Chapter 36: Human bones were found on the thirty-sixth day after retiring from the circle!
Kong Xingyan realized Wu Wenlin's honesty when he was looking through the information. The information clearly recorded that when Wu Wenlin was in his twenties, he went swimming in the river and rescued two children, and did not ask for any reward.
Kong Xingyan even called the village chief in Wu's hometown to discuss this. He mentioned Wu Wenlin, and he said, "He had a really good temper when he was young. Although he wasn't very talkative, he was a down-to-earth and capable person. He started helping his parents farm when he was twelve or thirteen, and he was incredibly hardworking. Around our area, he's praised."
"His brother is the complete opposite of him. He's a complete jerk. It's because of his brother that Wu Wenlin has been unable to find a wife."
"Later, they finally found a good girl, but she turned out to be unlucky and died shortly after giving birth. Then, when their child was about three or four years old, Old Man Wu suddenly came to me and said he was moving away to live in a big city. In the years that followed, I haven't seen either Old Man Wu and his wife or Wu Wenlin. I only occasionally heard villagers mention them when chatting at the village entrance. They said they hadn't returned in all these years, not even to worship their ancestors. If it weren't for the Wu family relatives who would contact them by phone from time to time, I would have thought something had happened to them."
The old village chief's casual recollections also provided Kong Xingyan and his party with a lot of clues.
At this moment, Kong Xingyan looked at Mr. Wu, whose face suddenly changed because of his words and looked extremely panicked and guilty. In his heart, he had already confirmed that the identities of the brothers Wu Wenlin and Wu Wentao had been swapped.
Kong Xingyan's expression remained unchanged as he said calmly, "I see that you, old man, are a man of sense, so there are some things I don't need to explain too clearly. What do you think?"
Mr. Wu was trembling all over.
But he knew he had to remain calm. He swallowed hard and spoke word by word with difficulty: "Comrade Police Officer, I don't understand what you mean. People change. Wenlin has been severely tormented by his illness over the years. He doesn't work much all day long and is always thinking about praying to the gods. That's why he didn't take good care of Haohua. That's what I mean."
Kong Xingyan looked at Chen Xin and Xiao Xiao.
After a long pause, Kong Xingyan continued, "Are you sure? Are you sure Wu Wenlin and Wu Wentao's identities haven't been swapped, and that the person currently using Wu Wenlin's identity is still Wu Wenlin himself?"
Kong Xingyan's words sounded like a tongue twister, but Old Man Wu heard them clearly and nodded immediately, his voice much firmer than before: "Yes, I confirm. What's with the identity swap? This is too outrageous, it's like a TV drama. How can such a thing happen?"
At this moment, the old lady who was originally in the bathroom also came out. Her face was slightly pale. It was obvious that she had heard their conversation in the cubicle. So she hurriedly said after the old man's words, "Comrade police, why did you suddenly come to our house to ask this question? My husband and I are Wenlin's biological parents. There is no way we could have mistaken him."
Kong Xingyan's eyes darkened. He didn't respond, but chose to change the subject: "In that case, do you two have any photos of the Wu Wentao brothers?"
Wu Wentao had been missing for over twenty years, and the only photo left in the system was a single black-and-white photo of him in his youth. When the two brothers' photos were placed side by side, they were identical, save for a slight difference in hairstyle and body shape. Furthermore, the photo was blurry, and after being technically restored, it looked like it had been beautified. His face was spotless, without a single mole or mark left.
As for the wound on the ear, I don’t know if it was because the timing was wrong, but it did not appear in Wu Wentao’s photo.
Speaking of this, Kong Xingyan couldn't help but feel a little curious——
Even these professionals couldn't get photos of the Wu brothers, so how did Sang Qiqi, a funeral director, get them?
If the current investigation results were not close to Sang Qiqi's statement, Kong Xingyan would probably think that Sang Qiqi was playing tricks on him.
As they were muttering to themselves, the old couple of the Wu family looked at each other. The old lady smiled awkwardly and waved her hands helplessly, "We were very poor back then. How could we have the money to take pictures of the two boys? Besides, even if we did take the pictures, there's no guarantee we'd be able to keep them. After all, it's been so many years."
"Okay."
Kong Xingyan didn't say anything more and didn't stay any longer. He gestured to Chen Xin and Xiao Xiao, then stood up and prepared to leave.
As he stepped out of the door, he turned back and took another look at the two old men.
That look made the old lady of the Wu family tremble all over.
The door is closed.
There are obviously two different worlds inside and outside the door.
Inside the house, Mr. Wu and the old lady exchanged a glance. Unable to support their frail bodies any longer, they sat down in a panic. The old lady covered her face with her hands, her face filled with fear. She asked in a hoarse voice, "Old man, do they know?"
