Niu Jiazhen and Niu Jiarong had no idea that their father's death had anything to do with the barber.
But they were well aware that the barber who was very familiar with their father had been murdered.
Niu Jiazhen looked at Wu Dinghuai with some surprise.
"Officer, isn't that barber dead? We saw several notices posted in the village."
Wu Dinghuai said:
“Niu Jiazhen, just answer this: do you know that barber?”
Niu Jiazhen nodded in agreement.
"know".
Wu Dinghuai:
"Does your father, your uncle, know Liu Xianghai?"
Niu Jiazhen nodded again.
"Of course my uncle knows him. That barber even came to my house and drank with my uncle."
At this point, Niu Jiazhen suddenly realized something and looked at Wu Dinghuai with a face full of surprise:
“Officers, you don’t suspect that my boss killed that barber, do you? My boss had no grudge against him and wouldn’t kill someone. They were good friends.”
Wu Dinghuai, however, stared at Niu Jiazhen:
"Has your boss ever told you anything about Liu Xianghai, like what kind of person he is?"
Niu Jiazhen had no idea what it meant, and stared blankly at Wu Dinghuai before shaking her head.
"No, my boss never mentioned that barber. Who is he? Isn't Old Liu just a barber?"
Wu Dinghuai didn't ask anything further. Instead, he picked up the leather envelope, took out the letter inside, and said to Niu Jiazhen:
"You must want to know the cause of your great-grandmother's death. These are letters that our police officers found in your great-grandmother's house. You two sisters should take a look first, and then show them to your brother when he comes back."
Niu Jiazhen didn't say anything, but nervously reached out her hand.
After receiving the letter, she unfolded its contents with trembling hands.
Niu Jiazhen and Niu Jiarong stared at the same letter.
As they watched, the sisters' expressions began to change.
From sadness to solemnity, from solemnity to tension, from tension to terror.
Holding the letter in her hands, Niu Jiazhen's entire body trembled, not just her hands.
Finally, the letter slipped directly from Niu Jiazhen's hand.
For them, the office in front of them seemed to have frozen in time.
Time passed second by second, and neither of the sisters spoke.
Shao Jian, Wu Dinghuai, and Zhao Le quietly observed the changes in the expressions of the Niu Jiazhen sisters.
After an unknown amount of time, Niu Jiazhen suddenly opened her mouth wide, her face full of disbelief, and said:
"Ah, that barber was a spy! My lord, he died so unjustly!"
Niu Jiazhen only had a junior high school education. Originally, Niu Dajiang was supposed to take over the job after he retired, but she still gave the position to her younger brother, Niu Jiayu, since Niu Jiayu was the only boy in the Niu family, and he and his sister would eventually marry into other families.
In the 1970s, a junior high school education was considered half an education, so Niu Jiazhen naturally understood the seriousness of her father's letter. Moreover, the quick-witted Niu Jiazhen immediately realized that if everything was as her father said in the letter—providing factory uniforms and meal tickets to a spy, indicating a connection or collusion with the spy—it would definitely affect her younger brother Niu Jiayu's job. Her brother might even be fired from the Hongqi Factory because of this, which would be even more serious. In that case, her father's decision to have her brother take over the job would have been pointless.
When Wu Dinghuai saw the letter had fallen to the ground, he asked Zhao Le to pick it up.
After Zhao Le put the letter away, he placed it in front of Wu Dinghuai. Wu Dinghuai didn't say anything and simply put the letter back into the envelope.
After doing all this, he looked at Niu Jiazhen and said slowly:
"Comrade Niu Jiazhen, you and your sisters have all seen the letters left by your father. After we examined the handwriting, we confirmed that the letters were left by your father. Furthermore, we had a forensic doctor conduct an autopsy on your father's body, which confirmed that your father committed suicide by hanging himself out of fear of punishment, and that it was not murder."
Before the Niu sisters could respond, Wu Dinghuai continued:
“Recently, enemy agents have been causing trouble in our territory. We have been ordered to be stationed at the factory to conduct investigations. We have confirmed that the barber Liu Xianghai is a Kuomintang agent who has been infiltrating since the early days of liberation. Therefore, I hope you two sisters will think carefully about what other clues you have about Liu Xianghai, the barber. Do not hide anything from us, otherwise you will bear the legal consequences.”
It should be said that Wu Dinghuai's words were very clear and also very serious.
Niu Jiazhen didn't say anything.
She was completely terrified and didn't know what to say.
She never imagined that the barber, familiar to most people on the street, was actually a hidden spy!
"How could that old man with the scar on his face be a spy? He's such a good imposter!"
Niu Jiarong, who had remained silent until now, spoke, seemingly muttering to herself.
The grief brought on by her father's death was quickly lessened by a letter.
Wu Dinghuai looked at Niu Jiarong:
"Spies are very good at disguising themselves; they have never given up their desire to destroy us."
At this point, he turned to look at Niu Jiazhen again:
"Comrade Niu Jiazhen, you two sisters are here and have read the letter your father left behind. We will investigate your father's situation further. We are currently investigating and solving cases of sabotage by enemy agents. Even Liang Damin, the head of the security department of the Hongqi Factory, does not know the contents of your father's letter. I hope you can keep this a secret for the time being and not tell anyone about it. Also, do not mention your father's relationship with Liu Xianghai at the Hongqi Factory. When you return to the streets, do not say anything to avoid alerting any agents. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
