Chapter 57

All the valuables in the pit belonged to Sun Qin. Tang Qingqing also found a towel used to make vase-soled shoes in the corner, and one of the cubes of wood. The other had been burned as firewood.

The evidence is conclusive, Zhou Qiang is the murderer who brutally killed Sun Qin and stole her property!

Captain Ma also gathered his men and went to the quarry to arrest people.

Before leaving, Zhai Hongyi reminded:

"You must be careful. Zhou Qiang has already taken a life. He is in great danger right now."

Although Wang Heizi was very excited, he also knew the importance of the matter, so he stayed behind and waited for news, while Ke Xin stayed outside.

Tang Qingqing comforted him, "If Zhou Qiang evades capture, he will most likely go home. We will have a chance to capture him if we stay here."

Wang Heizi was a little depressed at first, but after hearing this, he started to get ready.

"If he dares to come, I will let him know how powerful I am!"

Tang Qingqing's eyes turned to Zhou Qiang's wife who was standing nearby. She was being watched by a militiaman from the Paektu Mountain Brigade. She had been holding her child with her head down and remained silent.

Zhou Qiang has three children. The first two are daughters who are already married. The one in his arms is a son. He is ten years old now, but he still likes to hug his mother like a child.

Tang Qingqing clearly felt that this child seemed different from ordinary children and seemed a little silly.

He was frightened when a group of people entered the house, and he hid in his mother's arms and refused to stick his head out. Now he felt sleepy, so he fell asleep in his mother's arms.

"Auntie, do you want to put the child to bed? It's cold at night and he'll easily catch a cold if he sleeps like this."

Zhou Qiang's wife, however, acted as if she didn't hear anything. She just kept her head down and said nothing.

Tang Qingqing raised her voice and asked again, but Zhou Qiang's wife still didn't move.

Tang Qingqing was very confused and looked at the militiamen beside her.

The militia shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

He had no impression of Zhou Qiang's wife. Normally, she was a person with very little sense of existence.

“Puff, puff—”

Hearing some noise in the yard, Zhai Hongyi quickly walked out of the room and saw his neighbor lying on the wall again.

Seeing Zhai Hongyi, she looked him up and down and commented:

"This young man is so handsome! Have you found a date yet? Do you want me to introduce you to someone?"

Zhai Hongyi remained calm and said, "Auntie, is there something wrong with you?"

The neighbor lady waved at him and asked, "What's wrong with Zhou Qiang?"

"The case has not been fully investigated yet, so I can't comment at this time."

The neighbor lady suddenly lost interest in him, her expression was not as flattering as before, and she said:

"I know what happened even if you don't tell me. Did Zhou Qiang kill someone? Is he dead this time?"

Zhai Hongyi looked up at her and the neighbor lady looked very proud.

"I knew you were from the Rongshan Brigade, so I guessed most of it. This Zhou Qiang is really a piece of shit! No wonder he gave birth to a stupid son. It's all his own fault."

"Do you know why his wife became like this? She used to be the most capable and sweet-talking girl in the area."

Wang Heizi also slipped out at this time: "Why? Could it be that he was beaten by Zhou Qiang?"

The neighbor aunt clapped her hands suddenly, "That's right. At first, he complained about not giving him a son, and he even drowned two girls. In the end, he finally gave birth to a son, but when he grew up, he found out that he was stupid, which really pissed him off."

"I think it's great that Zhou Qiang was arrested. We neighbors can feel more at ease now. Otherwise, we would be worried if we heard him fighting all the time. Actually, I didn't think his son was stupid before. He just spoke a little late, but he always likes to fight. This kid is getting worse and worse."

Wang Heizi sneered: "Scumbag!"

"That's right. He has been worse since he started gambling."

Tang Qingqing: "Why didn't you report it before?"

"Oh my, you said it so easily. If he finds out, our whole family will be in trouble. He is a very cruel person, and even after you have taught him a lesson, you still can't find any evidence against him. You can only suffer in vain."

The neighbor just eavesdropped and knew that Zhou Qiang was the murderer. Knowing that Zhou Qiang could not escape, he became more relaxed and could gossip without restraint.

"Someone had offended him before, and he beat him up secretly. The person had to lie in bed for several months and couldn't work. Not only did he spend a lot of money on medical treatment, but he couldn't work either. The loss was huge, but there was no evidence to prove that he was the one who did it."

Wang Heizi was puzzled: "Since there is no evidence that he did it, how do you know he did it?"

"You can figure out what's going on with your toes. The family came to his house to make trouble, but they were all scolded like this."

