Once Ji Xun decided to do something, he acted quickly. He first informed the police station, then confirmed with a lawyer, and finally, on the morning of the 26th at ten o’clock, he brought the lawyer to Xi Lei’s hometown, a remote mountain village called Xi Jia Village.
Ji Xun found the familiar withered tree covered in burls. In the courtyard behind the tree, Xi Lei’s mother was feeding chickens. Her name was An Xinhe.
“Auntie,” Ji Xun called out, “I came today to discuss something with you on behalf of Zeng Peng. He wants to take back the house he gave to Xi Lei.”
He deliberately mentioned the house, but An Xinhe was like a wooden doll, showing no reaction. She just stared at him blankly, turned, and went into the house. Then, Xi Lei’s father, Xi Zhengping, came out. Xi Lei’s father was short and fat, like a well-developed winter melon, rolling down the stairs.
When he was in front of them, his red, swollen eyes were revealed, narrowed into a slit on his face. A glint of three parts suspicion and three parts vigilance shot out from this slit. Xi Zhengping said warily:
“Take what back? How can he take it back? The deed has Lei Lei’s name on it. Now that Lei Lei is dead, this house belongs to our family. In the future, Xiao Fang will get married and have children in it. Don’t you bully me just because I’m from the countryside and don’t know any better, trying to trick me out of my money!”
Before Xi Zhengping came out, he was burning paper money for Xi Lei.
He smelled of smoke and sandalwood incense, and his eyes were red and swollen from crying. His daughter was dead, and he was truly heartbroken; he still hadn’t fully recovered—but that didn’t stop him from using the savings his daughter had accumulated over many years and left behind after her death on his son, buying him ten-thousand-yuan sneakers and a six or seven-thousand-yuan phone.
Ji Xun’s gaze shifted, and he saw a teenager on the stairs, head down, playing a game. Xi Lei’s brother was named Xi Fang. Xi Fang was a full zodiac cycle younger than Xi Lei and was still two years away from being a legal adult. He paid no mind to what the lawyer and Xi Zhengping were saying, and Xi Zhengping paid him no mind either. Ji Xun pushed open the small courtyard gate, went up the stairs, and struck up a conversation with Xi Fang:
“Playing a game? I play too. Let’s team up.”
“Uncle, are you any good?” Xi Fang rubbed the phone screen, frantically unleashing skills. “I’m Diamond rank.”
“Nephew, your uncle is King rank,” Ji Xun scoffed. No one knew how much time a bored author could spend on games.
The two teamed up and played a couple of casual rounds, winning some and losing some. The outcome wasn’t important. Ji Xun asked, “You went to Ning City with the group a few days ago, right? Did you think Ning City was fun?”
“What group? My dad’s been crying ‘woo woo woo’ over there every day since my sister died. How could he be in the mood to take me out to play?”
“The time you sold the podocarpus pines. Didn’t a lot of people from the village go? What, you weren’t there?”
“Oh, you mean that—” Xi Fang realized, but his attention was still on the game, which had his full focus. “That time, it was the aunties from the village going to the city to buy New Year’s goods. It wasn’t for fun. In total, only two men went, Teacher Cheng and Big Brother Ming.”
This answer was unexpected for Ji Xun, but in a way, it was a good thing.
From what the investigation had revealed so far, Tang Jinglong’s private dealings hadn’t earned him any enemies; on the contrary, they had earned him the reputation of a “great benefactor.” The probability that the killer murdered Tang Jinglong because of Xi Lei was now much higher. Considering this, there were only a few people with a motive: Xi Lei’s parents and brother, and Cheng Zheng, who had bought the tombstone for Xi Lei at the funeral.
On the night Tang Jinglong disappeared, Xi Zhengping and Xi Fang were both in the small village. They could be ruled out, leaving two people: Xi Lei’s mother, An Xinhe, and Xi Lei’s teacher, Cheng Zheng.
Ji Xun wanted to get a clearer picture of what happened on the day Tang Jinglong disappeared. He asked, “Who is Big Brother Ming?”
“The only one in the village who wears leather shoes,” Xi Fang said. “He lives two houses down from mine.”
Without having to think about which house was two down from Xi Zhengping’s, Ji Xun had already spotted his target in the crowd below. In a small village, everything moves slowly except for news. A group of people was now gathered outside Xi Zhengping’s small courtyard to watch the commotion, and among them was a young man wearing leather shoes.
