Yi Shi’s new phone used the SIM card that came with the broadband service from Yu Xue’s house, and they were still on a family plan. Ever since getting the new phone, the couple Qi Wenyu and Yu Xue indeed hadn’t had any more conflicts. Now Yu Xue could directly reach Yi Shi when he had something to say, or video call him to make sure he drank his nourishing soup, eliminating the need for Qi Wenyu to awkwardly serve as the middleman.
Today, Yi Shi was once again forced to drink a thick, white pork bone soup. Yu Xue sent him a photo, and as soon as Yi Shi opened it, he put down his spoon and called him immediately.
“When did you find it?”
“Ten days ago, I just hadn’t told you yet.”
“Why?”
“Because the person just got out of the ICU yesterday. We took the statement in the hospital room, and I just finished organizing it and sent it to you now.” Yu Xue then changed the subject, “Have you finished the pork bone soup?”
Yi Shi picked up the bowl and drank it in one go, wiping his mouth with a tissue: “Finished.”
Yu Xue chuckled. As expected, a case was the best motivator for this guy. Normally, it would take him ages to finish a bowl of soup, but today, eager to see the information, he downed it in one gulp. Yu Xue instructed Yi Shi to go to the study and open the computer. WeChat was set to auto-login, and Yu Xue had already sent the compressed files to his file assistant.
Yi Shi downloaded the compressed file to his desktop and, after unzipping it, focused intently on the screen, fully entering work mode.
The location where the remaining hostages were found was Beicheng’an. The city was divided by the undeveloped Shan Shen Peak into the north and south. Though both had main peaks, the southern peak seemed like a child compared to its northern counterpart, with a much lower altitude and less rugged terrain, earning it the title “father” by comparison.
The southern peak of Cheng’an had an altitude of 832 meters. The main scenic area, temples, and forestry facilities were built on its rolling hills, but as you headed north, the population thinned out. Beyond the Su Bai River, you entered Beicheng’an, a place of true wilderness.
The main peak of northern Cheng’an towered into the clouds, perpetually shrouded in mist and snow-capped year-round. The other mountains in the area were all over 1,000 meters high, with desolate, craggy cliffs. Although the environment was harsh, human footprints still existed. Ten years ago, the small scattered villages on the cliffs were mostly relocated to the foothills by the Dengchang government. Only a few villagers refused to leave, calling themselves “mountain guardians” and vowing to stay for generations. It was one of these “mountain guardians” who reported the hostage situation, allowing them to be rescued.
Of the three hostages, only two were found alive—the worker and the child. The elderly person’s body was recovered downstream on a riverbank along the Su Bai River. According to the coroner’s report, the cause of death was acute myocardial infarction, occurring the same day Lin Erde was captured.
The worker and the child had ended up in different places—one fell into a ravine, and the other was found in a cave. The mountain guardian first found the child, abandoned in a desolate cave and faint from hunger. He immediately called the police, and the Dengchang authorities confirmed the child as one of the hostages. They then contacted their colleagues in Haijing, who worked overnight to rescue the near-dead worker from the cliffside near the cave.
Both were rushed to the hospital. The child was fine, just faint from hunger and woke up after receiving glucose. However, the child’s limited ability to describe the situation provided very little information. The worker, despite surviving the fall by being cushioned by a tree, was paralyzed and would be wheelchair-bound for life.
[Statement excerpt:]
“That night, we were forced to climb the mountain again, heading deeper into the range. Suddenly, the old lady collapsed and didn’t get back up. The bald guy urged us to keep moving, and I was too scared to stop. I don’t even know how long I walked, but there wasn’t a single decent path.”
“They went out together and didn’t return for three days. I had the feeling they wanted us to fend for ourselves.”
Question: “Do you remember the approximate time?”
Answer: “I don’t know. I was kept in the cave all the time, and I lost track of night and day. But before they left, I heard the bald guy mention something about a birthday, and Pang Daozi said something about getting rich together.”
Question: “And then? How did you end up falling off the cliff if they didn’t come back?”
Answer: “I managed to cut through the ropes binding my hands and escaped from the cave. I wanted to find help first, then go back for the kid. I didn’t expect to fall off the mountain. If it weren’t for that tree, I’d be dead.”
