Chapter 62
It was completely dark.
Yu Lei walked for several streets before he found a barbecue restaurant that was still open.
The boss said that the shop was about to close, so Yu Lei said that he could be self-sufficient and asked him to use the grill and seasonings. He then handed the boss 500 yuan. Seeing such a generous customer, the boss naturally agreed and gave him all the leftover ingredients for the day, and told him to remember to lock the door when he left.
So Yu Lei ate at the barbecue buffet for two hours.
Around eight o'clock, a man in a black jacket wandered into the barbecue restaurant and asked loudly:
"Boss, give me thirty skewers."
"The boss is off work." Yu Lei said, stuffing a piece of beef tendon into his mouth and chewing it with a crackling sound.
The man walked over to his table, bent down and took a look at what he was eating, with a look of disdain on his face, "It's not cooked..."
"I'll just eat something and leave soon."
The man shrugged, exited the barbecue restaurant, and rode away on his motorcycle.
After the man left, Yu Lei cleared the table, threw the uneaten food into the trash, set the tables and chairs in order, and locked the door. After leaving the barbecue restaurant, he fished out a piece of toilet paper from his pocket. On it was an address scribbled in handwriting, including pinyin, which showed that the writer had a very limited level of education.
After reading the address, Yu Lei crumpled the thin piece of toilet paper into pieces and threw it into the trash can on the side of the road.
At that moment, a burst of sirens blared from the front. Yu Lei pulled the hood of his down jacket up to cover his head, put his hands in his pockets, and walked slowly along the dimly lit sidewalk, brushing past three police cars as they roared by.
Half an hour later, Yu Lei appeared at the back door of a small wholesale market in Donghe Town. On the open sandy ground stood two rows of brick and stone bungalows, which served as transfer warehouses, built with funds raised by the wholesale market vendors. There were as many brick houses as there were vendors.
The third room from the end of the second row has a padlock on the iron door.
Yu Lei tugged at it; it was quite strong, too strong to be ripped off by hand. He instinctively reached for the pistol tucked into his waistband, then paused for a moment. He loosened the grip and dug through the garbage pile at the front of the house, pulling out a length of wire used to secure the cargo box and a piece of broken glass. The wire was a bit thick, so he ground it on the ground for a while until it was thin enough to fit through the keyhole.
He was very careful when opening the door, not wanting to scare her. However, Tang Ruxin, whose mobility was restricted, immediately struggled and retreated to the corner.
Her hair was disheveled, her breathing was rapid, her eyes were covered, her mouth was taped with black tape, her hands were tied behind her back, and her ankles were tied with strong hemp rope. When she heard the door open, she whimpered and dodged as far as she could, like a frightened animal, instinctively staying away from the unknown noise.
Yu Lei said nothing, but took two steps forward to untie the rope around her ankles. Tang Ruxin, who had retreated to the corner, was frightened and subconsciously raised her foot to kick away the person approaching her.
He held her knees with one hand and placed his other hand behind her head to prevent her from hitting her head too hard. Yu Lei remained silent, patiently waiting for her to calm down.
Seeing that the person in front of her did not take any further action, Tang Ruxin slowly stopped struggling and tilted her head to listen to what the person in front of her was going to do.
Yu Lei loosened her knees, untied the ropes around her ankles, and slowly tore off the black tape on her mouth, but left her blindfold untouched. He then took out the shard of glass he had just picked up and placed it in Tang Ruxin's hand.
Tang Ruxin seemed to understand something and nodded slightly.
Yu Lei pressed her shoulder, stood up and left.
Cutting the hemp rope with a glass backhand was much harder than she'd imagined. Tang Ruxin ran out of energy after just a few moments, and she was already feeling dizzy from not having eaten or drunk anything. By the time she finally cut through the rope, over half an hour had passed.
She pulled off the blindfold and finally saw her surroundings clearly.
The brick-concrete rough house is less than five square meters, with boxes of instant noodles and drinks piled up around it. A palm-sized ventilation fan is the only source of light here, but it becomes meaningless in the darkness.
She quietly pushed open the iron door that was not closed tightly, and after confirming that there was no one outside, she immediately ran towards the brightly lit wholesale market not far away.
Yu Lei, who was hiding at the front of the house, watched her running away quietly, pressed the hood of his down jacket down, and turned away.
This was destined to be another sleepless night for Chen Jingzhou, who had been working non-stop for almost twenty-four hours.
The situation was so sudden and outrageous that it was beyond his comprehension. For example, how could Liu Wei and Han Yixiao be so suddenly beaten to death by a group of thugs? How could Tang Ruxin cut the rope and escape on her own?
Even more outrageous was the fact that Liu, Han, and the gang's statements were as consistent as if they were brothers. They insisted the brawl was caused by unpaid debts and had nothing to do with Tang Ruxin. Han Yixiao said he didn't kidnap her, and Liu Wei said he had never met Tang Ruxin.
Tang Ruxin played along, insisting she was kidnapped by Liu Wei and Han Yixiao because she'd heard Liu Wei admit on the phone that he and Han Yixiao were responsible for the accidents at the Donghe Refining Plant, but she had no evidence. As for the source of the broken glass from cutting the rope, she insisted she'd picked it up.
But there weren't even any windows in that room, so where did the glass come from? Director Tang didn't know. When he woke up from his sleep, he felt broken glass.
It was outrageous—seven thugs, two men with beatings, a kidnapped victim, and not a single word of truth coming out of all ten mouths. Chen Jingzhou was almost scratching his head, but he still couldn't figure out where the thread in this tangled mess was.
He had no choice but to knock on Yu Lei's office door with a stack of confessions in his hand. He pushed the door open without waiting for the person inside to respond, and then a loud slap hit his eardrum.
Chen Jingzhou was stunned, as if he had been slapped in the face.
Xu Qinghong hadn't put down his hand that was slapping him yet. Yu Lei, whose head was tilted by the blow, stood quietly there. Chen Jingzhou remained frozen at the door, still in the posture of pushing the door. The three of them didn't move.
After a few seconds, Xu Qinghong put down his hand and said coldly, "Get out."
Chen Jingzhou withdrew the foot that had just stepped into the office like a spring, slammed the door shut, and then put his ear to the door panel.
Then, a second slap rang out, even louder than the first. Chen Jingzhou immediately grimaced, feeling sorry for his captain. Director Xu was too ruthless. How many times was he going to hit him?
Yu Lei didn't hide, nor did he wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Don't you have anything to say to me?" Xu Qinghong asked after the call.
After a long silence, Yu Lei said, "No."
Xu Qinghong took a deep breath, licked his lips, looked at the cloudy sky outside the window, and nodded.
"Give me the certificate."
Yu Lei calmly took out his police officer ID and placed it in Xu Qinghong's open palm.
"I know it's impossible for me to find evidence, but you know what you did. I'm suspended from work from now on. You can come back when you think clearly."
Xu Qinghong put away his ID and walked towards the office door without hesitation.
Chen Jingzhou didn't have time to hide, and his eyes met Xu Qinghong's. However, Xu Qinghong seemed not to see him. She just stopped and turned to Yu Lei and said:
"Yu Lei, you're always walking between black and white. You can't guarantee that you won't cross the line. You promised me three years ago, I hope you haven't forgotten. If you do it again, you won't be able to wear your police uniform—you don't deserve it."
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