Ji Xun walked down from the upper floor. As he passed the small courtyard, he saw the lawyer and Xi Zhengping.
The lawyer reasoned and cited legal articles, nearly convincing Xi Zhengping. The man who had been furious just moments ago was now beginning to hesitate, asking for details, “So… you’re saying Zeng Peng can take the house back, but if I let him move the grave, he’s willing to give us some compensation? And he doesn’t have the money right now, he can only give it to us after some time?”
“Absolutely.”
“What if Zeng Peng moves the grave and then backs out, refusing to pay?”
“We can sign a contract for this sum of money, have it notarized, and find a guarantor. See, it’s this gentleman right here. If Zeng Peng doesn’t pay, he will,” the lawyer said, pointing at Ji Xun.
This was what Ji Xun and the lawyer had arranged before coming. Part of the money for Zeng Peng’s house was from drug trafficking and needed to be confiscated by the state, but Ji Xun didn’t want Xi Zhengping to know this. He still wanted to preserve a final shred of dignity for Zeng Peng in front of Xi Lei’s family. After much discussion, they had come up with this roundabout plan.
After pointing at Ji Xun, the lawyer continued to persuade Xi Zhengping, speaking animatedly, “Think about what I just said. A daughter can’t stay with her parents forever. Just think of this money as a betrothal gift, and you’ve married your daughter off—don’t you all agree?”
The lawyer turned his head and shouted to the crowd of onlookers outside.
The crowd burst into laughter. “Yes, yes, who says otherwise! She can even fetch a dowry after death, a first in a hundred-mile radius! City people have money, they won’t cheat you. Just agree!”
Everyone agreed, and Xi Zhengping was convinced. He nodded his head in consent. “Since Zeng Peng is sincere, then let’s move the grave…”
There was a loud crash.
A wooden plank in the courtyard fell over, a heavy piece, and it smashed onto An Xinhe, who had been working the whole time.
Ji Xun’s gaze swept over An Xinhe. Since he had arrived, he hadn’t seen her rest—feeding chickens, hanging laundry, cooking, tidying the yard. It seemed there was an endless amount of work waiting for her here. She was like a silent old ox, plowing endless fields.
“Stop moving, stop moving,” Xi Zhengping yelled impatiently at his wife. “We’re talking about something so important right now. Can’t you just be quiet for a moment, come over and listen, and make a decision? I don’t know what you’re doing all day!”
The interesting thing was, there was no farmer with a whip behind this old ox. No one here was making her do so much work.
Ji Xun crossed the courtyard and walked up to Big Brother Ming. A little girl was following at his feet. In the crowd of men and boys watching the commotion, the little girl was the sole girl, exceptionally precious.
“Brother, have a smoke.” Ji Xun offered a cigarette, put a lollipop in his own mouth, and then gave one to the little girl. “Little sister, you get one too.”
The girl was dark and thin, her face smudged like a kitten’s. She looked at him timidly and hid behind Big Brother Ming.
“My daughter is shy with strangers, don’t mind her,” Big Brother Ming said, patting the girl’s shoulder. “Say thank you to the uncle.”
“Thank you, uncle,” the little girl replied softly, taking the candy from Ji Xun’s hand.
Ji Xun reached into his pocket and, like a magician, pulled out more candy. “Take a few more, share them with your sisters.”
“…No need,” the girl said in a small voice. “I don’t have any sisters.”
“Are you your dad’s only child?” Ji Xun teased the little girl. “Your neighbor’s sisters are sisters too.”
“Go play with your grandparents,” Big Brother Ming suddenly said, patting the girl’s shoulder and sending her away. He smiled at Ji Xun. “There really aren’t many girls in the village. Once they reach a certain age, they all get married and move away. Never mind young girls, there aren’t even many adults. Those with a bit of money or relatives outside have also moved away. There are fewer and fewer people in the village now. My little girl has barely had any playmates since she was little. It’s too lonely.”
“Rural population loss is an inevitable part of social development,” Ji Xun said. “By the way, I wanted to ask about something.”
“Go ahead.”
“When you all went to the city to sell the podocarpus pines and were eating at the Old Hometown Restaurant on the way back, did anyone leave the table midway?”
