Chapter 711 - 702: Without Mom, There’s No Home
Chapter 711: Chapter 702: Without Mom, There’s No Home
As Su Qing paced back and forth in the courtyard, the background voice in his mind grew increasingly frequent. There were a total of 12 people in the group, but according to the hints from the background voice, only six had been living here for the long term, while the rest were handling their affairs outside.
Only after they handled their affairs would they return to the streets to restock and set off again. At the same time, Su Qing had also figured out the names of all twelve people through the background hints.
Once Lin Chengcai and Li Zijun left, he took He Wendong and two newcomers around the courtyard a few more times. After failing to find any new clues, he left, instructing the two newcomers to sort through the clues here.
At a poplar grove in Shanghe Village, a group of policemen was setting up a cordon. When Su Qing arrived, he found that a crowd had already gathered. As he walked in for a closer look, he noticed a large pit had been dug in a recessed area, with a bloodied corpse lying nearby. Forensic examiner Zhou Ning and his assistant were conducting a preliminary examination, while others took photographs around them.
Su Qing did not approach the scene; instead, he walked directly to where Lin Chengcai and Li Zijun were watching from the perimeter and asked, "Captain Lin, where are Captain Zhao and the others? Did you inform them?"
"Yes, don’t worry, I’ve already notified them. But old Zhao is a bit uneasy, so they dispatched additional personnel toward the southwest. If clues are found, the other three teams can be mobilized there, and even old Zhao went up personally. There’s nothing to worry about!" Lin Chengcai replied.
While some police forces from the surrounding area were mobilized this time, searching the mountain proved challenging.
Never mind that Feng Mountain isn’t a small hill—it’s a vast mountain range situated in a remote location. Even Su Qing didn’t know what connects to the other side of the mountain. However, since Director Liu was already alerted, there must be a plan from above, and there’s no need for him to worry.
As his experience grew, Su Qing was beginning to master the art of staying under the radar. Although he had the background voice and strong abilities, he realized he didn’t have to get involved in everything. With or without him, the Jiangcheng Public Security Bureau had been solving cases and maintaining stability for many years.
In this world, no one is truly indispensable. He could make suggestions within a limited scope, but there was no need to involve himself in everything, as it would be counterproductive.
"With Captain Zhao taking the lead, it looks like this case is in good hands!" Su Qing laughed.
In response, Lin Chengcai also laughed and shook his head, "You’ve learned to flatter, have you? What a pity old Zhao isn’t here. If he heard you say that, he’d probably be really happy!"
"No, I mean it. The first time I met Captain Zhao, he was outside arresting people in plain clothes. With so many of us here this time, there’s no way we won’t make progress. But what’s going on here?" Su Qing couldn’t help but ask as he looked at the corpse in the ditch.
Fortunately, he was no longer a complete novice. Though lacking experience, he was not frightened by a corpse, especially with so many armed and uniformed officers around, providing a strong sense of security.
"What else could it be? The identity has been confirmed; he’s a villager from Xiahe Village who came here to sell seeds because it was almost time for planting. We suspect he saw something he shouldn’t have and was silenced. When our people arrived, we found the burial was hastily done, suggesting they were panicked.
Moreover, there’s news about the courtyard we visited earlier. The owner’s surname is Cui, named Cui Gui, who had one son. Following his son, he moved away to live elsewhere. Four years ago, Cui Gui’s son, Cui Zhiyong, returned to handle funeral arrangements, claiming his parents had died abroad and returned to rest in peace. After wrapping things up, Cui Zhiyong left and only came back sporadically until last winter, when he returned for good, often bringing several people back with him, drinking and playing cards all day long. Many people said he’s a no-good layabout. Fortunately, their home is in a secluded location, and there are few people in Shanghe Village, so they didn’t disturb anyone, and no one bothered them!" Lin Chengcai explained.
With so many police officers involved, the efficiency of the investigation was guaranteed. Getting this information was as simple as asking the villagers.
Listening to Lin Chengcai, the background voice resounded in Su Qing’s mind.
[Cui Zhiyong, male, 35 years old, unmarried, a resident of Shanghe Village, an aging bachelor from the countryside with no car, no house, and no savings. Last year, he coincidentally met certain individuals through connections in Mountain Lake Province, gaining access to this highly profitable industry. As Mountain Lake Province needed an entry into Jiang City, they hit it off immediately. Cui Zhiyong didn’t plan to stay in this line of work for long; he just wanted to make a big sum of money, then retire, buy a house, and get married. Yesterday, a conflict erupted because of his cautious nature with another leader in the team. When it escalated to murder, he finally realized the danger.
Compared to hardened criminals, he was still inexperienced. He didn’t realize it was all a trap, leading him to a giant mishap.]
As he listened to the background voice, Su Qing squinted his eyes. Without a doubt, Cui Zhiyong was one of the individuals hinted by the background voice, and clearly, there’s an insider. Otherwise, why would anyone come here without reason?