Yi Shi frowned slightly, his mouse hovering over the words “birthday.” According to the testimony, Pang Daozi and his group hadn’t appeared since December 10th, matching the timeline when Yi Shi had accidentally gotten involved in the kidnapping case and when the case in this world had seemingly ended. But what did this “birthday” mean? Whose birthday?
Yi Shi took a screenshot of the testimony and sent it to Yu Xue. Yu Xue quickly replied: “Not sure. We’ve checked all the suspects’ birth dates, and none match December 10th. If you go by the lunar calendar, one of Pang Daozi’s underlings has a birthday around then, but I doubt it’s related. It probably has more to do with Tu Laogui.”
Yi Shi: “Send me Tu Laoguis family info, all his criminal records, and any documents on his detentions.”
Yu Xue: “Oh, you think I’m a copy machine? His earliest records date back to when he was in juviniel, and Haijing didn’t even have electronic files back then. I’ll have to dig up the old case files and scan them one by one.”
Yi Shi: “…Thanks.”
This took all afternoon. By the time Qi Wenyu finished changing Yi Shi’s bandages, a large compressed file had finally arrived.
Seeing Yi Shi head to the study to use the computer, Qi Wenyu looked visibly nervous and followed behind him: “Hey, kid, you’ve been on the computer all day?”
“Yeah.”
“Just using WeChat? You didn’t touch anything else, right?”
Yi Shi shook his head, looking confused. Qi Wenyu breathed a sigh of relief. Right, this kid was way too straightforward to snoop around in other people’s F drives. But just as he relaxed, Yi Shi asked, “Where are the things I’m not supposed to see? In the F drive?”
“How did you know?!” Qi Wenyu blurted out, immediately regretting it.
“Once, we got a report from a woman whose laptop was stolen. She was begging us to recover it quickly. She said all the important stuff was in the F drive, and she didn’t want it going public.”
“……”
“Don’t worry, I’m saving all the files to the desktop, not the hard drive.”
Qi Wenyu was left speechless, utterly stifled. After this period of interaction, he had fully experienced the power of being “blunt and to the point.”
Sun Gui (Tu Laogui) had a life full of disgraceful deeds, much like Pang Nengshui, Zhao Chenghu, and the like. They all treated going to jail as going home—a bunch of scoundrels who ate the government’s meals more than once. Upon discovering that at age 26, he had been detained for ten days for fighting, Yi Shi suddenly remembered something and immediately searched for information on Pang Daozi in Yu Xue’s computer.
He quickly found that Pang Daozi had been to Haijing, where he was detained for ten days for soliciting prostitution. Both men happened to be locked up in the same detention center. For habitual offenders like them, having a criminal record that could be counted on one hand was rare; records of administrative detention were as common as snowflakes and might only be briefly mentioned in their files.
This was probably what Lin Erde had meant when he said, “They served time in the same prison.” They had always assumed it was a formal prison sentence, never considering the detention center. Perhaps the two met there, stayed in touch, and laid the groundwork for their future collaboration.
Yi Shi carefully reviewed every detail of this detention. Tu Laogui had started the fight after getting drunk. The man he beat up was Wang Yong, 24, who worked in Haijing, but his registered household was in Nanyi.
Seeing this familiar place name sparked some guesses in Yi Shi’s mind. He opened the list of casualties and hostages from the bombing and immediately found the corresponding name, marking it.
Then, he opened the case of Tu Laogui’s wife’s murder, going through every word in search of the evidence he needed. At that time, Tu Laogui was arrested and claimed his wife had an affair, but police investigations showed that his wife was frugal, reliable, and had no inappropriate contact with any other man after marriage. It was Tu Laogui himself who was overly sensitive, liked to overthink, and ended up mistakenly killing his virtuous wife.
In his confession, even a vendor at the vegetable market giving an extra scallion was seen as someone coveting his wife, further proving that he was not mentally well. This point was later brought up in his daughter’s case by the defense lawyer as a sign of mental illness.
[“… He would often get angry at my mom, go through her bag, and check her phone. If my mom said one more word to someone while buying vegetables, he’d lose it. My mom didn’t do anything wrong. She went to a class reunion once, and he nearly tore the house apart. After that, she never dared go to another reunion invite, just to avoid trouble.
Question: What kind of classmates? When did the invite come?
