Chapter Fifty-Nine: For a Girl!

Wang Dalong’s grandmother thought for a moment and said, “She quarreled with the plump woman next door. Yes, that woman is also a suspect. You’d better arrest her quickly. That woman is ruthless—she butchers poultry at the town restaurant. For her, killing is nothing.” I hastily took note of this plump woman.

Just then, a commotion erupted outside the door. The station chief’s face darkened at once. “You all stay here,” he said, “I’ll go deal with that lot.” Before he could step out, Wang Dalong’s grandmother began wailing loudly, “Let them in, let them kill me. I don’t want to live anymore. Let them kill me.”

I quickly grabbed the director and asked what on earth was going on. The chief sighed helplessly. “What do you think? Dalong’s mother’s side is here making a scene again, blaming Dalong’s grandmother for not watching the child and wanting to give her a lesson.”

I forced a bitter smile. “What a mess. Why didn’t they watch the child themselves? Now something’s happened and they turn around to blame her—this is sheer nonsense.”

The chief said hurriedly, “Don’t stoop to their level. Rural women are like this. I’ll go chase them out.” I asked, “Can’t you reason with them, appeal to their feelings?” The chief shook his head. “It’s useless. I send people to talk sense to their family every day.”

Helpless, I followed him out. The scene at the door was beyond what I’d expected: the police were almost coming to blows with several burly men. The chief whispered to me that the older woman sobbing with tears and mucus was Dalong’s maternal grandmother and the burly men were the child’s uncles.

Standing in the hall cursing was the boy’s mother. Ever since the incident, she’d been threatening divorce; it looked like this family was about to fall apart.

I could understand their feelings, but their extreme behavior was hard to accept. I said I’d try to talk to them, but the chief quickly stopped me. “Don’t! When these people lose their heads, they’re worse than beasts. It doesn’t matter if you’re an investigator sent from above or even a top leader—they’ll curse you to your face. Better let me handle it.”

I nodded, knowing he was right—from their expressions, it was clear they didn’t take the police seriously at all.

There was nothing left to keep us there. I went back, called for Old Lin, and prepared to leave. But as we were about to go, Dalong’s maternal grandmother spotted us and shouted for us not to leave.

I told Old Lin to ignore them. But Old Lin stopped, turned to look at her.

“I know you were hired by the Huang family to help, but let me warn you, our family isn’t afraid of anything. We have connections in the provincial bureau. If you’re smart, you’ll stay out of their business, or you’ll be sorry.”

The chief immediately cursed, “Nonsense. These people are investigators sent from above—watch what you say. Cause any more trouble and I’ll arrest the lot of you for disturbing public order.”

She spat back, “And who are you to talk? My second son-in-law works at the county armed detachment. Believe me, one call and I’ll bring a hundred men to smash your station.”

The chief was furious but powerless, so he focused on seeing us off safely. As we were getting into the car, he told us that her second son-in-law was indeed a secretary to a leader at the county armed detachment. If he spoke ill of the chief to his superior, the chief could be in real trouble.

Old Lin was livid. “This is ridiculous. Don’t worry, I’ll report this to our superiors. If he dares abuse his power, I’ll make sure that leader in the county armed forces is removed first.”

The chief hurriedly thanked Old Lin.

On our way back, Tang Jingjing asked Old Lin in displeasure why he was helping the chief. “He’s not a good man. As the head goes, so goes the tail. Look at his son—what a delinquent, disgusting.”

As we neared the station, we saw Huang Miaomiao coming out. Spotting us, he quickly veered away. He seemed uneasy, so I had the car stop, approached with a smile, and said, “Huang Miaomiao, Old Lin wants to treat you to a feast. Want to join us?”

“No thanks.” Huang Miaomiao waved a hand. “Not interested.” With that, he turned and left. He seemed off to me.

Just as I got out of the car, someone crawled out of the station—it was Lai San’er.

Seeing us, Lai San’er shouted for help. Li Hong rushed over instinctively, scanning the area for danger but found none.

“What’s wrong?” Li Hong asked in a deep voice.

“Someone wants to kill me!” Lai San’er cried. “You have to protect me. The murderer really wants to kill me!”

Old Lin asked, “Who wants to kill you?”

