7

By the time I arrived at the train station, it was completely dark. The streets were deserted, and the silence was so intense that I could hear the shrill calls of sparrows calling each other across the night sky. The air was thick with the scent of deep winter, and my fingers gripping the handlebars were completely numb. Where had the global warming that meteorologists so confidently claimed was happening gone?

"I'm in trouble now," I grumbled, blowing hot air on my fingers. "By the time I get home, the news broadcast will be over. My parents won't let me off easily."

"Who told you to ride so slowly?"

"How can we possibly go any faster with a burden like you?"

Gao Yang usually relies on public transportation to go to school, so I can only ride on the back of my bicycle. The train station is on the other side of the city, and the road is quite steep, which almost made me lose my breath.

I found a parking spot on the curb. "Now that we've reached our destination, it's time to tell us what we're looking for, right?"

"Time's tight, let's get in first." He jumped out of the back seat and headed for the main gate. Since it was a weekday evening, there were few passengers entering or leaving the station. Two ticket inspectors were leaning against the security checkpoint guardrail, chatting. Gao Yang bypassed them, walked all the way to the edge of the corner, and when no one was paying attention, he simply climbed over the guardrail.

I was startled and quickly used my face to warn him to hurry back. But Gao Yang waved from a distance, clearly asking me to follow. He couldn't hear me from this distance, and it would only alert the station staff. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and imitate him as I climbed into the station.

Seeing that I had also entered the station, he did not stop to wait, but walked quickly towards the waiting hall, knowing the way well. I quickened my pace and finally caught up with him.

"Hey, you need a ticket to enter the station. What are you doing?" I grabbed his shoulders and asked in a low voice.

"It's fine."

"What's okay? If we get caught and report it to school, it will be terrible. We might even get punished."

"I told you it's okay. And you care about the punishment? Didn't you and Li Zitong get punished in junior high? And we didn't see what happened afterwards."

"Don't mention that unfortunate incident to me..."

"Hey, you two guys in school uniforms, what are you doing so late?" A roar came from behind, and a station staff in a blue cloth uniform walked straight towards us.

It's over, I realized despairingly.

But Gao Yang just turned around and waved, and the staff member's expression immediately softened. "It's you, looking for your brother?"

"My mom asked me to bring something."

"He's probably in the dispatch room right now. Go look for him there." After saying that, the staff member went to patrol other places. The area he was responsible for was probably quite large.

"Are you really here to bring something?" I asked.

He gestured with his thumb towards the dispatch room behind him. "Of course, it's just an excuse. My brother is the deputy station chief here, and I'm using his name to get in."

"Then you should have told me in advance. I was completely scared just now."

"I'm scared now. I'll be scared to death later."

Sure enough, he took me and sneaked into the office area, found a gap where no one was paying attention, grabbed a bunch of keys hanging on the wall, and turned around and left. I was so scared that my heart almost stopped beating.

But he acted as if nothing had happened and said, "Just return it later."

His target was a locked office on the west side. He used the stolen key to poke and twist the door several times before finally opening it. There was no one inside, but a lot of paper documents were piled on the desk and in the cabinet.

"Let's work together and look through all the information here. We should be able to find the special train operation record book."

"What are you looking for that thing for?"

"Of course, we're checking the train departure records for this station from New Year's Day to the next day. Zheng Kun was probably using the railway lines here to transport the bodies."

"But didn't we just analyze that using public transportation isn't feasible?"

"Back then, they were talking about passenger trains. What we're looking for is a freight train specifically used to transport coal," Gao Yang explained as he flipped through a file. "We're a coal production base, and the bodies were dumped at a steel mill. Isn't the connection obvious enough? Cities with steelmaking industries are often built around iron ore producing areas, often boasting large-scale steel mill clusters. We might be able to open a dedicated railway line there to transport coal."

"Don't they use local coal?"

"You often get distracted in geography class, don't you? 80% of my country's coal resources are located in the north, while the nine economically developed and energy-intensive southern provinces and cities only account for 1.8%. Due to supply and demand, special vehicles are constantly transporting large quantities of coal from the northern production areas to the southern consumption areas."

I still couldn't understand what he meant. "What's the difference between a coal truck and a passenger truck? The murderer would have to take huge risks to get in and out of the train station and load the bodies into the train cars."

"So, outsiders like you have no idea." Although Gao Yang only has a family member who works on the railway, he speaks with the tone of someone who has worked in the system for decades. "Unlike passenger trains, coal cars are uncovered and travel at low speeds. Especially right after leaving the station, they accelerate very slowly. You can use that time to climb onto the coal car, or just jump in from a bridge arch. It's very easy."

"Would anyone really do that?"

"Of course, there are plenty. This behavior is commonly known as 'train hopping.' My brother told me that many homeless people rely on riding on coal trains to get around. There are also people who make a living by riding on trains. They travel all the way south to coastal cities to buy goods. They buy belts, bags, earrings, rings, and other trendy styles from Hong Kong, then ship them over to us to set up stalls and sell them. It's a lot of money. The people at the station can't do anything about it. They're short-staffed, so they can only turn a blind eye."

I also picked up the documents on the cabinet and started looking through them. Zheng Kun was a seasoned street thug, so he must be very familiar with this kind of illegal way of making money.

"Found it!" Gao Yang cheered, holding a book as thick as the telephone directory.

