Chapter 52 Red Leaves 13
In the nursing home, Chi Li and Luo Siwei meet.
Chi Li was dressed in a smart black suit tonight. He added an explanation: "I read your report about this nursing home tonight, and following the clues, I made an appointment with a relevant person who lives nearby to learn more about the situation, and also came here to take a look."
Luo Siwei said happily: "Then we are thinking the same thing. I always feel that there is something wrong with this nursing home."
Chi Li asked: "Did you find anything in your search just now?"
Luo Siwei shook her head and said, "I've only been here a short time and just figured out the layout of these rooms." Then she pointed and introduced them to Chi Li, "The rooms starting from the east are where the elderly live. This side is the kitchen, and the one to the west is probably an office or something."
It was late at night, and a few rays of moonlight shone through the dense maple leaves onto Chi Li's face, revealing a bright white that made him look like he was made of ice and snow.
Chi Li stepped forward and said, "Then let's go to the office and take a look."
He was tall and had long legs. He came prepared and was holding a professional lighting flashlight. Luo Siwei hurriedly followed behind him.
Luo Siwei originally thought that she could conduct the search alone, but now with Chi Li by her side, she felt something was different.
When she was alone, she couldn't concentrate on searching in the dark and needed to be vigilant and watch for other people's movements. But when Chi Li was by her side, with another person, she felt safer and could devote herself to the search.
The two of them walked all the way to the office on the west side. Most of the tables, chairs and benches inside had been moved out long ago. The room was full of dust and had a stale smell.
There really wasn't anything valuable here, just some old stuff, including sewing kits, old-fashioned telephones, and some small ornaments.
There were some scraps of paper scattered on the ground, all of which were white papers covered with shoe prints.
Luo Siwei flipped through it for a while and found that most of the information was worthless garbage. Was he going to return empty-handed tonight?
Chi Li shone the flashlight, and the white light penetrated the darkness.
With the help of the light, Luo Siwei's eyes fell on the wall. There were several old photos on the right side of the wall. It was a simple photo wall.
The photo has long since turned yellow and blurry.
Wearing gloves, she carefully took down the photos and looked at them carefully. One of the photos should have been taken in an autumn afternoon. The maple tree in the yard was already red and looked as hot as fire.
The color of the sunset blended with the red maple trees, which was gorgeous and eye-catching. Several old people were sitting in the yard, chatting and laughing.
The scenery was beautiful, but it reminded Luo Siwei of a poem: "The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is near dusk."
It was a casual photo. The old people were not posing in any way. They were just sitting in the yard basking in the sun.
Luo Siwei carefully identified it and said, "The old man in the front looks like Qiao Xiangjun." The old man in the center of the photo not only looked similar to the forensic reconstruction, but also looked very similar to Qiao Xiangying whom she had met before.
The photo was probably taken more than ten years ago, when Qiao Xiangjun was about 70 years old. In the photo, Qiao Xiangjun is smiling gently, and the other elderly people are also smiling happily.
Then she saw another photo, which showed a middle-aged man and woman.
"These two people look like Dean Qiao and his wife. They were still alive at that time." Luo Siwei's eyes then fell on the back of the photo. There were not only elderly people in the photo, but also some other people. In the background, she saw a young girl wearing a blue dress, sitting on the steps reading a book. The girl lowered her head, her expression focused.
Some sunlight filtered through the red leaves and shone onto the pages of the book on the girl's knees.
Not far from her stood a young man, his eyes fixed on the girl.
Luo Siwei said, "These two people look familiar... This woman looks like Qi Moxue." Then she identified the man again, searching in her mind. Suddenly, she had an idea: if this person was fatter...
Luo Siwei blurted out, "He seems to be... the second landlord, Zhai Yifei."
She originally thought that several people who had no connection suddenly appeared in the same photo, which made her feel a little strange.
Chi Li also took the photo, looked at it carefully, and then put it away as evidence.
It was almost half past ten when the two men finished searching the nursing home carefully.
