Chapter 383 The Price of Saving People

Zhou Yi held the pen, but didn't know how to start writing.

Wu Yongcheng asked him to make a list of people to investigate, but he still hadn't figured out how to start.

If we follow the previous life, he remembered very clearly the core investigation conducted by the task force around Lu Xiaoshuang's social relations.

Lu Xiaoshuang has 7 roommates.

There are 7 direct and collateral relatives in Hongcheng.

There are 6 teachers teaching public compulsory courses, 5 teachers teaching professional compulsory courses, 2 teachers teaching public elective courses, and 1 counselor.

There are 56 students of the same level and major.

There are 53 high school classmates and teachers.

I had direct contact with 19 colleagues at my part-time job within the past six months.

A total of 149 people are all those who have a clear social relationship with Lu Xiaoshuang.

It is also the target of the first core investigation.

Apart from the people she met at a few part-time jobs, Lu Xiaoshuang's social relationships are actually very simple and are basically concentrated in school.

Zhou Yi originally wanted to list all the people in the school, but after thinking about it, he felt it was inappropriate.

In this life, how could I know so much before I started working at school?

So you can only write ranges, not numbers.

Moreover, the case in this life has changed a lot from that in the previous life, especially in the previous life, Xiao Bing was only the outermost investigation target in the fourth batch.

After thinking about it, he finished writing it in a few strokes.

After Wu Yongcheng came back from the cafeteria, he asked him how he was doing because someone called him while he was eating.

The other party claimed to be Fang Gexin, deputy director of the Student Affairs Office of Hong Kong University, and the school leaders arranged for him to cooperate with the police.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the other party, Wu Yongcheng said that he hoped the two sides could meet at Hongda in an hour. He had some needs and hoped that Director Fang could help provide them as soon as possible.

So Wu Yongcheng hurriedly finished his meal and returned to the office.

Zhou Yi handed his notebook to Wu Yongcheng.

Wu Yongcheng read as he looked, "List of relevant personnel and their personal information: Class of 1996, students majoring in financial management, teachers of required and elective courses; Xiao Bing's main contacts on campus, interviews with his immediate superiors... Interviews with Gao Xiaofang from the girls' dormitory 309..."

"Okay, there's nothing wrong with that logic. First, find the list and information of Lu Xiaoshuang's social contacts on campus, and then we'll look at it. We won't have any large-scale interviews until the deceased's identity is confirmed. First of all, play it safe and don't scare the school."

Zhou Yi nodded, stood up and went out with Wu Yongcheng.

Wu Yongcheng threw the car keys to him and asked, "Can you still drive?"

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "Captain Wu, that's not the case. I won't be defeated that easily."

"That's right. Then you drive. I need a cigarette. I won't feel comfortable if I don't have one after dinner."

As soon as the two of them walked out of the office building, they saw Qiao Jiali and Chen Yan getting out of the police car.

"You're back so soon?" Wu Yongcheng asked in surprise.

"There are some unexpected things happening with Xiao Bing," said Qiao Jiali.

Wu Yongcheng waved his hand and said, "Let's get in the car and talk. We can go to Hongda together."

"Master, is Hongda willing to cooperate?"

"Well, I sent someone to do the liaison. It's just right, let's go together to recognize some familiar faces."

The four of them got in the car, Zhou Yi started the Santana and drove towards Hongda.

On the way, Qiao Jiali told them what they learned from the police station in Shangguan Street.

Logically speaking, going to the local police station is just a routine way of conducting external investigations. After all, there are only so many police officers in a police station, and there are so many citizens in the jurisdiction. If the police know one percent of the residents in the jurisdiction, they are considered to be very conscientious in their work.

So Qiao Jiali and the others actually wanted to go through the local police station and then find out the situation from the street committee.

Unexpectedly, I got some results right at the police station.

There was an old policeman who was about to retire in the local police station. He had no impression of the name Xiao Bing, but when they mentioned Xiao Bing's grandfather Xiao Fugui, he immediately remembered him.

It is said that the old barber Xiao Fugui is known to many local elders. He has excellent skills and they often asked him to cut their hair when they were young.

Then the old policeman sighed and said that Xiao Fugui was also a miserable man.

He said that if Xiao Fugui were still alive, he would be over eighty years old. When he was born, it had only been a few years since the fall of the Qing Dynasty, and it was a turbulent era.

Anyway, when the old policeman was a child, he heard from the elders in his family that Xiao Fugui had suffered all the sufferings in the world in his life.

It is said that Xiao Fugui never married in his life, and his son, Xiao Youfu, Xiao Bing's father, was a child he picked up before liberation.

That year should have been 1942, and many refugees fled here because of famine.

One night, Xiao Fugui was carrying his barber's box home, but he heard a child's heart-wrenching cry in the ruins.

He ran over and saw a baby wrapped in rags crying loudly, and a ragged woman lying next to him, who had starved to death.

In the distance, two skinny wild dogs were staring at this side with murderous eyes, ready to rush over at any time.

Xiao Fugui picked up a stone from the ground, drove away the two wild dogs, and then picked up the baby in the cradle.

It is said that after he picked up the baby, the baby stopped crying and kept sucking his rough fingers with its mouth.

