[02/13, 15:13, Southern Cheng’an Cemetery, Haijing City]
It was not yet the Qingming Festival, and the Southern Cheng’an Cemetery was quite deserted. A seven-seater minivan stopped at the entrance, and a group of people got out one by one.
“Hey, the weather forecast said it would be cloudy, but there’s not even a hint of sunshine,” Yuan Maoqiu said, holding a bag of tin foil ingots. Behind him was Zou Bin, carrying offerings of wine and food. “Brother Yuan, you’ve got so many customs here, bringing so many offerings up the mountain.”
“The first year’s ceremony has to be more elaborate; it gets simpler later on,” Lü Kanshan replied, carrying his son Lü Miaomiao out of the car. “You’re so big now; you still want daddy to carry you.”
Lü Kanshan’s wife, Teng Xiaojun, said, “He’s just clingy, doing it on purpose. It’s because you always buy him toys.”
Yuan Maoqiu patted Lü Kanshan on the shoulder. “You’re a good father, Lao Lü.”
“Of course, I’m not like you, always single and having lifestyle issues.”
Yuan Maoqiu felt wronged; he hadn’t settled down because he didn’t want to get married. Just because he had dated a few people, it suddenly became a lifestyle issue?
Zou Bin silently added, “Maybe it’s because all the beautiful female officers at the bureau have had a relationship with Brother Yuan.”
“…” Yuan Maoqiu picks up a small stone from the ground and throws it at him. “Shut your mouth.”
They were all from the Haijing City Bureau, and Yuan Maoqiu’s gossip had long become legendary within the bureau. Zou Bin and Yuan Maoqiu were on the same team. When Zou Bin first joined, he was introduced to two prominent figures in the criminal investigation team—“Gardener” and “Chef.”
Gardener, as the name suggests, always with various flowers. Yuan Maoqiu, 29, if counted from his school days, had as many exes as his age. Every institution he had worked at had one of his exes, earning him the nickname “Gardener.”
The chef, as the name suggests, dealt with pots and pans. Lin Heyu in the criminal investigation team was famously the scapegoat. Any task that went wrong was always blamed on “Captain Lin’s misjudgment,” with no connection to the director, political commissar, or instructor.
The last person to get out of the car was “Chef” Lin Heyu. He was tall and muscular, with sharp, chiseled features and a healthy tan, contrasting sharply with the delicate-looking Yuan Maoqiu, who had red lips and white teeth and looked like a pretty boy standing next to him. Lin Heyu could easily take on five Yuan Maoqius.
Lin Heyu was always expressionless, not saying much unless he was working on a case. He got out of the car holding the hand of a slender, short child. The child, who was about the same age as Miaomiao, kept his head down, lost in thought.
“Xiao Shitou (Little Stone)! Are you really made of stone? Why don’t you say a word?” Miaomiao tried to talk to him, but he seemed not to hear, still keeping his head down. Compared to other children his age, he lacked a certain sunshine and vitality.
Lü Kanshan and the others gather together. Yuan Maoqiu asked quietly, “Still the same? Have you seen a doctor?”
“We have, the doctor said it’s a psychological issue. He had suffered psychological trauma,” Teng Xiaojun replied.
“True, even adults would be psychologically scarred by such an event, let alone a child.”
Lin Heyu, who had been silent, said, “He can talk, just can’t find someone to talk to.”
Everyone focused on Xiao Shitou again, eyes filled with pity.
In late January, a heinous kidnapping and murder case occurred in Haijing. Ruthless bandits targeted a private aristocratic kindergarten, kidnapping a school bus with fifteen innocent children and two teachers, using them as bargaining chips.
Their goal was simple—money. Families that could afford such a school were either rich or noble, willing to spend their money on their children. The kidnappers demanded an enormous ransom, threatening to kill the hostages if the police were alerted.
The kidnapping happened in broad daylight, and the parents did not need to call the police. The Haijing Municipal Bureau had already sent people to each family to understand the situation. The kidnappers were enraged, and a suitcase appeared at the entrance of the kindergarten. When they opened it, they found a child’s body.
The dead child’s white uniform was stained with blood, spelling “Courting Death!” The parents were terrified and tried their best to raise money. In front of the police, they either tried to hide the truth or avoided answering questions, for fear that their children would be put into the next suitcase.
The tragedy didn’t end there. Over the next three days, three more children were killed. The kidnappers moved the ransom deadline forward, threatening to kill more if the money was not paid on time.
Faced with such a severe case, the Haijing City Bureau acted quickly, conducting investigations, behavioral analysis, psychological profiling, and data collection, soon identifying a criminal gang of more than four members. The leader was a bald man, Sun Gui, nicknamed “Tu Laogui (Bald Old Ghost).”
Autopsies of the four dead children showed soil samples indicating their hiding place was Southerm Cheng’an Mountain. In order to prevent alerting the enemy, the search was carried out secretly. Everyone was in plain clothes, and even the police dog team disguised their dogs as pets and took them for a walk in the mountains.
On the fifth day of the search, progress was made. In a remote cave, they found six children chained together. According to them, they had been moved several times after being kidnapped and were finally kept there, receiving food every other day. Initially, the whole class was there, but some were taken away and never returned.
It seemed the kidnappers knew about risk diversification and decided to split the children, so even if the police rescued some, they still had leverage.
Among the children who were successfully rescued, one of them was Xiao Shitou.