Although there is no way to verify this, if it is true, it shows that Zhou Qiang is a thoughtful person and not an impulsive person.

Most people would fight openly when they have a conflict, and very few would retaliate behind someone's back.

If the trouble gets out of hand, both parties will basically be given fifty lashes.

Zhou Qiang is different. He deals with others without getting himself involved.

A few people were chatting in the yard when a group of people rushed in.

"Why are you here?" Qin Sa was very surprised.

Tang Qingqing was also slightly startled when she saw her: "How come you guys came so quickly?"

Since it was determined that the murderer was most likely Zhou Qiang, the captain sent someone to the town police station to deliver a message.

The police station should have received the news, but no one has arrived yet. Instead, the Public Security Bureau of the commune which is farther away arrived first. This is really strange.

"Uncle Miao!"

Wang Heizi saw a familiar figure among a group of police officers.

Miao Xiaohui nodded at him: "Heizi, where is Zhou Qiang?"

"He must be gambling in the quarry. The two captains have already sent people to block him."

Qin Sa didn't have time to ask more questions and directly called the police to arrest him together.

Before leaving, Miao Xiaohui warned Wang Heizi and Tang Qingqing: "Don't run around for a while."

A group of people came and left quickly, disappearing in a flash of smoke.

Wang Heizi was very surprised: "Did they fly here? We just arrived not long ago."

Zhai Hongyi: "They probably also suspected Zhou Qiang."

Just as Zhai Hongyi guessed, through the clues given by Qin Sa, Miao Xiaohui quickly thought of a person, who was his cousin Zhou Qiang.

Zhou Qiang is a very smart and agile person, and he knows his family's situation very well.

Miao Xiaohui didn't like this man very much. He always felt that he had bad intentions and always kept his mother away from him.

This person is not down-to-earth and always likes to take shortcuts. He has taken advantage of Old Lady Zhang a lot.

But the relationship between the two families is too deep. Zhou Qiang is not only Mrs. Zhang's nephew, but also a relative of her, so it is impossible to avoid it.

It would be fine if Miao Xiaohui was at home, but he was not at home and it was out of his reach.

Miao Xiaohui gave half of his allowance and all his bonuses to Sun Qin. Besides the fact that they were husband and wife, another reason was that he was worried that his mother would not be able to withstand Zhou Qiang's temptation and give away all her pension money.

Sun Qin, who always had a cold attitude, once revealed to him her dislike for Zhou Qiang.

Miao Xiaohui asked her why, and Sun Qin just vaguely said that Zhou Qiang always liked to take advantage of his age to lecture her and say inappropriate things.

Miao Xiaohui told her to avoid Zhou Qiang when he appeared, and not to force herself to be with him. He would work hard to show his ability and try to get Sun Qin to join the army as soon as possible.

Originally, Miao Xiaohui only thought that Sun Qin disliked Zhou Qiang because this guy liked to boss people around, especially with the support of Old Lady Zhang, who relied on his age to like to lecture people.

But now thinking back to Sun Qin's performance at that time, Miao Xiaohui felt that it was not that simple.

When he heard Sun Qin's complaint, he didn't think much about it because the couple were not familiar with each other and Sun Qin was unwilling to communicate with him. That's why he only reacted now.

Sun Qin is not a talkative person. She only mentions a few words about conflicts with her family and does not keep nagging or repeating herself.

She specifically mentioned Zhou Qiang, but she was afraid that it was not as simple as Sun Qin said, that Zhou Qiang liked to teach people a lesson.

Once he began to doubt, Miao Xiaohui thought more and more that there was something wrong with Zhou Qiang.

Qin Sa had checked Sun Qin's network of relationships before. She had very little contact with Zhou Qiang, and Zhou Qiang had not appeared recently. There was also Miao Xiaohui as a key suspect, so she was overlooked.

After hearing Miao Xiaohui's guess, Qin Sa went to interrogate Accountant Miao again.

Accountant Miao recounted that he was drunk by Zhou Qiang when he went out for a drink that day. He vaguely remembered that after he was drunk, Zhou Qiang asked him a lot of questions.

It was just that he had drunk too much at the time, and he had no recollection of what the other party asked or what he answered.

But he roughly remembered that they were probably all family matters.

When Accountant Miao went home that day, Aunt Lu Hua was supposed to go with him.

After all, her husband was so drunk that Aunt Luhua couldn't stay at her parents' home any longer. Later, Zhou Qiang arranged for the people from Rongshan Brigade to send Accountant Miao back without letting Aunt Luhua go home with him.

Qin Sa immediately concluded that Zhou Qiang was highly suspicious.