Answer: Middle school classmates. She dropped out after middle school. I remember it was on October 14th. She even specifically deleted that message on WeChat; he probably didn’t know about it.
Question: Did Li Man usually keep in touch with her middle school classmates?
Answer: Only with female classmates, no men. My mom was very honest and timid.
Question: How did they argue after that reunion?
Answer: He called my mom a wh*e, said she couldn’t forget about some man and was still secretly in touch with him. But there was nothing at all; it was all his delusion. He had paranoia.”]
Yi Shi pondered for a few seconds, then contacted Yu Xue. With quick typing and screenshotting, he sent:
“1. Wang Yong’s info; 2. Li Man (Tu Laogui’s wife) info; 3. Factory employee list; 4. Detailed account of Zhao Chenghu burning paper at the cemetery.”
Yu Xue replied: [… You’re using me as a read-aloud machine again? Do we still need Zhao Chenghu?]
Yu Xue: [Got any ideas? Let’s hear it.]
Yi Shi: [I think I’ve figured out the real reason for the bombing.]
———
That night, Yi Shi couldn’t sleep at all. His mind was filled with several lines of reasoning he had worked out.
His personal hunch was that Tu Laogui, out of personal grudges, had instigated Pang Daozi to blow up the factory. But this theory still required solid evidence to support it; otherwise, the most plausible option would remain just a guess.
What he wanted most now was for Yu Xue to gather the necessary information quickly. If it weren’t for his arm in a sling and his sensitive identity, he would’ve preferred to visit the factory and detention center himself.
In the bathroom, Yi Shi tried to remove his splint on his own. Qi Wenyu, having just woken up and still drowsy, walked to the bathroom door and was suddenly startled wide awake.
“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? You can’t just move the splint like that!” Qi Wenyu pressed down on Yi Shi’s left hand. “You’re being reckless. Aren’t you worried about a dislocation?!”
“I wanted to see if I could move,” Yi Shi said, wiggling the fingers on his right hand. “The fingers can move, so the arm shouldn’t be too affected.”
Qi Wenyu gave him a look of mockery, thinking, this kid seems to know more than I do as an old forensic expert. Should I just give the dissection room to you?
After his repeated advice, Yi Shi finally gave up on the idea of removing the splint and reluctantly returned to his room. Qi Wenyu wiped the sweat from his brow, feeling the pain of dealing with a disobedient child. He decided not to adopt again; he had Yu Xue and that was enough.
At 7 PM, there was finally some activity from Yu Xue, sending a compressed file containing the requested materials.
Yi Shi sat at his computer, first clicking on all the information about Wang Yong. Reading swiftly, he saw “Lijin Middle School,” and he felt more assured than ever. He then found the transcript of Zhao Chenghu’s re-interrogation and examined it word by word, finally understanding what Tu Laogui had instructed him to burn.
[Tu Laogui is sick. He wrapped the paper money in newspaper. I couldn’t be bothered to unwrap it, so I just threw it all in.]
Yi Shi extracted all this key information and was organizing it when Yu Xue messaged again: [Didn’t expect there to be unexpected gains; this should seal the deal.]
He sent a few photos, the subjects being young Li Man and Wang Yong. Although they weren’t in any intimate poses, their expressions revealed a relationship that was anything but ordinary. Yi Shi let out a sigh of relief, leaning back in his chair as the fog that had surrounded the case since it began finally began to lift.
Wang Yong was from Nanyi; his parents ran a fruit business in Haijing. He studied in Haijing at Lijin Middle School, the same school as Li Man. After graduating from middle school, Li Man didn’t continue her education and worked various jobs, even having worked at Wang Yong’s family fruit stall. The mutual flirtation between the young couple lasted only six months before ending their first love.
Later, Li Man was introduced to Sun Gui and married him. Sun Gui was petty and kept a tight watch on Li Man. Upon learning about her first love, he caused trouble at Wang Yong’s fruit stall after getting drunk. Eventually, when Wang Yong’s family business struggled, he returned to Nanyi and got a job at the Nanyi Machinery Factory. Although the two had never contacted each other privately, Sun Gui did not believe it and deleted the reunion invitation, which became the catalyst that led him to conclude his wife was unfaithful, resulting in a tragic outcome.
