Incineration

The wind blew the leaves of the old tree at the gate of the yard to the ground. The children chased each other and ran around the tree trunk. The sun set, and the beams of light shone obliquely, drawing a black shadow on the ground.

The nun followed the children's gaze and saw someone who had not been there for a long time.

When Chen An pushed the photo in front of the nun, she picked it up and recalled for a long time.

Hua Qi revealed the names of three people, Huang Shuwen, Zhao Yibao, and Cai Ruyao. After verification, all three left school in September last year. After that, Zhao Yibao and Cai Ruyao disappeared. Only Huang Shuwen had a record of examination in the municipal hospital, and the last examination was on September 17th.

Meanwhile, Bai Shuo investigated the social and family backgrounds of the three individuals. Zhao Yibo came from a divorced family; his parents had long since reunited, and he had been living alone since his grandmother passed away two years ago. Cai Ruyao, whose family had been farmers for generations, was a golden phoenix that had emerged from Shankala, but she had disappeared after leaving school. Of the three, Huang Shuwen's situation caught Chen An's attention the most because... she, too, had come from the Puxili Welfare Institution!

The nun turned around and rummaged through the padlocked cabinet. After a few minutes, she pulled out a file and said, "We have registered all the children here. Please wait."

As he spoke, he began to look for the name one by one, and finally saw Huang Shuwen at the end of the file.

"Huang Shuwen, I have some impression of her. She was a very frail little girl." The nun's calloused hands gently stroked the laminated photo, saying nostalgically, "She was abandoned in the orphanage. When we pushed open the door that day, she was lying peacefully at the entrance, not crying or making a fuss. We've encountered this situation many times. I held her and watched from the door for several days, hoping her parents would regret their decision and come back to look for her. But they didn't show up for four days. They left her nothing except her name on the wooden sign."

"Later, Huang Shuwen grew up in the orphanage, growing older and taller, but still frail and thin. One winter, she caught a cold and had recurring fevers. The director and I thought she was going to die, but thankfully, spring arrived, and she survived another winter."

Huang Shuwen grew up under the care of Ajin's mother, so whenever she talks about these things, she always feels nostalgic for the past years.

Chen An asked, "When did Huang Shuwen leave the welfare home?"

"About... after she turned eighteen," Ah Jin said. "After the college entrance exam, I heard she got into a good university. Before she left, she even came back to the orphanage to treat us to a meal, then packed her bags and left."

Suddenly, Ajin's mother thought of something and her eyes lit up. "Why, is she back?"

Chen An evaded the question, "Hasn't Huang Shuwen contacted you during this time?"

Ajin's mother shook her head. "No, I think I'm just too busy. I'm not in the province, and I have to study and make a living every day. It's normal that I don't have time."

Huang Shuwen took the college entrance examination and went to another province. After studying in university for four years, she returned to Jianan Province after completing her postgraduate studies.

"Did Huang Shuwen have any close friends when she was in the hospital?"

"Friends? If you're talking about friends, I haven't noticed anyone she's close to. However..." Ajin's mother suddenly frowned briefly, "If you're talking about someone she doesn't get along with, I do have some impressions."

"Has she had an argument with anyone?"

"There's one." Ajin's mother quickly flipped through the photos, her eyes locked on the girl in the yellow dress among the group of children. Pointing at her, she said, "This child."

She handed the photo album to Chen An and said, "I caught them fighting several times. One time, she ripped out all of Huang Shuwen's braided hair, making her burst into tears."

"What's her name?"

Ajin's mother turned a page and said, "There's a name written on the back. Look." Her index finger paused on the three bold characters in block letters. "Her name is He Chun."

"He Chun..." Chen An stared at the face for a long time, his mind clouded with doubt. "Are there any photos of him when he was older?"

Ajin's mother shook her head. "No, not long after this photo was taken, she was adopted and left the orphanage."

"Do you know her whereabouts now?"

Ajin's mother still shook her head. "We kept in touch for the first month, but then gradually stopped. I heard her adoptive parents took her abroad."