It was already late at night and there were no vehicles going to the Paektu Mountain Brigade, so Qin Sa asked the bureau for permission to use the only car in the bureau.

Because the car was always in a hurry, it took some time to get the car. Miao Xiaohui also applied to go together, so Qin Sa took him over.

The trio heard a lot of gossip about Zhou Qiang from the neighbor's aunt, and also learned that Zhou Qiang's father was also a capable man in the past.

Zhou Qiang's father used to be a scout and had made great achievements, but he was just like the older generation.

When needed, rush to the front line without hesitation.

In peacetime, he put down his gun, quietly picked up a hoe and became a farmer, without asking the organization for anything.

In their view, they were lucky to be alive, as many of their comrades died in a foreign land.

The neighbor lady sighed and said, "I don't know how such a good person could give birth to such a thing. So children should not be spoiled too much, it is too easy to spoil them."

When Zhou Qiang was born, his father was already 40 years old and was quite doting on his son.

Especially since Zhou Qiang has been smart since he was young, he is even more likable.

The old man's son was better off. The old lady tried her best to give birth to this son. She held him in her hands for fear of dropping him, and held him in her mouth for fear of melting him.

This caused Zhou Qiang to be particularly self-centered. He knew that being sweet-talking could gain him benefits, so he kept saying nice things, but he was not reliable at all in getting things done.

After his parents passed away, he became more and more crazy. Later, he became addicted to gambling, and now he has even killed someone. He is getting more and more crazy.

What made the neighbor even more frightened was that Zhou Qiang was not panicked at all the day after the incident. He seemed to be in a particularly good mood and even greeted him warmly when he passed by her house.

Not only was he not affected by his own disability, but he was particularly excited because he had stolen money and a lot of valuable things.

The neighbor lady didn't chat for long before she climbed down the wall and went back to her house.

"Why does it take so long?" Wang Heizi yawned loudly.

Although the quarry is some distance away from the Paektu Mountain Brigade, the person should have been caught there, right?

Zhai Hongyi: "The gambling site must have existed a long time ago. If it is large-scale, there must be someone guarding it. It is not easy to wipe it out in one fell swoop."

Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I can tell from the neighboring aunt that there are mountains and forests near the quarry.

If you don't surround the enemy well, it's easy for them to slip away.

There is a reason why the casino was built there.

Tang Qingqing was also very sleepy and sat on the chair, pecking at rice like a chicken.

She hasn't had a good rest these two days and has been busy with the case.

It was getting late now. Normally she would have gone to bed by this time, fearing that she would not grow taller due to lack of sleep.

She was now the shortest of the trio, and her shortness was obvious, which made her very unhappy.

"You can sleep by the fire for a while." Zhai Hongyi said.

Tang Qingqing wanted to insist, but her mind was so heavy that she didn't object.

She moved the chair next to the stove, put her hands on her legs, rested her head on them, and fell asleep in a short while.

Tang Qingqing was sleeping soundly when she suddenly shuddered and woke up from her dream, causing her heart to beat faster.

Zhai Hongyi looked at her: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just woke up suddenly."

Tang Qingqing was considering whether to continue sleeping when she saw a figure passing by the window, which scared her.

"who!"

Before Zhai Hongyi could turn around, he felt a gust of wind behind him. He subconsciously dodged to the side and saw a middle-aged man of medium height swinging a large iron hammer and hitting the place where he had just sat.

The chair was smashed directly, and Tang Qingqing screamed in fright.

Wang Heizi, who was also sleeping, was also awakened. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, he saw a large iron hammer waving in front of him. He was so scared that he rolled and crawled inside.

"Damn it, Tang Qingqing, what kind of crow mouth are you!"

He just said that if only Zhou Qiang came over, he would catch this guy himself.

Now that it really came, Wang Heizi was almost scared to death.

Zhou Qiang's head was covered in blood and his eyes were stained red. He looked extremely scary.

He had a weapon in his hand, but the kitchen was small, so he couldn't use his force at all and didn't dare to get close.

Zhai Hongyi could only keep throwing everything he could get his hands on at him to prevent him from getting closer and interrupt his attack.

Tang Qingqing also reacted quickly. She knew that she was here to deliver food, so she had been paying attention to Zhou Qiang's movements and stood up hurriedly.

Regardless of the numbness in his legs and feet, he looked for a chance to escape.

Zhai Hongyi's actions successfully attracted Zhou Qiang's attention.

He swung a big hammer towards Zhai Hongyi, and Wang Heizi and Tang Qingqing's hearts were in their throats.