This man had a strong sense of revenge; even after more than ten years, he still hated Wang Yong to the core, believing that his existence was the reason his family fell apart. Just like Pang Nengshui, he instigated the bombing of the machinery factory, intending to kill Wang Yong, who lived in dormitory No. 2, finally settling the “hatred” that had lasted decades.
After hearing Yi Shi’s analysis, Yu Xue sighed, “Actually, I thought of this when you asked me to investigate. It was definitely related to a romantic dispute. If the root cause of the murder case could have been uncovered back then, the machinery factory case might have been avoided. This Tu Laogui, to satisfy his own desires, caused so many deaths; it’s absolutely insane. I wouldn’t feel satisfied even after he was executed for five minutes.”
“He isn’t even human; a tiger wouldn’t eat its own cubs. He’s worse than livestock.”
“Maybe he doubted his daughter wasn’t his own? What do you think about the ‘birthday’ issue?”
Yi Shi opened his notebook, his tone growing darker: “It’s not about a birthday at all. The date he killed Li Man was November 12th, and the date he blew up Wang Yong was October 30th. Those two numbers were just pieced together. By having Zhao Chenghu burn paper, he wanted to burn the newspaper that reported the machinery factory explosion for Li Man as revenge for her ‘infidelity.'”
“…” Yu Xue fell silent. He hadn’t encountered such a twisted criminal in a long time. He removed his glasses and pinched his brow, “I’ll report this; it should be fairly close to the truth. Recently, we’ve been operating with Deng Chang, and the entire Beicheng’an has been searched, yet we still haven’t found anyone. It’s really troubling.”
“It shouldn’t… be found,” Yi Shi said softly.
In this world, cases came to an end, while in another world, cases continued. No matter how hard they struggled here, it was all in vain.
———
On the eve of New Year’s Day, the entire team from Nanyi withdrew from Haijing, returning to normal operations. The bus there had been filled to capacity, but on the way back, one seat was left empty, casting a faint air of sorrow over the cabin.
“We’re taking a break for now. The leadership said everyone should rest well during this legal holiday; you’ve all worked hard during this time,” Yu Xue clapped his hands. “Alright, no need to look so glum. How many days has it been since you went home? Aren’t you happy to be on vacation?”
Ding Ju lowered his head, feebly muttering, “Yi Shi isn’t here.”
Suddenly, the atmosphere inside the bus grew heavier. Yu Xue crossed his arms and said, “He’s just temporarily missing, not dead. The outside rumors make it sound like he’s really gone. You guys believed it too?”
Hearing this, everyone shook their heads. Li Changsheng supported his head with his hand and said, “But it’s been so long; has it been twenty days? I’m really worried he’s been caught and is being tortured to death by those criminals.”
Shao Shiqing placed a hand on his shoulder, “That won’t happen. Yi Shi is so capable; if he’s going to be tortured, he’d be torturing the others instead.”
“So, since you trust him so much, why worry?” Yu Xue smiled faintly. “At the right time, he will come back.”
After more than five hours of travel, the Jin Cup bus turned into the city bureau’s gate. Ding Ju was the first to jump out of the vehicle, stretching, “Finally back! I almost forgot what the air in Nanyi smelled like.”
Shao Shiqing found it both funny and frustrating. The air this kid missed was probably the smell of the skewers from the barbecue shop across from the police station.
Li Changsheng looked around, scratching the back of his head. “What’s going on? Why do you all look at us so weirdly? You don’t really think our entire team is dead, do you?”
“…” The three of them were speechless.
“It’s true! The lady from the liquor store next door usually smiles at me, but just now she looked at me like she saw a ghost.”
Yu Xue smiled and suggested he go buy a pack of cigarettes. Once he spent some money, the lady’s friendliness would definitely return.
After the team dispersed, everyone took their luggage and returned home. Yu Xue took a taxi back. He knew there would be activities on the game for New Year’s Eve, so he didn’t bother notifying Qi Wenyu to come pick him up. He opened the door to his apartment, finding the living room lights on but the place empty and quiet. At this hour, everyone should be home, and the doors to the study and Yi Shi’s room were both closed. They were probably focused on their own tasks and didn’t hear him come in.
Yu Xue ignored Qi Wenyu and quietly opened Yi Shi’s door. He saw the slender figure sitting on the edge of the bed, his left hand gripping his right wrist, repeatedly trying to lift a small dumbbell.
