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墨書 Inktalez
Back in the car, I asked Mary while driving, "Do you remember when we found Xing Jie's house and discovered that Xing Jie was already dead?"
Mary nodded and replied, "Of course I remember. It just happened not long ago; how could I forget?"
"Good to know you haven't forgotten," I said seriously. "Do you recall what clues we found at Xing Jie's house?"
"Clues?" Mary furrowed her brow, resting her chin on her hand as she thought. "We learned that Xing Jie had actually been dead for some time—probably a few days. He might have returned home to commit suicide after killing the hotel staff. Also, we found out about his relationship with Liu Fangqing, which led us to discover their connection with Wu Shuhau. That’s about it, right? Is there anything else?"
I raised a finger and shook my head. "No, we overlooked the most important clue, one that could tell us a lot. I almost forgot about it if not for the story Huihui told me today."
"Is there really such important evidence?" Mary tilted her head, seemingly skeptical. "If this evidence is so crucial, how did we overlook it? What exactly is this evidence?"
"A Pendant," I said while driving. "The reason we didn’t realize this Pendant was an important clue was that we couldn't analyze its connections. But after today's conversation, those connections have been uncovered. I mentioned before that the deceased pointed at this Pendant, as if trying to tell us something."
Mary frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "What Pendant? Team Leader, I really can’t remember these details. What kind of Pendant are you talking about? Please explain."
I nodded and said, "Because that Pendant had a character inscribed on it—a 'moon' character. Liu Fangqing's sister also has a 'moon' character in her name. Moreover, according to Huihui, the three of them had previously visited Liu Fangqing's hometown. So it makes sense that Xing Jie would have a Yue'er Pendant. I think the reason Xing Jie pointed at this Pendant was to signify Yue'er."
"Yue'er has already gone back to school, hasn’t she?" Mary countered. "School has been in session for over a month now."
"Not necessarily!" I replied. "Check if her sister has actually gone to school!"
As I spoke, Mary began typing on the computer. By the time we arrived at our destination, she had made a phone call and finally reached a conclusion: Yue'er hadn’t attended classes at all since the semester started. It turned out her brother had taken leave, claiming their family was too poor and they hadn't gathered enough money for this semester's tuition yet; once they did, she would return to school.
Mary looked at me with a complex expression and said, "Team Leader, just as you said, Yue'er indeed hasn’t gone to school. So do you think she is still in Jing City? And it's very likely she’s working somewhere?"
I shook my head and said, "No, I suspect that Yue'er's disappearance is closely related to Xing Jie, and this location must be near where Yue'er used to work. The more dangerous a place is, the safer it can be; I think that's how Xing Jie viewed it. But before anything else, we need to figure out exactly where this dangerous yet safe place is."
Once we located the workplace, we straightforwardly revealed our identities. The Boss was a slick talker who started off with jokes; however, when we stated our purpose, he nearly wet his pants in fear. He exclaimed, "Brother and sister, I swear I’m not hiring child labor! She said she’s already over sixteen! Really! I swear on my life—if I'm lying, may my son be born without an anus..."
As soon as the Boss finished speaking, a little girl came out, calling him "Daddy."
"Are you not planning to have children anymore, that you can say such absolute things?" I glared at the Boss and quickly said, "I'm not here to investigate whether you've hired child labor or to question if you're paying them enough. What I want to know is, when she was working here, did you provide her with food and accommodation?"
The Boss nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice and replied, "That's right, that's right! We provide meals and accommodation every day, a thousand yuan a month, plus bonuses. Look at that, isn't it quite generous? I'm not violating any labor laws here; this is already a high salary. If you don't believe me, go check elsewhere; this is the standard rate. I'm not lying. If I were lying, I'd have a son..."
"Don't curse your unborn son!" I interrupted the Boss. "Life is long; you never know how things will turn out."
As I spoke, I pointed to where the little girl had just come from and said, "The kitchen is on the east side, and the west side is where you sleep. The little girl came out without closing the door. There’s only one room on the west side, and it has just one big bed. You don’t have a second floor here. Don’t tell me that at night you sleep with your daughter and the high school students together." With that, I slammed my hand on the table and said, "You should know which is a greater crime: hiring child labor or this!"