“Let me think…” Big Brother Ming recalled for a moment. “Yes, there was.”
“Cheng Zheng left the table, before nine in the evening, right?” Ji Xun said directly. “What about An Xinhe, did she leave too?”
“We were eating in a private room, and there was no clock on the wall. Who would remember the time?” Big Brother Ming shook his head this time. “I remember Teacher Cheng leaving; it was just me and him, the only two men on this trip. As for which of the aunties went out and which didn’t, I can’t remember. Why are you asking this?”
Ji Xun’s tongue moved, shifting the lollipop in his mouth from his left cheek to his right. “No reason, just asking casually. Another casual question: I don’t see a clinic in the village. What do you do for everyday bumps and bruises? A big plank just fell down. If someone wasn’t careful and fractured a bone, what would you do?”
“Don’t worry, there’s someone in the village who knows medicine. Auntie An is a nurse.”
“She’s a nurse?” Ji Xun was surprised, then immediately asked, “Is she the only one in the village who knows medicine?”
“There’s also Teacher Cheng. Teacher Cheng is a teacher; he knows a little about everything,” Big Brother Ming said as if it were obvious.
Having asked all he needed to, Ji Xun walked towards the location of Cheng Zheng’s house that Big Brother Ming had pointed out. Unnoticed, a hidden gaze passed through the crowd, quietly following him.
Cheng Zheng’s house was at the end of the village, a common earthen house in rural areas. The earthen house had unique clothes—childish drawings on the white walls: a sun, flowers, and children holding hands with schoolbags on their backs.
But they were all faded now, dulled by the harsh sun and wind and rain.
When Ji Xun arrived, Cheng Zheng was squatting in the yard, tilling the soil. He was doing it patiently and meticulously. When he unearthed hibernating earthworms, he would move them aside before continuing, so as not to harm the innocent little lives.
Ji Xun surveyed the place. In a corner of the yard leaned a fertilizer bag. Through the open mouth of the bag, one could see the white powder inside. It was boric acid; the words “Boric Acid” were written on the bag. He had seen the same thing in Xi Zhengping’s yard and in other yards along the way. It was a common chemical that could be used to kill cockroaches as well as for farming.
Tang Jinglong died from boric acid.
This conclusion lightly brushed past Ji Xun’s mind and was just as casually dismissed by its owner.
He wasn’t too concerned with how Tang Jinglong died, nor was he very interested in who killed him. He was here to fulfill his promise to Xia Youqing, to find the reason for Xi Lei’s death—that is, what secret of Tang Jinglong’s she had hidden.
The Tang Jinglong who killed Xi Lei had many secrets, and Xi Lei had observed many of them. But she was selective. She remained silent about the illegal surrogacy because she had met and knew that these women were willing. She continued to lie low, and she discovered a new secret. This secret was very important to Tang Jinglong, and also very important to her, which was why she disregarded the danger.
Nineteen eyeless wooden dolls, Ji Xun thought.
There was a possibility. If it was true… if Tang Jinglong had really done that, Xi Lei would have been furious, and she would have latched onto it. It was a pain she was born with.
But this was still all just speculation. Speculation could be as wild as one wanted, but to tell it to Xia Youqing as a true story, there needed to be some corroborating evidence. And the person to provide that evidence might as well be the only outsider in the village.
Ji Xun gave Cheng Zheng a brilliant smile. “Teacher, good morning.”
“Good morning.” Cheng Zheng was surprised. He quickly patted the dirt off his hands and stood up to greet him. “Is something the matter? Come in for a cup of tea first.”
“You’re too kind, teacher.” Ji Xun followed Cheng Zheng into the house. He sat down, watched Cheng Zheng busy himself, and when the tea was served, he took a sip and said casually, “How did it feel to kill Tang Jinglong? Pretty satisfying, right?”
Did Cheng Zheng kill Tang Jinglong? — Who the hell knew.
He opened with a bombshell, to unsettle him first.
Just as Ji Xun had said that day, Xu Xinran had played them. The “organ trafficking” involved in the under-the-table surgery he confessed to was nothing like the major kidney smuggling case he had hinted at.
The patient was an eight-year-old boy named Lu Xiao’en. He had been waiting for a kidney source since 2014, and the origin of the kidney he received was traceable.
The only problem was that, according to the waiting list, this kidney was not supposed to go to Lu Xiao’en.