They didn't find anything useful, but these photos were important evidence, and the trip was well worth it.
Luo Siwei could feel that clues appeared one by one: the landlord, the elderly, the nursing home, the sub-landlord. Everything seemed to be gradually becoming clearer, and they were getting closer and closer to the truth...
The two of them walked into the yard together.
Luo Siwei asked, "It's so late, will the witness still cooperate with the investigation?"
Chi Li explained simply: "To be precise, the time was set by him. The witness has to work during the day and only has time to see me at night."
As they were talking, they walked to the courtyard wall. Chi Li raised his hands and lowered his body.
Luo Siwei was stunned for a moment before she realized that he meant to help her up. She waved her hand: "No, I can do it myself."
After she finished speaking, she ran up and jumped hard, then flipped over to the top of the wall with both arms. Then Luo Siwei looked down at Chi Li from above. She lowered her hands towards him and raised her chin: "Come, I'll pull you up."
Chi Li looked up and didn't pull her hand.
He used his strength to step on a stone block beside him. Luo Siwei felt a flash before her eyes, and with a whoosh, a gust of wind passed by her. Before she could see what was happening, Chi Li had already flipped over and landed lightly on the ground.
Luo Siwei sighed, this guy must have learned some light skills.
Over there, Chi Li stood up and made a move to pick up Luo Siwei.
Luo Siwei felt it, she said hers and he did his.
But the more this happened, the more she became aroused by her desire to win.
"I really don't need it, I can do it myself..." As he said that, Luo Siwei also jumped down from the top of the wall.
While dancing, she was thinking, isn't it childish for two criminal investigation team leaders to compete in climbing over the wall of an abandoned nursing home late at night?
After all, the wall is more than two meters high, and even if she is agile, accidents are inevitable.
As luck would have it, when she landed, Luo Siwei's foot touched a small stone and she slipped forward...
If there was no one in front, Luo Siwei might have fallen, and it would have been quite serious.
But now Chi Li was standing in front of her, and Luo Siwei suddenly threw herself into Chi Li's arms and was caught in his arms.
Luo Siwei: “…”
She felt like she was thrown into someone's arms, wrapped in a warm embrace, and her face was right on Chi Li's chest. Luo Siwei's heart was beating non-stop, and she could hear Chi Li's heartbeat in her ears.
As soon as she looked up, she met Chi Li's inky eyes, and he was also looking down at her.
Time seemed to have stopped at this moment.
Then Luo Siwei's face turned red. She stood up in a hurry and lowered her head to tidy up her hair and clothes.
Chi Li withdrew his hand: "I know you can do it yourself..."
Luo Siwei felt that these words were harsh. She really couldn't say too much. She interrupted Chi Li and lowered her head and whispered, "This is an accident."
Chi Li felt that she had misunderstood: "What I mean is, if it was daylight, you would definitely be able to do it yourself. But now it's night and the environment is complicated. I hope you can accept my help."
Luo Siwei was slightly stunned when she heard his words. She thought of what Chi Li had said to her in the ward before. Maybe she should reflect on it and try to accept the help and kindness of others.
She lowered her head and was quiet for a moment, then said, "Okay."
The two people walked a few steps under the street light.
Luo Siwei suddenly paused, her expression changing slightly: "Oh no! I forgot about Shen Qing!"
That unlucky kid might still be stuck on the road.
Chi Li turned around and said, "Then explain the situation to him. He doesn't need to come over."
Luo Siwei hurriedly made a phone call.
As soon as the call was connected, Shen Qing's joyful voice came over: "Captain Luo, the traffic is clear here. We'll be there in five minutes."
Luo Siwei was petrified for three seconds before explaining the situation to him. Finally, she apologized, "Well, you should go back first. We're done here. You've worked hard. Have a good rest. See you tomorrow."
Shen Qing choked up: "I couldn't help, it was you, Captain Luo, who worked hard..."
Most of the suburbs in the west of Donglan City are low-rise buildings and narrow alleys that even cars can't drive in. Chi Li seemed to be very familiar with the terrain here.