I hurried over. He flipped through the pages quickly, quickly finding a record from over a month ago. At 11:30 PM on New Year's Day, a coal train had indeed departed from our area, its destination being Wudu City.

We checked the operating records by train number and estimated that the coal truck would arrive in Wudu City at 4:00 AM the following morning. This allowed Zheng Kun ample time to dispose of the body before the steelworks security patrols began.

A trembling excitement welled up from the pit of my stomach. Wasn't this close to the correct answer?

I couldn't help but imagine the scene in my mind: a blinding beam of light piercing the night sky from the east, a gleaming brass locomotive, followed by a green train, laden with jet-black coal. The conductor blew the whistle, the train slowed, and the Wudu Railway Station loomed. Zheng Kun hid on a pile of coal in a carriage, terrified and sleepless. The sky was already dimming, and it was too dangerous to stay any longer. Taking advantage of the last glimmer of night's mercy, he tossed the body out of the carriage and then jumped. Without a bicycle or other means of transportation, he knew he couldn't carry the body very far. The outline of the broken wall of the abandoned steel mill appeared before him...

After secretly returning the key, it was already late at night. I completely forgot about the tragic fate I would face upon returning home, and was filled with joy. Gao Yang's expression was the same. Although we didn't have conclusive evidence, the breakthrough we had discovered made us feel that solving the case was a piece of cake.

"Thanks to my familiarity with railways, I was able to solve such a difficult puzzle." Gao Yang said self-indulgently.

"Stop talking nonsense. If I hadn't discovered the murderer's traces first, your deduction would be impossible."

"Alright, we'll each take half the credit... If we solve the case, will we be on the news and become celebrities?"

"I think it's uncertain. I'll probably have to remain anonymous."

"Can it be considered a major meritorious service and get extra points on the college entrance exam?"

"Maybe." As I emerged from the train's main door, the cold wind blew against my face, making it feel like it was freezing. I calmed down somewhat. "But the first step is to convince the police of our theory. Using the train timetable as evidence doesn't seem convincing enough."

"Well, that's true..."

"I've suddenly thought of a good idea. Zheng Kun has a close friend and henchman named Zhang Zhihao, who's the type with big muscles but a simple mind. I'll go find him and ask him some questions. Maybe I'll find out something unexpectedly."

"It's very dangerous, isn't it? Even if he's stupid, he's still a gangster. If things get tense, he might just start attacking."

"I know Zhang Zhihao very well," I said confidently. "Without Zheng Kun's advice, he wouldn't even know how to clean his butt after having diarrhea."

As we were talking, we had already reached the place where we had parked our bikes. But the place was completely empty, not even a single bike.

"Where's the car?" I couldn't help but wail.

"The security around the train station is a bit poor. Did I remind you when you came here?" Gao Yang said with a bitter face.

"You reminded me of a ****!" I couldn't help but kick him in the hip.

We circled the train station twice, but couldn't find even a scrap of tire. The empty spaces were as clean as if they'd been licked by a dog. Finally, we gave up our fantasy and walked home.

Leaving the train station, to the south, a vast expanse of wasteland stretched. The streetlights were all out, but that patch of land was still ablaze with light. I couldn't help but look in that direction, like a moth drawn to a light. I saw a number of rickety shacks scattered across the wasteland. In front of one of them, a bonfire had been lit, and a group of people were huddled around it, warming themselves.

"Who are those people?" I asked curiously.

"Hush, keep your voice down." Gao Yang, who had been so calm when stealing the key, now had a different expression. He was obviously panicking, his eyes fixed on the ground. "Remember I said there are a lot of homeless people who make a living by jacking trains? Those are the people. Those shacks are their temporary shelters. The police can't do anything about them."

"Homeless people?" I said, somewhat incredulously. "Some of those people are obviously children, younger than us."

"Oh, those are the street kids? Leave them alone and don't look over there. It's very dangerous."

I heeded his advice and charged forward. At the end of the road, I heard a childish song behind me: "We are all wanderers, wandering for a long time. During the day, I beg for food with a bowl. At night, I sleep at the train station..."

I couldn't help but look back, and saw a little boy singing with his back straight in the firelight, and the others were sitting around listening.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" Gao Yang scolded in a low voice, pulling me along and running. He didn't stop until we reached the brightly lit street corner, letting go of my hand. We were both exhausted, leaning against the wall, panting.

Gao Yang looked back to make sure no one was chasing him, then he complained to me, "Didn't I tell you not to look around?"

"But I saw it—the child singing was short and skinny, maybe even less than ten years old. How could they allow such a young child to wander around outside? Doesn't the government care?"

"Well, it's useless to intervene." Gao Yang leaned against the wall and straightened his back. "Don't be fooled by the young age of those kids. They're already professional vagrants. They're addicted to smoking, drinking, gambling, stealing, cheating, and all kinds of dirty work. The police can't do anything when they catch them, so they can only deport them back to their hometowns. But a few days later, they hitchhike back on the train again."

"Don't they have their own homes?"

"Who knows? Maybe their parents died early, maybe they were abducted, or maybe they ran away from home because they didn't want to go to school. In short, they are from a different world than us." He took a deep breath and finally regained his ability to move. "Let's go quickly. If we go back any later, my mother will skin me alive."

I breathed in the night air, exhaled, and continued on my way home in silence. But I couldn't forget the little boy. As the fire flickered, I vaguely felt him looking at me, his eyes filled with a complex mixture of envy and hatred.