Although Mr. Wu was calmer than the old lady, he was not much calmer.
His hand was shaking as he reached for the cigarette, and he couldn't light the match even after striking it twice, so he simply put it aside. He exhaled, rubbed his face with his hands, pursed his lips, and said, "It's okay. It's been twenty-two years. As long as we don't admit it, no one will know."
After that, neither of them said anything.
Meanwhile, outside the house.
Kong Xingyan and the other two walked out of the corridor while talking in low voices.
Chen Xin couldn't hold it in any longer and immediately said, "These two old people must know something. The old lady used the excuse of having a stomachache to go to the bathroom, but when she came out, I didn't even hear her flush the toilet!"
Xiao Xiao also nodded vigorously: "And their reactions when Wu Wentao was mentioned were too guilty. It's obvious that they are hiding something."
Kong Xingyan naturally noticed what the two mentioned.
He rubbed his brows with a headache, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes: "But they are both old, so it's really impossible to interrogate them."
"Twenty years ago, I could understand why they wanted to keep it a secret. They probably thought they had no offspring and needed a father for their child. But now that father is almost dead and their grandson is getting married, why are they still refusing to tell the truth?"
"You also said that your grandson is of marriageable age. If his family truly confirms that the elder brother killed the younger brother and has lived in his place for over twenty years, will his grandson still be able to find a girlfriend? Or even get married?" Kong Xingyan sneered. "From what the old village chief said, Wu Wenlin and his wife were already blaming Wu Wentao for not being able to find a wife. If it happens again, can they still bear it?"
That’s true.
Chen Xin rubbed his hair irritably and asked Kong Xingyan, "Boss, what should we do now?"
Kong Xingyan thought of Sang Qiqi's words and sighed, "I can only hope that the comrades back home can dig up Wu Wenlin's remains."
-
After returning to the funeral home from the police station, Sang Qiqi wasn't feeling sleepy, so she simply opened Li Zi's livestream account and took a quick look. Although the account was labeled "How dare this bastard impersonate me," after all the winnings and livestreaming that night, the audience had pretty much known that it was Sang Qiqi herself.
Furthermore, the number of topics about her on Weibo has only increased, and the popularity has exploded. Many netizens who are eager to watch the fun have found the Li Zi live broadcast platform. As a result, the number of her fans has skyrocketed.
By now it’s almost 20,000, which is pretty impressive.
Sang Qiqi was very satisfied.
Especially a few minutes later she received a reply to the report from 'Sang Qiqi Funeral Service', confirming that the official would shut down the pirated live broadcast room, which made her feel better.
After answering all the inquiries in the backend one by one, Sang Qiqi confirmed the product they wanted to order, modified the price of the link, and then asked the customer to buy it. However, some customers fell asleep after eating the melon and did not respond in time, but Sang Qiqi was not in a hurry.
After surfing around on Weibo for a while and teasing the fans of the prisoner Qiao again, Sang Qiqi slowly took the order and went to the underworld to find the little ghost.
The next morning, Sang Qiqi got up early to start the live broadcast.
Many netizens came after hearing the news, but most of them were asking about the murder. Naturally, Sang Qiqi didn't want to elaborate on this matter. She simply said, "Please wait, everyone. The police will get back to you once they have their results." Then she went about her business, "Take a look at our star products. If you don't like the 188 muscular man, you can also switch to thin muscle and skinny dog. If you're interested, you can place your order yourself. If you have any questions about funeral products, you can ask directly in the comment section. I'll reply as soon as I see it."
[Can I preside over a funeral in another province? Travel and accommodation expenses are included.]
[No… bro, you’re so ahead of the times. I’ve only heard of him officiating weddings in other provinces. /sweat]
Will the anchor still be running a shop in fifty years? I'm twenty-three now, and in fifty years I'll be seventy-three. It feels like I'm almost old enough to die. I'd like to order an Ultraman urn.
[Talent]
[Can you give me some workbooks or something like that? My dad always made me study when I was little. Now that he's gone, I don't want him to have an easy time. /smile]
[You are more talented]
Sang Qiqi didn't care about talent; as long as it was business, she'd take it all. "We can make any paper-made items. I asked a nearby logistics company before the show started, and they can ship large paper-made items to other provinces, though the price might be a bit higher. That's okay, as long as it's not a remote area, we'll provide free shipping. So, if you're interested, just click on link 1 or 2 to place your order. The difference between the two links is for large and small paper-made items."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "It's not realistic to go to another province to preside over a funeral. The trip would take too much time. But if you just need my help or something, and don't need my full support, then that's fine. Just send me a private message."
Her throat was dry from talking so much, and Sang Qiqi received a lot of private messages in the background.
She looked at the time and thought it was about time, so she went offline to take care of business.
