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墨書 Inktalez
We followed Wang An to Teacher Zhao's home.
Teacher Zhao was a woman in her fifties, her face lined with wrinkles, but upon closer inspection, one could still see her gentle and refined nature.
Teacher Zhao looked at us, seemingly surprised that a group of young people in their twenties had come to visit her. She greeted us warmly, "I didn't expect you all to be so young. Come in! I'm just cooking, and soon we'll have dinner at my place."
Then she noticed Guo Feng trailing behind us. Looking at the tangled yarn scattered on him, Teacher Zhao's brow furrowed, and tears welled up in her eyes. She fought to hold back her emotions and said, "Feng, did those kids bully you again? Don't play with them, okay?"
At that moment, Guo Feng seemed quite happy, clearly unaware of his mother's sadness. He cheerfully replied, "Mom, these are police uncles and aunts! I want to be a police officer too; I want to catch bad guys!"
Teacher Zhao nodded and said, "Alright! You can be anything you want. Go change your clothes; we'll have something delicious soon."
Hearing about the delicious food, Guo Feng excitedly shouted about wanting to eat good things and ran into a room.
Teacher Zhao watched Guo Feng's retreating figure and then turned to us. "When Guo Feng was born, he had some brain damage. The doctor said he only has the intelligence of a four-year-old..."
She fell silent after that. During this time, I observed the home’s decor; it was evident that there was no male figure in the household. However, as a mother, the depth of her sorrow was something we could not fully comprehend. Teacher Zhao chose not to dwell on this topic any further and instead invited us to sit down.
"I'll go prepare dinner for you. If you have any questions, just call for me," Teacher Zhao said as she walked into the kitchen.
We settled down, with Wang An sitting across from us. This eight or nine-year-old boy displayed an unexpected maturity for his age. "Police uncle, what happened? Why did my sister Fang Qi commit suicide?"
I glanced at Wang An but didn’t answer his question directly. Instead, I asked, "Can you tell me who was at home when you left?"
Wang An pondered for a moment before responding, "When my dad brought me here, Sister Zhao Li was still working out of town and hadn’t returned. My brother Du Ziguo is missing; I haven’t seen him since then. My sister Fang Qi was home when I was brought here; she was with Dad."
Seeing Wang An's anxious expression, I spoke gently: "Your sister jumped off Rainbow Bridge around ten o'clock last night on New Year's Eve."
"Sure." Wang An stood up and asked, "My sister Fang Qi has never shown any tendencies towards suicide. Even during the hardest years, she never wanted to end her life. So why does she want to do it now?"
I paused for a moment but eventually handed him Fang Qi's suicide note.
Although he was only in the second grade, Wang An recognized the words; there were no obscure characters. As he finished reading the note, tears streamed down his face like pearls from a broken string. Guan Zengbin hurriedly embraced Wang An, even though he had likely experienced many things at such a young age.
After all, he was still just a child.
Yet Wang An managed to break free from Guan Zengbin's embrace and said, "I'm fine."
Then we saw him hold back his tears and continue, "My sister Fang Qi wouldn't commit suicide. If she did, it must be because someone did something to her."
Wang An appeared stubborn and resolute. I asked, "So why did your father send you here? Did something happen in between?"
"It must have been those three," Wang An's eyes were filled with fury and anger. "A month and a half ago, three people came to our house looking for my dad. At that time, my dad was out looking for work, and it was just me and my sister Fang Qi at home. Those three pushed open the gate and came in, but we didn't open the door."
"They stood outside cursing for a long time before throwing stones to break our windows. I was furious and grabbed a kitchen knife before rushing outside. When those three saw me with the knife, instead of running away, they continued to insult me and my sister."
Wang An seemed to recall that moment vividly; he gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "They hadn't even grown hair yet and dared to intimidate us with their words. They said my sister Fang Qi was pretty and wanted to play with her. Their words were vile, and I was enraged."
At that moment, Wang An appeared genuinely angry as he said, "I've learned martial arts and knife techniques from my dad since I was very young. I'm not afraid of these people at all. My dad always told me that as a boy, I should protect girls. He also said if you can't protect your family, how can you protect anyone else?"
"So," Wang An's chest heaved as he slowly continued, "I slashed one of them on the arm with the knife. That person yelled out and tried to grab the knife from me. But as martial artists, how could we let someone take our weapon? So I slashed his arm again, and then all three of them ran away."