“The chief’s son,” Lai San’er said. “He’s the murderer. I have evidence he killed someone, so he said he’d kill me tonight to silence me.”

Old Lin asked, “What evidence do you have?”

Lai San’er glanced about nervously, then whispered, “You know, just days before Wang Dalong died, Huang Miaomiao and Dalong had a serious fight—Dalong nearly stabbed Miaomiao to death. You know Huang Miaomiao’s temper—threaten him like that, of course he’d want the other dead. He even said on the spot he’d get his dad to kill Dalong…”

“Hey, why are you still hanging around the station?” Just then, Xiao Li from the duty room came out and scolded Lai San’er. “You want to come in for another cup of tea?”

I stopped Xiao Li. “Don’t be so hasty. We’re just asking Lai San’er some questions. By the way, he just said that Huang Miaomiao and Wang Dalong fought a few days ago—is that true?”

Xiao Li laughed. “Don’t listen to him ramble. Besides, kids fighting is nothing new—no need to kill over it.”

“So they did fight?” Old Lin pressed, serious.

Xiao Li sobered. “Yes, they did, but it didn’t get out of hand. I heard it was over a girl. Kids these days don’t even know what love is—they’re already calling each other husband and wife.”

Old Lin mused, “So both Huang Miaomiao and Wang Dalong liked the same girl?”

Xiao Li nodded. “Who doesn’t like a pretty girl?”

Old Lin gave a noncommittal grunt.

Lai San’er pleaded with us again, begging for protection or else he’d be dead by nightfall—even if the chief didn’t do it himself, he’d find someone else to kill him.

Old Lin smiled wryly. “Don’t worry, we’re here. No one would dare kill you in broad daylight. You’re free to go—we won’t pursue today’s mess, but don’t spread rumors again. It clouds our judgment.”

Still, Lai San’er begged, but Old Lin paid no more heed. In the end, Xiao Li called two men to drag Lai San’er away.

Xiao Li told us that before Lai San’er was crippled, he was always getting locked up by the chief for theft. So he bore a grudge—this was all revenge.

Old Lin smiled, “We understand. It’s getting late, I’ll turn in. I’m not as energetic as you young people.”

Xiao Li offered to see us off, but I waved it off. “It’s fine, we’ll drive ourselves back. From now on, the station must always be manned—twenty-four hours—and the morgue especially. No outsiders allowed in again.”

Xiao Li agreed at once.

Back at the guesthouse, Old Lin laid out our next steps. This time, it would be a covert operation—absolutely no police at the station could be told. Old Lin suspected the perpetrator was from within the force. Otherwise, in a small village, who could commit murder so cleanly?

He was right. The police had already canvassed the village before we arrived; there were no strangers, so the culprit was almost certainly local. Most villagers were elderly, so ironically, the biggest suspects were the police themselves.

As for Lai San’er, for all his mental issues, his words couldn’t be ignored—they might provide important clues.

Li Hong went to secretly monitor Lai San’er. Tang Jingjing and I went to investigate the rumor that Huang Miaomiao and Wang Dalong liked the same girl.

It happened to be school dismissal time, so we disguised ourselves as bubble tea vendors and set up near the school. The bubble tea cart was requisitioned for our operation.

When students came to buy bubble tea, I casually asked, “Hey, do you know Huang Miaomiao from your school?”

“Of course,” a student replied. “He’s the school bully, everyone knows him.”

I smiled, “I heard he has a girlfriend—dating at such a young age. Don’t your teachers care?”

“Ha, our teachers can’t do anything. His dad’s the police chief—if you mess with him, his dad will make life hard for you.”

“Wow, that’s something! By the way, I heard he fought with someone over a girl?”

The student’s face fell at once. He muttered something about having to go and hurried off.

Tang Jingjing cursed, “Hey! Where are you going? You haven’t paid yet!”

I stopped her. “Let him go. It’s just a cup of tea. I think he realized we were investigating Wang Dalong and got scared.”

She said, “So by your logic, Huang Miaomiao and Wang Dalong really fell out over a girl?”

I nodded.

Just then, Li Hong called with an important discovery.

I asked, “What is it?”

Li Hong said, “Lai San’er—he just stood up.”

“What?” I was stunned. “Isn’t he paralyzed? How could a paralyzed man stand up?”