"I'll go with you. After all these years of wasted time, you might not find anything useful. You have to be prepared."
Lu Anning smiled bitterly: "I understand. But now that it has come to this, I still want to dig out the truth. I always feel that the fire back then was not that simple."
"In that case, why not go and look at the files from that year first."
If someone is killed, there will definitely be a record. You can feel more confident if you understand how the crime was defined and then go to the abandoned scene.
"I can investigate with you, but I don't want this to affect your life. The past is the past, and the future is what's more important. Do you understand?"
Lu An Ning responded softly and put his arms around the person in front of him.
If she had not accidentally married Tang Jingyuan, would she never have known these secrets in her life and would have lived her life in confusion?
Fortunately, she made the right choice from the beginning.
Because the fire that year was classified as an accident, and Lu Anning is now a member of the Gu family, it is not difficult for him to retrieve the files from that year.
However, the information left in the files made them feel a little powerless. The information left behind was even less than they had imagined.
Lu Anning fixed her eyes on the column for the cause of the fire, where it was scribbled "caused by spontaneous combustion of an electrical appliance." A thin piece of paper determined the cause of her mother's death, and it didn't even specify what appliance it was.
Since it was the Gu family's house, even at that time, the conditions wouldn't be too bad. Moreover, her mother was still in confinement at the time, and the things she used were not carefully selected, but at least there would be no safety hazards. A simple statement of electrical appliances spontaneously combusting was not enough to convince Lu Anning.
The last page of the file contained a photo of the deceased's body. Before Lu Anning had time to take a closer look, Tang Jingyuan had already put it away.
"Don't look at it."
Lu Anning stood there for a long time without moving, allowing Tang Jingyuan to cover her eyes. She did not take Tang Jingyuan's hand away until the soreness completely disappeared.
The charred spot in the photo was enough for her to guess its full appearance. Knowing was one thing, and seeing the photo was another.
She felt like there was a huge rock blocking her heart, and she was still a little breathless until she walked out of the police station.
Tang Jingyuan looked at the man with red eyes and said hesitantly: "How about we go tomorrow?"
"Need not."
Lu Anning looked up and forced a smile: "I'm fine, let's go now!"
If she doesn't go today, she might suffer from insomnia again at night.
It took them a full hour to reach the wasteland. Aunt Li had only described it as abandoned, but Lu Anning had never imagined that a place in the Gu family could be so derelict. If he hadn't known about it beforehand, Lu Anning wouldn't have realized that the several hundred square meters of ruins before him had once been a secret garden.
She repeatedly compared the abandoned building overgrown with weeds in front of her with the beautiful scenery in the photo, and forced herself to compare the external outlines, only then was she sure that she had not found the wrong place.
The two stood at the door, with nowhere to step. At first glance, the burned-out house before them looked more like a haunted house used in a movie.
Lu Anning frowned and was about to go in, but Tang Jingyuan stopped her first.
"Wait a moment."
Lu Anning looked at him in confusion as he walked towards the car. When he came back, he had two outdoor hiking sticks in his hands.
"Why do you still have this thing?"
"I prepared it ahead of time, thinking it might be useful. There are too many weeds here, it's not safe to go in like this, I'll go ahead."
The house was covered in weeds, making it look even more eerie. Such places were often the nests of snakes, insects, rats and ants. Even though it was autumn, one still had to be careful.
Tang Jingyuan simply took off his coat, pulled out a military knife from somewhere, and skillfully cleared the way ahead. With his quick and decisive movements, a small path leading to the main building was soon created.
Lu Anning looked at him carefully, his eyes falling on the military knife in his hand, as if thinking about something.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Lu Anning smiled faintly: "It's just a little unexpected that you are quite familiar with this kind of environment."
Tang Jingyuan smiled and said, "I joined the army when I was sixteen, and those three years were not in vain."
It sounded like an understatement, but Lu Anning had seen something in Tang Jingyuan's actions. Being in the wild, some of his reactions seemed to come from deep within, something that couldn't be achieved through ordinary training.
She actually became a little curious. She wondered how high-spirited Tang Jingyuan must have been when he was sixteen years old and shining in the army.
When she came to her senses, Tang Jingyuan had already brought her to the burned-out building. The dilapidated structure seemed to be crumbling, as if it would be blown away by the wind at any moment. After so many years, the two of them had not held out much hope, but Lu Anning always wanted to give it a try.
Maybe, fate will let her discover something?
Tang Jingyuan and Lu Anning exchanged glances, and then they split up and began searching in this deserted house, hoping to find some clues in this abandoned house.
Lu Anning walked in carefully, and based on the few clues she had, she found the room her mother had lived in. Looking around, all that remained were charred walls, with weeds growing out of the cracks in the walls, and its original appearance was no longer visible.
Lu Anning smiled bitterly. It had been more than twenty years. Even if there were any traces left, they should have disappeared long ago. It was not her turn to look for them now.
She arrived too late, naively hoping to grow evidence in the ruins.
She sighed deeply, said goodbye silently in her heart, turned around and went downstairs to find Tang Jingyuan.
At this time, Tang Jingyuan was checking elsewhere. It had rained heavily the previous night, and moisture was still seeping from deep inside the house. It wasn't long before his shoes were covered in mud. Tang Jingyuan, who always loved cleanliness, didn't care and continued to check attentively, not wanting to miss any corner.
Lu Anning was walking down the stairs while calling Tang Jingyuan, when suddenly she slipped and fell down the stairs.
The scream scared Tang Jingyuan. When he rushed over, he saw Lu Anning fell to the ground and quickly went forward to help her.
"How are you?"
Lu An Ning waved his hand and was about to stand up, but when he supported himself on the ground with one hand, he accidentally touched a strange object.
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