Time passed quickly and it was afternoon.
Lv Village, Yangyuan City.
This is Wu Haohua’s hometown.
After chatting with the officers from Fuping District in northern Beijing, the criminal police and the local police drove to the village with their gear. The village was small, and a bunch of idle elderly people were playing chess under the ginkgo trees at the entrance. The arrival of several police cars immediately drew their attention, and they all craned their necks to peer in.
"Oh, our village chief is here too."
The newly appointed village chief of Lu Village is a young man in his thirties. He is far less familiar with the village situation than the old village chief. Therefore, when carrying out the mission with the police comrades this time, he also chose to bring the old village chief along.
Two detectives walked behind the old village chief, frowning and whispering, "What do you think Jingbei means? Why are they asking us to dig up the body when we don't have any solid evidence? Our department has been very busy these past few days. The murderer still hasn't been found, and the deadline given by the higher-ups is almost up. How can we even have time to deal with them?"
"That's not true. If the murder really happened in our area, we're naturally responsible." The older detective found the younger officer's rather unconvinced look amusing. "Why bother? If this is truly resolved, it'll be a huge accomplishment for our bureau. And didn't the captain say they've given us a few more days for this matter?"
"I still find it outrageous." The young detective frowned. "This incident was caused by a casual remark made by a female celebrity. Who knows if she was deliberately causing trouble—"
Hearing that he was about to complain, the older detective patted his head again, then ignored him and turned to look at the old village chief: "Thank you for your hard work today."
Although the old village chief was old, his ears were very good and he could hear the conversation between the two criminal policemen clearly.
Thinking of the late-night phone call asking about the Wu brothers, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly waved his hand and said it was nothing. But after trying to hold it in, he couldn't help but say a few more words: "The Wu family has indeed become quite strange since they moved out of Lu Village."
The older detective raised his eyebrows, and immediately said "oh" in a puzzled tone, motioning the old village chief to continue.
The old village chief said, "In the past, when the villagers sat together and talked about Wu Wentao, the old couple of the Wu family, although helpless, would also respond with a few words and say something bad about their eldest son. But when I told my relatives about the Wu family this morning, he said that ever since the Wu family moved to Beijing North, they can't stand people talking about their eldest son."
"Tell me more details."
"That relative took his family to Beijing North two years ago. He thought since he was in Beijing North, he would go have dinner with the Wu family. On the day of the dinner, the whole Wu family was there. Later, the relative got drunk and talked a lot, and then he brought up Wu Wentao."
At that time, the dizzy relatives thought that the Wu family was the only family in the village to move to Beijing North, and said with a mixture of emotion and envy: "You two are so lucky. Although the eldest son is not a good person, the second son is quite capable. Look, he has brought you to Beijing North to live permanently!"
It was nothing at first, but Wu Wenlin seemed very interested when he heard this and suddenly asked, "Oh? What's wrong with the boss?"
The relative laughed when he heard this: "As your younger brother, don't you know what kind of person your elder brother is? Has your brother ever done anything decent in all his years? If he hadn't died outside, your family would have a very hard time..."
As soon as these words came out, the old couple of the Wu family, who had originally felt a little happy because of the relatives coming to visit, suddenly changed their expressions. They stood up and pushed the relatives down, and scolded with an ugly face: "Old Donkey, are you drunk? What are you talking about!"
Lao Lu's wife and son also felt that the situation was not good.
Although the eldest son of the Wu family is indeed no different from the scum of society, they are the host today. How can they, the guests, speak ill of their son in front of them?
So, they all stood up to persuade them.
The older detective rubbed his chin and thought, "That reaction actually sounds quite normal. It's not good to speak ill of someone's eldest son in front of them, right?"
The old village chief waved his hand and said, "As I just said, in the past, the old couple themselves would say they were very excited."
The older detective nodded, but did not respond to the old village chief.
As they chatted along the way, they soon arrived at Wu Haohua's hometown. It had been so long since he'd been home, and the two-story house had become extremely dilapidated. The roof was almost completely rotten, not to mention the windows, which were all shattered.
The old village chief said, "It's quite strange. Our village was previously rumored to be demolished, and I even had someone call the Wu family to ask if they wanted to come back and fix up their house. Otherwise, once the demolition is complete, we might not be able to get compensation given the state of the house. But not only did they refuse to come back, they even stumbled over their words."
The older detective was a little amused: "How come you found so many things wrong now?"
The old village chief was a little embarrassed when he heard this: "I just heard your conversation and thought of something."
Once you feel something is wrong, you will feel that everything is wrong.
The criminal police nodded and said yes, then without wasting any time, he immediately asked the staff he brought with him to pick up the shovels and get to work.