The other children were returned to their parents based on school records. Xiao Shitou, however, had no information, and his fingerprints did not match any records. This child had no household registration, no known parents, and didn’t even know his name. Brought back to the bureau, he remained silent, sitting in one position for hours, earning the nickname “Xiao Shitou (Little Stone).”
How he ended up in the aristocratic kindergarten was a mystery, likely the result of the kidnappers’ previous crimes. Being kept with the other children led to his inadvertent rescue.
Normally, such orphans should be sent to welfare institutions, but he strongly resisted, clinging to Lin Heyu’s clothes. Lin Heyu was too busy to care for a child, so Lü Kanshan from the pretrial team volunteered to take Xiao Shitou home. His own son was lively, and maybe spending time with peers would help Xiao Shitou improve.
———
“Where’s Lao Zhang’s grave?” Yuan Maoqiu was out of breath after climbing two hills.
“North District, Row 15, Number 20,” Lü Kanshan points ahead. He was also exhausted. “Almost there.”
Teng Xiaojun looked back down the mountain. “Does Lin Heyu know Lao Zhang’s location?”
Before heading up, Lin Heyu realized they had everything but flowers, so he went to buy chrysanthemums from a nearby stall, letting Xiao Shitou go ahead with them.
“You see, your memory is so bad. Xiao Lin was the one who bought the plot for Lao Zhang’s grave.”
Teng Xiaojun angrly said, “It’s because I had a child!”
Miaomiao raised his hand and said, “Don’t blame me! It’s not my fault!”
Zou Bin watched this lively scene and quietly sighed, “This family is really lively.”
Then he looked at Xiao Shitou, who really was like a stone, standing beside Lü Kanshan, seemingly surrounded by a barrier that perfectly isolated him from the surrounding laughter and joy.
There were almost no people in the northern section of the cemetery. Not just the entire Row 15, but even three rows ahead and behind had no one coming to pay their respects. The name on the tombstone was Zhang Rui, an old veteran of the criminal investigation team. Lin Haeu and Yuan Maoqiu were both personally trained by him. Zhang Rui might not have been the most outstanding in ability, but he was a good mentor, humorous and young at heart, often hanging out with the younger team members to complain about their superiors.
Unfortunately, Zhang Rui passed away from illness last year, just over fifty. After paying so many years of pension insurance, he didn’t even get a penny of retirement benefits, which was truly a pity. Today marked the first anniversary of his death. His family planned to come during the Qingming Festival, so Lü Kanshan and the others decided to come earlier to avoid the crowds.
Zou Bin set down the offerings and food. Yuan Maoqiu lit the paper money. Miaomiao, jumping around like a monkey, got scolded by Lü Kanshan. Instead of reflecting on his behavior, he made a funny face.
Teng Xiaojun looked back and saw someone coming up the steps from a distance. She waved, “Hey! Lin Heyu! Don’t go past, we’re here!”
Lin Hwyu walked over, distributing the flowers—one bouquet per person. Then he squatted down, arranged the food, and took out disposable plastic cups, pouring a cup of wine.
“Master, Heyu and I have come to see you. We brought good wine and food. Enjoy them down there, but don’t get drunk.” Yuan Maoqiu took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, shook one out, lit it, and placed it in front of the tombstone. “And cigarettes. Next time, we’ll burn a set of mahjong. You can find a few partners yourself.”
Teng Xiaojun laughed, “Lao Zhang was always losing at Mahjong. If you burn him some, be careful; he’ll come and scold you in your dreams.”
“I wish he would come and scold me. It’s been a year, and I haven’t dreamt of my master… Hey, why didn’t Sister Ping come today?”
“Sister Ping will come with Lao Zhang’s family during Qingming. Even though she and Lao Zhang divorced, his parents still see her as their daughter-in-law.”
Lin Heyu burned a few pieces of paper, then noticed the characters on the tombstone weren’t properly painted. He stood up and said, “I’m going to the management office to get a paint bucket.”
Xiao Shitou, who had been standing there, quickly followed and grabbed his sleeve when he heard he was leaving. Lin Heyu held Xiao Shitou’s hand and said, “I’ll take him down with me. We’ll be back soon.”
Zou Bin watched their backs as they walked away and quietly discussed with Yuan Maoqiu, “Brother Yuan, don’t you think Xiao Shitou looks like Captain Lin’s son?”
“Give me a break. Lin Heyu has been single since birth. A son? He doesn’t even have a partner!” Yuan Maoqiu squatted down and continued burning paper money. “Besides, that kid is fair-skinned. Apart from being half-mute like Lao Lin, there’s no other resemblance.”
Lin Heyu held Xiao Shitou’s hand as they walked down the steps and asked, “Why do you want to come down with me? Isn’t it good to wait on the mountain?”
Xiao Shitou kept his head down and said nothing.
“Do you not like living at Uncle Lu’s house?”
Xiao Shitou shook his head. Lin Heyu held his cold little hand. Since he didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t press further. This child had a strong sense of autonomy, and no one could force him to answer questions he didn’t want to.
“There seems to be a ghost on the mountain.”
A soft, weak child’s voice sounded. Lin Heyu tilted his head, looking at Xiao Shitou, “Why do you say that?”
Xiao Shitou stopped walking, his lips pressed into a thin line, “Miaomiao is missing. I saw it with my own eyes.”
