The next morning, Lin Shuyue drove directly to the address sent by Huang Qiang.
It was a small fishing village on the coast of Huicheng. Lin Shuyue set out from home at six in the morning and did not arrive at her destination until half past nine.
As soon as she got out of the car, Lin Shuyue's eyes fell on the azure blue sea in the distance. The sea breeze was particularly gentle, bringing coolness, but also the salty and wet smell of the sea.
With the development of tourism, this small fishing village has also welcomed many tourists. Lin Shuyue wore a sun hat, delicate makeup, and a large white shirt as a sun protection clothing. Her long legs were wrapped in blue jeans and she wore a pair of gray sneakers on her feet.
Like countless tourists in this small fishing village, she strolled along the beach, stopping from time to time to enjoy the sea breeze and the scenery, and from time to time to chat with other tourists nearby.
Familiar music rang from her cell phone, and Lin Shuyue picked it up. It was Hang Jiabai calling. The two chatted briefly, and then Lin Shuyue hung up. Putting the phone back in her pocket, she continued to walk forward and slowly turned into a small alley.
Lin Shuyue knew the reason why Hang Jiabai called her. Maybe he had new evidence last night. And this evidence made him call her this morning.
The message released by this phone call was also very clear. If she continued to investigate this case, she would be in danger. And the danger was so great that Hang Jiabai personally called to warn her.
Lin Shuyue is not afraid of danger. When she was a child, she asked her parents, there are so many bad people in this world, why did he and her mother become police officers? Aren't they afraid of bad people? Aren't they afraid of danger?
At that time, her mother had not yet sacrificed herself. Her mother touched her head and told her: "Knowing there is a tiger in the mountain, we still go to the tiger's mountain. This is the motto of the police. And this world needs people who go against the flow, otherwise the world will be so terrible."
Lin Shuyue has always remembered what her mother said: she wants to be a police officer not only because she wants to revive her parents' police numbers, but also to protect her parents' beliefs. Now, that belief has become hers, too.
The sun was scorching the ground, and the tenaciously growing green grass by the wall was also wilted. At the end of the alley was the Grandfather Temple. In front of the Grandfather Temple there was a large banyan tree that required two people to hug it together. Many red ribbons were hung on the tree. Lin Shuyue walked to the left of the Grandfather Temple, walked to the second house, raised her hand, and knocked on the door.
Soon, footsteps were heard and the door opened.
The one who opened the door was Wang Guiquan, the boss of Zhengcun Store back then. Compared to the photo of him Huang Qiang sent to Lin Shuyue, Wang Guiquan looked much older. The information said that Wang Guiquan was 34 years old this year, but at this moment, people would believe him if he said he was 45 or 46.
Seeing Lin Shuyue, a stranger, he was stunned: "Pretty girl, the store is closed today."
Because the small fishing village has developed tourism in the past two years, Wang Guiquan also opened a small seafood restaurant. But whether the business is successful or not depends entirely on him.
Lin Shuyue looked at him and said, "Hello, Mr. Wang, I am a reporter from Pengcheng Metropolis Daily, I..."
Before Lin Shuyue finished speaking, Wang Guiquan interrupted her: "Pretty girl, we are really closed today."
Wang Guiquan was about to close the door when a weak voice rang out, "Ah Quan, Ah Sheng and his friends sent two groupers yesterday. Please cook them for this pretty girl. It's not easy for her to come all the way here for a trip."
Wang Guiquan closed the door with a little less force. After a while, he moved aside and Lin Shuyue walked into the yard.
Lin Shuyue saw that when Wang Guiquan let her in, his eyes subconsciously fell on the yard next door. Then he said in a muffled voice: "Pretty girl, we agreed that one fish is 45 yuan per catty. If you think it's too expensive, I won't do it."
Wang Guiquan's behavior made Lin Shuyue more certain that someone was watching their family.
"Then boss, please pick a smaller one. I'm here alone. I can't eat a big one. Besides grouper, are there any other seafood? It's too monotonous to eat grouper alone. Boss, I heard that the seafood you cook is very authentic, so I came here specially for you." Lin Shuyue's voice was slightly different from before.
Her original voice was somewhat cold, but now her words were sweet and charming. She sounded like an innocent woman. This was the girlish voice that Lin Shuyue had learned from Teacher Liu yesterday.
Wang Guiquan glanced at her for a moment longer, then said, "There are still some more, all at the kitchen door, come and take a look."
Wang Guiquan led Lin Shuyue to the kitchen. There was a tin shed at the door of the kitchen. Several wooden boxes were placed in the shed, filled with seafood and clear sea water.
Lin Shuyue glanced around. This was a one-story building that was many years old. In the corners of the walls were planted rose-red bougainvilleas, which were planted in almost every household in Guangdong Province.
There was a clothesline in the corner of the yard, with three or four pieces of clothes hanging on it.