After investigation, the police learned that before becoming a medical representative, Tang Jinglong had worked as an organ donation coordinator for a while. A close colleague of his from that time was now in charge of organ matching at that hospital. A different team from the special task force was already following up on how much financial interest was involved in this personal favor.
Huo Ranyin’s attention remained on the child, Lu Xiao’en.
Lu Xiao’en was admitted to the hospital on December 17, 2015, had surgery on the 20th, and was discharged 15 days after the surgery, on January 05, 2016. His grandparents picked him up, and the address they left was Room 202, Building 1, Xingfu Garden.
January 5th was only 6 days before Xi Lei’s death on the 11th, and it was exactly one day after Tang Jinglong terminated his lease at the Lizhu apartment complex. The boy’s surname was also the same as the carpenter who worked at Tang Jinglong’s home!
Huo Ranyin almost immediately recalled the unfinished blue and white flower stand he had seen that day.
That’s right, nylon anti-static gloves were one of the most common tools for carpenters. If Lu Xiao’en’s father, Lu Ping, was the carpenter at Tang Jinglong’s house and frequently went in and out of his home, then it would be natural for the gloves to be stained with white paint and Rao Fangjie’s DNA.
Huo Ranyin did not hesitate and immediately took people to Xingfu Garden. He knocked on the door of Room 202. A white-haired old man with a wrinkled face opened the door.
“Who are you?” the old man asked.
“We’re friends of Old Lu. Is Old Lu in?” Tan Mingjiu chimed in with a grin. His shiny bald head always gave him the approachable effect of a comedian.
“He went out to work, not sure when he’ll be back.” Hearing they were his son’s friends, the old man’s guard dropped. “Do you need him for something? You can tell me, and I’ll pass it on when he gets back.”
“Is Xiao’en home?” Huo Ranyin said, handing over the fruit he had prepared beforehand. “I heard Xiao’en had surgery. How is he recovering?”
Only then did Tan Mingjiu understand why Huo Ranyin had bought fruit at the stall downstairs on his way in. He covertly gave him a thumbs-up: The captain is still the most impressive, so thorough in his thinking!
“You’re too kind. Just coming to visit is good enough, no need to buy fruit.” The old man said repeatedly, stepping aside to let Huo Ranyin and the others in. He then called out into the house, “Xiao’en, come out. Your dad’s friends are here to see you.”
A door in the house opened a crack, and a small boy stood in the gap. It was Lu Xiao’en.
Lu Xiao’en was short and pale, looking a bit weak. He was holding a red crayon in his right hand. He first looked at Huo Ranyin timidly, then pulled the door wider. “Uncle, are you my dad’s friend?”
“Yes, little friend. Do you know where your dad is now?” Tan Mingjiu squatted down and patted Lu Xiao’en’s head.
“I don’t know,” Lu Xiao’en shook his head. “Since I came home from the hospital, Dad hasn’t come to see me. Uncle, I miss Dad so much. Can you call him and ask him to come back? Xiao’en has been very good. I take my medicine and study on time every day, and I even help Grandpa and Grandma wash the dishes and wipe the floor. I’ve done everything Dad told me to. Dad should come back to see me now.”
The door opened wider. Huo Ranyin saw the contents of the room. The small room was cramped with a bed and a desk. They were all made of wood, and the style was different from what you’d find in a store; they were likely furniture his father had made himself. On the walls were the little boy’s award certificates and his perfect test papers. The desk was divided into two areas: one was crammed with medicine bottles, the other had books and an iPad. The iPad was playing a Superman cartoon. He also saw a photo of a father and son on the desk. In the photo, the father was wearing a red cape drawn with crayons, the color only half-filled in.
He retracted his gaze from the desk and looked around the rest of the room. On the windowsill, he saw several small birds in various poses, so lifelike that at first glance, he thought they were sparrows from outside that had flown to the window. Only on closer inspection did he realize they were wooden carvings.
Carvings. He remembered the unique, seemingly custom-made 19 eyeless dolls at Xi Lei’s residence.
“These carvings are quite exquisite,” Huo Ranyin asked casually. “Have you ever sold them?”
“We have,” the old man who had followed them in said with a smile. “This craft is how he makes a living. When there’s work, he makes big pieces. When there’s no work, he makes small things. He’ll make a few and leave them at someone else’s shop to sell.”
