55

Having made his decision, Zheng Nanle had a great appetite. After finishing the noodles, he asked Old Lady Zheng for a few sweet potatoes, which he then roasted in the fire.

Old Mrs. Zheng didn't dare to offend her, so she opened the cabinet and gave Zheng Nanle two.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zheng Nanle patted his behind and left the Zheng family.

The Zheng family was left wondering whether she was angry or not.

If she's angry, you have to worry about her causing trouble for the Zheng family. If she's not angry, wait, is she really that magnanimous? If she's not angry about this, then why is she so unmagnanimous towards the Zheng family?

The Zheng family are still her relatives.

Not long after Zheng Nanle left, Xie Rongjia ran over and called out, "Grandpa Zheng, Grandpa Zheng, where's Er Ya?"

He had just returned to the village when he heard from the villagers that Er Ya had come back, so he rushed over as fast as he could.

His brother left a letter for Er Ya.

"Er Ya has returned to the city," Old Man Zheng replied.

"Huh?" Xie Ronghua exclaimed in surprise.

Are we heading back to the city already?

It's so late, why don't you stay at home for the night?

Have all the buses to the county town stopped running?

The buses to the county town had indeed stopped running, so Zheng Nanle went directly back to the county town by crossing the mountain.

There were no roads in the deep mountains, so we had to make our own. On the way, we encountered a construction team carrying stones at night. Among them, we spotted a man who worked the night shift every day and had a conflict with his neighbors.

Zheng Nanle thought to himself, no wonder. Moving stones every day, covered in dust and sweat, no one could stand it without taking a bath.

However, this guy has great stamina; even after a long night, he still has the energy to keep his wife entertained.

Zheng Nanle didn't linger and went straight to the address written on the note.

Before getting close, she first spread out her spiritual energy and saw the old man sleeping in the room, raising her eyebrows slightly.

She had seen this person before.

While searching for the "Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry Series" at the junkyard.

He lay leisurely in the rocking chair, fanning himself, while another, younger staff member did the work.

He searched the neighborhood thoroughly, bypassed human surveillance, and went to the roof of the house next to his target's house, where he slept fully clothed for the night.

Fortunately, it was summer, so I wouldn't catch a cold sleeping outside, and the night breeze was quite comfortable.

As for mosquitoes?

With no mosquitoes around, the mosquito repellent packets made by Lu Guangbai are incredibly effective.

Indeed, as Xie Jianhua said, the other party's life was very regular, even leisurely.

He wasn't very close to his neighbors. Every day when he came home, he would eat and take a shower in his room. Unless he needed to go out, such as to get water, fetch water, or go to work, his activities were confined to his room.

When he arrived at the recycling station, he would mostly sit in a rocking chair, leisurely reading newspapers and books, with an enamel cup filled with tea next to him. He rarely left the rocking chair unless he needed to get water or eat.

He rarely interacted with the younger staff member, unless the younger staff member didn't understand something or didn't know something and asked him, in which case he would reply.

He is aloof and solitary.

When the neighbors mentioned him, they referred to him as that lonely old man, and they even used him to scare children, saying that if they didn't behave, they would end up like him, without a wife, children, or anyone to care about.

Zheng Nanle had been watching for half a month without noticing anything amiss. Just as he was beginning to doubt whether the information Xie Jianhua had given him was wrong, the old man finally made a move.

On a bright, ordinary morning, a woman walked into a junkyard and asked the staff, "Do you have 'The White-Haired Girl'?"

The staff member said, "Let me look for it."

Zheng Nanle keenly sensed that when the woman said she was looking for "The White-Haired Girl,"

The old man's attention was momentarily distracted.

There is a difference between being single-minded and multitasking.

Zheng Nanle seemed to be deep in thought. He took out a pen and paper from his sleeve, wrote a line of words, and handed it to one of his colleagues who were keeping watch.

Colleague: "???"

What just happened?

It's just the wind, then it's alright.

What's going on? Why is there an extra piece of paper in my hand?

The sky has fallen.

They need to go back and do extra training; the training will be grueling.

His companion was heartbroken. He told his friend and followed the woman.

When he got home in the evening, the old man turned off the lights and went to sleep as usual. He tapped on the wall six times, with a long interval between the first four taps and a short interval between the last three.

A dozen minutes later, a young man crawled out from under his bed, climbed back onto the bed, and lay down beside the old man.

Zheng Nanle recognized the young man; well, he was the old man's neighbor, quiet, honest, and unassuming.

His mother died early, and soon after, his father also died while trying to save the factory machinery. In the following years, he grew up with the help of neighbors and stumbled along the way. At the age of sixteen, he took over his father's job.

This is information Zheng Nanle obtained while investigating the old man's neighbors.

She hadn't thought much of it before, but seeing the young man and the old man entangled together, she couldn't help but start speculating about a conspiracy.