But they were too close to each other and couldn't take care of themselves. Let alone saving Zhai Hongyi, if Zhou Qiang suddenly turned around and hit them, they would also end up here.

Tang Qingqing's mind went blank at this moment, and she couldn't think of any way to break the impasse.

The place was too small, and Zhou Qiang was blocking the door, so he couldn't run out.

Zhai Hongyi picked up a chair beside him, pursed his lips, tensed his whole body, and prepared for the battle.

His personal fighting skills were good, but when facing a strong adult man with a weapon, he was unable to display his skills and was at an obvious disadvantage.

He can only dodge for now, and he can't dodge too much, otherwise he will bring danger to Tang Qingqing and Wang Heizi.

Zhou Qiang had a ferocious look on his face. When his first attack failed, he raised his hammer and smashed towards Zhai Hongyi.

Zhai Hongyi was ready to dodge, but he didn't expect Zhou Qiang to just dodge and fire his gun. His target was Tang Qingqing who was standing beside him!

Tang Qingqing watched the hammer coming towards her with dismay, her legs seemed to be embedded in the ground, unable to move.

Wang Heizi screamed: "Tang Qingqing!"

Zhai Hongyi also rushed over, but the distance was too far and he was too late.

At the critical moment, with a "bang", Zhou Qiang's right shoulder was suddenly stained with blood as he was about to exert his strength. Immediately afterwards, another gunshot rang out, and his left shoulder was also stained with blood.

The hammer fell in front of Tang Qingqing with a bang, and was only a book's length away from her.

Zhai Hongyi reacted quickly and kicked Zhou Qiang away with a powerful kick.

A group of police rushed in and pinned Zhou Qiang down.

Wang Heizi couldn't hold back any longer, so he rushed over and hugged Tang Qingqing:

"Wow, Tang Qingqing, I just thought you were dead!"

Tang Qingqing was shaking all over. She wanted to open her mouth to say something, but she couldn't.

She was completely stunned. The fear she felt just now was so terrible. She wanted to move in her heart, but her body was completely out of control!

Zhai Hongyi, who had been tense, also breathed a sigh of relief, swallowed hard, and walked to the two people with difficulty.

There was cold sweat on my forehead and my back was also wet.

His hands were trembling slightly, but he still grabbed Wang Heizi's collar and tried to pull him back.

"Let go of me now, what are you saying?"

Wang Heizi cried and shed tears: "I was almost scared to death just now. This is more terrifying than when I was thrown into the cellar!"

He was thrown into the cellar very suddenly. He was kicked down before he could react, so he had no time to be afraid.

Although he was very depressed because he couldn't open the door, he also worried that he would die there.

But he inexplicably felt that he would be rescued, after all, Tang Qingqing and Zhai Hongyi were still outside. And then he fainted and had no time to think about anything.

This time the danger was right in front of him, and it was very urgent. Although he was not in danger, it was more thrilling than what he had experienced. He could see it clearly from the side!

"Let me go right now! Stop taking advantage of lesbians."

Although Wang Heizi loosened his grip, he was still howling, "As long as Tang Qingqing is still alive, I can marry her even if she forces me to do so."

Tang Qingqing's fear was swept away by these words, "Get lost! I don't want to marry you even if you marry me!"

"Then I will marry you."

Tang Qingqing rolled her eyes at him, moved her fingers, and found that she had regained consciousness.

"I didn't know what happened just now. I couldn't move at all."

Tang Qingqing was extremely dissatisfied with her performance just now. Although the situation was urgent just now, if she had been braver and more sensitive, she could have avoided the attack on her own.

Zhai Hongyi comforted him, "This is a natural reaction of the human body when facing danger. It is normal for you to behave like this since you have not received any training."

"I'm still useless."

Wang Heizi wiped away his tears and said, "Anyone would be shocked if they encountered such a thing. Only you like to reflect on yourself. You are simply asking for trouble."

At this time, the three of them had recovered. Qin Sa walked in to check on them and breathed a sigh of relief to see that they were safe.

"Luckily you are all fine. This guy is really cunning. We have set up a tight net, but he still slipped away."

The casino in the quarry was quite large, and they made some arrangements before taking action.

As a result, everyone was caught, but the protagonist Zhou Qiang found a loophole and escaped.

Fortunately, Miao Xiaohui reacted quickly and immediately called for help to retrieve the money, otherwise it would have been another tragic case.

"Sister, were you the one who fired the shot just now? Your shooting is really accurate, otherwise I would be dead." Tang Qingqing said with lingering fear.

Qin Sa shook his head: "It's not me, it's Comrade Miao."