original sin
"Xiao Jiang, go home after you finish washing these. It will be too late soon." The proprietress cleared the table and put it into the kitchen. The kitchen was so small that it was quite uncomfortable for Jiang Li, a boy who was almost 1.8 meters tall, to squeeze in.
Without stopping his hands, he replied, "Okay."
Jiang Li has been working here for a while. He has been looking for a job since last year. The government assistance will not continue forever. After the 18th of this year, there will probably be no more remittances on his card. He has found many jobs this year, and this is the only one that can sustain him while he is in school.
The restaurant serves barbecue and opens at nine in the evening. Jiang Li can come even after skipping evening self-study. Although the salary is not particularly high, it can at least supplement the income.
At twelve o'clock, Jiang Li finished washing the dishes and picked up his schoolbag. The proprietress reminded him to be careful on the road. He smiled and waved, "I know."
The place where he works is quite far from home. This is the new city area, and he lives in a deep alley in the old city area. The house price is low, but the house condition is very bad. If there is a strong wind and rain, even the roof can be blown off.
He kicked over stones and around the corner, a car stopped and honked at him twice.
Jiang Li looked up and Chen An said, "Get in the car."
Jiang Li didn't get in the car immediately. Instead, he tightened the strap of his schoolbag and asked him, "Where are you going?"
Chen An said in a calm tone, as if it was a matter of course: "I'll take you home."
Jiang Li didn't argue anymore, opened the door and got in the car: "Are you following me?"
Chen An explained: "I was just passing by."
"Oh." Jiang Li unzipped her schoolbag, took out a small loaf of bread, unwrapped it, hesitated for a moment, and handed it to him. "Would you like some?"
Chen An took a look and asked, "You didn't eat?"
Jiang Li took a bite of bread, puffed up his lips and mumbled, "I ate it, but I'm hungry again after get off work."
There was a restaurant in front of them. Chen An stepped on the brakes, and Jiang Li was startled. "What for?"
Chen An said, "I'm hungry too, let's eat something."
Then Jiang Li watched him go in and order. Chen An ordered a bowl of beef noodles.
The proprietress said, "What else?"
Chen An glanced in his direction. Oops, he forgot to ask him what he wanted to eat.
The next second the boy said loudly: "A bowl of three fresh vegetables, no large intestine, and more cilantro, thank you."
The lady boss liked energetic and handsome guys, so she immediately smiled and said, "Okay!"
Chen An sat at a small table with him. Jiang Li said bluntly, "Officer Chen, I'm probably not just passing through. I must be quite suspicious in your eyes right now."
Chen An also said frankly: "Indeed. Jiang Li, you haven't finished what you want to say."
Jiang Li was silent for a moment, then raised his eyes and said, "What I say depends on what you ask, Officer Chen."
Chen An asked, "Zhou Fuyuan helped you hide something, right?"
A flash of panic flashed across Jiang Li's eyes, but he regained his composure. "Then you should ask Zhou Fuyuan instead of me."
It seemed that he had made up his mind not to tell anyone. Chen An changed the subject, "Do you know Liu Hanxiao's hometown?"
Jiang Li shook her head. "I don't know. She never told me. The most she told me was her parents."
On the way here, Chen An thought that Liu Hanxiao's parents were one planning to remarry and the other was uneducated, so it would be difficult for her to maintain a normal life, so Liu Hanxiao would be short of money.
Chen An asked, "Did she ever tell you that she wanted to work and earn money?"
Jiang Li nodded. "She said that her parents haven't been sending much money back since last year. She asked me before where I could find a part-time job."
Chen An asked, "Did you introduce her?"
Jiang Li recalled, "I introduced a few, but none of them were suitable for girls. Many of the jobs were at night, and classes at No. 2 Middle School ended very late. After five evening self-study sessions, we would have to leave school at 11 o'clock. She would have had to skip classes to go. She went for a while, but her grades dropped, so she stopped going."
Liu Hanxiao's class teacher Xu Changchun said that Liu Hanxiao's grades had dropped significantly recently, and it was probably because he skipped classes to work part-time.
Chen An asked, "After you started attending No. 1 Middle School, did you still often go to No. 2 Middle School to see her?"
Jiang Li shook his head. "No, I don't often visit her. If I did, I'd get criticized. Most of the time, we communicate through the phone."
Today's students are still very sensitive about love and if Jiang Li goes there often, it will inevitably cause bad comments to Liu Hanxiao.
The noodles were just served and Chen An didn't bother asking any more questions. Jiang Li put a bunch of seasonings in the noodles. Chen An looked at them and smiled, "You like sour food so much?"
Jiang Li said seriously, "Noodles without vinegar are soulless. You don't understand."
He was extremely hungry, and half a bowl of noodles was gone with one chopstick. The thin figure of the young man gradually overlapped with the person in Chen An's memory.
He admitted that he was not passing by. When he learned that Jiang Li was working outside, he drove to the restaurant where he worked without realizing it. He waited until Jiang Li came out and was about to disappear around the corner before he called him.
Jiang Li like this reminds Chen An of his former self.
Once upon a time, he lived a life like Jiang Li, without parents and had to support himself.
Jiang Li was almost done with his noodles when he told the proprietress, "One more bowl, he'll pay!"