For someone so slick-tongued, you can't show him any kindness; the more you do, the more he’ll take advantage of you. Sure enough, after my intimidation, the Boss said, "No, no! Officer, please don’t say anything reckless! We do provide meals; as for accommodation... well, it's technically included too. But if you want to argue about it, it can be seen in different ways."
"Stop talking nonsense!" I slammed the table again and said, "I'm not here to chat with you; don't waste my patience. Just tell me where Yue'er lived while working here. Don't beat around the bush; otherwise, I won't hesitate to be direct with you."
The Boss immediately shrank back his neck and said, "Actually, here's how it is: Recently they demolished a block of houses nearby to build a park. They started tearing down but then stopped for some reason—maybe budget issues or something else—and for nearly a year now there’s been no progress."
"So some houses were left standing," he coughed twice and continued. "But those half-demolished houses are naturally uninhabitable; however, that's just their assumption. Many people don’t even have such accommodations, so some landlords started renting out these places for just two hundred yuan a month—very cheap."
"There’s basically nothing inside—no furniture, no water or electricity," he continued explaining. "It’s just a place to crash. That little girl was in such a situation. She worked here during the day and had nowhere to stay at night, so she went to live in that house. What’s wrong with that?"
I nodded and then asked, "Are there many people renting those houses?"
The Boss shook his head and quietly said, "To be honest, there aren't many people living there. If you spend a bit more money, you could rent a better place since many other places offer food and accommodation too. Our place is just small like this. But I didn’t force that girl; it was mutually agreed upon. She just had to come during the day to serve dishes and wash vegetables and plates in the evening—knead dough, clean up...”
"Why didn’t you let her do everything?" I retorted angrily. "Tell me—do you know exactly where she rented her place? Take me there."
The Boss shook his head seriously and said, "I really don’t know where she rented from. As I said before, she just came to work during the day; what do I care where she sleeps at night? If she sleeps on the street, that’s her business; I can’t manage that nor do I want to bother with it. You can’t arrest me over this matter! This excuse works everywhere!"
I let out a cold laugh, turning to walk out the door as I said, "I advise you to really take safety measures in the future. If you happen to have a son, I hope you won't regret it." With that, I pushed open the glass door and swaggered outside, heading straight for the park.
We didn't drive; the straight distance wasn't far, probably just a five-minute walk. Moreover, this area was being torn apart, with holes dug everywhere and mounds of dirt piled up. In fact, several large open garbage dumps were forming nearby, and even from a distance, a foul stench wafted through the air. Fat autumn flies buzzed around them as if calling out, "Come here! We've found a feast!"
As we navigated through a pile of rubble, we finally caught sight of what was left of the so-called half-demolished building. Indeed, it looked as if someone had sliced it in half from the middle. The structure inside was exposed, with many rooms having wide-open doors, revealing nothing inside—not even a piece of furniture or a stray dog.
Moving further back, those rooms had not yet been demolished and were mostly locked. There were stairs leading up; although it looked quite eerie and dangerous, it felt manageable once we climbed up. No wonder some people were tempted to live here for cheap.
The two sisters seemed to be quite frugal; the older sister at least shared an apartment with someone, while the younger sister had chosen to live in such a place. There were two buildings like this in total, each six stories high. I called out to Mary, "If I'm guessing correctly, Yue'er is locked in one of these rooms. We need to find her quickly; otherwise, she might die if we take too long. I'm not trying to scare you; after eliminating all possibilities, what remains—no matter how improbable—is the truth."
Saying this, I picked up a half brick from the ground and handed it to Mary. "If you encounter a door that can't be kicked open, just smash the lock; after all, this building is about to be demolished. If anything happens, shout loudly; it's so open here that you'll be heard."
Mary nodded as we split up our search. I took one building while Mary took the other. The Fiery Clouds appeared on the horizon as the sun began to slowly dip below the horizon. Soon night would completely envelop the sky, extinguishing the last rays of light and warmth in the boundless darkness.
I weighed the brick in my hand and began smashing locks.
On my first trip out to sea, I encountered a well-known Bengal Aid Worker. Young and impulsive, but too poor to really make a move until First Mate told me that a bag of instant noodles could get me through a night with a group of women...
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