For a moment, the entire shabby courtyard was filled with dust, and the sounds of labor and coughing continued. The work lasted until evening. The group of people were covered in sweat, their short hair sticking to their foreheads, and their faces were covered in dust, looking particularly miserable. The young detective looked down at the blisters on his palms, grimacing in pain: "How long will this work last?"
"We can't help it. The excavator can't get in, so we have to do it manually." The older detective checked the time and sighed, "Let's all take a break. I ordered dinner for everyone. Let's eat first."
After dinner, a group of people started digging on the ground with shovels.
Such a commotion had already piqued the curiosity of the people in Lu Village. Unfortunately, due to their natural fear of the police, not many dared to approach and ask. The occasional one or two who approached were often shut down with a "I can't tell you yet."
But the people of Lü Village were kind. Seeing the police officers working tirelessly, some carried kettles to pour water, and some even brought out popsicles and fruit from their homes. It was so hot, and everyone was exhausted, so no one was polite, just wanting to leave their money when they left.
Nine o'clock in the evening.
The group had practically gutted the ground, leaving only a bit of cement in the corner. The young detective collapsed to the ground, exhausted, staring with lifeless eyes. Even his curses seemed light and airy: "One day or another, I'm going to take down those guys in Fuping District."
The older detective was about to speak when he heard a cry of alarm from behind him: "Brother Dai! Something's happening!"
Just a few simple words made the two men get up from the ground immediately. Their bodies, which had just been shouting about being out of strength, reacted as quickly as possible and rushed like monkeys to their companions who were shouting for help.
Then, several pairs of eyes looked at the corner illuminated by the light.
The young detective gasped, slapped himself hard, and muttered, "Oh my God, there's a dead body! Are those people in Fuping District so powerful?!"
The older detective also stared at the scene in amazement, and slowly exhaled: "The awesome one seems to be the female celebrity who raised the question."
The two looked at each other in silence.
He immediately turned around and made a phone call to report the situation.
Beijing North, Fuping District Public Security Bureau.
Chen Xin and his group, anxiously awaiting news, lay exhausted on the table. Xiao Xiao returned to the office with a gloomy face and said quietly, "Don't ask me to rush them anymore. They might say, 'Wait a moment, our comrades are busy,' but I can sense their breathing already saying, 'Are you fucking sick? Why are you rushing them?'"
Chen Xin: “…”
Xiao Xiao turned his head to look at her: "Sister, go and urge them later. They will definitely feel embarrassed to scold you because you are a girl."
Li Li glanced at the two of them with a dark look in his eyes and said sarcastically, "Your sister is a girl, but have you forgotten that she got into a fight with someone from the bureau during her training?"
Xiao Xiao: “…”
He indeed forgot that his sister had an even deeper grudge with the other side.
Scratching his head, Xiao Xiao was about to say something when the phone suddenly rang. The ding-dong sound was so urgent that it seemed to be asking for his life. Xiao Xiao leaned over and casually glanced at the caller ID. However, when he saw the familiar string of numbers, he suddenly picked up the phone and shouted impatiently, "Hello?"
The other side immediately said: "We found some human bones in Wu Laoqi's yard. We are sending them to the forensic department for examination to see if DNA can be tested. We will give you the information as soon as possible."
Xiao Xiao pounded the table excitedly: "Okay, okay, thank you, thank you very much, we'll be waiting for your news!"
After hanging up the phone and meeting the gazes of several people, he clenched his fist and announced loudly: "We found human bones!"
Chen Xin and Kong Xingyan high-fived each other.
Li Li wiped his face, his eyes full of sighs: "Wow, this girl Sang Qiqi really has something to say."
At six o'clock the next morning, news of the DNA test reached Kong Xingyan and his team, who immediately summoned the Wu family. The elderly couple were taken away in a police car, clearly aware of what had happened. They sat huddled in the interrogation room, meeting Kong Xingyan and his team's gazes. They opened their mouths but couldn't utter a word.
Kong Xingyan glanced at them and said calmly, "Comrades in Yangyuan City dug up some human bones in your hometown yard. They did a DNA test and confirmed that it was Wu Wenlin. Now, do you two still want to hide it?"
Old Master Wu's shoulders drooped, and he seemed to have lost his spirit. He covered his face, sighed, and then said in a hoarse voice, "I said, I said... Yes, the current Wu Wenlin is my eldest son, Wu Wentao. He killed his brother and buried him in the yard."
"What's the reason?"
Mr. Wu shook his head: "I don't know."
It was raining heavily that night, and the sound of water washing over the ground could have covered up many sins. But Mr. Wu woke up in the middle of the night and thought of the chicks in the chicken coop. Fearing that the rain was too heavy and the coop would leak, he decided to get up and check on the situation.
He never expected that when he came to the yard with a flashlight, when the light suddenly came on, he was looking at a face covered in blood.
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