Chen An nodded silently, closed the photo album and returned it to her.

After that, the two of them walked around the yard twice.

When he was not busy before, Chen An would come here once a month to bring some supplements and clothes to the children in the welfare home. However, due to a series of heavy cases recently, he has not had much time to come.

The old director who had taken care of him had passed away. The banyan tree at the gate of the courtyard was still as strong as before. The only swing was being fought over by several children. Thinking back to when he was one of the people fighting for the swing, he let out a low laugh, which then caught the attention of Ajin's mother. When she entered Puxili, Chen An was just a little kid, but in the blink of an eye he had grown into a legitimate people's policeman. It still felt like a dream when he thought about it.

Ajin's mother stood under the banyan tree and watched him leave. There was a smile in her eyes and even her wrinkles were gentle.

"So you're saying Xu Lanxin has a vested interest in the Fu family?"

The two of them sat in a corner of the dessert shop. Li Ziyang told them the news he had heard and nodded heavily, "Why do you think she appeared in Weiyun Villa?"

Since the last time he was distracted while eating hot pot, Jiang Li revealed the name Xu Lanxin to him. Let's see if Li Ziyang can get some useful information. It seems that he has a good relationship with Fu Cun.

Jiang Li just took a sip of water, then realized what was going on and said in surprise, "Hey, you didn't mean to ask Fu Cun directly?!"

“…” Li Ziyang was startled at first, then nodded slowly.

Jiang Li slapped his forehead and lay back on the sofa in silence, thinking: If there are people like this in the organization, they are not far from "destruction".

Forget it, it's done.

"Are Fu Cun and Xu Lan familiar with each other?"

"From his tone, I don't think he's familiar with the topic." Speaking of Fu Cun, he recalled something else. "Do you remember the last time I told you about Fu Cun taking his classmates to Weiyun Villa and getting kicked out?"

"Ah..." Jiang Li didn't listen carefully at that time and had no impression at all.

"I heard that Xu Lanxin was there that day, but her father came back halfway through the dinner, and they were all kicked out of Weiyun Villa. I also heard from Fu Cun that Xu Lanxin often appeared at Weiyun Villa, making it seem like she was his father's mistress."

Li Ziyang raised his hand and waved it in front of him, "Hey, why are you so interested in her?"

If you discovered one day that you had recently met the victim of a certain case, you would also be interested, Jiang Li thought to himself.

"Are you crazy? Why are you back at this time?" Chu Tong roared as he answered the phone on the balcony. "Are you feeling like your prison life isn't enough? I'm telling you, if you want to die, don't drag me down with you!"

Wang Ruofei was calm and collected. He looked at his watch and said, "Don't worry, I just came back to get my things and run away. How about coming with me?"

When Chu Tong heard that this man was planning to escape completely, he said anxiously, "The police are watching me now! You'd better not show up. I'll come find you later with the stuff! Wang Ruofei and I are in the same boat!"

"No need, I'm already at the airport." After saying that, Wang Ruofei hung up the phone and never answered anyone's calls again.

He had been thinking about it over and over these days. Yin Shilu died so tragically that the police would definitely investigate thoroughly. They were the only two people who knew about the cancer in the second research group. Who knew if Chu Tong would sell him out first? To be on the safe side, he had to come back, and if necessary, all the responsibility would be put on him and Yin Shilu. He had investigated and found that if he knew about it but did not report it, he would only be fined at most.

He went straight to the police station as soon as he got off the plane. Compared with Chu Tong, he was more calm, as if he was really an outsider in this matter, and he was kind enough to tell the truth.

As he thought, the police already knew about the existence of Huang Shuwen, Zhao Yibao and Cai Ruyao, so there was no need for him to hide it any longer.

Wang Ruofei admitted that Yin Shilu had conducted cancer-promoting experiments. In the process, he naturally pushed a series of accomplice behaviors such as tampering with data and perjury onto Chu Tong, and repeatedly emphasized that he kept his mouth shut because he was deceived by Yin Shilu.

His confession led to Chu Tong being summoned again, having just regained his freedom.