Of course, he didn’t need to say this; the other police officers could also figure it out. If they didn’t capture the suspects today, an arrest warrant from the police would be imminent.
Just then, Zhou Ning removed his gloves and mask, stood up, and signaled to the policemen around him, "Make sure to secure the scene, and take the body back with us!"
"Alright!"
Soon, the scene was secured, and the body was taken away.
"Xiao Zhou, what’s the situation?" Lin Chengcai asked.
Upon hearing the question, Zhou Ning took a deep breath, "The deceased has seven stab wounds, three of which are fatal. There are also marks of blunt force trauma on the body. This place isn’t the primary crime scene but a dumping site. The cause of death was perforation of vital organs, leading to excessive blood loss. As for more detailed information, I’ll need to conduct a thorough autopsy back at the lab."
In response, everyone nodded. Even without an autopsy report, they could deduce the general situation. The main objective was the capture of drug traffickers, and the homicide was an unexpected development. This meant the evidence was clear, with no need for a deep investigation. As long as the suspects were apprehended, everything would fall into place.
"Hey, brother, you’ve been in the limelight lately, and I’ve been seeing a lot about you on my phone. When can we have a drink together?"
After finishing the work, Zhou Ning waved his hand at Su Qing and smiled.
"Alright, once this case is over, by the way, brother, I heard you took leave the other day, what’s up? Is your wife pregnant too?" Su Qing asked.
Although he wasn’t as familiar with Zhou Ning as he was with Du Qiang and others, in the police bureau, they were acquaintances, so after the new year, he specifically inquired but only heard that Zhou Ning was on leave.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ning’s expression instantly stiffened, but it quickly disappeared: "No, something happened at home, it’s been taken care of!"
[Zhou Ning’s mother passed away during the New Year, he was dealing with the funeral at home]
Upon hearing this, the smile on Su Qing’s face froze too, what a thing to say, couldn’t you give a heads up?
Quickly, everyone dispersed, leaving only one to guard the scene, if everything goes well today, these people will have to pull an all-nighter.
Soon it was 6:30 in the evening, it was already dark, surely enough, in the southwest direction pointed out by Su Qing, footprints were found, and the people in the other three directions immediately switched directions.
Lin Chengcai, along with a few other department heads, kept their phones busy, always in calls, coordinating.
Li Zijun couldn’t go to the front line this time, so he was worried from the back, even the members of the criminal investigation team had their own communication channels.
The remaining group of people drove to nearby stores to buy a bunch of food, capturing Cui Gui was important, but they had to eat too.
Su Qing got into Zhou Ning’s car with a bag of bread.
"Brother Zhou, have something to eat!"
Zhou Ning was smoking one cigarette after another, seeing him get in, he couldn’t help but offer him a cigarette.
"Sure, looks like we won’t have any peace tonight! You should eat too!"
"I already ate, sorry Brother Zhou, I heard from Captain Lin, my condolences." Su Qing took the cigarette, lit it, and said.
"It’s okay, birth, old age, sickness, and death are part of life, my mom’s health wasn’t good to begin with, besides, doing my job, I’ve seen a lot, it is what it is."
Then they fell into silence, Zhou Ning started the car and turned on the heater, since the temperature wasn’t high yet.
After a long pause, Zhou Ning continued:
"My hometown is in the northeast, I loved eating the flatbread my mom made, and braised eggplant, and those mustard sticks cut into strips, when the stove pit roasted some chili peppers and mixed them in, it was super fragrant, every time she braised chicken, mom would save the drumsticks and chicken hearts for me, she’d always ask if they were mushy, eat the chicken heart, and next year you’ll be more prudent, and grow up not to be bullied, pick up the grains of rice on the table and eat them, she’d say it was plowed out ridge by ridge by her.
Really, during this time I still dream about it, dream about my mom sewing on the sewing machine, using my dad’s pants to make ones for me, dream of her feeding pigs, cooking, cleaning the house, occasionally hitting me a couple of times with a feather duster.
Kiddo, sometimes I just think, what do the potatoes roasted in the stove pit taste like, what do the chive pockets that I rushed home from school for taste like, I could never eat them as fast as she made them, it’s been over ten years in a blink, now it’s better, no one to plow the fields at home, no one to build houses, the old house is getting shorter and the stone monuments in the ditch are increasing, the road home is bumpy, even cars can’t drive in, that morning I deliberately got up early to look, the sunlight is the same as when I was a child, but there are few households in the village with smoke rising, it’s similar to this village."
As he spoke, Zhou Ning, a forensic doctor with a heart colder than a hypermarket’s fish counter, had red-rimmed eyes.
"Forget it, from now on I’ll just try to go back to the northeast less, with mom gone, there’s no home!"
Listening to Zhou Ning’s words, Su Qing couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness, maybe because his conditions were better, or because he was younger, he hadn’t experienced these things, but just listening was enough to make one feel uncomfortable.
Just as he was about to speak, a commotion suddenly came from outside.
"Everyone get ready, notify all departments, intercept the road, someone went south!"
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