Could his father have been killed by his organization?

After his mother died, his father wanted to remarry. To avoid trouble, he simply killed him. But fearing that his death would be meaningless and the young man would not be able to grow up peacefully, he plotted to have him sacrifice himself for the factory.

In this way, the factory would have to take care of his offspring and provide him with a pension. With this pension and savings, the young man could grow up smoothly and naturally become a worker in the factory.

To take it a step further, the young man's mother discovered he wasn't her biological son and subsequently died.

Noting down this point of doubt, Zheng Nanle continued to monitor the following.

On the bed, the old man didn't look at the young man, but spoke softly and calmly: "The higher-ups are investigating this place with all their might. This place is no longer a hiding place. Release all the goods, abandon the base, and evacuate the training personnel as soon as possible."

"Goods from another province?"

"Entering Sichuan".

"Then what about us?"

"Silence."

The old man shook his head inwardly. The time was still too short. The eldest child from back then was only in his thirties. Currently, those old fogies were still in power, and these children had not yet ascended to the highest position.

Wait a little longer, wait a little longer, and the sunlight will eventually shine on this land.

The young man silently crawled out from under the bed into the tunnel, moved a small wooden block to prop up the plank, and then went out through another passage.

Zheng Nanle stared at the old man for a moment, then used his mental power to knock him unconscious and handed him over to his colleague who was keeping watch.

The colleague, who was startled, was speechless.

I'm questioning the meaning of life.

Is he really that incompetent?

How could someone just touch me right in front of me like that?

Zheng Nanle disregarded his mental health and said directly, "This is a personal matter; I'll leave it to your direct supervisor."

The colleague felt a chill run down his spine.

Zheng Nanle didn't say anything more and followed the young man.

The young man finally emerged from outside the city.

Zheng Nanle remained silent.

If it weren't for the cheating of mental power, it would have been really difficult to catch this young man's trail.

Who would have thought that there is a small tunnel just over ten meters beneath the bluestone streets of the county town?

The young man climbed the mountain again in the middle of the night, and at the top of the mountain, he lit nine Kongming lanterns.

After that, we went down the mountain.

Zheng Nanle followed him and found that the young man returned home through the tunnel. The next day, he went to get off work as usual. After another day, seeing that he did not make any other moves, Zheng Nanle knocked him unconscious with a palm strike on his way home from get off work and handed him over.

Back at the police station, Zheng Nanle went to Xie Jianhua and asked, "Have any more children been rescued recently?"

"No." Xie Jianhua's heart skipped a beat. "Have you found out any new information?"

"That old man hasn't confessed yet?" Zheng Nanle asked in surprise. "You haven't used any severe torture on him."

Xie Jianhua waved his hand, "Our country values ​​poetry and etiquette, how could we possibly use torture to force a confession? He didn't confess, he's too tough to back down."

Zheng Nanle chuckled.

They really thought the higher-ups were being lenient?

"They are preparing to abandon this place and move to Sichuan."

"Sure?"

Xie Jianhua looked solemn.

Zheng Nanle nodded.

We need to speed things up. If they really do move, all our efforts will be in vain, and it will be even harder to catch these rats.

"The executor released nine Kongming lanterns on the mountain outside the city, which seemed to be a signal. I couldn't find anyone on the mountain to receive the signal. The Kongming lanterns are high up and can be seen from afar. It's hard to say where that group of people are hiding."

Zheng Nanle couldn't help but curse the other party inwardly for being cunning.

This world is much harder to navigate than the end times.

"Er Ya, you've worked hard. The higher-ups will investigate." Xie Jianhua patted Zheng Nanle on the shoulder. "This time, you deserve a major commendation. The organization will not forget your contribution."

Zheng Nanle nodded and said, "After this is over, I need to take a month's leave."

"Are you taking such a long leave?" Xie Jianhua asked, troubled. "What's the matter?"

"Go find my runaway fiancé."

"Oh." Xie Jianhua patted his forehead when he heard Zheng Nanle mention her fiancé, and took an envelope out of the drawer. "This is what Ronghua asked me to give you. He said it was left for you by Doctor Lu."

"When Dr. Lu left, he wanted to look for you, but you were busy, so he couldn't find you and could only leave a letter."

“Read the letter before deciding whether you need to ask for leave,” Xie Jianhua said, then quickly added, “I didn’t read your letter on purpose, but in handling this case, we are required to check all the letters.”

Zheng Nanle opened it.

In the letter, Dr. Lu didn't say much. In this era, letter writing is reserved and understated. The letter is short but the feelings are deep. The deep feelings are in the ordinary daily narration in the letter, and you have to feel it for yourself.

Dr. Lu said that his grandfather was going back to the capital. His grandfather was old and he was worried about him, so he took his grandfather home first. He would come back after his grandfather was settled there.

If the two of them don't have the chance to go to the capital later, they will bring their grandfather back and the three of them will live together in Liushan Village.