A woman who was about the same age as Wang Guiquan also came over. She looked Lin Shuyue up and down and said to Wang Guiquan, "Ah Quan, go and get the things out."
Wang Guiquan's expression changed instantly after hearing what the woman said, and he shouted in a low voice: "Ah Qin!!"
The woman named Ah Qin closed her eyes, then opened them again. She spoke with a choked and hoarse voice, still keeping her voice as low as possible: "Ah Quan, you keep telling me to wait, wait. I'm forty years old, I've been waiting for ten years, I don't want to wait any longer. If you don't get the stuff out today, I'll take it to Pengcheng. If the Public Security Bureau in Pengcheng doesn't receive me, I'll go to Yangcheng. If Yangcheng doesn't work, I'll go to the capital."
After Ah Qin said this, she covered her chest and coughed. Wang Guiquan immediately went over to help her calm down. After about a minute, she stopped coughing. She tilted her head and looked at Wang Guiquan stubbornly. Wang Guiquan looked at her for a long time. Finally, he sighed and walked into the house.
She looked at Lin Shuyue calmly, and Lin Shuyue suddenly had an idea: "Auntie, is there a toilet?"
"Yes, it's inside, follow me."
Ah Qin walked in front, and Lin Shuyue followed her through the kitchen and towards the private residence at the back.
The living room was small, only 20 square meters in total, not spacious, and not bright enough. There were several photos hanging on the faded walls. The largest one was a family portrait of Wang Gui's family.
Wang Guiquan and Ah Qin in the photo look very young. They are looking at the camera with smiles on their faces. In front of Wang Guiquan stands a little girl of four or five years old. Ah Qin is holding a boy who is over one year old.
Lin Shuyue looked through all the photos, but none of them showed what the two children looked like when they grew up. Her heart sank.
Seeing Lin Shuyue looking at the photos, Ah Qin coughed twice, pulled a bamboo chair and sat down: "This is my daughter and my son."
Ah Qin's eyes fell on the photo, her expression gentle and sad.
Lin Shuyue seemed to have a premonition of something. She turned to look at Ah Qin. Ah Qin reached out to wipe away the tears that had fallen from her eyes. "Ten years ago, they left."
Even though she had a premonition, Lin Shuyue was still very shocked when she heard this.
Ah Qin did not wait for Lin Shuyue's answer. She continued, "Ten years ago, not long after Liang Haihui died next door, my daughter Nana was taken away from the kindergarten. We searched for a long time but could not find anything. When we came back from looking for the child at night, the phone at home rang. After I answered the phone, the person on the other end said that if we wanted my daughter to come back safely, Ah Quan and I had to shut up."
"That morning, Ah Quan had just returned from being questioned by the Public Security Bureau. He told me that after Zheng Zhongfu left, Liang Haihui came out to close the store."
"We didn't sleep that night and stayed awake in the store until dawn."
"The sun came out, and the police came again. This time, Ah Quan changed his statement. He said he could no longer remember whether Liang Haihui had come out to close the door. Because Liang Haihui had always been the one to close the door before, it was possible that he remembered it wrong."
"At noon, the kindergarten called us to pick up the children after school. After we picked up Nana, we said we couldn't stay in Pengcheng anymore, and we moved the store out without stopping. We thought that as long as we left Pengcheng and stopped getting involved in that mess, we would be fine."
"But those people still didn't let us go. Just as we were leaving Pengcheng, a truck ran towards us."
"My two children died on the spot. Ah Quan and I were crushed by the front of the car. He lost half of his leg. I was the only one who was still somewhat conscious."
Aqin's thoughts seemed to have returned to that day ten years ago.
"The man who hit us didn't leave. He got out of his car and walked to our car. He first checked Ah Quan's injuries, then the injuries of the two children. When it was my turn, I held my breath and closed my eyes to avoid his inspection. Then, I heard the man on the phone, and I struggled and pressed the Walkman in my bag."
"That Walkman was bought by Quan to record music for Nana. My Nana likes dancing. Before the accident, we had already registered her for the Children's Palace. She likes ballet."
When talking about her daughter's interests and hobbies, Ah Qin's face brought a smile. She seemed to see her Nana wearing the new clothes bought by her husband and dancing in front of her.
She had never learned to dance, but she danced like a pro on TV. Even the ballet teacher at the Children's Palace said that her Nana had a talent for dancing and was the kind of person who was chased by God and fed by God.
Wang Guiquan came over at some point, and when he saw his wife like this, his eyes were filled with grief.
Ah Qin also saw her, and she stretched out her hand to Wang Guiquan, who placed a small black canvas bag in her palm. Ah Qin panted and waved to Lin Shuyue.
She placed the Walkman in Lin Shuyue's hand with great care: "Your last name is Lin, right?"