Chen An smiled and lowered his head to finish his noodles.
Bored with waiting, Jiang Li talked about Liu Hanxiao's family like a friend chatting, "Do you know why I'm friends with Liu Hanxiao?"
Chen An asked, "Why?"
Jiang Li's eyes wandered. "I saw her on the street during Chinese New Year last year. Her parents were arguing, and the whole street could hear them. She was stuck in the middle, feeling very uncomfortable. She also said that her parents always made her choose, saying who she would live with if they divorced. When Liu Hanxiao couldn't choose, her mother called her an ungrateful person and said that if it weren't for her, her mother would have run away long ago. It was as if all her mother's misery was caused by Liu Hanxiao."
He said he was fascinated and asked Chen An, "Officer Chen, why are all parents like this? They think they love us but hurt us everywhere, sometimes good, sometimes bad, which makes us doubt ourselves." He paused for a moment, as if he didn't need Chen An to answer. "If you don't have a good family background and a high level of education, don't have children. Having children will only harm them."
Chen An stared at him quietly. Jiang Li pulled himself out of his own thoughts and saw a scrutinizing gaze. He said unhappily, "Why am I telling you this? If you're a police officer, you're definitely on their side."
"you're right."
Jiang Li was stunned.
Chen An said calmly, "Not all parents are suited to being parents. Parents with low cognition may never understand why their children don't get close to them. However, low cognition also means that not all parents can realize that they are not suitable to be parents."
Jiang Li sighed, "So this is a vicious cycle, there's no solution."
Chen An patted his head as a comfort, "Being happy is the most important thing now. Haven't you taken good care of yourself?"
The floating hair was like his worries. In the end, she stubbornly responded to him with a clamor, "Don't touch my head casually! It will make me grow taller!"
Chen An smiled and said, "You are already very tall."
"But..." Jiang Li gestured with his hands twice, "Not as tall as you!"
Chen An found him interesting and asked, "What are you competing with me for?"
Jiang Li was furious, "What do you care about me?"
The lady boss brought the noodles over and seeing how happy they were, she asked, "You two are brothers, right? You have such a good relationship."
The air was quiet for a while, and Chen An said, "Hurry up and eat. I'll take you home after you finish eating."
Before eating his noodles, Jiang Li silently added, "No, it's the relationship between the suspect and the police."
Chen An choked, "I didn't consider you a suspect."
Jiang Li lowered his head and ate noodles without saying a word.
The next morning, Chen An went to Xia'an Town, which was not far from Changping County. It was during this trip that he discovered that Changping County originally had two stations. When the funds were allocated from above, a terminal was built in the north of the city, and the station in the south was abandoned. There was no surveillance, but there were still many elderly people waiting for the bus at the original platform.
If Liu Hanxiao took bus No. 1 to the South Station, she could also return to Xia'an Town, but this inference was overturned after learning that Liu Hanxiao stayed in a hotel in the old city for one night. From that day to the time her body was discovered, she only appeared for a very short period of time, and the traces she left were too few.
After crossing the mountain road, Chen An arrived at the small town. The sky was blue and the clouds were white, and the environment was very beautiful. Following the address above, he found Liu Hanxiao's home.
Liu Hanxiao's grandmother suffered from mental illness in her early years and now lives alone at home.
But when he found it, the door was closed and there was no sound from inside. An old lady who was out buying groceries passed by the alley and asked him, "Young man, who are you looking for?"
Chen An asked, "Auntie, is this family not here?"
The old lady, surnamed Yu, has lived here for many years. She said, "You mean Xiaoxiao's grandmother? She's in the hospital, don't you know?"
Chen An was puzzled. "Hospitalization?"
"You don't know?" Aunt Yu's guard rose. "Who are you? I've lived here for so many years and I've never seen you before."
Chen An took out his ID, which scared the old lady. "Oh, police officer, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Chen An said, "It's okay. I came here to find out something."
Aunt Yu was no longer in a hurry to go to the market. She smoothed her hair and said, "Ask."
Chen An said, "You just said Xiaoxiao's grandmother was hospitalized? What happened?"
"Xiaoxiao's grandmother is mentally ill. Her mental state is sometimes good and sometimes bad. She screams and shouts at night, which tortures us a lot. About two weeks ago, her grandmother fell at the door. It was quite serious. She broke her bones and was sent to our hospital." Aunt Yu didn't know what she remembered, her eyes full of contempt and disgust. "Her grandmother is also pitiful. The hospital said she needed surgery, but her sons refused to contribute a penny. It was the same when Xiaoxiao's grandmother was mentally ill. She said that several sons would bring her food and meals, but in the end, she was left hungry many times and had to rely on us to feed her."
Aunt Yu sighed as she spoke, "They say raising a son is a way to prepare for old age, but with so many sons, none of them are useful. Only Xiaoxiao, who is in school, still misses grandma and wants her to come back often."
Chen An said, "Is she in the hospital in town?"
"Yes, it's the Xia'an Hospital," Aunt Yu said. "No one paid to transfer her to another hospital. It's so pitiful. The old lady suffered all her life, but in the end, no one was filial to her."
Chen An said, "Okay, thank you."
Aunt Yu waved her hand and said, "You're welcome." Then she picked up the basket and left.
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