Luo Siwei followed Chi Li and walked forward for a while, then stopped in front of a small door. Chi Li knocked on the door, and a dog barked from inside, and then someone came out to open the door for him.
He was a man in his fifties, who had obviously just arrived home and was still wearing his work clothes. Chi Li greeted him and walked in with Luo Siwei.
Luo Siwei said: "Uncle, you work so hard, you come back so late."
The man smiled and said, "Only by working hard now can we ensure that we will have more money when we are old, so that we can live a better life."
The man wiped his hands, welcomed them into the small living room, and took out his ID. Luo Si took a look at it. His name was Jian Xunqiu, and he was fifty-four years old. From his rough hands covered with scars and grease, it could be seen that he was a chef.
Chi Li mentioned again that he wanted to know about the nursing home, and Jian Xunqiu said, "I followed Dean Qi more than ten years ago. I worked as a chef there for a few years. At that time, the nursing home was crowded and very popular. It was the first choice for many elderly people in the area."
Luo Siwei briefly checked the information about the nursing home with him, and it was basically the same as what Qi Moxue had told her.
Jian Xunqiu sighed and said, "Dean Qi and his wife are truly kind people, especially Mr. Qi. He's a selfless person. Sometimes when the elderly get sick, the caregivers are too dirty to care for them, but he personally helps them. Even now, when I think of those things, I still feel moved. It's just a pity... After all, a person's ability is limited."
"Later, I could sense his helplessness. When a person's strength is insufficient but they still want to accomplish something, they will be hard on themselves and force others to do the same."
"Director Qi required us to spend minimal money when buying groceries, yet ensure the elderly were well fed. It wasn't an easy job. Older staff at the nursing home began to resign. This only made him even more anxious. I often saw the light on in his room past two or three in the morning. He would get up at five or six to buy cheap groceries himself, and then wait until eight o'clock when the vendors were about to close their stalls to pick up bargains. How could anyone endure this? I watched him get thinner and thinner until he finally fell seriously ill."
The topic naturally turned to Qi Moxue.
"I watched Qi Moxue grow up, and she got married abroad."
Luo Siwei recalled the information she had read: "Her husband seems to be disabled."
Jian Xunqiu nodded and said, "Yes, a girl who graduated from a prestigious university married a disabled husband. Dean Qi must have been furious when he found out about this. We don't know what this girl is thinking. According to her conditions, she should at least find a normal man. But when it comes to love, other people can't say anything. Anyway, she's divorced now, so I won't talk about it."
"Later, I heard that Dean Qi was seriously ill, so Qi Moxue divorced her husband and returned to China to take over the nursing home. At that time, some old employees joked that this girl was tricked by her father and took over such a mess. But Qi Moxue, despite being a girl, was very capable. She didn't despise the elderly people, and after taking over the nursing home, it even saw some improvement. But even a stubborn donkey can't pull a cart..."
Luo Siwei asked, "Do you know Qiao Xiangjun?"
"I still remember her. She was a very easygoing old lady with a very good temper. But there wasn't anything special about her, and I didn't have much interaction with her. I just remember that she didn't eat green peppers."
Luo Siwei asked about Zhai Yifei again.
Jian Xunqiu nodded. "There was such a person. Back then, Dean Qi took him in and lived in a nursing home for a while, about half a year. I think he liked Qi Moxue, but Qi Moxue later went abroad to study. The two of them didn't end up together."
"However..." Jian Xunqiu changed the subject, "The closure of the nursing home has something else to do with it."
Luo Siwei and Chi Li raised their heads and listened carefully.
Jian Xunqiu said, "Shortly after Qi Moxue took over the nursing home, she discovered that the nursing home was operating at a continuous loss, and as time went by, the losses would become more and more serious. Qi Moxue thought about changing the nursing home and carried out reforms."
"The first step in reform is to raise money. Qi Moxue believes that the money is spent on the elderly, and they must pay for it. However, the elderly cannot predict what will happen to them in the future, and she cannot just stand by and watch the sick elderly die. So, at this time, she proposed some solutions to the nursing home crisis."