“What kind of shop?” Tan Mingjiu quickly pressed.
“Some kind of craft shop, I can’t remember. It’s in the flower and bird market anyway.”
Tan Mingjiu was both surprised and delighted, almost shouting out loud. Huo Ranyin knew what he was excited about: the Yuanfen Flower Shop, where the killer had bought flowers, was in the flower and bird market, overlapping with Lu Ping’s area of activity!
If Lu Ping was the killer, it would simply explain why the killer chose a flower shop that wasn’t highly ranked online and wasn’t conveniently located near an entrance—because he was familiar with the area. He chose a shop he was already familiar with.
No, wait.
Huo Ranyin remembered the hand Ji Xun had put in his hair that day, and he suddenly realized—Lu Ping didn’t choose a shop he was familiar with, he chose one that Xi Lei liked!
He had made the custom dolls for Xi Lei. Perhaps… as he handed the dolls to Xi Lei one by one, he had fallen for this plain-looking woman with bright eyes and a warm, sunny smile.
He had just been silent, watching this woman from a distance, neither too close nor too far. All of his direct interactions with her were possibly just those nineteen eyeless dolls.
As time went on, this hidden affection could have aged like fine wine, or it could have dissipated into thin air.
Until one day, Tang Jinglong approached him.
He brought flowers that Xi Lei loved, knocked on her door, tied her up with a rope, wanting to get the answer that Tang Jinglong had paid a high price for—a healthy kidney donated to his child.
That unknown secret of Tang Jinglong’s that Xi Lei was hiding.
…
In the end, he smothered her with a pillow.
The heart of a father disappeared, and the heart of a man reawakened. He fed her birds, tidied her hair, and even placed one of her favorite dolls in her hand.
He left.
After leaving Lu Xiao’en’s home, Huo Ranyin, while heading straight for the address on Lu Ping’s household registration with Tan Mingjiu, sent Lu Ping’s photo back to the bureau and had them pull up the surveillance video from the Yuanfen Flower Shop again to compare Lu Ping’s photo with the person in the video.
Lu Ping did not live with his parents. He had his own house, located on the first floor of an old-style residential complex half an hour’s drive from Xingfu Garden.
By the time they arrived, news came back from the bureau: on the night of Xi Lei’s death, Lu Ping had indeed entered the Yuanfen Flower Shop and bought a bouquet of flowers!
The evidence was lining up. This time, Huo Ranyin didn’t hold back. After knocking and getting no answer, he led his team to kick the door in!
The door burst open, but what appeared before them was an empty, unfurnished residence. Only the smell of cleaning agents and disinfectant lingered in the empty house. Even the toilet and sink in the bathroom had been removed, leaving it almost a bare shell.
If it’s been done, it leaves a trace.
One or two of the patterned mosaic tiles on the bathroom floor were broken. Through the cracks, he saw a brownish stain.
The stain left by dried blood.
“Who are you? What are you doing?” a voice came from outside the door. A chubby auntie was looking in curiously.
“We’re the police,” Tan Mingjiu went up to her. “Do you know when the owner of this place left?”
“It’s been a while,” the curiosity in the chubby auntie’s eyes grew stronger. She chattered on, “Anyway, about a week ago or so, I saw him packing his things. On the last day before he left, he was still doing woodwork, making a loud buzzing noise. That night, I went out to throw away the trash and ran into him. I greeted him, but he just ignored me—after that, the moving company came to take his things.”
After sending the curious chubby auntie away, Tan Mingjiu returned.
“Notify the forensics team to come over,” Huo Ranyin said. “Check if the bloodstains here belong to Tang Jinglong.”
“Fuck, patterned mosaic tiles, bloodstains, emptying the house in a blatant attempt to cover his tracks. This is most likely the crime scene. The bastard is ruthless. Never mind his seventy or eighty-year-old parents, he was even willing to abandon his son who just had surgery without seeing him once. Is he even human!” Tan Mingjiu cursed loudly.
“It’s not that he was willing,” Huo Ranyin said coldly.
The little boy’s room appeared in Huo Ranyin’s mind: the award certificates on the wall, the photo of the red cape on the desk.
“He doesn’t have the face to go back and see his son—notify all departments, issue an arrest warrant for suspect Lu Ping!”