Yi Shi’s expression was focused, his brows furrowed in concentration. Each time he instinctively relaxed his grip, he showed a hint of frustration, but he adjusted his emotions back almost immediately and continued repeating the motion.
“Wenyu was right; you really can’t sit still for a moment.”
Yi Shi looked up, caught in the act, his eyes filled with surprise. Yu Xue pointed at the dumbbell. “Did Qi Wenyu agree to this?”
Yi Shi, feeling guilty, shifted his gaze away, placing the dumbbell aside, as if to distance himself from the evidence of his actions.
“I think he needs some discipline,” Yu Xue chuckled. “Although I’m not a doctor, I also had a fracture when I was younger. When I went for a checkup a month later, the doctor let me try to exercise my arm.”
Yi Shi wanted to argue that he was in good shape and recovered quickly, but just then, Qi Wenyu burst out of the study, running and shouting, “You little rascal, you stole the dumbbell while I wasn’t paying attention, didn’t you? I told you it’s not allowed! You have to rest! You… huh? Yu Xue, you’re back?! Why didn’t you tell me when you came back?”
Yu Xue smiled silently, and Qi Wenyu didn’t care if anyone was around; he hugged him and showered him with kisses. He noticed his wife’s smile remained subtly strange and immediately raised three fingers, swearing that he had been keeping a close eye on Yi Shi. It was this kid who was too good at exploiting loopholes, and one moment of inattention led to trouble!
“Has the event ended?” Yu Xue asked.
“Not yet; nothing is more important than you!”
“Oh, then delete your account and quit the game.”
Qi Wenyu immediately put on his headphones and dashed back to the study.
Yu Xue rolled his eyes at him, thinking that this was just a middle-aged man being insincere. He came in to put away the small dumbbell and asked if Yi Shi had changed the bandages. Yi Shi nodded; the wound had developed granulation tissue, so he no longer needed to flush it. He could handle ordinary bandage changes himself.
“Really?” Yu Xue asked, puzzled. “Wasn’t that guy in a hurry to do New Year’s activities and just tossed the first aid kit at you to change yourself?”
“No.”
“You don’t need to take the blame for him; it’s only right that I educate him,” Yu Xue said earnestly.
“… Really not.” Yi Shi felt embarrassed, thinking that it seemed like Captain Yu was just looking for an excuse to blame him.
Yu Xue shrugged. Fine, if there wasn’t any, then there wasn’t. Noticing that Yi Shi’s face had gained some flesh and his complexion was much better than before, it was evident that Qi Wenyu had been putting effort into his diet.
Tonight, there was a New Year’s Eve party, and Yi Shi was pulled by Yu Xue to the living room to watch the live broadcast. Yu Xue opened a can of beer and ordered barbecue, thoughtfully splitting it half spicy and half mild to accommodate the needs of the injured.
Around 11:30 PM, Qi Wenyu finally finished his activities and contentedly emerged to join the barbecue. He put an arm around Yu Xue while teasing the lonely little friend, “Hey, why are you spending New Year’s alone? Where’s your boyfriend?”
“…”
“So lonely! We’re right next to you; are you feeling uncomfortable?”
“…………”
Yu Xue shoved a grilled corn into his mouth, thinking that he couldn’t even be quiet while eating; it was really annoying.
Yi Shi had no appetite and quietly stared at his phone. He was using a new WeChat account, with only Yu Xue as a contact; everything else was blank. In previous years, at this time, he would have received various New Year wishes, and not counting group messages, the ones from family always updated with heartfelt messages tailored to him. Especially last year, Aunt Lin even created an acrostic poem, urging him to get married soon.
And there was his naive younger brother, who had good intentions but was always clumsy with words, sending a long string of New Year wishes that he never copied and pasted but instead painstakingly typed out letter by letter. He reflected on the past and looked toward the future, trying to win his brother’s affection while worrying that he might expose his poor language skills, even consulting friends for help to crowdsource high-end blessings.
As the countdown began, the host started to count down, and with the sound of bells ringing, the venue erupted with cheers and excitement for the New Year. With the New Year’s arrival, the years rolled over once again amidst the sound of bells.
“Ding,” Yi Shi’s phone vibrated. He opened the message from his only contact, Yu Xue.
[Happy New Year 🎆! Everyone in the team misses you a lot; please come back soon.]