"What plan?" Chi Li frowned when he heard this.
Jian Xunqiu said, "I don't remember the details clearly. I only remember the general idea. If I want to continue living in the nursing home, I need to donate some of my assets to the nursing home. I also need to reduce the number of nursing staff and so on."
Luo Siwei asked: "Old people have been living in nursing homes for a long time at this price. Will they be willing to pay extra? And if the number of caregivers is reduced, who will take care of the elderly?"
Jian Xunqiu said, "Yeah, how could the elderly be willing to do that? Qi Moxue is a very opinionated person. She introduced a new system, and it immediately received a response from the elderly in the nursing home."
"Some elderly people supported it, but a large number of them began to resist. For a time, people were in panic and conflicts arose frequently. I remember that it was at that time that Qi Moxue had a long talk with Qiao Xiangjun. Qiao Xiangjun was a good person to talk to, and she quickly decided to sell the old house left by her parents to support Qi Moxue. But the house was too old and the price was not much."
"Qi Moxue even approached me and asked if I could take a pay cut to continue working, and she also said that if I agreed, she would solve my pension problem when I get old. I refused, because I work to make a living."
"In the end, only a few people were willing to support Qi Moxue, and the money they raised was barely enough to repair the nursing home and keep it going. So Qi Moxue laid off all of us employees and drove away the remaining elderly people. Those with different opinions parted ways and went their separate ways. Not long after, Qi Moxue cancelled the nursing home and went to work for a foreign company. Hongye Nursing Home became a thing of the past. Since then, I have no idea where Qiao Xiangjun went or what happened to him."
After finally understanding all the old things, Luo Siwei and Chi Li came out of Jian Xunqiu's house at 11 o'clock in the evening.
Jian Xunqiu told them a lot of information, but still couldn't answer where Qiao Xiangjun went later.
As the two of them got in the car, Luo Siwei speculated, "Is it possible that Qi Moxue and Zhai Yifei had previously arranged for some homeless elderly people to live in those shared rental houses?"
It sounds like Qiao Xiangjun and some old people were still on Qi Moxue's side at that time.
If the elderly people who later came out of Hongye Nursing Home were still gathered together, the gray hair and the strange state of the house could be explained.
Did the elderly have a conflict with the landlords? Or was there something else going on that they were unaware of?
Then Luo Siwei muttered to herself, "But didn't Qiao Xiangjun sell his house? Why are the old people huddled together in such a tight spot? And why was she thrown into the well?"
"Illness, funerals, resettlement, and when you get old, there will probably be a lot of unexpected expenses. Money will be spent quickly." Chi Li said, "There is still time, we can slowly investigate. Now we need to find some further corresponding evidence."
Luo Siwei came to her senses. Her inference was only about the relationship between people and her reasoning hypothesis. They had not yet found any actual evidence related to these murders.
Reasoning is used to solve the case. In the end, they must find out who killed the victims in the well and why.
On the way back, Luo Siwei was a little tired after a busy day. She was afraid that it would be impolite to sleep in her colleague's car, so she kept talking to Chi Li. Unexpectedly, Chi Li saw her sleepiness and said to her, "Take a nap. I'll call you when we get there."
Luo Siwei then leaned back in the chair. She wanted to struggle for a while, but unexpectedly she fell asleep very quickly and slept soundly.
There were some light shadows shining outside her eyelids, but she was too lazy to open her eyes. She felt like she was soaking in warm water, which was very comfortable. Luo Siwei felt like she had slept for a long time until she heard someone calling her name.
"Luo Siwei..." The voice came from afar, familiar and hazy.
Luo Siwei suddenly opened her eyes and looked up to find that she was already at the entrance of her community.
She hurriedly opened the car door: "Captain Chi, see you tomorrow."
When getting off the car, Chi Li reminded her: "Remember to take your medicine, and also, you need to go for a follow-up check in a few days."
The author has something to say:
The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is near dusk. - Li Shangyin
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