Looking at this boy who was only eight or nine years old, it was hard to imagine him wielding a knife against someone. When we were downstairs earlier, we had also witnessed Wang An's ferocity; if those kids hadn't run fast enough, they might have received a severe beating from him. Wang An seemed to have a somewhat violent nature, yet he was gentle and patient with his friends.
We all fell into silence.
After a moment, I broke the deadlock: "Did they say anything before they left?"
Wang An replied seriously, "Those three people won't let this matter rest. They have to come back, and they even burned down our house."
At this point, I was almost certain that it was Zhang Bin and his two companions who had set fire to Hao Ren's house. To be sure, I took out photos of the three individuals and asked, "Is it these three?"
Wang An nodded firmly.
Then, Wang An pointed out the person who had been attacked. It was Zhang Bin, the leader of the trio.
I continued to ask, "After that, did you see those three again? Did you see your sister?"
Wang An shook his head in frustration. "Since then, I haven't seen any of them again, nor have I seen my sister or brother. That night, I told my dad what happened, but he didn't praise me; instead, he scolded me. He said that a martial artist should act with righteousness, but I only learned his skills and not his principles."
Wang An looked a bit lost as he said, "But I told my dad that they were the ones who smashed our house first and insulted us. I didn't do anything wrong. But my dad said I had too much resentment and needed to go somewhere else to learn how to be calm. After that, I was sent to Teacher Zhao's house."
Wang An lowered his head. "But I don't understand what my dad meant. What exactly is resentment, and how am I supposed to learn to be calm?"
Looking at the bruises on Wang An's face, it was clear they were from fighting. Explaining the concept of resentment to a child his age felt like talking to a wall.
I continued to ask, "So you haven't seen your family since then?"
Wang An nodded. "At first, Dad would call me every day, but after half a month, he rarely called anymore. A month later, he stopped calling altogether, and now it's been over half a month since then. The New Year is coming."
I furrowed my brow. From our investigation into several individuals, three of the thieves had inquired about Hao Ren's address at the internet café, while the boss of Shitong Auto Repair Shop had gone to find Du Ziguo. This all happened about a month and a half ago. Since then, it seemed that no one had seen the three thieves or Hao Ren.
So what exactly happened afterward that caused these individuals to vanish?
Now, from Wang An, we learned that the conflict between the three thieves and Hao Ren had escalated. If the earlier incident where Hao Ren was taken to the police station could have been resolved, this time it was serious—Wang An had directly stabbed someone twice on their arm. From Wang An's words, it was clear that he hadn't held back.
After being attacked by Wang An, this feud was now firmly established. Zhang Bin, with his shifty eyes and violent temperament, was known for holding grudges and being quite cunning; otherwise, he wouldn't have sought trouble with Hao Ren immediately after being released from detention. Now that he had been stabbed in the arm by Wang An, he would likely not let this go easily. Perhaps Hao Ren was afraid that the three would retaliate against Wang An, which is why he sent Wang An to Teacher Zhao's house.
If Hao Ren left and the three returned to Taishan Temple Hutong, would Fang Qi be home alone? Would they do something harmful to Fang Qi? However, the "he" mentioned in Fang Qi's suicide note clearly wasn't one of the three; who could that person be?
Was it all just a coincidence? Was Fang Qi's death unrelated to the three?
Perhaps we should investigate Zhang Bin's recent medical records. Being injured by a kitchen knife wasn't something one could easily handle at home; he might need stitches. We should be able to find Zhang Bin's medical records in the healthcare system.
With this thought in mind, I said to Wang An, "Don't worry; we will definitely get to the bottom of your sister's case."
Wang An waved his hand dismissively and said, "It must have been them; there's no need to investigate further. Just catch them and bring them back. Otherwise, tell me their addresses—I will make sure they suffer."
Guo Feng walked out just in time to hear Wang An's last remark. He clapped his hands and shouted, "Make them suffer! Make them suffer!"
Guo Feng's loud voice caught Teacher Zhao's attention in the kitchen. At that moment, she came into the living room with a dish in hand and said to both of them, "You two need to clean up your rooms before coming to eat. Do you hear me?"
Guo Feng seemed reluctant, but Wang An had already grabbed his hand and was pulling him inside.
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