Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Wei Linghui nodded and took a gentle sip of the hot water in her cup. "That's right, I asked my brother for a week."
"What do you need a week for?" Jiang He interjected at that moment.
Wei Linghui turned to Jiang He, tilting her head slightly. "Because I know that once my husband is sent to prison, I won't be able to be with him for a long time. I just want one week to spend with my husband."
"At that time..." Wei Linghui recalled, "I remember cooking for him and making love. During those days, we felt as if we were Adam and Eve living in paradise, so happy together. We talked about everything, freely expressing ourselves..."
Old Shao interrupted Wei Linghui's reminiscence. "That indeed sounds like a happy scene. However, your brother Wei Lingyong told us that when you returned, you informed Lu Zhengye that your brother's family was going to report him to the police. After he learned this news, he sold his property and secretly ran away with the money, didn't he?"
Pulled back from her memories by Old Shao's harsh words, Wei Linghui sighed. "Yes, that's true. But that doesn't mean he doesn't love me; he was just too afraid of being caught. What I meant to convey to him was that I hoped he would turn himself in. We had originally planned for him to surrender before my brother reported him, which would have resulted in a lighter punishment."
"Do you think that even so, Lu Zhengye still loves you?" Old Shao asked.
Wei Linghui nodded firmly.
Old Shao continued, "Lu Zhengye had already bought a train ticket to leave; he should have left Dragon City for another city long ago. If it weren't for the heavy rain in the south, he would have gone wherever he wanted by now. But he didn't tell you this, did he?"
Wei Linghui replied resolutely, "He loves me; I'm sure of it."
"Is that enough?" Xu Yiman couldn't help but retort.
"He loves me," Wei Linghui stood up with red eyes and declared. "He loves me more than anyone else; he loves me! He truly loves me!"
"Alright," Old Shao said. "You should go back and rest now. Since the murderer hasn't been caught yet, it's safer for you to stay in the police dormitory. I'll arrange a room for you, okay?"
Wei Linghui nodded, saying nothing more.
That night, Old Shao stood alone in the courtyard of the police station, gazing at the starry sky as he lit a cigarette.
"Old Shao, why aren't you asleep this late?" Jiang He approached.
Old Shao nodded, took a puff of his cigarette, and asked Jiang He, "What do you see when you look up?"
"Stars," Jiang He replied.
Old Shao nodded again, holding the cigarette and placing his hands on his hips. "Once, someone told me that when a person dies, they become a star in the sky. The more people who miss them, the brighter their star shines. If few people remember them, then the star dims. When no one remembers them anymore, that star completely loses its light."
Jiang He looked up as well but said, "Stars are specifically named celestial bodies visible to the naked eye; most of them are stars like the sun, just much farther away from us."
"Stars may be far from us, but longing is very close."
Old Shao spat the smoke onto the ground, as if a meteor had streaked across the edge.
"Get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll go find Lu Zhengye's parents to understand the situation," Old Shao said, patting Jiang He's shoulder.
Jiang He watched Old Shao walk back and looked up at the stars again.
Longing and stars—who is farther from us?
The next morning, Old Shao called the project team members together. He addressed them, "Let's go. It's over two hours' journey; we need to reach Lu Zhengye's house before breakfast. Captain Liu has already contacted them, so it will just be us going this time."
Yuan Jun drove while Old Shao sat in the passenger seat. Jiang He, Guan Deng, and Xu Yiman occupied the back seat.
Just as the car was about to start, they heard Captain Liu shouting from outside, "Wait, wait!"
"What’s wrong?" Old Shao leaned out to ask.
Captain Liu hurried over and said, "The explosive package was delivered by a child. After two rounds of investigation, we finally found out who that child is. It happened to be a Friday; after delivering the package, he went straight to his grandmother's house with his parents."
"After the investigation today, we finally found that Ghost Head," Captain Liu said. "Fortunately, I didn't give up. I compared several times in the vicinity, and the local residents were almost driven crazy by us. After the investigation, it turned out that the ghost itself wasn't problematic; it was just a child from a nearby household."
"Continue," Shao the Elder urged.
Captain Liu continued, "The ghost was secretly playing Honor of Kings in the courtyard in the evening when it encountered a man dressed entirely in black. The man told the ghost that if it delivered a package to the stairs of the building across from them and knocked on the door, he would give it one hundred yuan to buy skins. Naturally, the child agreed."