At the end of the letter, he wrote a sweet nothing that could hardly be called sweet talk: "I gaze at the bright moonlight, the full moon as it was yesterday, and I suddenly recall that the last time I saw you was when the moon was a crescent. Next month, when the moon is full, I will strive to see you again."

Zheng Nanle put away the letter and nodded, saying, "Please."

“Okay, I can only ask for half a month.” Xie Jianhua shortened the time by half.

"Half a month is fine too." Zheng Nanle thought for a moment and felt that half a month would be enough for her to sleep to her heart's content.

Yes, even after receiving Dr. Lu's letter, Zheng Nanle's desire to sleep with Dr. Lu not only didn't diminish, but actually intensified.

"Brother Jianhua, can I help interrogate those people we arrested?" Zheng Nanle volunteered.

Xie Jianhua shook his head, "There are professional interrogators."

"Let's wait and see. I'll let you know if there's any new information."

Zheng Nanle nodded, then remembered something and asked, "Did Butcher Zhang give any instructions?"

“He doesn’t know much; he’s just a pawn executing a plan.” Xie Jianhua shook his head. “He,”

Xie Jianhua frowned. "He has some mental issues. Every night he kneels and begs for mercy in the void, saying he will never dare to do it again. From what he said, it's his two ex-wives who are taking his life."

He held the cigarette in his mouth, but out of consideration for Zheng Nanle, he didn't smoke it. "The experts said that a master hypnotized him or drugged him, causing him to hallucinate. A couple of days ago, he hit his head against the wall and couldn't be saved; he died."

"I don't know whether those who are dealing with Butcher Zhang are friends or foes. This method is a bit troublesome."

Troublesome Zheng Nanle: "..."

I didn't dare answer the question.

She coughed lightly and said, "His child?"

“It’s not his; they were kidnapped. We’ll find their parents for them, and they’ll be temporarily placed under the care of the neighborhood office.”

Zheng Nanle simply asked, "The two children's lives in the future won't be any worse than when Butcher Zhang was still alive."

She used this as a starting point to say what followed: "I find it strange that Zhang the Butcher's cousin and Zhang the Butcher are in such different positions. Are the two families really brothers?"

Xie Jianhua paused in his smoking, "The angle you're looking at is quite novel; I'll report it."

"OK."

Zheng Nanle didn't linger and left Xie Jianhua's office.

Although he was supposed to wait for news from above, Zheng Nanle didn't wait at the bureau and still applied to go on field duty.

Since those people are going to release all the goods, they must be planning something big. She'll see if she can find any new clues.

Just as I left the room, I saw a man who was only half-acquainted with me outside.

The older brother who misunderstood that his neighbor was coveting his wife.

The man hesitated outside the door, looking conflicted. Zheng Nanle greeted him, saying, "Brother, what's wrong? Come in. We're the police, here to help people solve their problems. You can tell us anything."

The man chuckled sheepishly, scratched his head sheepishly, and followed them inside.

"Officer Zheng, it's really nothing serious." The older brother sat on the table, hesitant.

Zheng Nanle thought for a moment and asked, "Did your neighbor call off the wedding?"

"Ah, no, he and Sanxiang are already married." The eldest brother composed himself and said, "Actually, it's like this..."

My older brother works in engineering, in the night shift, clearing mountains, surveying terrain, building roads, and cutting tunnels.

When working at night, I could always hear crying and voices nearby, but when I went to investigate, I found nothing.

The ghost story spread like wildfire and couldn't be stopped.

It is said that Confucius did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits, but in reality, those who work in engineering still pay attention to certain things behind the scenes. Therefore, when this incident occurred, some people in the construction team said that the mountain god did not allow them to open up the mountain and demanded that they change their route.

That man was a staunch materialist who followed the great man's lead. He came to report the case, suspecting that bad people were deliberately sabotaging socialist construction.

But then he felt that his doubts were completely unfounded, which is why he hesitated.

Zheng Nanle put away his pen and paper and said to his elder brother, "Alright, elder brother, I'll go with you."

During the day, another group of people were moving stones and surveying and recording the rock texture. When they saw the older brother, they greeted him.

Seeing that their elder brother had actually called the police, the group of people were both amused and exasperated, but also hoped that the matter could be resolved as soon as possible.

Do you really think the route can be changed whenever you want?

Every road is the result of countless preliminary surveys and calculations to arrive at the most suitable design.

Zheng Nanle released his spiritual power and circled around in the mountains, then asked his elder brother which direction the sound came from and its approximate range, before carefully examining it.

Her spiritual power is limited; it can only extend to a distance of fifty meters around her. Beyond that, it becomes invisible. If she were to penetrate mountains or rocks, it would require energy, further reducing the range she could see.

However, it's enough for this world.

After careful investigation, Zheng Nanle indeed discovered something amiss.