Since becoming a reporter, Lin Shuyue found that her empathy has become particularly strong. At this moment, listening to Ah Qin's story about her past, looking at Wang Guiquan and Ah Qin, two people who are still alive but look like zombies, she felt her nose sour and her throat swollen.
"Yes, my last name is Lin, and my full name is Lin Shuyue."
"Okay, reporter Lin." She was still sitting, still panting: "Reporter Lin, in the past ten years, many reporters have come to us. Originally, we didn't want to give these things to others because we didn't trust you."
"But I don't have time. I'm sick and won't live long. Before I die, I want to see the bad guys brought to justice. To comfort my son and daughter who died tragically."
She put the Walkman into Lin Shuyue's hands and said, "Reporter Lin, this is the evidence I recorded back then. I'm giving it to you now. I hope you can use it to seek justice for my tragically dead child and Liang Haihui."
She did not let go, holding Lin Shuyue's hand tightly with amazing strength. She stared at Lin Shuyue and said word by word: "You have our evidence, you must help us get justice, otherwise, I will not let you go even if I become a ghost."
Lin Shuyue solemnly promised: "Ah Qin, don't worry!"
Ah Qin let go.
Lin Shuyue put the walkman into her bag and was instantly transferred into the space.
"I will!" Lin Shuyue promised her.
Ah Qin looked at Lin Shuyue's face for a long time and closed her eyes.
Wang Guiquan looked at his wife who was already very tired and called Lin Shuyue out.
Lin Shuyue stood up and glanced at Ah Qin. Ah Qin didn't open her eyes. Lin Shuyue followed Wang Guiquan out.
When she was almost at the front yard, Lin Shuyue took out a palm-sized notebook and a black ballpoint pen from her pocket. She quickly wrote her phone number on it. When she was about to tear off the paper, she wrote another string of numbers.
"Mr. Wang, this is my number. The other one is the number of Hang Jiabai, the captain of the Pengcheng Criminal Police Brigade. If you encounter any problems, please call us."
Wang Guiquan looked at Lin Shuyue for two seconds, stretched out his hand to take the note, said "OK", and pointed to a table outside the iron shed: "You go sit there and wait, the food will be ready soon."
Lin Shuyue walked over as she was told, sat on the plastic chair, and looked over to the next room. Lin Shuyue had seen Wang Guiquan looking over there more than once.
It was a two-story house. The window on the second floor next to Wang Gui's family was open. A woman in her forties was wiping the window with a rag, but she would look towards Wang Gui's family from time to time.
Lin Shuyue was already sitting on the table with them, pretending to be very tired and taking a rest.
Wang Guiquan quickly brought up the steamed grouper: "One pound and eight ounces of grouper."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and left. After a while, he served them a dish of salt-baked mantis shrimp and spicy crab.
These dishes are delicious and tasty. Lin Shuyue ate two buns when she went out in the morning and was already hungry now.
The woman next door who was pretending to clean the windows was still looking over here. Lin Shuyue picked up her chopsticks and started eating.
She was very strong, had a big appetite, and was naturally fond of seafood. She finished all the three dishes on the table except for the chives used for decoration and flavor.
She also ate a bowl of rice, and when she left, she paid according to the market price.
Lin Shuyue did not leave in a hurry. Instead, she strolled around the small fishing village and even found a photo studio that took photos for tourists and took several photos of the beach.
She had been behaving like an ordinary tourist all day, but this afternoon, Lin Shuyue could always see a teenage boy behind her.
When she came out of the photo studio after changing her clothes, her bag had been rummaged through. Lin Shuyue pretended not to know and stayed in a hotel in the small fishing village.
The next morning, after having a local breakfast and buying some local specialties, she drove away.
After leaving the small fishing village, she headed towards Huicheng. After circling the urban area of Huicheng several times, she finally drove to Pengcheng.
At the same time, she played the Walkman that Qin gave her on the system.
Halfway through, she slammed on the brakes and pulled the car to the side of the road. After putting her head in the steering wheel for a long time, she restarted the car.
When she entered the urban area of Pengcheng, she called Hang Jiabai.
Hang Jiabai was at one of his elders' homes at the time. When his cell phone rang, he immediately took it out to check. After seeing that the caller was Lin Shuyue, he smiled apologetically at his elder and walked out while answering the phone.
When he came back, his elder asked him with a smile: "Did your girlfriend call?"
Hang Jiabai smiled and denied, "No, it was one of my grandmother's students who called. Uncle He, I'm leaving first and will come to visit you in two days."
Uncle He waved at Hang Jiabai.
Hang Jiabai turned around and went out.
Uncle He waited for him to walk away, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared. When his wife came out with a plate of cut fruit, he poured himself a cup of authentic Wuyi Mountain black tea. In the lingering tea aroma, he said something out of the blue: "Some people will lose their integrity in their later years."