"After completing this task, the man in black gave him one hundred yuan and then left. The ghost described the man as being about one hundred seventy-five centimeters tall, somewhat thin compared to an average person. He wore a black hat, a black mask, and black gloves, so his face was obscured. However, it was confirmed that he was male, and most importantly, the ghost saw the car that the man in black drove!"
"What kind of car?" Jiang He and Old Shao asked simultaneously.
Captain Liu shook his head. "The child didn't even know what an SUV was; he just pointed out a model after looking at some car pictures. It was probably something like that. However, it was black and had a local license plate. I'm currently checking nearby surveillance footage to see which black SUV is most likely."
"This is a crucial lead!" Old Shao leaned forward and earnestly advised Captain Liu. "The murderer has never shown his face before, but this time he did directly reveal himself. Although it's just a child involved, it indicates that this Criminal Consultant An Nai is losing control."
"This is somewhat different from Wei Demian's style," Old Shao said while gently tugging at his hair. "If Wei Demian had planned this himself, he certainly wouldn't have left such an easily exposed clue. Perhaps Wei Demian is already dead, and this was planned by his apprentice."
"Regardless," Old Shao told Captain Liu, "the investigation work is tedious and exhausting, but its impact on solving cases is immense. If we can find the SUV driven by the murderer, everything will become much easier."
Captain Liu nodded and said to Shao the Elder, "Don't worry; my mind isn't as dull as yours. If I don't do some legwork soon, I'll truly be useless. No more delays; I’ll continue following up on this lead."
"Wait." At that moment, Jiang He called out to Captain Liu.
"What is it?" Captain Liu turned to look at Jiang He sitting in the back.
Jiang He asked, "Did that child spend the one hundred yuan?"
"I don't know," Captain Liu frowned. "I didn't ask about that; why?"
Jiang He rubbed his chin with two fingers. "That one hundred yuan could potentially become a key piece of evidence; perhaps there are fingerprints from the murderer on it. In any case, if we can find that one hundred yuan, we should try to bring it back. We can't afford to overlook any clues right now."
Jiang He clutched his head tightly. "I used to not believe in intuition, but suddenly I feel that this case is definitely not as simple as it seems."
He tugged at his hair with such force that he nearly pulled it out.
"Are you okay?" Xu Yiman grasped Jiang He's hand firmly. "He seems to be having a breakdown."
Jiang He felt a splitting headache, as various useless pieces of information flooded into his mind all at once. The paths he had walked, the food he had eaten, the strangers he had encountered, and the snippets of conversations he had overheard all surged into his consciousness.
Desperately gripping his hair, Jiang He tried to mask the pain in his brain with physical discomfort.
"White-eyed Wolf."
"He has no emotions."
"His tears dried up when he was six..."
A series of phrases rushed into Jiang He's mind, as if a cramped room was filled with people. Without an outlet for release, he felt like his head was about to explode.
"Jiang He!" Xu Yiman shouted, "I can't hold him alone! Guan Deng, come help!"
Guan Deng watched Jiang He in distress, equally at a loss. Suffering from severe Social Anxiety Disorder, he couldn't focus on Jiang He. Sweat poured down his face as his breathing became increasingly rapid. Finally unable to bear it any longer, he pushed open the car door and ran away to vomit.
He didn't know how long he had been sick, but when he turned back to look, he saw Old Shao and Yuan Jun already pulling Jiang He away.
Guan Deng wiped his mouth and stared at a patch of grass by the roadside. "Why am I so useless? I can't even handle this little thing."
Tears streamed down his face like large droplets.
"I'm fine," Jiang He said.
At this moment, Jiang He’s hands were firmly grasped by Yuan Jun, preventing him from harming himself any further. Jiang He had pulled out a large handful of his own hair, and if it weren't for Yuan Jun, it was uncertain how far he would have gone in tearing his hair out. Blood oozed from his scalp, sticking to his hair and making him look quite disheveled.
"I'm fine," Jiang He took a few deep breaths and said, "It's over now; the information has passed."
Old Shao looked at Jiang He’s deep dark circles and asked, "Have you hardly slept?"
"Since the explosion," Jiang He replied.
"You need to rest," Xu Yiman said to Jiang He.
Jiang He shook his head and told everyone, "I'm fine. Even if I wanted to rest, my brain won't allow it. I'm okay now, Guan Deng, come over; we’re heading out together."
Guan Deng wiped away her tears and walked over.
Old Shao leaned against the passenger seat with a sigh.
It seemed this case had put a lot of pressure on everyone.
Comment 0 Comment Count