see Ye Tiancheng.
She hadn't been able to contact him for a week, and Hou Qing'er even suspected that Ye Tiancheng had become a monk.
"Ms. Hou has arrived. A warm welcome to Ms. Hou."
When Hou Mingzhu saw Little Fatty welcoming her, she felt something was amiss. After observing for a few seconds, she immediately noticed it.
"Boss Fatty, why haven't you shaved your beard? You don't look as healthy as before, and you've gained quite a bit of flab, haven't you?"
Hou Mingzhu, who loved observing people's appearances, noticed the subtle changes in Little Fatty despite only having not seen him for a week.
"Ms. Hou, I've been quite dejected lately, especially since my elder brother is in seclusion. With no one watching over me, I've become a bit lazy."
Little Fatty's words were merely excuses. The main reason was his lingering guilt. He still felt responsible for Hou Qing'er's death, which made it difficult for him to regain his fighting spirit.
"Alright, I'm not particularly concerned about your personal appearance. I want to know why the supply and quality of vegetables have been so different from before. Can't the horticultural center operate normally without Ye Tiancheng?"
"Don't underestimate Brother Ye. Even though he seemed lazy before, he always handled important matters himself and never delegated. On the surface, the horticultural center might seem like a casual enterprise, but in reality, Ye Tiancheng is the true core figure. Without him, the horticultural center can only operate at a bare minimum. Ms. Hou, if you expect it to be as prosperous as before, it's simply impossible."
Hou Mingzhu couldn't believe that Ye Tiancheng would choose to retire instead of earning easy money. In the world, there were probably very few people who would choose to be enemies with money.
"You should also try to persuade Ye Tiancheng. If he doesn't regain his former drive, you brothers won't make any money either."
In Hou Mingzhu's opinion, the only thing that could motivate them was self-interest, as she had been driven by profit her entire life.