From then on, whenever Xiao Fugui got his head shaved, there would be a child on his back.

He named the child Xiao Youfu, implying that he would enjoy happiness in the future.

In that era, people lived like drifting duckweed, and there were no procedures or rules. Once someone was adopted, it was adopted.

So, Xiao Fugui had a son.

He raised his son Xiao Youfu by relying on his barbering skills.

After liberation, the country conducted a census of the population and registered household registration, and everything gradually got back on track.

Xiao Youfu also grew up under the flying red flag, started working, and grew into a great young man of the new era.

Later, through an introduction, Xiao Youfu married and had a child, Xiao Bing. Because the day Xiao Bing was born was freezing cold, a rare occurrence in a century, he was given this name.

Just when Xiao Fugui thought that his hard work had finally paid off and he could enjoy the rest of his life, his grandson Xiao Bing had been a prodigy in the area since he was young, and always ranked first in the school in every exam.

As a result, a sudden accident plunged his and Xiao Bing's lives into the abyss.

In the summer of 1976, Xiao Youfu and his wife were riding bicycles with eleven-year-old Xiao Bing on their way home. When they passed a tributary of the Nansha River, they found a little boy struggling desperately in the river.

Xiao Youfu, who can swim, stopped his bicycle without hesitation and jumped into the river to save the man.

However, due to the recent heavy rain, the river was flowing fast and the water level was high, and Xiao Youfu, who was saving people, soon began to lose strength.

In order to save her husband, Xiao Bing's mother picked up a tree trunk on the ground and tried to pull her husband back, but unfortunately she also fell into the river.

In this way, Xiao Bing's parents were unable to climb out of the icy river water that summer evening.

Including the child they wanted to save, no one survived.

It was not until someone passed by and discovered the two bicycles and Xiao Bing standing blankly by the river that they realized what had happened.

Then the case was reported, and the police station sent officers to investigate, notify the family, and salvage the body.

A day later, three bodies, two adults and one child, were found downstream.

Xiao Fugui cried until his voice became hoarse while holding his grandson.

In the end, all Xiao Bing's parents received in return for their lives were banners and consolation money from the street office and their workplace, and the child's parents also came to express their gratitude to them in tears.

The one who responded to the call that year was the old policeman.

Including when Xiao Fugui later closed the household registration for his son and daughter-in-law, it was the old policeman who helped.

That's why he was so impressed.

"In other words, Xiao Bing is now a lonely man without any relatives?" Wu Yongcheng had smoked two cigarettes without realizing it.

"That's not true. He does have some relatives on his mother's side, but he doesn't have any relatives on his father's side. Since today is Labor Day, no one is on duty at the local neighborhood committee, so we can only go and find out more about the situation tomorrow."

This information surprised Zhou Yi a little, because in his previous life he had not dug deep into Xiao Bing's historical background, and he didn't know that he had such a tragic life experience.

Zhou Yi would not say that Xiao Youfu and his wife were fools. Anyone who rescues others is worthy of respect, especially in that era. The social atmosphere and people's ideological awareness were actually more inclined to believe that dedication is glorious.

But from the perspective of the police, and the subsequent changes in people's ideological cognition, this kind of rescue behavior that disregards costs, does not consider consequences, and even exceeds one's own ability is not worth promoting.

Saving people also requires methods and ways. There are no superheroes or immortals in this world who can save anyone.

People like Xiao Youfu and his wife sacrificed themselves while saving others, but ended up failing to save the child, and ended up leaving their son Xiao Bing an orphan. They really lost both the wife and the army.

What can I say? I can only sigh.

"What do you think Xiao Bing, who was eleven years old at the time, would think when he was standing on the shore?" Zhou Yi suddenly asked.

"He must be... terrified, right?" Qiao Jiali said. "Eleven years old is already a teenager. He should at least scream for help immediately, right?"

Chen Yan nodded in agreement, but Wu Yongcheng didn't say anything, just smoked silently.

Zhou Yi asked again, "So what do you think, after witnessing his parents die saving an unrelated person, will Xiao Bing choose to be like his parents, or become someone at the other extreme?"

Chen Yan said, "It's hard to say. Both possibilities are possible, but I'm more inclined to believe that he will become a good person like his parents. After all, he saved someone at the food court."

Zhou Yi thought to himself that Chen Yan was indeed a kind-hearted person, the kind of person who would always think positively of others.

He glanced at Wu Yongcheng, who flicked the ash from his cigarette, took a long drag, and said, "Don't think everyone is so noble. Human nature is very complicated. For an eleven-year-old child, losing both parents will cause a lifetime of psychological problems."

"If this person doesn't have a very high level of awareness and moral sense," he said, glancing at his apprentice Chen Yan in the rearview mirror. "Then there's a high probability that he'll go to the other extreme, because it's human nature to seek benefits and avoid harm."

Wu Yongcheng put out his cigarette and said to Zhou Yi, "I agree with you. Xiao Bing saving people is not normal."

Zhou Yi looked straight ahead and said nothing.

Qiao Jiali and Chen Yan, who were sitting in the back row, were not too surprised, even though Zhou Yi didn't say anything.

But they have gotten used to it. Sometimes there is a tacit understanding between Captain Wu and Zhou Yi that does not require much explanation.